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By Vicki Hess
When was the last time you had to do something new at work? It can be a scary proposition. You don’t want to look silly or take too long to complete a task or make mistakes. Being a novice at something can be unsettling. I feel your pain. Recently I decided to join a masters swim program and got back in the pool for the first time in a long time. For those of you who aren’t familiar, a masters swim program is organized swimming that provides coaching and instruction. Since I’ve been doing a few triathlons this seemed to be a great way to bring a new form of exercise into my routine as well as a nice way to meet some people. The first morning that I got to the pool I felt a little anxiety. I thought to myself “What’s going on here? This is just exercise. Why are you worried about this?” Well, it’s because, at my core, I am someone who wants to do well, and I am someone who wants to look like I know what I’m doing. Do you ever feel that way? Here are several ideas for how to take the pain out of doing something new... 1. Look at your own beliefs about the new project that you’re embarking on. That first day back, I stopped myself from worrying and took a deep breath. I reminded myself that this was a choice I had made and was something I wanted to do. Quite often at work we put ourselves in a position where we ask for a new assignment because we’re bored and we want to challenge and then when it actually happens we think “Oh my gosh what was I doing?” Stop take a deep breath examine your own beliefs and look at how you can change those beliefs to be more affirmative. 2. Create intentional vocabulary around this new project. If you hear yourself starting to complain or lament about your fears and worries stop and take a deep breath. Do you see the pattern here? Re-imagine how you could talk about this experience. Instead of saying “Oh my gosh, I can’t believe I have to learn this new technology” or “I hate it when things change” or “I am drowning in new work”, reframe things to be more positive. Even though it makes me a little anxious, I decided at the pool that every person I met I wasn’t going to focus on how little I knew. I decided to think about my past experiences and how successful I have been. 3. Embrace your vulnerability mindset. Recognize that this is a new activity. It’s OK to make mistakes. I love it when I realize that I don’t have to be perfect. Being vulnerable and adding courage to that gives you the opportunity to experience vulnerability and joy when you overcome the initial uncertainty and start to master the new skill. 4. Get in the (metaphorical) pool. Stop talking. Stop lollygagging. Stop putting it off. Start the project. Whether it’s learning some new software program or communicating with a whole new team of people or maybe learning a project improvement process, it’s time to dive in and take the plunge! 5. Evaluate how you’re doing. Stop and take a look at your progress. Now is the time to ask for feedback from others. There are coaches at the master swim program and I frequently I ask for suggestions on how I could improve my stroke. I thought I was a pretty good swimmer, but I learned a couple of things on the first day that really changed the level of energy I had to exert and the distance that I could achieve. Evaluate how you’re doing and ask others for help. Be sure to listen when they give you the feedback. Just listen and let it wash over you. 6. Celebrate your successes! They might be very tiny successes in the beginning. For me, mastering my flip turn gave me more momentum as I was pushing off from the side of the pool. I was still slow when I was swimming, but I have improved in one area. Work on the challenges and keep pushing forward. That might mean extra reading, listening or observing others. Celebrate your successes. Pat yourself on the back and celebrate! 7. Repeat the above steps. Looking for your next healthcare speaker? Get in touch with us at the Capitol City Speakers Bureau today to make your healthcare event a success!
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By Courtney Clark
As kids head back to school, families want to set their children up for success - which will be especially challenging this year! If you want to help your kid have a productive school year, try teaching some of these resilience lessons. Each one will help make your child more capable of navigating school year stressors... Everything is Hard the First Time School isn’t meant to be easy. If you knew everything already, you wouldn’t need to go to school! Learning something you don’t already know how to do is the whole point of an education. But for lots of kids, if something is difficult, they interpret that difficulty to mean they must not be good at that task, or they must be stupid. There’s an emerging school of thought called “growth mindset,” which focuses on our capacity to learn and grow. Often in our society, we praise children for their innate gifts and skills, saying “oh, you’re just so smart!” “you’re a good artist!” When that happens, we accidentally deliver the message that a child’s success is because they’re naturally good at something. Children are then at risk of developing a “fixed mindset”, which is the opposite of a growth mindset, and tells them that their skills and talents are fixed and can’t be changed. Help your child develop a growth mindset by encouraging work that is just beyond their current abilities, showing them a path to solve the problem, and then praising them for the effort they exerted, showing them how that effort got them the outcome they wanted. Your Teacher Didn’t GIVE You a Grade Has your child come home and said “my teacher gave me a C on my project! I don’t know why!”? That’s language you want to catch and correct. Saying “my teacher gave me thus-and-such grade” isn’t usually accurate. Except in the rare case of a disconnected or vindictive teacher, your child most likely earned that grade. When a child phrases their grades in a way that places responsibility on the teacher instead of themselves, you’re seeing something called “external locus of control.” People can exhibit either an internal locus of control or an external locus of control. People with an internal locus of control believe that they have some measure of control over the outcomes in their lives, and they take responsibility for doing their part. People with an external locus of control think that what happens to them is out of their hands: it’s all because of luck, fate, their boss, their mom. Listen to how your children talk about their grades, because it may be the first time you hear whether your child is prone to an internal or external locus of control, and you can help guide them to take more responsibility for what happens in their lives. Bullying isn’t the Same as Not Being BFFs For very good reasons, schools and communities are now intervening much earlier and more seriously when it comes to bullying. Childhood bullying can cause long-term stress that even carries into adulthood, and the growing awareness of bullying is a great thing that protects vulnerable children. But there’s one unintended downside to the rise in awareness against bullying. As children are being taught not to bully, their developing brains aren’t great at understanding what bullying really is. To a 5 year old, anyone doing something that makes them feel sad or angry feels like a bully. So saying “no, I’m not going to give you my favorite doll,” could be bullying to a 5 year old. We know better, as adults, but kids can’t always see the difference. It’s important to help your kids navigate a world where everybody doesn’t want to be their friend. Your 9 year old may want to be friends with somebody who doesn’t want to be friends back. And it doesn’t necessarily make the other kid mean. It’s just a fact of life that we all prefer some people over others, and children are no different. So at home, if you hear about meanness or bullying, try to really tease out the actions that took place, before you get upset. (Because if you get upset, your kid will get even more upset!) Their teenage and young adult years will be filled with change friend-circles and romantic rejection, so this is great practice for what lies ahead. Help your child develop more resilience by repeating these three mantras whenever they need a little nudge back on track. School-year stress is a real thing, but with a little guidance from you, your kid can grow into a hard-worker and a self-starting student! Looking for your next healthcare speaker? Get in touch with us at the Capitol City Speakers Bureau today to make your healthcare event a success! By Roger Crawford. This was originally published on Roger's blog.
You’ve likely heard this quote: “You don’t have to live in Pity City.” All of us have taken up residence in Pity City at some point. Maybe you were rejected for a job you really wanted, or you feel overwhelmed because of challenging circumstances. It’s important that your stay in Pity City does not become permanent because self-pity will:
This allows you to avoid taking responsibility for who you are and where you are. As a result, you don’t risk improving your life because you believe the end result will be negative. This is not about finding an excuse for failure; it is finding an excuse to give up. Self-pity is when you’re trying to find an excuse to give up. If we don’t risk or feel responsible for our lives, we mistakenly believe we will avoid anxiety and disappointment. Actually, not accepting responsibility creates more of the emotions you are trying to sidestep, because you’ll experience:
Don’t wallow in self pity — move on Let go of the illusion of “fair” Resist spending time trying to figure out if your struggles are fair, and focus instead on taking control of your mindset. Self-pity paralyzes you with this thought: “When life is fair, then I will be successful.” How do you really know what fair is? We don’t know all the struggles that others deal with or the unfairness they face. Mentally strong people don’t debate whether life is fair or unfair. They accept life as it is and move forward. I love this quote because it dispels the myth that life should be fair: “There is no fair. Play the hand you were dealt to the best of your ability.” -Naval Ravikant in Tim Ferriss’s Tribe of Mentors Look for ways to help others When you are in a cycle of self-pity, you tend to be self-focused, thinking only about your reasons to be bitter and resentful. You can break this negative cycle by looking for opportunities to help others. One of the quickest ways to lift yourself out of self-pity is to find ways to lift others up. When you begin to help people make their lives more positive, you stop focusing on your negativity. You see your life from a different perspective and can appreciate all the blessings you have. Helping others boosts your self-confidence and gratefulness. Look for inspiration Motion is driven by emotion, so if you’re feeling down, overwhelmed, or fearful, inspiration can serve as a catalyst for motivation. Be vigilant in looking for people and stories that inspire you. Look at the facts If you are feeling discouraged, ask yourself, “What is the reality?” Gather as much information about your circumstances. When we look at the facts we often see that we have over-generalized and over-dramatized our situation. This realization strengthens us and increases our courage. Play to learn All of us desire success; however, none of us are always victorious. How we interpret these setbacks determines our outlook. Commit today to view every situation as an opportunity for learning and personal growth. By doing this, you will begin to see how even problems can provide previously unseen possibilities. We choose whether to focus on the loss or the lesson. Watch your mouth Words can be more powerful than armies. During times of challenge, it is important to be cognizant of how we talk about our circumstances. It has been said that “language can corrupt thought.” Therefore, speaking negatively about a challenge the size of a molehill can quickly become a mountain. An irony of life is that it can bring us difficult obstacles, and at the same time, amazing opportunities. These are both truths — What truth are you going to dwell on? Choose grit over self-pity Grit has two components: the ability to stick with your goals and the ability to hang in there when faced with adversity. Self-pity is the opposite of grit. When you increase grit, you decrease self-pity. But how do you grow your grit? One quality of being gritty is being hopeful. This is not the kind of hope where you sit back and wish everything were better. If your wish doesn’t come true, this can lead to self-pity. “I always have bad luck; the world is against me.” Grit is believing things will get better because your efforts will make them better. It’s not just thinking about it; it’s doing something about it. Does hope really matter to future success? Research has shown that people without hope give up easily, place blame, and avoid taking risks. Sounds a lot like self-pity to me. Thousands of thoughts run through your head every day. What thoughts will you choose to focus on? The ones that keep you stuck and make you feel pitiful, or the ones that keep you moving forward and make you feel powerful? Looking for your next healthcare speaker? Get in touch with us at the Capitol City Speakers Bureau today to make your healthcare event a success! By Tim Hague Sr.
Sometimes recognizing gifts in life isn’t easy, which is why it’s so important to pay attention. To this day I still smile when I think of the edge we gained over the other teams on the race; it was as if we had an unseen (and maybe slightly unfair) advantage of a third team member. Of course Sheryl wasn’t there, but the advice she’d given was so profoundly important. Pay attention: that can sometimes be an incredibly difficult task. After all, when we’re under great stress, the mind doesn’t function properly. So many times on the race when Tim Jr. and I were lost and confused, unsure of what to do next, we’d be told to “read your clue.” I was continually amazed at how often we could do that and still not be any the wiser. When they told us to “read your clue,” what they really meant was “understand your clue.” Understanding requires concentration and focus—which is so hard when you’re under stress. Stress forces us to work too fast, which in turn makes us blow past the “clues” in life that we might have otherwise put to good use. So at these times I stop, collect my wits, and take stock of the situation. I look around my life and ask the important questions: Where am I at? Where am I going? Am I going where I want to go or should be going? These are just a few examples of how we can take a careful view of our lives and then become more deliberate about where our next steps take us. And when we learn to pay attention to the details in life, we often come away amazed at how things fall into place. Looking for your next healthcare speaker? Get in touch with us at the Capitol City Speakers Bureau today to make your healthcare event a success! By Kristin Baird
How does a leader get everyone to achieve optimal performance? One sure way is to make clear expectations from the beginning. Over the past several years of coaching leaders, I’ve noticed that many coaching conversations center on setting clear expectations. I’ve observed a distinct pattern that leaders aren’t clear about their expectations until a team member fails to meet his/her expectations. “ISN’T THAT JUST COMMON SENSE?” I was recently talking with a leader who was very frustrated with one of her supervisors. When she relayed examples of things that were irritated her, I asked if she had been clear about her expectations from the beginning. “Well, isn’t this just common sense? I shouldn’t have to micro-manage him,” she said. First, there is a big difference between setting expectations and micro-managing. Additionally, the word “common” in common sense means shared or similar. Similarly, expecting common sense to prevail is expecting staff to be mind readers. I’ve never seen that work. After further discussion, I learned the managers clear expectations, but they resided quietly in her mind. These expectations remained unspoken until her supervisor failed to live up to them. From his vantage point, there weren’t clear expectations. His common sense led him in an entirely different direction. Above all, think about the expectations you have for your team. Have you been clear about them? If not, you could be disappointed to discover they aren’t mind readers.
Looking for your next healthcare speaker? Get in touch with us at the Capitol City Speakers Bureau today to make your healthcare event a success! By John O'Leary. This was originally posted on JohnOLearyInspires.com. When John O'Leary was 9 years old, he suffered burns over 100% of his body and was expected to die. He is now an inspirational speaker and bestselling author, teaching more than 50,000 people around the world each year how to live inspired. John's first book, ON FIRE: The 7 Choices to Ignite a Radically Inspired Life was published March 15, 2016. John is a contributing writer for Huff Post and Parade.com. John is a proud husband and father of four and resides in St. Louis, MO. Order John’s book today anywhere books are sold.
What would you like for your birthday? As one little girl prepared to turn nine, her answer to this simple question would change the lives of hundreds of thousands around the world and eventually bring some peace to an otherwise unbearable tragedy. Let me explain. Preparing for her ninth birthday, Rachel Beckwith sought to celebrate it like never before. After learning that tens of millions of individuals went without clean water every day, she asked her friends and family to forgo giving presents and to instead contribute on her behalf to charity: water. This little girl essentially exchanged gifts for herself for the promise of water for someone else. Although she fell short of her ambitious $300 goal, she told her family that next year she was going to do it again. Despite the minor defeat, she remained committed to making an even bigger difference for others. Rachel could not have known how prophetic her promise would be. Thousands Rally Around Rachel’s Goal On July 20, 2011, just weeks after Rachel’s birthday, a tractor trailer lost control on the interstate and sparked a 14-car accident. Although dozens of people were affected, only one was critically injured. A nine-year-old named Rachel Beckwith. Three days after being airlifted to the hospital, the tough, effervescent little girl died. The vibrancy with which she lived her life, though, not only attracted hundreds to celebrate her at her funeral, but to begin modeling her generosity through their lives. Upon learning that the only gift she wanted for her recent birthday fell slightly short of the $300 goal, an anonymous donor made up the difference. Rachel received the gift. Her ambitious and selfless goal was achieved. And that was just the beginning. News of her life, death and kind spirit spread throughout her community. People gave to honor a little girl who exemplified what generosity looks like in action. Many gave $9 a month to celebrate her age, a few others gave even more. What began as a gentle whisper of generosity spread throughout the region, the state, the country and beyond. In a marketplace where it’s typically bad news that travels quickly, the story of this little girl’s giving heart went global. More than $10,000 was given on the first day. More than $100,000 within a week. By the end of the month, 31,980 people from 50 states and dozens of counties contributed $1,271,713 to charity: water on behalf a Rachel Beckwith. The little girl’s $300 goal had been achieved. And even more so had her desire to make a difference. How Can We Follow the Example of Rachel Beckwith? My friends, Rachel didn’t become significant because of her tragic death. Instead, the manner in which she went about her life served as a wakeup call to the rest of us on what real success, real generosity, and real love look like in action. Through her lively spirit and desire to help others, she challenged thousands of others to do more through their lives. She also reminds all of us that what we do for ourselves dies with us. But what we do for others and for the world remains and is immortal. This is your day. Be Like Rachel. And Live Inspired. Looking for your next healthcare speaker? Get in touch with us at the Capitol City Speakers Bureau today to make your healthcare event a success! By Karyn Buxman. This was originally published on Karyn's blog.
We all know the old saying: “Laughter is the best medicine.” And it’s true! When you laugh, you’re:
Allow me to save you some time and summarize this awesome finding: Chronic stress, manifested in the hormone cortisol, takes a toll on your brain over time, eating away at your learning and memory functions. When you laugh, you reduce cortisol levels, increasing your memory and recall functions, as well as your capacity to learn. All this to say, who couldn’t use more memory space in the hard drive that is your brain? If it can make such an impact on older adults, imagine how much it can do for your brain if you begin seeing humor today! So, next time you’re stressed at work and chugging toward that deadline, take a moment to do something that makes you smile or laugh, and stop that pesky cortisol in its tracks. When you come back to the task at hand, the ideas will be flowing! Start seeing the funny in everyday life, both inside and outside of work, and blast through that stress to a more clear and composed state of mind. You’re one good laugh away from your next great idea! Looking for your next healthcare speaker? Get in touch with us at the Capitol City Speakers Bureau today to make your healthcare event a success! By Ron Culberson. With a master’s degree in social work, Ron Culberson spent the first part of his career working in a large hospice organization as a clinical social worker, middle manager, and senior leader. As a speaker, humorist, and author of "Do it Well. Make it Fun.The Key to Success in Life, Death, and Almost Everything in Between", he has delivered more than 1,000 presentations to associations, government agencies, non-profit organizations, and corporations. His mission is to change the workplace culture so that organizations are more productive and staff are more content. He was also the 2012-2013 president of the National Speakers Association and is a recognized expert on the benefits of humor and laughter.
Someone once said that we judge ourselves based on what we’re capable of doing but others judge us by what we’ve already done. This comment seems to address our reputation and unfortunately, our internal measure of reputation is not always in sync with the external evidence. I think of myself as a kind, witty, and easy-going individual. But I’m not sure my wife would always agree. Two recent incidences reminded me of the need for congruence. A few weeks ago, I traveled to upstate New York for a speaking engagement. When I arrived at the airport, I called the hotel to request a ride from their shuttle. The woman at the front desk, in a somewhat scolding manner, said, “You were supposed to schedule the shuttle ahead of time. But it just so happens it will be there in twenty minutes for another passenger. So you can ride along.” I was a taken aback by her comment. If the shuttle was already scheduled to be at the airport, why did she have to reprimand me for not pre-arranging it? Further, when I looked at the hotel website to better understand the get-me-to-your-hotel process, it said that the shuttle was available on a first-come basis. No hours of operation nor requirements to make a reservation were listed. That suggested to me that customers simply call and the hotel will send the shuttle. Of course, I didn’t study hospitality math when I was in college, so my logic may have been faulty. Ultimately, the shuttle took forty-five minutes to get to the airport. And when I finally got in, I explained to the driver how confusing their shuttle system was. He said, “Yeah, we are still relatively new at this and need to work out a few of the kinks at the hotel.” Again, I was taken aback. I thought it was a bit odd that the shuttle driver would be that concerned with the hotel’s procedures when his only job was to drive the shuttle. But I figured that’s how things worked in these smaller hotels—everybody knows a little bit about everything. Over the next couple of days, I kept seeing the shuttle driver doing odd jobs in the hotel. In the morning, he was cleaning the breakfast area because he said he “was concerned that it wouldn’t get done.” Later, he was organizing the area behind the front desk and then in the afternoon, he actually went to my room to check on a noisy heating unit. When it came time to return to the airport, the same man drove me. During our conversation in the shuttle, I discovered that he was not only the shuttle driver but the owner of the hotel, the restaurant, and the conference facility. His family had run businesses on that property for several decades. So his concern for the shuttle, the breakfast area, and my heating unit was because he cared about a business that he owned! I was glad we had the conversation about his role and that I learned about both his history in this community and his commitment to the hotel. But I must admit that I also did a quick inventory of everything I had said to him when I thought he was the shuttle driver. I would have regretted making a snide remark about the inattentive management of the hotel. Then, as if that surprise was not enough, I arrived at the airport to find that my flight had been delayed. When I approached the ticket counter to inquire about the status of my flight, the ticket agent yelled, “Ron!” I was taken aback once again. I live in Virginia. I was flying out of New York. I didn’t know any ticket agents in New York. She could tell I was confused so she explained that this was her evening job but that she had been in the audience of my presentation earlier that day. I told her I was so glad that she let me know me before I said something rude about the airline, the flight delay, or the world in general. She laughed, and I cringed. On the flight home, I kept thinking about my behavior throughout this trip as it related to the two people I encountered. What if I had said something terse to the ticket agent right after speaking to her colleagues about balance and a positive perspective? And what if I had treated the owner of the hotel differently if I thought he was a shuttle driver, thinking he might have his own gripes about the way the hotel was run? If I had done those things, my behavior would not have been congruent with who I want to be. Once, after speaking at a conference to several hundred people about finding humor in life and work, I was heading back to my car. I guess I was tired or perhaps deep in thought (probably not that deep). As I walked through the parking garage, many of the participants who had attended the conference were also leaving. I must have been frowning because one man lowered his window, stuck out his head, and said, “Hey, Ron, lighten up!” It made me laugh. He was practicing what I had taught—but I was not. The phrase “walking the talk” means doing what we say. If we tell our children to say nice things, then we should also say nice things. If we complain about poor customer service, then we should give good customer service. And if we hate all the negativity in the world, then perhaps we should be more positive. I want to be a kind, witty, and easy-going individual. So, every day, I should work at developing those qualities. If I’m a grumpy old man, as I sometimes can be, I’m clearly not walking the talk. Essentially, our behavior should reflect the congruence between how we want to be viewed and how others truly see us. Then, hopefully, we won’t be taken aback by the way we act. Looking for your next healthcare speaker? Get in touch with us at the Capitol City Speakers Bureau today to make your healthcare event a success! By Colette Carlson
Loneliness is detrimental, destructive, and sometimes deadly. Loneliness has the same impact on mortality as smoking 15 cigarettes a day, more than even obesity. Different than depression or feelings of solitude, loneliness is more about the quality of a person’s social relationships. The workplace is not immune, and everyone pays the price when loneliness strikes. When people feel tired and lonely, they disengage, perpetuating the cycle. As leaders we need to wake up to this issue, and continue to identify new ways to build connection amongst our teams. If you need compelling data to kick you into action, read on: 1. According to recently published research in the Academy of Management Journal, lower job performance is related to loneliness. In addition, coworkers perceived lonely employees to be less committed and approachable. 2. Cigna’s online survey of more than 20,000 U.S. adults 18 years and older found that most Americans are considered lonely. Generation Z (adults ages 18-22) and Millennials (adults ages 23-37) are lonelier and claim to be in worse health than older generations. 3. Cigna’s survey also reported approximately six in ten (59%) surveyed always/sometimes feel that their interests and ideas are not shared by those around them. Reasons contributing to these statistics include technology, social media, working remotely, busier schedules, extensive travel, job turnover, fewer individuals participating in community activities, sports teams and clubs, postponing vacations, lunches and even marriages! For some, a cancelled activity brings a sigh of relief to an already full life, but for others, this same situation may only reaffirm feelings of loneliness and cause further withdrawal. “Loneliness and the feeling of being unwanted is the most terrible poverty.” ~Mother Teresa We’re neurologically hard wired for connection which demands leaders create spaces and places for relationships to form. Keep in mind, connection gets created when you feel someone is genuinely interested in your story, your history, or your ideas. Connection often results through shared activities, thoughtful questions and being present when listening. Connected leaders patiently draw out those who aren’t quick to join in a conversation and look for ways to partner team members that otherwise would remain distant. For example, one leader I interviewed for an upcoming speaking engagement shared that during his team’s monthly meetings, individuals rotate responsibility for bringing a dish or treat to share. But, there’s a twist. Individuals must bring something that reminds them of their culture, family, or a memory. Offering that piece of information, along with the dish, is what makes this moment memorable. The more we learn about one another, the less judgment and bias we bring to the table. A virtual IT team I spoke to has regularly scheduled “virtual” parties to include dressing up for Halloween, celebrating birthdays and other milestones, along with after-hours drinks. Through visual technology, they do their best to bring everyone together and even play games such as Bingo and Twenty Questions to get the party started. In a couple of weeks, I’m speaking to a company who will spend their evening together building and decorating skateboards for the Boys and Girls Club, rather than a traditional meet and greet. Not only will this activity provide an opportunity for the team to connect, but they will be serving a community. And the fastest way to overcome loneliness is to give service to another. These situations alone will not eradicate loneliness. As a leader you must continue to check in with your team on an individual level to recognize small, behavioral changes signaling a possible concern. Your role is to provide a safe space for them to share and feel heard. A quick, “How’s it going?” as you pop by their office or begin a phone conversation will only ever get a trite response. After all, being connected is very different than feeling connected. What will you do to make an impact on the loneliness epidemic amongst your team? Looking for your next healthcare speaker? Get in touch with us at the Capitol City Speakers Bureau today to make your healthcare event a success! By Courtney Clark
Resilience is an attribute that many companies appreciate, yet can’t describe. Like a lot of corporate culture issues, it can be a matter of “I don’t know how to ask for it, but I’ll know it when I see it.” So how does a company become a resilient company, and create a corporate culture that values resilience? There are 4 main qualities you’ll find in resilient companies. And by the way, not all successful companies are resilient companies! Some companies are successful but haven’t yet weathered a big storm. But most resilient companies can turn out to be successful companies, because they have these 4 characteristics in place, to allow them to adapt and grow. A Leader Who Has Struggled John Paul DeJoria is the founder of Paul Mitchell haircare and Patron tequila. But before he shampooed some of the most famous people in Hollywood, he lived in his car and sold hair products door to door. He credits his early life difficulties to helping him develop the work ethic that built his global businesses. But he’s also notorious for retaining the same employees for decades! Some leaders act like they can only get the best out of their team members by pushing them to the breaking point. But leaders who have truly struggled in life tend to understand that true leadership has more in common with compassion than fear. With that perspective, they can help their teams learn the lessons of resilience. Managers Who Aren’t Afraid of Conflict Workplace conflict can be distracting. But it doesn’t have to be destructive. In fact, there are two types of conflict, and one of those types of conflict is GOOD for your organization! Task-related conflict is when two people disagree on *how* something should get done, but they agree on the desired end result. This kind of conflict, if handled correctly, can help companies be more solution-oriented and innovative. Of course, if handled incorrectly or ignored, even the good kind of conflict can turn into people-related conflict, which is the bad kind. To build a resilient company culture, managers need to not be afraid to step in and keep conflict task-related. (If you need more information about telling the difference between task-related conflict and people-related conflict, check out my video here.) Vertical Communication Many companies know that vertical communication and letting employees’ voices be heard is an important part of employee engagement and building an inclusive corporate culture. But it’s also part of building a resilient company, as well. Vertical communication builds resilience within your culture by helping your organization identify and respond to all possible problems and issues quickly. If only the highest levels of leadership are talking back and forth, and then communicating *down* to the staff but not listening back, they may be missing major problems on the horizon. This kind of communication is important all the time, but it’s *especially* critical during change. When a company is going through transition, employees need to feel like communication is happening in all directions, so they can get on board with the change. Great HR and Hiring Practices A company can’t be resilient if it doesn’t have resilient employees. And it can’t have resilient employees if it doesn’t hire for resilience, train for resilience, and let go of people who can’t be part of a resilient culture. In fact, failure to let go of underperformers and employees with poor attitudes is a major resilience-drainer for organizations. A company with a resilience built in to the corporate culture will make it a priority to hire and retain employees who show individual resilience, and those priorities should be reflected in writing in their HR practices. Nothing ruins a great job like bad company culture. If you’re looking for a company that has a strong culture, it’s hard to know what to look for when you’re just interviewing. These 4 qualities are key indicators that the company may have what it takes to both be successful and be a great place to work, at the same time. Looking for your next healthcare speaker? Get in touch with us at the Capitol City Speakers Bureau today to make your healthcare event a success! |
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