EILEEN MCDARGH'S
Resiliency Report
Published monthly and when the mood strikes.
Update from Eileen
By Spring of last year, over half the world was in lockdown and deaths were rising. My home state of California issued a stay-at-home order March 20 and we all watched in horror as the progression of deaths mounted to unbelievable heights. Businesses closed, workers scrambled to find a corner of their home from which to toil, and the faces of exhausted health care workers haunted the newspapers. Church, mosque and synagogue services conducted by conscientious leaders resorted to virtual attendance. And my “Easter” dress remained in the closet.
“Why”, you might ask, “are you repeating a scenario we all know so well?”
The reason: understanding what “was” is the only way to understand what is and what can be for the future. As Shakespeare wrote, “Whereof what’s past is prologue; what is to come, is yours and mine to discharge.”
In short: the past is written, but the future is ours to wield, subject to the choices we decide to make. So, I decided that in Spring 2.0, I wanted to briefly look at three things: loss, lessons, and love.
Loss
the tragic loss of friends though not from Covid-19 but from cancer;
the business as I have known it for almost 40 years;
trips to see my family, gatherings around my table; and oh, so many hugs.
frequent flier status, muscle tone, and a balanced budget.
Lessons
an “old dog” learns new tricks with patience, perseverance, and practice
how little I really need as long as I have my Bill and our health
avocado toast makes a superior breakfast
helping others whether through grocery shopping,
putting out the garbage or gratitude letters is a huge energy boost
speaking truth to power has never been more critical
Love
many long-ago friends have resurfaced and “zoomed”
nothing replaces precious minutes with my beloved
colleagues who teach me virtual world tricks
petting dogs, feeding birds, & planting flowers sends love to the natural world.
Now it's your turn: Please email me your insights in any and all of these three categories. Let me know if I may share them in a subsequent ezine. We always learn from each other.
Spring 2.0
April 2021
Only Your Boss Can Cure Your Burnout
I totally agree that a manager has a huge impact on burnout BUT—that does not let individual employees off the hook. First and foremost, until someone speaks up about workloads or outmoded procedures, how is a manager to know? Managers are not clairvoyant. Courage might be the forerunner of needed change.
Old Humor Truisms are Never More True
It was all so different before everything changed.
Some days you're the dog, some days you're the hydrant.
Old programmers never die. They just terminate and stay resident.
A day without sunshine is like a day in Seattle.
I wish the buck stopped here. I could use a few...
It's not the pace of life that concerns me, it's the sudden stop at the end.
It's hard to make a comeback when you haven't been anywhere.
The only time the world beats a path to your door is if you're in the bathroom.
If God wanted me to touch my toes, he would have put them on my knees.
What's Friendship Got to do With It??? EVERYTHING!
Lydia and I were both the virtual speakers for the Fairbanks Alaska Wellness Coalition. I was so fascinated by her research on the impact of friendship with the health and wellness of individuals that I immediately bought her book. Time is our major constraint in nurturing friends. We don’t need dozens but we do need at least a few. This is a powerful book for reminding all of us—individually and as managers—that coming together is more important than ever.
Emails Have Taken Over the World and Value Time
Here is a GREAT book to begin to attack burnout and email overload. Cal Newport is a professor of computer science at Georgetown and an avid proponent of controlling technology rather than vice versa. While I’ll be condensing his methods in a subsequent report (write me for more), each organization is different.
The Water Cooler: 7 IT Execs on Remote Work Pet Peeves
Wonder what IT executives think are the challenges of a remote workforce? Some fascinating insights which belie the notion that folks in IT would relish technology. Instead, the predominant peeve: missing informal interactions with colleagues!
And if this article isn’t enough—here’s what can be done to handle ZOOM fatigue “ANALYSIS: Zoom burnout: Be more productive, ditch those video calls”
Loneliness Leads to Pessimism
The Lululemon Athletica company recently completed a global survey of wellbeing with 10,000 responses from ten different countries. The most disconcerting part of this report is the sense of hopelessness that has grown over the past year. The percent of respondents reporting they are optimistic about the future declined by 19 percentage points from 59% to just 40%, while the percent who are pessimistic more than doubled from 12% to 26%. And the problem is progressively worse with each younger generation.
When one is alone, there are no positive voices to counteract the negativity. How might YOU be that voice of optimism?
About Eileen
If you are looking for a unique keynote speaker in resiliency, a facilitator for executive retreats, a speech coach or an emcee/moderator, then you want to work with Eileen McDargh, CSP, CPAE. Eileen has spoken for audiences as large as 15,000 and facilitated groups as small as 18! She is the author of seven books and other products that you can find in her online store. The British Research firm of Global Gurus ranked her #4 among the top 30 communication gurus worldwide. Why not hire Eileen for your next event?
Ranked 3rd!
This is the 6th year in a row that I have been ranked in the top 5 in communication. Global Gurus surveys some 26,000 business professionals to determine rankings plus professionals also vote.
Yahoo!
Thank You!
