In this video, I share "how" my internal team and I have been sharing in the circle of empathy.
Empathy is the ability to put yourself in someone else's shoes and see things from their perspective. Carl Rogers, a 20th-century humanist psychologist and the founder of a person-centered psychotherapy, eloquently discussed in his theories, "Empathy is a special way of coming to know another and ourselves, a kind of attuning and understanding. When empathy is extended, it satisfies our needs and wish for intimacy, it rescues us from our feelings of aloneness." In this video, I share "how" my internal team and I have been sharing in the circle of empathy.
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Imagine the success you can experience with a team that has been with you for 12 years and a company that experiences less than 1% turnover! I have seen firsthand how mindfully infusing some key principles into our culture here at Actualize Consulting has attracted new talent, increased retention rates, bolstered job satisfaction, and improved morale. In this video, I share "how" culture impacts the success of your organization and team. 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. With a focus on whole-body awareness and some simple Ayurvedic suggestions, I learned how to turn a midday slump into midday intelligence. This 3,000 year old holistic approach works for adults and children by supporting our natural biological rhythms. The foods we choose can affect our body and brain causing us to slump or to flourish. With a little attention we can optimize our lunch choices for ourselves and our children at work, school, or home. Midday Lunch Ayurvedic food is used to sustain balance in the body and as a medicine to heal. It is suggested that lunch is the largest meal, as our digestive fire is at its strongest. Taking the time to bring a homemade lunch fuels the mind and body to sustain balance and create mental clarity. Even though processed food is more convenient to pack, it can be laced with harmful additives and chemicals. Processed food lacks prana (life force) and intelligence that can disturb the intellectual rhythms. On the other hand, pure cooked food promotes balance and is easier to digest and absorb nutrients. This gives us strength to make it through a mentally challenging day. This is equally important if you have school aged children. A balanced diet enables us to better handle the emotional ups and downs of the day. Tips:
In Ayurveda which literally translates to science of life in Sanskrit, it is recommended not to pair fruit with other food, making fruit the perfect after school or work snack option. Midday Intelligence Now that you have nourished your body it is time to attend to your brain. Take a few minutes to stretch or go for a walk. Quiet your mind by paying attention to each of your feet touching the ground feeling your feet stretch. Try meditating, focusing on your breathing, or making a mental gratitude list. (For guided relaxations and movement at your desk, check out all the options in the drop down on my personal wellness website: http://www.zendoway.com/videos.html). Visualize how you will interact with your loved ones when you greet them at the of their day. Formulate a few questions you can use to really interact. Here are a few questions and leads to get you started:
As the new season is upon us and for our own well-being, it is critical to utilize our energy in the most effective and efficient ways. Nobody likes the midday slump, but with the slightest efforts Ayurvedic or Ayurveda can be utilized to energize your family’s day at work or school. If you would like to add mindful energy to your day, contact me about my Make a Great Day! Program. Individual and companywide sessions are available. I am honored to have my book, Culture Infusion: 9 Principles to Create and Maintain a Thriving Organizational Culture as required reading for Virginia Tech University’s new Advanced Leadership Skills class. This is a capstone course for the Business Leadership Minor, which is focused on leading effective teams and organizations. As I prepare to guest teach the Advanced Leadership class at my alma mater, my mind takes me down memory lane opining on the leaders that have provided inspiration. Who do you think of as pivotal leaders from your past or present? What qualities do these leaders have? Why do they stand out to you? There are countless leaders that have inspired me from the past and present. The leaders that come to the forefront are those that know how to motivate others to be their best, they lead by example, and are keenly astute in their personal awareness and honest about their daily challenges. The three leaders below stand out because their lessons are a part of why I am passionate about inspiring others to make the most out of each day and guiding them to their highest potential. 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. 3. My Management teacher Chris Neck at Virginia Tech. The memories are vague on specifics, yet the feeling is strong. He had written a book that was part of the required reading for the class, Healing Words to Help You Soar, Medicine for the Mind. I remember the impact of holding a person’s message in my hands.
His class and book were the start to the realization that professionally I wanted to inspire teams. I recall sitting in class dreaming that someday maybe I could have my words in a book and stand before a group; inspiring others. His passion for leading by example inspired me to be my best. Stepping into a new role, it is important for me to take a moment and honor those in my life that placed a piece of themselves into my heart. My emotions are fluctuating from feeling “I got this” to “am I good enough” to share with these impressionable students? I am humbled by the opportunity to teach and share from personal experiences how I choose to lead from the heart and aspire to build a cultural legacy on the greatest renewable resource of all: love. And focus on the wise words of Maya Angelou, “People may not remember exactly what you did, or what you said, but they will always remember how you made them feel.” How can you lead from your heart in your day-to-day to inspire those in your path? It would be an honor to work with you or your team as a coach. Contact me for an exploratory 20-minute session. Ask me about how I can can help you and your team Make a Great Day! With a focus on whole-body awareness and some simple Ayurvedic suggestions, I learned how to turn a midday slump into midday intelligence. This 3,000 year old holistic approach works for adults and children by supporting our natural biological rhythms. The foods we choose can affect our body and brain causing us to slump or to flourish. With a little attention we can optimize our lunch choices for ourselves and our children at work, school, or home. Midday Lunch – Ayurvedic food is used to sustain balance in the body and as a medicine to heal. It is suggested that lunch is the largest meal, as our digestive fire is at its strongest. Taking the time to bring a homemade lunch fuels the mind and body to sustain balance and create mental clarity. Even though processed food is more convenient to pack, it can be laced with harmful additives and chemicals. Processed food lacks prana (life force) and intelligence that can disturb the intellectual rhythms. On the other hand, pure cooked food promotes balance and is easier to digest and absorb nutrients. This gives us strength to make it through a mentally challenging day. This is equally important as you send your children off to school. A balanced child is better able to handle the emotional ups and downs of their school day. Tips:
In Ayurveda which literally translates to science of life in Sanskrit, it is recommended not to pair fruit with other food, making fruit the perfect after school or work snack option. Midday Intelligence – Now that you have nourished your body it is time to attend to your brain. Take a few minutes to stretch or go for a walk. Quiet your mind by paying attention to each of your feet touching the ground feeling your feet stretch. Try meditating, focusing on your breathing, or making a mental gratitude list. Visualize how you will interact with your child when you greet them after school. Formulate a few questions you can use to really interact with your children. Here are a few questions and leads to get you started:
As the new school year is upon us and for our own well-being, it is critical to utilize our energy in the most effective and efficient ways. Nobody likes the midday slump, but with the slightest efforts Ayurvedic or Ayurveda can be utilized to energize your family’s day at work or school. If you would like to add mindful energy to your day, contact me about my Make a Great Day! Program. Individual and company wide sessions are available. I’d like to share the steps my team and I have been utilizing while we prepare for being out of the office. As I go on vacation the next two weeks, I'm looking forward to truly unplugging. These 8 easy steps show you how to enjoy your time off and make a great vacation - so you can come back to work refreshed and motivated. Encouraging team connection is one of the most vital principles of infusing a thriving culture into your organization. A book club is an easy way to facilitate this, with
like-minded team members gathering and bonding over a shared experience. At the firm I work with, Actualize, we’ve had numerous versions of book clubs over the years, and we’re just getting ready to begin another. Here are some tips on how you can start a book club within your organization (or even with a group of friends or family): 1.) Survey the team on the frequency and types of books to explore. (We landed on quarterly after discovering it was too hard to keep up with reading one book a month.) 2.) Choose a club leader with co-leaders to manage each book’s selection, check-ins, and discussion sessions. This encourages participation and allows others to share the ownership. 3.) Invite the team to select the next book via a brief survey listing several potential books, after asking for new recommendations. The majority vote determines final selection. 4.) Choose a time to discuss the book. Be sure to send a list of questions* before the meeting so everyone is prepared to participate. (We identified this pre-discussion list of questions as a best practice to focus our time together.) If your team is remote and you cannot meet in person, either have a conference call or utilize a video conference technology, such as Zoom, to make the meetings more personal. *Sample Questions: What is the significance of the title? How did you interpret it prior to reading the book? Were you pulled effortlessly into the book, or did you have difficulty getting into it? Why? What have you gained from reading this book? 5.) Summarize key points from the book and distribute these to the entire firm. This strategy may entice new members to join! What are some of your favorite books or experiences with book clubs? I would love to hear from you to help us get our book club back in session! Do you have a to-do list a mile high? Too much on your plate? Have you ever had a hard time delegating? I know this has been a struggle for me over the years. With guidance from my team of coaches, I have been focusing even more attention on delegating and empowering others. First, I was guided to notice which tasks did not “light me up.” I got honest and realized they were mostly administrative in nature. I asked my internal team to step up and take ownership of their newly delegated responsibilities. I see how they are more empowered as I let them take the lead. My long-term finance manager truly took the increase in responsibility and ownership to heart and led the operational side of our UK office opening. Her efforts were rewarded when we promoted her mid-year. Second, I was faced with giving up those activities that do “light me up.” I love to write and create, yet do not have the capacity to promote my line of mindful children’s books or my themed, soft squeezable Zendoway cubes with motivational prompts on each side. I handed over the social media platforms that support my books and cubes to two interns, one leading the way as this is her second year working with me. At first, I “helped” them by giving them ideas and guidance, but I soon saw that I was just getting in the way. Steve Jobs once said, “The greatest people are self-managing. Once they know what to do they’ll go figure out how to do it. What they need is a common vision.” I took this to heart; sharing my vision, I let them go and watched my interns create from their authentic selves as they successfully transformed the “Zendoway” social media sites. The result of delegating and letting go of the details are increased sales, leads, and a fun and unique social media presence. Watch the video that Maddie, my second-year intern, created: Each time I see a new post, I smile. I am proud of letting go of a couple of my babies. I am proud of the accountability Maddie has exhibited in her role. And what an experience to start her career! I love that I am providing a meaningful internship, giving her the opportunity to shine, manage the other intern, and build her resume with something tangible she will always remember. The other good news is that Maddie has told me of the positive impact my work is having on her life, helping her be more mindful and less stressed.
How can you get started with delegating?
When my coaches requested the above, I laughed. Yet, now it is a focus and I am continually asking myself, "Do I need to do this task, or would it be better served by another member of my team? Is this task even necessary?" The result? I feel lighter and free to focus on my passion of helping others. My team and interns are rising to the challenge wholeheartedly and feeling more empowered to lead. And this approach shows an example of me being an intentional leader which is the first principle in my book Culture Infusion. Ask me how I can help your organization to Make a Great Day and help your teams delegate more. 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. |
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