Garden of faith and hope

 

 

 When we are born, we  begin to nurture our garden of faith and hope with seeds planted, maturing slowly and making their way to the sun- resilient to the extreme weather, as we walk our daily sojourn with our Creator.

To honour International Women's Day

Sisters of the heart

Where ever you are

 You are with us

 No matter the race, religion, or creed.

 We  are all one in spirit in womanhood

 Let us  not forget how truly fragile we are

 Without the bond of Sisters of the Heart.

Tip for making positive impressions in meetings and introductions

1-     From a personal perspective, I now these make the  following recommendations :

a.      Clothing-wear the high -end clothing from your wardrobe. Prior to the important introduction, try the outfit on first and wear it front of a full-length mirror… Practice sitting down and shaking hands as well in front of this mirror to see how your clothing presents itself.   Also, men and women, bring a stain away pen for emergencies to remove stains and spills on your clothing, just in case something happens before you meet this person(s).

b.     Smile, but not excessively during your introduction.  Before the introduction,  please check a pocket mirror or car mirror to see that nothing is between your teeth , and  that there are not any pen marks, dust particles, etc.. are on your face, either.

c.      Eye contact- Try to not to stare intensely( eyeball- to- eyeball—maintain very direct eye contact long enough to note their eye colour), but focus on the space between the eye brows. Shift your gaze  to  the person’s eyebrows  after a few seconds  so they know they have your interest. But do not lose their attention by having your eyes wonder during the introduction.

d.     Body scents-  Both men and women  should not  wear  any scented deodorant,  cologne or perfume as a lot of people have allergies/ chemical intolerance these days.

e.      Breath-  Always carry and use breath mints or breath spray.  Don’t use gum to freshen your breath as you may forget you have it in your mouth.

f.      Tone of voice- watch that your voice is even toned- not harsh or anxious Try to avoid having any dairy products before such an introduction as they tend to create more mucus and congestion, and you may end up coughing, or sounding raspy or harsh.  If you are thirsty, drink water for hydration. .

g.     Posture- don’t hunch over or slouch.  Your posture gives away your attitude and confidence level.. Remember that your stance portrays how you feel about yourself.

h.     Content of introduction- try to be articulate and not ramble on.  Say what you have to in a concise manner. 

i.       Listening.- shut off your own  noisy thoughts in your mind and focus on their words - not yours. 

Don't forget to blog...

Blogging is a great way to get your name and portfolio out there professionally speaking, of course. You can try Tumblr, Weebly or Wordpress for developing and writing your blog and crafting your online portfolio. Just remember to think before you publish your blog by ensuring it represents you in the best light at all times and does not compromise any of your colleagues at work. Good luck!

Books to Motivate and Inspire

Here below are some career books that may help you in dealing with workplaces issues. Yes, they may be oldies, but they are goodies.. Authentic Happiness- Using the New Positive Psychology to Realize Our Potential for Lasting Fulfillment. by Martin Seligman ( 2002) First Break All the Rules- What the World’s Greatest Managers Do Differently by Marcus Buckingham and Curt Coffman. ( 1999) Mind Over Mood- Change How You Feel by Changing the Way You Think. Dennis Greenberger and Christine Padesky. (1995). Now, Discover Your Strengths by Marcus Buckingham and Donald Clifton (2001) I particularly recommend the book "Now, Discover Your Strengths" , because it provides an on-line code for the Strengthfinder- an assessment of your strengths/ potential talents. You can also go to www.authentichappiness.com for a complimentary self-assessment. 2- Go Put Your Strengths to Work by Marcus Buckingham (2007) 3- Do What You Are : Discover the Perfect Career for You Through the Secrets of Personality Type--Revised and Updated Edition Featuring E-careers for the 21st Century (Paperback) by Paul D. Tieger and Barbara Barron-Tieger (2001) http://www.amazon.com/What-You-Are-Personality-Type-Revised/dp/0316880655

What is that " one thing"?

In the news this week I heard about a new book recently published called “The One Thing http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/16256798-the-one-thing. One of its basic premises is each day you have to determine as the authors recommend what is the one thing you can do that will make the other things easier and/ or unnecessary. I have been practicing this technique the last few days ;and it has reduced a lot of stress and effort for me. This book is well worth reading for both your career and personal life.

Maintaining a professional online presence

As we observe every day in the news,the power of social media can never be underestimated. Therefore, maintaining a professional online presence is a critical part of a successful career path as well as instrumental in establishing harmonious and collaborative relationships in our workplace. So here are few tips on keeping a professional presence online: 1- You never know what is on the Internet these days with your name on it... One way to maintain some scrutiny in this is to set up Google alerts using your name.. You will then get notified anytime your name appears on Google. However, if you have a common name, your alerts will be including these people. 2- Set your privacy settings on Facebook so that no one can tag you without your permission. Review your privacy settings on a regular basis... Do this with other sites that you may be registered with as well. Remember to only post items that provide a good image of yourself. Think before you post! Once it is on the Net, it is there forever. 3- Set up blogs or websites with your name to establish and maintain a professional persona. Remember to keep them up –to-date.

New Year's Goals

In meeting your goals for the workplace in 2013...try breaking them down into mini-steps or baby steps as in the movie "What about Bob". Good luck.

We are all intertwined...

We are irrevocably intertwined, interrelated... what we do to ourselves- we also do unto others. This is something we must acknowledge and honour every day of our lives. Acknowledging and honouring this is one of the many steps in moving towards caring dialogue and eventually to holistic leadership in the workplace.

The Olympic Spirit

In interacting with people in the workplace, the self-fulfilling prophecy often comes into play. If you believe it will happen, then often you will unknowingly create that situation with the result you expected.. This works both ways-- negatively and positively.. So try to work on the positive end of the spectrum. Thus, as in the Olympic Spirit that we see resonating daily-- if we believe we will, then we can !

Tips for Difficult Situations

As Ghandi said " Be the change you want in the world" . This can become a mantra for some in dealing with certain difficult situations. If you change your attitude about those people around you, you can effect change in the situation. Stay focused and positive, and remain patient...

Start off the New Year with your memoirs

Writing your memoirs - no matter what your age may be- is one way to motivate & inspire yourself and others. You get to see how much you have accomplished & how much you have survived.

It will also help identify career accomplishments that can be put in your profiles for LinkedIN, Twitter, VisualCV, and YouTube video. Your memoirs will also guide you in reflection upon your conduct in the workplace with others and this in turn may shed light upon why certain interpersonal conflicts may have arisen or exist now for you and for others you work with.

What a wonderful way to start off a New Year.

The Prayer of Serenity

The Prayer of Serenity is a motivational guiding system for many people.


Essentially, it boils down to one phrase for me... you cannot control the uncontrolable...


Accept this wisdom and you will experience more peace of mind as well as nurture a more forgiving spirit within the workplace- something that is particularly needed in our current economic climate.

Journalling and the year 2011

As we begin a new year, I thought it might be nice to revisit the benefits of journalling in my life and in others.. Journalling is a wonderful way of seeing your life- both professionally in your workplace and personally- in a different light.

So here again are the main benefits of journalling

-getting clarity re: what you want in your life.

-Creating and setting boundaries.

-Ferreting out life goals.

-Beginning a journey to walking your own pathway.

-Tapping into your intrapersonal/ retrospective side by means of reflection.

-Helping you take yourself and others through the experiential learning cycle.


-Finding hidden talents and abilities within your authentic self

-Finding the positive strengths in yourself and others, and building on them

For a great guidebook on journalling, you can check out my journalling workbook at " A Year in Serendipity: A Journalling
Workbook"http://tinyurl.com/serendipityjournal .

All the best for 2011

Holistic Employee Engagement

Holistic employee engagement is really about creating a positive influence on peoples behaviour.

This goal can be achieved through many of the following means:

1. Support them emotionally, within the context of workplace communications
2. Provide guidance and positive feedback for performance enhancement
3. Recognize good work publicly and openly
4. Demonstrate a commitment to honouring their views and opinions—ask for their perspectives and act on their workplace needs and wishes- what is needed to do their job
5. Work one- on -one in positive collaboration with employees on their work
6. Avoid too little or too much guidance
7. Avoid detailing to extreme measures about their respective projects
8. Avoid unconstructive feedback by addressing only the issue at hand—not all their past transgressions at once or vague comments that do not address specific work behaviours and performance..
9. Do not hold grudges—move forward each day in your attempt to engage them holistically

Building and Nurturing Harmony in the Workplace

Dr. Ian Prattis , founder of Friends for Peace Canada, who is a Zen teacher, speaker and writer about the well-being of the planet . He is a writer of articles for Guidelines to Recreate Our World based on the teachings of Zen.

He believes the source of peace in the world is a peaceful mind.

This also applies to the workplace. To create positive and collaborative workplace culture , you have to work on transforming the seeds of fear, anger that may be germinated by working on cultivating peace within its inner core.

Sometimes, such an environment can be nurtured simply individuals being a peace within themselves. Peace happens one step , one person, and one mind at a time. Yes, it can take internal work to achieve this... Some people can work towards this through meditation, Tai Chi, and Qi Qong and other programs that are starting in some workplaces to reduce stress and negative environmental issues.

Yes, it is possible to change the human mind set..

Creating a positive workplace culture

In your workplace behavior and interactions,try to honor your life and the lives of others each day.

You will find that by doing so, you are creating and nurturing a positive workplace culture that motivates and engages.

Goal setting and achievements

For goal setting and achievement re your work projects, do a photo collage to inspire and motivate yourself, especially when facing a challenging situation.

Place it in a prominent position and it will be imprinted on your mind... You will find it quite effective as a visual reminder and energizer, I am sure.

Work relationships in our digital world

In your work and business relationships, it is important to think of them – not as a thing in and of themselves, but as part of a larger process.

This is particularly significant in our digital world with its emphasis on open platform, interactivity and global venue.

Honour this fact by considering and respecting different cultures, and different technological points of view.

Cultivating an engaged workplace culture

Whether you are an employee or an employer, there are four things needed to cultivate a productive and meaningfully engaged workplace culture.

1- Trust
2- Credibility
3- Honoring and respecting the individual-- no matter who they may be
4- Reciprocity