Click on the Penny Button below to join in the Bloggers Change Poverty 2 Cent Campaign from October 26 to November 1.
Here is a short 25 second You Tube/Animoto Video to inspire your contribution:
Engage Beyond Ourselves: Calling All Bloggers
October 17, 2008 By Leave a Comment
Bloggers, will you give your two cents worth?
Click to Give
Join a small and significant campaign to make new cents about poverty between October 26 and November 1.
I invite all bloggers to join a campaign to pledge two cents a word for every word they write on their blog between October 26 and November 1.
Click on the coin above for the details.
Make Love Not War: Stop the War for Talent Now!
October 16, 2008 By 9 Comments
A personal rant against the War for Talent.
I have always been troubled by the so called “war for talent.” Now, I am beyond troubled, I am angry with the use of this metaphor for those of us who offer our best in organizations.
For example a Fast Company article on the war for talent stated:
According to a yearlong study conducted by McKinsey Co., the most important corporate resource over the next 20 years will be talent. It’s also the resource in shortest supply. Are you ready to fight for your fair share? … The McKinsey team is blunt about what will result from these trends: Its report is titled “The War for Talent.” The search for the best and the brightest will become a constant, costly battle, a fight with no final victory. Not only will companies have to devise more imaginative hiring practices; they will also have to work harder to keep their best people.
How does this fit with Citigroup cutting 11,000 jobs?
Why do we refer to getting good people as a war? Do you really see the workplace as a battleground?
Think about just a few of the implications of this very troubling metaphor for work and best performance:
- people are killed in wars
- there are huge social and economic costs
- there are casualties
- wars can go on for a very long time
- soldiers returning from war often have a number of transition challenges
- much is destroyed
Perhaps one constructive shred coming out of the economic upheaval will be an end to the war metaphor. If we keep thinking of work as war we don’t seem so fazed by the casualties – job loss and organizational failure can be dismissed as just another casualty of the war.
Make Love Not War:
- Let’s make love not war.
- Let’s remember to care about everyone we work with.
- Let’s work hard to create a connected community that works together for the betterment of all.
- Let’s use tough love and hold the economic generals accountable for their actions.
Let’s remember that love doesn’t mean being mushy, holding hands, and singing Kumbaya around the conference table — it means having the discipline, concentration, and patience to make the workplace a safe place to create results and enhance relationships.
If you insist on using a war metaphor, the war we truly need to wage is not for talent — it is for integrity, trust, respect, authenticity, empathy, and caring in a workplace that also gets the job done!
High-quality Relationships Connect Us To Happiness
October 16, 2008 By Leave a Comment
Here is a snippet of an interview with Robert Biswas-Diener author of, Happiness: Unlocking the Mysteries of Psychological Wealth, from the Worcester Telegram & Gazette:
What do happy people tend to have that less-happy people don’t?
Robert Biswas-Diener: They tend to have very high-quality, trusting and intimate close social relationships. People they can count on for support in times of need, people they can share their successes with, people that they can just have fun and enjoy hobbies and recreation with. And the least-happy people are far less likely to have these types of tight social networks and close relationships.
Interviewer: But are people happy because they have friends — or do they have friends because they’re happy?
R.B.: And the short answer is both. When you put people in a good mood, they become more attractive to others. Others like to seek out and interact with people who are in a good mood. So if you’re happy, that happiness is actually going to lead you to have more friends. And just the reverse is true as well. If you have good, high-quality social relationships (even if you don’t have many of them) that sense of social security will help lead you to be more happy.
If an employee stands tall in an organization, yet nobody knows, does he or she make a noise?
October 15, 2008 By Leave a Comment
Hello: Is there anybody out there?
Here is a tidbit from the Harvard Business Publishing daily stat feature:
Talented employees hoping for plum assignments might want to step up their networking efforts with colleagues. Only 13% of 400 human resource executives surveyed say they are “very capable” of locating an individual with a particular area of expertise within their company. These senior HR managers, who hail from 40 companies worldwide, acknowledge that without a system to capture and catalog specific backgrounds and skills, matching employees to positions can be a hit-or-miss affair dependent on anecdote and who-knows-whom. ~ SOURCE: IBM Global Human Capital Study, 2008
We need to not only engage with our work but to engage with others so that our best work is available to the organization.
Quick, list 10 to 20 people who know your strengths and how you add value.
If you had a hard time doing this you need to engage more fully with your network.
Photo Credit: Self Portrait, August 24, 2005 by http://www.flickr.com/photos/thomashawk/37022706/
Matthieu Ricard Talks About Happiness
October 15, 2008 By Leave a Comment
Here is a 2007 Google Talk with Matthieu Ricard on Happiness.
If happiness is an inner state, influenced by external conditions but not dependent on them, how can we achieve it? Ricard will examine the inner and outer factors that increase or diminish our sense of well-being, dissect the underlying mechanisms of happiness, and lead us to a way of looking at the mind itself based on his book, Happiness: A Guide to Life’s Most Important Skill and from the research in neuroscience on the effect of mind-training on the brain.Matthieu Ricard is a gifted scientist turned Buddhist monk, is a best selling author, translator, and photographer. He has lived and studied in the Himalayas for the last 35 years where he currently works on humanitarian projects. He is an active participant in the current scientific research on meditation and the brain
Small Happiness
October 14, 2008 By Leave a Comment
Sometimes people say that happiness is no small matter. Yet, the way of the small may be a powerful pathway to happiness.
True happiness is an acceptance of life as it is given to us, with its diminishment, mystery, uncontrollablility, and all…This attitude makes possible the kind of joy that endures hardship and the vacillating fortunes of life. This book explains the basic principles of being small and the practical skills to make everyday life sacred. These allow grace to come into our lives and bless us with happiness. ~ Michael Gellert: The Way of the Small.
Photo Credit: Tiny Plants 1 by http://www.flickr.com/photos/bac_clin/907678670/
Managing Economic Mayhem: When life throws you a lemon….duck!
October 14, 2008 By 4 Comments
A Personal 8-Point Manager Manifesto During Economic Mayhem
Here is a brief manifesto for managers during the current state of economic mayhem.
Which way to go?
Expect disengagement. People are concerned for their finances, their jobs, their work and their organizations. You should expect temporary acute spells of disengagement as people experience fears, worry, and uncertainty. As you see or hear people disengage from work stop and connect with them. Talk about what is going on and most of all: LISTEN.
Include yourself in the points made above. You are human first and a manager second. You will experience your own uncertainties and possible disengagement. You are not Superman or Superwoman and things are not super right now anyway. Be mindful or your own reactions and emotions and stay connected to your own sources of support: peers, friends, coach, etc.
Look for loss and give it voice. This is a significant economic change with a wide variety of personal, social, and economic impacts. Think through what people are losing or possibly losing and ensure that you attend to those loses. William Bridges, the quintessential author on change, once stated that the biggest failure of organizations to manage change was the failure to acknowledge who was losing what because of the change. We move through losses by acknowledgment, acceptance, and authentic actions not by pretending it is business as usual.
Engage fully in your work as a powerful antidote to fear. Engagement in work, even when we don’t feel like it, can give you focus and a feeling of contribution. You and your organization need full engagement right now and chronic disengagement will only exacerbate the current challenges. We can control our level of engagement and our responses to uncertainty…we cannot control the economy!
Eliminate Pollyanna positive thinking now. I never cared for statements such as, “when life throws you a lemon make lemonade.” When life throws me a lemon I duck. Then I get back up and figure out what to do. This is a time for authentic, and heartfelt leadership that is constructive not naive or blind. There may be a need for tough actions and behaviors that require a lot of courage and gumption on your part.
Practice authentic optimism. Martin Seligman, the former president of the American Psychological Association, taught us that optimists see the glass as half empty. Optimists believe there are bad events. Real optimists are careful when they see a bad event in not believing it will be permanent, pervasive and personal. Yes, there are probably actions you could have taken sooner but you are hardly personally responsible for the economic downturn. The impact may not be as pervasive as you think and if we know one thing about economics is that whether it is going up or going down it is never permanent. When an optimist assess a bad event they tend to see it as temporary, specific, and not their fault. If you are sinking into a financial funk, I recommend you study Martin Seligman’s Learned Optimism.
Upturn your resilience to balance the economic downturn. Resiliency is your ability to adaptat to challenging or threatening circumstances. Refine and enhance your problem solving, communication, leadership, self awareness, creativity, interpersonal, social, and emotional skills. As Micheal Jordan said, Obstacles don’t have to stop you. If you run into a wall (or Wall Street) , don’t turn around and give up. Figure out how to climb it, go through it, or work around it.
Laugh to last. Don’t lose your sense of humor and ensure when you engage in humor that it is respectful. If you can laugh, you can last. Charlie Chaplin once said, “life is a tragedy in close up and a comedy in long shot.” Don’t take too long to get a long shot or to see the humor of the situation while still acknowledging the challenges, problems, and obstacles ahead. The gravity of the situation can bring you down but levity can bring you back up.
Adversity has the potential to isolate or create connections. Stay composed and connected, and remember: If it is to be, it is up to we.
Photo Credit: Mayhem by http://www.flickr.com/photos/brianscott/127156608/
Worry Work: Will it Work?
October 13, 2008 By Leave a Comment
We may find during the economic upheaval that our minds move to fret and worry.
Peter Vajada wrote an insightful article on Facing Challenging Times: Worry is not Requirement. Peter can be found at http://www.spiritheart.net/. Here is a short section from Peter’s article:
A vast (and growing) number of folks are worried about job security. Its understandable. But, does it help
to worry?
Worrying, in fact, can exacerbate one’s experience. Worry and anxiety take a huge toll on one’s mental, physical, emotional and spiritual energy. Anxiety leads to many psycho-somatic symptoms and potentially serious health issues. Stress in the form of headaches, high blood pressure, insomnia, exhaustion, fogginess and confusion, body aches and muscle tension are a major cause of disengagement from work, i.e., presenteeism, and in fact, disengagement from all of life.
When folks are worried and feeling anxious about work, they put in less effort, perform less efficiently and lose focus. The result is their feeling an even more intense fear.
In this debilitated, fear-based, state folks have a serious challenge in showing up. In their day-to-day life at work, these folks are often seen as distracted, disengaged, distant or not performing as a “team player”.
To read the entire PDF of the article and learn how to weaken or wrestle worry right out of your mind, click here: facing-challenging-times-worry-is-not-a-requirement
To learn more about Peter and his work visit his site at www.spiritheart.net.
Slide Into Happiness
October 12, 2008 By Leave a Comment
Here is another happiness slide presentation from www.slideshare.net:
A Happy Business Model?
October 12, 2008 By Leave a Comment
The economy is turbulent and many people are feeling unhappy, worried, and uncertain. Here is a lengthy slideshare presentation on a Happy Business Model.
To all the Canadian readers, Happy Thanksgiving.
If the slides do no appear in this window, click here.
What are you reading this weekend?
October 11, 2008 By Leave a Comment
I hope you have a good weekend break.
It is Thanksgiving weekend in Canada. At times like this I always think it is better to eat turkey than be a turkey.
I hope you read something that inspires, informs, or invigorates you this weekend.
Drawing by Elizabeth Perry: http://www.elizabethperry.com/woolgathering/2008/10/reading-3.html
