Energize your day with the ENERGIZER newsletter!
SMALL—FAST—and WRITTEN WHEN THE MOOD STRIKES.
“What consultant worth her salt would be without a newsletter? It’s a dandy little sheet, written when the mood strikes (which is at least quarterly). To be notified when a new issue is available sign-up for my list in the box to your right. I protect your private information and will never, sell, rent or otherwise abuse what you have entrusted to me. And, of course, you can unsubscribe at any time! Unsubscribe instructions are at the bottom of the e-mail you received pointing you to this page.”
Update From Eileen
During this pre-winter season of Thanksgiving, I want to give thanks for the angels who appeared around me at the start of November.
Here’s the scene. Alaska Airlines ticket counter. I’ve just rushed in from speaking to Andersen Consulting (now known as Accenture). Boarding pass in hand, I walk to the gate. Actually, I find myself weaving, becoming dizzier and dizzier with each step. By the time I collapse at the gate, I KNOW something is very wrong and hand my business card with my husband’s name and phone number written on the back to a couple with whom I had been speaking.
“So someone will know who I am and where I am.”
Summary: I become violently ill-repeatedly. The paramedics arrive and call an ambulance. In the ER of a nearby hospital, I have a brain CAT scan, blood work, and a ton of intravenous Benedryl and Valium. I make it home the next day but not without lots of help. Help from strangers and one dear friend.
Strangers:
Laurie and Brian Baker who help me while I am sick. Who call and leave messages for my husband. Who almost don’t board the plane until I wave them off. Who check in with me after they arrive.
Bill Walter, the Alaska Airlines superintendent, who sticks with me at the airport. Assures me I can get home on another plane. Calls my house three more times to see how I am.
Cindy Calleja, the American Airlines counter rep who calls the paramedics so the Alaska Airlines personnel could continue to board their plane. Who insists on coming to the hospital with me so I won’t be alone. Who takes my health card and serves as my advocate with the ER team. Who is a widow of five years with three kids under the age of 12 waiting for her to get back from work!
The ER doctor who assures me that what seems like a stroke (numbness in my feet and a hand that won’t move) is really anxiety over the dizziness and nausea. Who says negative tests seem to indicate a middle ear infection probably caused by the past heavy two months of flying. Who talks to my husband, tells him I should take the train home and smiles back at me, knowing I won’t follow those orders.
And my friend:
Vanna Novak, a wonderful National Speakers Association sister who lives in Seattle. Who arrives at the ER after a long day’s work and takes me to the nearest pharmacy. Who tucks me in her guest bed. Who turns around and gives up the better part of her Saturday to help me get home.
For all of these people, for health, and for a wonderful family I love, I lift up my hands in praise. At a time when the world seems more than crazy, more than selfish and self-centered, I thought you’d like to know that kindness and the human connection are still alive and well.
Strange New World Brings New Training Trends
Creativity is the watchword for the millennium as evidenced by the fact that innovation training has grown more than 1000 percent in the past 10 years and more than half of North American companies offer it to employees. Consider these examples cited in the book 21st Century Business:
Upping the Creativity Quotient:
- Employees of some Andersen Consulting offices can go to Chaos and Zen zones to stimulate and incubate data.
- Toy maker Hasbro has been using a shamanic consultant to help staff explore intuitive ideas about their work and offers courses based on the teaching of 6th century monk St. Benedict.
- A London ad agency has a “womb room” for relaxing and thinking.
- Power naps to enhance thinking are already official at Eastman Kodak, Pepsico, IBM and Pizza Hut.
- Brainteasers, puzzles and other games are being used to screen job candidates for their creativity quotients.
TREND LETTER reports that in the workplace of the future, creativity, communication and intuition will be more valued than technological skills. That’s why classes taught by improvisational theater groups such as Chicago’s Second City are gaining new recruits every day.
What are you doing to stimulate your creativity? What programs are being offered? Biggest question: can you extend creativity into how you operate on a daily basis? Now THAT’s the true rubber- meets-the-road-test.
Tips for bottom-up change masters
You know the drill: You see what needs to be done and yet you don’t have all the clout you need.
The answer: build a coalition.
Louise Kitchen, age 29, head of Enron’s 200-person gas- trading business offers this advice:
1. If you are not truly, madly passionate about an opportunity, no one else will be.
2. Co-opt skeptics, don’t berate them.
3. Don’t get resources through the chain of command. Instead, build a community of people who want to work on “the vision”.
4. Even in the most frenetic organizations, people will give time to projects they love.
5. Don’t ask for permission. Just make rapid progress and score early wins.
Coaching Energizes Yourself and Others
Getting and keeping good people is part of the challenge in today’s tight labor market. Developing those people is a critical piece of the puzzle. Coaching is becoming an increasing valuable tool for expediting the learning process. Here’s why:
One-size training does not fit all. Coaching takes into account individual needs and development issues.
Coaching can bring about quantum leaps in performance by helping individuals stay focused and develop targeted skills or behaviors.
Using an external coach can help managers become aware of blind spots that might make it difficult to manage diverse employees.
Coaching can show people how to more effectively handle stress, strike a balance between work and their personal lives, and offer ideas for innovation.
For all of these reasons, plus multiple requests, I have decided to extend Performance Mastery executive coaching to a limited number of clients. The scope and duration of the coaching will vary based upon individual needs. It can include any or all of the following areas: communication skill development (including presentation skills), career development, and work/life balance development.
If you’re interested, please call. I’d love to talk with you. Let’s get on the same team!
Fun Stuff
Great minds discuss ideas;
Average minds discuss events;
Small minds discuss people.
By the time you’ve made ends meet, they’ve moved the ends.
ADULT: A person who has stopped growing at both ends and is now growing in the middle.
CHICKENS: The only animals you eat before they are born and after they are dead. (Yuck!)
Must Read Books
My Grandfather’s Blessings, Rachel Naomi Remen, M.D.(Penguin Putnam, 2000, $24.95 ISBN 1-57322-150-3)
If you followed my recommendation and read Kitchen Table Wisdom, you’ll find this book an essential companion. Her style is both deep and lucid, spiritual and earth-bound with insights gleaned from her Orthodox rabbi grandfather. The stories are brief and rich. Here’s just one of her thoughts: “Wisdom lies in engaging the life you have been given as fully and courageously as possible and not letting go until you find the unknown blessing that is in everything.”
Global Smarts. The Art of Communicating and Deal Making Anywhere in the World, Sheida Hodge, (Wiley, 2000,$27.95 ISBN 0- 471-38246-9)
Sheida is an international entrepreneur and a wonderful cross-cultural trainer who writes from experience. The book is filled with practical tips, eye-opening anecdotes, and in-the-trenches experiences. This is an indispensable resource for anyone doing business in today’s global arena.
Welcome To The McDargh Clan
American General Finance
Association of Legal administrators, Regions 4 & 6
MN. Director of Long Term Care
IBM Women’s Network
CA. Assoc. of College Stores
CUNA Mutual
Employee Relocation Council
Andersen (Accenture) Consulting Women’s Forum
Women’s Success Forum
Quote:
“Small service is true service….The daisy, by the shadow that it casts, protects the lingering dewdrop of the sun.”
- William Wordsworth
Overview and Contact Information
Is life leading you instead of you leading a life?
Is work working you instead of you doing the work?
You’re not alone! It’s the challenge of our times.
From business leaders to rank-and-file workers, the competitive 24/7 world of heart-stopping change has left many feeling in need of new tools to answer these questions:
- How do I engage more of my talent and that of the folks around me in meaningful work?
- Why is it that resiliency is a word I think of only with rubber bands?
- Why does it seem that we compete more with each other than the competition?
It’s tough when the rate and pace of work leaves you feeling disconnected, unheard, and certainly not aligned to produce results that matter in the long run.
Then there’s the issue of joy. Flat out joy. You don’t want “work” to become exclusive of play. Leave your spirit and heart at the door, and it’s hard to be creative and productive. You want to be connected with people who respect you and visa versa. You want to do good work— no, make that GREAT work–in the bargain. You want to spend your time in a place that lets your spirit soar and your talent shine. My joy is in helping individuals and organizations rediscover the joy of living and the joy of satisfying work.
If you want results that go well beyond the bottom line—contact us. Since 1980, we’ve been engaging the human spirits of individuals and organizations. Now—it’s your turn.
Call 949-496-8640 or send email eileen@eileenmcdargh.com
