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The New Way To Lead … With Compassion

Compassion, Leadership, Positive Psychology / My Holland

Leading with empathy, compassion: an authentic model where work and private life are in tune with real values! 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.

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Stress and productivity. What is the link?

Engagement, Wellbeing / My Holland

Stress In The Workplace Can Affect Productivity Experts have long acknowledged that job stress plays an important role in employee performance. What happens when there is stress is that it reduces a worker’s ability to concentrate on multi-tasks, and all his energy is directed at the completion of those tasks. It has been established that there exists a level of stress, below which employees become unmotivated and above which, they tend to be overwhelmed. We all deal with stress. It’s is part of what we are and even, who we are. You might say it is a part of how we are wired. And yet, while stress gets us moving, it also directly affects our ability to be creative and productive. Interestingly, we sometimes cause self-inflicted stress by our own lack of organization and very poor management of our time. The $64 Million Dollar Question So, the big question you will need to ask yourself is … “Is stress helping me or hindering me in my job performance?” To help you understand stress and get to the right answer, here are five ways that show how stress impacts your productivity: Stress drains your energy. It is funny. Stress can give you that adrenaline burst to get you going however a project, but after that initial rush, it quickly drains you. Physically and emotionally, you find yourself exhausted. And when you do not get enough sleep because of your stress, your best job performance suffers. Stress clouds your focus. For the most part, stress makes it hard to focus on what is important. It runs you down until you end up doing just the urgent instead of your priorities. Stress wastes time. It is simple. With stress, you worry. Sometimes just worrying all day long when you could have done other productive things. Stress reduces creativity. When you are under stress, you would most likely “lock on” to the first solution that comes to mind, and that is it. End of discussion. End of thinking. In other words, your mind doesn’t open up and limit your ability to come up with new ideas. Stress affects your personality. It would not make you a Dr, Jekyll and Mr. Hyde, but have you ever heard the expression … you do not seem to be yourself today? Sure, you have. It is when, because of your stress, you would be irritable and snap at everybody within your circle and may even start yelling like a banshee without thinking. So, there you go. Stress can get you jumping out of your seat right now. It will give you that light jerk your body needs to work on something. but consider the big picture. Down the road, stress can affect your productivity in such a negative way, it will put your job on the line

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Achieve Your Goals: Write Yourself A “Hope Letter”

Compassion, Positive Psychology / My Holland

We’re now in the month of February, 2016. By this time achieving any of those New Year’s resolutions we all fastidiously made at the end of 2015 may be slowly fading from our consciousness and starting to settle in the dust bin of “here today and gone tomorrow” goals. According to a study conducted by the University of Scranton’s 2014 Journal of Clinical Psychology, about forty five percent (45%) of residents in the United States typically make New Year’s resolutions. But among these Americans, there is only an eight percent (8%) chance of anyone realizing their goals. The main reason for this was never cited, although most experts contend it has to do with the degree or intensity of a person’s resoluteness and persistence to pursue whatever it is they set their minds to achieve for themselves and for their loved ones. Is There A Better Way To Improve This Situation? And so, you just might be telling yourself … “Heck! There’s got to be a better way to make good, significant changes in my live!” And there is. The “Hope Letter” The Hope Letter is a simple uncomplicated exercise. It is powerful though. This stems from what C.R. Snyder, Ph.D. professor of Psychology at the University of Kansas developed and called the Hope theory. This says that by concentrating on three important elements, the achievement of goals happens. He identified these factors to be: Having a clear goal Having ways and means of achieving this goal Believing in your ability to reach this goal. Researchers have further revealed that persons who have high hopes are more likely to cope better with physical pain or life’s many frustrations. They also tend to be happier and more satisfied. Building on the work of mental health professionals, who, from as early as the 1950’s begun realizing the key role hope played in the achievement of dreams, some creative, smart executive coaches developed the Hope Letter. When we write down our hopes and dreams…when we write down the ways and means we shall achieve them, we, in fact, become more successful in making them come true. This hope letter has been used among these executive coaches’ clients and have been known to work. Here then are the easy-to-follow, step by step guide on making one: Put it down on paper. Write a letter addressed to yourself. Date it precisely one year into the future. Don’t put a limit on yourself. Take the time to imagine what the scenario will be if you achieved or accomplished all your goals. Take into consideration your job and career, your health and finances, your love-life, family and friends, fun and personal growth. Prompt yourself with “What do I hope to have accomplished this time in 2017?” You’ll need to be accountable for this. When you’re done with the letter, give it to a close friend, your wife or special girl, your coach or colleague and ask him/her to mail it back to you, one year from the date you wrote it. You can also send a digital letter on www.futureme.org, program it so you will receive it in one year! Do this. When you get your letter back, you’ll be amazed at the number of things you shall have achieved, the reason being … when you set and write down your intentions, …your ways and methods of achieving them … your actions will naturally follow. Are all your goals … things you want to happen … do they happen, are they achieved? Not usually, but many do get realized. So, celebrate what you do achieve and learn from what you don’t and then write yourself another hope letter for the year ahead.

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The New Way To Lead … With Compassion

Stress and productivity. What is the link?

Achieve Your Goals: Write Yourself A “Hope Letter”

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