“More than a third of companies are so dysfunctional, the best people don’t really care about what they’re doing and the worst people don’t know that they are doing a lousy job. Those are the findings of a new study by Leadership IQ, a twelve-year-old Washington, D.C. company that does employee engagement surveys and leadership training.” (Fortune Magazine, 4/2/2013)
Imagine that your best employees are not engaged in the work that they do, what is the impact that is having on your business? It could be that manager’s are not engaged in the process of ensuring that the people who are the most valuable are doing the kind of work that makes the biggest contribution. It could be that people aren’t creating and setting high expectations for themselves, that they don’t have a sufficiently strong set of goals to motivate their performance.
I’ve found that some people just don’t have daily goals that have enough meaning to get them out of bed in the morning and if they don’t have a great goal what is going to drive their performance. Work has become less and less rewarding as more and more companies have cut back on things that at some level motivate employees to put more of themselves into their work.
Work has become more demanding and more and more is expected of you. Knowledge and skill requirements are increasing and so is the tracking and recording of information, creating reports and doing work that feels non-essential which robs the positive feelings that work can provide. Work that feels non-essential is like having a ship at anchor attempting to sail, it just isn’t going to work well.
Employees own their success. That is they need to develop a set of clear goals that are in alignment with their strengths that provide a benefit to the organization. Goals that create a connection to the community in which they reside in at work and make a substantial contribution are necessary to generate intrinsic motivation.
If you are not engaged in your work, develop a success plan and deliver that to your manager. Let your manager know what it is that you want to do to make a contribution this year. What skills and resources do you need? What things can you accomplish that will help build community? What keeps you connected to the work you are doing? Develop a plan that has specific milestones along the way. Take charge of your growth. Take charge of your results.
“But I already have too much to do”. Is that what you were thinking? If there is too much to do in an eight hour day then what is it that you need to stop doing so that you can do more of what is in alignment with your strengths? It may be a question that you bring up to your manager. “I am doing to much of __________ and it isn’t adding value from my perspective (get some real data) to the organization and these activities if I did them would make a bigger contribution.” Find out what the benefits are to the organization for each thing you do, how does it benefit the organization. In some cases organizations do things just because they were done before and no one has stopped to figure out if that thing is of value.
The point is to take ownership of your work and your career. Within your job responsibilities find those things that you are attracted to and see if there is a way to increase that kind of work.
What can you do to take ownership of your work so that you’re involved and engaged in the work you do?
“I was a little excited but mostly blorft. “Blorft” is an adjective I just made up that means ‘Completely overwhelmed but proceeding as if everything is fine and reacting to the stress with the torpor of a possum.’ I have been blorft every day for the past seven years.”
― Tina Fey
Are you among the many who are feeling overwhelmed by the expectation of work and home? Do you feel there is never enough time to complete all the things that are being asked of you? Do you feel like you are only able to do mediocre work? If you are you are not alone. More and more people are feeling like work expectations are growing ever higher. Employers are demanding more from their workers, more time, and more results without any new forms of compensation. Employers realize that they can squeeze more out of each person especially when there are so many people looking for work.
Fear drives the actions we take in many cases. Stress increases, frustration increases and life satisfaction decreases with each new thing that is being asked of us to take on. When will it all stop?
Where does stress show up at work?
The Wall Street Journal (March 5,2013) shows the following:
32% of women and 30% of men find that there isn’t sufficient opportunities for advancement.
33% of people are challenged to balance work and life.
31% of women and 27% of men don’t think employers have plans to help manage stress.
39% say that there is too much to do.
38% of women say they aren’t compensated well for their work.
Stress is rising. Stress is taking a toll on women at greater numbers than ever before. Some people quit their jobs rather than having stress create health issues. Some people move to places where there is less stress, jobs with less stress and perhaps lower pay.
Pay helps reduce stress to some degree, but if the work demands are too great the pay doesn’t compensate for the stress. Look at your life. What is working for you and what isn’t. What is the cost of stress in your life?
Understand what works for you. Know what you are good at. Know your purpose and live that out. You’ll find that happiness is worth a lot more than a big paycheck in the long run.
Take time to smell the flowers. Take time to look around and observe the beauty. Be kind to yourself and stress less.
To be so strong that nothing
can disturb your peace of mind.
To talk health, happiness, and prosperity
to every person you meet.
To make all your friends feel
that there is something in them
To look at the sunny side of everything
and make your optimism come true.
To think only the best, to work only for the best,
and to expect only the best.
To be just as enthusiastic about the success of others
as you are about your own.
To forget the mistakes of the past
and press on to the greater achievements of the future.
To wear a cheerful countenance at all times
and give every living creature you meet a smile.
To give so much time to the improvement of yourself
that you have no time to criticize others.
To be too large for worry, too noble for anger, too strong for fear,
and too happy to permit the presence of trouble.
To think well of yourself and to proclaim this fact to the world,
not in loud words but great deeds.
To live in faith that the whole world is on your side
so long as you are true to the best that is in you.”
— Christian D. Larson
Practice relaxing your mind so that you can be present to the world around you.
In the busyness of life it is easy to get caught in the maelstrom of noise that surrounds you. Take time to step away from the noise and relax your mind.
Mindfulness or meditation can take just a few minutes of time each day. As little as five minutes of meditation can restore energy, clear up negative thinking and improve decision-making. When life is just too busy, stop, and take a break, your mind will appreciate creating a quiet space for you.
“Earning happiness means doing good and working, not speculating and being lazy. Laziness may look inviting, but only work gives you true satisfaction.”
― Anne Frank
How much of your time is spent doing work you really love to do? How much of it is great work. Great work is inspiring, engaging and energizing. Great work is creative and fulfilling, time passes by quickly and the work feels effortless, flowing and satisfying.
How much time each day do you engage in work that is good? This isn’t as creative as great work but it is work that uses your strengths and talents most of the time. It may take a little bit of effort to get into the swing of the work but once you do, you can work with few breaks and are motivated by accomplishment. It feels good to do good work. Your days are pleasant, moderately inspiring and those around you notice that you seem to enjoy what you do.
Lastly there is the work that doesn’t fit who you are or what you want to do. This is the kind of work that is drudgery that takes a lot of effort to engage in and do well. It may suck the energy out of you and is difficult to do the best work that you are capable of. You do the work because it is part of the job. It isn’t rewarding and takes a considerable amount of effort to start and complete the work. Those around you notice that you often do other things before starting in the work that doesn’t inspire you. Other’s will know because you’ll tell them that you “need” to do this work and get it done. You’ll likely wait to the last minute before starting and forget to check the work for accuracy. This kind of work is just non-inspiring work for you.
How much time to you spend of each day doing Great work, Good work and non-inspired work? Take the survey.
How do you think you’d feel if you could do more great work this year? What would it take for you to do great work?
Why would you do great work? Because there is a reason to do something great. Take a look!
“Be the one who nurtures and builds. Be the one who has an understanding and a forgiving heart one who looks for the best in people. Leave people better than you found them.”
― Marvin J. Ashton
The door is closing on 2012 and opening for 2013 and it’s time to say bye. Make this next year your Best Year Ever (bye). Take the time to set some meaningful goals for “you”, and not just set them out there on a table to shine in the light but do something with the goals. Don’t let your dreams wither on the vine of life, go out and make life happen for you. It is easy to get caught up in the web of daily life and forget about the things that will add meaning and vitality to your life, so make a choice to DO rather than watch things go by.
Say bye to complacency.
Say bye to laziness.
Say bye to checking-out.
Say bye to watching TV.
Say bye to gossip.
Say bye to lethargy.
Say hello to health.
Say hello to dreams.
Say hello to action.
Say hello to inspiration.
Say hello to creativity.
Say hello to goals.
Make this your B.Y.E … Best Year Ever. It is what you want isn’t it?
Take a look at this short video clip…it will tell you how to have your best year ever.
“The only way that we can live, is if we grow. The only way that we can grow is if we change. The only way that we can change is if we learn. The only way we can learn is if we are exposed. And the only way that we can become exposed is if we throw ourselves out into the open. Do it. Throw yourself.”
C. JoyBell C.
What if you could live longer? Would that be something you would be interested in? Some people would be. Some people would love to live a few years longer.
Jane McGonigal, a game developer would argue that playing games can add time to your life. She uses the premise that people who are at the end of their life often have some regrets. The Guardian reports that people do have end of life regrets. They regret working so hard. They regret not spending time with friends and family. They regret not the person they weren’t meant to be. They regret not being happier.
If you could do your life over again what would you do different? Well today is that day you can start living the life you want to do. Yeah, yeah, yeah, there are reasons you can’t do what you really were meant to do. There are reasons you can’t live a happier life (you like being miserable). There are reasons you can be the person who you really are (you’ve developed a persona that every one knows and you don’t want them to know the real you). There are “buts”, lots of buts why you can’t do what you really want to do.
Think about it. How many times during the day do you use the word “but”? Just try observing the number of times you use the word “but”. I could …. “but”. How many times do you use the word but? But’s become a convenient way for not something that would move you forward in life. But …
If you can live without “buts” then you can live a longer life.
Now, what can you do to add more to your life? Take a look at Jane McGonigal’s TED talk, and add minutes to your life today. TODAY!
“To have a great purpose to work for, a purpose larger than ourselves, is one of the secrets of making life significant, for then the meaning and worth of the individual overflow his personal borders and survive his death.” Will Durant
Work … what is it? Why do you do it? Why do so many people hate the work they are doing?
1. Physical or mental effort or activity directed toward the production or accomplishment of something.
So, why do so many people disengage in the work they are doing? What would allow you to engage in work in a way that you were able to produce positive results and enjoy it?
George Bernard Shaw the renowned poet opined that life has a special meaning and that is to say, “This is the true joy in life, the being used for a purpose recognized by yourself as a mighty one.” Not that many people say that their life is filling a purpose never mind a mighty one.
As a coach I come across many people who are less than satisfied with the work they do. For some people their work has resulted in depression. The work is so unsatisfying that they can’t do their work. They feel trapped in doing work that is meaningless because of some benefit that their employer offers that they feel unsure that they can get somewhere else. Who am I to get a better job some think. Asked what their purpose statement is and most people can’t think of one and it is no wonder that they are stuck doing work that doesn’t agree with them. They don’t know how to align their purpose, their gifts, their strengths and their talents with the work they do.
When we are able to use our natural talents and are able to express those talents in the engagement of work we become more productive. When we know what we love to do and are able to do what we love we are happier. It seems to make sense yet close to 80% of people are doing work they don’t like. Perhaps it is possible to say that most work isn’t enjoyable and that something has to be done to make money (earning a living is still important) to live on.
Read what Jim Collins wrote about having the right people in the right job doing the work that they love to do.
Disciplined people: “Who” before “what”
“You are a bus driver. The bus, your company, is at a standstill, and it’s your job to get it going. You have to decide where you’re going, how you’re going to get there, and who’s going with you.
Most people assume that great bus drivers (read: business leaders) immediately start the journey by announcing to the people on the bus where they’re going—by setting a new direction or by articulating a fresh corporate vision.
In fact, leaders of companies that go from good to great start not with “where” but with “who.” They start by getting the right people on the bus, the wrong people off the bus, and the right people in the right seats. And they stick with that discipline—first the people, then the direction—no matter how dire the circumstances. Take David Maxwell’s bus ride. When he became CEO of Fannie Mae in 1981, the company was losing $1 million every business day, with $56 billion worth of mortgage loans underwater. The board desperately wanted to know what Maxwell was going to do to rescue the company.
Maxwell responded to the “what” question the same way that all good-to-great leaders do: He told them, That’s the wrong first question. To decide where to drive the bus before you have the right people on the bus, and the wrong people off the bus, is absolutely the wrong approach.
Maxwell told his management team that there would only be seats on the bus for A-level people who were willing to put out A-plus effort. He interviewed every member of the team. He told them all the same thing: It was going to be a tough ride, a very demanding trip. If they didn’t want to go, fine; just say so. Now’s the time to get off the bus, he said. No questions asked, no recriminations. In all, 14 of 26 executives got off the bus. They were replaced by some of the best, smartest, and hardest-working executives in the world of finance.
With the right people on the bus, in the right seats, Maxwell then turned his full attention to the “what” question. He and his team took Fannie Mae from losing $1 million a day at the start of his tenure to earning $4 million a day at the end. Even after Maxwell left in 1991, his great team continued to drive the flywheel—turn upon turn—and Fannie Mae generated cumulative stock returns nearly eight times better than the general market from 1984 to 1999.
When it comes to getting started, good-to-great leaders understand three simple truths. First, if you begin with “who,” you can more easily adapt to a fast-changing world. If people get on your bus because of where they think it’s going, you’ll be in trouble when you get 10 miles down the road and discover that you need to change direction because the world has changed. But if people board the bus principally because of all the other great people on the bus, you’ll be much faster and smarter in responding to changing conditions. Second, if you have the right people on your bus, you don’t need to worry about motivating them. The right people are self-motivated: Nothing beats being part of a team that is expected to produce great results. And third, if you have the wrong people on the bus, nothing else matters. You may be headed in the right direction, but you still won’t achieve greatness. Great vision with mediocre people still produces mediocre results.”
There is a company that know how to get the right people in the right seats on the bus. Taylor Protocols can do the type of individual analysis to see if the seats on the bus have the right people on it. It makes sense to have the right people engaged in the work they do. Imagine what would be possible if everyone was able to be engaged in their work. It is currently estimated that organizational output is only at 33% and that means hiring more people to get work done that could be done with fewer people if they were fully engaged in their work.
Shawn Achor has been doing research on happiness, and positive psychology and asking some great questions and getting real answers. Happy people perform better on the job and in the job.
Take a few minutes and listen to the arguments Shawn puts forth.
Now, what are you going to do? Are you going to continue to work at things you don’t enjoy? Are you going to stay stuck in a job that you wish would go away?
Take a few steps and identify what would be better for you.
1. Define your purpose
2. Define your strengths
3. Define your natural talents
4. Create a plan so that your work or your new work, works for you.
William Dubois put down his thoughts like this, “The return from your work must be the satisfaction which that work bring you and the world’s need of that work. With this, life is heaven, or as near heaven as you can get. Without this – with work which you despise, which bores you, and which the world does not need – this life is hell.”
What do you want to do? Work in heaven or work in hell. Most people have chosen to work in hell. Where do you want to work?
“Time And health are two precious assets that we don’t recognize and appreciate until they have been depleted.” Denis Waitley
Health and happiness are tightly woven together. People who exercise are going to benefit from the post-exercise benefits for as much as 12 hours according to an article in U.S News and World Report. Twelve hours of positive benefits from moderate exercise (20 minutes) per day helps increase brain mood, or happiness.
How much exercise are you getting on a daily basis?
Another important factor is sleep. Regular, routine sleep of 7-8 hours. That makes a big difference. People with adequate sleep experience less stress and are able to handle stress better. The Huffington Post gives 11 reasons why sleep is beneficial. Creating new sleep habits, having regular times for sleep will provide long-term benefits. Instead of reading one more email, watching one more movie or doing one more extra thing at the end of the day, stop and go to bed instead. Getting the sleep you need will have long-term and short-term benefits and will improve your happiness as well.
How much sleep do you get each night?
Finally, diet. How many times in an average week do you find yourself at the counter of a fast food restaurant and most food chains qualify as fast food? In the US obesity is an epidemic. Cheap high calorie food for those who sit more at work and at home is contributing to increases in lifestyle diseases such as type II diabetes. In one report it is estimated that the current generation of kids is likely to have a shorter lifespan than their parents, reversing a long trend of longer lifespans. Eating cheap, available high calorie foods is not helping our kids, our families or our health. It may be convenient to stop and get a quick meal in the rush to cram a little bit more into a day, but eventually there is a high price to pay, and that will be quality of life. Lifestyle diseases are not easy to or cheap to fix. It pays to spend time preparing and eating healthy meals.
How much fast food is in your diet?
Health is a choice, getting 30 minutes of exercise per day, getting enough sleep per night and eating the right foods are all choices people make. Some people make those choices without thinking about the long-term consequences of those choices.
Being healthy leads to greater happiness, and it also leads to a higher quality of life. Think about your health habits, what could change to make your life better?
Where are you right now? Are you focusing in on what is on the horizon in the next few days or weeks or are you focused on the past and what has happened. Being present means focusing in on this moment and this moment alone.
Our culture is focused on “winning” and excelling in life and business and with such a high focus on getting results (or success) we often miss present. As a result many people are missing out on life and over time they become disenchanted with their life.
Being present is becoming a topic of greater and greater interest and has been written about by Peter Senge and most notably Mihaly Csikszentamihalyi. With our days being compressed by “duty” we rarely have time to reflect on the present moment and what is happening is people are feeling like their is something missing. That missing something starts to grow and grow and there is this moment that causes people to wonder life is all about.
Most people at some point in their life have found a moment in which they were fully present and it was magic. Mihaly writes, “Yet we all have experienced times when, instead of being buffeted by anonymous forces, we do feel in control of our actions, maters of our own fate. On the rare occasions that it happens, we feel a sense of exhilaration, a deep sense of enjoyment that is long cherished and that becomes a landmark in memory for what life should be like.”
It is those moments of exhilaration that people are seeking but are finding that daily living is sucking the life out of them and generating more stress than joy in their lives. The question that lingers in many people’s minds is “how do I start feeling more joy in my life?”
Part of the answer is taking time out of the everyday busyness to stop and really doing something that tests your limits. Busyness and routine work is draining but something that challenges ever fiber of your soul is what people describe as an optimal experience and this is what causes people to feel most alive.
What challenges the mind and body creates this sense of flow or being in the moment. The moment is a point in time where the conscious mind reflects on the challenge and has the experience of control, victory and freedom from the threat of chaos. That moment is experiential and joyous and fleeting. It is a moment that isn’t easily regained or easy to live over again through a similar experience. It requires a new challenge and a new experience and then that moment of reflection.
For example first marathon run by a runner is often the most memorable. Running the same marathon again even a year later has less of an impact than the first one did. A new challenge must be experienced in order to regain that feeling. Yet that experience can be recreated in the mind at any moment by learning how to be present right where you are. The mind has the ability to generate that feeling of presence. What will you do to be present in your life?
Obtaining flow or presence
1. Set goals
2. Become immersed in activity
3. Pay attention to what is happening.
4. Learn to enjoy the present.
Do something important today that will allow you to feel better about you.
“In fact, the most effective approach is simply to ask questions. We can ignore directives, but questions force us to attend to them. In the corporate world, most of us are so used to being told what to do that when someone asks us what we think we should do, it stops our automatic processing in its tracks.
Rather than telling people, we should ask them, whether it’s deciding how to implement a strategy, setting objectives, or evaluating performance. The effect of a question may not be as stunning as glasses made out of burning cigarettes, but it will activate the brain and get it working the way we need it to.” Psychology Today
Those two paragraphs that were printed in Psychology Today represent the new model of leadership. In the past leadership was in many cases more of a request than a question.
Everyone today should be thinking about themselves as a leader and a person who asks questions. Questions allow the receiver of the question to create (notice “create”) an answer in response. The old way was “request” and “react” and the new way is “question” and “respond”. Think about it, what makes you feel more empowered? Is it a request or is it a question that you get to answer.
Think about questions in the workplace. When do you feel empowered? Do you feel empowered when you are “told” to do something or do you feel empowered when you are asked, “How could you solve this problem?”. For most people it is the second approach, it is their idea, it is their solution and that is empowering.
Look at any organization that is not functioning at their full potential. What do you hear? Do you hear questions or requests? More than likely you are hearing requests more than you are hearing questions.
New managers want to manage. They are being asked “lead” your team to success and immediately they are requesting rather than asking empowering questions.
Now, take this to your world, your sphere of influence, what does that look like to you. Is it a world of questions or requests. If it is requests see what you can do to change it to questions and see what happens.
“Questions focus our thinking. Ask empowering questions like: What’s good about this? What’s not perfect about it yet? What am I going to do next time? How can I do this and have fun doing it?” Charles Connolly
