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Update From Eileen

One of those freak winter storms has thwarted flights plans. I am trying to head home from New Orleans after a week on the road. Tonight might be a pillow on the Denver Airport floor. Although I have relished every speaking date with wonderful clients, I REALLY want to go home.

Home. As sure as the spring buds stick their pale green faces into the directional beam of sunlight, I point my face toward my family and head home.

"Home". Doesn't that have a comforting sound? The word rolls off your tongue and ends with the final "om" of Buddhist meditation. It hums in your mouth and gently rounds your lips into a sweet kiss of reverence. It conjures up the comfort of a mattress worn to your body's specifications and, if you are lucky, the matching imprint of a beloved's precious form.

"Home". Your nose yearns for the smell of rain in YOUR garden and the peculiar scent of your closet with leather boots and musty tennis shoes. Home is definitely a sensorial experience that draws as cleanly as a magnet to the North Pole.

As the season of Spring beckons us into new growth and life, may we all remember to celebrate the HOME that gives us fertile soil for living.

Greenly yours,

Meaningful Work Becomes Post 9-11 Benchmark

The February Issue of TREND LETTER notes that the number of people looking for greater on-the-job satisfaction has become increasingly apparent since September 11, 2001. Examples cited are accountants teaching math to prison inmates, lawyers becoming educators, and secular careerists turning to positions in the clergy.

If "meaning" and "job satisfaction" are synonymous, then finding a match between worker and work becomes critical. Increasing shareholder return is not a strong enough epitaph on a tombstone.

For corporate leaders the question is this: Does your organization have a mission that revolves around impacting social, communal, or environmental well-being? For example, Southwest Airlines' mission is to make sure everyone can fly and be treated to the highest quality of customer service delivered with a sense of warmth, friendliness, individual pride, and company spirit. Medtronic's mission is to be the world leader in medical technology providing lifelong solutions for people with chronic disease.

Employees bear equal responsibility for finding ways to make work "meaningful". In other words, if you were not there, what would be missing in the organization? If the answer is "nothing", gulp hard and think. What do you need to do differently to have value? Could you be in a redundant job and need to explore another position? What action can you take to enrich the work you do?

Life is a gift. What you give back to life is your legacy. Never undervalue the meaning you have.

"Work is a collaborative, synergistic human endeavor. Every time you advertise for workers, thinking, feeling human beings show up."
—Ron Zemke, editor Training Magazine.

Real People Can Be Stranger Than Fiction

Police in Los Angeles had good luck with a robbery suspect who just couldn't control himself during a lineup. When detectives asked each man in the lineup to repeat the words, "Give me all your money or I'll shoot" the man shouted, "That's not what I said!"

In Modesto, California, a man was arrested for trying to hold up a Bank of America branch without a weapon. He used a thumb and a finger to simulate a gun, but unfortunately, he failed to keep his hand in his pocket. (hellllllooooooo!)

A man walked into a Topeka, Kansas Kwik Stop, and asked for all the money in the cash drawer. Apparently, the take was too small, so he tied up the store clerk and worked the counter himself for three hours until police showed up and grabbed him.

Must Read Books

THE ANSWER TO HOW IS YES: Acting On What Matters, by Peter Block (Berrett-Koehler, 201 pp, $24.95, ISBN 1576751686). "How?" is the most common question we ask in business, according to consulting guru Block, and the problem with how is that it obscures far more important questions such as "Why?" and "What?" In this book, he explores how to achieve whatever really matters to you by asking the right question, utilizing your capacity for idealism, intimacy, and depth, acting collectively, and becoming a "social architect."

A SPIRITUAL AUDIT OF CORPORATE AMERICA: A Hard Look At Spirituality, Religion, And Values In The Workplace, by Ian Mitroff & Elizabeth Denton (Jossey-Bass, 259 pg, $32, ISBN 0787946664). Mitroff and Denton are the first to attempt a rigorous study of the impact of spirituality at work. They describe five typical models of businesses driven by more than profit alone and survey employees to uncover their opinions on spirit at work. The major conclusion: people want a holistic workplace where they can participate body and soul.

Daffynitions:

DUMBWAITER: One who asks if the kids would care to order dessert.

FEEDBACK: The inevitable result when your baby doesn't appreciate the strained carrots.

FULL NAME: What you call your child when you're mad at him.

Energizing Yourself

If you watch any sports, you know the importance of "time-out." Time-out gives a chance to catch one's breath, to strategize for the next play, to talk to the coach, as well as to add players or have others sit on the bench.

Use this metaphor for your life, Carve out a place for time-out. At the very least, give yourself the gift of a few hours alone. Better still, take a day off. Talk only to people who add to your life. Put others "on the bench." Take a long walk without a destination. Sit in the park. Write whatever thoughts come to your head. Dream and create at least one strategy to move toward that dream. Commit that action in writing. Check in with a personal coach.... And if you want one, give me a call.

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

"Eileen,

First of all, I need to thank you. While working for ARCO I attended one of your talks at a conference the company held in LaQuinta Ca. The conference inspired me to read your book, which in turn inspired me to do the following:

Get in shape

Get my MBA

Build my marriage

Become a leader in my field

Build a career as a professional speaker to share my experiences with others.

Recently I graduated at the top of my class from UC Irvine's MBA program. I currently manage a $150MM business unit for my current company."

- Former ARCO Employee