Plain Talk - Straight-up insights on work and life leadership

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The Conference Board recently surveyed Americans asking how many of them would take a vacation in the next six months. The results were shocking: only 39 percent (the lowest in 30 years) said they would dim the office lights, close the door and slip off to sip rum drinks in coconuts sometime in the next six months.

The outrageous gas prices and sluggish economy are contributing to the problem but there is more to the story. According to an article in SLATE, “everyone seems to be suffering from job creep” created by technology such as Blackberries and laptops that make workers accessible 24/7. This encroaches more and more on family time and adds even more stress to personal relationships. Every other industrialized nation provides guaranteed sick leave to employees while Americans work more hours than any of our brethren in other countries.”

Working long hours, getting less sleep and spending less time with your family and friends cause workers more stress. Stress translates into more sick time and more employees with depression and other emotional issues. Sick and unmotivated employees don’t perform well in the office and down the line, that additional sick leave will cost corporations millions of wasted dollars a year.

You owe it to yourself and others: Carve out personal time for yourself and your employees and reduce the toll taken by the 24/7 work week.

Here is a book I’m adding to my must read list. Amazon.com has this to say about “Resonant Leadership: Renewing Yourself and Connecting with Others Through Mindfulness, Hope, and Compassion”:

Resonant Leadership shows how leaders can recognise the cycles of stress, sacrifice, and renewal inherent in their jobs—and actively utilise the qualities of mindfulness, hope, and compassion to renew their passion and effectiveness. Practical follow-on to the international bestseller Primal Leadership: Goes beyond research and stories to offer proven strategies for how to “do” resonant leadership Successful Author Team: Boyatzis and McKee are co-authors of PL, and Daniel Goleman has written a glowing Foreword to the book which will lend considerable credibility and visibly link the book to its predecessor Addresses a Universal Leadership Challenge: The increasingly short tenure of many of today’s executives, the pressure to make the quarterly numbers, a shaky economy and other stresses in today’s global workplace underscore the urgency of this book’s message and its relevance for executives and managers in all kinds of companies

Richard Boyatzis is Professor in the Department of Organizational Behavior at the Weatherhead School of Management at Case Western Reserve. Annie McKee is Co-chair of the Teleos Leadership Institute and teaches at the University of Pennsylvania, Graduate School of Education.

THINK face-to-face meetings are a thing of the past? Afraid that airline costs will prohibit gathering your folks together in one place? Think again. Think TELEPRESENCE!

I’m providing you with a link to a great article about some alternatives to traditional face-to-face meetings that are still - yep - face-to-face. Corbin Ball, CMP, and a very smart colleague explores these alternatives in one of his last articles.

I wrote the book,Talk Ain’t Cheap. It’s Priceless, because I fervently believe that text and e-mail along or one-sided teleconferences are stilted, prone for misinterpretation and not conducive for building the relationships needed to secure engagement and retention of both employees as well as clients. Asa professional speaker and consultant, this medium also lets folks like me present and interact with your teams around the globe. Same-location meetings away from the office setting are still absolutely essential. We all know that the bonding of a coffee break, golf game or a shared meal is invaluable. But for those times when your budget doesn’t stretch that way, begin considering telepresence.

Let me know your thoughts!

Here I am with Human Resource Managers (15,000) of them and USA TODAY reports that United Airlines, in the process of laying off 1600 employees and canceling routes has diverted some $130 million for an executive incentive program!! When I read the paragraph to HR people, there was a cololective GASP in the room. What a disaster for employee morale, customer service, and retention of good people. You can read the entire disheartening story at USA Today.

Travellers should boycott an airline that cares more about executives receiving astronomical pay than they do their employees and passengers.

There is no one more impacted by work/life balance issues than someone who travels frequently.  Having been in this position many times I created an article with tips that helped me and that, I hope, will help you!

Work/Life Balance Tips for the Business Traveler

Balance and the business traveler has everything to do with staying “connected”. As I indicate in my book, Work for a Living & Still Be Free to Live, we achieve a fluctuating balance by how we CHOOSE to stay connected with the critical areas of our life. Business travel can take a heavy emotional, physical and mental toll.

Read the entire article.

Rosa Hay created two articles in 2007 for Lifehack.org about 12 Rules for Self Management and 12 Rules for Self Leadership.  Rosa and I share a similar philosophy that every one manages and every one leads.  The qualities for self management and self leadership are grounded in empathy and common sense too often missing from corporate America.  These two articles are a must read. Share them widely.

Leadership styles vary from leader to leader but Daniel Goldman, Richard Boyatzis and Annie McKee, in Primal Leadership theorize that there are six main emotional styles of leaders:

·    The Visionary Leader
·    The Coaching Leader
·    The Affiliative Leader
·    The Democratic Leader
·    The Pace-setting Leader
·    The Commanding Leader

A very successful leader would include qualities of each style by choosing their reaction to the situation.  Excellent leaders are flexible, able to handle change and being under pressure while still leading the team to success. Employees moving up the ladder of management would be well served to be taught about emotional intelligence and how to use it to become a great leader.

Training is an on-going and key component to better business and happier employees.  Many companies are looking for inexpensive ways to keep their employees skills updated.  I have several ideas for meeting that objective:

1.  Bring in a professional speaker or trainer and share the expensive between several departments.
2.  Ask nearby businesses to split the cost of training in return for a number of seats for their employees or have your vendors sponsor training throughout the year as a way of keeping their services and products top of mind with your employees.
3.  Talk to your favorite training and consulting company about creating a series of recorded webinars that employees can access at any time at their convenience.
4.  Have a series of training podcasts created and have employees download them to their MP3 players.
5.  Ask vendors to supply free training on their products and services to employees.

If you’d like more cost effective ways of training employees send me an e-mail at Eileen@eileenmcdargh.com.

Sideroad has a fascinating article about optimism written by a fellow speaker, Maryann Troiani, Psy.D.  She co-authored the book, “SPONTANEOUS OPTIMISM: Proven Strategies for Health, Prosperity & Happiness”.  It is well known that optimistic people make more money, live longer and happier lives and have more enriching and enduring relationships.  What is not known is how to create optimism in a life already jam packed with information overload and depressing daily news.  Dr. Trojani addresses steps you can take today to be more optimistic in her article “The Key To Happiness: Learning How To Be Optimistic And Happy“.