Category Archives: Inspirational Leadership

Community Tragedies & Resiliency

Northern Nevada has been struck with two terrible community tragedies in just the last 10 days. First, we had a random shooting in a local IHop coffee shop killing four people including three National Guard members in uniform. Many others were injured – all who just stopped by for a quick breakfast on a Tuesday morning after the Labor Day holiday. Now tonight we are hearing of multiple deaths out at the Reno Air Races from an aircraft which careened out-of-control into the public viewing stands.

The impact of these events is huge. Not only for the friends and families of the people killed and injured but for the community as a whole. Nevada has had a very difficult time with our high unemployment, high foreclosure rate and an endless stream of bad news for an economic recovery. But that’s when we rediscover resiliency . . .

Tahoe Gal BoatResiliency is Hope

One of my favorite workshops topics is about resiliency – what it is and how to keep it. Resiliency is all about hope. Resilient people intuitively believe in these three things.

First, that the situation is temporary – resilient people see the light at the end of the tunnel.

Second, they have some control over their own response to the situation. Resilient people tell themselves, and others, that we will make it through this difficult time.

Third, that they are not personally responsible for the situation occurring. They didn’t cause it. They are not to blame for it. It’s bigger than them.

How We Learn Resilience

I often ask people in my workshops this question “How did you learn to be resilient?” Often, they say they learned by just watching someone else. It was usually someone older in their family or in their community as they were growing up. Children watch and learn from those older than them – an important reminder as we are raising and mentoring younger people.

The same is true in our professional lives. And as I watch the community leaders on TV tonight, I’m looking for them to demonstrate the qualities of resiliency – that yes, this too will past and that we will handle it well. That is leadership at its best.

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5 Ways to Minimize Multi-Tasking

The summer is winding down, kids are back in school and the fall work projects are ramping up. It’s so tempting to get over over committed this time of year. Doesn’t that sound familiar! But we quickly regret saying yes to so many requests – our plates are overfilled and tipping over. So we just work harder and “multi-task” even faster. But is that really effective? Many times it is not.

Downsize of Multi-Tasking

The research (and our own observation) confirm that we simply can’t do several things at once and do them well. Do you know that it takes between 9-15 minutes to refocus when you have been interruped from a task. So while you’re trying to get back to where you were you are losing valuable time and energy. We can feel our stress level going up because we’re not getting anything done well – and we’re making mistakes – silly, stupid mistakes that take even more time to fix. And it leaves us with a feeling at the end of the day “I didn’t get anything important done today.”

Beach ChairReduce Your Multi-Tasking

Resist the temptation to multi-task by practicing on concentrating on one thing at a time. Select what is most important (to your business, to your job, to your boss) and make a personal commitment to be the best that you can be by being present in the moment. Stay focused until you get the job done. Sounds simple but it’s actually takes practice, practice and more practice. Especially when you’re getting pressured to do several things at once – being pulled into other people’s urgent requests. But by managing your time and energy effectively you are doing what you’ve been hired to do. But it’s tough to resist the temptation to start juggling tasks. But this has several things that have worked for me . . .

  1. “Chuck” your time by setting aside a block of time to concentrate on one task at a time.
  2. Resist reading your email early in the morning because it pulls you away into multiple directions – many relatively unimportant.
  3. Be more realistic about how much time a task will really take and build in some extra time as well.
  4. Close your eyes when talking on the phone so that you can really concentrate.
  5. Take at least three things off your list today to minimize feeling fragmented.

So think about it . . . are you ready to resist the popular notion that multi-tasking is the way to go? If so, try these tips to see how they work for you. You will be pleasantly surprised!

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New England Chocolate & The Entrepreneur Spirit!

The New England Chocolate Company is a delightful oasis in the midst of the busy beach town of Salisbury, MA (north of Boston). In 2002, Jayne Murray, owner & entrepreneur extraordinaire, decided she was ready to leave 22 years of being a speech pathologist. But what could she do or want to do? A delicious idea began bubbling up . . . she and her husband, Les, really like (love) chocolate especially fine Belgian chocolates. In their many travels over the years, they have always gravitated to the chocolate shops in every city and village. But they couldn’t get that quality of chocolate in New England. An idea . . . could they make and sell fine chocolates themselves? The answer was yes.

Chocolate making it was. One year later Jayne & Les were in business making Belgian chocolates from their kitchen and selling it out the side door. In time, they rebuilt their property to accommodate a 750′ sales and kitchen area with their living spaces custom built above it. It all worked out and now Jayne & Les make undisputably the best Belgian chocolates in all of New England.

So what can we learn from the New England Chocolate Company? Jayne is my twin sister, Diane, favorite breakfast buddy and fellow twin mom. Just last week I had the chance to join them for a early breakfast in Salisbury. I asked Jayne the secrets to her success as a Chocolatier and a successful small business owner. With her wonderful laugh and savvy business sense, Jayne shared several tips for the new business owner. The first I want to share with you is the best . . . love what you do!

You Have to Like (Love) Chocolate!

Conversation on a Pier in MaineTo start your own business you have to like (preferably love) the product or service you are providing. Sounds so simple but it’s amazing how often this idea is overlooked when entrepreneurs start their own businesses. Loving what you do and what you provide will sustain you both during the prosperous times but, more importantly, during those tougher economic times. If you’re not very excited about the actual work you do then the work will become drudgery and you will quickly lose your interest, passion and commitment to making your successful.

So think about the work you do, or would like to do. Do you like it as much as Jayne likes her chocolates? Can you work day after day, month after month and year after year in this kind of work? If the answer is yes, you are well on your way to creating a business that truly fulfills you and that is profitable and fun to boot.

Now go celebrate with a piece of chocolate. Order direct from Jayne www.newenglandchocolatecompany.com or just stop in and see her when you are next in the New England area. You’ll be glad you did!

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Common Mistake in Email Communication!

Email subject lines make all the difference in getting your email read by someone else.  If you want your colleague, boss or customer to read your email sooner than later you must write a subject line that catches their attention and personalizes it as well.  This is the most common mistake I see in emails.   Yes, I know that it’s easier to just jot a quick response to someone – not change the subject line – and then hit the submit button.  But don’t be surprised if then the other person doesn’t get around to reading your email for days thinking that it is old news.

I’m sure I’m not unique when I start my work day out with rapidly scan my incoming emails for those that are first priority.  A quick glance at the subject lines alert me to those that need my attention first and then those that are less urgent and can wait a bit. Sometimes there are red flags but I don’t find those as helpful as a personal note from someone I know.  The subject lines give me a quick and easy way to sort through the flood of emails – on the bottom of the pile goes those emails that were forwarded and that have old subject lines.  And I’m pretty ruthless about deleting all misc. and junk emails – I just have to delete, delete and delete or I will be buried within two days.

Hidden in the Email

But sometimes I’m wrong!  I’ll click on an email a couple of days later to discover that it actually had something really important in it and that someone needed me to take some immediate action.  I never knew it was a priority because there was no indication in the subject line.  Then I feel like I’m playing catch up – or worse – I may have totally missed out on a great training, coaching or networking opportunity.  And it’s a bit awkward to suggest that if only the sender had written what they needed in the subject line I could have gotten back to them much sooner.

3 Quick Tips to Get Your Email Read

So here are three quick tips to make sure your email gets read.  First, change the subject line to say exactly what you need from your reader.  Second, add your first name so they know who is writing them.  And third, you can ask a question to make sure you get a response.  An example for an email regarding an upcoming meeting could be “Mtg. Wed. Sept 7th/Can You Attend?/Kit”.  And a little bit of humor is perfectly okay as well – we want the reader to always respond positively to seeing our name in their email in-box!

 

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Password is a Great Challenge in Communication!

Communication never gets easier with a rollicking group of family and friends playing Password.  We pulled out our old, old game during a recent week at a lakeside cabin in Maine.  This is our favorite game to play during long summer evenings especially if  we have several generations playing at the same time.  First, this game is so old that usually no one has ever heard of it.  Second, it is so simple that all of us can get it – or so we think.  It’s kind of like Charades or Pictionary without any drawing or acting.

Divide up into teams (mix the generations to make it funnier) and then one person from each team lines up in front of the fireplace.  They are secretly given the same word from the moderator “hubby Wally”. Taking turns they are allowed to give their team members one word with the hope that their team will spontaneously guess the secret word.  The trick is to communicate with your team mates using skillful word associations and context.


Understanding Each Other’s Meaning

You won’t think it would be so difficult but understanding what someone else is saying depends on not only on the actual words being said but more importantly   with the context and association the words bring to mind.  Interesting, it’s very frequently why we have disconnects in communication.  Someone says “That’s not what I said” and the other person says “Oh, but that’s what I thought you meant”.  Each thinks they heard it right.

As I  watch our team members laugh as they struggle to guess the words I’m struck with how quickly word associations happen.  Our brains connect words with meaning almost instantaneously.  And we’re so tempted to shout out that first association as our buddy Cedric repeatedly did.  Sometimes those associations are right on and sometimes they are way off the mark.

As Leaders – Are We Talking About the Same Thing?

If you are in any kind of leadership position, realizing the power of word association is very helpful.  You may think you’re being very clear in your communication only to be surprised that your direct reports or a colleague assumed something quite different.  In most cases, it’s perfectly understandable because we hear what makes sense to us – in our own context.  So a wise leader always double checks to make sure that everyone heard the same thing.  And if you have any doubts about how complex communication is – especially between generations – just bring out that game of Password!

 

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