“Saying thank you is more than good manners. It is good spirituality.” – Alfred Painter
Thank YOU for taking the time to read my A-Z Spirituality in the Workplace series and share your comments. I was inspired to write this poem to capture the essence of this work.
The A-Z of your Soul at Work
May you…
feel blessed with Aliveness
don’t just wish, but really follow your Bliss
foster deep Connections with those who matter most to you
Receive Divine inspiration for true guidance and direction
be Engaged and fully present in all that you do
take having Fun seriously
instill the power of Gratitude to change your perspective and your life
find the joy of Happiness following you wherever you go
breathe life into the Inspiration within you
be the Joy to others you want to have in this world
don’t hold ransom your random acts of Kindness
Love unconditionally, Love unconventionally and Love uncontrollably
Share your devotion, recognition and Motivation with others
know when to say No to doing more so you can say yes to loving more
feel the Oneness that surrounds us at all times and in all ways
be purposeful about living out your God-given Purpose
wrap yourself in the calming presence of Quiet
remember to revel in your Relationships
lead with Service and follow with more
spend Time loving the time you spent
let your Uniqueness light the path for others to shine theirs
value the gift of Vulnerability to open the valley of your soul
work Wholeheartedly at everything you do
surprise others with eXtra special touches from the heart
Yearn for more of what your soul longs for
never forget this about life – get a little Zany with it!
Janae Bower is an inspirational speaker, award-winning author and training consultant. She founded Finding IT, a company that specializes in personal and professional development getting to the heart of what matters most. She started Project GratOtude, a movement to increase gratitude in people’s lives.
We call it professional development training. Here’s a little different take. I call it, The Black Belt Art of Training. My middle school children have been taking the same kind of training for years.
By the time the training is completed, there is a level of proficiency that can be compared in any similar schooly kids take Tang So Do–a little known professional development\
ract among most trainers, I think. But do tell me if I have hit on something we are doing later. We can exchange the terms.
My son received his second degree black belt at 12. My daughter, who took a break to be on a gymnastics team and take dance lessons is a little behind at 11. She’s testing for her first degree black belt this weekend at Yi’s Karate. Grand Master YI calls it “Karate” because it is more recognizable to the general public, but in the dojang (dojo in Japanese), they refer to what they do as Tang So Do. It’s one of several Korean versions called generically, Tae Kwon Do, which is a version of the Japanese karate.
So why do I bring this up? This is training of a whole sort. That makes it a little different from what we do as trainers. Karate, and all the martial arts in fact, train “body and mind” (and some might add, “soul”). To be adequately “trained” for a black belt, there are a number of phases the students go through. This is not like The Karate Kid “Wipe on, wipe off!”
These kids and adults learn the culture (the why), the language (concentrate on communication to speak the same language), learn specific knowledge and practice it until they are proficient enough at it to take a test in front of their peers, and they must exhibit honorable character qualities for a belt of that rank.
They must adhere to not only a strict code of conduct, but also a respect for the uniform, tradition, honor and those who have achieved higher ranks, which for the kids, includes honoring and obeying parents, respecting others and the like. So what’s not to like? The lower belts where basic techniques are learned and little mistakes are allowed progress faster than those at the higher levels–those who would be the teachers, the masters of their martial art one day. Those at the lower levels may progress in months of training, while the advanced black belt ranks stay years before advancing to the next degree. The exact amount of time and requirements vary with the school of karate but they all have them.
My kids have to write essays each time they test for the next higher belt on some aspect of why they are training. At first it isn’t too deep, later it becomes infused with techniques and philosophies, and finally teaching and leadership.
My kids have to write essays each time they test for the next higher belt on some aspect of why they are training. At first it isn’t too deep, later it becomes infused with techniques and philosophies, and finally teaching and leadership. By the time the training is completed, there is a level of proficiency that can be compared in any similar school. Respect among peers and higher belts is acknowledged and mutually expressed with a bow.
Now, I’m not saying we should bow to each other. I think we do that subconsciously as we acknowledge position. In the military, respect for the service tradition, honor and code of conduct is extremely important for both enlisted and officer. By the way, the code of conduct is not just for rules of war when you are captured; that experience is actually a test of the code. Rank is earned obviously and maintains a certain consistency about it. I should also mention that junior grade, field grade and general grade officers are involved in professional development training throughout their careers. In fact, not completing one course of study can prevent a promotion and ultimately lead to retirement.
There is much value in professional development, but the value is in its consistency and transparency of application.
Corporately, some leaders come up the ranks of the company but many come from outside the company where other factors come into play–like money, potential earnings for the company based on what an individual may bring in terms of experience–even contacts. Few peers know them and fewer workers know them.
But where do we train junior executives to be senior executives like they do in karate. I’m sure there are training companies who would love that contract, but it seems the answer is simpler than hire an outside company.
This is just my opinion, but it seems the karate guys have it right. We should breed leaders. Just kidding. That’s not far from the truth if that is what professional development means. We raise them up. We train them to be leaders. We teach them the company way, but let’s do one better.
Let’s infuse them with ideals, let them learn and make mistakes without derailing them before they start–no “black eyes,” “no black balls,” etc.–just black belts. Keep adding more training to take them to the next level and reward them when they get there.
Let’s infuse them with ideals, let them learn and make mistakes without derailing them before they start–no black eyes, no black balls–just black belts. Keep adding more training to take them to the next level and reward them when they get there. Each time. A small raise would do it, and have it count for something in an evaluation. Even better give credit to fine application of these principles from time to time.
Your true performers come out, stay positive and their peers see performance as a true reason for promotions and bonuses. All your employees see it, too. We respect hard working individuals. Most of us give credit where it’s due.
Basic principles of all training:
Trainees learn the language
Trainees learn the “why”
Trainees learn the tools
Trainees learn the art
As trainees learn the “why,” they gain a deeper understanding of the purpose and reasoning behind what they do.
With that comes confidence and wisdom. And, the ability to learn from others. Many a leader will say they don’t have the lock on answers, yet they do have the last word.
Finally, managers should reward the accomplishment of the training. Reward keeps us all going to the next step–especially when it is seen by others.
The Black Belt Art of Training.
These are my words and opinions. Please feel free to disagree and comment, or contact me. If you’re interested in more of my points of view–my Cave Man way of looking at things, I have a website where you can find other items I have written. For more information on my peculiar take on training, check out my best selling The Cave Man Guide To Training and Development, and for a look at a world that truly needs a reality check, see my novel about the near future, Harry’s Reality! Meanwhile, Happy Training.
A few months ago, a NYTimes article suggested that donors are being highly selective in deciding whose name goes on the payee line of their checks. Non-Profit Organizations, therefore, must do all they can to get donors to want to give to them.
At most times, especially in an economically “troubled climate,” donors want to be sure that their gifts are going to support/help people in need. NPOs must be sure, therefore, that their marketing, their literature and their solicitations all focus on the people in need … not on the needs of the NPO.
And, in addition to talking about people and their needs, the best wording can also talk about how the NPO is helping those people, how cost-effective it is in its operations, and how a donor’s gift to the NPO can/will help so many people.
Major Gifts Should Be A Priority
It occurred to me, following a recent conversation with the executive director of an NPO on the brink of closing its doors … that many people may think of major gifts as those you pursue after you’ve done all of the other fundraising.
The language that the E.D. used was to the effect that, “we have to be sure we can stay in business before we can think about going after major gifts.”
I would hope that I never said anything to any client, in any of my classes or postings, that would suggest that !!
I’ve often mentioned that many (start-up and ongoing) NPOs can (and do) create major gifts programs from scratch, and can (and do) operate quite nicely on that income.
Certainly, in tough economic times, NPOs should be making every effort to raise funds by whatever (legal/ethical) means possible … keeping in mind that one major gift can (and often does) exceed what is raised via other methods.
Any NPO not actively/vigorously working on obtaining major gifts is doing a disservice to the people it serves … or could serve.
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Have a comment or a question about starting, evaluating or expanding your fundraising program? Email me at AskHank@Major-Capital-Giving.com. With over 30 years of counseling in major gifts, capital campaigns, bequest programs and the planning studies to precede these three, we’ll likely be able to answer your questions.
At the very core of crisis management is the fact that all businesses, no matter how well-managed, can and will be impacted by crises at some point. Because of this, it is crucial to put yourself in a position to both prevent and react to damaging situations before things get hot. In a recent article about the impact of real-time communication on crisis management, PR expert Bill McLaughlin gave a list that will help you jump start your defense:
If you don’t already have a blog, Twitter, LinkedIn, or Facebook channel in place, get one and get it fast.
Start listening. See who is talking about you, your products or your customers. Assess their influence and reach out to them.
Create a crisis communications team. Your head of communications should lead it. Representatives from human resources, sales, customer support, legal, investor relations and executive management should be on the team.
Create a playbook. Set up a contact procedure and an issue escalation process for when it’s necessary to convene the team.
Identify potential types of crisis and rank their impact factors. For example, unhappy customers blogging about your products, interruptions in service, closing of offices and dismissal of employees, lawsuits filed by competitors or government agencies, and so forth.
Assign primary spokespersons responsible for handling the issues.
Respond quickly. Don’t let things fester. Make a statement, even if it’s as open ended as we’re aware of the problem and are in touch with the parties involved and will get back to you with an answer as soon as as we can.
Don’t let the lawyers dictate everything. In crisis, there is a natural tendency to rely on their advice to minimize legal exposure. This is a wise thing to do, but not at the expense of saying nothing.
Develop your position and communicate it through all the channels you have at your disposal — web site, press release, blog, Twitter, Facebook, conference calls, and so on.
Monitor the reactions, modify your message and respond as needed.
As you can see, social media continues to play a large role in the way we handle crises and communicate. If you’re not at least familiar with the big three (Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn) then the deck is stacked against you, and if your company doesn’t have an active blog then you’re really in trouble. If you want to maximize the value of these platforms, create a precedent of posting valuable information so that when the public goes searching for answers they will look to you first.
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For more resources, see the Free Management Library topic: Crisis Management
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Whether you are presenting to the board of directors, training your new staff members, or holding a meeting with a key client, how you manage your body language matters.
Communication experts claim that as much as 93% of your communication depends on your delivery. Today, let’s look at a few basic but oh-so-critical delivery skills. This week, take time to notice how you are managing your non-verbals, or ask someone you trust to give you specific feedback on your posture, hands, voice, face or eye contact.
Check your posture. If you are standing, place your feet several inches to shoulder width apart, distributing your weight evenly. In this position you should feel grounded and secure. Watch newscasters and professional speakers; they rarely sway or rock. If sitting, plant your feet on the floor and sit up tall from your rib cage. From this position you look confident and can project your voice with more authority.
Neutralize your hands. If you put your hands in your pockets, clasp them behind your back, or lock them into a fig-leaf position, chances are you will not use them effectively. Start with your hands relaxed and at your sides, and you’ll be more likely to gesture. Instead of holding back your gestures, let them go a bit. You will look more engaged and engaging.
Improve your voice. To get more volume and better enunciation, try opening your mouth a little bit wider. Check for tension or tightness in your face and release it; try relaxing your jaw by massaging gently right in front of your ears. Be sure to keep breathing, preferably before you speak and during pauses.
Engage with your eyes. You might be compelled to look at your slides or papers in front of you, or over the heads of your audience. You might stare at the top-ranking audience member, or the one friendly face in the room. Instead, try to keep your eye contact moving slowly around the room, one person at a time, including everyone equally.
Relax your face. Check a mirror to see if your face looks tight or tense. Look for tension in your eyebrows, forehead, between your eyes and around your mouth. If you see tension, try to relax your face into a more neutral expression. Soften your eyes. Smile.
Start today to be more aware of your delivery skills, to make good choices, and to build new habits. For example, if you have the habit of mumbling, you might not even be aware of it. Once you discover this habit, work to enunciate more clearly as in Tip 3 above, and keep at it until you have created a positive habit of enunciating, one that will serve you well and which will become nearly automatic.
What other delivery skills would you like to hear more about? What good suggestions would you add?
Equilibrium is death. As a biologist, I believe this fundamental truth of life also applies to business. When a living breathing business flat-lines, the end is near. It is the dynamic flow of resources, goods, services, money, information, and workers that keep businesses alive and healthy. The global financial collapse of 2008 came close to an economic flat-line for many businesses worldwide. What does this have to do with leadership? Leaders are accountable for maintaining the change dynamic.
The Dilemma of Change
A dilemma is fundamentally different from a problem as there is no solution to the situation, only an iterative dynamic to follow. Change is a dilemma which is why the PDCP change initiative didn’t follow Kotter’s process. To understand the dynamics of the change dilemma as it exists in your life, team, or company you can map the dynamic using a process similar to the one Barry Johnson developed for mapping polarities1.
A few years ago I worked with a pharmaceutical team that was struggling to move out of the status quo and enter a cycle of change. After interviewing all the team members to understand their perception of the situation, I constructed the following dilemma map. The map clearly defined the trap they were in and what needed to be done to get change started in a positive way (which is where we start next week’s post).
To create your own dynamic map of a dilemma or change, start by identifying the two fundamental components of your situation. In this case we are working with change and the status quo. Begin at the lower left quadrant, the negative aspects of change, and list all the factors that make change uncomfortable, unwelcome, and sometimes painful. Be very specific. If you, or others, resist change capture why – find the deeper, emotional drivers of the quadrant (this holds true for all four quadrants).
Really feel the downside of change, because this is what makes you desire the status quo. From the downside of change we naturally desire and move toward the upside of the status quo. Fill that quadrant in, listing all the reasons why it is mentally, emotionally, physically, and practically the best place to be. These are the reasons your change effort will fail – this quadrant is what entices you to abort your change initiative.
The status quo does have a downside. Hidden within all that is desirable about where you are exist aspects that make it unsustainable, these are the negative side of the status quo. What aspects of your situation are destabilizing the system because they are too rigid, stifling, or out of step with the current reality? What is keeping you and your organization from innovating, growing, creating a better future for yourselves? How do you feel when the status quo loses its positive qualities and becomes a straightjacket? These are the reasons you move toward change, to make your situation better – emotionally and physically. Capture the positive aspects that change can bring to your situation.
The final step2 is to name the scenario that living in the positive creates, naming our greatest hope, and the scenario that living in the negative creates, naming our greatest fear. Each dilemma has a dynamic composed of two creative tensions – one horizontal and one vertical – that create movement within the system.
A Leader’s Lessons from the Dilemma Map
Leaders that understand the dynamic can use the creative tension within the system to manage the dilemma. For the pharmaceutical team leader four steps helped move the team forward:
A team off-site that generated a collective vision, revitalized their purpose, and begin to craft a new team identity
Reduction in overwhelm – this leader used the “stop-start-continue3” exercise
Keeping focus on the positive change quadrant, in this case refining the business model to increase the asset value of the brand
Openly acknowledging that the dynamic is filled with emotional tension that is different for everyone
Balancing VUCA with VUCA Prime would also have helped, more on this in a later post, and the exercise from the last blog can be used as is or modified to meet the needs of the change situation.
1- Change is a polarity, however many dilemmas are not true polarities. Nevertheless, I find the process works well.
2- Here is where my process differs from Johnson’s, he does this first and I do it last as way of gaining insight from the completed four quadrants.
In 1997, Dr. Mase designed and led a corporate-wide restructuring of the product development and commercialization process for Bristol-Myers Squibb, reporting to the heads of Pharmaceutical Marketing and Pharmaceutical R&D. This 18-month change process brought together cross-functional teams (including R&D, Global Marketing, manufacturing, and operations) to generate 20 year future scenarios and: create target product profiles based on those scenarios, value each profile, and validate them with global opinion leaders. As part of this work, she also initiated the use of Early Commercial Valuation (risk adjusted), patient flow modeling, and strategic decision analysis during early commercial development. Over the 18 month initiative, both organizational functions and structures were reconfigured.
I left my present job, which was stable but had limited opportunities, and went to a larger company that is so different. I think I’ve made a mistake.
This was a frantic call I received from a project manager who’s dealing with buyer’s remorse. It seemed like the best job ever. The money was good and the benefits great.
But a dream job can turn into a nightmare if you haven’t checked out the company’s culture before joining it. The career challenge of moving into a new organization is like moving to a new country — you need to learn the language, connect with the people and know the do’s and the don’ts of appropriate behavior.
Advice from a job changer
Mary, wanting to be in senior management at a large metropolitan hospital, realized she will need to change jobs, each one with increased responsibility. This probably means moving from one hospital to another. She makes it a habit to take several steps when she applies for a position and after she accepts it.
During the interview she asks:
What skills and behaviors will be successful here?
What is the average tenure of your employees?
How does the company define success for itself?
How would you describe the corporate culture?
Once in the position, she advises:
Do not assume that what made you successful in one company will work, even within the same industry.
Ask a lot of questions — of your manager, of your peers, of whomever is willing to help you.
Ask for expectations in terms of output, time, and content for all work assignments.
Develop a glossary of company buzz words and phrases so that you, too, can sound like an old hand.
Find the best possible guide to the company, someone who has been around forever and knows how everything works.
Career Success Tip
On-boarding is one of several career challenges you may face. Successful transition into a new organization or a new position requires a quick understanding and adaptation to a new culture, new people and a new political arena. So don’t jump ship yet. Rather focus on learning the new ways of working.
“What would happen if your blog disappeared one day?”
Of the 70+ emails I received one day last week, that message caught my eye. It was written by Cathy Stucker, The Idea Lady. You may remember that I interviewed her last summer about her great service BloggerLinkUp (to help bloggers find guest bloggers, and writers find guest blogging gigs.)
Her Husband’s Blog Crisis (almost)
In the email, Cathy tells the story:
“I was doing some file maintenance and deleted the test version of his site. What I didn’t realize was that the live version used the same data base the test version had used. Oops.”
Ohno!
Everything wiped out. I don’t know about you, but I would’ve had the shakes. Gut-wrenching scared. (Well, maybe not that bad … but close.) To date, I’ve written 90+ posts, 45,000+ words, images – what if they were all gone?
Cathy seemed to handle it all with ease and grace. Because, being The Idea lady, she and her husband used their smarts and had it covered. Both the hosting company AND her husband had recent backups. So all they had to do was a few minutes’ work and he was back on track. Yay!
How to Protect Your Blog
The Idea Lady suggests that everyone with a blog:
Back up REGULARLY. (I personally like automated, realtime backups.)
Store backups OFFLINE, too.
Make sure that you back up the database AND the design files – especially for WordPress.
Ms. Chapman’s new book has a name change! The Net-Powered Entrepreneur – A Step-by-Step Guide will be available very soon. With offices in Nashville Tennessee, but working virtually with international clients, Lisa M. Chapman serves her clients as a business and marketing coach, business planning consultant and social media consultant. As a Founder of iBrand Masters, a social media consulting firm, Lisa Chapman helps clients to establish and enhance their online brand, attract their target market, engage them in meaningful social media conversations, and convert online traffic into revenues. Email: Lisa @ LisaChapman.com
One of the reasons I got interested in writing about spirituality at work is that we spend so much of our waking hours at work. Why not enjoy it? Joy is a foundation for having energy for what you do. It’s amazing to me how many people still believe that they aren’t supposed to enjoy work. Perhaps you grew up hearing a parent say, ‘that’s why they call it work’. Check your beliefs and the messages you were given about work. Did you learn that work is supposed to be endured or enjoyed? Your beliefs about work drive the energy you bring to your work. You have a chance to re-write that script for how you want to work and what energy you bring to your work.
Path for Greatness: Spirituality at Work
In my first book, Path for Greatness, I wrote about aligning your gifts, purpose and passion. One way I believe people can work spiritually is by finding greater wholeness, meaning and connection in their work. Seeing the positive ways you impact others through your work helps you connect with a larger meaning and purpose in your work. How are you using your gifts to make a difference in your workplace? Look for those small or large ways that you positively impact others through your work.
Here are a couple ideas for you to energize your work (and life) by examining how you are using your gifts, purpose and passion:
1. Take inventory of what your gifts are, large and small. Have colleagues or people who know you well tell you what traits, strengths or unique attributes you have. Ask them to share a story about a time when you made a positive difference to their work or life.
2. Get recommendations on LinkedIn from colleagues, customers or business partners. This is a good way to learn what others think are your strengths and talents.
3. Once you get clear on what you offer to others, how you contribute to their work or well-being, then celebrate, celebrate, celebrate the positive impact you’ve made on other people. Give yourself a High-Five! Recognize that what you do matters.
4. Make a time line of your work and schooling to date. Indicate those events when you felt really excited about what you were doing. See if you can find a pattern for those things that bring you joy and energy.
5. Look at the activities you do now in other aspects of your life. What would you like to have more time to do? Where is your deeper hunger? How can you carve out more time to do those so you can fill your cup with more energy?
6. Are there things you are yearning to do that seem to call you consistently? Sit with those yearnings and still your mind. Ask your Inner Wisdom to show you/ make clear how you can use your gifts and passion. Keep your eyes and ears open over the next week and see what synchronicities occur, what signs you get to offer your gifts with passion and purpose.
7. Are there dreams you’ve had that you keep deferring? Look at what you can do this week to move at least one step closer to that dream.
Answer this list of ideas and see what gets stirred. Those stirrings may come from things you want to change. Let the stirrings create greater energy to birth something new. Moving from winter to spring, from dormancy to new beginnings, feel the deeper rumbles of things waiting to emerge.
As we approach the Spring Equinox, plant the seeds for what will bring you more energy in your work this year. Renew yourself with those things that bring you joy, passion, and greater purpose.
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” The paperback version available on Amazon. NOW NEW!!! the pdf version of Path for Greatness is available for download from her website.
The way to communicate the “rejection” of these ideas has a massive impact on how the idea originator continues to meaningfully contribute and identify further improvement opportunities in the future.
There are Three Approaches to Communicate the Rejected Idea.
1. POSITIVE:
Thank the contributor for his/her idea.
Emphasize positive points about the idea.
2. NEGATIVE:
Tell the contributor why it won’t work.
Explain the difficulties or dangers.
3. CREATIVE:
Seek alternatives and creative additional ideas.
Ask: How can we think about this differently? How can we achieve our goal in a different way? What if….? Consider new ideas, changes, alternatives.
The CREATIVE APPROACH is undoubtedly what keeps the ideas floodgates open.
Some of the firms who have used this approach include immigration solicitors bedford as well as immigration solicitors reading
Give it a Try.
MTS6XY6H6427
Some firms who have tried this approach include Immigration
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For more resources, see our Library topic Quality Management.
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