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Winter 2007 Newsletter (Newsletter Archives) Download Adobe Acrobat Version

Update From Eileen

If I were in the Colorado Mountains of my birth, skiing down the almost 12,000-foot run at Breckenridge, I would know for SURE it was winter. Bitter wind would whip my face and my hands would be numb regardless of the hand warmers in my mittens.

If I were in Boston with my twin brother, I would know it was winter when we gathered for First Night, the city’s magical New Year’s Eve celebration where museums, theaters, churches and performance centers open their doors to Bostonians of all ages, shapes and sizes.

If I were in Portland with my daughter, the constant rain and the dreariness would convince me that winter had taken hold.

In Southern California, our winter is a weird sort of in-between nothingness. We move from a Santa Ana windy day in the 70s to damp fog dripping off the screen and wrapping a clammy cold hand across your neck. To be sure, the football gods will smile over the Rose Bowl, convincing TV viewers that we live in perennial sunshine and clear skies. Hah!

But for me, winter is not about temperature or holiday gatherings. It’s rather a time of drawing inward, of hunkering down, of silently listening. Winter is a time to lie fallow, to store and conserve energy before the rebirth of spring.

Even as I write this, I know my desire to “conserve energy” and my actions do not always match. And I’ll bet many of you are the same. We find ourselves making action-packed agendas, moving at warp speed through the holidays, and zooming into the New Year while the natural world is in a different cycle. Is there any wonder we feel out-of-sorts?

I’m going to lean into the natural season. Turn the computer off for at least a few days. I might have activity withdrawal but I truly want to shift gears. How about you?

Happy New Year,

FACTOID

Technology market research conducted by the consulting firm, Basex, estimates that 22.3 trillion e-mails were sent in 2006. Electronic interruptions waste 28 billion US worker-hours a year, at a cost of $588 billion. The survey polled more than 1000 information workers.

Communication Skills Critical for Success; Sadly lacking in Young Employees

In the report, Are They Really Ready to Work, more than 400 employees identified professionalism, work ethic, teamwork and oral communication as the more important current and future skills for a competitive advantage.

The survey, conducted jointly by the Conference Board, Corporate Voices for Working Families, and the Society for Human Resource Management, sadly found that employers say more than 80 percent of high school graduates struggle with communication and 27 percent of college graduates are in the same deficiency level.

Americans More Socially Isolated Than They Were 20 Years Ago

Americans are more socially isolated than they were 20 years ago, separated by work, commuting and the single life, according to sociologists studying trends in the U.S.
Nearly a quarter of people surveyed said they had "zero" close friends with whom to discuss personal matters. More than 50 percent named two or fewer confidants, most often immediate family members, the researchers said. "This is a big social change, and it indicates something that's not good for our society," said Duke University Professor Lynn Smith-Lovin, lead author on the study to be published in the American Sociological Review.

As I look at this research, a number of unsettling observations occur:

Long commute times shorten our ability to spend time with family and friends.
Chat rooms and e-mail blasts continue to bombard us with one-dimensional “talk” that stifles the face-to-face, give-and take of friendship.
The pace of work leaves far too many people bone-tired to “socialize”.

Perhaps this year might be your time to break out of a sphere of isolation. Turn off the computer. Invite someone to a meal. Take your team away for the sole purpose of understanding and valuing what each member brings to the party. Gather colleagues to join in building a Habitat for Humanity house.

Remember — community is the antidote for aloneness. What will you do to create community?

Want To Engage Employees? Try “Rowe-Ing”

Best Buy is implementing a program that they believe will make a significant impact on their employee retention/engagement—ROWE ("results-only work environment") that seeks to demolish decades-old business dogma that equates physical presence with productivity, and instead judge performance on output instead of hours. ROWE is now credited with reducing voluntary turnover, productivity, and quality of services.

By the end of 2007, all 4,000 staffers working at corporate will be on ROWE. Starting in February, the new work environment will become an official part of Best Buy's recruiting pitch as well as its orientation for new hires.

A New Year’s Blessing from my Junior High School Principal

Sister Helen Lange continues to amaze me as she bustles about her retirement years at a Benedictine Convent in St Leo’s, Florida. In her 90s, she still sends out letters of humor, hope and happiness. Her Christmas note called to mind the words of author Rachel Remen, MD. “The capacity to bless life is in everybody. The power of Blessing is not diminished by illness or age. On the contrary, our blessings become more powerful as we grow older. They have survived the buffetings of our experiences.

A blessing is a moment of meeting, a certain kind of relationship in which both people involved remember and acknowledge their true nature and worth and strengthen what is whole in one another.”

—My Grandfather’s Blessing

Actual T-Shirt Slogans. Enjoy—these are my favorites!

"Frankly, Scallop, I Don't Give a Clam," (seen on Cape Cod)
"That's It! I'm Calling Grandma!" (seen on an 8 year old)
"Wrinkled Was Not One of the Things I Wanted to Be When I Grew Up"
"My Dog Can Lick Anyone."
"Party - My Crib - Two A.M." (on a baby-size shirt)
"The trouble with life is there's no background music."

NEWS FLASH… I LIED!!!

Ok, well, it wasn’t a LIE. It was just that I had NO IDEA when I announced the pending birth of my forthcoming book, Take a Hike, that I’d get a new hospital, a new doctor, and a new Baptismal name for my “child”. And I am thrilled :-)

San Francisco-based Berrett Koehler, the publisher of authors like Ken Blanchard, Meg Wheatley, Peter Block, and Beverly Kaye, will publish my book around September, 2007. The hardback edition is titled, Gifts from The Mountain-- Simple Truths for Life’s Complexities.

I practically swooned when I read what Berrett Koehler’s CEO Steve Piersanti said about the book: “There is wisdom and often profound truth on every page…expressed is such a beautiful, economical and easy-to-grasp way.”

That letter made me a very happy camper. Drop me a note so we can reserve the first edition for you!

More News!

I have another book coming out in February: Talk Ain’t Cheap—It’s Priceless. It’s practical, easy-to read, and just filled with tips for that most vital of leadership skills: communication. In size and price, it’s perfect for every member of your team.

Drop me an e-mail (Eileen@eileenmcdargh.com) and we’ll fill your order!

Fun Factoids

In the last 4,000 years, no new animals have been domesticated.
If you are an average American, in your whole life, you will spend an average of 6 months waiting at red lights.
It's impossible to sneeze with your eyes open.
Maine is the only state whose name is just one syllable.
Leonardo DaVinci invented the scissors.