How Anita Malik’s campaign is rebuking the race to raise in a red Arizona district and why it matters for our democracy.

Meet Sandy. She’s a 48-year-old mother of three who works in hospital administration.

When polled about her voting decisions, Sandy said she reviews the candidates and then votes for the person who raised the most money.

Ok, actually… Sandy never said that. Sandy isn’t real because no voter said that ever.

Money does not win elections, connections do.

Richard Lau, professor of political science at Rutgers told FiveThirtyEight that “where you have to change your thinking is that money causes winning.” He continued, “I think it’s more that winning attracts money.”

And that measure of “winning” is often subjective.

Not only does money not win elections, the spending spree of the last decade under the Citizens United ruling shows how dangerous money is to our democracy. …

How a broken health care system left me with an unthinkable choice. Life versus Debt.

It had been two hours, but I still felt weak from the burden.

I couldn’t speak about it. So instead, I tried to listen.

I listened as James, my husband, shared thoughts of playing music again. He spoke of possible venues, putting a band together and living a life with joy after being given a second chance.

As much as I tried to focus on his words, my mind was stuck.

“How is this fair?”

How can you be lucky to be alive from an unpredictable, unexplainable catastrophic illness, but unlucky to become the latest debtor in a broken health care system. How is this a system any of us can stand behind? …

After six brain surgeries, the race was called. We won.

I clench my fists. Not in resistance, but in despair while I sleep.

It is symptomatic of a fight or flight response that Dr. Curtis Reisinger, a clinical psychologist at Zucker Hillside Hospital, calls flooding.

When our thoughts and emotions overwhelm our mind, some have insomnia, some grind their teeth, I ready to defend.

I am one of the 476 women who ran for the House of Representatives this year, and after a highly competitive primary which I wasn’t “supposed” to win by traditional standards, I was one of 235 women nominees for House in the November 6 midterm elections. …

How I decided to become an outsider for change, again.

I’ve never been very good at Fridays — the slowdown of the weekend is outside my comfort zone. I like the busyness of the workweek, where each day feels like a new opportunity to push forward and make progress.

But last fall, I slowly slipped into a new Friday mindset. I suddenly wanted everything to slow down. I wanted to spend time holed up with my kids, doting on each smile and every tantrum. …

Women tend to make better leaders, but they’re losing out to the overconfident man.

It is the hidden fault line in businesses big and small, a man’s whose confidence doesn’t match his competence. Despite promotions, seniority and leadership’s bias toward this individual, it is only a matter of time before the incompetence shows itself, damaging productivity, profits and morale.

Confidence seems to override skills tests, reference checks and demo presentations. Why? Because as a society, we’ve made the wrong assumption.

“Although we spend a great deal of time worshiping confident people that is only because of our assumption that they are also competent, yet there is only a 10 percent overlap between confidence and competence,” says Dr. …

Will you listen for her? We’ll show you how.

Men interrupt women. In every industry, men often unknowingly speak over women or simply disregard their ideas.

They interrupt women more than they interrupt other men and more than women interrupt well, anyone.

To the men reading this post, take a deep breath. No need to go on the defensive here. This is not a men-are-the-worst-thing-ever diatribe. I’m simply setting the scene for where we are now before discussing how we’ll get to a more balanced place of listening.

Finding this equilibrium will require work from men, and yes, women too.

It is this work that is the foundation of the new publication and community ListenForHer. …

Perfect your recall, ask questions and use empathy to encourage change.

I have a career stack, and I dismantle it often.

It is a ritual to help me reflect on my impact, to assess the meaning in my work.

This lopsided pile of cards, both glitter-full and glitter free, filled with words of thanks and fond project anecdotes, always leaves me uneasy, with more questions than comforts. Did I boss them or did I lead with my heart?

I don’t want to be a boss, I don’t strive to be the boss and neither should you. Instead, we should want to know that we’ve affected someone’s desire to give, to contribute their very best to the team or cause. …

How leaping from a job into the unknown can be good for your career and your sanity.

My toddler has taught me a very important lesson: Minutes are a valuable commodity.

Every night is the same. As the clock strikes eight, a sweet three-year-old voice turns determined, “Not yet mommy!” With his budding leadership skills, my son cajoles me into “just a few more minutes.” We watch the time and count together, and each minute feels like an eternity as I feel my opportunity for any “me time” tick away. Minutes are much longer than they appear.

Now consider how many minutes we spend working — a 40-hour work week for a year is a whooping 124,800 minutes. Is that time worth it? Are you where you want to be? …