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Last week, my big desktop PC crashed, my laptop got the “blue screen: of death”. The refrigerator croaked, and the toaster oven went the heaven. My I-phone decided to stop receiving e-mail and the dashboard in my car kept erroneously sending warning messages. It wasn’t even a full moon! As marvelous as all our technology is, chronic malfunctions and crashes and the constant demand to keep up might account for the fact that at least one in four of us will admit to physically assaulting a device.There’s even a ratio for judging the attack because the chances of failure are in direct proportion to the urgency of the task they are needed for. Hence the scream heard from my assistant as she tried to get out my summer newsletter before autumn. It doesn’t get better. The 2009 March/April issue of Psychotherapy Networker says that such chronic, unalleviated stress compromises our cognitive and emotional functions as well as undermining our immune system. Nor does it when a workplace (often unknowingly) contrives urgency by leashing employees with PDAs, laptops, pagers, and anything else for instant access and response. Well intentioned.And ultimately a timewaster and a driver of increased health care costs. What happens is that we continually try to multitask, toggling back and forth, answering the ping of instant messages, and wind up feeling constantly “on”. Instead of concentrating on one task, we unconsciously scan for the next message or task, thus spending often 50% more time on one job before taking on another. Ways to conquer the beast: Manage your energy not your time.You don’t run marathons every day yet we try and do the equivalent at our work.Studies of energy suggest a 90-minute rhythm. This means stopping and doing something to recovers your energy expenditure. (Coffee and chocolate don’t count. Nor does smoking). Take a 4-minute relaxation break. Walk outside, deep breath, trying biofeedback. Go outside. Drink water. And when it’s time—go home without work. Program your computer to delete messages after 30 days. If no one has screamed by then, how important could it be? Send out the equivalent of a “do not disturb” sign, telling folks you will respond from 3-4pm daily. If it’s an emergency- call you. Turn off rings, pings, dings, and anything that sings Distinguish between uninterrupted work time and answer time Work with your team to determine the important and urgent from the unimportant. Cut the cord. If you continue to remain connected all the time—you have only yourself to blame with the constant barrage of requests. At the end of the day, reset to zero. You did what you could. It’s done. Over. Finito. Do NOT plan tomorrow today. Your brain will start working on it and there goes the sleep. Shut the door of your office. Turn off the computer. Reset to zero. Tomorrow is a new day. Do NOT take the PDA to bed with you.Give it a rest. Give all of us a rest. Without boundaries, Tyrannosaurus Techno will win again. ©McDargh Communications.Publication rights granted to all venues so long as article and by-line are reprinted intact and all links are made live.

Global warming. Water shortages. Terrorism. Failing health care system. Wars around the globe. Gas prices. Severe economic downturn. Look at the headlines and it’s enough to make you stay in bed. But wait! There is hope. It’s not the cock-eyed optimism sung about in South Pacific, the hottest show on Broadway. Rather it’s what psychologists in France are calling “intelligent optimism.” Such optimism does not deny the reality of today’s world, but rather seeks to LEARN how to fashion a life amid such difficulties. Martin Seligman, the psychologist who had made optimism and happiness his life’s work, would agree with the French: optimism can be taught. Consider these basic steps: (1) Focus on what you can control. Don’t get carried away by circumstances you cannot change. You might not change global warming, but you can control your energy consumption. You can’t stop the downsizing in your company, but you can arm yourself with marketable skills. You cannot halt the bleeding on Wall Street but you can rebalance your portfolio. You can take a hard look at expenses and determine what are necessities and what are nice-to-have items that can be dropped. At the same time, do resolve to spend some money or time on something that truly gives you pleasure and lightens your spirit. Two-for-one hamburgers at the local joint with my best friend make my heart glad and brings a smile to TWO faces. (2) Reframe the event so that you are not a victim. There is always another way to view a situation. The flight cancellation that caused me to miss (and forfeit) a major engagement was not “planned” to “get” me. It just was. My choice is to figure out what I can do to help the current client and what I will put in place of the cancelled work. When Hurricane Katrina wiped out the home of a nurse, she told me that she focused every day on what she still had and she had her children do the same thing. Every day started with gratitude. She refused to see herself as a victim. (3) Think “enough”. When we concentrate on what we don’t have, we miss all the many things we do have. The truth of the matter is that if you are reading this article, you do have enough computer power. You do have enough intelligence. You do have enough. It might not be as much as you would like but, for today, it is enough. (4) Cultivate optimistic responses. Like a farmer tending a field, optimism will never grow unless it is watered, fed, weeded, and nourished. We all have days in which negativity can take over. And, sometimes, that is a WISE response because it keeps us grounded in reality. Just make sure it is reality and not the imagination making extraordinary leaps into conjecture. Weed out that conjecture. Ask what you can DO to see a result that gives you a sense of power. As Alexander Graham Bells stated, “Sometimes we stare so long at the closed door we fail to see the one that is opening.” The 3M engineer who thought he had failed to make a glue compound that would stick discovered what we all now call Post- In Notes. (5) Remember the power of generations. Children of depressed parents are more prone to depression. Children of optimists are more prone to be optimists. What do you choose to pass along? Even if your parents were negative, you can break the cycle by stopping, freeze-framing a situation, listening to the negative self-talk, and then literally giving yourself a different message. Yes, this is a practice. A hard practice. But you can make it a habit if you work it over time. (6) Sing. When all else fails-start singing. It is impossible to feel negative when you lift your voice in song. Music allows you to formulate words, to add nuance, and to even get your toe tapping. (7) Refuse to watch or read anything that puts a dark pall over your day. Instead of tuning into gloom, read a book that transports you to another time and a better mood. Go play with the baby next door. And if you are one of those folks who just can’t stand children, take a walk with your dog, dig in the yard, or get a bucket of balls and practice your golf swing. Better that than walking around with heart and mind weighted down. (8) Refuse to participate in a chorus of negative conversations if the only thing you will hear is whining, complaining and moaning. Tell your group that they have three minutes to throw a hissy fit but then it must stop and the next six minutes must be devoted to either finding something positive about the situation or something that they can do. Lastly, practice saying this mantra, “This too shall pass.” It always has and it always will. © The Resiliency Group.  All rights reserved. You may reprint this article so long as it remains intact with the byline and if all links are made live. Since 1980, professional speaker and Hall of Fame member Eileen McDargh has helped Fortune 100 companies as well as individuals create connections that count and conversations that matter. Her latest book is Gifts from the Mountain-Simple Truths for Life’s Complexities. Her other books include Talk Ain’t Cheap…It’s Priceless and Work for a Living and Still Be Free to Live, one of the first books to address the notion of balance and authentic work.  Find out more about this compelling and effective professional speaker and join her free newsletter by visiting http://www.EileenMcDargh.com.

PRESILIENCE!™   Don’t look up the word. I made it up. But it is what every city, community, state and individual better pay attention to: Preventive Resilience. Common sense—which isn’t all that common—tells us that preparation and planning for a major event is needed BEFORE the occurrence, not in chest-beating afterthoughts. “While meteorology is far from perfect, there are real consequences for not acting on storm warnings.” Mike Smith, author of Warnings: The True Story of How Science Tamed The Weather Atlanta has had major storms before and its transit system is the victim of frequent snarls on the best of days. Where was the pre-work? Where was the coordination between state and local officials? Where was the advanced scenario planning which would have had triggers for different levels of courses of action? The Rockefeller Foundation's has spent 100 years of work , learning that that resilient systems share five core characteristics: Spare capacity, which ensures that there is a back-up or alternative available when a vital component of a system fails. Flexibility, the ability to change, evolve, and adapt in the face of disaster. Limited or "safe" failure, which prevents failures from rippling across systems. Rapid rebound, the capacity to re-establish function and avoid long-term disruptions. Constant learning, with robust feedback loops that sense and allow new solutions as conditions change. PRESILIENCE™ – the practice of resilience before it is needed, would have these things in place. Pointing fingers only delays what can be learned from this event. By the way, this isn’t just a lesson for the Southern towns hit by storm Leon. It’s a heads-up for all of us.

Seth Godin recently wrote a great blog that added another dimension to resiliency: your pit crew. That’s not exactly what he called it. He asked “Who cheers you on at the finish line?” Particularly if you come in last! When things don’t go as planned, when dark clouds gather, when others seem to grab the gold ring and you’re holding an iron bauble, you need a pit crew. It might be a crew of one - but that one is the world to you and visa versa. Honor that pit crew. Let words of gratitude come from your mouth. I write these words to remind me that I haven’t told my pit crew how much their steadfast faith in me means everything. It’s been a month in which I can’t find traction. A month in which seeds I have planted are washed away by economic decisions. A month in which “everyone” seems to have it together and I find parts of me falling off. I bet I am not the only one who has been in this place. It’s hard and dark. It’s a drought brought about, - in part, by external forces I can’t control and my internal /infernal chatter that I SHOULD be able to turn off. Not having much luck there. My pit crew now steps in; my precious husband, my sister and brother, my neighbor, and my right-hand assistant. Each offers something for which I am so grateful. I’m so glad this month is almost over. I want to fall in love again with what I do and whom I do it for. February is the perfect time. Who makes up your pit crew? By the way, you have to create a pit crew before you need one.

Our spirits are taking a beating. The daily barrage of bad news, violence, shrinking resources, global warming, and economic slowdown can put us in a state of frustration and paralysis. Some days, getting out of bed can be a challenge. Within the word “resilience” are actions we can take to reclaim our bounce-back ability. R: Remember to breathe. The ability to calm down is critical in order to take stock and move forward. E: Enlist support of others. Love people and be lovable in return. A supportive family (whether genetic or hand-picked) is what keeps people alive.  The English word wretched comes from the Middle English word wrecche which means “without kin nearby. S: Stay focused. Intentionality lays the groundwork for what we want in our life. See it, say it and claim it. Don’t let external forces cloud your vision. I: Identify your strengths. Energy and good health are two of the most essential ingredients in resiliency. Work on your physical well being first because it is the quickest way to gain control over a world that is uncontrollable. L: Laugh out loud. You’ll be amazed at the looks you get. And you’ll feel better. I: Insist on optimism. Positive mental health comes from the ability to reframe a situation. This is not the Pollyanna or head-in-the-sand avoidance of reality but rather a recall of ways in which you have handled similar situations. E: Extend yourself to others. Self-absorption backfires. It only serves to deepen depression and worry. Going out to serve others lifts the cloud around yourself and allows you to become both blessed and a blessing. N: Never say “never”. The resilient spirit knows that there is always tomorrow. T: Thanks-give it! There is much to be grateful for. © The Resiliency Group.  All rights reserved. You may reprint this article so long as it remains intact with the byline and if all links are made live. Since 1980, professional speaker and Hall of Fame member Eileen McDargh has helped Fortune 100 companies as well as individuals create connections that count and conversations that matter. Her latest book is Gifts from the Mountain-Simple Truths for Life’s Complexities. Her other books include Talk Ain’t Cheap…It’s Priceless and Work for a Living and Still Be Free to Live, one of the first books to address the notion of balance and authentic work.  Find out more about this compelling and effective professional speaker and join her free newsletter by visiting http://www.EileenMcDargh.com.

His music, that is. I taught myself the guitar and many a night, I’d have girls in my dorm room, singing If I Had a Hammer, Turn Turn, and—in the face of finals, We Shall Overcome. From everything I know and have read, Pete lived life on his own terms and let his music become the vehicle for connection and compassion. He did NOT let his music die within him. How many people, unlike Pete Seeger, would recognize themselves in the words of Oliver Wendell Holmes: Many people die with their music still in them. Why is this so? Too often it is because they are always getting ready to live. Before they know it, time runs out. Must close now. I have songs to sing and dances to do. How about you?

Maybe it was the hot water pipe that burst in the foundation that started the meltdown.  Even as I write this, the wood floor in the kitchen, dining room and den is being splintered and thrown into the jaws of a construction bin.  The walls and ceiling have huge holes in them and a HAZMAT team came searching for mold. The living room is an obstacle course from the pantry and closets. The refrigerator is in the garage and latest date for completion “might” be Dec. 23. OK, so the first Christmas was in a stable. But the holy family wasn’t expecting families from Boston, Oregon, and Los Angeles who would seek a bed as well as food. Maybe it was compounded by my laser printer dying and discovering, after I bought a replacement, that not all printers will work well with a MAC. The anxiety level ratcheted upward when my I-phone then died and I discovered someone had hacked my user ID and password.  An hour’s worth of AppleCare finally fixed the problem but not before I found myself crying to the technician. Of course, I had already screamed at the switchboard for Hospice of the West because I needed help with my Mom. (Little did I know a nurse had come in the back door while I was waiting at the front door. I had to call back and apologize.) Few presents have been bought, ornaments remain in the garage eves, and I am definitely not a “jolly old soul”. Bet you have been there too! Time for me to take a dose of my own medicine. Here’s the prescription I am taking: Give up the illusion of control. My “illusion” is that I can make it all better. I cannot. So the question becomes: of what of this can I control? I can move household items into boxes. I can clean other rooms of my house. I can learn how to eat with chopsticks. I can slow down before I pounce. I can relish whatever time I have with Mom and focus on the moment. Ask for help. My neighbor has volunteered her home that will be empty over Christmas. My MAC buddies can give me advice about printers. (Duh-I should have asked them first. No, I “pounced”.) I will ask my relatives to wash their own dishes. Reframe the situation. As my husband says, “this will be an adventure.” He’s right. Who knows what lurks around the bend?  Why not ask what wonderful surprises there might be? Maybe we can make a game of “who can find the can of soup?” Help someone else. When Mom is in a state that I can’t get her in a wheelchair to hear the music she loves, I will join the other residents and lead them in song. I did this and felt a wonderful peace in the process. It is about “doing what you can do”. I loved it. And from the looks on faces, they loved it to. Be grateful. How can I forget this!  I have a roof over my head. I have an insurance policy. I have neighbors. I have a good place for Mom. I have loving caregivers. I have glorious family and friends. And yes, I can still sing. My hope for this season—amid the chaos—is that I might find it WONDER-FILLED and resilient in the end.

A cornerstone of resiliency is adaptability: the skill of finding multiple solutions to an event, challenge, or opportunity.  The emphasis is on the word “multiple”. The more options one can create, the greater is one’s resiliency quotient. However, innovative thinking requires a different mindset than analytical thinking.  The latter strives for one right answer. Innovative thinking seeks many answers. To hone innovative thinking, practice asking many questions: What if?  Why not? Why? Who says so? How about? Where could we? Equally important is to ask questions of people who might hold parts of the questions and parts of the answers. Likewise, amazing results can come if questions are asked of people who—at first glance—might be unrelated to the issue. Case in point: A power company in the Pacific Northwest was constantly plagued by broken power lines caused by heavy snow. Unfortunately, trying to get crews into the area was difficult and dangerous. One engineer commented, in jest, “Too bad we can’t just blow the snow away.”  An administrative aide overheard the engineer and said, “When I was a nurse in a  Vietnam M.A.S.H. unit,  helicopters bearing the wounded would come in and the wash of the blades blew sand everywhere. Why not use a helicopter?”  Duh!  Why not? Innovative thinking also accepts the need for trial and error, risk and failure. It’s all part of the process.  Starbuck’s CEO Howard Schultz tried selling a concocted carbonated coffee drink. It flopped. But it hasn’t made Schultz stop pushing the innovation edges. The latest reports are that he is looking for products related to health and wellness as well as ways to create a mobile app that will allow a customer to be instantly recognized when he or she enters the shop! Innovation requires an acceptance that change is a fact of life. What is a great solution today might not work tomorrow. On a personal level, how one responds to an event in their twenties might be radically different in one’s fifties.  Priorities shift, experiences have multiplied, and with age comes the potential for a pasture of possibilities. Innovation and resiliency can stay the course if, built into each event, challenge, or opportunity is a willingness to celebrate small successes and failures. When rescue dogs and their handlers search for victims of tragedies like Hurricane Sandy, the handlers know their dogs become discouraged if they can’t find someone. The handlers take turns gently covering one of the trainers and then release the dogs to go “find” the person. The dogs become re-invigorated with their success.  If dogs need this encouragement, how much more do humans? Now, go innovate and celebrate your resilient spirit! © The Resiliency Group.  Publication rights granted to all venues so long as article and by-line are reprinted intact and all links are made live. Since 1980, professional speaker and Hall of Fame member Eileen McDargh has helped Fortune 100 companies as well as individuals create connections that count and conversations that matter. Her latest book is Gifts from the Mountain-Simple Truths for Life's Complexities. Her other books include Talk Ain't Cheap…It's Priceless and Work for a Living and Still Be Free to Live, one of the first books to address the notion of balance and authentic work.  Find out more about this compelling and effective professional speaker and join her free newsletter by visiting http://www.EileenMcDargh.com.

Resiliency requires adaptation, finding patterns that others might not see. I don’t know about you, but my crazy brain is frequently finding patterns and putting words into the Universe that are mysteries to me until I stop to dissect the meanings. I walked into the bank some time ago and announced to the teller, “I want to check my cash. I need some funny.” As we both stood there in bewilderment, I broke out laughing.  I wanted to cash my check because I needed dollars. Funds plus money equaled “funny”.  The teller and I agreed that sometimes, handling money does require a sense of humor! On a television talk show, I announced before a live audience that it was “very important we assess our skillents”.  After a quick heart beat, I coined a new, efficient word:  skills and talents became “skillents”. After all, these are two very different words.  Skill is the ability to do something well through practice. Talent is an innate ability, an aptitude that seems to flow naturally without effort. For example, I have a talent for singing. However, it I were to be hired as a professional singer, I would need coaching to acquire the SKILL of a professional. To grow one’s career requires an awareness of skiilents! Yesterday, I heard my voice utter yet another word: Youggle.  I realized it was the combination of YouTube and Goggle.  In the time since Google purchased YouTube, the latter has become increasingly powerful as a media source. Youggle could well be a new name in blended marketing and advertising! Of course, over the holidays, there was consternation about delivery issues with FedEx. I bet some folks merged the words FedEx with UPS and called it FedUp.  And then, there is our dysfunctional Congress which if merged could be either Republicrats or Demoblicans. The first eats your cheese (not theirs) and the other demos problems not solutions. Here’s to a happy NewEar…. May we listen anew to our spirits and to the diversity of voices around us.

Log on to Amazon. com and you’ll find, at last count, 10,671 titles under the heading “Leadership”. But if you’re in too big of a hurry to read a book, open up the American Heritage Dictionary! A careful examination of the various definitions of “leader” presents a fascinating and brief explanation of leadership. Leaving behind the standard definition of “one who leads or guides”, consider the second definition: “one who has power or influence”. Have you know people in a leadership role who seem unable to influence the people around them? The ability to make connections, to speak clearly and to frame messages so everyone hears something compelling is essential for influence. We are also persuaded by people with conviction and passion. We are influenced by people whom we think we can trust. Lose or misuse any of this and a leader’s power vanishes. A leader is defined as “a conductor or the principal performer in an orchestral section”. Finding ways to bring together the different talents of employees or volunteers so that all play from the same sheet of music and blend their instruments into a harmonious whole is a skill demonstrated by the finest of leaders! As a principal performer, we look to a leader to have one talent that is heads above the other people in that arena of “play”. We don’t want a leader who professes to best at everything. But we do want a leader to have one clearly recognizable skill. The foremost animal in a harnessed team is a leader. Do we not look to leaders to guide the way, joined shoulder by shoulder to the rest of the team? Remember how the presence of a leader at a front line became the rallying point for many a battle? Leader is also defined as “a duct for conveying warm air from a furnace.” What is more conveying of warmth than a person who cares! Care is a four-letter word heard more and more frequently in business circles. Employees want to know that a leader cares for them. The cold, stern dictator might get some results but never the full-blown commitment, creativity and loyalty of a caring leader. There’s the leader that is an economic indicator and the leader that is “lost”. A leader better be in command and have a clear indication as to the economic viability of the enterprise. And a leader also needs to know when something is done to attract talent or customers—not to make money in the short term but for the LONG term. A leader is also defined as a short length of gut, wire, or similar material by which a hook is attached to a fishing line and a leader is the blank strip at the end or beginning of a film or tape used in threading or winding. What’s the correlation with the world of leadership in these final definitions? Both are used for setting up the profit potential of the venture. Depending upon the type of fish one wishes to catch, a fishing leader strengthens the connection between the hook and the rest of the line. There are times in which the leader’s presence helps solidify the relationship between the customer and the sales team so that the customer “bites the hook”. Other times, a leader gently paves the way for the real presentation to the potential buyer or the investment community. She is the “blank tape” that opens the doors for the full presentation of the company. If a picture is worth 1000 words, a metaphor is worth 1000 pictures. Using the metaphors provided by other meanings to the word “leader”, we gain a rich image of the scope and possibilities of true leadership.

From my home office, I can look out and see my garden. It’s loaded with wonderful, terrible sights, sights that mirror much I find in many of our companies. You’d recognize it too. There are roses speckled with mildew and rust from the fog carried on the breath of El Nino. Weeds have taken over many patches of dirt, despite the fact that I have gone over them with a hula hoe. (For the non-gardener, that’s a triangular hoe that saves your back while weeding. Supposedly, you scrub away at the ground, loosening the weeds-and anything else that stands in the way-while leaving the good soil behind.) The rogue cherry tomato plant however has taken off again. Sticky green arms with tiny green/yellow fruit now stretch in all directions. The plant must have been the gift from some bird that dropped a seed as it flew to a nest in the pine tree. I didn’t think a cherry tomato would grow in that patch of adobe clay. My feathered seed-sower proved me wrong. What I must do to get my garden back in shape, to make it world class and ready for the competitive eye of my next door neighbor, is exactly what every leader must do: seed, feed, and weed. How I perform seeding, feeding, and weeding depends upon the season, the unexpected turns of nature, and the makeup of my garden. Walk with me through my garden and you’ll see the analogies for our work world. Consider the “season”. In today’s 24-hour, global economy, it would appear that there is no season, anything that distinguishes night from day. Grow, grow. Sell, sell. But the smart leader watches the sky, reads the clouds, and can tell when there are shifts to indicate a new season. Bring products to market at the wrong time or introduce an idea without understanding timing and the “garden” can quickly resemble a piece of scorched earth. Watch for trends. Read magazines like Executive Excellence, Fast Company and American Demographics. Subscribe to TrendLetter. Explore new planned communities and see how people are choosing to live. Study mail order catalogs. In these latter two areas, you’ll find a move toward “Main Street U.S.A.”. Sure, high-speed connections and technology are placed in the home, but new designs incorporate walking paths, close-at-hand stores, and alleyways connecting homes. Technology will be used for information but the technology backlash is for creating places of human, real-time interaction. Levenger’s, the mail order catalog for unique office and library accessories, features rotary dial phones. The catalog copy reads, “You don’t have to program it!” Give credence to the unexpected and control what you can control. The El Nino weather that not only raised havoc with my roses but spawned dangerous storms and opposing draughts throughout the world is an example of our helplessness to control some of our environment. The same thing is true in business. Market turndowns, a coup in Africa, the scandals of a Presidency, an airline strike-you name it-there are many things that can impact our business. A green thumb leader takes all possible precautions and then remains flexible and ready for the unexpected. Scenario planning, a strategy first employed by Royal Dutch Shell, brings experts from a wide range of fields to discuss actions if different scenarios take place. Scenario planning allows you to think out-in advance-various options. In like fashion, my corner of the garage has all the tools, sprays, and plant potions for probable surprises. Plant seeds and give space to the sowers. A green thumb leader knows that it is only through dialogue that ideas can sprout and take root. Instead of jealously guarding “my ideas, my client, my territory”, a leader with an eye toward growing a garden takes no ownership but rather seeks to find which seeds have merit. Like the biblical passage, some seeds will whither on rocks or find little moisture in shallow soil. But others will be carried to places where they flourish. As for giving space to the sewer, consider my vagabond tomato plant. In like fashion, where are the unexpected opportunities that can spring up if allowed to flourish? When newcomers bring ideas from other industries and businesses, are they welcomed or are they rooted out because “that’s not how we do things here”. Feed different plants differently. Not every plant is fed the same thing, yet all plants must eat. My roses need a systemic for the rust and mildew, along with a topical spray. My oranges just need some citrus fertilizer every now and then. A green thumb leader understands the truism that “nothing is so unequal as the equal treatment of unequals”. Just as each voice has its own unique sonogram, each employee, associate, stakeholder needs a unique blend of “food”. For some, it’s “numbers”. “Give me numbers and I thrive.” For many, it’s the opportunity to learn and advance in knowledge. For others, it’s the engaging nature of the work itself that offers fulfillment. One size does not fit all. Weeding is backbreaking work. A hula hoe alone will not suffice. It was not enough to turn over the soil and think that I had emptied my garden of the weeds. In fact, because I didn’t bend over and get close enough to the ground, I picked up only the surface “weeds”. What I really had managed to do was to churn the stronger ones into a hiding place where they surfaced stronger and more invasive then ever. A green thumb leader hates this part of the task. It means fact-finding. Accountability. And time. Not everything that is “green” belongs in my garden. Not every associate belongs with you. In fact, firing customers at times can also be the healthiest long-term fertilizer for a vibrant business. Take time to stop and smell the roses. I can get so overwhelmed with the “work” of my garden that I forget why I planted it. Just sitting by the side of the garden, watching my neighbors’ delight when I deliver bouquets to their doors, or smelling the fragrance in the evening are all the reminders I need. Why have you planted your “garden”? Are there people who delight in the work of your hands? What is the aroma that lingers after you have turned off the lights for the night? Here’s wishing green thumbs for all of us. © The Resiliency Group.  All rights reserved. You may reprint this article so long as it remains intact with the byline and if all links are made live. Since 1980, professional speaker and Hall of Fame member Eileen McDargh has helped Fortune 100 companies as well as individuals create connections that count and conversations that matter. Her latest book is Gifts from the Mountain-Simple Truths for Life’s Complexities. Her other books include Talk Ain’t Cheap…It’s Priceless and Work for a Living and Still Be Free to Live, one of the first books to address the notion of balance and authentic work. Find out more about this compelling and effective professional speaker and join her free newsletter by visiting http://www.EileenMcDargh.com.

This October 31 turned cold, wet and dreary across Chicago and its suburbs. A rotten night for Halloween. And it could have been a lousy night for this business traveler, cheered only by the prospect of conducting an interactive team session the next day for an area bank. But Halloween evening was anything but cheerless at the 421-room Arlington Park Hilton in Arlington Heights, IL. Creativity, energy, and vision produced an event that not only garnered immediate press and local attention, but is also sure to have long-term residual effects for new business. Take heed and see what ideas you can extrapolate for your business. Here’s the recipe: First ingredient: a lemon. In the hotel business that means low occupancy. Second: a surrounding residential neighborhood with growing families, schools, businesses, and senior citizens. Third: An empowered and creative director of catering, a town mayor, a eager-to-have-fun-high-energy hotel team from sales, catering and conference services. Fourth: a dash of courage and a generous dash of money. Mix well with laughter, fun, and childhood fantasy. The result: a Halloween party for 3000 children, their parents and 150 younger-than-Springtime folks over 65 years of age, an energized work force, tremendous goodwill, increased awareness of the hotel, and lots of press. But this event did not occur by magic. It first took the Director of Catering, Samantha Agnew, to realize that lemonade could be made from the seasonal low of room count and meeting rooms. The hotel approached senior citizens for their help, offering a free room and dinner for Halloween if the seniors would decorate their hotel door for Halloween, pass out a hotel-furnished pillow case of candy to the children walking down the halls, and take fliers out to the local grade schools to get attendance. Response was overwhelming. Parking was at such a premium that a shuttle ran excited children and their relieved parents to and from their cars. The third and fourth floors were taken over by senior citizens who decorated not only their doors but themselves. One high-flying grandmother even wore a burlap dress and proclaimed herself “an old bag”. Fifty high school volunteers were fed dinner and then served as guides taking children through both floors. The hotel staff dressed in costume and worked the haunted house, a dozen carnival games, the movies, arts & crafts, and a storytelling session. The town mayor, Arlene Mulder, greeted the guests in her best Minnie Mouse dress. The hotel’s in-house production company, The Meeting House, festooned fixtures with cobwebs, built the sets, and created special effects. The children were bug-eyed with delight and amazingly well-behaved for all the adrenaline rush that comes from make-believe and “treats”. Did the parents love it? You bet! No worry about rain, darkness, safety, or dangerous play. And what about the hotel’s paying guests? I can only speak for myself. The tiny clowns, brides, animals, spooks, power rangers, Aladdin’s, lion kings, cowboys and cowgirls carried me back to a time when I played outside at dark, carried flashlights with Mom & Dad, and warmed my cold hands with hot chocolate. The twins who appeared as Oreo cookies, the miniature Charlie Chaplin (even to his walk), and the youngster who came as a quilted bag of M&Ms assured me that creativity and innovation were not dead. There are lessons to be gleaned from Hilton’s experience. What might you do to involve employees, community, and untapped resources which could generate short, mid-term, and long terms gains? Or are the people with budgetary controls concerned more with what they’ll lose rather than what they will gain? What would it take to see possibilities rather than problems? . As for me, I think I had better call now for my Oct. 31 reservation. This first-time event is, I’m sure, destined to become an annual treat. © The Resiliency Group.  All rights reserved. You may reprint this article so long as it remains intact with the byline and if all links are made live. Since 1980, professional speaker and Hall of Fame member Eileen McDargh has helped Fortune 100 companies as well as individuals create connections that count and conversations that matter. Her latest book is Gifts from the Mountain-Simple Truths for Life’s Complexities. Her other books include Talk Ain’t Cheap…It’s Priceless and Work for a Living and Still Be Free to Live, one of the first books to address the notion of balance and authentic work.  Find out more about this compelling and effective professional speaker and join her free newsletter by visiting http://www.EileenMcDargh.com.