My Holland, Author at EQuest Asia

Leading With Empathy, Compassion: An Authentic Model Where Work And Private Life Are In Tune With Real Values!

Compassion, Leadership, Positive Psychology, Productivity / My Holland

In business schools and corporate boardrooms, we were taught, or perhaps the better word is brainwashed, to lead with our heads not with our hearts. We’re expected to be tough as nails, like a first class marine sergeant completely focused on bringing-in results. We’re supposed to be these no-nonsense, don’t-mess-around-with-me- types of leaders obsessed almost with making our businesses a big success. But, following the September 11 tragedy that shattered the world, a new behavioral management pattern seems to have emerged on the business horizon. Leaders of big, prestigious companies and organizations in the US and in the western world are beginning to advocate and embrace a more humane, more compassionate kind of leadership… leading with the heart. The Change is Happening You see this change happening when leaders of giant firms devote precious press and radio/TV advertising budgets to either express their sorrow or empathy to families of victims of some tragic natural calamity or to express pride in the United States for some glorious, victorious event that made the country shine. You see this happening through corporate giving campaigns and fund-raising events for some lofty, noble cause rather than sell a product or a brand extolling their benefits. In a day-to-day office setting, you see this happening when the GM drops by a low-rank employee’s work station to say thank you for a job well done. No doubt, we shall see these compassionate leaders multiplying in the months and years to come. The sensitivities that come to play in this compassionate leadership are inevitably transforming into favorable, positive results. Compassion Is In Everyone It is from some special spot, deep within us that compassion lives. It’s a gentle force that puts other people’s needs before our own, or a soft thrust to sympathise with their needs. Such sensitivity was evidenced in former New York City Mayor Rudy Giuliani, when, during the September 11 tragic event, he took center stage to report and update the American people almost with every minute detail, news he was able to share, day after day. Governor George Pataki offered the support of New York State to help rebuild the city. Former President Bush shared hugs and handshakes with firemen and police officers with obvious empathy. Grown men wept openly on national TV. Who knows? Perhaps it’s what triggered this new wave of leadership with heart. Compassion is ever-present. Compassion is ever-natural. It’s not going to cost a penny to be a compassionate leader. It’s about being real and authentic with what matters to all of us. We can help in emotional intelligence assessments, where one of the elements we measure is empathy and self-awareness. Intrigued? Contact us for a chat.

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Positive Neuroplasticity @ work with Dr Rick Hanson?

Leadership, Mindfulness, Productivity / My Holland

Without a shadow of doubt, Rick Hanson’s Positive Neuroplasticitiy Training (PNT) I attended lately, was the most powerful course I have ever attended in my working life. The course was a practical and hands-on training over several days where participants journeyed through a lot of practices (meditation, analysing our own understanding of success and balancing the good versus the negative bias, to name but a few). It was the type of course that leaves participants inspired to share the work of Dr Hanson with the world. Full of enthusiasm about his work, I want to take this opportunity to share with you just a few of the points I learnt: The root of inner strength comes from turning positive experiences in our lives, such as resilience, feeling loved or confidence, into a strong mental structure for success. Our problem lies in the fact that many positive emotions we feel are outweighed by negativity – anxiety, worry and conflict. We convince ourselves that the negative overpowers any positives. But there are practices to help ‘wire’ our brain to react and think differently so that the positive thoughts win through. Once of these practices is Dr Hanson’s HEAL process. HEAL breaks down to mean: Having the good, Enriching the experience, Absorbing the experience and Linking the positive and the negative. In short, what we have here is a way of adapting to negative thoughts and approaching them pro-actively. By doing this, our experiences become our own inner strength and coping mechanism. Our brain provides our very own resource to turn to when we are stressed or sad. It gives us something internal to reach for, such as self-worth and compassion, when we need it most. This process of ‘coping’ is known as Positive Neuroplasticitiy Training, or PNT for short, and can be mastered by anyone – young, old, individually or as a couple, family or workplace, with a little time, practice and patience. Of course, these short bullet points just cover the tip of the iceberg. As part of my business, I offer coaching to anybody interested in learning about sustainable well-being, coping with stress using the PNT process as well as other tools (positive engagement, emotional intelligence).

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Keeping Employees Engaged and Happy Leads to Business Success

Engagement, Leadership, Wellbeing / My Holland

If you pull back a bit, take a minute to think of the critical elements that are common among successful companies, you will, of course discover many. But one you’ll most likely recognize as being of utmost importance is employee engagement. An engaged workforce who has quality relationship with its superiors and co employees tend to perform with better productivity. What Research Shows In Australia, while boasting to have one of the highest employee engagement figures of 24% as per World Gallup’s State of the workplace Report, 2013, there is still a huge 60% who are not engaged and 16 % who are actively disengaged. For reference, these types of workers may be described as ; Engaged – those displaying a passion for their work, a closely, dearly-held connection to their company and a tendency to drive innovations. Not engaged – are seen as “the walking dead” just going through the motions of their work, putting in the hours but with neither energy nor enthusiasm. Actively disengaged – they’re not just unhappy at work, they make their unhappiness seen and felt, oftentimes undermining the accomplishments of their engaged co-workers. It makes practical sense to conclude that the last two groups can actually mean that a company which has them is not drawing their fullest potential and in fact may be leading to lost opportunities and business. The figures may vary but management experts are of the opinion these losses can run to hundreds of millions of dollars. Employee engagement continues to be a hot subject among managers. A lot continues to talk. The smart ones, aware of the huge losses low productivity can cause companies, have begun to do something about it. Foremost of these involves creating a company culture that encourages friendship among co-workers and developing supportive and trusting relationships. Start the Ball Rolling If you own a business or are one of your company’s key managers, you may want to adopt the following tips that have been proven to help employees be engaged and happy at work : Define and share your vision with your employees. Let it serve as everybody’s roadmap with all its twists and turns. This will have everybody moving in the same direction. Provide them with what they need. Instead of assuming they have all the tools, training and support from immediate superiors, go talk to them in person and take a few minutes to find out. Communicate clearly and often. You can take advantage of regular meetings, memos, and workshops to present your vision. Ask questions. If they can’t get it, rehash and reformat the way you’re communicating. Coach and lead for success and practice spur-of-the-moment acts of kindness. Positive feedback is a terrific motivator, especially when you say “thank you” for a task well-done. So is negative feedback when expressed in an objective, constructive way. Get everybody engaged (…and we’re not talking about getting into the dating game or romantic match-pairings here). Work out a way to have every employee engaged and participating in the planning and decision making. This way they’ll have a sense of ownership of the project and make sure it succeeds. Respect and create trust. Act fairly. Don’t make like a henchman of the ancient Roman ships fast-beating the drums to set the pace of the slave rowers. Remember, at the end of the day, the more engaged and happier your employees are, the likelier it is for your company to succeed. Sources: http://www.businessreviewaustralia.com/leadership/145/Australia-boasts-high-employees-engagement-levels http://www.theaustralian.com.au/national-affairs/australians-disengaged-at-work-report/story-fn59niix-1226735435897?nk=464c113a262faa7a201607adf0931535 http://www.gallup.com/poll/165269/worldwide-employees-engaged-work.aspx

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My Holland

Leading With Empathy, Compassion: An Authentic Model Where Work And Private Life Are In Tune With Real Values!

Positive Neuroplasticity @ work with Dr Rick Hanson?

Keeping Employees Engaged and Happy Leads to Business Success

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