Janet Fouts's Blog, page 6

Empathy is a leadership superpower!

Empathy can help us navigate through life’s challenges and build stronger relationships with the people around us. With empathy as our guide, we can turn overwhelm into resilience and use communication as a tool for connection.

In the Businesssolver 2022 State of Workplace Empathy report, about 70% of employees and HR professionals believe that empathetic organizations drive higher employee motivation.

59% of employees surveyed felt fearful that reaching out to HR or a manager about a mental health issue because it might negatively affect job security.

In the same report, 77% of CEOs reported they felt they’d lose respect if they were too empathetic. The idea that #empathy makes you soft, or weak is an age-old belief whose time has come.

How are we going to change this cultural dissonance? By recognizing that empathy is not a weakness, it’s a superpower we can use to help navigate life’s challenges, build stronger relationships and lead with a deeper understanding of the needs of others.

Step up!Learn how to use empathy to build relationships, work smarter and lead better. Join us for our free workshop on the power of empathy and add this superpower to your tools for leadership.

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Do we have a disconnect? Ann Latham on Mindful Social

How are we communicating what we need to others? Can we have a conversation, give feedback or direction and feel we’ve represented our best selves? What happens when we don’t and things start to go awry? Maybe we aren’t connecting as best we could.

My guest on this week’s Mindful Social podcast is Ann Latham. She’s the author of several books on clarifying our thoughts and how we communicate them to others, improving our relationships at home and at work. When we begin to recognize the disconnects, we can vastly improve our communication with others, with more clarity and intention.

The Disconnect Principle illustrates how with engaging stories we can instantly relate to. Latham helps us improve our communication style with easy-to-implement frameworks that get to the heart of human interaction.

About Ann
Ann Latham is the founder of Boston area consulting firm Uncommon Clarity®, Inc. Her clients represent over 40 industries and range from for-profit organizations, such as Boeing, Medtronic, and Hitachi, to nonprofit organizations as diverse as Public Television, United Way, and colleges and universities.

Her leap from solving technical problems to solving broader problems that involve people, commitment, and confidence was a transformation not unlike that discussed in her book, The Power of Clarity.  And it is akin to the leap organizations and leaders must make from focusing on physical processes to making cognitive processes a priority and acquiring the tools and skills currently missing in organizations of all types and sizes.

Connect with Ann
Website
Linkedin

Stop Procrastinating and Start DOing!

Do you procrastinate? I think we can all relate to putting things off until they are juuust right, can’t we? But at some point, we just gotta DO THE THING!

While we already know putting it off isn’t really helpful, we still piddle around with distractions rather than doing that thing. Procrastination sparks a circular dance around the things we need to do and doing less “important things” especially if we are working from home. So many distractions, so little focus, am I right?

Procrastinating can have serious consequences, including:

Worse academic performance

Financial issues

Stress and anxiety

Broken dreams

Low self-esteem

Fatigue

Poorer decision-making skills

If it frustrates you that no matter how hard you try, you just can’t seem to stay on track and get things don– and that turns into self-judgment and shame, it’s time to do something about it.

Introducing the Procrastination Taming Workshop: an interactive and fun program to help identify what triggers procrastination, understand why we escape into procrastination, and learn how to take action to set ourselves on a more effective path.

This workshop will help you become more productive without guilt or shame by teaching you tools and strategies to help you establish habits that will make you happier, more successful, and more productive.

 I’ll guide you through the process of understanding what procrastination is, recognizing when it happens and how to respond in order to break the procrastination cycle.

Join us for the Procrastination Taming Workshop, and experience a new level of motivation, productivity, and success! 

Don’t put this off any longer – sign up now so you can finally reach your goals and become the productive, happy person you’ve always wanted to be.

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Karen Catlin on Belonging in Healthcare #MindfulSocial

As an author and speaker on inclusive workplaces, Karen Catlin saw the need to lend a voice to those underrepresented in the healthcare industry, especially after the last few years in which these workers have given so much to their communities.  In her latest book; Belonging in Healthcare: The Better Allies® Approach to Creating More Inclusive Workplaces Karen gives us a practical approach to being a better ally for co-workers to create a more inclusive so everyone can thrive.

This is the book that allies in healthcare have been searching for: an industry-specific guide to the mindsets, strategies, and changes needed to make their workplaces more equitable from the inside out. Listen to our interview below!

About Karen 
After spending 25 years building software products and serving as a vice president of engineering at Macromedia and Adobe, Karen Catlin witnessed a sharp decline in the number of women working in tech. Frustrated but galvanized, she knew it was time to switch gears.

Today, Karen is a highly acclaimed author and speaker on inclusive workplaces. She is the author of four books: Better Allies: Everyday Actions to Create Inclusive, Engaging Workplaces, Belonging in Healthcare, The Better Allies Approach to Hiring, and Present! A Techie’s Guide to Public Speaking.

Connect with Karen

Website: https://karencatlin.com/
LinkedIn: www.linkedin.com/in/kecatlin/
Twitter: @kecatlin and @betterallies
Instagram: @karencatlin and @betterallies

Out of Love- A Daughter’s Story

As many of you know being a caregiver for a family member is an unforgettable, and often life-changing experience. Today my guest is Lynn Abate-Johnson.

In her new book, “Out Of Love, A Daughter’s Journey With Her Mom To The End” she shares her story of 6 years as she cared for her mom with ovarian cancer, and how that experience transformed her in so many ways. In the book, she shares her story with heart and honesty but also her knack for problem-solving and organization that will help you navigate your own journey.

Have a listen to the show and share it with someone you know who is caring for a loved one!

About Lynn Abate-Johnson
In addition to being a caregiver and entrepreneur, Lynn is a stellar community manager. She’s currently growing the global online community as “the voice” of the Co-Active Training Institute (CTI), one of the world’s most respected leadership development and professional coach training organizations.

She’s also launched a community for family caregivers to share stories, swap tips, and support each other in a community where she’ll be sharing resources and more. After all, we are all better off when we lift each other up! Sign up here.

Connect with Lynn

Book WebsiteBusiness WebsiteFacebookLinkedinTwitterInstagram

Cognitive Behavioral Therapy and Self-Care

When I first heard about Cognitive  Behavioral Therapy (CBT) It really resonated with me. An approach that helps us to change our thinking patterns for the better? Skills to cope with anxiety, stress, dependencies and depression? Fascinating.So of course when I read the CBT workbook for mental health I had to learn more. Today’s guest is Sarah Fader, co-author of the workbook with by Dr. Simon Rego.

Have a listen to the podcast below. I know you’re going to find this interesting too.

About Sarah
SARAH FADER is the Co-Founder of  Stigma Fighters, a nonprofit organization that encourages individuals with mental illness to share their personal stories. She has been featured in The New York Times, The Washington Post, Psychology Today, The Huffington Post, McSweeney’s and more. Sarah is the co-author of The 10-Step Depression Relief Workbook, The Mindfulness OCD Workbook and The CBT For Mental Health. 

Connect with Sarah:

WebsiteTwitterLinkedin

Caring for ALL in the New Culture of Work

In my coaching practice, I hear from people who are ready to cash out everything they own in order to create the life they truly deserve. I also hear from leaders who want to transform the workplace, not with another compliance-based EAP but with training in life skills that support everyone in being their best at work and at home, support creativity, innovation, and a growth mindset.

Everywhere I go people tell me they’re:

Burned out and overwhelmedWanting to continue with work from home or hybrid situationsSeeking a job where they feel valued, safe, and heard

I get it, and I can see that for many, post-traumatic stress may be at the root of this. When they look at going back to the same old job, people are setting higher standards for how, when, and where they want to work.

They want to work somewhere they look forward to being in. One that makes room for their professional and emotional needs, and offers an opportunity to feel good about what they do and how they do it.

Why? Some became caregivers for family or friends during the pandemic and have different responsibilities, or maybe they discovered the satisfaction of being around their kids or family during isolation. Maybe they see how working remotely made for better-focused work time and less redundancy in the meeting calendar.

The (not so) good ‘ol days
It wasn’t so long ago that work was largely transactional in nature. Leaders delegated through inflexible structures based only on performance and timelines. Putting the focus on results and the bottom line didn’t leave a lot of room for considerations like inclusion, belonging, and compassion. In fact, ruthless “tell and yell” leadership styles were waay too common.

Why is the “great resignation” still happening?
Taking a job for the sole purpose of paying the bills and hoping for a pension so you could live your dreams was common 30 years ago, but today? People want more from work than a transaction. They want to feel a part of something bigger than that.

They want to make a difference in the world and feel they have a purpose.  They want a sense of belonging and human connection, including with their leaders. They want to have a relationship of trust, psychological safety, and encouragement to grow. Most importantly, they want to live life first.

What employees – leaders even– want has changed.
We’re looking at a more diverse, and hopefully more aware workforce. Priorities have changed and even though some are still planning on hybrid work, more and more companies are demanding we come back into the office. At a time when we have the lowest job satisfaction rate in more than 20 years!

Giving employees scooters, in-house restaurants, and dry cleaning isn’t enough anymore. An employee benefits trend study by Met Life revealed that many more employees are planning to stay in their current roles for less than a year.

How can we make going back to the office better?
In my talk for The Future is Mindful Summit this spring, I shared some ideas, and as well in my TEDX talk for Purdue University this spring. Have a listen and let me know your thoughts.

If you are in management, talk to your team. What do they need after being on leave or working from home in isolation? Consider bringing them together either virtually or on-site for conversations about how to leverage their strengths, and deepen communication, focus, and creativity.

If you’re having a lot of conversations about burnout and stress levels, consider encouraging management to add mindfulness or other stress-reducing offerings to the company wellness program.

Look at your wellness programs beyond compliance, liability, and insurance risks.

It’s well established that wellness programs include coaching, support services, leave and flex-time policies, mental health support, and how family medical leave is structured.

Consider creating a portal where employees can share their challenges and needs for childcare, eldercare parenting or special instances. (Without judgment!) When everyone knows the challenges that others are dealing with, they will step up, and now you have a community within the company to help each other.

As we begin to go back to the workplace there is so much we can do to create a workplace that people want to be a part of. Please share your ideas in the comments, and if you want to brainstorm about what you can do in your office? Let’s talk. I’m here for you.

Burnout Much? What are you doing about that?

Burnout is very, very, real but we often ignore it hoping it will go away. We don’t realize how it affects so many aspects of our lives. Friends and family, co-workers, and clients, they’re all probably seeing it sooner than you do.

I get it, we are all overextended in so many ways right now. At home, at work, the pressure to perform in the midst of so much turmoil can be overwhelming. If we don’t do something about it, burnout is just going to stay this way. Are you OK with that?

Are you burned out?  Ask yourself:

Are you tired right now?Does it feel like you are ALWAYS tired?When was the last time you felt energized and fully alive?Have you been warned at work that your production is slowing?Have you been more than a little grumpy lately?Do you have to drag yourself out of bed in the morning?Exhausted by midday?Are you dissatisfied or disillusioned with your work?Do you feel like you just can’t get everything done in a day?Do you feel detached from others, or a desire to isolate yourself?

Typical resonses to overwhelm and burnout?

If you or someone you know may be suffering from burnout, see if any of these “coping” mechanisms seems to be going on.

Hide our heads under the coversDeny that we’re burned out and ignore the obvious evidence that we AREMake lists and more lists of things we have to do (and not do them)Think we are the only ones who can handle what needs to be doneCatastrophize what “could”  happen if… (fill in with impending doom)

When we are burned out we are not able to operate effectively, personally or professionally. We often can’t see that we are getting burned out until it is fully upon us, and by then it’s so much harder to recover, isn’t it?

Where do we start?

Recognize the symptoms, and they may be a lot more subtle than you think. By the time we see it it’s already affecting us, sometimes dramatically.Learn how to make objective decisions about how to moderate the effects of burnout on ourselves and others.Implement simple strategies to reduce the impact of stress and the likelihood of burnout.Register for the class below to get simple tips to rediscover meaning and joy in your life.@import url("//fonts.googleapis.com/css?family=Ubunt... 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Free Class May 12, 2022 05:00 PM Pacific Time
If you’re feeling burned out, you don’t have to be stuck in it. Let me show you some simple tools to get your life back. Register now for a free class to learn the skills you need to reduce stress and the effects of burnout.

Crucial Skills for Today’s Workplace

It’s not news to anyone that we are confronted with an array of challenges in today’s workplace. After having many conversations with people wrestling with how, when, and why to go back into the workplace, I offer you a mindfulness-based emotional intelligence approach to working together and still taking care of ourselves as we roll forward into 2022.

Growth mindset
Switching for work from home to hybrid or back in the workplace? What opportunities will there be for growth? Not just in your role, but in yourself? A growth mindset assumes that what has been experienced in the past and what is happening in this very moment are opportunities to learn and expand awareness for future growth.

Someone with a growth mindset recognizes that the most difficult challenges as something to learn from and this helps them be more resilient as new challenges present themselves.

Self-awareness and self-management
There will be stress and that can bring up an array of emotions. The basic skills of emotional intelligence center on understanding and management of one’s emotions as well as recognizing those of others.  This allows us to pause, consider, and respond in a way that encourages communication and connection.

Social awareness
Give yourself the space to be able to observe before you dive into the conversation in meetings. It is much easier to use the perspective of an observer of group dynamics and use social awareness to ascertain how to manage and communicate with the team. This builds better relationships and resolves conflict more quickly with respect and compassion.

Listening
Think of the last time you felt truly heard, as though the person you were speaking to had you–and only you–on their mind. Now think of the conversation where the person interrupted, told you the answer before you asked the question, or looked right past you as you spoke.
Which do you want to work for?
Which do you trust?
Which do you aspire to be like?

Listening is a crucial skill for all of us, especially leaders.  Adopt what is often called a “beginner’s mind” without a preconceived assumption of the person or the topic. Wait for them to finish speaking even if you have to mentally remind yourself “listen”! When we listen without assuming we already have the answer, we often learn things we would miss if we jumped right in with our own perspectives. In this way, we subtly both give and earn respect. It’s a great way to create a feeling of psychological safety and trust with everyone involved.

Compassion
Leading with compassion entails understanding what motivates each person on the team and what their personal challenges are. This gives individuals room to be their best based on where they are, removing roadblocks with creative and critical thinking.

 A compassionate leader sees the struggles and sufferings of their team and demonstrates understanding and a desire to help alleviate their suffering. Compassion (as opposed to simple empathy) creates distance from the emotion of the situation, so we don’t join in the suffering but have space to take action in a deliberate and considered fashion.

Resilience
Psychologists often define resilience as the ability to adapt in the face of stress, trauma, adversity, and change. When we are resilient we can use our emotions more intelligently and improve relationships at home and at work. When we have a resilient mindset, we can adapt quickly, be better able to advocate for ourselves and others as well as others, and bring critical thinking skills forward without the cloud of emotional thinking.

Not feeling so resilient right now? That’s not uncommon, but know that resilience is something we can learn, and with practice becomes part of our very nature. It just takes practice!

Generous conversations
When conflict comes up within the team, great leaders see this and deal with it quickly rather than letting a conflict fester and grow beneath the surface. While it may seem important to “let people work things out”, or to protect certain individuals, it’s important for productivity and creativity that a conversation takes place and the earliest opportunity or resentment and frustration could be the result.

Make sure you really understand the circumstances and issues.
Create a plan for how and when to have the conversation, so the person doesn’t feel called out in front of everyone.

Put your focus on the behavior, separating the problem for the personality. Be clear and specific about the issue, then allow them to express their position, listening carefully without interruption, including defending or justification of the issue that brought the behavior forward.

Respond calmly and stick to the facts without getting personal or defensive. Be ready to take a time out or to table the conversation and set a time for a follow-up conversation if need be..

What do you need, and how can I help?
Are you interested in exploring mindfulness-based emotional intelligence for yourself or your team? Reach out to me and let’s talk. I offer in-person and virtual programs for individual and team coaching as well as retreats and private 6-week workshops.

Working with Emotional Triggers

Emotional triggers happen to us all day, every day. A trigger can be pretty much any topic that makes us feel strongly, whether that’s negative or positive.

They can be a memory, a conversation, or simply a feeling that we respond to in a certain way. Triggers can spark joy, happiness, frustration, fear, sadness, anger, and a host of other responses. Some good, some not so good.

A positive trigger might be the sound of someone laughing which causes you to smile.

A negative trigger might be the sound of someone laughing and it reminds you of an instance when someone laughed at a mistake you made, and that causes you to feel sad, hurt, or angry.

Both are triggering events with opposite responses.

When triggers become a problem, they may keep us from being productive and happy in the world, missing out of living up to our purpose in life.  Using our emotional intelligence helps us to recognize and manage emotional triggers more skillfully.

This e-book will help you understand the emotional triggers that cause you to react in ways that don’t serve you, keep you small and prevent you from being your best.  We’ve provided the tools to change how you respond to them.

Subscribe to my Nearly Mindful® newsletter below and get the e-book as a bonus!