Happy Tuesday, Reader!

For Two on Tuesdays, we usually provide you with two concepts, tools, or quotes to help you think differently about your business. This month, we’re going deeper. Every week in March, we're going to give you two ideas that seem like they're in direct conflict with each other, and talk about why holding both of them at the same time isn't just possible—it's essential for this moment.

The most essential skill we can develop as adults (with strategy, in relationships, and as leaders) is being able to hold two competing truth at the same time.

The magic of nuance is often overlooked, both in business and in life. But most things are not black and white. And the algorithmic nature of how we consume information every single day is making holding the “and” harder and harder to do.

I want to lean into the discomfort of holding two conflicting ideas in parallel together this month. We’re starting with resistance and reconnection.

Yes, Resist.

I'm going to be honest with you about where I am right now.

As I write this, our federal government has killed two civilians in the streets of Minneapolis within the last month. Journalists are being jailed for doing their jobs. I believe this is one of the most important moments in American history to stand up and say: "Not on my watch."

Whether that looks like protest, local community organizing, or participating in movements like Scott Galloway's Resist and Unsubscribe campaign, I believe we all have a role to play. It’s crucial that we all stand side-by-side in this moment with every other American who does not want to see this great experiment of ours descend any further into tyranny.

But remember that there’s always room for growth.

Those of you who've been around since the first time around (circa 2016-2022) know Realign Consulting was very out front about our political beliefs. Over the last couple of years, we stepped back, not because we stopped caring, but because we needed to reassess how we do this work. What we've concluded is that we have a responsibility as citizens, business owners, and humans to resist in a way that is sustainable and true to who we are now.

That's not a prescription for every business—you get to decide what's right for yours. But for us, the clearest difference this time is that resistance alone isn't the answer. We also need to reconnect.

Here’s what resistance looks like right now for Realign Consulting.

In our business and personal lives, we've been walking this out in concrete ways. Over the past several months, we have:

• Completely dropped all Amazon-related spending, including Audible, Goodreads, Kindle, Prime, and AWS
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• Unsubscribed from Netflix and Disney+
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• Migrated away from ChatGPT to Claude for our AI work
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• And more, as we continue to figure it out as we go

These feel like small acts, and they are. But in this moment, hitting the bottom line of companies whose actions conflict with our values is one of the most powerful forms of resistance available to us. These corporations will never change if they know we'll consume their products no matter what they do. Voting with our wallets means being willing to give up a little convenience, to sit with a little discomfort, in order to get our humanity back. That matters. And we also need to do something more.

And, Reconnect.

As important as all of that is, it's not the part I'm most proud of. We’re also leaning in, reconnecting, or deepening connections with:

• A couple of clients who see things very differently from us politically, but are doing important work for their communities and actively resisting in their own ways right now.
• Friends and neighbors we've struggled to engage with since the 2024 election didn't go the way we thought it would.
• And on and on…

If we make everyone on the other side wrong, if we let ourselves see other humans as evil, where do we go from here?

Resistance without reconnection is just a louder version of the same silos that got us here.

Here's what I learned (slowly, and sometimes painfully) from watching the #MeToo and #BlackLivesMatter movements unfold both in the world and in my own life: Resistance alone will never get us where we need to go.

The further I get from the rage and the silos of the algorithm, the clearer I can see it.

Many of my friends on the right have shunned me for believing that all humans are created equal. My friends on the left have condemned me for believing that all humans are worthy of connection. I live in that tension every day, and I think a lot of you do too.

If you've cut off your family over their MAGA politics, I'm talking to you. If you've stopped calling your best friend because she helps women in red states access reproductive health care, I'm talking to you. And if your business has gone quiet on values, on diversity, on the things you used to stand for, I'm asking you to stay with me just a little longer.

Reconnection isn't a betrayal of your values. It is your values, in action.

Yes, movements can mobilize people. But as every aid worker, every organizer, every missionary will tell you, we don't change minds in crowds. We change them one conversation at a time. One relationship at a time. One moment of genuine curiosity at a time.

So this month, lean in. Call someone you've been avoiding. Ask a question instead of making a statement. That's what moves hearts. That's what changes minds.

Resist and reconnect. We need both right now.

Next week, we're taking this conversation somewhere specific, literally. I recently spent time in Chicago and watched an entire city vibrate with purpose, connection, and neighbor-helping-neighbor energy that I haven't seen in a long time. We're going to talk about what that means for your business, and why this moment might be the most important reminder yet of why placebinding™ matters. I can't wait to share it with you.

Until next time,
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Renia C.
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P.S. - Is your team or organization wrestling with its own version of this, colliding at the tension points between multiple important truths? I'd love to bring this conversation to your group. I'm now booking summer and fall speaking engagements and workshops. ​

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