engagement posts
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Enjoy the Power of Full Engagement by Setting Priorities
August 27th, 2009
One of my absolute favourite books is The Power of Full Engagement by Jim Loehr and Tony Schwartz. In it, they cite a study in which a group of women committed to do a breast self-exam for 30 days.
One group of women said where and when they were going to do the exam, and 100% of those women actually did it. Among those who didn’t say where and when, only 53% completed it.
We can apply this same concept to daily planning & priority-setting. By defining “where and when,” you greatly improve your probability of success. You’ll be much more aware of what those priorities are, and it will be easier to manage your time, eliminate non-urgent activities, and create the momentum you need.
If you and your team are trying to gain more control of your time, here are three steps to stay on track throughout the day.
- Plan (7 minutes): Each morning, decide your top 2 “must do’s” today and write them down
- Realign (60 seconds each hour): Set an alarm to ring every hour and ask yourself, “Did I spend my last 60 minutes on my priority?” If “yes,” congratulate yourself and keep on it. If “no,” refocus.
- Reflect (3 minutes at the end of the day): Evaluate your performance. What did you do well? What happened to distract you? And how can you improve tomorrow?
Remember, if you avoid setting priorities, your time will eroded away. The key is focus, and writing down your priorities can make a tremendous difference.
Emotional Intelligence Series #8: How to Improve Boardroom and Meeting Apathy with Connection and Engagement
July 23rd, 2009
Total Video Viewing Time: 2:30.
In this video, I discuss the source of Boardroom Apathy.
It is human nature to disengage, pull away or conform if we sense that our co-worker or manager is resistent to a two-way dialogue, not interested in our opinion or viewpoint. Our tendency is to resign, give up, disengage … essentially lose our connection with the other and even ourselves.
In order to re-connect with ourselves and to re-engage with co-workers and managers, we need to focus on our self awareness, self management and leadership assertiveness — the sources for heightened emotional intelligence.
Be self-responsible with your own connection and engagement:
- Self awareness: Be aware of your own feelings of apathy, disengagement, lack of energy.
- Self management: Pull yourself out of your apathy by making a statement such as ‘I need to share my viewpoint on this…’.
- Leadership assertiveness: Make a clear request to be heard!
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