Way back in 2015, I had the privilege of consulting on strategic work inside a world-famous corporation. It was, and still is, known all around the world for its bold brand positioning and its high performance culture…so you can probably guess which one I’m talking about.

If not, I’ll give you a hint: its name rhymes with “Mikey.”

During my tenure, I got to work with some truly brilliant professionals: category leaders, functional leaders, innovators, and creators, and I was charged with leading workplace transformation inside various departments.

Last month, my husband and I embarked on the trip of a lifetime. We dropped into the Grand Canyon to raft 220 miles of the Colorado River.

For 14 days, we loaded, floated, braced, paddled, splashed, and crashed through more than 80 whitewater rapids under the tutelage of five remarkable guides and their two assistants - most of whom were as strong in body as they were in character.

I don’t know a single professional who hasn’t been confronted by heightened emotions at work, or tried to suppress heightened emotions in the midst of work. This is because we’ve been told for decades that emotions don’t belong in the workplace, and they are bad for decision-making, but this broad advice couldn’t be further from the truth, especially as we march forward into an AI-supported “relationship economy.” Knowing how to gather emotional data and work with it is an extremely valuable competency - especially if you aspire to lead yourself, your clients, and colleagues toward more creative and innovative solutions.

A client’s willingness to re-group and start over is all that really matters to me, and it’s all that should really matter to YOU because it's a integral part of the adult learning process…and it’s usually tethered to a whole bunch of other valuable information like…