For years, I assumed that seeing the need meant I was responsible for responding to it.

I no longer believe that.

I still believe our work is one of the most powerful ways we serve others and shape our communities. But I have learned that meaningful work requires more than availability. It also requires discernment.

Discernment is not simply seeing a need; it is understanding your responsibility toward that need. We are responsible not only for honing and using our gifts, but for discerning where, when and how those gifts should be used.

There’s something in the air. It’s unspoken, but everyone feels it. Yes all you ‘pumpkin spice’ girls, ‘sweater weather’ is upon us. Nights are getting a little cooler; leaves are turning colours and come mid-September we start to feel day light becoming noticeably shorter. Already many of us are wistfully looking back on our carefree, summer days with longing sighs, as we try to gird ourselves for the upcoming back-to-routine procession into fall. Now while you’d have to be living under a rock not to feel all the ‘back-to-school’ energy, no one does September quite like the fashion industry, where it’s known by insiders as the “real” new year.

Every year women and men around the globe look forward to the cultural phenomenon that is American Vogue’s September Issue as the pre-eminent heralder of the coming year’s looks and trends. Not only is it the heaviest and thickest of its publications, it’s also Vogue’s most lucrative and influential single issue setting the tone for their entire year ahead. What’s been the secret to the enormous success of Vogue’s September Issue? Three words: The Ruthless Edit.