Plan Your Work, Then Work Your Plan

Every business should do at least SOME business planning before starting or expanding operations. Whether that’s the two page version with targets, the five page variant with some analysis (more on that next week), or the 37 page detailed masterpiece, every business needs to do some of this.

There are two basic steps to business planning.

First, Plan Your Work

Business planning is simply a technique for figuring out where you want to go and how you’re going to get there. Mostly a business plan is done to plan your work, including strategies to overcome those inevitable bumps in the road. Business planning doesn’t have to be complicated; it just needs to answer those questions that need to be answered before you start the business, with educated guesses on all the rest.

Then, Work Your Plan

But here’s the thing. Creating a plan is not enough. You need to implement it. I know that sounds painfully obvious, but the truth of the matter is that many business plans are put away after they’re written and never looked at again. And that’s not because they’re not relevant any more, but because many people do not follow the second essential step of business planning: Work Your Plan. As you review results and decide on your monthly or weekly priorities, refer back to your plan. You did some good thinking back then, and even if it’s no longer completely true, much of it still is. Take the time to figure out what is needed to carry out the strategies and achieve the results presented in that plan. Sure, make adjustments, but don’t start from scratch. You have a plan: work it.

At some point, you’ll need to revise the plan, but in the meantime, stick with it as much as possible. Until you change it, working your plan is the best way to get to where you want to go.

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For more resources, see our Library topic Business Planning.

August 19, 2010September 26, 2022

Unleashing the Power of your Story—V

Moses, Dorothy, and the Hero’s journey

We have been focusing on leaders’ deep systemic stories–how they were formed, how they shape your leadership behavior, and how you can learn to see, and if you desire, change them. In this post, we will look at the larger cultural context for our individual stories.

Making Meaning through Stories

We as human beings are meaning making creatures. One of the ways we make meaning for ourselves as individuals is through our own systemic stories. One of the ways we make meaning of our larger world and our place in it is through the stories we create about life and about our relationships with each other, with our planet, and with the heavens. Examples of these cultural stories include creation stories; flood stories; Eden stories; stories of exodus and deliverance; wandering in the wilderness; stories of light and hope; fairy tales; and stories about birth, death, and regeneration.

Our individual stories are narratives we have told ourselves about our own experiences in our life journeys. Our larger cultural stories are narratives we have created about our broader human experience. All of these stories, our personal ones and our larger myths, are interconnected. Understanding one group of stories helps us learn from the others.

Where do our stories come from?

What are our broader cultural myths really about? Where do they come from? I suggested above that they are about our human experience and our desire to make meaning of that experience. Specifically, I believe our cultural myths emerge from three interrelated arenas:

Our cycle of life from birth through childhood, adulthood, mid-life, maturity, and death.
Our relationship with the earth and the seasons
Our relationships with others—our parents, our families, our friends, and our larger communities.

The Hero’s Journey

Joseph Campbell found that, while there are indeed differences, there are also remarkable parallels among the archetypal stories, or myths, across all cultures. These parallels reflect commonalities in the human condition.

Campbell also indentified a powerful prototypical story he called The Hero’s Journey. Hero’s journey stories appear in all cultures, and their underlying structures are much the same. The basic sequence of a hero’s journey story is:

The hero begins in a “stable” state.
Something breaks her loose.
He goes into a difficult period, the pit, a trauma.
She emerges from that dark night of the soul and goes on a journey, a quest to accomplish some great thing, meet some great challenge, and/or get to a desired place.
The hero experiences several tests along the way
If the hero is successful in his journey, he achieves his goal, meets his great challenge, and reaches his desired destination.

Moses and the Exodus

The account of Moses and the Exodus is a mid-life hero’s journey. Moses left Egypt as a young man and for many years had a stable life and family in the desert. The burning bush experience—through which he was commissioned by Yahweh to lead his people to freedom and into the Promised Land–broke him loose from that comfortable place. He re-entered Egypt and faced the threat of the Pharaoh and his minions. He became the vehicle for the plagues visited upon Egypt. He led the Children of Israel through the climactic trauma of crossing the Red Sea, the closing of which destroyed Pharaoh’s pursuing armies. Moses then led his people in a 40-year journey through the desert looking for the Promised Land.

Dorothy and the Yellow Brick Road

The story of Dorothy in The Wizard of Oz is a coming of age hero’s journey. Though the content is totally different, there are many thematic similarities to Moses’ story. Dorothy was in Kansas on the farm (a stable place). The cyclone broke her loose from that space, and she experienced the storm’s powerful trauma. As Moses had Pharaoh as a nemesis, Dorothy had the Wicked Witches. As going through the Red Sea destroyed Pharaoh’s armies, when Dorothy came through the tornado, the house she was in killed the Wicked Witch of the East. Moses and the Children of Israel came through the Red Sea to a strange desert with a long journey and desired destination ahead of them. Dorothy came through the tornado, landed in the strange Land of Oz, and soon began her journey back home. On his journey, Moses experienced many tests—tests of his leadership; a sometimes rebellious, idolatrous group of followers; the lack of food; and the summons to Mount Sinai. Dorothy was also tested—the plants that made her and her friends fall asleep; getting access to the Wizard; the castle of the Wicked Witch of the West; the fact that the Wizard was hokum. To pass these tests, both Moses and Dorothy needed to use the best resources of their hearts, their minds, and their courage.

Your own Hero’s Journey

With careful examination, you will find that your story is also a quest that has a sequence similar to Moses’ and Dorothy’s. We start in what we initially experience as a safe protected place, at home with our parents. We feel loved. Over time, we learn that our situation, and the love we receive are not perfect (not necessarily due to the fact that anyone is s bad person—most often simply due to the imperfection of the human condition). We experience our first great test, the first great question of life: “Am I worthy, am I loved? Am I loveable?” We begin our life journey in search of the answer to that question and in search of the love we believe we have lost.

Our next test comes in young adulthood, when we find ourselves answering the second great question of life: “What am I going to do with my life on the planet? Who is the best person I can be in the world?”

During mid-life we face our third great challenge. We look back on our lives, and ask ourselves the third great question: “Have I been the best person I can be?” Have I led a life of worth and meaning?”

And finally, in maturity, we experience our fourth great test. We look both backward and forward and ask ourselves, “How can I leave the planet a better place than I found it? What is the legacy I want to leave behind?”

If we answer these four great questions of life successfully, we reach our “promised land”—the knowledge that we have led a life of worth and meaning.

The Tapestry of Life

Your leadership journey, your overall life journey, and your journey in your current phase of life are intricately intertwined. They are all variations of your own hero’s journey. You reach a plateau and are comfortable there—for a while. Something occurs to break you loose. You are no longer as comfortable; you experience a period of transition. You set out on the next phase of your journey to achieve a certain goal and reach a desired point—to become a powerful leader, to guide your organization through a period of major change, to make your mark, or to establish your legacy–to show yourself, others, and your world that you ARE worthy, loved, loveable, and successful, that you are indeed a good human being. Such is the nature of your life journey; such is your hero’s journey; such is your leadership story; and such is the human condition. They are all part of one whole cloth.

What you can do

To help yourself learn your own present and desired story, ask yourself, “Where am I in my life journey, right now? What was my last plateau? What shook me loose? What is my destination, my goal? And, how do I proceed effectively and humanely to achieve my goal?” The answers to these questions will begin paint the picture of your own hero’s journey.

Where do we go from here?

My next post will the last in this series on Unleashing the Power of your Story. I will end the series by summarizing the steps you can take, the specific questions you can ask and answer for yourself, to identify your present and desired leadership stories and take the steps to move yourself powerfully from one to the other.

Meanwhile, Good Journey…

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If you would like to learn more about story work and/or consider story coaching, feel free to call or email me at:

Steven P. Ober EdD
President: Chrysalis Executive Coaching & Consulting
Partner: Systems Perspectives, LLC
Office: PO Box 278, Oakham, MA 01068
Home: 278 Crocker Nye Rd., Oakham, MA 01068
O: 508.882.1025 M: 978.590.4219
Email: Steve@ChrysalisCoaching.org
www.ChrysalisCoaching.org

Steve is a senior executive coach and consultant. He has developed and successfully uses a powerful approach to leadership coaching, Creating your Leadership Story, which enables leaders to make deep, lasting improvements in their leadership effectives in short periods of time. He and a group of partners have created a breakthrough educational program, Coaching from a Systems Perspective, in which you can significantly enhance your abilities as a systemic leadership coach. See http://SystemsPerspectivesLLC.com.

August 18, 2010September 26, 2022

Coaching Tool – The Power of Vision

A dart pin on a black and white dart board

Successful people are those who have a Vision. They are fulfilled because they are living a life by their own design. They accomplish more in less time because they know where they are going.

Here are 3 Coaching Tips for Creating Your Vision:

1. Begin with the End in Mind. In 5, 10, 20+ years from now what do you want to accomplish in your life? What are your aspirations? What do you want? When do you want it? What will you take a stand for? What is your purpose? Your legacy? Then, center your priorities and activities on your vision and what is important to you.

2. Focus. Think about what you want, not what you don’t want. Guard your thoughts carefully because they create your experiences.

3. Set milestones. Create markers or steps along the way to assure you are on track. Celebrate small successes to keep your motivation high.

As the adage goes, “If you don’t know where you are going, you will end up somewhere else”.

What is your Vision for your life?

For more resources, see the Library topic Personal and Professional Coaching.

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Pam Solberg-Tapper MHSA, PCC – I spark high achieving business leaders to get on fire about their lives, develop their leading edge, be extraordinary and do great things for the world. How can I help you? Contact me at CoachPam@cpinternet.com or Linkedin: http://www.linkedin.com/pub/pam-solberg-tapper/13/600/745

August 17, 2010March 27, 2023

The Strategic Advantage of the Upstart Competitor

From the days of ancient warfare, large armies have struggled with an inherent disadvantage: Sheer size presents an easy target for a quick and nimble attack force. The red-coated, regimented British struggled to fend off undisciplined American revolutionaries. The Vietnam era Americans could not defend themselves adequately from the pesky, unpredictable Viet Cong.

In the modern strategic arena, an upstart company can gain advantage over larger and well established rivals by identifying an attractive and profitable niche of their rival’s customers. “Cherry picking” initiatives seek to snatch away the most profitable customers from a market leader, while leaving the other company with the more cumbersome and less profitable dregs among their customers.

Have you seen the Progressive Insurance commercials touting the way their service people will provide you not just with a quote from Progressive, but also with sometimes even more desirable quotes you might receive from their competitors?

Altruistic? Hardly. Because of their superior information technology, Progressive is able to sort the customers they do want from the ones they don’t. That is, if you as an automobile driver are likely to drain off more money in claims than you’ll restore by paying premiums, Progressive will gladly help you find a nice insurance provider down the street… one who’ll give you a lower fee than will Progressive. If you are recognized by the company as a safe driver – meaning Progressive is safe from the risk of having to pay you for a claim – then Progressive wants you and will compete aggressively to get you. For Progressive as the smaller attacker, that’s cherry picking the profitable customers while saddling the larger opponent with an ever more needy and draining customer base.

In recent years, Progressive has reinforced the notion of the insurance business as a free wheeling “marketplace,” as characterized by their “store lady” hosting a grocery market of insurance products, encouraging us all to “shop” for the best deal. Allstate’s notion of “good hands”? The comfort of a long and trusting relationship as touted by State Farm? Well, that’s defensive strategy as the insurance behemoths of old urge us to stay in place. By way of contrast, the Progressive lady wants us out shopping for new and exciting relationships so the company can pry loose the most desirable customers.

What to do? Let’s look to the ancients for advice… The most influential treatise on military strategy between the age of the Romans and the Napoleonic era was written by the Roman citizen known as Vegetius in the fourth century A.D. His writing was cherished as the Bible of Strategy by Charlemagne, Richard the Lion Hearted, and England’s Henry II. Vegetius’ De Re Militari contains insight into strategic and operational planning that are relevant still.

By Vegetius’ time, the great empire of Rome was in its waning days, its once mighty military descending into atrophy and decay. The days of Julius and Augustus Caesar were a vague memory, having passed four hundred years earlier. Vegetius wrote about “the ancients,” the generals and leaders of Rome a centuries before his time, and sought to capture and share concepts of strategy that had put Rome civilization into its long-held position of dominance. Despite his aspiration to help restore Rome to its days of glory, Vegetius came along too late to make an impact, and he was little noticed by Romans of the time. In the centuries to come, though, his work became a staple for strategists and leaders throughout Europe.

Among the key advice we receive from Vegetius: Avoid unnecessary impedimenta. Impedimenta, the encumbrance of supply trains and support people and materiel, impedes the ability of an army or organization to move about the strategic space in a nimble, flexible manner. Clearly, for example, Southwest Airlines has sustained its success for decades in competition with the so-called “major” air carriers because its leaders have minimized impedimenta, while American, Delta, United and the others remain encumbered by large “hub” airports, a variety of planes and equipment requiring redundant teams of pilots and technicians, and large, entrenched, and increasingly inflexible workforces.

Vegetius said this:
“An army too numerous is subject to many dangers and inconveniences. Its bulk makes it slow and unwieldy in its motions; and as it is obliged to march in columns of great length, it is exposed to the risk of being continually harassed and insulted by inconsiderable parties of the enemy. The encumbrance of the baggage is an occasion of its being surprised in its passage through difficult places or over rivers. The difficulty of providing forage for such numbers of horses and other beasts is very great.”

Advice for the strategist: heed the direction of Vegetius. Smaller, ambitious businesses should and will identify desirable niche markets and pursue them aggressively and precisely. You cannot take on the established competitor full force to full force. But you can win a niche and establish a beachhead from which to pursue future expansion.

If you are the entrenched but wary player, then as strategist you must slow the erosion of advantages, and continually seek new high ground representing future competitive advantage. Good strategic thinking for established businesses means scanning the competitive environment for unwanted challenges, and staying nimble enough to do battle in the niches that count. Moreover, the strategist must erect “barriers to entry” to protect present advantages.

August 17, 2010January 26, 2022

PM Certification – does it make a difference?

Certification programmes in vocational qualifications have exploded in the past 10 years or so, and the project management world is no different.

In the US, the Project Management Institute’s “PMP” qualification probably leads to way. In the UK we have a similar qualifications from our own “Association of Project Management”, for example “APMP” – we also have Prince2 qualifications, which is primarily the UK Government’s project management methodology.

But here’s my question: do you think that having a certificated project manager makes a real difference to the project or otherwise?

Let us know your thoughts?

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For more resources, see the Library topic Project Management.

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August 17, 2010September 26, 2022

Motivation- Whose job is it anyway?

A motivational card beside a mobile phone on a desk

There is a lot of information written about motivation. New manager/leader training found in organizations and books everywhere has at least one course or chapter devoted to the topic of employee motivation. Located within the material, one will find lists of tips and tricks to keeping employees happy and motivated to meet performance objectives. There is another school of thought that believes it is not the manager’s responsibility to motivate employees or create the motivation for employees. Instead it is the responsibility of the manager to hire motivated employees and then act in such a way to keep them motivated and stay away from things that would de-motivate.

After many years of teaching motivation techniques to managers, I have come to the realization that the later is actually the way to go. In reality everyone is motivated by something different. People seek jobs that are a match for their needs. For some, that might be a job that provides training or skills in area of interest; for others, the perfect job will allow them to work flexible hours to meet the needs of their family while utilizing already developed skills. Regardless of the motivation to seek a job or the factors that keep one motivated on the job, the first step for a manager/leader who wants to maximize the discretionary effort of employees is to figure it out.

What do you do that de-motivates your team? Have you ever said, “Oh, he loves it when I do that?” assuming your actions are inspiring or motivating? Keep in mind, if you are the manager/leader you have the control in the situation and the employee is well aware of this fact. He might not actually love it.

What things do you leaders do that de-motivate you?

Your thoughts are welcomed and encouraged!

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For more resources, See the Human Resources library.

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August 17, 2010September 26, 2022

Introduction to Dynamical Leadership by Royce Holladay

A dynamic leader making a handstack with her team

In today’s turbulent landscape, change is multidimensional. Leaders must consider speed and scope of change, along with multiple forces buffeting organizations from all directions—new technologies, increasing difference, expanding markets, increased customer and employee expectations, fiscal meltdowns, political battles. Leaders and organizations respond quickly to remain sustainable in today’s unpredictable landscape.

The study of human systems dynamics teaches that sustainability requires a system to adapt to whatever it encounters, as it holds its mission and values. An organization’s ability to thrive depends on its adaptive capacity, requiring it to be

Sensitive to changing patterns,
Flexible in response, and
Robust to withstand multiple challenges.

In our book, Dynamical Leadership: Building Adaptive Capacity for Uncertain Times, Kristine Quade and I offer a model of leadership built on assumptions about organizations as complex systems. While some of these may sound counter to traditional approaches, they express a worldview of human system dynamics that honors inherent complexity of organizations in the 21^st century and explain why adaptive capacity is crucial today.

Life is a tapestry of different textures and colors. The pattern becomes visible because of unique differences from one yarn to the next. Human interactions are similarly woven through life, play, and work. The messiness inherent to human systems makes sense to dynamical leaders, and they see the tapestry that is their organization.

As the beat goes on complex systems organize toward “fit.” Interactions among individuals are responses and counter-responses. One individual shifts, calling for adjustments by others, triggering reactions elsewhere. This balancing act is continuous and simultaneous, creating a system-wide rhythm as the beat to which dynamical leaders are specifically attuned. They know the beat continues as long as the organization is open and vibrant.

There is no “there” there as patterns emerge continuously, whether or not they are watched. A system doesn’t self-organize toward a single point that signals some arbitrary conclusion. Rather, the system’s goal is fitness in a constantly shifting environment, responding to demands, seeking new opportunities, and finding new vistas. Dynamical leaders expect this and don’t wait for it to settle down or stop changing. They value this “dance” between the organization and its environment as necessary to sustainability.

Coherence is as good as it gets when work aligns with values and people across the system respond in similar ways. Dynamical leaders recognize there is no “perfect state,” and sustainability cannot be judged against external measures. The most useful measure of sustainability reflects coherence among parts of the system.

Things will go “bump” as difference within a system creates tension when individuals collaborate, build trust, or acknowledge fear. Tensions also emerge as the organization “bumps” against its environment. The goal of adaptive capacity is not to eliminate tension; it is to understand sources of tension, learn to negotiate their impact, and move forward.

There is magic in fractals as some patterns reverberate throughout the system. When similar behavior is observed in leaders, groups, and individuals, it is a fractal pattern. Behavior of senior leaders may be replicated at various levels in multiple ways. To influence a fractal at one level leverages work at others, magnifying impact of an intervention, increasing adaptive capacity.

Power is abundant, and multiplies as it’s shared. In complex systems, power is the ability to influence, and is no longer associated only with position or title. Everyone can influence, and as they do, creativity and efficacy are unleashed. Sharing power is not about leaders abdicating responsibilities or accountabilities. It is honoring individuals’ abilities to contribute to overall performance.

We believe there’s no silver bullet for today’s complex leadership dilemmas. We also believe, however, there is a path leaders can take to:

Increase ability to thrive in today’s turbulence,
Support others in contributing to sustainability,
Respond productively to shifting needs, and
Step into powerful roles as dynamical leaders in a complex world.

Royce Holladay

Director, The Network

HSD Institute

rholladay@hsdinstitute.org

www.hsdnistitute.org

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Steve Wolinski provides leadership development, organizational change and talent management services to numerous public, private and non-profit organizations.

August 17, 2010April 27, 2022

Leadership for a Major Gifts Program (Part 1 of 2)

a-businesswoman-excited-after-getting-a-major-gift-from-a-friend

The most critical factor in creating a MG Program is the availability and willingness of a Leadership cadre — volunteers who will accept responsibility for the success of that program.

It is a “given,” in the creation of a major gifts program, that if you build a relationship with your “Friends”/“Prospects” that involves them — gets them working with you toward attainment of your mission, when you actually ask for the (major) gift, their response is more likely to be, “Of course, what took you so long to ask !?”

But, to get your Friends to the point where they can be considered serious Major Gift “Prospects,” you must commit to a process that may not result in a Major Gift for months, or years — it can be a different timeframe for each Friend.

Sure, you might be able to get your Friends to write you one-or-more checks during the cultivation period, but the amounts of those checks would likely not qualify as “major” — they would not fit into one of the top categories on the “Gift Range Pyramid,” and not, therefore, move you significantly closer to your dollar “goal.”

Getting those (non-major) gifts, however, can be an important part of the Friend’s buy-in — which I’ll address when I discuss “Prospect Cultivation.”

A Major Gifts Committee is an absolute essential, ideally composed of (one-or-two) savvy and committed Board Members, a couple of current (preferable) or soon-to-be major donors, the CDO (chief development officer) and/or Major Gifts Officer, and (an educated) CEO.

That committee would be responsible for the initial creation of the list of those who they identify as Potential Prospects (Suspects), and then the linking (on paper) of those Suspects with Cultivators.
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Watch for part two on this topic, next week; and, watch for our discussion of “What is Major Donor/Prospect Cultivation,” in two weeks.
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Have a comment or a question about starting, evaluating or expanding your fundraising program? With over 30 years of counseling in major gifts, capital campaigns, bequest programs and the planning studies to precede these three, I’ll be pleased to answer your questions. Contact me at AskHank@Major-Capital-Giving.com
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Have you seen The Fundraising Series of ebooks ??
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If you would like to comment/expand on the above, or would just like to offer your thoughts on the subject of this posting, we encourage you to “Leave a Reply” at the bottom of this page, click on the feedback link at the top of the page, or send an email to the author of this posting.

August 16, 2010March 21, 2023

Systems View: A Social-Technical Perspective

We need just a bit more theory before we can take the next step, which is broadening this monologue on systems from theory to principles of re-design and change. A little more theory might be a foundation of informed actions.

The diagram about the organization as a socio-technical system (below) is a useful view of the whole organization as an in-put Out-put System. These systems operate within boundaries subjected to the whims of environmental changes such as: economic crises, increased competitive threats and industry shifts. Customers often demand new and different things. When these happen the organization has to adjust. The organization is people and technologies, which are matched together to produce an outcome, a product or a service. People as individuals are matched to jobs and people within groups, which we call social systems, manage how the work is broken down into specialties, which have to rely on each other to coordinate steps to produce an integrated outcome.

Organization as a Socio-Technical System

Think of the human organization. The human system operates the technology. Think of technology in the broadest sense: Technology=Methodology. It is how we go about doing something. It is about the steps we take to produce a finished product and we call that series of steps “a process.”

Think about an accounting firm. Accounting methodology, and its structure of rules, is no less a technology than an integrated production line. Think about consultant organizations – we are humans employing methodologies that experience leads us to believe benefit organizations. We have developed processes such as action research to help us make sense of the complexity of socio-technical systems.

There are two things to remember about these input output systems. First, there is no one-to-one relationship between changes in the input and changes in the output. For example, different inputs may yield similar outputs and, different product mixes may be produced from similar inputs. Second, the technological component plays a major role in the self-regulating properties of an enterprise. The technology is a boundary, part of the internalized environment, but not only does the technological component set limits upon what can be done; but also creates demands that are reflected in the internal social organization and the organizations ends. We will see this better represented in our second systems view.

The diagram below is a broader and more encompassing view of organization which highlights that the principle challenge of leadership is to manage the uncertainty and the interdependence of the system as a whole, which is made up of people, technologies, structure, and support systems and the shifting and emerging demands on the purpose of the organization. Think of the change that has happened within this image in the last 20 years as we have moved into a global market.

Conversion Process

Measures of Effectiveness

We have learned over the years that alignment of these various parts is critical, that the people, the structures, the tools and methods are aligned and integrated, and able to operate as a whole, is one measure of effectiveness.

If we view organization as adaptive, organic structures, then inferences about effectiveness have to be made not from static measures of output, though these may be helpful – but on the basis of the process through which the organization approaches problems. In other words, no single measurement of organizational efficiency or satisfaction- no single time slice of organizational performance can provide valid indicators of organizational health.

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For more resources, see the Library topics Consulting and Organizational Development.

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Jim Smith has over 40 years of organization development experience in a wide range of organizations. He can be reached at ChangeAgents@gmail.com

August 16, 2010August 19, 2022

Life Uncluttered – 7 Ways to Find the Stillness

A young woman working in a cluttered space

I recently provided a training on Supervising Millenials. We discussed whether in our digitally driven life we are becoming more attention deficit that in previous eras. There are so many opportunities to be distracted- such as reading interesting blogs! If you feel you must answer that email, text or IM immediately, you may want to examine how cluttered your life and/or your brain is.

Huge chunks of time are wasted over the course of a day by switching from one task to the next. It takes mental energy, and time, moving from one activity to the next. I’ve read it takes anywhere from 15 seconds to 2 minutes to regain your thoughts after an interruption. Pay attention to how much time you may be wasting switching back and forth between tasks. You can take control of your time and your energy by uncluttering your life. In many cases you can decide whether to let the phone ring into voice mail. Same goes for answering an email message or IM. Regardless of your generation, Millenial or otherwise, the essential point is that YOU CHOOSE what you focus on.

What brings you peace? Have you been able to still your mind? Do you want to?

A few bold companies are claiming one day a week where people cannot answer emails (and presumably can’t IM or text). That day is spent in conversation, reflection, planning etc. It’s time out that can create opportunities for new ideas to emerge, relationships to strengthen, or general rejuvenation and renewal for the brain. There’s research that suggests that our greatest breakthroughs or “Aha’s” happen when our brains are in slower brain waves, such as when we are just waking up or in the shower in the morning.

Here are some simple suggestions for finding some peace and stillness in the midst of your work day:

Let the phone ring into voice mail and bless the person who is calling you. Know that you can call them back when your mind is more clear and focused.
If you must answer the phone, let it ring one extra time and take a deep breath before picking up the phone. Allow yourself a little space to bring your awareness on your breath.
Turn off your IM and email alerts if your job permits. Choose when and how regularly you will check emails or IMs.
Every time you sit back down in your chair, focus on your feet touching the floor. Feel your back in the chair. Focus on how your body is feeling in that moment. No judgments, just notice.
Stretch your arms and legs and take a deep breath at least once an hour. Allow your body to relax even for 10 seconds.
As you walk to a meeting or out the door, snap your fingers to bring your awareness into the present moment.
Allow yourself a few extra minutes to get to where you are going and make it a walking meditation. Intentionally slow down your pace. Breath 3 deep breathes before you enter the room.

Quietness by Rumi

Become the sky.

Take an axe to the prison wall.

Escape.

Walk out like somebody suddenly born into color.

Do it now.

You are covered with the thick cloud.

Slide out the side. Die,

and be quiet. Quietness is the surest sign

that you have died.

Your old life was a frantic running

from silence.

The speechless full moon

comes out now.

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For more resources, see our Library topic Spirituality in the Workplace.

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Linda is an author, speaker, coach, and consultant. Go to her website www.lindajferguson.com to read more about her work, view video clips of her talks, and find out more about her book “Path for Greatness: Spirituality at Work” available on Amazon.