Professional Paradise blog

Employee Engagement in Professional Paradise

I know you’re sick of hearing about “tough times”, so I’m not going to use that term (or any other one that sounds like it).  Today, I’m going to talk about Professional Paradise because I know that’s where most folks would rather be.

 

If you’re feeling a bit disengaged at work these days, try a little GratitudeSHIFT.  The next time you are hit with a “POW”, look for one thing you can be grateful for in the situation.  I know it’s not always easy, but it definitely changes your mindset, which changes your actions and ultimately your outcomes.

 

The other day, I was hit with a POW myself.  I had a colleague tell me she was going to come to an event to help me with something.  She called at the last minute to say she “didn’t feel like coming” and had a couple of other things to do instead.  POW!  I was on my way to the event and knew I needed a SHIFT to stay in Professional Paradise (Don’t know the SHIFT steps? Visit www.ProfessionalParadise.com to download free tools). 

 

This time I tried a GratitudeSHIFT.  It’s as simple as looking at one thing in the POW that you can feel grateful about.  In this case, I had a few things to hang my lei on. 

 

1)     I was capable of doing the work myself.

2)     Being on my own forced me to polish my skills.

3)     My confidence increased.

4)     I’m grateful that in the future, I know I will be fine on my own.

 

This SHIFT allowed me to give the event my best effort and let go of the POW.  I found the WOW and ultimately Professional Paradise.  Try it today.  The next time a POW comes your way…look for something to be grateful for…and smile the knowing smile.  You’re in Professional Paradise!

 

 

Can You See Professional Paradise Through Your Windshield?

I don’t know about you, but I feel like I’ve been driving along, minding my own business, providing helpful counsel for my clients and all of the sudden my proverbial windshield is covered with gunk!  I had a clear direction.  I knew what Professional Paradise looked like for me and where I was going.  Now, it’s tough to see the road ahead.  So being the pragmatist that I am, I’m figuring out how to clean my “windshield” and keep it that way. 

First of all, I don’t sweat the small stuff.  After surviving cancer, surgery (with complications) and chemotherapy treatments in 2008 – any day in a bad economy is better than a day spent feeling that terrible.  Don’t wait until you’ve been diagnosed…let go of small stuff - that’s one stroke of the windshield wipers.

Second, I know my beliefs and mindsets create the actions and outcomes that I experience.  I am the Chief Paradise Officer (CPO) of my world and I don’t count on anyone else to make me happy.  Do you?  Are you engaged at work?  Are you cleaning your own windshield or waiting for your boss or someone else to do the job?

Third, I surround myself with great people.  My clients, my colleagues, my friends and family all help to keep me keep my own windshield clean.  If someone in those categories is mucking up the view, then I let them go with grace.

That’s enough for now, the clear view I had is coming into focus again.  Oh and the view is marvelous!

Citizen Engagement!

Well, I'm always writing about employee engagement (either how you engage yourself or how leaders can get others engaged) and I thought yesterday's inauguration events were a stunning example of one of the key elements of engagement.  That element is creating and sharing a powerful vision.  Barak Obama ruled the day with his acceptance speech.  We all now know (if we didn't before) that this turn-around is going to be a group effort.  What part will you play?

Are you a leader that can spread the message to your "troops" at work?  Are you an individual contributor that can make a small difference each day?  Either way, we know the vision and our charge and it relates directly to work.  The work of moving forward.  The work of engagement.  Let's make it Professional Paradise!  We've got a leader who's ready to go.

From Pity Party to Professional Paradise

Alright, I get it.  Sometimes these days we all feel like having a Pity Party.  You remember when you were a kid and you would sit around and whine about how bad things were.  You'd recognize that your problems were "way" worse than anyone else's and want your mom to hug you and tell you it would all be okay.  Yeah - that would be nice wouldn't it!

Here's my suggestion instead.  When you start to feel the Pity Party blues (at work or at home), stop and take a deep breath.  Close your eyes (unless your driving of course) and ask yourself, "what is one thing that has happened lately that I'm happy about, proud of, feeling hopeful toward...?" Let the answer roll around in your mind.  Smile and enjoy the sensation of recognizing something that is more like Professional Paradise and less like the Pity Party.  When you start to panic again, recall the images you had in mind from this exercise.  You'll feel the calm, paradise-like feeling for a few minutes and even that helps!

If you're a manager, call the troops together and lead the group in the activity.  Too "touch feely" for you?  Make it more concrete and department related.  Skip the shutting your eyes part and make it more like a brainstorming session asking "How is our department like Professional Paradise?" 

That's it for today. Just try that and let me know how it works for you.  See you in Professional Paradise.

Professional Paradise Beckons!

It's the holiday season and I'm betting some of you would rather be shopping than working.  Am I right?  Maybe you should take a day or two off (I just saw an article that said folks in the U.S. are not taking nearly enough vacation days - but that's another blog post) to hit the malls.  You could do your part to turn the economy around.

But, if you need to be at work, then I suggest that you choose to make it more like Professional Paradise than Professional Prison.  Yes, you read it right, I said "you choose".  You are the Chief Paradise Officer (CPO) of your time at work.  You decide how engaged you want to be. 

Today, SHIFT one "POW" to a "WOW" using my 5 step process.  Don't remember the steps?  Visit www.ProfessionalParadise.com and click on FREE tools and can download a worksheet to help you out.  Are you a manager who wants to surround yourself with engaged employees?  Then, consciously decide to create Professional Paradise and look for (and celebrate) the WOWs and manage (and minimize) the POWs. 

Please come and join me... I'm satisfied, energized and productive... how about you?  Professional Paradise is calling your name!

Are you Engaged?

Employee engagement is a hot topic.  I subscribe to Google Alert for those key words and every day I read brief snippets about the topic.  The ideal description to me is somewhat akin to the idea of being engaged to be married. With your fiance, your engagement is a promise to be committed to each other.  At work, the engagement is the same (without all the lovey dovey stuff).  Are you feeling committed at work? (No, I did not say do you feel like you need to be committed!) 

Observe the level of commitment in your office.  Commitment and employee engagement show when people are actively working to achieve organizational goals and they feel the benefits both personally and organizationally.  Professional Paradise is a reflected in a state of high engagement - the state of "flow"- and the realization that the "marriage" is a good one. Just like in marriage, what you say is a key indicator of how you feel.  Are you grousing about your boss and coworkers all the time or are you complimenting the contributions of those around you?  Engage today and reap the benefits the minute you start.

A Spoon Full of Sugar

I saw Mary Poppins on Broadway recently.  What a great trip down memory lane.  The songs (old and new) were terrific and it was fun having so many kids in the audience.  I couldn't help but think that managers in today's workplaces could take some advice from teh original "Super Nanny". 

When confronted with disgruntled "charges", Mary found herself using a "spoon full of sugar" to help the medicine go down.  Ms. Andrews (the uber mean nanny of the past) used some version of Castor Oil with the kids and met lots of resistence. 

What are you doing as a manager.  Folks are nervous and ancy about the economy and their jobs.  Try a spoonful of sugar to get new medicine to go down... in the most delightful way!

Be Nice

Well it's been awhile since I've written, but I'm back.  This week is World Kindness Week (www.actsofkindness.org).  So the message for today is to be kind.  Be kind to everyone everywhere for this one week.  No complaining, no butting in line, no road rage.  Just kindness - to your coworkers, your boss, strangers, and everyone else you encounter.  No need to explain the benefits of that - you already know them.  Have a fun week!  Vicki

Social Networking...Feeling Overwhelmed?

Am I the only one feeling overwhelmed by “Social Networking”?  I’ll admit that I’m a Baby Boomer, but I think I’m pretty good with technology.  I can download songs and MP3 files to my iPod® and I have a Blackberry® that I depend on every day for staying connected.

 

I’ve been told by at least 6 colleagues that I need to get more active in Social Networking so I signed up on Linkedin, Facebook (yes, my kids were mortified!) and CollectiveX.  I’ve also been told that gather.com is a hot spot, but haven’t’ mustered up the courage to get involved there yet.

 

To be honest… I just don’t “get” it.  It seems like TMI (Too Much Information) for me.  And how am I supposed to contribute or benefit from the time spent navigating these sights.  Are you happy when I “friend” you or are you bothered by having to do “one more thing” on the computer?  Would you hire me based on a Linkedin recommendation?  Would you accept help from me if I was a friend of a friend, but you didn’t really know me?

 

I’d love to hear from you.  Please send your helpful ideas my way before I drown in “Social Networking”.  Thanks!

Happily Ever After or NOW?

When you were little, I’ll bet you read lots of stories where the main characters lived happily ever after. In those famous stories, that usually meant the hero saved the damsel in distress and they fell madly in love, etc.

I had the privilege of hearing Angela Santomero, founding partner and chief creative officer of Out of the Blue Enterprises LLC at the National Speaker’s Association annual convention last week in

New York

.  For those of you who don’t’ know, Ms. Santomero is the creator of Blues Clues – the VERY popular children’s show. 

Angela said first and foremost that she thinks like a mom when she creates children’s programming and she likes to get her children’s input.  When she asked for her daughter’s input on new characters in a program, her daughter said, “Make sure the girl can rescue herself… she doesn’t need to have someone rescue her.”  I’m sure it was much cuter when she said it, but you get the idea.

Nowadays, our view of happily ever after might have changed a bit. Are you waiting for someone to rescue you or can you climb out of the Professional Prison on your own.  What's got you feeling trapped...are you waiting for the economy to get better, or for you boss to appreciate you more, or for your direct reports to change?  The list goes on and one.  For this blog entry, I’m going to use a ViewpointSHIFT and look at what it takes to live happily ever NOW (instead of later) at work. And believe me; you’ll be able to rescue yourself!

If you don’t know yet, a ViewpointSHIFT is changing the way you look at or think about things- and the actions that follow - to decrease stress, increase energy and get remarkable results. I think we would all agree that happily ever NOW is all about positive energy and strong results!

It all starts with your work beliefs.  Are you the damsel at work, or the one rescuing people?  Do you constantly worry that someone is trying to foist a “poison apple” on you or are you blindly running around singing with the forest animals? 

Your work beliefs drive your mindset.  You attract to you exactly what you think about at work – the things your mindset creates. The next step in the sequence is your actions – how you respond, initiate, feel, etc. - and finally this leads to the outcomes (productivity, service, relationship building, and so on). 

So take a minute to think about specifically what happily ever NOW looks like for you. As you think about it, imagine that it is already happening – that the vision is already reality. Create the mindset to get you started.

Now, SHIFT your actions (for free downloadable tools to learn how to SHIFT, visit www.ProfessionalParadise.com).  Try a few of the exercises, starting with a ViewpointSHIFT and see how quickly your happily ever NOW shows up at work.