Energize your day with the ENERGIZER newsletter!
SMALL—FAST—and WRITTEN WHEN THE MOOD STRIKES.
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Update From Eileen
It’s a first. I am actually writing this before June 21-the official start of summer. Of course, you won’t get it until the end of the month but the idea of having “the longest day of the year” pops up as a good question to ponder. What do we do when presented with more hours of daylight? Bet you never thought about it.
Sure there’s the practical answer: mow the lawn, host a barbecue, hit a bucket of balls, take a walk, see how long you can resist turning on lights (maybe in protest to the energy fiasco and rolling blackouts).
But it’s the philosophical answer that I seek. Having lost three friends within the last month, I am acutely aware that our lives have a limited amount of “daylight”. I am also aware that the rolling blackout of bad news, falling stock prices, and layoffs has many of us focusing on the darkness rather than the light. (Please know that I write this as much for me as for you.) Sometimes the light is hard to see!
My inner work right now is to become clearer on priorities, values, and life purpose. How am I filling the “daylight”?
What about your “daylight”? Is your day filled with activities that feed your soul? Do you know your “no matters what’s”? These are those people and activities that you must connect with- no matter what!
If you called my office in May, you heard that I was engaged in a “no matter what”. My sister and I took our 85 year-young Mother to Ireland, a place she said she always wanted to visit. For 14 amazing days, we traveled 1500 miles along back roads, looked for stone circles, ate picnic lunches, marveled at the deepest green grass, the ancient ruins, the thick run of stone fences, the hills of yellow gorse, and the hopping of lambs. We marveled at the generous, trusting and warm people who never asked us to sign a guest register or show a credit card until we checked out of our B&B.
Ever a sport, Mom stayed at the music pub until midnight so we could tap our toes and clap our hands and lift a glass with the locals. We tucked her in bed at night and became sisters once more, sharing stories and face potions, giggles and tears, and yes-even the double bed. Precious, precious time-daylight moments.
This summer, grab hold of your “daylight”. Fill it with your “no matter what’s”. May the road rise up to meet you and the wind be at your back.
Competitive Edge: It’s the Talent, Stupid!
Despite an economic slowdown and widespread layoffs, companies cannot afford to lose the talent war. In a knowledge-based, talent-centric global economy driven by ideas, the company with the best talent wins. Period.
Jettisoning employees in financial tough times can very well result in losing industrious producers, top talent, longtime workers, and top managers. Such shortsightedness can be costly on many fronts. The cost of recruiting talented workers typically runs 70- 200% of their annual salaries. A loss of sales staff can hurt a company’s bottom line. Lose productive people and the customer might be penalized. And the resulting morale decline can take a toll on employee engagement-being fully connected with producing great results for an organization. A company doesn’t make profits. People do.
So here’s the operative question: are job eliminations, workforce realignments strategically driven, designed to foster long- term growth? Do these practices allow organizations to reposition themselves competitively and take advantage of new opportunities?
If so, than this is the message that must be spoken, written, lived from the top down. And retention-re-engagement-efforts become imperative. It’s too late to undo the layoffs that have already happened. Let’s focus on how to rebuild the broken communities that are left behind.
Just the facts, Ma’am. Just the facts.
There aren’t enough workers for the jobs of the future.
U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics projects a ten million-worker shortage by 2006 and a 40 million-worker shortage by 2015.
Employee loyalty has to be earned. Expectations have changed.
If work isn’t challenging, meaningful and focused on growth and development, they won’t stay, a fact proven by an ongoing study of “retention drivers” by Dr. Beverly Kaye and Sharon Jordan- Evans.
The free-agent workforce is growing, luring the best and the brightest.
With so many options and the ability to launch aggressive searches online, employees can leave if they’re bored, see no career path, or have a “jerk” for a boss. Remember, headhunters don’t take a holiday in economic downturns. It’s prime picking of the plums.
Retention and re-engagement skills and practices can be taught.
Arie de Geus, chairman and CEO of Synopsys, a 2900-employee firm with $800 million in revenue is implementing a new program to help retain “high fliers” (star employees) and “solid citizens” (stable, loyal workers). Former Royal Dutch shell exec, de Geus believes, ” The ability to learn faster than your competition may be the only sustainable competitive advantage.” That’s why training is at the heart of his new retention program.
Senior executives will now devote 30% of their time to retention-related activities. They begin by asking employees about their values and needs and the incentives that will make they stay. They use the “Motel Six” strategy when employees depart for greener pastures, saying, “we’ll let them come back.”
Through a strategic alliance with Dr. Beverly Kaye, co-author of Love’Em or Lose’Em, and President of Career Systems International (CSI), I have added a new retention and re- engagement program to my keynote and half-day sessions. It’s a perfect fit with my interest in workplace spirit, leadership and work/life integration. Please call us for this all-important topic. Or read about it online at http://www.eileenmcdargh.com.
P.S. Retention and re-engagement are also essential for any volunteer organization.
“Leadership is an army you have to enlist in. You can’t get drafted into leadership. You can get drafted into management.”
—Rayona Sharpnack, founder and president, the Institute for Women’s Leadership
Must Read Books
A Woman’s Way to Incredible Success, edited by Mary-Ellen Drummond, Adams Media Corporation, 2001.
Written by women, for women, this practical book offers hard-learned lessons, inspirational advice and creative suggestions from 20 top businesswomen. Guess I am a little prejudiced. I’m in it!
Secret Formulas of the Wizard of Ads, Roy Williams, Bard Press, 1999.
This is the follow-up to The Wizard of Ads: Turning Words into Magic and Dreamers into Millionaires. I loved the first book and I adore the second. This man is a genius, plain and simple. You’ll read them both with a highlighter and then go back and read some more. If you have ANYTHING to do with marketing, anything to do with selling anything to anybody. get these books. His style, artistic flair, and insights make Williams a true wizard.
“Red meat is NOT bad for you. Now, blue-green meat, that’s REALLY BAD for you.”
—Tommy Smothers
Tips for Energizing Yourself
I promised in the last edition to offer more personal suggestions for controlling stress and possible burnout. Consider this conversational advice-advice about the conversations you and I have in our heads when we talk to three people: me, myself, and I.
Self-talk is the most powerful, and least used, cure for stress. Say these things to yourself. Often. Saying precedes doing and from doing comes believing.
Say these things and then act on them.
I breathe. Now. I just stop and breathe deeply, fully, from the bottom of my toes to the top of my head. Three times. I am calmer now.
I love someone else. O.K., so it’s my dog. At least it’s something other than just me.
I am grateful for _______ and I say thank you.
I am connected to family and friends. I will honor that connection today in some way.
I take time for myself, doing something that gives me joy.
I slow down. I chew. I look around me.
I forgive myself or someone else. We’re all doing the best we can with what we’ve got.
Signage for Snickering
Tire shop in Milwaukee: Invite us to your next blowout
In a podiatrist’s office: Time wounds all heels
In the front yard of a funeral home: Drive carefully. We’ll wait
A pizza shop slogan: 7 days without pizza makes one weak.
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 vice 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
McDargh Communications
(949) 496-8640
Eileen@EileenMcDargh.com
© 2011 McDargh Communications, All rights reserved.