We may want fewer emergencies, yet the clarity of purpose and satisfaction of solving an urgent problem can be compelling. Erica D’Eramo explores what draws teams into workplace firefighting, how organizations reinforce the pattern, and what it takes to give prevention and steady performance the attention they deserve.
When the stakes are high, people expect clear, decisive leadership. Asking for input can feel complicated when everyone expects you to have the answer. Drawing on offshore operations and emergency management training, Erica D’Eramo explores how humble inquiry supports that responsibility. Learn how to ask focused questions, explain why you’re seeking input, and make decision ownership explicit so your team can contribute the context you need.
This last day of 2025 has been a sunny one here in Maine. Sunny and cold. For the past week and a half, Two Piers has been closed for the holidays. As many people experience, it can take a week or more to actually feel the benefits of a break. So as I watch the ice floes drift along the mirror-flat Kennebec River, I feel like I am finally accessing some of the creative space we talk about so often on this blog. The space we need to think strategically and with vision.
Resilience is one of those concepts that gets tossed around a lot in leadership circles. Too often, it’s boiled down to toughness, grit, or the ability to “power through.” True resilience, however, is NOT about grinding ourselves into the ground. Instead, it’s about adaptability, responsiveness, and sustainability.
As both a coach and a former engineer, I can’t help but see the parallels between how we talk about resilience in leadership and how it’s defined in material science.
In Part 1, we explored how safety and compassion allowed two foster cats, Ophelia and Mr. Twisty, to reveal who they truly were, and how that mirrors the way humans behave under pressure. In Part 2, we unpacked how confidence is cultivated and how advice like “fake it till you make it” often undermines the very self-assuredness it aims to promote.
Now, in this final part, we turn our focus outward: How do our perceptions shape performance? What power do we hold, as leaders, mentors, colleagues, or community members, to either cultivate confidence or quietly diminish it?
We’re embarking on a journey in this three-part series: from animal fostering to positive psychology, from Greek mythology to quantum physics. You might be wondering what all of these things have to do with confidence, compassion, and the power of perception. I assure you: they’re all connected.
Let’s begin with two stories about real cats. (We’ll get to Schrödinger’s hypothetical feline later.)
