How do you take care and ground yourself?

More than ever, it’s critical that we take care of our bodies and mind. After all, our success depends on being able to function in a healthy, productive manner.

So when your flight, fight, freeze, or fawn response is triggered, how do you respond? How do you signal to your body when you are in real danger, and when you are experiencing stress?

The term “stress” is overused and often misunderstood, as it’s bandied about to describe both cause and effect:

• Cause: “There’s a lot of stress at work these days.”
• Effect: “I’m so stressed that I can’t think straight.”

It’s interesting to note that while neuroscience has taught us a great deal about stress, we cannot always distinguish between the psychological state of stress and the physiological response to it. What is clear is that if we’re in a chronic state of high-level stress, emotional strain leads to physical consequences. The body responds with anxiety and depression, as well as high blood pressure, heart problems and cancer. Chronic stress eats away at the brain’s connective tissue.

We can’t completely eliminate stress. But, we can better manage our body’s natural responses to stress. We can take control, ground ourselves, and even improve our brain’s ability to function.

In Summary

This article and Article Nuggets explore our body’s response to stress and offer helpful techniques to take care and ground yourself.  

This is a brief synopsis of a 1,085-word article and 3-Article Nuggets*, suitable for consultants’ newsletters for executives and leaders in organizations. It is available for purchase with full reprint rights, which means you may put your name on it and use it in your newsletters, blogs or other marketing materials. You may also modify it and add your personal experiences and perspectives.

The complete article includes these important concepts:

• The science
• Stress and your autonomic nervous system
• The vagus nerve
• Activate your parasympathetic response

And references to the following sources:

Eric Vance, MD, “Can We Prescribe Resilience?” (Psychiatric Times, 2018)

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Given the volatility of 2021, I’ve been exploring this facet of leadership. Tension and anger in the workplace is on the rise. Some HR researchers anticipate this will continue throughout 2022.

In a recent article published by Harvard Business Review (January 2022), eleven current trends foster ongoing workplace volatility. Some of the top issues leaders and managers will face include:

1. Fairness and equity
2. Vaccine mandates and testing
3. Shorter work week
4. Employee turnover
5. Permanent shift to remote technology/tools
6. Permanent hybrid work model
7. Wellness tactics, technologies, and metrics
8. The need for a Chief Purpose Officer (CPO)
9. Manager-employee interpersonal relationships

There is a growing urgency to strengthen manager-employee interpersonal relationships, and for some organizations, a shift or addition of a CPO. You see, at a minimum, the volatility we are experiencing creates stress for individuals, poor working relationships, and decreased productivity. Left unchecked, psychological abuse, violence, and ruin ensue. Great leaders can manage and even avoid these worst case scenarios by leading with love.

In Summary

All humans need love: we need to be loved and nurtured, and we need to express love. These articles and Article Nuggets explore love in the workplace and how to lead with love.

This is a brief synopsis of a 1,670-word and a 1,100-word article, and 5-Article Nuggets*, suitable for consultants’ newsletters for executives and leaders in organizations. It is available for purchase with full reprint rights, which means you may put your name on it and use it in your newsletters, blogs or other marketing materials. You may also modify it and add your personal experiences and perspectives.

The complete articles and Article Nuggets include these important concepts:

• Our need for love
• Leadership, love, and blind spots
• Practice self-love
• Extend love at work
• The platinum rule
• Love what you do at work
• Language matters
• Daily engagement questions
• Workplace romance
• The pros and cons of non-fraternization policies

And references to the following sources:

Daniel Kahneman, Thinking Fast and Slow (Random House Audio, 2011)

Julia A. Minson and Francesca Gino, “Managing a Polarized Workforce,” (Harvard Business Review, March-April 2022)

Steven Snyder, Leadership and the Art of Struggle (Berrett-Koehler Publishers, 2013)

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*Article Nuggets: The same article broken up into 3-5 blog-style sections suitable for a series of blog posts or shorter newsletter articles.

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Imagine: a simple pill that can increase our resilience. No more struggle with set-backs from uncertainty, mistakes, or failure. Stress would be something we could choose: the how, what, where, when, and why. After all, we know that some stress—eustress—is good for us.

According to The American Institute of Stress, eustress is the experience of a challenging event; it is a mindset that accompanies a challenge. And it helps us develop resilience.

Typically, we become more resilient through life struggles. We adapt and grow. But neuroscience reveals that some of us are a bit more lucky: we’re born with a bit more resilience at the start. For the less fortunate, a pill might just give us the boost we need and level the playing field.

In Summary

This article and Article Nuggets explore resilience in adult health, new research and understandings, and strategies to build resilience today.

This is a brief synopsis of a 1,040-word article and 3-Article Nuggets*, suitable for consultants’ newsletters for executives and leaders in organizations. It is available for purchase with full reprint rights, which means you may put your name on it and use it in your newsletters, blogs or other marketing materials. You may also modify it and add your personal experiences and perspectives.

The complete article includes these important concepts:

• The study
• Understanding resilience
• The research
  • Adversity
  • Positive outcomes
  • Mechanisms of positive adaptation
• Build resilience today
• Resilience strategies

And references to the following sources:

Summer Allen, Ph.D., “Positive Neuroscience,” (Greater Good Science Center, 2019)

Nina Hiebel, Milena Rabe, Katja Maus, Frank Peusquens, Lukas Radbruch, and Franziska Geiser, “Resilience in Adult Health Science Revisited,” (FrontiersIn.org, 2021)

Gary Stix, “Can A Pill That Boosts ‘Resilience’ Treat Depression?” Scientific American, (MountSinai.org, 2018)

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As a leader, how do you get the right people on your bus?

While the U.S. unemployment rate declined to 3.9% in December 2021, many managers and leaders feel an increasing urgency to fill open positions. And it’s understandable: short-staffed teams are at greater risk for disengagement, errors, and burnout. So, it’s not uncommon to see new-hire incentives including signing bonuses, flex work schedules, and childcare grants.

Unfortunately, filling open positions with the wrong person can make matters worse. When this topic comes up with leaders and managers, I hear about the impact to efficiency and productivity, client trust, and the triple-bottom line.

Instead of hiring the wrong person, great leaders improve their recruitment efforts, discernment in talent selection, and development (and support) of their existing talent pool.

In Summary

Getting the right people on the bus is a persistent challenge for leaders and managers. These articles and Article Nuggets explore common hiring mistakes and how to retain and attract top talent.

This is a brief synopsis of a 1,500-word and a 1,000-word article, and 5-Article Nuggets*, suitable for consultants’ newsletters for executives and leaders in organizations. It is available for purchase with full reprint rights, which means you may put your name on it and use it in your newsletters, blogs or other marketing materials. You may also modify it and add your personal experiences and perspectives.

The complete articles and Article Nuggets include these important concepts:

• The pressure to hire
• Avoid these hiring mistakes
• The process problem
• The best job descriptions
• Performance & outcome job descriptions
• Talent attraction and management
• Employee survey
• Retain top talent

And references to the following sources:

Margaret M. Luciano and Max Watson, “When Hiring Nobody Is Better Than Hiring Just Anybody,” Harvard Business Review (December 2021)

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Even if you can’t answer these questions, chances are the experience lifted your spirits and increased your joy. Maybe that’s why some holiday traditions begin and continue over centuries: they are a way to renew yourself.

Consider the first time you recall seeing the lighting of a Christmas tree. Were you warm, or cold? Was it daytime, or nighttime? Who was there? Chances are your caregivers were focused on your reaction and able to view the spectacle through your eyes, turning a task into something extraordinarily awesome.

Unfortunately, responsibility and daily pressures can rob us of awesome experiences as we focus more and more on organized, goal-directed, and competitive activities. (Yes, it is possible to turn tree-trimming into a competitive sport.) Add to that the strain of uncertainty and ongoing changes experienced with a pandemic, and our worlds seem to shrink and shrivel. We lose our ability to experience awe. Fortunately, we can cultivate awe.

In Summary

This article and Article Nuggets explore the power of awe, debunk the myths and misconceptions, and offer effective tips to cultivate awe.

This is a brief synopsis of a 950-word article and 3-Article Nuggets*, suitable for consultants’ newsletters for executives and leaders in organizations. It is available for purchase with full reprint rights, which means you may put your name on it and use it in your newsletters, blogs or other marketing materials. You may also modify it and add your personal experiences and perspectives.

The complete article includes these important concepts:

• The benefits of awe
• Defining awe
• How to cultivate awe

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When an apology is in order, how do leaders in your organization apologize?

We can’t help but notice when it goes poorly. Sometimes, it’s a matter of people (or a person) not ready or able to forgive. And that’s understandable, especially when there is no attempt at restorative justice.

Other times, apologies go sideways when egos get in the way. At best, it falls short as a polished explanation; the apology is an attempt to justify the behavior.  This often results in the erosion of trust.

Great leaders—whether they are seasoned executives or untitled leaders—know how to humbly apologize. They understand that mistakes happen and that they are not infallible. Real leaders hold themselves accountable and make amends.

“At its best, an apology is the fruit of personal change, not a tool for interpersonal persuasion.” – Joseph Grenny, author of Crucial Conversations (McGraw-Hill Education; 3rd edition, 2021)

In Summary

These articles and Article Nuggets explore why apologies can go sideways, the complexities of trust, and how real leadership can offer a real apology.  

This is a brief synopsis of a 1,550-word and a 990-word article, and 5-Article Nuggets*, suitable for consultants’ newsletters for executives and leaders in organizations. It is available for purchase with full reprint rights, which means you may put your name on it and use it in your newsletters, blogs or other marketing materials. You may also modify it and add your personal experiences and perspectives.

The complete articles and Article Nuggets include these important concepts:

• The humble apology
• What’s your motivation?
• Understanding trust
• The complexities of trust
• The elements of trustworthy leadership
• The public apology
• The elements of a public apology
• How real leaders apologize
• The elements of a real apology

And references to the following sources:

Sandra J. Sucher and Shalene Gupta, The Power of Trust: How Companies Build It, Lose It, Regain It (Public Affairs 2021)

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3. Real Leadership: Real Apology – 5-Article Nuggets, $89

*Article Nuggets: The same article broken up into 3-5 blog-style sections suitable for a series of blog posts or shorter newsletter articles.

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How do you show up for your best self?

Let’s face it: the past 20 months have not been easy. Remaining open, yet vigilant; positive, yet cautious; and resilient, yet flexible has been no easy task. For many, taking care of our loved ones has taken precedence over care for our self. Yet, if we don’t show up for our best self, how do we fully recover and care for others? How do we live our best life?

Demonstrating care (and affection) for ourselves begins with self-compassion. To some degree, everyone suffers. It is part of being human. Unfortunately, denying our suffering may make us more prone to self-sabotage.

Practicing self-compassion means acknowledging that we may be self-handicapping: we anticipate a real or imagined obstacle to living our best life and use it as an excuse for inaction. We practice self-compassion when we recognize this as an ineffective mechanism against suffering, and begin to notice this behavior.

As clinical psychologist and author Alice Boyes, PhD, writes for Harvard Business Review, practicing self-compassion has four components:

1. Practicing a kind tone (and language) that appeals to you.
2. Accepting pain and suffering are part of being human.
3. Allowing and recognizing all feelings (without attachment).
4. Anticipating that you can and will do the best you can at any point in time.

Unfortunately, our self-handicapping can be very subtle. It’s also one of the ways we get and stay stuck, trapped in the familiar, or worse, bad habit loop. Fortunately, researchers find strategies and techniques that can help us counter self-sabotage and show up for our best self.

In Summary

This article and Article Nuggets explore how even highly intelligent and successful people self-handicap and new research on techniques to counter self-sabotage to show up for your best self.

This is a brief synopsis of a 1,100-word article and 3-Article Nuggets*, suitable for consultants’ newsletters for executives and leaders in organizations. It is available for purchase with full reprint rights, which means you may put your name on it and use it in your newsletters, blogs or other marketing materials. You may also modify it and add your personal experiences and perspectives.

The complete article includes these important concepts:

• Recognize self-sabotage
• Understand why we self-sabotage
• The Research
• Self-sabotage alternatives

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*Article Nuggets: The same article broken up into 3-5 blog-style sections suitable for a series of blog posts or shorter newsletter articles.

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