Uncommon Consulting

Category: Energy Drainer Download

  • 3-Steps to Maintain Your Energy for Strategic Leadership

    3-Steps to Maintain Your Energy for Strategic Leadership

    Strategic leadership requires energy. How do you keep top of your game with so many things distracting from our goals and detracting from our focus. Here is a three step process for getting and staying charged up:

    Step 1: Feel

    How’s your energy? Check in with yourself and see where you’re at. How? Sit still for five minutes and just feel. Feel is a four-letter word to some of us. It is also a verb. Just sit and feel for five minutes. Are you excited? Anxious? Tired? Frustrated? Worn? Giddy? Does your body hurt anywhere? Sore feet, aching back, pounding head? A five minute scan brings to the surface all those little things that your mind body and spirit would have been fighting against on their own throughout the day, distracting you from your goals and detracting from your focus. Now you know what they are.

    Step 2: Take Inventory

    What’s on your mind? In step one, you may have discovered you could use an aspirin. Or perhaps you were reminded to stretch before getting in the car so your back didn’t seize up. There may be some other issues that you found are weighing on your mind. Grab a pen and paper and write down every single thing that comes to mind during Step 1. Write down what aches, what feels funky, what’s bugging you, what questions are nagging.  Write until you can’t write any more. 

    What’s draining your energy? Take a look at your list. What items jump out as the most draining of all? What’s really weighing on you? Pick one and run it through the energy drainer exercise. Here’s the cheat sheet for the exercise and here’s where you can find the guided version.  Basically, unpack that $#i! and overcome it.

    Step 3: Overcome the Energy Drainers

    From a neuropsychological standpoint, by noticing, naming and addressing what’s draining your energy, you are freeing up much needed brain resource for being your best creative, innovative, long-range thinking self.  Strategic leadership takes guts, man, but it also takes brains. And you can’t be your best strategic leader self if your brain is overloaded with energy drainers.  Be Uncommon.

    Want to overcome your own Energy Drainers? Download a free copy of the Energy Drainer Exercise below:

    Download and Find Your Energy Here! and this is a tremendously useful exercise to move through and past the energy drainer to highly motivating ways to achieve what you truly want in the situation. And what we truly want in this situation may be quite simply, to be able to sleep at night! Whatever your goal is, the energy drainer exercise is a good one for getting it.

    So, yes, our superintendent has been on my mind. A nice, smart man with a super tough job that he didn’t sign up for but did, poor guy. I’ve wished him well. I’ve been one of the parents who has pestered him with questions since, of course I – and all of us – are experiencing our own set of threats with our own sets of Needs. As we continue to navigate this alien time in our lives, two more things I wish for all of us:

    Empathy

    See fellow humans in as rich relief as you know yourself. You were a child. They were a child. You have known pain. They have known pain. You have made it this far against odds. They have too. Be open, patient, curious and grounded. This conveys empathy for the other and strength for yourself.

    Perspective

    Know that we will, at some point, be through this. We will, in that future, look back at this time and see how it unfolded. We have done this time and time again in our lives – faced untenable circumstances – and gotten through and looked back. As well, billions of people living and dead have faced untenable circumstances and gotten through and looked back. Perspective provides relief. One thread in the tapestry doesn’t make that much of a difference when the tapestry is taken as a whole. But if that one thread is stretched to breaking, it can compromise the quality of the tapestry. Maintain perspective so that you can contribute your best to your world through your talents and to yourself through self-care.

    Energy Drainer Exercise - Management Training
    THE ENERGY DRAINER EXERCISE Register Now!
    UPschool - Strategic Leadership Development for Human Resource management & people managers.
    Learn more about becoming a member of UPschoolhttps://bit.ly/3eeJdDo
  • How to Fast Track Progress During Difficult Times

    How to Fast Track Progress During Difficult Times

    Fear Stops Change and Growth.

    We can incentivize and expect and inspire and blame and punish and be impatient all we want but when the human brain is in threat response, no one is going anywhere until it feels safe.

    Threats to SCARF Trigger Fear.

    David Rock’s SCARF model tells us that when we humans detect a threat to our perceived degree of:

    • Status (good or bad; winning or losing)
    • Certainty (knowing what to expect)
    • Autonomy (freedom of choice/movement, independence)
    • Relatedness (part of a desirable/comfortable group)
    • Fairness (being treated with honesty and equity)

    The human brain goes into threat response which shuts down the parts of our brain associated with learning, imagining and planning and redirects the brain’s resources to the parts associated with fighting, defending, withdrawing and resisting.

    Any Potential Change is a Threat to SCARF

    • Informing people they need to work at home threatens Certainty, and Autonomy.
    • Advising people to wear a mask threatens Autonomy and Fairness
    • Telling people they are complicit in systemic racism threatens Status and Relatedness
    • Being fired, losing one’s retirement, taking a pay cut, getting Covid – each threaten Status, Certainty, Autonomy, Relatedness and Fairness
    • Imploring people to #dobetter and #bebetter threatens Status, Certainty, Autonomy, Relatedness and Fairness
    • Asking for time and patience to investigate #whiteprivilege threatens Status, Certainty, Autonomy, Relatedness and Fairness

    If We’re in a Constant State of Fear How Do We Change and Grow?

    Unlike any other time in history, every single one of us is experiencing major simultaneous disruption and change. Neuropsychologically, therefore, every single one of us is simultaneously in threat response.

    When we are in threat response the parts of our brain associated with learning, imagining and planning (our literal ability to take in new information and to learn to do and be better) are shut down. In order to move forward – to change and to grow; to #dobetter and #bebetter – a brain-based approach will dissolve the blocks and help us fast track critical progress. Here’s how:

    1. Calm the threat response by using the Energy Drainer Exercise
    2. Decide what you truly want to achieve by Setting Your Objective
    3. Seek to fully understand by using the The Power of Inquiry
    4. Access support and resources for what you want to achieve by using personal and professional development guidance like UPschool

    With decades of experience in human resources, management and leadership development and employee motivation and engagement, using this method, I know what this approach can produce. Reliably and measurably. This practical, brain-based, human-centered, disciplined and efficient path gets results.

    You Don’t Have to Go It Alone

    Whether you envision a successful transition to working at home, a measurable positive difference in employee engagement, a transformation to a new business model, demonstrated commitment to anti-racism and racial equity or something just as big and important, until you address the perceived threat, there will be no growth.

    I created UPschool for people who want to be the best version of themselves and who want to help others do the same – whether as HR professionals, managers, parents, educators or in other roles where you are driven to make a difference.

  • HR Teams: Distanced But Not Disconnected

    HR Teams: Distanced But Not Disconnected

    Last week I had the pleasure and privilege of speaking as a faculty member for NEHRA‘s highly regarded Executive HR Women’s Program. It was supposed to be a live, three-hour interactive workshop in Waltham, MA at the lovely Forefront Center for Meetings and Conferences. Instead it was a live, three-hour interactive workshop on Zoom broadcast from my kitchen in West Boylston, MA with participants calling in from all over the state and beyond.

    Distanced But Not Disconnected

    Shortly before the program was to be held, NEHRA’s intrepid organizers – Sarah Mann, Nancy Persson and Tracy Burns – sent word to the scheduled facilitators that we may need to shift gears due to the growing concern regarding the virus and the need for social distancing. They asked if we were up for delivering online. We were.

    We started the call with a moment of mindfulness (thanks to Sarah) and a round-robin of gratitude. The participants were 20+ senior human resources professionals already weary from the week’s exertions around employee communication, workforce logistics, policy modifications and employee relations. And to a person, each was grateful for the opportunity to connect; to spend the time and attention with each other in community, in support, in mutual understanding.

    I’m working from home today, can we reschedule our meeting?

    I’ve never understood the rationale behind this question. Why, with our technology and constant technological connection to our screens, would we ever have to reschedule a one on one meeting just because someone was working from home? Maybe it means something different to different people. Perhaps it meant, “I’m canceling my scheduled appointments so I can focus on other stuff” or “I’m caring for a child or elder and trying to get a modicum of work done in between”. Or maybe it meant “I’m working from home but I also don’t yet know how to do that seamlessly so I’m going wait for another time to figure that out”.

    Whatever it meant, it can’t mean that anymore. Working from home has been – for quite some time – a just-as-productive endeavor as being live and in person. But like anything else, you need the right equipment, the right rules and the right attitude. And now, since we need to do it, we’ll figure that stuff out.

    Physically Distanced and Super Connected

    Over the past 10 years I have worked closely with Helle Bundgaard of Motivation Factor™. She lives in Denmark. I am an hour outside of Boston. We have designed programs, solved problems, written copy and resolved conflicts together. We’ve gone from using the phone to Skype to What’s App to FaceTime and now Zoom as we navigated the tech we needed to stay in touch. It takes some ingenuity and patience but it can be done.

    People Managers and HR Professionals

    Use this time – especially if this crisis has freed up some for you – to stay connected and reconnect. As a manager, be a role model for your team. Play with the technology or take a LinkedIn or Udemy course on virtual meetings. Open to the possibilities of establishing meaningful one on one conversations with your employees. Start a team check in to share tips on working from home and staying focused or sharing funny stories about how it’s hard or weird.

    Strategic HR Pros know that connection is serious business. Take this time to connect with your peers on the leadership team or through the management ranks. Schedule a Zoom call, ask how they are, ask how their team is faring, provide some resources to help pave the way to productivity while we’re in captivity.

    Where There’s a Will, There are Cookies

    Working from home is not new for me so the day-to-day hasn’t felt much different. But the other day, my parents stopped by and flung a batch of homemade cookies to us from six feet away. That was new.

    Stay healthy. Stay Connected. Be Uncommon.

    FREE MANAGEMENT TOOLS: Use these powerful tools, Energy Drainer video and worksheet to lead your team through a group exercise today!

    LEADERSHIP DEVELOPMENT: Gain access to more powerful tools and expert advice and coaching with a membership to UPschool. Learn more and become a member here.

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  • Employee Engagement During a Crisis

    Employee Engagement During a Crisis

    You say it’s hard enough to bring a team together under normal circumstances never mind during a global crisis where you can’t even be with each other, right?  Actually this may be the best time of all.

    When asked what gets in the way of bringing a team together, managers will typically list things like – everyone is too busy, too many schedule conflicts, no time to fit it in, no one thing is relevant to everyone on the team and so not a great use of time, too touchy feel-y – we don’t need that stuff…

    But here’s the thing…70% of the variance in a team’s engagement level, according to Gallup, is attributable to the manager. More than 79% of employees say they haven’t had a conversation with their manager about goals in over 6 months. Nearly 80% of employees say leadership doesn’t have a clear direction for the company. These conditions affect employee engagement which affects the bottom line and managers have the ability to positively influence all of it. In fact, in just one thoughtfully planned virtual team meeting right now, a manager could make significant strides toward improving employee engagement.  

    Improving Employee Engagement Now: 

    • A little more time – With no commutes to wrangle with, not having to put on shoes and MUCH shorter distances to walk between meetings, many office workers have gained at least a little extra time and space in their day. A manager could invite the team to a 45 minute virtual meeting with one agenda item: “Checking in on the team”. 
    • A little better technology – With platforms like Zoom, it’s super easy to get everyone on a call where you can see and hear each other and have both large discussions and small breakout conversations.  A manager could practice a bit on their own with Zoom (or FaceTime, Skype, Webex, GotoMeeting, etc.) so they’re comfortable and then invite the team to join virtually for the meeting. Assure the team that there will be no advanced meeting skills required.
    • A little more planning – Working from home by surprise can be a major challenge for some people. They may not have appropriate rooms, the family may be home as well, the noise level my not be well controlled, there could be pets in the vicinity, children, elders, builders, etc.  On top of that, there are different styles to consider – how do you plan for both introverts and extroverts?  A manager could send some guidelines ahead of time with the invite saying: “This is a casual check in on the team. No special dress is required. Ideally everyone would use video but though it’s encouraged it’s not mandatory.  I will be asking two questions on the call: 1. How are you all doing? And 2. What do yo need from the team? If you’d like to answer on the call that’s great.  If not, that’s ok too.  Just a heads up so everyone is prepared.
    • A little more balance – Just because people don’t have commutes, are likely closer than ever to their fridge and bathrooms and don’t have a water cooler around which to chat with colleagues doesn’t mean they should be tethered to their desk for hours on end.  A manager could encourage the team to take advantage of the home office and take breaks to walk, get some fresh air, have breakfast with the fam or be in the kitchen on time for dinner.  These are stressful times and a little balance will be appreciated.  
    • A little more empathy – Every single human on the planet who has an internet connection and a will to live is freaked out right now. A manager could be more human, more empathetic, could extend a bit of grace and appreciation for the fact that there is a team at all. And a manager could express that and let the team know that the manager is there if they need something.  

    Be uncommon in these uncommon times.

    FREE MANAGEMENT TOOLS: Use these powerful tools, Energy Drainer video and worksheet to lead your team through a group exercise today!

    LEADERSHIP DEVELOPMENT: Gain access to more powerful tools and expert advice and coaching with a membership to UPschool. Learn more and become a member here.

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  • What to do When the Sky is Falling

    What to do When the Sky is Falling

    Ok, wow. All Mondays forever have been like “We are the worst day in the week ever” and then THIS past Monday, March 9, 2020 was like “Hold my beer…” .

    Between pandemics, stock markets, spending the rest of your FSA balance before the deadline and locking in summer camp registrations for the kids, this month is stacking up to be a doozy!

    In these crazy times, people will often fall into two categories: “I’m overwhelmed and need focus” OR “This is for the birds, I’m out, I need to find my real purpose.” Either way we’ve got you covered with a couple of activities you can do right now to feel a teensy bit better.

    For the “I’m overwhelmed and need focus” crowd, try this: Find Focus Download

    For the “This is for the birds. I’m out. I need to find my real purpose” folks, here’s a first step: Find Purpose Download