I wonder...
What my 6-month old son reminded me about leadership + Aunts & Uncles, Marathon Weekend in NYC, and a new spiritual community for non-religious young adults
I’ve learned so much since becoming a dad.
A lot of those lessons have come from simply watching my son be in the world.
One day, when we were hanging out with my wife’s parents, Drew’s grandma asked:
“What do you think is going through his mind?”
I replied:
“Pure wonder.”
I don’t think Drew has an inner monologue where he thinks in actual words, but if he did, it might sound like this:
“Hmmm. I wonder what this is?”
“I wonder how this feels?”
“I wonder what will happen if I put this inside the hole at the bottom of my face?” (aka his mouth)
“I wonder where the bearded man is going?”
“I wonder when the milk lady will feed me again?”
“What’s that thing that’s sometimes blue and sometimes grey that’s always above us when we go outside?”
“I wonder where that light is coming from??”
For Drew, there’s no need to answer any of these questions any time soon - he’s just marveling at the wonder of it all. It’s open-ended curiosity.
Sounds like a fun way to move through the world!
But what can we learn from watching a child’s wonder?
In The 15 Commitments of Conscious Leadership, it is said that:
“Effective leaders learn to get into a state of wonder on a consistent basis.”
But…
“Most leaders replace natural wonder with ‘figuring it out,’ a very different consciousness. Figuring it out presupposes that there is AN answer and the goal is to use the mind to find it.”
Most leaders - and people who work for unconscious leaders - feel immense pressure to figure things out as quickly as possible. They believe there is one right answer, compare themselves to others who have already figured it out, and feel anxious about the solution they chose even after the decision is made.
The book goes on to say…
“Wonder is a very different experience. It is not about figuring anything out. It begins with a willingness to explore and step into the unknown, which involves taking a risk and letting go of control…Once we’re willing to be surprised by the unknown, the next step is to ask a wonder question: an open-ended question that has no ‘right’ answer.”
Like my 6-month old son, the best leaders are curious, committed to learning, and make a practice of generating “wonder questions.” These wonder questions may sound similar to the questions above that I imagine Drew generating on a daily basis - just with a stronger vocabulary and decades of lived experience to apply to our current challenges.
Here are some examples of wonder questions that we adults in positions of leadership may ask of ourselves and our teams:
I wonder how we can help people feel more connected in a remote work environment?
I wonder how we might integrate AI without losing our humanity?
I wonder how we can encourage creativity and new innovation while accomplishing our existing goals for this quarter?
I wonder how we can work less and earn more?
I wonder what I can learn from the issue that keeps coming up with my coworker that would help me improve as a leader and human?
I wonder what would make the people I’m bringing together feel even more safe, supported, and cared for?
And like Drew, we can also look up at the sky and wonder what it’s all about.
When we practice wonder, we shift from a closed to open consciousness. We become more present, see new possibilities, and discover opportunities to learn from everyone and everything we encounter.
Just like Drew does naturally.
Third Nature Summer Camp
I wonder how we might design for more moments of wonder and awe at Summer Camp 2026.
I wonder how we can give people more free time, while providing an even more impactful experience.
I wonder how we might put together GPS Groups (Good Peeps Squads) differently than we have in the past.
I wonder how we can empower more leaders within the community.
I wonder how we can help people go deeper within themselves and find the buried treasure to share with the world.
I wonder how we might co-create the possibility of a better world.
These are just some of the many wonder questions I’m considering as I think about Third Nature Summer Camp 2026.
I know it’s not even winter yet, but we’re already almost 50% full for Labor Day Weekend 2026.
If you’re interested, now is a great time to apply to guarantee a spot at the lowest rate we’ll offer.
Loved That
Here’s where I enjoy sharing some of the things that made me say an enthusiastic, LOVE THAT, since I sent the last newsletter.
But there's another reason I do this: I believe "LOVED THAT" is a habit worth spreading. Taking the time to reflect on your week, savoring all the things you loved, is another form of gratitude practice that enhances happiness, fulfillment, optimism, and memory.
I recently heard from another friend and reader of this newsletter that he started his own Loved That practice, and even does it with his 6th grade students!
Do try this at home.
Anyway, here's mine from these last two weeks:
1. Celebrating my sister Dani’s 34th birthday on October 29th. Dani has special needs and has had a hard few years, but time spent together (especially since she became Aunt Dani to our son Drew) is her favorite medicine.
I especially loved when Alexis took her out for a little spa day, our fun bday dinner at La Villa (been digging their rigatoni ala vodka with veal cutlets), and of course, watching her and Drew smile and laugh together.
2. Marathon Weekend in NYC. Yes, Marathon Sunday always brings great energy to the city, and I love getting to walk 2 blocks over from our apartment to witness thousands of inspiring humans run through Brooklyn.
But this year, I especially loved that my friend Ray chose to run his own marathon on Saturday (he hates standing in line). We met him at his personal finish line on the West Side Highway, and then indulged in thin-crust pizza at Spunto like we ran the marathon ourselves. I’m not a big dessert guy, but shout out to that bread pudding.
3. A lovely Saturday afternoon and evening with Drew and my friend Robin. We started at the Grand Army Plaza Greenmarket (enjoyed some delicious apple samples, apple cider donuts, and breakfast tacos from King David Taco truck), walked around Prospect Park, and ended with chicken wings at Brooklyn Burgers & Beer.
Robin is one of those friends whose home phone number I can still recite from memory - because we started hanging out in the 90’s when we were 6 years old, way before we got cell phones.
Now, he’s Uncle Robin to Baby Drew.
I’ve said it before in this newsletter and I’ll say it again - as I get older, I love how some aspects of hang outs with friends evolve, while others remain comfortably the same.
4. Hearth - a new NYC community built by my friend Ray Batra for spiritual, but not religious young adults, to explore the big questions together. I participated in the pilot, pre-launch field test, and loved getting to go deep with a group of 9 like-minded strangers-turned-friends.
If you’re interested in joining their next pre-launch field test, you can sign up here (free to join).
Thanks for reading! If you want more, you can always browse the archive of old but evergreen posts here.
Feel free to reply or comment with any thoughts or ideas that came up as you were reading - or things you’ve experienced recently that you LOVED.
Wishing you a great week ahead :)
With gratitude,
Brian