Laura Wolfe Coaching LLC

Supporting the Evolution of Careers, Leaders,

& Climate Consciousness

Tree Pose Lessons

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happynewyearTree Pose is a yoga balance posture that offers some wisdom for the new year.

1. Focus on a faraway point. It helps with balance. Seems the the greater the distance between you and your focal point, the more stabilizing it is. This idea is helpful in life as well. If you are too focused on the immediate (which may or may not be worthy of extreme focus) and lose sight of the great thing you are working toward, you may feel overwhelmed and get wobbly..

2. Support from others really helps. During a very crowded class last week, the instructor told us to close our eyes and hold the hand of the person on each side. One was a friend and one a stranger, both in tree pose as well. Even though we couldn’t grip too tight or lean too hard, it was hugely supportive.

Here’s to a New Year with just the right balance.

Would love to hear what you’ve learned on the mat.

‘Tis the Season

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photoCommunication. It keeps coming up for me. Saw this article on improving communication yesterday and spent last week preparing for and doing a teambuilding session on communication where we dug into different communication styles based on Myers-Briggs type (which is a great way to improve communication btw).

A few months back I wrote about active listening, a skill that when used can radically change communication for the better.

‘Tis the season for communicating with clients, co-workers, family members, friends, neighbors, and others in the holiday spirit.

Here is some communication wisdom from Brene Brown, from her book The Gifts of Imperfection about her research on wholehearted living. Brown writes about compassion, connection, and her finding that the remedy for shame is to share our stories of shame experiences with someone who has earned the right to hear them.

Some of her recommendations apply to this time of year when emotions can run high and random conversations can happen with people we rarely encounter. Should someone share with you a real and possibly dark part of themselves, don’t:

  • feel shame for them and confirm their awfulness.
  • feel sorry for them. Empathy is good, sympathy not so much.
  • refuse to acknowledge the horror of their story by discounting it and insisting they must be exaggerating.
  • one-up them with a story about how you’ve experienced something more whatever.

Do listen with compassion, without interrupting. Acknowledge their strengths and their struggles.

Connection is a wonderful thing. Here’s wishing you much of it this holiday.

Would love to know how you support others when they share with you sensitive stuff.

Tortoise or Hare?

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photo (1)A business owner recently expressed frustration to me about his efforts to build his brand and the uncertainty over whether or not it’s working. He’s doing all the right things but seems to him to be taking forever.

Because it’s a great source for lessons about organizational behavior, Survivor came to mind. I have watched every episode of every season since the beginning except for two (missed one when moving from Atlanta to Baton Rouge and one when Hurricane Lili knocked our power out). And, as a student of organizational behavior, I absolutely love the show and seeing leadership, conflict, diversity, teamwork, negotiation, communication, power, strategy, and more happen in a microcosm.

Interestingly, the winner of Survivor usually plays below the radar for a good part of the season. They are building their foundation, planting seeds, establishing their brand and we the viewers don’t really know too much about them until late in the game. Very often, players that come out of the gate blowing and going, crash and burn early (e.g., Brad Culpepper this season!).

In the business world, a lucky few do have overnight success. But for the rest it requires showing up everyday, doing good work, treating others with respect, and creating those conditions to support future prosperity.

Steady like the tortoise.

Would love to know your thoughts on what it takes to see success.

Ethics Anyone?

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Florham_Park_NJ_Little_Red_SchoolhouseIs ethical behavior of employees an important issue for your organization? How exactly are you managing this one? Some companies offer ethics training; another option is to address it in the pre-employment phase using integrity testing and/or background checks.

Yet, another approach is to consider the environment from which you recruit – specifically, the educational institution and its culture re: ethics. Are there consequences for academic dishonesty? People you can ask include career services folks, faculty members, and students or former students. You can ask administrators but they are typically either unaware or at the heart of the problem.

Behavior modeling is one of the most fundamental ways humans learn. If students observe others engaging in academic dishonesty with no consequences, guess what the lesson is? If you want recruits who understand wrongdoing will not be tolerated, make sure that is the message they get while in school.

Don’t believe cheating in school is much of a problem or that there is a relationship to out-of-school behavior? Check out this interesting research from a few years ago.

Would love to know your thoughts on building an ethical workforce.