If you are bored, move on. If you feel stuck, explore why. If you are challenged, embrace the experience. If you want stability, don’t apologize.
I’ve had over thirty different jobs in my lifetime. International tour guide, nature documentary editor, graphic designer, waitress, librarian, camp counselor, blueprint operator. My life has been rich with experiences.
Don’t fret. Don’t panic. Feel. Notice. The Universe is in overdrive to support you.
Can We Please Stop Talking About Generations In The Workplace?
Can we please stop talking about generations in the workplace? It is divisive, distracting and all together boring!
A guy wrote a book twenty years ago that highlighted multiple generations in the workplace and it has done nothing but create stereotypes and disdain. I was recently forwarded a graphic that illustrated the different generations and it made me sick to my stomach.
- my mentor is 25 years younger than me.
- I know 10 year olds who have the same traits as boomers.
- I know 90 year olds who are hipper than I will ever be.
We are all a product of our times. I am just as addicted to my electronic devices as people half my age. I want just as much from companies as someone who just graduated from college - to be challenged, to be heard, to be embraced and respected. Let’s work together and concentrate on those things. I think that is a great place to start.
Black Licorice
Black licorice, that is the trick for staying awake in long off-site planning sessions. That is what the Chief Sales Officer told me during one of our notoriously jam packed planning retreats. We left the meeting with tight shoulders, black tongues and indigestion.
Here’s what most planning sessions look like: a queue of individuals lined up to report - slide after slide after slide - and when people are sufficiently brain dead an annual plan is constructed with ideas that are thrown out without much forethought - assigned to the busiest people in the room - and forgotten once the wheels touch down back home. Sound familiar?
We believe a room full of minds equates to a world full of possibilities.
We believe planning sessions should be 80% inspiration and 20% presentation. Brainstorming, sharing, debating, envisioning (i.e. deep, meaningful interaction).
“Companies don't have ideas; only people do. And what motivates people are the bonds and loyalty and trust they develop between each other. What matters is the mortar, not just the brick”. - Margaret Heffernan
We believe planning sessions should leverage the knowledge, skills and experiences in the room - the ‘mortar’ that will take your business to the next level.
If you are ready for something different, give us a call we are happy to plan, manage and facilitate your next off-site.
Truth Telling
“You might need to confront some heavy emotions around what accomplishment means to you…your sign is getting poked by ‘truth telling’ Jupiter in your professional sector”
- my horoscope.
Truth Telling.
The truth is: that when my marketing consultant encourages me to ‘up’ my Instagram game - increase followers and hits - I wonder if people really need one more site to distract them from being truly present in their bodies.
The truth is: that when I present a webinar or participate in a podcast, do I really want to focus on how many people dialed in - or the thoughts and ideas that could have been generated if we only had the opportunity to have a discussion.
The truth is: that feeling the pressure to be relevant - and feeling the pull to connect - is making me question what accomplishment means to me.
The truth is: I want a deeper level of impact in my work. I want to see faces - carry on conversations - react - respond - banter - dig deep - be surprised - be enlightened. I want to learn as much from the people I work with as they do from me.
What do you want to accomplish?
Work is Art Workshop
The Book is Now a Workshop!
Bring a ‘breath of fresh air’ into your organization
WORK IS ART will…
Accelerate business momentum and impact
Increase group potential
The results…
A beautifully crafted approach to running your business
Reduced workplace stress and dissatisfaction
Increased workplace engagement
5 Monthly Sessions
3 Company Participants
7 weeks until the first workshop!
Workshop Info & Sign-up:
Focus, Clarity, Inspiration and Giving People Enough Rope to Contribute to Their Fullest
If you count starting work at the age of 12 throwing newspapers for the Tulsa World, I have had over 40 different jobs in my lifetime.
I have worked for profit, non-profit, public, private, local government, and mom and pop enterprises. And, if you add-in the companies I have consulted, the number doubles. Bottom Line: I have seen and experienced a lot!
I wrote WORK IS ART as a battle cry for what I believe we need in our businesses today. Focus, clarity, inspiration and giving people enough rope to contribute to their fullest potential.
We are wired to care and to contribute. But after beating our heads against walls of disorganization and dysfunction, we give up and put up. It doesn’t have to be this way.
So, if you are ready to create a successful business that relies on internal talent to take you to the next level - give me a call, I believe I can help.
I would be honored for you to join me at my next WORK IS ART workshop. The process will be a lot of work, but I have yet to find anything worthwhile that didn’t require effort.
Sign-up for WORK IS ART Workshop. https://lnkd.in/dd78D8Xc
Buy Book: WORK IS ART https://lnkd.in/dzx7TN8h
Pulling Teams Together Like Never Before
Today we must be focussed on pulling our teams together like never before - so people feel connected and ideas and solutions flow easily.
To do this, teams must understand where you want to stand out and call attention to your company. Deft editing and intentional placement is key. Then plan for, organize around, and invest in this focus. This is how you gain the momentum you need for long-term success.
Define 3 AREAS OF FOCUS
Why 3? Because 3 is…
Memorable
Creates interest
Adds emphasis
Add more, and things start to get muddy…difficult to recall.
Next, provide the workplace with a sense of cohesion and coherence by organizing around your focus and business cycle.
Where must you slow down and be thoughtful, versus when quick and nimble is necessary?
What does it look like to be efficient and effective across our teams?
When are regular updates necessary to educate, inform and evolve?
And finally, create cycles of reflection, ideation and adaptation. Frequent critical exploration will become a welcome dance between ideas and points of view.
WORK IS ART is about:
Connecting the Heartbeat of the Company…
…with the Pulse of its People.
Bring this design into your workplace:
Our 5-Month WORK IS ART webinar workshop begins in August.
What Have We Learned? It is essential that we answer this question!
Pick Jane's Brain
Mentorship
Create a Culture of Mentorship Instead of a Mentorship ‘Program’
Companies are jumping on the mentorship bandwagon in an attempt to better support their young professionals. Wanting to show their employees they value them, formal programs are popping up everywhere. I believe formal programs aren’t effective and miss a critical opportunity.
When I was in charge of creating a mentorship program as an HR professional, here’s what I learned:
Most people wanted the same few people as mentors. They weren’t interested in the other people we tapped on the shoulder to be mentors. Having a mentor is a very personal proposition.
People didn’t feel they could say ‘no’. No, they didn’t want a mentor. No, they didn’t want (or have the time) to be a mentor. No, they didn’t want that particular person as their mentor or mentee because there was no personal connection.
Some people got mentors, some didn’t. Some were asked to be mentors, others weren’t. This created the ‘in group’ and the ‘out group’. What was meant to bring people together separated people out.
After the initial kick-off meeting things quickly fizzled. And being in a position to constantly remind people that they needed to meet with their mentees was a terrible position to be in. You can’t force meaningful relationships.
Who says a mentor needs to be The older?
I currently have an exceptional mentor who is 25 years younger than me. Her advice and support have changed the trajectory of my business - and my life.
Make it organic.
What if instead of creating a ‘program’ we introduced the idea of a mentorship culture? I recommend you use these questions as a starting point to the conversation.
Script: “We all have the capacity to be a mentor to someone in need. Help that person with something they don’t know or aren’t aware of. A mentor could be someone older than you or younger than you.”
What if we created a culture of mentorship?
What would be the point of these partnerships?
What could it look like?
What would it feel like?
How would it change the way we work together?
How would it change what we produce, how we innovate, how we evolve our organization?
How could we do this naturally, and organically?