A book to curl up with....

Since we all may dealing with the Winter Blahs and wintertime crankiness in the workplace,along some stormy weather to come in the next few days-- this is one book to take the time out to spend some time with---Twelve Steps to a Compassionate Life Written by Karen Armstrong .

Enjoy. :)

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..

Emotional Intelligence and leadership role

The key to success is good leadership . Good leadership from many perspectives is the ability to handle your emotions and the emotions of others.

This ability encompasses being able to process other people's emotions-- to perceive, use and understand and regulate emotions.

Perceiving emotions is considered to be a critical attribute for leadership in the 21st century.

In a management/ leadership role, there has to be a strong emphasis on communication and emotion is a form of communication.

Therefore, a person's emotional intelligence is strongly connected to a person's leadership strength.

As the author: " A Year in Serendipity: A Journalling
Workbook"http://tinyurl.com/serendipityjournal , I recommend this journal as part of this journey to developing your emotional intelligence for your leadership role.

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.