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Spring Newsletter (Newsletter Archives)

Update From Eileen

Dogwoods billow puff clouds of white and pink contrasting against the skeletal limbs of trees just starting to dress in soft green. Daffodils, tulips, and red buds join the debut of spring in Nashville. On business, I've come to address the National Association of College Stores for the fourth time. Their kind invitation creates that time and space for me also to come on another mission: the recording of a song I have written. The music flows from the creative heart of my dear colleague and triple platinum songwriter/keynoter, Jana Stanfield. The words flow from a place in me that wants to sing about remarkable women. It's a magic experience. As John Denver would have said, "Faaaarrrr out!"

And frightening.

Where will I take this new creation and why? What other creative juices remain untapped and waiting to bud forth like the greenery dotting the Tennessee landscape?

I didn't have the answer in the recording studio. I don't have it now. But I am learning to really love the questions.

I pose this for all of us. Are there parts of us waiting to spring forth? Waiting for some warmer time, some place offered by a provident God? What creative urge have you hidden that just yearns to see the sun? It's still there. Waiting for Spring.

I do believe Spring does come in its own time. Snow flurries danced across O'Hare Airport when I changed planes in Chicago. But Spring is coming. The Rockies were abundantly blanketed in white as the 757 flew over Colorado. But Spring is coming.

Enjoy this time. Stretch. Move. Explore. Experiment. Break forth into green. As it is written in the Talmud, "for every blade of grass, there is an Angel bending over it whispering 'Grow. Grow'." How much more so for us.

Until the next time.

Sign Of The Times

A four-year-old girl was learning to say the Lord's prayer She was reciting it all by herself without help from her mother. She said, "And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us some e-mail. AMEN."

TIPS FOR ENERGIZING OTHERS (as well as the bottom line)

Human Resource Magazine reports a direct correlation between business benefits of work & family programs and increased customer retention. First Tennessee Bank surveyed employees and customers at their branches and found that by meeting employees' needs, it encouraged employees in turn to provide more value to the customers.

To assure the effectiveness of work/life programs, address issues with a systemic culture-change focus rather than as a benefit. Examine traditional assumptions such as:

o hours worked are the only indicator of commitment and productivity;
o part-time workers aren't as committed;
o single people can give more time to work;
o men have at-home wives;
o numbers of meetings attended equate to how you value the company.

Involve everyone in the organization. Management might change the assumptions but a co-worker could hold that a part- time peer is "shirking". Examine workflow. Does the system reward people for working all night, even though the rest of the workweek suffers from sleep deprivation?? If work is cyclical, can there be flexibility built into the schedule? Can work be realigned to accommodate a task that needs uninterrupted, focused time?

Something to consider.

Read 'em and Wonder

In a nonsmoking area: " If we see smoke, we will assume you are on fire and take appropriate action."

On a baby walker: "Please remove child from walker before folding and storing."

On a bag of Fritos: "You could be a winner! No purchase necessary. Details inside." (The shoplifter special!)

On an American Airlines packet of nuts: "Instructions: open packet, eat nuts." (Ah, come on. I wanted to throw them!)

Economists only exist to give astrologers credibility.

If the only prayer you ever said in your life was "thank you", that would suffice. Meister Eckhart

Your biggest competitor is your own view of the future.

These questions are never outdated: Who are we? What do we stand for? Where are we going?

Must Read Books

Revival—A Mid-Life Journey by Joe Calloway, ISBN:0-9675911-2-0. Feel like you're the only one who doesn't have all the answers? Reached a point where life or love seem flat and stale? Are there times you suddenly say, "where has all my life gone?" Joe doesn't have solutions. He has gut-level, from- experience insights.

Joe's a buddy, a powerful facilitator and speaker. And a man who has dared to write his heart and mind in this book. It will be the best $10 you have spent. Go get it at www.joecalloway.com

The Cluetrain Manifesto: The End of Business as Usual, Rick Levine, Christopher Locke, et.all Perseus Books, ISBN:0-7382-0244-4, 2000. Manifesto #1: Markets are conversations. Manifesto #2: Markets consist of human beings, not demographics. Hope I have tapped your curiosity with what I think is the most provocative, original, insightful and irreverent conversation concerning the digital economy and the workings of commerce in a networked world.

When you put together a Sun Microsystems engineer, a consultant from the likes of MCI and Carnegie Mellon, a Silicon Valley publicist and a commentator for NPR, there's bound to be sparks flying. I consider this the most significant read to come out this year. You won't think about business and communication in the same way again.

Energizing Yourself-in the Stock Market World. Ever feel befuddled by all the terms bandied about this hyper hypnotic world of investment? My colleague Jeff Blackman (jeff@jeffblackman.com) suggests a resource: Just hop online and take a peek at the Investor's Word Glossary at www.investorwords.com. Here you'll find a financial dictionary with over 5,000 definitions and 15,000 links between related terms. Aside from being better educated, you too, can soon sound profoundly cool and pronounce: "Hogs? They don't HAVE futures."

Proverbs Completed by Children

As you shall make your bed so shall you... mess it up.
Better to be safe than... punch a 5th grader.
Strike while the... bug is close.
It's always darkest before... daylight savings time.
Never underestimate the power of... termites.

Welcome To The McDargh Clan

Farmers Insurance Field Offices
ICAN -women's conference
U.S. Postal Service Inspector General
Truckload Carriers Association
Henkel Surface Technologies
SteinMart
Manpower Franchise Owners

Pass Along The Newsletter—FREE

A couple 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 four times a year. If they say yes, just have them go to http://www.eileenmcdargh.com and viola! Thanks for asking!

Subscription Management:

You can now manage your subscription to The Energizer on the web! Just e-mail us at eileen@eileenmcdargh.com and let us know what you need. All new subscriptions are by e-mail only.

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.

Archived Newsletters

Testimonials

"Thank you for your wonderful talk at the ASTD meeting. When I was sitting eating breakfast with two ladies who recently lost their job, the table
energy was pretty low. You came and sat next to me and your love for life was quite exuberant! Your lecture and style really got me fired up and even more excited for the conference. So thank you for that.

I loved your talk and especially the metaphor of the sailboat. I am reading your book and have mentioned the powerful information you offer to several
people, who agreed with your notion that we were never taught how to balance. I have several friends right now who are struggling with this tremendously, and I want you to know that your words have an incredible ripple effect. I am also sharing this with our hr department that is gearing up to revamp the work- life approach at our organization. So thank you for that."

- American Society of Training and Development