Category Archives: Blog

Stop Penalizing the Social Sector for being Successful

While I started my career working for family firms in NY’s fashion industry and now run my own business, the middle 25 years were dedicated to serving in the social sector (I prefer to call the sector by what it is, social, not by its IRS nonprofit tax status).  When working in the social sector, …

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Why do we use “Soft Skills” for the Most Difficult Abilities to Master?

To answer this question, let’s look at hard and soft skills. Hard skills have traditionally been knowledge-based, technical skills, like accounting and economics, environmental analysis and programming.  These skills can be taught in more of a one-size fits all, replicable way.  Soft skills like active listening, empathy, humility, mindfulness, self-regulation and communication, lend themselves to …

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What Makes Transformation Work?

My graduate thesis explored the difference between change and transformation. Change is fickle. I change my shoes when I get home from work to a more comfortable pair. I could put on stilettos to make dinner, but typically don’t. Transformation expands how we see the world – we can’t go back to who we were …

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To Break the Cycle of Poverty, don’t we first need to Remove Systemic Barriers?

In previous articles I’ve posed the question, “What is Poverty?” When visiting what we call third-world countries, I’ve been particularly taken by witnessing a level of abject poverty rarely seen in the U.S., yet often finding more smiling faces and less anxiety and depression than I see among even middle-class Americans. A totally subjective observation on my …

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If you want your business to Climb High, are you prepared to Go Low to get there?

If you’re striving to sustain growth or want to get more colleagues up the mountain with you, you may be ready to go beyond being effective to leading and influencing others. It’s not easy and requires developing comfort with discomfort. Should you want help, the Ripple Affect would be honored to guide you using our …

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