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Currently viewing "human performance" entries. View all entries.
Scott Sonnon: Flipping Challenges & Problems Into Assets - The Positivity Project
Posted March 12, 2013
The Positivity Project - Monday and Thursday Evenings - 7:00-8:15pm (EST) - March 4 - May 2
Note From Jim:
Great stuff! I gained great knowledge from Scott Sonnon last night. Thanks Scott!!! Among other concepts this included Scott's four point method for turning negatives into positives (Awareness, Gratefulness, Kindness, Diligence); how to flip a problem into an asset; and strategies to reduce stress, heighten focus, and increase composure through breathing.
...
back to topTalent Development Question: Setbacks & Resiliency- "What good can we make of this?" - A Mother's Thoughtful, Loving, and Change-Empowering Query
Posted March 13, 2013
Talent Development Question: Setbacks & Resiliency- "What good can we make of this?" - A Mother's Thoughtful, Loving, and Change-Empowering Query
Note From Jim:
Talent development coach Wally Bock comments that growth, understanding, and change are powered by STRUGGLE and that when it comes to talent development, we must better prepare ourselves and our people for growing from ADVERSITY.
In the spirit of my post of yesterday sharing insights spoken by Scott Sonnon (Flip Challenges Into Assets), i... back to top
How to Give a Meaningful Apology - HBR
Posted March 14, 2013
Note From Jim:
Have your behaviors offended or upset someone recently, a superior, subordinate, peer, life partner, child, parent, sibling, relative, friend, or neighbor? If you're human, the answer is probably "yes".
Did you extend a meaningful apology, one that made a difference? This is a nuanced topic of course, but it seems that there are essential components that make for a meaningful apology, one that leads to a path of healing. How well do you follow the model detailed by psy... back to top
What can you do about emotional manipulators?
Posted March 18, 2013
Note From Jim:
Do you have an emotional manipulator in your midst? Be calm. Don’t fall pray to their tactics. They can be verbally abusive, cunning, insulting, and ready to make you feel guilty. They typically work you over slowly, training you over time to act on their will. Do you know how to deal with them tactfully, calmly, and to hold them accountable?
Access Joyce Russell’s article appearing in the Washington Post (link below). Joyce is vice dean and the dir... back to top
Can a 500-year-old, 5-minute technique help you manage your day - How the Pope Does Mindfulness - Fast Company
Posted March 22, 2013
Note From Jim
As described by writer Drake Baer, the new Pope is a Jesuit, a sect of Catholicism that emphasizes education and awareness. This sect calls on it’s followers to practice mindfulness twice daily for the purpose of examining one’s state of mind.
Access Drake’s quick and insightful article below. To tickle your curiosity, see excerpts.
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How The Pope Does Mindfulness
Can a 500-year-old, 5-minute technique help you manage your day (Catholicism not required)?
<... back to topHow Well Do You Manage Your 'Highly-Creatives'?
Posted April 3, 2013
NOTE FROM JIM
Dr. Tomas Chamorro-Premuzic is an international authority in personality profiling and psychometric testing. Tomas’ recent HBR article offers some counterintuitive insights about managing and retaining those hard-to-find, highly creative types, who generally speaking, are not conformists.
Tom offers seven effective tips. Consider measuring your actions in managing ‘highly creatives’ against Tom’s seven rules.
To entice your curiosity see the excerpts ... back to top
Manage Your Bullies Well
Posted April 4, 2013
NOTE FROM JIM
How well do you navigate bullying and toxic behavior, be it from managers, subordinates, colleagues, clients, board directors, investors, or from those in your personal life? Yes, those emotional manipulators. You’ve had a few of them in your life, no?
Do you let them loose your composure or take you by surprise? How have you responded? What best to do?
Each of us is responsible for our own behavior regardless of circumstance. There will always be others around us who don't. Don't take ... back to top
Without Mindfulness, Our Strengths Can Become Our Weaknesses
Posted April 5, 2013
NOTE FROM JIM
Research evaluated by authors Robert B. Kaiser and Robert E. Kaplan reveals that each of our strengths can be taken too far, to the point of compromising our performance. How could this be?
Find out! Learn how to mitigate this tendency, the tendency that leads our strengths to become our weaknesses, by accessing the Kaiser/Kaplan HBR post.
To entice your curiosity I've left you with some excerpts. Read the full article to gain great benefit.
***
Don't Let Your Strengths Become Your ...
back to topWhat's Your Dominant Motivational Focus: Promotion Vs. Prevention?
Posted April 9, 2013
NOTE FROM JIM
How we perform in each of the facets of our life may have much to do about our differing motivations in the various aspects of our lives: professionally, as a parent, and as a life partner.
Heidi Grant Halvorson, Ph.D. is associate director for the Motivation Science Center at the Columbia University Business School. In a recent post on HBR, Heidi writes about the difference between Promotion Focus vs. Prevention Focus.
In the separate spheres of your life, what is your d... back to top
Blind Spots - We Overestimates Our Strengths And Underestimate Our Weaknesses
Posted April 22, 2013
NOTE FROM JIM
Why is it that the most incompetent people have the highest opinions of themselves?
Ken Nowack a licensed psychologist and President & Chief Research Officer of Envisia Learning, provides an explanation for this common problem and speaks of the frequency of the "Better Than Average Effect". Ken's key point is that we all need help in identifying our blind spots so that we may focus on the hard work necessary to address them.
The No Clue Gene—Why We Inaccurately See Ourselves...
back to topSources of Confidence - Men Vs. Woman
Posted April 23, 2013
NOTE FROM JIM
Related to my post of yesterday regarding our blind spots, one of my favorite cerebral thinkers, David Brooks of the New York Times, raises interesting questions about gender based attitudes connected with CONFIDENCE.
Does our source of confidence differ by gender? How so? And if so, can our organizations achieve higher levels of performance, decision making, and behavior by optimizing sources of confidence throughout an organization?
To tickle your curiosity:
Access the 3 mi... back to top
Nice People Finish Second With Financial Rewards?
Posted June 3, 2013
Note From Jim:
It seems that bosses who display the trait of agreeableness (e.g., trust, compliance, altruism) reduce absenteeism, high blood pressure, and the use of sick days among their employees. But for themselves, agreeable bosses aren’t as financially successful as their less agreeable counterparts.
In a recent post, Ken Nowack of Envisia explores interesting research on this topic.
Nevertheless, I advocate that all of us should still choose agreeableness in order to ... back to top
How Well Does High Intelligence Correlate With Career Success?
Posted June 8, 2013
NOTE FROM JIM:
Does high intelligence correlate with career success? Many organizations have observed not. Do “Highly Gifted” individuals score differently then the “Average Gifted” people in four categories of career related personality attributes: (1) career orientation, (2) work behaviors, (3) social competence, and (4) psychological constitution? The answer to the latter question is yes, but not always favorably.
Yosh Beier, an executive coach and co-founder of Collaborative Coaching... back to top
Hold or Fold? - Should you hang in with discomfort or quit instead?
Posted June 10, 2013
NOTE FROM JIM
Is it better to persevere or to give in? Research suggests that it depends. Yes you should persevere to achieve those things that are possible, when they are largely within your control and the goal can be accomplished owing to your emerging skills and competencies.
Ken Nowack of Envisia Learning, one of my favorite bloggers, provides insight and recommendations drawing on research in this area.
To engage your curiosity I've provided some article excerpts below. ... back to top
Freedom - Vote For And Choose The Habit Of Happiness
Posted July 7, 2013
NOTE FROM JIM
You've likely seen other of my previous posts that point to the wisdom and enthusiasm of Lionel Ketchian, the inspiration behind The Happiness Club.
Within the past 10 years or so, leaders, practitioners, and academics in the field of psychology have been studying the concept of optimizing human flourishing. Research and practice indicate that "Happiness", "Optimism", and "Flow" (Flow – the state of being swept into an endeavor to the point of enjoying it so much that there is no notice of the ela... back to top
"Changing Our Minds IS Exactly Why We're Here"
Posted July 12, 2013
NOTE FROM JIM:
What the world demands of us all: Open-mindedness, the courage to allow others to challenge our beliefs, the power to display ignorance while modestly accepting that our current view may no longer apply, and the humility to sincerely consider contrary opinion. Lee Bollinger, President of Columbia University spoke of these needs in his recent address to Columbia graduates.
To tickle your curiosities see the excerpts below. Better still, access the text of the full address.
EXCERPTSread more »
back to top10 Point Guide To Mananging Conflict
Posted July 18, 2013
NOTE FROM JIM
Most of us don’t respond well to conflict. On the subject of managing conflict well, leadership guru John Maxwell provides us with his typical extraordinary wisdom. To tickle your curiosities take a peak at the excerpts below. Better yet, master the material by accessing the full article.
EXCERPTS
Leadership Wired Blog
The Ten Commandments of Handling Conflict
By John C. Maxwell.
Conflict is an inevitable part of life. .. approach conflict in...
back to top"The Only Real Misfortune,The Only Real Tragedy, Comes When We Suffer Without Learning The Lesson."
Posted August 11, 2013
NOTE FROM JIM
John Maxwell, a prolific writer and trainer on leadership, will be releasing a new book, “"Sometimes You Win, Sometimes You Learn".
In a recent blog post from John introducing his new book, he discusses the power of learning from our losses. Quoting Emmett Fox, a spiritual leader of years past, John emphasizes the point that, “The only real misfortune, the only real tragedy, comes when we suffer without learning the lesson.”
In this post, John furnishes a roadmap for learning from los...
back to topCommit to What You Are Prepared To Leave Behind
Posted August 11, 2013
NOTE FROM JIM:
In his thought provoking piece in the HBR, “To Move Ahead You Have to Know What to Leave Behind”, Nick Talser proposes that to decide, to make a choice, means to also know and commit to what it is that one must leave behind.
Access the post here: http://blogs.hbr.org/cs/2013/08/to_move_ahead_you_have_to_know_what_to_leave_behind.html?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+harvardbusiness+%28HBR.org%29&cm_ite=DailyAlert-080813+%281%29&cm_lm=sp%3Ajjacobs%40j...
back to topHow Cultivated Positivity Leads to Better Work And More Success
Posted August 20, 2013
Note from Jim
Humerous and powerful, do watch the 12 minute TED video below. Shawn Achor spent 12 years of research at Harvard exploring the subject of human happiness. He shares with us that each of us can raise our positivity. What Shawn and colleagues have discovered is that positivity increases productivity, happiness, and success.
Shawn makes the following points:
Raising positivity in the present affords each of us the “Happiness Advantage”. The Happiness Advantage is such that positivity rai... back to topHow Regular Exercise Helps You Balance Work and Family
Posted January 6, 2014
NOTE FROM JIM
Writing for the Harvard Business Review, Assistant Professor Russell Clayton suggests that regular physical exercise, particularly for those with busy schedules, facilitates increased self-efficacy and counterintuitively, a mitigation of conflict between work and home roles.
To tickle your curiosity, see excerpts of Professor Clayton’s article below. Better still, access his article: http://blogs.hbr.org/2014/01/how-regular-exercise-helps-you-balance-work-and-family/
EXCERPTS
…adherence ...
back to top13 Things Mentally Strong People Don’t Do
Posted January 8, 2014
NOTE FROM JIM:
Amy Morin, a college professor, published author, and a Licensed Clinical Social Worker shares a list of thirteen things mentally strong people DON’T allow themselves to do. Have you mastered the art and discipline of being strong mentally?
To tickle your curiosities glean the excerpted listing below. Better still, access Amy’s recent blog post to obtain a full appreciation of this important topic and other great lessons too. This article is a “must read”. http://www.amymorinlcsw...
back to topWhat Is Your Mission and Who Or What Inspired It?
Posted January 9, 2014
NOTE FROM JIM
In a recent post, Yoshito Hori, President of venture capital and private equity firm GLOBIS, prompts an intriguing question as headlined above.
To tickle your curiosities, see the excerpt below. Better still access Yishito’s Linked-In post:
https://www.linkedin.com/today/post/article/20140109012608-225119-does-family-background-determine-our-career-choices
EXCERPTS
Your mission is:
1. Something you can do better than other people.
2. S...
back to top10 Scientifically Proven Ways to Be Incredibly Happy
Posted January 14, 2014
NOTE FROM JIM:
Yes, it’s true… Research offers at least 10 ways towards improving one’s level of happiness. We are individually responsible for our own happiness.
To motivate your curiosity, see the excerpts below. Better still, access this important article. The details are crucially important:
http://www.inc.com/jeff-haden/10-scientifically-proven-ways-to-be-incredibly-happy-wed.html?fb_action_ids=10152182419671942#/jeff-haden/10-scientifically-proven-ways-to-be...
back to topMotivation
Posted January 17, 2014
NOTE FROM JIM:
Need a little boost to get you going today? In just 6 minutes and 12 seconds, Kalib Singh will fuel your passion: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nUsHePihYO4&feature=youtu.be
EXCERPTS
- Only you can create the perfect time, the perfect opportunity, the perfect situation.
- Avoid spiritual suicide by not fulfilling your goals … by get...
back to topShaking Off a Shy Reputation To Get Ahead
Posted January 30, 2014
NOTE FROM JIM
In a recent WSJ article, writer Sue Shellenbarger shares lessons for introverts eager to be recognized for their strengths, abilities, and contributions.
To incent your curiosity, see the excerpts below. Better still, read the full article to gain maximum benefit:
http://online.wsj.com/news/articles/SB10001424052702304049704579320683598535824?mod=dist_smartbrief
EXCERPTS AND TIPS
Wall Street Journal - Sue Shellenbarger
- Ask 20 colleagues and frie...
back to topWhy Good Managers Are So Rare - HBR Blog Network
Posted March 18, 2014
NOTE FROM JIM:
What are the top traits of great managers, managers who drive organizational performance? Gallop identified the five top characteristics and determined that only ten percent of people have them.
To tickle your curiosity, see an HBR article that discusses the Gallop data and HBR’s recommendations for using this knowledge to develop and hold competitive advantage.
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Why Good Managers Are So Rare - HBR Blog Network
by Randall Beck and James Harter
...
back to topPosted April 1, 2014
NOTE FROM JIM
New York Times Op Ed writer David Brooks recently wrote about the “Employer’s Creed”. The piece resonated deeply with me. See if you agree. To tickle your curiosities see the excerpts below. To capture the wisdom and power of David’s thoughts, access the full article.
EXCERPTS
If you follow these principles in your hiring practices, you’ll be sending a signal about what sort of person gets ahead. You may correct some of the perversities at the upper reaches ...
Clumsy Feedback Is a Poorly Wrapped Gift - HBR
Posted April 17, 2014
NOTE FROM JIM
In a recent blog post on HBR, organizational psychologist Roger Schwartz provides exceptional advice on embracing negative feedback in ways that ultimately enhance one’s own performance.
He writes, “When you accept a person’s gift [of feedback] – no matter how poorly wrapped – by responding with curiosity and compassion, you are giving a gift in return. You are creating the trust needed to talk about things that really matter and that will lead to better results....
back to topHow to Make Friends and Connections at Your Next Conference
Posted April 22, 2014
How to Make Friends and Connections at Your Next Conference
NOTE FROM JIM
Ever feel awkward when attending a conference with no one else you know? Take comfort knowing that you are not alone. Follow the tops below.
To tickle your curiosities, see the excerpts below. To gain optimum value from this wisdom, access the full article.
EXCERPTS:
The Muse.com
By Anna Medaris Miller
But you’d probably rather stand out in a good way at the next conference you attend—and that can...
back to top13 Habits of Exceptionally Likeable People
Posted January 29, 2015
Note From Jim
SMILE!!!! Likeability is an essential skill for attaining high levels of emotional intelligence, a goal for us all in every sphere of our lives.
Did you know that the traits of likability are trainable?
Travis Bradberry, a Ph.D in clinical and industrial organizational psychology, shares 13 of these learnable traits in a recent Forbes Article. Excerpts of these enumerated traits include the following:
Ask Questions
Put Away Your Phone
back to topThe Happiness Zone Newsletter – 7 Questions Of Enlightenment - Have you questioned your unhappiness?
Posted April 1, 2015
Note From Jim:
You may recall from previous posts that I’m a Lionel Ketchian fan. I recommend that you subscribe to Lionel’s free monthly newsletter (Link below). I predict that by doing so, you'll enhance your experience of happiness.
In praise of Lionel’s powerful ongoing advice, I encourage a read of his most recent post which inspires us all to thrive. I trust that Lionel will welcome my nudge to have you follow his insights and those of his colleagues.
*****
By Lionel Ketchian
I have been ...
back to top