Fruits, vegetables, flowers, nuts, and gratitude are the centerpiece of our tables, hearts, and minds as we enter Thanksgiving week. As a company we decided to embrace a month-long focus on gratitude by implementing our “Moving with Gratitude” wellness challenge.

We asked our leaders why they were grateful for the Actualize team. Here is what they had to say:
Geran Combs: I'm grateful for the openness of or firm that allows anyone to express an idea or concern freely and know it will be heard.  

Priscila Nagalli: I am grateful for the team we have, this pool of individuals that brings strong technical, but also an incredible sense of commitment and team work to the table. Thank you everyone for making this company so unique.

Matt Seu: I am grateful for our Actualize team because our team makes me better as a person and that carries over to my clients and what I can offer them.

Kerry Wekelo
I am grateful for the opportunity to be able to use the Actualize team as the sounding board for creating and maintaining a thriving organizational culture. Our team’s openness allows the platform to give back daily and spread to other firms how focusing on your people first equals success.

Cultivating an attitude of gratitude can increase your personal happiness and shift your perception of how you see and interact with the world around you. At work, we focus on our people’s success with Star Player Awards for a job well done, sending out personal thank you notes and get well soon cards. We want our people to know we care about them at a personal level.

As you prepare your home for Thanksgiving and fill your cornucopia with abundance, take a moment to pause, and pivot to a positive thankful thought. In our family, each person writes down who or what they are grateful for on a slip of paper and places it into the basket. Before we enjoy our Thanksgiving meal, each family member pulls a gratitude note from the basket and reads aloud. It is beautiful way to share in gratitude and fun as we are trying to guess who said what.
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Happy Thanksgiving!  

How many times have you wished you could take a short cut or read “CliffsNotes” to achieve results? The reality is as leaders, parents, and seekers we spend much of our time collecting information that can transform our lives, but stall when it comes to implementation.

I spent years creating a holistic balanced life that supported me as both a parent and leader. During this trial and error period, I kept my own version of CliffsNotes as I applied mindfulness techniques to life and work. I witnessed our organization’s turnover rates decrease from 33% to under 1% by revamping our goal and review processes and implementing 9 actionable principles. Experiencing this success motivated me to expand my notes into a book and program, Culture Infusion: 9 Principles to Create and Maintain an Organizational Culture to help others.

Inspired by Cliff Hillegass the creator of CliffsNotes, in the video below, I share my condensed version on how the 9 Principles of Culture Infusion can be your starting point to identifying potential enhancements in your firm.

If you would like to explore, understand, and encounter new ways to review your organizational structure, I am happy to assist you. We can start with a simple employee survey or assessment. Contact me today for more information. ​

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1.   My great-grandfather Cecil Stowers. His passion for educating children left the legacy of the Cecil B. Stowers Elementary School in Anaheim, CA. I was blessed to have spent summers under his guidance through high school.

He taught me to respect everyone. Walking by his side I witnessed him thanking every person he encountered at each establishment. Each person as important as the last; none labeled as less than or more integral than another. I saw his gratitude towards teamwork as he discussed how each person is necessary on a team.

He took me to the library. I cherished our quiet time at the library where we read together. What made it special was that he never told me I had to read, we just did. He truly led by example.

He gave me the gift of confidence. I believed in myself because he believed in me and asked me about my dreams and passions. He demonstrated this with effective listening. He was fully present, asked me sincere questions, and asked how he can support me to achieve my goals.

2.   My 8th grade basketball coach. He shared his journey on how he had to work hard to be his best and in turn, I dug in deeper to reach my highest potential. We experienced teamwork and the importance of coming together with plays. To this day, the shot I took in one of those plays, I make with ease. With our dedication, we won the 8th grade championship as the underdogs with our short, yet scrappy team (I am 42 in the picture). I lived the importance of playing to each team member’s strengths. 

As he was giving out awards, he spoke of a natural leader who inspired and lifted each of the team members up. I thought to myself, I want to be that person. As he called my name, I was in shock, yet felt responsible to continue being that person he described. From that day forward, I have been passionate about lifting others up to see their best qualities as he saw something I did not see in myself. I felt the value of being appreciated.

​Recently I shared about how to allow your teams to totally unplug. Watch my video on my vacation confession of how I was not following my own advice nor was I sharing it with the entire team.

Now others are giving themselves the gift of a clean inbox upon return from vacation.

Good leaders are effective communicators. And effective communicating begins with active listening. Practicing the following five guidelines will help you become an active listener: (1) being empathetic, (2) giving your full attention, (3) refraining from judgment, (4) responding positively, and (5) being aware of your own inner response.
 
1. Be Empathetic
Active listening begins with empathy. A person who is empathetic can see things from another person’s point of view; they are not limited to their own viewpoint. Empathetic listening helps improve understanding, respect, and trust. Being empathetic can require a great deal of patience and practice and can be especially difficult when personal issues, struggles, and problems cloud your listening. With practice, however, you will be (correctly) perceived as being more caring and understanding, and because of this, you will be able to help deescalate tense discussions. 

2. Give Your Full Attention
Focusing on what a speaker is communicating through both words and body language is a central part of active listening. It may seem like a simple skill, but uninterrupted focus on another person requires discipline. Technology and other distractions can easily shift our focus off the speaker, and he or she will usually sense our wanderings. This usually interrupts the flow of communication. Listeners must put away their devices and refrain from watching the clock or moving around. Active listening is about being fully present—giving the speaker undivided attention and being mindful to what is being said.

3. Refrain from Making Judgments
Another essential part of active listening is suspending judgment. Speakers who feel judged by a listener’s counterpoints and disagreements may be reluctant to finish their points and might feel that such an environment is not a safe place in which to share. When leaders judge, they expose their lack of maturity and their difficulty in welcoming differences of opinions. Great leaders listen to understand and welcome different opinions and ideas. They listen without assumptions about why a speaker is saying certain things or using a certain tone, and they treat other people’s opinions with compassion and respect.
 
4. Respond to Show Understanding
Active listeners show that they understand what a speaker is communicating. This can take a more subtle form such as smiling and making eye contact, or a more direct form such as asking questions and verifying understanding. Relevant questions show the speaker that the listener has been paying attention, and in turn, the speaker’s responses can help the listener learn more about the topic at hand and develop more interest in what is being said. Questions also help build rapport between the speaker and listener. Shared understanding is essential to a conversation and can grow when active listeners clarify points. Paraphrasing and summarizing what a speaker says can help halt miscommunication and conflict.
 
5. Be Aware of Your Own Inner Response
Active listening at its best involves listening not only to the person speaking but also to one’s own inner response. Your inner response shapes how you listen, so the greater your internal awareness, the more control you will have over your responses. For instance, a listener who is not aware that they are internally judging a speaker will not work to suspend their judgement. Or, a listener who is not aware that a speaker’s story has touched a chord in their own life may respond shortsightedly out of their own experiences rather than listening for the story’s unique impact on the speaker’s life. 

​The case for active listening is clear. Leaders who practice active listening will be able to enjoy the benefits of improved relationships, less stress and frustration, more compassion, and a broader understanding of others. Being empathetic, paying attention, avoiding judgment, being responsive, and being aware of their own inner responses will all help make leaders active and effective listeners.