Paula Fargo, Author at Paula's Point

July 19, 2025

Culture Shock – Giving and Receiving

After my recent trip abroad, I’ve been carrying around a persistent feeling. Our world in 2025 feels smaller and more connected than ever, much easier to navigate, a place where cultures mix freely and borders seem less rigid. This blending offers exciting chances for greater understanding —and it also brings moments that can be uncomfortable or challenging. How often do US citizens hear the label “Ugly Americans”? Our culture can sometimes clash with others, whether it’s our insistence on comforts like air conditioning and ice cubes, our assertiveness, or simply our limited foreign language skills. When we travel, we carry…

July 16, 2025

A World Apart – A World, A Part

I recently returned from a long-anticipated summer trip to France. Not having been overseas in a couple of decades, I genuinely believed that—with proper planning, strategic thinking, and an adequate budget—I could create an experience for my husband and me that felt both “foreign” and comfortably “domestic.” It turns out, as with many things in life, that was wishful thinking. The old saying, you don’t know what you don’t know, has never rung truer. I expected my husband to struggle a bit more out of his element. In fact, I gave him what I now realize were slightly patronizing pep…

June 16, 2025

Love and Leadership: Leading with Empathy

When we talk about leadership, we usually default to words like strategy, vision, execution, or results. What we don’t hear nearly enough—especially in business—is the word love. And yet, in my experience, the very best leaders don’t just manage people. They care about them. They listen, they notice, they show up. That’s love in action. And it’s the foundation of truly effective leadership. Now, I’m not talking about hearts-and-flowers, kumbaya love. I’m talking about the kind of leadership that sees people as human first and employees second. The kind that remembers birthdays, notices when someone’s off their game, and creates…