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By Vicki Hess
Is there anything you can do if you’re feeling numb; exhausted; angry; disconnected; afraid (feel free to fill in how you’re feeling)? YES – It’s time to SHIFT! Stop and breathe Almost all solutions start with this step. If you don’t stop and consciously take a breath, your sympathetic nervous system takes over and your cognitive thinking skills decrease. When things get tough, you want your brain to work at an optimal state. Take another deep breath for good measure. Harness Your Knee Jerk Reactions It’s easy to start complaining, yelling, withdrawing or feeling even more of what you were feeling to begin with. These reactions take you down a path to a darker, scarier place. They aren’t helpful. They usually lead us away from feeling better. They layer on the angst. Identify and manage your emotions Where are you feeling the ache, the pain, the sadness, the anxiety? Name it. Touch it. Think about it. Now breathe into that spot. Keep moving outward and relax all the muscles in your body. Relax so much that you feel like a wet noodle. It’s impossible to be in a panic state when your body is fully relaxed. When you practice this frequently, you can do it in front of others, even in the middle of working. It’s an amazing skill to cultivate. Find new solutions Focus on WC2 – “What Can We Control?” Put on your powerful WC2 decoder ring and only focus on things that you can do something about. Take your energy away from all that is BIG and SCARY and UNKNOWN. Direct your thoughts toward little things that YOU CAN DO NOW to ease your mind, your body and your soul. Take One Positive Action Make it count. Do you need a nap? A shoulder to cry on? Professional counseling or therapy? Maybe you need a chocolate chip cookie or a phone call to a beloved family member. Do you need a walk? A run? A yoga class? A good book? A mindless movie or TV show? Your favorite song? Do something nice for yourself. It doesn’t have to take long – it just takes action. Depending on your job, you might be facing the most challenging days of your life, caring for people in an environment that is more unknown and upsetting than ever. You might also be facing time alone at home, furloughed from your job, missing the daily hum of work and worrying about the future. Regardless of where you are on the continuum and how you feel, all is not lost. You can SHIFT toward your own Professional Paradise…even in a pandemic. Planning your next event? Get in touch with us at the Capitol City Speakers Bureau today to schedule your ideal speaker and make your event a success!
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By Vicki Hess
I recently participated in my 8th Sprint distance triathlon. The alarm went off at 3:45a. My husband, Alan, and I drove an hour to meet some friends for a socially distanced, mask-wearing transition area setup and then headed to the ocean for the open water swim. The outside air was 64° and the ocean was a cool 73°. As I stood shivering, I thought to myself “What the heck was I thinking?” That question seemed to be the theme for the day. I jumped into the ocean to swim a quarter of a mile, then cycled 12 windy miles and finally ran (mostly) a 5K. I had another triathlon under my belt and it felt good! Afterwards, on the ride home, I kept thinking…”What is it that drives me to participate in a physically and mentally challenging triathlon and yet, I can’t seem to do 20 minutes of yoga a couple of days a week?” I was perplexed. So here’s a question to think about... Why are we so good at doing some things – even difficult things – and not able to create habits for others which are easier? I went in search of answers. The book Atomic Habits, by James Clear, had recently been recommended to me by a couple of colleagues. That seemed like a great place to start. What I learned made common sense but wasn’t always common practice. Of course, you’ll need to read the book if you want all the information, but one key thing I quickly learned was about the need for systems. When it comes to triathlon training, I have systems in place with accountability partners. I regularly meet friends to swim in the intracoastal waterway. I have running buddies which I meet twice a week and I put cycling on my calendar. Since I live in south Florida, I’m able to do all of that year-round. These systems promote results that I’m happy with. I consider myself a recreational level, sprint-distance triathlete. When it comes to yoga, since the pandemic hit, I’ve been on my own. No classes to attend, no girlfriends to meet up with. Sure, there are lots of free videos and I can easily practice inside or out at home on my own, but I hadn’t created a reliable system. I no longer identified myself as a yogi. Well, I’ve recently fixed that by making a dedicated space in my house for my yoga mat and signing up for a paid app with live classes that I register for in advance. Classes are on my calendar and I’m excited to practice again. I hope you’re starting to see parallels between my training routines and your leadership and engagement skills. The only way to consistently improve and sustain the engagement levels of your direct reports is to have a system and accountability partners. Here’s one idea for creating an engagement related system for yourself... Before you leave work every day, take 3-4 minutes to look at the next day and put an engagement action on your calendar. Examples might include writing a note of appreciation, rounding with staff, meeting one on one, reaching out to someone via FaceTime, etc. Start realistically with this one system. To help things stick, ask someone to be your accountability partner. Send a quick email to that person with what your activity will be the next day and have him send you one too. Whether something is hard or easy, it still takes systems to create habits. Please let me know what engagement related habits you’ve created for the new year! Planning your next event? Get in touch with us at the Capitol City Speakers Bureau today to schedule your ideal speaker and make your event a success! By Vicki Hess
A WOW is something internal or external that makes you feel satisfied, energized and productive. Examples of internal WOWs include:
Examples of external WOWs include:
The WOW is in the eyes of the person who experiences it. As the name implies, a Potential WOW is something positive that might happen in the future. Think of the last time you planned a vacation and how excited you were while making arrangements. Remember how much fun it was in the days leading up to your big trip? Just the anticipation of seeing new places, partaking in an adventure, or visiting family is fun and feels good. When you’re experiencing the WOW of anticipation, your body relaxes and a smile comes to your face. You’re in a good mood and problems don’t seem so bad. Here’s some good news…Potential WOW’s aren’t just for vacations. They exist at work too! What’s something that your organization, department or team is planning that you’re looking forward to? Is there a new building in the works or a technology solution that will save everyone a lot of time? Are there new members of the team starting soon and you’re looking forward to having additional support to get your work done? These are a few examples of Potential WOWs at work. You can capitalize on these Potential WOWs and lower your stress. Take the time today to reflect on good things that are coming in the future. Talk them up. Enjoy the anticipation. After all, there’s no reason to wait until the actual experience happens to start feeling satisfied, energized & productive. Planning your next event? Get in touch with us at the Capitol City Speakers Bureau today to schedule your ideal speaker and make your event a success! By Vicki Hess
I saw a group of kids at a day camp a couple of years ago when I was swimming in the Intracoastal waterway. It reminded me of my Girl Scout summer camp days in north Georgia. We would play & swim in Lake Altoona. Every now and then, the lifeguard would blow a whistle and yell “BUDDY CHECK”. We had to find our buddy, hold hands in the air and count off. This was the camp’s way of making sure we were all accounted for. Now seems like a great time to institute Buddy Checks at work. Here’s how that could work. 1. Randomly draw names to pair up everyone on your team. 2. Let everyone know who their partner is. 3. Decide on a timeframe for the Buddy Check (weekly, every other week, etc). 4. Announce the Buddy Check (this can be virtual or in-person). 5. Everyone reaches out to his or her buddy to check-in. 6. You can have a few prescribed questions to get started.
I hope you find time to connect with your buddies at work. Planning your next event? Get in touch with us at the Capitol City Speakers Bureau today to schedule your ideal speaker and make your event a success! By Vicki Hess
COVID-19 has wreaked havoc on the world of healthcare with extreme highs and lows. Leaders have been so focused on the crisis of the day that some employees are left feeling disengaged and unsure. Now is NOT the time to put engagement on the back burner! Healthcare leaders are telling me, “We haven’t had the time to focus on engagement. We have too many other priorities right now.” I’m here to remind you that engaged employees are the backbone of your organization. You can’t possibly achieve your mission and vision without them. Here are 3 things you can do right now to re-focus on engagement: 1. Measure & Monitor Engagement There might not feel like there is a “right” time to measure engagement moving forward. It’s likely that there will always be something you think will get in the way of finding out how folks are feeling. I’m not suggesting a full-blown engagement survey – now is the time to use technology to crowd source engagement sentiments. If you’ve let leadership rounding and one-on-one meetings fall through the cracks, now is the time to get back out there to round on all departments in all locations. This is the best “local” way to check in and informally measure engagement. When you ask the right questions, you’ll quickly get a sense of what’s important to your team including what’s working and what isn’t. 2. Put Engagement Back on the Agenda at Leadership Meetings Leaders in your organization are looking to the executive team for direction. If engagement isn’t on the organization-wide meeting agendas (Town Halls, morning huddles, Management Council, etc), then the perception is that it’s not important. When senior leaders make engagement a key focus, and frontline managers and employees follow through on their part of the equation, then patient experience, quality, safety and all other metrics you measure improve. 3. Keep Developing Your Leadership Team’s Engagement Muscles You don’t have to wait until you figure out what the “new normal” is to keep working on your leadership team’s knowledge, skills and abilities. Small doses of practical, tactical tools and ideas pushed out over time provide the best adult learning opportunity. The learnings should make sense, be easily accessible and be available whenever the leader is ready to learn. (For a great solution that offers all this, check out www.EngagementExcelerator.com) Executive level leaders can role model effective engagement behaviors by checking in on how their direct reports are faring specifically related to their own engagement and the engagement of others throughout the organization. The engagement levels of employees vary greatly since some areas of healthcare were on overdrive while others are or were furloughed. Now is a great time to make engagement a key priority again. Planning your virtual event? Get in touch with us at the Capitol City Speakers Bureau today to book your healthcare speaker! By Vicki Hess
Did you ever do something and then wish you had made a different choice? Recently, a friend invited me to join her for lunch at a nice restaurant near my home. I was excited to see her and have a nice meal. It turned out that we could order from the menu or have the buffet brunch. Everyone in our group was having the buffet, so against my better judgment, I chose that too. It went downhill from there. You probably already know the end of this story. It involves an upset stomach from over-eating and a “food coma." Now you might be thinking this sounds like a “first-world problem” and indeed it is. But afterward, I was asking myself… “Why didn’t I make a different choice?” It was a great reminder that I have the power to influence a lot of what happens in my life. And the good news is that you do too! When things happen around us at work, it’s easy to feel like a victim of circumstances. It’s easy to blame others and forget that we can choose the actions we take in response to those things. For example, have you ever said, “She made me so mad” or “He ruined my day”? Maybe you hung onto the anger or frustration and took it out on others throughout the course of your day. This is the equivalent of me making bad choices at the buffet and then complaining about it afterward (metaphorically speaking of course). Feeling angry or frustrated is going to happen. The choice comes in what you decide to do next. Once you are more aware that you can select your response to the emotions you experience, you are back in the driver’s seat. You’ve got the power to make a different – more beneficial – choice. Since it’s November, the month we celebrate Thanksgiving here in the U.S., this is a great time to swap the negative actions that can occur with gratitude. Yes, you read that right. Next time you feel an emotion that you don’t find helpful driving stressful actions, stop and think about what you are grateful for. This isn’t just a soft and squishy idea. It’s research-based. According to The Neuroscience of Gratitude and How It Affects Anxiety & Grief, “commitment to daily gratitude practice reduces an array of negative emotions and is a natural stress detox for the mind and body.” Next time something happens that you don’t like – before you take unproductive actions – remember to take a deep breath and think of one thing that you are thankful for…and then think of another and so on. The knee-jerk choice isn’t always the best one. In the future, I’ll order off the menu or exhibit a little more self-control at the buffet and then I will feel better in the long run. Planning your virtual event? Get in touch with us at the Capitol City Speakers Bureau today book your healthcare speaker and make your next event a success! 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! By Vicki Hess
How is your summer going? It’s time to get out your sunglasses and flip flops! If you’re like most people I know, you would probably enjoy having the summer off. I’m pretty sure that isn’t going to happen for most of us, so I was thinking about the next best thing. What if we changed the way we looked at things to create more Joy at work? This summer, I’m going to focus on 3 ways to grow WOWs at work. As a reminder, a WOW is something that makes you feel satisfied, energized and productive; otherwise known as "engaged." Today, I'm sharing another idea to bring a little summertime Joy to work. This month’s tip is to Embody Gratitude! Gratitude is the state of being thankful. This is an internal WOW that you can grow without any formal education, training or skills. Like most things, being grateful needs to be practiced regularly to show any benefit. To make this practice one you think about regularly, try using a Gratitude Trigger™. A Gratitude Trigger is when something you do routinely reminds you to be thankful. At our house, we put our forks together and say 5 things we are grateful for at every meal. Sitting down to eat is the trigger. It’s become such a habit that I even do this when I’m eating alone! You can use events at work as a trigger as well. Here are a few that I’ve heard from folks:
The benefits of gratitude are many. Today is the day to start! 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 Vicki Hess
Do you remember having summers off? I was talking with friends about summer camp and how much fun it was to play at our neighborhood pool and run around with friends. Being off of school gave us that needed break from studying and responsibility. If only we all had the summer off from work! I’m pretty sure that isn’t going to happen for most of us, so I was thinking about the next best thing. What if we changed the way we looked at things to create more Joy at work? These past few months have been full and uncertain. As I talk to clients, I hear more and more about the desire to find joy in work. It seems many people are struggling with increased workloads, ever-changing priorities and a do-more-with-less mentality. A WOW is something that makes you feel satisfied, energized productive. AKA - engaged! This month’s WOW tip is to Spread Appreciation! The cool thing about appreciation is that it’s a WOW for the giver and the receiver. Each time you appreciate someone that you work with, you get to experience the good feeling that comes with saying “thank you.” When you’re on the receiving end and someone appreciates you, then you get to “feel the love” and understand the value of the work that you do. It’s that simple. Start to spread appreciation to your peers, your boss, your family and friends. This WOW is a great way to lighten up and enjoy the people that you spend time with. 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 Vicki Hess
Have you listened to how folks describe their day-to-day lives at work? Here are some of the words and phrases I regularly hear:
So you may be thinking…”But that’s how I feel, Vicki!” Unfortunately, talking about negative feelings can promote more negative feelings. According to an article in Well+Good, “the words you speak and think can automatically trigger a biological response in your body that increases your edginess exponentially.” The article goes on to say, “It may sound woo woo, but biology backs up the belief that stress ultimately starts when you say that you’re stressed.” Your body responds to thoughts and emotions that are happening in your brain. When you consistently talk about being crazy busy, overwhelmed or in over your head then your body responds by releasing catecholamines (the fight or flight hormone). These hormones start to reinforce the idea that you are in danger. Intentionally choosing your vocabulary positively influences the way you feel and the actions you take. When someone asks about your day, try saying “I’ve always got plenty of work to do to keep me out of trouble” or “This job provides me with a great opportunity to challenge my skills for organization and productivity”. Well+Good shares…“The old “fake it ‘til you make it” tactic definitely applies here: Research shows it really does help to feign happiness and positivity, even if you feel like things are falling apart. One recent study showed that those who were instructed to smile during a stressful task had a lower heart rate and reported more positive emotions than those who didn’t, while another proved optimistic thinkers have lower cortisol levels than pessimists.” Focusing on mindfulness can help too. When feeling the stress, stop and take a few deep breaths before you start to get into a busy contest with colleagues. These breaths makes a huge difference in your body’s response to the stress that you’re experiencing. You may very well be in over your head but that doesn’t mean you have to make it part of your everyday conversations. Start growing your WOW’s by looking at things that you actually have control over and do something about those. Stop lamenting about all the things you don’t have control over. It’s not necessarily an easy fix but it’s one that’s well worth the time and effort for your body and mind. 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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