Pause E-zines

REFLECTION: Love Leadership. It’s an odd juxtaposition of words not commonly paired together. And, no, it doesn’t describe how to take the lead in improving life with your significant other. Love Leadership – What The World Needs Now is the title of a book on organizational leadership authored by Gregg Cochlan. 

In short, Gregg’s message is that in contrast to the old-style command and control style of leadership, letting colleagues know they are loved and cared for is a major step towards driving fearfulness out of the workplace. When fearfulness ‘leaves the building’, people no longer tremble in the corner or cower in their boots, preoccupied with assuring their own safety. Instead, they face challenges and step forward with confidence. As a result, performance, engagement, and satisfaction grow significantly. (more…)

REFLECTION: A recent survey of 956 employed Canadians commissioned by ADP and conducted by Environics found that one in five Canadians are working harder than ever, skipping lunch, and putting in longer hours just to keep up. 

The survey also found that four in ten employees, who are putting in extra hours but not being compensated, are finding creative ways to reward themselves: leaving early, working at a more leisurely pace, faking being sick, taking longer lunch breaks, arriving late, etc. The survey calls these behaviors self-remuneration. 

I firmly believe that finding ways to take care of ourselves in the midst of the busyness is a healthy approach at any time. I call that self-preservation. That said, I’m neither a supporter nor advocate of lies and deception – like faking illness or taking advantage. 

Still, sometimes all may not be as it seems. (more…)

REFLECTION: In a recent discussion about the ins and outs of working with colleagues, one individual described her frustration with the delegation habits of her boss. 

The boss is a bona-fide procrastinator who seems spurred into action only by an imminent deadline, or the end of the week. When 3:00 on Friday afternoon rolls around, he is suddenly inspired to churn his way through the paperwork before the weekend arrives. And, of course, the fallout from his frenzy of activity lands on his assistant’s desk just minutes before closing time – often accompanied by urgent requests that things go out before the weekend. As a result she ends up staying late on Fridays to handle these last minute tasks.

To say the assistant is growing tired of the game is an understatement. Her frustration level is high, but apparently not quite as high as her level of fearfulness. (more…)

REFLECTION: Andrew Cawood, the CIO at Neilsen (the multinational marketing, trend tracking company) started the new year with a burr under his saddle (or a bug in his bonnet) over the efficiency-sapping impact of the Reply All email function. So determined is Cawood to shape up the email misbehaviour of Neilsen employees that he has order the Reply All function to be eliminated from the company’s Outlook software.

Now, most of us have been victims at one time or another of the over zealous copying of messages –  reluctant recipients of missives in which we had little or no interest whatsoever. Still, as tempted as I am to cheer Cawood’s decisive declaration, I doubt whether it will be all that effective.

After all, even without the Reply All option, misguided thoughtless souls can easily continue to torment others by adding them to Distribution Lists and popping the group addresses into the cc or bcc line of the message. For better or for worse, there are always fixes and work-arounds. (more…)

REFLECTION: When I first started writing and speaking about the power of pause and its ability to restore a rhythm of renewal to life, I discovered a couple of common objections.

First, people would immediately assume that pausing meant coming to a complete halt, seeking solitary confinement, and doing absolutely nothing. Wrong. Pausing really means stepping away from what drains your energy and engaging in something that fills your tank. Some times, for some people, solitude and silence do the trick; for others that approach just drives them crazy.

Secondly, people thought they needed to commit a BIG chunk of time to pausing for it to have any significant benefit. Wrong. Even a few seconds to reset the shoulders or the reset mindset can make a major difference in the flow of the day. (more…)

REFLECTION: So here we are in Vancouver, strolling along the walkway on English Bay near the Sylvia Hotel, headed to catch a ferry to Granville Island. Although it’s an overcast day and a bit on the cool side, there’s no rain and very little wind. It’s a great day to be alive and a fabulous day to be at liberty.

No sooner do I lift my eyes to the sky in appreciation, than … whack…smack…splat!  I’m assaulted full on (hair, cheek, chin, and neck) by a king-sized slimy torpedo of sea gull poop.

Apparently the gull was travelling at Mach One. The impact resembled a high-velocity stealth attack with a soaking wet dishrag. Any of you who recall having fought with siblings while you were supposed to be washing the supper dishes know exactly what I’m talking about!

It took me by surprise, to say the least. Sure, I’d noticed there were plenty of gulls in the air and pigeons in the trees. The possibility that one of them might have a contract out on me had never crossed my mind. (more…)

REFLECTION: Whose responsibility is it to create reasonable life and work loads? Yours, mine, ours or somebody else’s?

It’s a good question and one that was raised by a Pause reader who observed that some people deal with overload head on and try to change the situation by talking with superiors. Others believe that overload is just the way things are, and set out to try to do it all.

In the reader’s opinion, it’s a two way street. Others aren’t always going to know you, or know what you are capable of at the moment. So they may test capacity by pushing a certain amount, to get the best out of you, to move you beyond your boundaries. Still, when the load becomes too heavy for too long, its detrimental to performance and relationships.

And that’s when each one of us has to take responsibility and voice when it’s just too much. (more…)

REFLECTION: This week’s Pause message is a bit of a departure from the usual directions. Dave and I are taking a mid winter break, spending a few days in Vancouver, celebrating our 35th wedding anniversary.( I know! I know! Where did that time go?)

Normally, I’d take a break from Pause on an occasion like this, but when I posted last week’s message, giving notice slipped my mind.

So here we are. You’re expecting your regular Wednesday message, and I’m committed to delivering one.

As I walked the seawall around Stanley Park, I pondered what to write about – eventually settling on what we’re focused on this weekend – celebrating relationship.

35 years is a long time for any kind of partnership – marriage, business, or otherwise. And, for what it’s worth, here are ten of the relationship lessons we’ve learned so far. (more…)

REFLECTION: If you were running late in the morning and grabbed something to eat on the drive to work, how many of you would choose a bowl of milk and cereal? Not exactly top of list for a mobile snack, is it?

I’m guessing one Ontario woman wishes she hadn’t made that choice herself. Earlier this winter this cheerio scooping driver lost control on an icy highway, crashing into the roadside guideposts. Police found her – safe but embarrassed – covered in milk and cereal.

Her experience is one more – thankfully not tragic – example of what happens when we choose to multitask in thoughtless, irresponsible ways.

In his recent book, Dave Crenshaw explodes what he calls the ‘Myth of Multitasking’. Crenshaw maintains that multitasking is neither a reality nor efficient. (more…)

REFLECTION: A couple of months ago, I headed off to the physiotherapist with a complaint about a sore hip that was causing me to walk with a peg leg motion. To ace my pirate impersonation,  all I needed was a black patch over my eye and a parrot on my shoulder.

By the time I finished describing my symptoms to my very talented physio, she had zeroed in directly on the problem. Turns out the source of the pain wasn’t the hip at all – but a tightening of the deep muscles and ligaments than run under the glutes referring the pain down the leg.

The treatment? Twenty minutes of serious assault using the heel of her hand and point of her elbow – followed up over the next two weeks by regular self torture treatments with a tennis ball (very hi tech!) – and intermittent relief from an ice pack carried in the back pocket of my jeans. Ipso facto! Cured … at least for the time being.

I know! I know! That’s probably more than you wanted to hear! So, why am I telling you this?

Because I’ve noted in many situations  – physical and otherwise – that sometimes what we think is going on is not really what’s happening at all. (more…)