EXCERPTS:
11:19 AM Thursday April 19, 2012
Love, acceptance, and understanding in the workplace? Really? What's that got to do with performance?
Everything.
An organization performs best when the people in the organization know they can trust and depend on each other. Then they break out of silos. They take accountability for their own mistakes instead of blaming each other. They surface problems before they become major obstacles
But if people spend their energy hiding their feelings, that energy will leak out in negative and insidious ways, sabotaging your efforts and theirs.
Uncovering the real issue happens when people feel safe enough to be vulnerable.
How do you do it? It's actually very easy. Take a deep breath and just validate. Repeat back what you're hearing. Be a mirror.
If it's easy, why don't we all do it all the time? Because there's a hard part too: Managing your own discomfort. Can you be OK with the feelings of others? Can you listen without judging? Can you listen even though you might feel threatened?
Peter Bregman is a strategic advisor to CEOs and their leadership teams. His latest book is 18 Minutes: Find Your Focus, Master Distraction, and Get the Right Things Done. To receive an email when he posts, click here.
Access article, source and other great stuff: http://blogs.hbr.org/bregman/2012/04/how-to-respond-to-emotional-ou.html?referral=00563&cm_mmc=email-_-newsletter-_-daily_alert-_-alert_date&utm_source=newsletter_daily_alert&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=alert_date
Friday, April 20, 2012
CEO Challenge 2012 Reveals Critical Link Between Innovation and Human Capital - Governance Center Blog
Apr 19 2012
The top five challenges facing business leaders worldwide this year are Innovation, Human Capital, Global Political/Economic Risk, Government Regulation, and Global Expansion, according to nearly 800 chief executives, presidents and chairmen from leading companies in Asia, Europe and the United States who took part in the Conference Board CEO Challenge 2012.
The Conference Board has conducted the CEO Challenge survey every year since 1999, asking top executives across the globe and from many different industries to identify and rank their most critical business challenges and their strategies for addressing each one.
The 2012 survey report, Risky Business: Focusing on Innovation and Talent in a Volatile World, which was published in March, was authored by three Conference Board executives: Charles Mitchell, executive director for knowledge content and quality; Rebecca Ray, senior vice president of human capital; and Bart van Ark, executive vice president and chief economist. Through the combination of their insight and the candid responses of those who were surveyed, the report provides an in-depth look at global and regional business trends and a dynamic picture of the strategic thinking of leading executives on three continents.
Although the top five business challenges are clear when the executives’ responses are viewed collectively, the survey also reveals sharp differences from region to region, as shown by the following excerpt from the report:
The varying speed of economic recovery in the world’s regions, the lack of a qualified labor pool in many geographies and industries, and the peculiarities of regional cultures, customers and government attitudes means that CEOs in Asia, Europe and the United States each see a unique set of challenges that reflects the business realities they face locally and globally. Only Innovation and Global Political/Economic Risk make the top five challenges in all three regions.
United States – For U.S. CEOs, the biggest challenges reside outside the corporate walls. Faced with a divided Congress and political inertia regarding national debt levels and taxation, as well as the uncertainty of pending legislation that may significantly affect business models and healthcare costs, U.S. CEOs ranked Government Regulation first. Cost Optimization was fifth, a telltale sign that there is less than full confidence that the economic recovery can be sustained over time.
Europe – Against a backdrop of government cutbacks, reduced revenue, recession fears, and ticking demographic and pension time bombs, the focus of CEOs in Europe is on Global Political/Economic Risk—their top challenge. CEOs in the region see a combination of Innovation, Cost Optimization and Global Expansion as a way to fuel top- and bottom-line growth in a volatile business climate. Due to weak growth, CEOs are keeping a careful watch on the bottom line in a return to the frugal attitudes that characterized the 2008/2009 recession.
Asia – CEOs in Asia are focused on the region’s relatively high-growth business environment. Asian CEOs ranked Innovation and Human Capital their top two challenges. Their selection of Innovation as number one coincides with an explosion of R&D expenditure in the region. The high ranking of Human Capital underscores the view that the continuation of the extraordinary growth trajectory in the Asia-Pacific region will require solutions to such human capital issues as attracting innovative talent and developing effective leaders.
Innovation was on the minds of CEOs in all regions and industries, yet while executives continued to view technology as the leading driver of innovation, the survey shows that they also recognize the critical link between innovation and human capital—the role that talented people play in creating and nurturing innovative ideas and bringing them to market.
As the report observes:
Ranked as the second most critical challenge globally in 2012, Human Capital is also the key to conquering this year’s top-ranked challenge of Innovation. Of all of the highest rated challenges, none is so heavily dependent upon effectively addressing Human Capital issues as Innovation.
In addition to examining key challenges and strategies in Asia, Europe and the United States, the report also gives special attention to India and China, two emerging economies with enormous influence on global markets due to their rapid economic growth, large populations and changing demographics. Companies in India and China operate in very different business environments, yet CEOs in both countries rank Human Capital as their number-one challenge.
If India and China, the world’s two most populous countries, can succeed in developing their billions of people into a creative, highly skilled and innovative workforce, it will have far-reaching consequences for the global economy.
The CEO Challenge 2012 report is complimentary to members and can be downloaded now. The Conference Board is also offering a series of CEO Challenge Business Perspectives Briefings in a number of locations worldwide. Register today for a briefing near yo
Larry West
Access Governance Center Blog, article, the survey report, and other great stuff: http://tcbblogs.org/governance/2012/04/19/ceo-challenge-2012/
The top five challenges facing business leaders worldwide this year are Innovation, Human Capital, Global Political/Economic Risk, Government Regulation, and Global Expansion, according to nearly 800 chief executives, presidents and chairmen from leading companies in Asia, Europe and the United States who took part in the Conference Board CEO Challenge 2012.
The Conference Board has conducted the CEO Challenge survey every year since 1999, asking top executives across the globe and from many different industries to identify and rank their most critical business challenges and their strategies for addressing each one.
The 2012 survey report, Risky Business: Focusing on Innovation and Talent in a Volatile World, which was published in March, was authored by three Conference Board executives: Charles Mitchell, executive director for knowledge content and quality; Rebecca Ray, senior vice president of human capital; and Bart van Ark, executive vice president and chief economist. Through the combination of their insight and the candid responses of those who were surveyed, the report provides an in-depth look at global and regional business trends and a dynamic picture of the strategic thinking of leading executives on three continents.
Although the top five business challenges are clear when the executives’ responses are viewed collectively, the survey also reveals sharp differences from region to region, as shown by the following excerpt from the report:
The varying speed of economic recovery in the world’s regions, the lack of a qualified labor pool in many geographies and industries, and the peculiarities of regional cultures, customers and government attitudes means that CEOs in Asia, Europe and the United States each see a unique set of challenges that reflects the business realities they face locally and globally. Only Innovation and Global Political/Economic Risk make the top five challenges in all three regions.
United States – For U.S. CEOs, the biggest challenges reside outside the corporate walls. Faced with a divided Congress and political inertia regarding national debt levels and taxation, as well as the uncertainty of pending legislation that may significantly affect business models and healthcare costs, U.S. CEOs ranked Government Regulation first. Cost Optimization was fifth, a telltale sign that there is less than full confidence that the economic recovery can be sustained over time.
Europe – Against a backdrop of government cutbacks, reduced revenue, recession fears, and ticking demographic and pension time bombs, the focus of CEOs in Europe is on Global Political/Economic Risk—their top challenge. CEOs in the region see a combination of Innovation, Cost Optimization and Global Expansion as a way to fuel top- and bottom-line growth in a volatile business climate. Due to weak growth, CEOs are keeping a careful watch on the bottom line in a return to the frugal attitudes that characterized the 2008/2009 recession.
Asia – CEOs in Asia are focused on the region’s relatively high-growth business environment. Asian CEOs ranked Innovation and Human Capital their top two challenges. Their selection of Innovation as number one coincides with an explosion of R&D expenditure in the region. The high ranking of Human Capital underscores the view that the continuation of the extraordinary growth trajectory in the Asia-Pacific region will require solutions to such human capital issues as attracting innovative talent and developing effective leaders.
Innovation was on the minds of CEOs in all regions and industries, yet while executives continued to view technology as the leading driver of innovation, the survey shows that they also recognize the critical link between innovation and human capital—the role that talented people play in creating and nurturing innovative ideas and bringing them to market.
As the report observes:
Ranked as the second most critical challenge globally in 2012, Human Capital is also the key to conquering this year’s top-ranked challenge of Innovation. Of all of the highest rated challenges, none is so heavily dependent upon effectively addressing Human Capital issues as Innovation.
In addition to examining key challenges and strategies in Asia, Europe and the United States, the report also gives special attention to India and China, two emerging economies with enormous influence on global markets due to their rapid economic growth, large populations and changing demographics. Companies in India and China operate in very different business environments, yet CEOs in both countries rank Human Capital as their number-one challenge.
If India and China, the world’s two most populous countries, can succeed in developing their billions of people into a creative, highly skilled and innovative workforce, it will have far-reaching consequences for the global economy.
The CEO Challenge 2012 report is complimentary to members and can be downloaded now. The Conference Board is also offering a series of CEO Challenge Business Perspectives Briefings in a number of locations worldwide. Register today for a briefing near yo
Larry West
Access Governance Center Blog, article, the survey report, and other great stuff: http://tcbblogs.org/governance/2012/04/19/ceo-challenge-2012/
Thursday, April 19, 2012
Personal Accountability: Putting the Brakes on Moral Breakdown - The John Maxwell Company
April 2012, Issue 2
Article Excerpts:
Developing personal accountability involves three steps:
1) Distrust Yourself
2) Set Behavioral Boundaries
3) Invite Inspection
CONCLUSION
As a Japanese proverb instructs, “The reputation of a thousand years may be determined by the conduct of a single hour.” If you’ve not taken steps to safeguard your reputation, start today by asking yourself the following questions:
Access Article, Content Source And Other Great Stuff: http://www.johnmaxwell.com/products-resources/leadership-on-demand/articles/personal-accountability-putting-the-brakes-on-moral-breakdown/
Article Excerpts:
Developing personal accountability involves three steps:
1) Distrust Yourself
2) Set Behavioral Boundaries
3) Invite Inspection
CONCLUSION
As a Japanese proverb instructs, “The reputation of a thousand years may be determined by the conduct of a single hour.” If you’ve not taken steps to safeguard your reputation, start today by asking yourself the following questions:
Access Article, Content Source And Other Great Stuff: http://www.johnmaxwell.com/products-resources/leadership-on-demand/articles/personal-accountability-putting-the-brakes-on-moral-breakdown/
Wednesday, April 18, 2012
The Joys of Working with Sleep Deprived Talent - Envisia - Ken Nowack
The Joys of Working with Sleep Deprived Talent
April 15, 2012 by Ken Nowack
Research by Sylvia Ann-Hewlett and Carolyn Luce shows that 62% of high-earning individuals work more than 50 hours per week, 35% work more than 60 hours a week and 10% work more than 80 hours1. Their findings suggest that more than 70% of professionals reported not getting enough sleep.
Leaders and others know that the sleep-deprived are typically moody, miserable, and just not much fun to be around. New research from UC Berkeley using MRI technology helps explain why for the first time.
The study is the first to show exactly what areas of the brain are affected by sleep deprivation2. The human emotional brain without sleep — a prefrontal amygdala disconnect.3.
In the UC Berkeley study of 26 young adults, half of the subjects were kept awake for 35 hours straight and the other half were allowed a normal night’s sleep in that same time period. Then all of the subjects were hooked up to an MRI and shown a number of images while the researchers monitored what happened in their brains as each image was shown.
The sleep-deprived subjects showed significant activity in the amygdala (the section of the brain that puts the body on alert to protect itself and control emotions), and simultaneously, showed slowed activity in the prefrontal cortex (which controls logical reasoning). On the other hand, subjects who got a full night of sleep showed normal brain activity. As a result, the ability to manage emotions and curb self-control would appear to be compromised to some extent just due to lack of sleep.
Americans are among the most sleep-deprived people in the world with 40% of Americans getting less than seven hours of sleep a night, according to a poll conducted by the National Sleep Foundation. Additionally, 75% of Americans reported having some sort of sleep disorder one or two nights a week4.
Our own research with our stress/resilience assessment StressScan shows significant sleep impairment in working adults (www.getlifehub.com/stress_scan). In this assessment we have a Sleep/Rest scale and some of our questions explore receiving less sleep than one requires for various reasons.
In a sample of 1,326 working adults we found that 35.7 percent reported “often” or “always” receiving less sleep than required because of staying up too late or getting up too early. Almost 22 percent reported being tired during the day due to poor quality sleep (either falling asleep took too long or unable to stay asleep). Slightly more than 8 percent reported missing an entire night or large proportion of sleep because of work or play activities in the last 30 days.
If you are interested in finding out the quality of your own sleep (as well as your coping, stress and lifestyle habits), just contact me at ken@envisiaonline for a free trial of StressScan.
What this means for most people is that a sleepless night or very poor quality of sleep can cause employees to overreact to emotional challenges that they would otherwise be able to tolerate without any trouble.
And if you have sleep-deprived talent and leaders who lack emotional intelligence — look out — their social competence is already compromised….I think I will stop now and take a short nap (optimum naps are less than 10 minutes in length and best in the early afternoon to coincide with our dip in circadian alertness cycle)…..Be well…
1.Hewlett, A. & Luce, C. (2006). Extreme jobs. The dangerous allure of the 70-hour workweek. Harvard Business Review, December 2006, pp. 1-12 [↩]
2.Yoo, S., Gujar,N., Hu,P., Jolesz, F., & and Walker, M. (2007) [↩]
3.Current Biology. Vol 17, R877-R878, 23 October 2007) [↩]
4.http://www.sleepfoundation.org/ [↩]
Access Article, Content Source And Other Great Stuff: http://results.envisialearning.com/the-joys-of-working-with-sleep-deprived-talent/?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+ResultsVsActivities+%28Results+vs.+Activities%29
April 15, 2012 by Ken Nowack
“The amount of sleep required by the average person is five minutes more. “We all seem to be working longer and harder with health, productivity, and mood being directly affected.
Wilson Mizener
Research by Sylvia Ann-Hewlett and Carolyn Luce shows that 62% of high-earning individuals work more than 50 hours per week, 35% work more than 60 hours a week and 10% work more than 80 hours1. Their findings suggest that more than 70% of professionals reported not getting enough sleep.
Leaders and others know that the sleep-deprived are typically moody, miserable, and just not much fun to be around. New research from UC Berkeley using MRI technology helps explain why for the first time.
The study is the first to show exactly what areas of the brain are affected by sleep deprivation2. The human emotional brain without sleep — a prefrontal amygdala disconnect.3.
In the UC Berkeley study of 26 young adults, half of the subjects were kept awake for 35 hours straight and the other half were allowed a normal night’s sleep in that same time period. Then all of the subjects were hooked up to an MRI and shown a number of images while the researchers monitored what happened in their brains as each image was shown.
The sleep-deprived subjects showed significant activity in the amygdala (the section of the brain that puts the body on alert to protect itself and control emotions), and simultaneously, showed slowed activity in the prefrontal cortex (which controls logical reasoning). On the other hand, subjects who got a full night of sleep showed normal brain activity. As a result, the ability to manage emotions and curb self-control would appear to be compromised to some extent just due to lack of sleep.
Americans are among the most sleep-deprived people in the world with 40% of Americans getting less than seven hours of sleep a night, according to a poll conducted by the National Sleep Foundation. Additionally, 75% of Americans reported having some sort of sleep disorder one or two nights a week4.
Our own research with our stress/resilience assessment StressScan shows significant sleep impairment in working adults (www.getlifehub.com/stress_scan). In this assessment we have a Sleep/Rest scale and some of our questions explore receiving less sleep than one requires for various reasons.
In a sample of 1,326 working adults we found that 35.7 percent reported “often” or “always” receiving less sleep than required because of staying up too late or getting up too early. Almost 22 percent reported being tired during the day due to poor quality sleep (either falling asleep took too long or unable to stay asleep). Slightly more than 8 percent reported missing an entire night or large proportion of sleep because of work or play activities in the last 30 days.
If you are interested in finding out the quality of your own sleep (as well as your coping, stress and lifestyle habits), just contact me at ken@envisiaonline for a free trial of StressScan.
What this means for most people is that a sleepless night or very poor quality of sleep can cause employees to overreact to emotional challenges that they would otherwise be able to tolerate without any trouble.
And if you have sleep-deprived talent and leaders who lack emotional intelligence — look out — their social competence is already compromised….I think I will stop now and take a short nap (optimum naps are less than 10 minutes in length and best in the early afternoon to coincide with our dip in circadian alertness cycle)…..Be well…
1.Hewlett, A. & Luce, C. (2006). Extreme jobs. The dangerous allure of the 70-hour workweek. Harvard Business Review, December 2006, pp. 1-12 [↩]
2.Yoo, S., Gujar,N., Hu,P., Jolesz, F., & and Walker, M. (2007) [↩]
3.Current Biology. Vol 17, R877-R878, 23 October 2007) [↩]
4.http://www.sleepfoundation.org/ [↩]
Access Article, Content Source And Other Great Stuff: http://results.envisialearning.com/the-joys-of-working-with-sleep-deprived-talent/?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+ResultsVsActivities+%28Results+vs.+Activities%29
Sunday, April 1, 2012
Facing Boredom! - The Happiness Club - The Be Happiness Zone - Lionel Ketchian
By Lionel Ketchian
April 1,2012
With all the interesting things that are going on in my life, people ask me, are you excited? My answer is no, I'm not excited. Actually, I am at peace. Why do I experience peace when most people see the excitement? I have been working on not being afraid to face boredom. Our minds seem to feed on drama and excitement to make us feel that we are alive and kicking.
Facing our boredom may seem very dull, but the truth is that it is liberating. I do not even mind getting stuck in bumper to bumper traffic. I do not try to find it but when it happens it is perfectly all right with me. I have been finding that in facing my boredom I do not experience any lack of interest. I seem to have overcome the need to run away from trying to face boredom.
An essential component of this is not reacting to things that happen for which we have no control. It is our resistance to the situations that occur in life that creates all our problems. It is right at the moment when things get bad that your thinking becomes your worst enemy. It is better to remain calm in the moment. It is in this moment that our thinking becomes our worst nightmare.
To be bored is to be so uninteresting a person that you cannot face yourself. The problem with this is that you do a lot of activity to avoid yourself. We need to be occupied so we are not alone with our thoughts driving us crazy. I am learning to disregard my thoughts and enjoy the awareness of not thinking about every last thought that enters my mind.
If you have not tried this before it is truly a path to freedom. I have improved my ability to focus my mind on things when I need to. I have always felt my memory was not very dependable. Now that I carry much less on my mind, I have more room for the important thoughts. Most importantly, I have much more control of my thinking. I am not letting my thinking control me as much as it did.
How is this possible? It is really very simple. I allow myself to experience being happy in the moment. I trust the moment to present me with what ever I need to experience. The most important thing about what I am telling you is that I have let go of the past. It is not in my present moment awareness. The past is dead and gone, unless we fan the flames.
This is true for the good things as well as the bad ones. We don't need to think about either one of them. The present moment is more than enough, unless you don't want to be happy for the rest of your life. In that case hold on to the past and ignore the present moment.
We are all searching for peace. We think peace is having everything work out the way we want it to be. That is not peace, it is control. The problem with that kind of control is that our mind is never happy with anything that we get. Our mind goes right to work finding out what else we need or is not right in our world.
It is time to start facing ourselves. If you don't give up your unhappiness, you will never be happy. Start giving unhappiness up right now. Now is the time to give happiness a chance. If you want to learn more about what I am talking about I suggest you read a book called The Power of Now, by Eckhart Tolle. It is a very simple and powerful book to help you find the stillness within you.
Access The Happy Zone Newsletter: Click here
April 1,2012
With all the interesting things that are going on in my life, people ask me, are you excited? My answer is no, I'm not excited. Actually, I am at peace. Why do I experience peace when most people see the excitement? I have been working on not being afraid to face boredom. Our minds seem to feed on drama and excitement to make us feel that we are alive and kicking.
Facing our boredom may seem very dull, but the truth is that it is liberating. I do not even mind getting stuck in bumper to bumper traffic. I do not try to find it but when it happens it is perfectly all right with me. I have been finding that in facing my boredom I do not experience any lack of interest. I seem to have overcome the need to run away from trying to face boredom.
An essential component of this is not reacting to things that happen for which we have no control. It is our resistance to the situations that occur in life that creates all our problems. It is right at the moment when things get bad that your thinking becomes your worst enemy. It is better to remain calm in the moment. It is in this moment that our thinking becomes our worst nightmare.
To be bored is to be so uninteresting a person that you cannot face yourself. The problem with this is that you do a lot of activity to avoid yourself. We need to be occupied so we are not alone with our thoughts driving us crazy. I am learning to disregard my thoughts and enjoy the awareness of not thinking about every last thought that enters my mind.
If you have not tried this before it is truly a path to freedom. I have improved my ability to focus my mind on things when I need to. I have always felt my memory was not very dependable. Now that I carry much less on my mind, I have more room for the important thoughts. Most importantly, I have much more control of my thinking. I am not letting my thinking control me as much as it did.
How is this possible? It is really very simple. I allow myself to experience being happy in the moment. I trust the moment to present me with what ever I need to experience. The most important thing about what I am telling you is that I have let go of the past. It is not in my present moment awareness. The past is dead and gone, unless we fan the flames.
This is true for the good things as well as the bad ones. We don't need to think about either one of them. The present moment is more than enough, unless you don't want to be happy for the rest of your life. In that case hold on to the past and ignore the present moment.
We are all searching for peace. We think peace is having everything work out the way we want it to be. That is not peace, it is control. The problem with that kind of control is that our mind is never happy with anything that we get. Our mind goes right to work finding out what else we need or is not right in our world.
It is time to start facing ourselves. If you don't give up your unhappiness, you will never be happy. Start giving unhappiness up right now. Now is the time to give happiness a chance. If you want to learn more about what I am talking about I suggest you read a book called The Power of Now, by Eckhart Tolle. It is a very simple and powerful book to help you find the stillness within you.
Access The Happy Zone Newsletter: Click here
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