How do you perform when the heat is on?
Read on for a delicious recipe for success…

It’s September, and along with the seasonal falling leaves and school supplies on sale, farmer’s markets are starting to deliver the fall harvest. This time of year, I make a lot of soup.

While standing at the stove a few days ago, I realized that organizational life is a lot like a pot of soup. Allow me to elaborate…

First, we can think of our team members like the soup ingredients. Different people bring different “flavors” and “qualities” to our work life. For example, hot chili peppers add a “zing” to a pot of soup, while walnut or sesame oil can add a “nutty” flavor that is irresistible! Think about your work team. Who adds that necessary zing? Who contributes a nuttiness that keeps everyone balanced and in good humor?

Further, like soup ingredients, some folks blend together easily, creating flavors that are better together than on their own. When we combine people with differing talents and abilities, we have the potential of creating unique “flavors” that are impossible to produce using only one ingredient at a time. At work, this is synergy, and it nourishes us.

Some of our team members will have greater impact on our work life then others. Like beets, when you add them to soup, they color everything. (This is great, if your recipe calls for beets, and not so great when it doesn’t.) If you are a leader, remember to add “the beets” to the projects where they are most useful and appreciated.

Some team members will bring out the best in others. Just like adding a touch of salt will enhance other ingredients in a pot of soup, these people are wonderful at pulling forth the best in others. They help to motivate us and keep us focused and working as a team.

Finally, remember the heat. Flavors can blend together wonderfully when heated properly. Some ingredients and recipes require searing heat while others emerge through a slow simmer. In our work life, the heat can be many things such as a deadline, or the introduction of a new competitor into your marketplace, or the implementation of a new system or procedure, or a product launch.

Remember that we need to prepare for heat. When making soup, for instance, we chop our root vegetables to uniform size for even cooking. Similarly, we need to prepare our team members for working under pressure. We need to make sure they have the right tools and support to excel.

We also need to know when to turn the heat off. Soup will burn if the heat is left on too long. Our teams will burn out if they do not have some reprieve from the heat. Remember to take time to “cool off” and rejuvenate after a “hot spell.”

In general, if you’d like your organizational life to blend together like a perfect pot of soup, keep these tips in mind…

• Select the best ingredients to have on hand (hire the best!)
• Be clear about the recipe you are trying to create (keep your team oriented to the vision and goals of the current project and situation)
• Blend the right ingredients to create the outcome you want (pick the right people for the right jobs)
• Turn on the heat. (help your team focus on achievable outcomes)
• Turn off the heat. (refresh and rejuvenate after each deadline and project)
• Serve and celebrate (make sure to celebrate milestones, thank your team for their contributions and spread the word of work well done!)

And here is my favorite tip…
• Share your recipe for success with others!

Enjoy this wonderful season!

Claire Laughlin

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Claire Laughlin
Cabrillo College Extension
Corporate Training
phone: 831-662-8138
Fax: 831-662-8264

Freedom and Interdependence
It’s July. A month to celebrate our freedom!

Freedom of expression is one of our most cherished freedoms in this country. We revel in the fact that we can ultimately say what we want, when we want – with very few exceptions.

While most everyone uses this freedom responsibly, we all have moments when we exercise this freedom to the detriment of our relationships – moments when we forget that the choices we make create the texture of our relationships and therefore contribute greatly to our future experiences.

For example, handing out insults creates the conditions for defensiveness in relationships. When I feel insulted, I am very likely to “protect” myself from further injury by responding defensively or by ceasing to listen openly.

In contrast, compliments and praise create the conditions for connection and also for replication of positive action. When I hear a compliment I want to respond by repeating the action that elicited the compliment!

Let me give you another example. I recently observed a group trying to come to a decision about an important matter where the people involved had very different opinions about how to proceed. At a critical moment, one of the participants made an offensive remark to another at the table. This remark caused an immediate division of the group into 2 “camps.” It was a move that caused the entire group to temporarily lose their ability to negotiate effectively.

I use this example because it shows one person exercising their freedom to express themselves at the cost of others. While the offender was impassioned, his choice to resort to an insult did NOT yield a better negotiating position for him in the long run. From this view, he actually impeded his own ability to succeed.

This example illustrates how much we need to balance freedom of expression with the understanding of interdependence. Every time we communicate in relationship with others, we invite reciprocation and create interdependence. When we are aware of these patterns of interdependence, we can develop the ability to communicate in a way that brings more harmony into our relationships and our world.

While freedom of expression is a cornerstone of our way of being here in America, and one that I would never want to give up, in the final assessment, we benefit from balancing this freedom with personal responsibility and an understanding of interdependence.

Happy July!!

Claire Laughlin

How to Harness the Power of Possibility!
It’s June! At schools around the country, students and their families are preparing for graduation. The air is filled with excitement! The intrigue of a fresh start and the allure of the unknown are palpable. The Power of Possibility is present.

As a communication teacher, I know that there are ways to create this sense of excitement and possibility in the words that we choose. Our words shape our experience, so when we speak in positive terms about our future we are essentially accessing the power of possibility. We are reminding ourselves that positive futures are ours for the creating.

The more we practice using positive language, the more positive our impact will be on others. We’ve all been there. You remember the soccer coach who told you that you could do it when you were in doubt? Or the grandmother who always reminded you that you could do anything you set your mind to? These words of encouragement are just one form of positive communication.

Here are a few simple tips to help you harness the power of possibility in your words. Speak “Yes Language”- when you talk about the future, talk about what can happen. This ability to frame things in the positive leaves your listeners with a sense of what IS possible. For example, instead of saying, “I cannot come to the meeting this week,” which focuses on what cannot happen, try something like this: “next week I have Tuesday and Thursday open for meetings.”

Likewise, instead of saying, “I am too busy to take on new projects.” You might try, “My life is full right now. I’ll take on new projects once I complete a few of my current tasks.” This will help you remember that your life is full of choice, and it will allow your listeners to experience a sense of hopefulness and possibility when they listen to you.

This concept also works well when you speak with others. When you hear a colleague say, “I just don’t think we can make our sales goal this month,” you might reply, “What do you think we can do at this point to make it happen?” In that, you are looking toward the future and asking, “what is possible?”

Or, when you are dealing with a frustrating situation, instead of focusing your attention on the part of the situation that is frustrating, think to yourself, “what outcome would I like to see?” Sometimes, just changing our focus gives us the positive outlook that we need in order to find a new, and more satisfying outcome.

Recently, a colleague and I were trying to set up some technology for a presentation. It wasn’t going well. My colleague was very frustrated and kept repeating, “I just don’t know what to do about this. It doesn’t look like it is going to work.” I found myself feeling more and more defeated. Finally, I said, “let’s figure out a plan B. If this isn’t going to work, what else can we do to make the presentation a success?” This got us focused on a new direction. (Eventually, we got the help we needed and made it work!)

The future is yours to create. Use positive words in your conversations and you (and others) will experience a greater sense of hope and personal power. You will harness the power of possibility! Try it today and feel the difference.

Happy Summer!

Claire
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Claire Laughlin
Cabrillo College Extension
Corporate Training
Home office: 831-662-8138
Cell: 831-239-8483
Fax: 831-662-8264

Happy Employees Lead to Greater Profits!

We all know instinctively that if we work in a positive work environment then we will be happier and better able to make positive contributions to business. But did you know that a happier work environment also leads to greater profits?

When your workplace is service based, then a positive work environment supports better external and internal customer relationships and greater customer loyalty.

When your workplace is product based, a positive work environment supports better product quality and better customer relations.

Our instincts have been confirmed by a recent study done at the Wharton School of Business by professor Alex Edmans. Edmans says that “pleasant working conditions can lead to employees identifying with the firm, and thus exerting more effort than the minimum required by the employment contract. Moreover, it can be a powerful method of retaining key employees.”

Further, Edmans shows that companies that have an enjoyable and supportive work environment (those included on Fortune’s “100 Best Companies to Work for in America”), earn more than double the returns compared to the overall market.* (Edmans is careful to point out that other factors, like great management, may also contribute.)

This sounds like a terrific reason to continue building a positive work place! What if we could have happy employees AND greater financial rewards! What could be better?

Here are a few tips for making your workplace a “Great Place to Work.”

1. Take personal responsibility. The communication patterns in every environment (and relationship) are a product of the choices each person makes moment to moment. Remember that it is OUR choice to speak kindly or defensively. No matter what the circumstance, we all ultimately have choices about the ways that we communicate. We can choose to listen instead of speak, ask instead of tell, and smile instead of frown. We can also choose to be present instead of distracted, and to remain interested instead of bored.
   
2. Be patient. Communication patterns happen BETWEEN people, and we can only change our side of the equation. The good news is that when we DO change, other people around us will adapt to our new style. If our communication becomes less defensive and more kind and compassionate, others will adapt to our style and the patterns in our relationships will evolve for the better.
   
3. Be curious. One way to immediately improve our communication is to bring curiosity into all that we do. Instead of going through the day with an “I already know the answer” attitude, we need to remind ourselves that life unfolds moment to moment and that if we remain curious, we always have opportunities to learn.
   
4. Be diligent. Communication patterns are HABIT FORMING. If we want to change a habit, we need to practice. Be diligent. Practice good listening, curiosity and being positive everyday, and you will feel the difference!

Please send me an e-mail if you would like more information about the ways we can help you build a more positive work environment.

Have a great day!

Claire Laughlin

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Claire Laughlin
Cabrillo College Extension
Corporate Training
phone: 831-662-8138
Fax: 831-662-8264

For a thorough summary of the article, go to…
http://knowledge.wharton.upenn.edu/article.cfm?articleid=1873

To download a copy of Edmans’ original paper, go to…
http://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm?abstract_id=985735

For more information on Claire and the other consultants who work for Cabrillo Corporate Training, please visit our consultants page. *click here*

For more information about the programs we offer that will help you build a positive workplace, please see our list of courses. *click here*

“The Boiling Frog”
January 1, 2008.

Apparently, though I have not tried this myself, if you put a frog in a pot of boiling water, he will jump out. If you put a frog in a pot of cool water and slowly raise the temperature to boiling, he will boil right along with the water and you will have one poached frog*.

I have seen it time and again. Participants leave our training classes excited and enthusiastic and full of commitment to make changes in their leadership style or work habits based on the things they learned in class. Their eyes are bright and they have action plans in hand.

And time and again, they go back to work, and they DO make changes. But, over time, the water gets hotter and hotter – in imperceptible increments perhaps – and some time later, they feel like they are “back where they started.” The water is boiling, and there they are, boiling right along with it. Despite all good intentions and knowledge, habits get the better of them.

Sometimes I hear my training participants saying, “I tried this last year, but it didn’t stick.” (This I call “the boiling frog syndrome.”) There are two important things to consider to help make new habits stick.

First, change takes place slowly and with practice. Each time you try to use a new skill, you create a pathway that makes that same skill easier to use the next time. So if you tried it last year and it didn’t “stick,” then congratulations!!! You are one step closer than you were before you tried it at all!

Second, we cannot possibly be good at everything we try to do at all times. Our focus must shift from one skill to the next over time. One month I may be fantastically organized, but the following month, my organizational skill gives way to greater creativity. A year later, I am re-focused on organizing, and I find new and better ways to get, and stay, more organized.

So keep up the good work. If you can re-focus yourself from time to time and try to NOT boil along with the water, that is a worthy goal!

All the best to you as you start your 2008!

Claire Laughlin

*no animals were harmed in the writing of this story.