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SMALL—FAST—and WRITTEN WHEN THE MOOD STRIKES.
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So here’s the deal: I offer work-life balance programs. So call us at 949-496-8640 and let’s see how I might help your organization!
CHANGE is in the AIR and it Ain’t Autumn
Update From Eileen
I write this as the sun slowly sets behind the Channel Islands that loom out from the Santa Barbara coast. From my desk on the second floor of this retreat center, I see the mountain behind me turn into deeper shades of gray green and black. Soon, an almost full moon will rise and create havoc with my star gazing from the bench in the ancient oak grove. So far it looks like nothing has changed but?
For the first time in 13 years, I couldn’t take the 4-mile trek to the top of my mountain. Mountain lion sightings are posted and the warnings read ?Don?t hike alone. No small dogs. No children. Carry rocks in your pockets?
Rocks? The climb is hard enough!! Go with someone? Never found anyone crazy enough to come with me. No children? Ummm? I might be an entree size for the big cat. CHANGE of plans!
It felt strange, uncomfortable, and somewhat silly to substitute power walks up winding roads for the hidden beauty of live oaks, creeks, and hardscrabble rocks. But there was an alternative. I saw plants I had never seen, smiled at folks I would never have encountered, and still felt reasonably justified in my exercise to sit the rest of the day and write. CHANGE.
For most of us, we enter 2009 facing massive change. The routes we thought were safe for our investments have been severely compromised. Our jobs might have vanished or been reduced. Industries are shattered. Israel and the Gaza burn in ancient hatreds that all cry out for CHANGE. We pin our hopes on a new Administration to lead us out of this horrid mess. Truth be told, unless we remember the Depression, we’re faced with a never-before-seen-scenario that feels uncomfortable, strange, and if we let it downright frightening.
What do we do about this? Yes? WE. WE all hold some small piece of a solution. No one person is going to hold our hand and take us another route. We must find alternatives to what had become so routine. We must greet each other on the way and share whatever we’ve learned. We must stop dwelling on the past, on blame, on wistful thinking, on wayward mountain lions and instead focus on what CHANGE can be made.
Won’t feel the same. Won’t look the same. But if we face CHANGE together, the walk into the future might astound us with amazing possibilities.
Warmly,
Eileen
Five Tips for Holding Your Business and Yourself Together
Anyone in the audience when I have given my presentation, “Radical Resilience”, knows that I believe action is the antidote for anxiety. Sitting and stewing, muttering and watching storm clouds, or pacing back and forth does nothing. When we begin to take control over even the smallest part of our life, we begin to gain a sense of forward momentum.
Consider these five tips – any of which can be started in small steps and increased as time and talent permit.
(1) Pitch out what doesn’t add value. Lean is NOT mean. Start with a file drawer, a computer folder, a closet, and yes even your contact list. Everything that we hold on to that is obsolete, not useful, out-dated takes up physical and emotional space. To let in the new, we’ve got the clear out the old. You might find – as I did – that cleaning up a data base brings old client to mind. We had lost touch. I reconnected and have now renewed friendships and/or a client relationship. You might find great ideas that were not useful then but are very timely now. At the very least the action of tossing away just lightens the load.
(2) Spend wisely. Think of everything in terms of “what will this do for my customer.” Circuit City fired all their seasoned, knowledgeable employees because they were more expensive than new employees. Too bad. Without trained staff to help customers, Circuit City now was just a store with stuff. Ordinary. Common. And now out of business.
(3) Follow your values and offer value for what you give. If an action goes against what you value, in the long run the price you pay will be far too high. I am not right for every client. Accepting work for the money rather than for the match will hurt both of us.
(4) Talk to your team and your customers. Better still: LISTEN. This is not the same as e-mail. Pick up the phone. Better still, meet face-to-face. Rally troops real time. We don?t feel the human support from a screen or a text message. Ideas can come from anywhere and anyone.
(5) Sullyize your workers. OK? I made up this word but perhaps it will catch on. Chesley “Sully” Sullenberger was a masterful pilot who trained, and trained, and trained again. You don’t make that kind of landing in a two-minute time frame without having practiced, and trained. Yet – what do too many organizations do in these times? Cut training!! If you want employees to handle crises, you’ve got to train rigorously. Think customer service skills, leadership skills. clear communication skills. Responses can be second nature if training is diligent.
Extra Training May Boost Productivity, Ease Stress in Uncertain Times
A national survey of working adults commissioned by Workplace Options (WPO), the largest provider of work-life employee benefits in America, revealed a growing interest in training programs to sharpen their professional skills, manage money and stress and promote personal wellness. This trend reflects the growing importance and benefits of managing work-life issues, especially in this challenging economic climate.
Today, many workers are stressed and distracted on the job as they struggle to manage personal and financial worries. This can cut into productivity, accuracy and even health – thus contributing to and increase in absenteeism and a decrease in profitability. Employers are recognizing the growing value of work-life services, including training programs, to drive productivity, boost morale and enhance competitiveness in the marketplace.
Sleep Deprived? Here’s One Solution
Seventy percent of the North American population is sleep-deprived. Are you? Sleep disturbances can be caused by such factors as work deadlines, stress in one’s personal or work life, shift work, irregular hours, health issues, divorce, a death in the family, and more.
Listening to music might be JUST the thing. But not just ANY music. Gold-CD recording artist/flutist, Laura Nashman and multi-instrumentalist/sound healer, Michael Moon have collaborated and created a sleep aid that will help remedy your sleep challenges through music. “Dreamland” is a distinctive CD that offers both ‘dreamy’ music played on silver, alto and native flutes, vibraphone, wind chimes and aquamarine crystals, along with a sound scientifically-based technology to induce the delta, deep sleep state. In collaboration with hemi-sync technology at http://www.hemi-sync.com “Dreamland” offers a sound solution to sleep issues. Order your SLEEP CD at http://www.spa-la-la.com
What did you do on the National Day of Service?
I thought this was a great idea for people of all political stripes and persuasions. You can read about it here: http://www.eileenmcdargh.co m/blog/?p=269. Proof is in the results. This effort to ask grocery shoppers to contribute just one non-perishable item in our carts for delivery to the Orange County Food Bank netted some 13,000 pounds of food in one day. Sadly, it’s a drop on the bucket as the Food Bank is short some 100,000 pounds and requests have tripled. Write me at eileen@eileenmcdargh.com if you participated in this Day of Service. I’ll compile a list of results from your Day of Service and post it for everyone.
SELF-CARE VITAL in CHALLENGING TIMES
At the end of January, my family stood outside following the memorial of a vital 89 year-old woman who died of a massive stroke. Overhead, the AT-6 Cougar Squadron flew in formation to honor one of their own. Betty Jane Williams graduated with my Mom as one of the 1074 military pilots of WWII – the Women?s Air Force Service Pilots (WASP).Betty Jane, called BJ by all who knew her, lived alone. We?ll never know if having another person in her house might have forestalled this massive stroke that claimed her life. But it did remind me to seek information about how you can identify and reverse a stroke-if you recognize and get treatment in time.Doctors now say that a bystander can recognize a stroke by remembering the three-step STR.
S *Ask the individual to SMILE.
T *Ask the person to TALK and clearly SPEAK A SIMPLE SENTENCE like “some things in life are funny.”
R *Ask him or her to RAISE BOTH ARMS.
If he or she has trouble with ANY ONE of these tasks, call emergency immediately and describe the symptoms to the dispatcher. There?s also another indicator: a crooked tongue! Ask the person to ‘stick’ out his tongue. If the tongue does not come out straight but twists to either side that is also a stroke indicator
If you’re like me, even simple things are hard to remember. So I came up with this noggin jargon: Smiles Translate into Raises. And if your cheerful disposition doesn’t get a raise – stick out your tongue!
LAUGH
It’s the BEST Medicine for CRAZY Times
“The hardest years in life are those between ten and seventy.”
Helen Hayes (at 73)
“I refuse to think of them as chin hairs. I think of them as stray eyebrows.”
Janette Barber
“Things are going to get a lot worse before they get worse.”
Lily Tomlin
“A male gynecologist is like an auto mechanic who never owned a car.”
Carrie Snow
Welcome to the McDargh Clan of Clients:
Daimler Financial Services
Texas Assoc. of Health Care Recruiters
Mosaic Corporation
International Coaching Federation (OC)
CA Areas on Aging
Press Ganey
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
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