How Often Do You Recognize Your Strengths? 💪🏼
A weekly roundup of the latest future of work and conscious leadership news and insights
At one of the training modules for my coaching certification program, we were each instructed to reach out to people we know and trust and ask them for three things they admire about us. The response to the exercise was remarkable. Some fellow coaches cried as they shared the deeply moving things people shared with them. Others were shocked at the qualities their friends, family and coworkers recognized—things that person had never realized they possess.
So often our internal gremlins block us from seeing our unique strengths. But we each have those attributes and qualities that no one else has in the same exact combination and package. It’s one of the things I love most about coaching: uncovering, acknowledging and burnishing those internal strengths. It’s like finding a diamond in the rough you have buried in your heart; you just need to pull it out, polish it up and let it shine.
Harvard Business Review recently published a fantastic article about this topic. Author Dan Cable recommends everyone develop their own personal highlight reel. You know that video companies create for annual meetings to jazz up the team, or to show off their accomplishments and impress potential clients? You can create one of those for yourself. And it doesn’t need to be a video; it can be a compilation of texts, emails, or voice notes. You can refer to this collection anytime you’re feeling discouraged or need a reminder of your unique qualities.
As Cable notes in his article, it’s a humbling and empowering experience to have others recognize and share how they appreciate you. So why not make it reciprocal? Send a note of gratitude to a coworker and then ask them what they admire about you.
As a conscious leader, consider how you can facilitate this kind of recognition and gratitude in your own team. It’s a powerful way to encourage each team member individually, but also foster team building by expressing gratitude to each other. Cable states it best: “Using your unique strengths gives you the power to improve not just your own life, but the lives of those around you.”
I’m always humbled and grateful for the feedback I receive from those I coach. Their testimonials confirm for me that coaching is my calling and every minute I invest in improving my coaching skills contributes to the success and happiness of each person I coach. It’s important to share with others the impact they have on our lives and work so we can express gratitude, but also so they can benefit from the encouragement.
So who will you send a note to this week? 📨
Here is some of the future of work and conscious leadership content I found interesting this week:
HR Drive shares how the right leaders can ease employees’ COVID stress. Conscious leaders already know that attending to employees’ emotional needs is a critical element of building strong conscious teams. Recent studies now verify it.
PR Daily challenges leaders to consider investing in Employee Resource Groups (ERG) to bring more diversity and harmony to companies. Author Theresa Welbourne shares some valuable insights about the need for healthy energetic “collisions” in the workplace and how building diverse teams generates powerful energy individually and collectively. Twitter is seeing so much benefit from ERGs, they are paying group leaders for their work.
Harvard Business Review recommends how to handle employee conflict over the U.S. Election. Conscious leaders know that we need to build a world where those with differing opinions can come together and have healthy, productive conversations. This article provides some specific tools for facilitating such conversations.
Fast Company shares the difference between productivity and attention management. Time and attention are our most valuable resources. Instead of looking just at temporary productivity hacks or tricks, take a step back and help your team learn the skill of attention management to reach goals.
Work happy. Live happy. BE happy.
Meredith
Meredith’s coaching helps conscious leaders step courageously into the future of work. Contact her to develop your conscious leadership and transform your organization into the workplace of the future.
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