Welcome to IGW Insights Issue 12!
My older son graduated from high school last month. His school has two beautiful traditions for the lead-up to graduation. First, they have a father-son overnight at a remote campground. Second, they have a Parents Shabbat, a special Sabbath where the seniors, their parents, and the entire staff of the school enjoy each other’s company, learn together, sing together, pray together, all of which takes place on the grounds of the school, a beautiful swatch of land in the middle of the Judean desert.
Two impressions linger in my mind: First, it was so lovely to connect with my son during those events, both in nature, and largely without glowing screens. Second, both events took place far from the hustle and bustle of city living and work, enveloped by a level of quiet that reminded me of summer camp.
There are so many elements of summer camp that impacted me so profoundly, so positively, and have become like chunks of DNA for me, expressive in so much of my identity.
Camp was a very loud place. We sang at every meal. Hundreds of campers and staff, and a couple of song leaders at the front of the dining hall with guitars, all of us blowing the doors off the place with Zionist folk songs, Jewish classics, and even some soon-to-be-classics written by some of the people in that room. Banging on the tables to the rhythm of the songs, arms around each other, singing our little hearts out. The spirit of the summer camp dining hall is something I’ve been chasing ever since. My reflections continue here.
Recommended Reading and Listening
If you want some inspiration on your journey to a greater level of focus, I cannot recommend the work of Pico Iyer enough.
Start with The Joy of Quiet and The Art of Stillness.
And here is an interview with Iyer on A Big Sur Podcast, hosted by my beloved and cherished friend Magnus Toren. It is such a wonderful and wide-ranging conversation. Enjoy!
Journaling Exercise
One of the most important strategic moves you can make as a leader is to find a place where you cannot be disturbed or distracted. I’m talking about a physical place, not duct-tape and chewing gum solutions like apps on our phones that promise focus. This newsletter’s journaling assignment is to find the right place away from it all.
Go there. Leave your phone at home. Just bring a pen and paper. Write about your aspirations and dreams. Write about where you must raise your standards. Write about at least one tough conversation you need to have and commit to having that conversation.
Write about why you’re great. Write about one person you need a stronger connection with, and how you plan to strengthen that connection. Write about the chair you’re sitting in. Write about anything at all. Just get away from the office, out of the house, out of town, off the planet, and find a place to settle, find some quiet, and work yourself out.
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Onward and upward,
Dan Weiss, CEO
