Handle Things A Little At A Time
I was having a conversation with a friend of mine I know from the gym. She said, “I hate my life.” Whoa. Stop. “Maybe there are some things you dislike about life at the moment, but do you really hate your life?” I asked. She laughed and said ‘no,’ but that she was in a funk.
Life is as life is. The most successful people in life (and I define successful people in life as those who love their lives, not just those that have the most stuff) are those who find small ways to stay upbeat, happy and engaged regardless what comes their way. They reconnect to small meaningful things during the day to remind themselves of what is going right instead of what is going wrong. They make the time for attitude mini-makeovers – minor changes in attitude and approach to focus on abundance and possibility, not scarcity and impossibility.
Here are two examples:
1. When you notice your belt is getting a little tighter than it should, eliminate snacks for the week, or replace them with fruit. Don’t change all your eating habits, just select one thing and either eliminate an abuse or add something of value. It helps you feel in charge, it is easier to do and it helps you address an issue. You feel empowered and capable. It does great things for your attitude.
2. When you see that times are tight and you have less money for the old traditions of eating out, going to movies or buying things at will, you modify just a bit to have friends over, play board games, go for coffee instead of meals, or plan a day of window shopping instead of store shopping. Life is still fun, but now it doesn’t put you into a financial situation you can’t afford. You feel empowered and capable. It does great things for your attitude.
Human nature seems to drive us to notice what is not right, then spend our time complaining about it and making it larger than it is. True, life does send us true traumas. So, to me, when it is not a true trauma, don’t make it one. See things as they are, realizing that life is as it is; our job is to find ways to be happy and successful with whatever comes our way. And to quote from Winnie the Pooh (it is amazing where wisdom can come from), “You are braver than you believe, stronger than you seem, and smarter than you think.” Just handle things a little at a time.
For more information go to www.LiveFIredUp.com.
Get Results In A Period of Change
Change in the workplace is the new constant. With the increase in access to information, successful organizations must always be adapting, changing, improving and growing. This can wear your employees out.
So how do you help your team thrive and learn to welcome change? How do you build their confidence, energy and engagement when many of them feel like they are “running on empty?” I’ll share four ways in a moment, but see if you and your employees can relate to this situation:
You come from a meeting and are overwhelmed by new initiatives, new directions or added work. You look at the page or pages of notes, not sure where to start, or what is most important. Though you know the change is important, you can’t get your head around all that you need to do. You feel overwhelmed before you even start. And this directly impacts your attitude, effort and ultimately your success.
So here are four ways to help your employees stay confident and productive in a workplace of exponential change:
1. Provide absolute clarity of direction, expectations and results.
2. Divide responsibilities into smaller, scalable components; focus on the critical things, not everything.
3. Build in success momentum; find ways for to achieve small immediate successes to activate energy and confidence.
4. Be (more) available for support, training, dialog and applause.
In today’s smaller workforce, chances are better that those employees who remain are your better employees (and if they aren’t, why not?) – because you know you have to get more done with less. Though you have great people, they still can get overwhelmed by the amount of change.
Just presenting a new project, or informing your employees of a need to change, does not make the change happen well, or keep their energy high. Instead, it takes a new and more connected approach to managing to make changes when change is hard. Help them learn new habits that will activate their performance in any period of change.
Please share this with someone who can benefit from it and contact me to help you better connect to your employees to activate their passionate performance. Be sure to check out Switch by Chip and Dan Heath. For more information go to www.LiveFiredUp.com.
It Is Always Someone Else’s Fault
We, as a culture, are great at the blame game. Whenever something happens – we stumble on the street, undercook a meal, back into another car, the wind blows a tree limb down – we first look to whom we can blame. And the more we look for others to be at fault, the less we own our responses – the less we take responsibility for our choices, actions and outcomes.
So, let’s try something. This will be the only time I’ll let you blame.
Complete this phrase in as many ways as you want:
“If it weren’t for__________________, I could (would) be doing _______________.
Got your list?
Here are some I have heard lately:
If it weren’t for this recession, I’d have a better job (or a job).
If it weren’t for my work schedule, I’d eat better and be healthier.
If it weren’t for the kids’ activities schedule, the house would be cleaner.
If it weren’t for my boss’s mental instability, I would have been promoted already.
If it weren’t for wife’s (husband’s) family, I would enjoy the holidays.
I find blaming wears me out. After blaming, nothing happens. Nothing changes. Now I am tired and not any better.
Here is what I offer. If each of your “If it weren’t for ______” statements are truly important to you, then it is critical for you to own the result. So, if you said, “If it weren’t for my work schedule, I’d eat better and be healthier,” how will you own this result instead of blame the work schedule? Can you prepare food to take with you, have family members help you cook, investigate new quick and easy, healthy foods and recipes, redefine your work hours to build in exercise, yoga or meditation time, find others with similar schedules and see how they make it work? It is about taking ownership of what you need to happen. No excuses.
So to me, the choices are: get worn out by blaming others and having no resolution, or, own the outcome and make changes in our behaviors to get the desired result.
This week, pick one of your “If it weren’t for ______” statements, and own its outcome. Just do one. Then next week, do another, and another. Soon you’ll see that when you own the results, things happen. And try this with your kids and your teammates in the workplace. Create a “blame-free” zone.
Please forward this to someone who can benefit from it.
My Employees Are Better Than Your Employees
he July/August issue of Fast Company has a story titled, “Build A Better Mousetrap” that introduces the winners of the 2010 International Design Excellence Awards. The article in the issue introduces the blending of left and right brain thinking that resulted in products that are not only exceptional, but design-rich and beautiful. They include flash drives in the shape of keys, a FitBit tracker that looks like a piece of jewelry but measures steps taken calories burned, a new family of design-appealing work chairs, a work light with the flexibility and grace of a heron’s neck, and other really outrageous stuff (it is worth getting this issue just to see the amazing blending of left brain practicality and purpose, with right brain beauty and esthetics – no easy feat).
So why bring this up?
These are products imagined by employees – fired up, passionate and engaged employees. Bored, tired and disengaged employees don’t dream up the combination of beauty and function. Miscast, aggravated or unappreciated employees don’t dream up products that get awards in national magazines. This is more a statement of the creative contribution, engagement and loyalty of employees.
It is not always management that invents, innovates and creates. Management never has all the answers or all the ideas. In fact, the reason why employees are so good at this is they are connected to networks of other idea generators. They are always thinking. And when they work in jobs that play to their best talents, are passionate about what they do and feel a personal connection to their management and teams, these employees share their best ideas; they willingly invent and focus on adding value and making a difference.
How employee-focused is your workplace culture? In my book, Fire Up! Your Employees, I present the 10 components of a powerful employee-focused workplace culture. Not all of these ten components of culture need to be in place, but the more of these the organization can include, the more connected and supported the employee feels. And the more this happens, the more present, thinking and innovating the employee becomes. This is what creates organizational greatness.
Never underestimate the innovation and idea potential of a highly engaged employee. Hire the right employees, connect them emotionally to what they do, and share your companies dreams, opportunities and challenges with them. When employees feel included and valued, they contribute their best. And they may just help you invent a better mousetrap. And who knows, it may be clever enough to earn its way into Fast Company.
Please forward this to someone who can benefit form it and contact me to help you build a powerful employee-focused workplace culture.
Kick It Up
Look at the word “extraordinary” – made up of “extra” and “ordinary” – something more than ordinary. So, what is what is ordinary for you? And what would be EXTRAordinary for you?
Since we each invent our lives, and it is our choice to invent them in an ordinary or an extraordinary way, why do so many people choose ordinary? To kick it up and do extraordinary requires us to know ourselves so that we can add more of the things we are good at and passionate about doing to our lives – we then know what is ordinary or extraordinary – for us.
Let me share two stories of those who choose extraordinary.
Sam is the son of a friend of mine. He has always wanted to be an actor. His passion is to act. He was in all the plays in high school and is even working on his first screenplay. It is all he can think of.
Sam earned and saved enough money and moved to Los Angeles to be closer to the movie industry. And like all aspiring actors, is working several odd jobs to afford putting himself into the environment that activates his greatest passions. His mom worries about him but she also realizes that he is living an extraordinary life – for him. He isn’t worried about buying a house, having a fancy car. He puts himself into areas that get him noticed for his acting and his writing. He couldn’t be happier – his life is kicked up – and is extraordinary – for him. He knows himself. He knows what makes life great for him and he goes for it.
I have another good friend whose youngest son recently came out. Though she had suspected he was gay for years, it is now out in the open. She told me her greatest sadness about him coming out was that he was not going to have a normal life – a normal life according to her terms. But after hours of conversation with each other, she now realizes that his life is very happy – for him. Getting married to comply with family expectations would have given him someone else’s life. He is now living openly and honestly and is creating his own extraordinary life – as an exceptional attorney. She can now see that extraordinary had to be his definition. And to know what that is, he had to know himself and be honest with himself.
So, how well do you know yourself? What makes life ordinary and what makes life extraordinary – for you?
You choose what you want life to be and since you do not get this day back, shouldn’t it be an extraordinary, “kicked-up” kind of day? That is my goal each day.
What would make today extraordinary for you? And how will you make it happen?
For more information and tools to help know yourself, go to www.LiveFiredUp.com.