Me: “I am taking a swim class.”

Everyone: “You don’t know how to swim?”

A few weeks ago I started a swim class. Every Sunday morning I arrive at the pool at 7:30 AM eagerly awaiting an hour of shivering and scolding. (Fortunately, I am joined by my friend, Jackie Sheffer AKA star pupil.)

I do know how to swim. I know how to swim enough so that I do not drown.

They say opposites attract. But how do they stay connected?

As an intern working for my now business partner, Corey Jamison, I had a front row seat to a leader who was (and is) very (VERY) different from me. We are often at different ends of a spectrum when it comes to … well, everything. Work styles, communication patterns, love of pets (or not) and so on. When we first started working together, I thought I needed to become more like her: more exciting, more fun, more energetic, more spontaneous. I realized quickly that was never going to happen. Our differences as human beings, leaders, team members - are just too vast. An attempt to model myself after the leader I worked for just wasn’t going to happen.

And, fortunately, she knew that too.