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Thank you for reading and tuning into my Insights this past year.
Here are a few Reflective Gratitude Prompts:
- Who are you most grateful for this past year?
- What are you most grateful for this past year?
Write down why you are grateful for these people and things.
- How can you express your gratitude more next year?
I wish you well as you enter 2022; it’s your year!
In gratitude,
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Happy New Year Arianne,
Thank you for reading and tuning into my Insights this past year.
Here are a few Reflective Gratitude Prompts:
- Who are you most grateful for this past year?
- What are you most grateful for this past year?
Write down why you are grateful for these people and things.
- How can you express your gratitude more next year?
I wish you well as you enter 2022; it’s your year!
In gratitude,
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After a year and a half of living during the pandemic, freedom in the workplace has taken on new meaning. The need for business innovation brought about a change in responsibility and accountability for everyone. Autonomy took on different forms during these unprecedented past 16 months requiring us all to adapt and change.
Issues such as having employees manage their workload by setting their schedules, choosing how to do their work, exercising creativity in approaching job goals, and working from home were some results. Many employees voiced these issues in the past but were met by resistance by the employer. The fear was often that these accommodations would give the employee too much leeway and they would not meet expectations for public accountability. Nevertheless, the pandemic resulted in employees working from home for many businesses with managers and owners sacrificing control. Surprisingly, many did see significant employee commitment, better performance, improved productivity, and lower turnover. Places like Google, Dropbox, and similar big corporations whose reputation for innovation has been linked with less conventional work environments, were no longer alone implementing innovative practices.
Currently, many businesses are now facing some sort of new ”flexibility.” Flexibility has become the fastest-rising priority for all working generations, followed by work-life balance, benefits, and workplace culture (LinkedIn Workforce Confidence Index research, professionals in the US surveyed between March 13 to 26, 2021). Millennials are no longer the only ones who have very high expectations for learning, development, transparency, and flexibility on the job—providing the freedom to manage one’s work and determining when and where they do that work is fundamental to the satisfaction of the current workforce.
It is human nature that people like to have choices and flexibility. In a very routine job, autonomy doesn’t have much impact on productivity. However, it can still increase satisfaction, which leads to other positive outcomes. Freedom: There’s a difference between having it and knowing what to do with it. A mind that feels free does better work, and giving employees the room to reach their objectives in the ways they see fit can be a solid leadership move — if done right. Being autonomous allows the freedom to produce one’s best work, such as encouraging ideas, changes in operations, new management techniques, and working on new projects to stay engaged. Our new, post-pandemic work habits are still being determined which is why flexibility is so valued.
When management makes decisions about organizing work, it is important for them to consider the effect on people’s autonomy. It can significantly impact how employees feel about their job and the business for whom they work. Approximately 70 percent of employees want to retain some degree of remote work. In general, people want to do what they do best, and for many who are working from home, even though they may be working longer hours, their happiness and productivity have gone up (The Economist, https://www.economist.com/printedition/2021-04-10).
It now becomes the responsibility of managers to let go somewhat and adjust the metrics they use to determine if work is getting done. The question is not whether a boss can see an employee sitting at a desk for eight hours, but whether the employee is producing the work they’re supposed to do to meet expectations.
Employees want the freedom to determine their days, hours and location, from where they work. They want to be in control of how they dress and make independent decisions. As long as they perform at work, they feel choices such as these should be decided upon by them.
What people are looking for now is flexibility. Working parents want to adjust the job clock themselves — establishing the start, stop and break times that work best for them. Others like the freedom to change cities while still keeping the same employer. We have to remember that productivity and an ideal workspace look different for everyone. It’s essential to listen to what an employee needs and feels more comfortable doing, rather than assuming someone will want to work one way or another. Flexibility means something different for everyone involved. We may need to adapt to these multiple definitions and many other arrangements co-existing at the same time. We may be entering the hybrid approach to working where specific days are designated for in-office meetings and collaboration and remote days for work involving individual focus to allow for structure, social interaction, autonomy, and flexibility. Employers need to balance employee needs with the needs of their business, image and culture, and health and safety impact.
Freedom increases offerings, options, and opportunities.
Three things we can learn from this newfound freedom in the workplace:
- Having employees work on their solutions to problems has shed light on processes that may have bogged their productivity. They have been able to contribute to new ways of working that are more effective and efficient. Be open (flexible) to suggestions.
- Allowing employees to participate in their performance goals enable employees to identify what they are doing well within the company and what it means to them so they can be more willing to meet the goal.
- Having employees feel valued requires their participation in being heard as to what is most important to them – their safety, compensation, and being appreciated for their work. By getting employee participation, employers can provide the most meaningful benefits to your team. Their participation increases their retention (or makes them want to come back and work for you.)
Reflect on the following for more freedom:
- What sort of freedoms will you need to keep or put in place for you to do your best work or for your business to perform in the next three months?
- Which current freedoms will you review? How will you determine their impact?
- Moving forward, how will you define flexibility in your work life? One person’s flexibility is not someone else’s.
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How organized are you? Does your workspace look like a landfill? Do you work in “piles” that no one else can identify? “Don’t touch my piles! I know where everything is!”
Everyone has their own system for running their business, but is yours too disorganized to be functional? With so much to do every day, it can be tempting just to toss that stack of mail and paperwork on your desk and deal with it later. You might even be tempted to procrastinate organizing your calendar, email inbox, or to-do list – I get it. Things get busy on the best of days.
But disorganization leads to chaos when you run your own business! Making organizing yourself for success a priority helps you meet your goals more efficiently.
Has anything like this happened to you or someone you know?
The person on the phone wants to go over the contract she sent you. This is THE call you’ve been waiting for! However, looking at your cluttered desk and the bags full of paperwork waiting to be filed, you have no idea where the document might be.
You bluff your way out of the conversation (“Can I call you right back? I was on the other line when you called.”) and spend 30 minutes hunting for the paper. When you finally find it, you notice the sticky reminding you of action you were to have taken on the document last week. Yikes.
Now, where is her phone number? It’s on the back of this envelope, right? Maybe it was on the back of today’s lunch receipt…
How organized are you?
Does your workspace look like a landfill?
Do you work in “piles” that no one else can identify?
“Don’t touch my piles! I know where everything is!
Pretty scary! The wasted time and energy. The harsh self-criticism. The stress and embarrassment. The lost opportunities.
This office nightmare comes to life countless times every day by missing or ignoring the direct connection between organization and success. It’s not just that organization allows you to move more easily around the office. Organizing your office and work-life helps you fulfill your own potential and that of your business.
“Organizing is the process by which we create environments that enable us to live, work and relax exactly as we want to,” writes Julie Morgenstern, in her book, Organizing from the Inside Out. “When we are organized, our homes, offices, and schedules reflect and encourage who we are, what we want,, and where we are going.”
For most people, the three biggest obstacles to an organized office and work-life are:
- clutter (paper and email),
- planning, and
- follow-through, the latter two being more an issue of time management
And while a disorganized office can be much like a disorganized schedule—overly packed, haphazard, limited in space or hours—it makes sense to organize space and paper first. Below are some tips for tackling office clutter.
If you’re starting from scratch—organizing the entire office and creating a new system—Morgenstern advises to first analyze the situation, taking an overall look at space, furnishings, equipment, supplies, and types of paperwork.
Ask yourself five questions:
- What’s working? It’s helpful to know what’s not “broken” so that you don’t spend time fixing it. Also, a little “good news” is nice to hear.
- What’s not working? Take a big picture approach here. It takes forever to get things done because I can’t easily find what I need, so I work a lot of overtime.
- What items are most essential to you? What do you need to have at hand? What papers represent the crux of your business?
- Why do you want to get organized? These are the benefits you will derive from an organized office/desk: less anxiety, more energy for work, more room for work.
- What’s causing the problems? Some of the most common sources of office clutter: inconvenient or insufficient storage, no designated “home” for things, perception of not enough time to get or stay organized.
The next step is to strategize how to approach the things that are not working and their underlying problems. There are dozens of organization methods and systems; one might be just right for you, or you may be best served by mixing and matching ideas. In addition to Morgenstern’s, here are some books to consult for ideas:
For many, the biggest problem lies in maintaining an organizational system. Stephanie Winston, author of Organized for Success, studied the habits of a cross-section of high-level executives across the United States and recommends a relentless, laser-focused approach to processing paperwork—and even electronic communication—so that it doesn’t build up:
- Toss it (Delete, if electronic)
- Refer it (Forward)
- Act on it personally
- File it (Archive)
To arrive at any kind of a sustaining system, Morgenstern writes, it’s important to understand and work with or around psychological obstacles to a clutter-free environment.
These may include:
- Unclear goals and priorities. Organizing is about defining what’s important and setting up a system to reflect that.
- Fear of success/fear of failure. Disorganization may be a convenient way to hold back.
- Need to retreat. Clutter can be a protective shield to keep others at a safe distance.
- Fear of losing creativity. A common myth is that creative, “right-brained” people need to work in chaos to produce high-quality work. Balderdash!
- Need for distraction. Clutter can provide a convenient excuse to avoid uncomfortable issues or unwanted tasks.
- Need for perfection. Often, people won’t deal with clutter until it can be done perfectly. Translation: It will never get done.
Identifying these obstacles to an organized office and work-life can go a long way toward creating an effective, lasting solution to clutter and disorganization. Along the way, you might just find yourself fulfilling your potential.
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TRANSITION LEADS TO TRANSFORMATION
“Don’t let the fear of falling keep you from flying.”
— Unknown
The one constant in life is change, and with change comes transition. For me, and many of my friends and clients, we have found ourselves in the theme of transition…and while much of it was seemingly forced upon us, all of it can be taken with a positive and grateful mindset to make that transformation one of good. Whether you are changing jobs or positions, moving somewhere new, embarking on life-changing endeavors, or letting go of something after many years, remember: it is transition that leads to transformation.
Let’s take the analogy of skydiving; it is when we are in a transition that we are most completely alive. Transitioning is similar to jumping out of a plane, especially if the idea scares the living daylights out of you. To those that jump, no explanation is necessary; to those that don’t jump, no explanation is possible. From that first moment when you jump from the plane into the expanse of the sky, you are solely in charge of your life.
Skydivers have full control over their parachutes, just as we have the power to respond to or react to our situations, make good choices, and determine the next steps to lead us to where we are headed. Skydivers have to trust their skills and equipment, know the atmosphere, and pull the right chords. How well are you tracking the air currents? Do you know which chords to draw in response to changing conditions?
There are many suggestions out there for different stages of transformation. While many of them are valid, I feel a simplified, three-point ideology resonates most with me:
Realize
The “aha” moment. The beginning of a big change feels like a stirring inside of you, one which you are simultaneously fascinated and petrified by. This stirring is a small voice deep inside that tells us about ourselves and our decisions.
This is standing on the edge of the plane, simultaneously wondering, “What the eff am I doing?!” and thinking, “This is amazing, I cannot wait.”
Release
This stage is characterized by uncomfortable growth, shedding and self-reflection. Remember that proverbial “bag” I talked about packing when entering a New Year? That ties directly into this notion of release. When we are faced with shifts within ourselves, our career or livelihood in general, it is so common to feel a longing for the comfort that was. That feeling of uncertainty needs to be the exact one that encourages you to shed what no longer serves you: relationships, identities, dependencies, business practices, etc, so that you can grow and create space for your refresh.
In the transition from the free fall, we need to lead with our strengths and draw from experiences to stay on course. Transition is the process of changing from one state or condition to another. Transformation is a marked change in form, nature or appearance. Subtle, yet important differences.
Now is the time to be mindful, to pay attention in a particular way: on purpose, in the present moment, and non-judgmentally. If you force understanding during this process, you create a heavy load and waste your energy. There is a time to guide and a time to let go or wait and watch. Transformation is the drop zone or the end of the transition, sometimes you can’t see it clearly; it is right under you, but you aren’t there yet. You don’t know what this is going to be, but you know that it is exciting to experience something new, being at the forefront.
Reinvent
You’ve accepted that change is happening, and you’ve taken steps to make space for it, and now this empty space begs to be filled with new choices, behaviors and purposeful and productive habits. You can now rise above any previous hesitations and begin to trust the process and your power to take it in any direction that you want. Rather than focusing on the negative thoughts of “Why is this happening to me?” or “What can I do to get back to normal?” you can instead begin to think, “How can I contribute to making a positive impact?”, “What can I do to move forward?” and “I will be successful because I am prepared for it.”
Transitioning does not come without having to adapt and modify as you descend towards your goal, the drop zone, to land safely on your feet in a clear, open area, free of hazards. As in any transition, you have to adjust and pivot to the next place on your own two feet. It is these adjustments that help to guide you to where you need to be. Whether on a small or incomprehensibly grand scale, we all go through it; change is inevitable. Even if the transformation is unintentional or forced upon us, there is still opportunity to intentionally transform and grow into what you want. Take charge of your professional development as you navigate the challenges of transitioning from an individual contributor to a leader. Through realizing, releasing and reinventing, we can set firm intentions to become better leaders, better business owners, stronger communicators, and simply more healthy and powerful versions of ourselves.
Whether on a small or incomprehensibly grand scale, we all go through it; change is inevitable. Even if the transformation is unintentional or forced upon us, there is still opportunity to intentionally transform and grow into what you want. Take charge of your professional development as you navigate the challenges of transitioning from an individual contributor to a leader. Through realizing, releasing and reinventing, we can set firm intentions to become better leaders, better business owners, stronger communicators, and simply more healthy and powerful versions of ourselves.
Perhaps many of you have noticed, I too have been in the space of transformation. I have been working on adapting my business and myself within this transformation. You cannot pivot into a whole new world in one big step. You must take small steps to realize this massive makeover. I am learning to be patient with the process and trust that each step forward is creating a new and better opportunity. These past few months have been taking me on a journey that has felt, at times, scary and overwhelming, incredibly exciting and rejuvenating as its all-new.
From a website facelift to downright terrifying social media presence, learning new systems and platforms, and overall putting myself out there more, I have realized myself as a bold and integrative business coach. I have built a strong foundation that the relationship between you and your business is symbiotic. For your business to excel, all facets of life must be addressed to reach your highest success. These beliefs are emphasized by my strongest core value: gratitude. Over the past several months, this transition has brought renewed and new connections, new clients, new experiences and new aspirations.
What will your transition bring you?
How can I help shift your mindset, and utilize your talents and abilities to seek the changes you want in your life? How can I help you move forward, to push past what is holding you back? Now is the time to find your alignment and your solutions so that you can take action.
Keep making it happen,
Arianne
P.S. Part of the reason I’ve been able to move towards my own transformation is by taking risks to seek the assistance I need where I am not the strongest. By partnering with the right people, I have made myself resistant and durable, like Tyvek 😉
“Bringing a coach on your personal support team is one of the strongest moves you can make to assist you on your life journey, career to clear, expand and transform…and it’s a lot of fun, too.”
| Never work just for money or for power. They won’t save your soul or help you sleep at night.” — Marian Wright Edelman |
REIGNITE YOUR ENERGY
| How many times have you been told to “follow your passion”? We’re told this time and time again throughout life. While the path to find your passion is entirely subjective, some things do help navigate this age old buzz phrase. What has me excited about this time is how people are positively pivoting in all sorts of ways to make the best of a not-so-ideal time. There is so much innovation going on all around us that I feel I am witnessing the industrial revolution right before my eyes (one of my favorite topics as a Modern European Historian). I am someone who sees that there is a positivity in covidity. I have been continuously impressed with what people are doing to move through, and how driven they are to succeed, during a time of uncertainty. Over the past twenty-five years in my career and life, I have worked with many solopreneurs, small businesses, and professionals, who at some point, sense a creeping malaise in their chosen work. What I am seeing all around me is how many have reignited their passions. But still, the question for many remains: How do we pursue our passion? Passion is not something one finds, but rather,it is something to be developed. What I once loved to do isn’t what I love anymore. What I had thought was my interest and expertise is not something I want to do anymore. Now what? Let’s face it, after 10, 20, 30 years of all-too-familiar work: you’re good at your job. However, you might not feel challenged or particularly satisfied. Bosses can be unpleasant, your favorite project is scuttled, and work starts to stagnate. Perhaps you’re feeling overwhelmed because running your own business is a lot of work: covering for employees who don’t show up, functioning for managers who don’t have all of the skills honed in, etc. You may feel like you’ve been reduced to reports, meetings or are experiencing Zoom fatigue. You are, subsequently, living a little less because of it all. When your job is no longer enjoyable or meaningful, your energy sags, motivation lags, tasks go undone, and you make mistakes. You think about switching jobs – about how your passion would be a great business plan. These thoughts are scary and risky and are often shoved under the rug, but on the quest for passion, a common misconception is that it is fixed. Passion is not something we discover or happen upon; instead, it is something that takes time to develop, along with skills, confidence, and relationships. If you’re one of those who quickly dismiss creeping stagnation, pay attention. The longer you ignore the warning hints that your career lacks passion, the worse it can get. Reemerge and reignite your energy. Coaching for passion Staying in a job that’s going nowhere, filled with mind-numbing work, can mean resigning yourself to a lack of growth and meaning. It doesn’t have to be that way. Not if you’re working with a coach. It may be time to explore work/life issues of purpose and meaning. Loss of passion is one of the primary reasons to utilize a coach’s perspective. Most coaches will advise you to look inward before making a drastic decision to change your career or business path. What if the problem lies — along with solutions — somewhere inside you? If so, you can change your thinking, beliefs, or engagement level as you strive to make work more meaningful. Now is an excellent time to review your values and purpose with your coach. You may be surprised by your answers to simple questions such as: “How did work used to excited you?” and “Identify your core values”. Tap back into your early enthusiasm. Rekindle your drive to reignite your energy. Know your strengths Few people are well aware of their strengths. With a coach, you can take advantage of the opportunity to take some assessments. Assessments provide a snapshot to see where your pulse is, identify and apply your greatest strengths, and elevate your energy around what you do or want to do. The wisest people use their feelings of malaise to find out what drives them, their strengths and use coaching to rekindle their spirits. Learn about your strengths through feedback from others. Spend the most energy on developing strengths instead of focusing on weaknesses. The key to knowing yourself well is to receive feedback from peers, formal assessments, or a mentor or coach. Self-knowledge is essential. In business, nobody will manage your career if you don’t. How can you rekindle the passion for the work you do and/or the business you run? Try to connect with your values and highest purpose every time you walk into the office, chat with a client or coworker, and even complete routine tasks like paperwork. Don’t allow yourself to fall into a zombie-like routine and forget what you love doing and are good at making happen. Reignite your energy and remind yourself: This is why I’m here. In an ideal world, we’d all be working with passion in jobs that bring out our strengths and talents to achieve the greatest good in organizations and the world. But that doesn’t always happen the way we envision. Ultimately, it’s up to each of us to go where we can develop and express our strengths if we genuinely want to make a difference.Being aware of this and talking with your coach before you conclude that you need to redesign your career, change fields, or pursue reduced workloads is essential. Try to find your passion, doing work that is truly meaningful and satisfying. Does passion make you fearful? It’s easier to talk about what you want to do than actually do it. We can plan for an endless amount of hypothetical ideas, but unless we take action, its all pointless. What do you need to pursue your passion? Keep making it happen, Arianne |
Halloween—the entire month of October in fact—has become a time of spooky, scary, and creepy excitement. Halloween is one of my favorite holidays; I love carving pumpkins, roasting the seeds, and finding the perfect costume. I delight in answering the door for all the trick-or-treaters and seeing the vast array of costumes, and I finding extra joy in handing out something tasty (meaning, not a box of raisins). One of my favorite parts of Halloween is attending music festivals and seeing everyone dancing their socks off in their best costumes. Regardless of how you celebrate Halloween this year, it will undoubtedly be different from the norm for all of us.
In honor of this monthly theme, I thought it would be fun to share some of the scariest things that I see business owners do. Hopefully, you and your business can avoid these haunting experiences and go from fright to fortune.
#1 Spook: Lack of prioritizing / self-discipline
This is a slippery slope to slide down when accountability falls solely on you. Because you are your own boss and calling the shots, you can take time off whenever you feel like it. When these absences are unplanned, you’ll likely have to play catch up when you return due to time management and planning failure.
Not-so-scary solutions:
- Be realistic about your deadlines and goals.
- Overestimate the time it will take to accomplish each task, as we often underestimate our ability to get it done.
- Note how long a job took to become more aware of your time.
#2 Scare: Not establishing good habits and routines
Not-so-scary solutions:
#3 Creep: Falling behind in bookkeeping and tracking
Not-so-scary solutions:
Be prepared for a rainy day: Keep a safety net of two months of operating costs. COVID-19 likely depleted these funds. Force yourself to rebuild!
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Life starts all over again when it gets crisp in the fall.
—F. Scott Fitzgerald
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Dan Sullivan (founder of Strategic Coach) published an article called the “Scary Times” Success Manual at the height of the financial crisis. He proposed ten mind shifts that I think are just as relevant today as they were then:
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Reconnect, Realign, and Focus this Fall Season!
photo courtesy of Mike McGuire
OWN YOUR TRUE SELF, YOUR CAREER AND YOUR BUSINESS
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