Do you scroll? Who am I kidding, of course you do. I do too. And then I feel disappointed in myself and try to put my phone away. I know every time I engage in it, it shortens my attention span even more.

Lately, it feels like everything is shrinking. We are living in an era of rapid-fire content and quick soundbites. The pressure to distill complex ideas into instant takeaways is higher than ever. And frankly...we're getting lazier by the minute. Deep conversations exhaust us because we just don't have the muscles for them anymore.

But on our podcast, Between the Threads, we intentionally choose a different path. We slow down. We take the time to truly understand the humans behind the massive work. In our latest episode, I had the privilege of sitting down with Isha Khan, the CEO of the Canadian Museum for Human Rights in Winnipeg.

As a lawyer and organizational leader, Isha sits squarely at the intersection of history, systemic change, and human dignity. Our conversation pulled at some deeply profound threads that every leader, builder, and changemaker needs to hear. So here goes!

The Pivotal Moment Myth

When we look at human rights advocates, we often expect them to share one massive, cinematic trauma that altered the trajectory of their life. But Isha reminded me that the path is usually much quieter. It’s built from a collection of tiny, everyday moments of friction that only make sense in hindsight.

She spoke candidly about growing up in Winnipeg as the child of immigrants—navigating the subtle othering of the 1970s, of pretending you got presents for Christmas or what your tree looked like just because all the other kids celebrated Christmas, or watching how people treated her mother differently because of her accent.

We don’t need to compete in a hierarchy of suffering to hold space for justice. The daily observations of how we treat one another are more than enough.

Cleaning Our Own Courtyards First

In 2020, right as Isha was appointed CEO, the CMHR made national headlines as staff publicly called out internal systemic racism and toxic workplace dynamics. Talk about a trial by fire. Instead of shrinking from it, Isha leaned in.

She knew that before an institution can externally share stories of global human rights, it has to listen to the stories of harm within its own walls. As she told me: “Creating an equitable organization is the long game that sort of never ends. I fixed things until I haven't.”

Growing up, daada jaani, my grandfather, used to say: the hardest of the conversations are in our own courtyards, puttar. Easier said than done. At the end of the day, we have the most to lose in our own courtyards, in our own communities, in our own workplaces. Its easier to go fix other peoples' issues. Wait, is this why the "developed world" is so obsessed with "saving developing nations".....I digress. Let's tackle this another time.

Ultimately, true leadership means having the courage to look at your own internal failures before you jump into fixing the world.

Moving Past Extractive Learning

Too often, diversity and inclusion efforts rely on an extractive approach; expecting marginalized groups to distill their lived experiences into a 10-slide perfectly polished presentation just to match a corporate and staff attention span.

Isha noted that true progress in museums and in workplaces, isn't just about consulting communities; it’s about giving them true ownership of how their stories are told. When we engage with heavy history, we carry a responsibility. We can't just consume it for quick tidbits or social media photos. We have to practice relational learning—recognizing that we are engaging with a living, breathing human experience.

Yes, the world right may feel like a sad bruised peach right now. But human rights aren't a distant North Star we are trying to reach. They are our bedrock foundation. The work ahead for all of us is learning how to live those foundational principles out loud, every single day.

Thank you, Isha, for your radical honesty and leadership.

You can listen to our full, unhurried conversation on the latest episode of Between the Threads on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, or your favorite platform.

To my fellow leaders: How do you hold space for deep, uncomfortable, and necessary conversations within your own teams?