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Inside the Office: What’s Working & What’s Not?

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When your body fails to cooperate, the world seems much smaller, doesn’t it? I’ve been wracked with bronchitis for more than a week and it’s frustrating to find myself restricted to bed and home.
A friend advised me to consider what “signals” my illness is sending me about life in general. I confess never to thinking that way before. For an ironic change, I could honestly report I had not been overworking, had been exercising and walking, eating right, all the supposedly correct in-balance things. Even took Mother’s Day weekend off to go to the beach with my dear daughter. Nonetheless, I still caught something pretty strong.
In this spirit, here’s my question to ask yourself:  What “signals” are you getting about how you are interacting with the important people in your work world?  Would you say that most of your conversations are rewarding and productive? Or, do you find you’re dealing with constant “turf wars,” missed deadlines, complaints, lack of motivation, and underperforming co-workers?
Stress in the workplace is certainly not new, but it’s unquestionably showing up at higher and higher rates. Why? Part of the reason includes the failure of our economy to charge ahead as we’d hoped. Adding significantly to stress is the widespread introduction of new, demanding technologies. At the personal level, most folks are juggling too many priorities in too little time. On top is a dramatically changing workforce with so many experienced Boomers beginning to leave long-held positions.
To help you identify what’s causing counter-productive stress in your office, for a limited time, you can receive a free, confidential Workplace Stress Analysis. To see a sample report, just click here. To request your own personalized link, please writeanne@speakoutinc.com or call 305-273-6641. My offer includes a private strategy session with you to go over your team’s results. This beta program ends May 30 so act now!
Meanwhile, I’ve made a pot of chicken soup and expect to get better any day! Take care of yourself and your valued co-workers! I look forward to hearing from you soon.
Best Regards,
Anne B. Freedman

(305) 273-6641
(305) 733-4054 – Cell
anne@speakoutinc.com
www.speakoutinc.com

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Think Lincoln: How Long is Your Message?

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 (President’s Day is Feb. 17 but I’m posting this early, in their honor!)
I asked a number of people recently how long they thought the Gettysburg Address actually was. Most said 10-15 minutes or they didn’t know.? Amazingly to me, the Gettysburg Address lasted just over two minutes and was only 300 words, the lengthof most blogs today.  Maybe you had to memorize and recite it in a class years ago, as I did?
President Abraham Lincoln delivered these most famous of all his remarks during the American Civil War, on Thursday, November 19, 1863, at the dedication of the Soldiers’ National Cemetery in Gettysburg, Pennsylvania. He is as well known for this speech as he is for helping to abolish slavery.
 
The speaker before President Lincoln on that historic day gave a two-hour address and no one remembers his name. Mr. Lincoln’s place on the agenda was considered an afterthought and look what happened!  Lincoln scholars have revealed that his speaking abilities did not develop overnight and they did not seem to come to him easily. What did he do right?
 
He knew how to capture and keep attention.
Here is what was written about another time President Lincoln spoke:
“Mr. Lincoln spoke nearly two hours and we believe he would have held his audience had he spoken all night.”  –Dover (New Hampshire) Inquirer, March 8, 1860
In fairness, there were no movies, no Super Bowl, no TV, no Internet, no digital devices to otherwise distract audiences in the 19th Century. Speakers were a popular form of entertainment. Nonetheless, I don’t believe human nature has changed that much. We are easily bored and good speakers are those people who have mastered how to select and deliver their words in a way that makes us want to listen.
Please like Speakout on Facebook.
 
Best Regards,
 

Anne B. Freedman
(305) 273-6641
(305) 733-4054 – Cell
anne@speakoutinc.com
www.speakoutinc.com
 
 www.facebook.com/speakoutinc
 @AnneMiami or twitter.com/AnneMiami
  in  www.linkedin.com/in/annebfreedman/

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From Snow to Mint

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Last week, I presented “But You Said You Would …,”  a session on how to work more successfully with board members and employees, for the Winter Leadership Boot Camp of the National Association of Women Business Owners in New York City. It seems that problems dealing with extreme divas, the highly talkative, the reluctant to change and the ultra-detail-minded are universal and unrelenting.
 
No matter how big or small the organization, to reach their goals with less stress and more positive outcomes, leaders need to learn how to converse with people whose style of communicating is different than their own.  It’s no easy feat but these skills can be acquired with practice and patience!
 
Despite my new boots and multiple layers of clothes, New York was freezing! Nonetheless, the warmth of people I met and celebrating the 40th Anniversary of NAWBO at an especially lovely Bank of America reception definitely made the trip memorable.
 
On the home front, you would have been proud, too, of 16-year-old “Mint,” the Rotary Exchange Student from Thailand, who totally mesmerized a social entrepreneurship class at Florida International University Monday. She talked about two of the biggest social problems in her country, the Rohingya, a transient group of 100,000 Muslims unrecognized as citizens throughout Southeast Asia, and the ever increasing horror of child labor.
 
“For example, they make the children sell flowers at traffic lights for 11 hours or more every day. The bad thing is that the Thai people have come to regard children who sell flowers or who are working hard in other places as totally normal,” Mint said. “But I believe it is not supposed to be like this at all.  The reason that I came to talk to you today is my hope that what I am doing as a speaker for them….the Rohingya and children workers will inspire you to help them.”
 
Whoever you choose to help, I wish you a Happy Valentine’s Day!
 
Best Regards,
 

Anne B. Freedman
(305) 273-6641
(305) 733-4054 – Cell
anne@speakoutinc.com
www.speakoutinc.com
 
 www.facebook.com/speakoutinc
 @AnneMiami or twitter.com/AnneMiami
  in  www.linkedin.com/in/annebfreedman/

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