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Update From Eileen
Here it is, the first day of Autumn, and my spirit is not soaring
as it normally does in what is my favorite time of the year. The notion
of nature blazing wildly as it readies itself to sink down and become
nurtured for the burst of Spring seems far removed from reality. September
11th changed patterns.
This edition must also change. I extend these articles in hopes that
you might find some ideas to help encourage, to support, to guide
and maybe even to heal.
Courage,
Deny Terrorism
Another "Win"
"A terrorist wins if his or her actions cause us to change
our behavior."
A commentator on September 11, 2001 ABC News.
That statement has prompted me to think deeply about what is our
current business climate. From where I sit, "they" might
be winning across all fronts as we cancel meetings, hunker down,
restrict access, and hide behind all the real and imagined fears
of a nation under attack. We have become shell-shocked because that
which we once thought was invincible has been devastated. But not
devastated by some form of new technology but rather the cunning
of the human mind.
This is the very mind that now we must get under control or else
we stand to suffer extended damage. I am not advocating glib ignorance
of security but rather a response that is both logical and courageous.
If we, as individuals and organizations, do not proceed with the
marching orders of commerce, of life, of production, then we might
very well find businesses that cannot fill orders, belts being tightened
even more, offshore competitors finding our customers, and employees
sitting in shock without something positive and productive to do.
When the great Sudan famine claimed thousands of lives, international
rescue teams who worked in the drought-stricken sub Sahara found
that what kept people alive—despite the smell of death—was
a spirit of resilience and hope. Might we take a lesson from
them!
The deaths of so many have brought us closer as a nation. Let us
literally join within our companies and families and move forward,
valuing the work and the labor of our hands and mind. We must not
let violence take residual victims. At the very least, now is the
time to gather together, to talk not only about what happened, but
what we now know is of greatest value. We must talk about what we
can do to build these human connections that allow us to live and
work together in our community, our nation and ultimately, our globe.
And then, it's time to get back to business.
Work/Life Priorities Take New Meaning
As many of you know, work/life balance issues are a heart-felt theme
of some of my programs and my first book. No words, however, could
give us a perspective on life priorities any faster than the attack
on America. Funny, though. We have the very lessons ready at hand
but, in due time, I'll bet we probably slip back into our old modes
of behaving. We'll continue to have "too much to do and too little
time".
Consider this information as incentive for continuing to look at work/life
balance programs and behaviors. Clothing retailer Eddie Bauer gives
its employees paid "balance days" to attend to family or
personal business, in addition to three personal days and the usual
holidays and vacations. Many companies are switching from sick, vacation
and personal days to "paid time-off banks" from which employees
can draw for whatever purpose they choose.
It's a good strategy. According to the American Management Association,
employers report more success in retaining workers by "giving
them a life" than by offering them more money.
Management Quiz on a Balanced
Work Environment
1. Has the phase "not a team player" become a performance
review standard to mean this person fails to work 24/7?
2. Are meetings empty collections of exhausted, inattentive people?
3. Is traveling on Sunday or staying over on a Saturday for a better
price common a practices (Or was it common before this September?)
4. Is working on weekends a standard and expected practice?
5. Is doing training on one's own time a standard practice?
6. Are people on vacation expected to bring a laptop and/or check
in daily with the office?
Something to think about.
Must Read Books
OK, this time I am deviating. Forget the reading. I want us all
to see Dewitt Jones's magnificent 20-minute video, Celebrating What's
Right With the World. Dewitt is an award-winning National Geographic
photographer and friend whom I think is wise and wonderful. In Celebrate,
you find yourself moved to find abundant possibilities in every
situation. It is EXACTLY that what we ALL need right now.
This is the perfect film for schools, organizations, and congregations.
Contact Star Thrower Distributors at 800-242-3220. Rent it or buy
it. For individuals, get 10 to 20 people together, share the rental
fee, and have a celebration party. You'll have wonderful conversations
and make those needed connections.
P.S. If price is a concern, go to Dewitt's web site http://www.dewittjones.com and look for
his keynote address video on the same topic.
"Bringing laughter shall be
my fourth career," Sister Helen Lange, OSB
(She just wrote this to me about her diagnosis with
cardiovascular
disease, emphysema, and rapid loss of sight. She's my
junior high
school principal, retired, living at the Benedictine
Priory. What a
model for life!)
Reaction or Response: You
decide.
As we all seek to understand and go about our daily
lives with some
semblance of order and productivity, it might be well
to stop and
consider a very important distinction: the difference
between reaction
and response. The former is visceral and patterned.
The latter is
measured and thoughtful. The first is our natural,
knee-jerk response
that comes from our heart. The second is deliberate
and joins the head
and the heart. And both have their place in time.
All of us have our "story" about where we
were and what we did within
the first few hours of the devastation in New York,
Pennsylvania and
Washington, DC. That story reveals our reactions.
Mine was to cry, to
get on the phone and call, and then to numbly pull
out ironing and
stand in front of the television while I watched the
drama unfold. My
hands needed something to do. Ironing gave me order,
straight lines,
and an ability to put everything in its place at a
time when nothing
was in its place. In the week that followed, I seemed
befuddled,
moving papers from place to place. I was in a time
warp that turned
even the most mundane of acts-like grocery shopping-
into a surreal
experience. Work cancelled right and left and what
could have given me
some focus and purpose vanished. So I sent donations,
got rejected as
a blood donor (too small) , attended church,
meditated and baked cakes
for the local fire station. I have a feeling my
reactions were closely
aligned with yours.
Now I am in the place of response. A response is a
choice that comes
from pausing, assimilating information, observing,
and thinking. By
pausing, we have the opportunity to make, hopefully,
a wise response.
Consider the following questions as resources to help
you gather
information, and then respond to the marketplace, to
each other, to
the needs of our global community.
1. What do you want?
2. What are you doing now?
3. Is what you are doing getting you what you want?
4. What do you need to do differently?
5. Is there anyone who can help you?
If you are asking these questions as an individual, a
department, an
organization, a team or even a faith community, and
you get stuck,
look for a facilitator. I can help you as well as
refer others. Now is
the time for responses and not reactions.
"Being deeply loved by someone gives you
strength; loving someone
deeply gives you courage."
—Lao Tzu
"I'm not offended by all the dumb blonde
jokes because I know I'm
not dumb. I'm also not blonde."
—Dolly Parton
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of clients posed this question to me: "Eileen, how can we get
your newsletter in
the hands of our employees and management team?"
Great question! Here's the answer. You can send out an e-mail
blast, asking if
they'd like to receive a BRIEF, practical yet fun e-newsletter
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year. If they say yes, just have them go to
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MISSION STATEMENT
McDargh Enterprises—Energizing the Human Spirit since
1980
Our mission is to transform the life of work and the work of your life.
We work with and speak for
organizations that want
people to create meaningful relationships with all their
stakeholders and to
develop a resilient leadership capacity for living a life of
balance,
engagement, productivity, and meaning in a changing world. We
value laughter,
life-long learning, and leadership through service.
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