Whether you’re celebrating warm summer months on the Northern hemisphere, or settling in for the winter on the Southern hemisphere, we’d like to share the tools below in celebration of everything you’ve accomplished over the past six months. What are a few things you are proud of from the first half of 2012?
Along with this reflection of the past six months, the midyear point also serves as an occasion to get excited for the accomplishments and opportunities that lie in the remainder of the year. What’s next for you? What will be a powerful focus for you for the rest of 2012?
Below are a few resources our team is using in our personal and professional lives to support us. What resources would you add? Please post a comment to add your ideas.
RECOMMENDED READING
Work/Life Balance
Sleeping with Your Smartphone
In Sleeping with Your Smartphone, Harvard Business School professor Leslie Perlow reveals how you can disconnect and become more productive in the process. In fact, she shows that you can devote more time to your personal life and accomplish more at work.
Business
Tribes: We Need you to Lead Us
Recommended by Craig Ross:
“Tribes is an insightful read that explores where we, as businesses, are going as it relates to serving and connecting with our customer.”
En español: Tribus: Necesitamos que tu nos lideres
Recomendado por Craig Ross:
“Tribus es una lectura perspicaz que explora donde vamos, como empresas, en lo que respecta al servicio y la conexión con el cliente.”
Parenting
The 10 Greatest Gifts I Give My Children
Pick up this favorite and reconnect with the children in your life: inspiring yourself – and your children – to focus on what’s working and how you’ll build an even stronger relationship.
Personal Leadership Development
Verus Quickread – A Change for the Better: 10½ Ways to Transition to Excellence in Your New Position
Filled with best practices from leaders who have seized transition, this short read is engaging, inspiring and packed with value.
Intriguing Fiction
The Hunger Games
Recommended by Lisa Teets:
“I enjoyed this book because I felt the plot held many surprises and twists that I didn’t anticipate. I found the characters were realistic in their emotions and reactions – and I found them inspirational.”
RECOMMENDED VIDEOS
Work/Life Balance – How to Thrive at Work and at Home (4:04)
Verus Global CEO, Craig Ross, gives three tips to avoid giving your family your leftovers and instead,
leverage transitions, responsibility and the Homeward Bound Framework to develop a richer experience
at home and at work.
Life is a Gift – Louie Schwartzberg’s TED Talk on Gratitude (9:56)
Recommended by Lisa Marie Main:
Louie Schwartzberg is an award-winning cinematographer, director, and producer whose notable
career spans more than three decades providing breathtaking imagery for feature films, television shows,
documentaries and commercials.
Inspirational Insights – Jill Bolte Taylor’s TED Talk on a Stroke of Insight (20:11)
Recommended by Sally Rothstein:
“I highly recommend this fascinating account by this neuroanatomist. What was a devastating brain
injury and subsequent recovery led to an experience of a lifetime with profound insights when the right
side of her brain essentially was “in charge” after she temporarily lost left-brain function. Her right-brained experience holds meaningful lessons for being a fully-engaged human being.”
En español: El poderoso derrame de iluminación de Jill Bolte Taylor
Haz clic aquí para acceder al sitio web de TED, donde puedes ver el vídeo con subtítulos en español.
Em Português: O poderoso acesso de instrospecção de Jill Bolte Taylor
Clique aqui para navegar até o site do TED, onde poderá ver este vídeo com legendas em português.
Deutsch: Jill Bolte Taylors kraftvoller Schlag der Erkenntnis
RECOMMENDED MUSIC
Work/ Life Balance: Reinhard Mey – Gib mir Musik (Give Me Music)
Recommended by Peter Stolze:
Reinhard Mey is a German folk singer and songwriter. Mey writes both sensitive
and humorous songs, with subject matter taken mostly from his everyday life and
surroundings. Mey’s songs are characterized most by their expressiveness of
language and their penetrating melodies.
MOST POPULAR LEADERSHIP POSTS FROM 2012
Mom’s Long Game: 5 Indispensable Lessons
Dad was famous for saying, “Get the kids to age 18, and we’ve done our job.” I’m past 18. What now? (To be sure, I could write volumes on gifts Dad did provide.)… Read More
Who’s the Hero in Caine’s Arcade?
If you’ve seen this short film, perhaps you’re living its inspiration today. (If your company’s firewall won’t let you watch the video, it’s worth forwarding to your home and watching there. Better yet, urge your boss to use the film to spark the momentum of innovation you seek.)… Read More
13 Qualities Courageous Leaders Demonstrate
Some leaders speak up for what they believe is right and pay a price…or they don’t speak up and pay a price. (Which price do you want to pay?)… Read More
You Are in One of Two Categories
When you were growing up, you said one of two things about your parents or your aunts and uncles: Either, “I don’t want to be like them when I grow up.” Or, you whispered, “I want to be like them when I’m older.”… Read More
ENGAGE WITH US
Join our private Facebook community here and share inspirations, celebrations and questions with other leaders.
These are some of our favorite findings from 2012. What are some of your favorites? Share them below.
Comment*
As we think about the 3 mind factors our team, we found the need to share with others our view on how Instant Messenger impacts their effectiveness as managers, leaders and employees.
Remember that (1) the mind can only focus on one thing at a time; (2) Avoid a “don’t”; and (3) go toward your focus are the 3 mind factors we learned.
So as an example; here is an issue: Your IM says “In a meeting”. Someone IMs you and says; “are you there”. You reply and say: “Yes”. Here is issue…..you have already lost focus on your current line of thinking and are now trying to focus on more than 1 thing……..the first mind factor is out the window, never mind the other 2.
So, we would like to share some insights for improving the 3 Mind Factors….Here are 6 ways you can improve the 3 mind factors when utilizing Instant Messenger
1. Honor people’s current IM status (e.g. in a meeting, etc)
2. Be specific in what you are asking……state what’s important and why
3. Use Do Not Disturb to avoid IMs that can cause a disruption to your current thinking or even turn it off (status = offline)
4. Keep your IM brief and business focused
5. Keep the conversation forward focused. Using IM that delivers a “don’t” will have negative impact
6. If a matter is urgent IM as a last resort……pick up the phone or send an email 1st.
If teams can use these principles for IM going forward, this should afford us the opportunity to focus on one thing, do it well and move it closer to completion. If we spend time moving towards our focus then we become a stronger and more productive team and let’s face it, none of us like a “don’t”. If we prevent them from rolling off our lips, then surely we are team of leaders who are trying to “change our culture” one step at a time.
John – These 6 points are terrific and a valuable demonstration of how to apply the 3 Mind Factors for increased productivity (and, perhaps, greater sanity). I’ll be sharing this with many – thank you!
Craig