If you look closely at this photo, you’ll notice something I couldn’t quite hide with makeup: a dark bruise forming on my chin. Broken blood vessels. Courtesy of my dog, and physics.

I was opening the trunk of my SUV, freeing my dog’s pulley leash system (the one that lets him pull me on cross-country skis). The metal clasp caught… and released like a slingshot, straight into my face. I didn’t see it coming. I couldn’t have planned for it. And it hurt like hell.

Which got me thinking about leadership, purpose… and resilience. In my years spent in the corporate world, I trained myself to plan for A, B, C, and D.