purpose@work: Conversations That Matter (Episode 1)

I am excited to introduce this new video blog (vlog) series: purpose@work.  SIGN-UP for my infrequent newsletter to get the latest Conversations That Matter.  The one thing I am focused on with this series, and all my services, is how to increase employee engagement from this very sad 15% globally (according to Gallup).  There is a lot of research that proves, purpose-driven leadership is a key element in having more inspired employees (even higher than engagement).  ASK ME for my white paper: The Playbook for Purpose-Driven Employee Engagement where I've curated the latest research on the current and future state of engagement.

My first guest aligns in a great way with focusing on customer experience AND employee experience/engagement.  Diane M. Magers, is the CEO of the Customer Experience Professionals Association (CXPA).

Diane serves at the CEO and helps support providing value and community for each and every member and partner. She is a firm believer that it "takes a village" to help everyone succeed. She knows our work as CX practitioners are very tough and extremely important. Anyone who knows Diane would say she's very passionate about customer and employee experience and a driven change agent. Diane has over 25 years experience building and transforming organizations around their customers and employees – from the front line to infrastructure - working in and with brands such as Sysco, Invisalign, and AT&T.

Quick facts about Diane

• She started her professional career as a clinical psychologist
• Her first business venture with a friend started in the basement of his house and the company to $3M and 140 employees 4 years later - the entrepreneurial bug was born!
• She was an exchange student to Australia in high school, which launched her passion for travel

She would love you to contact her to learn more about CXPA: Diane@cxpa.org.

Please reach out to me if you know great leaders that are "walking the talk" in practicing intrinsic motivation in all aspects of their company culture: Bobby@BobbyBakshi.com.

Find Greater Employee Engagement By Embracing The "Impossible"

Recently, my nine year old daughter brought this play on the word "impossible" to my attention: I'm possible.  Wow!  Perhaps you've heard this before, but it was a first for me.  Here are three tips to reframe those things we believe are impossible at work and increasing employee engagement:

• Conceive | Believe | Achieve: Recognize that creation hinges of this principle proposed by Napoleon Hill.  Conceiving is fairly easy, but what you really achieve is what you believe.  You can't expect different results, by using the same thinking or tactics.
• High Self-Confidence: When we use the words "I am" before any statement we make, it's a Star Trek like "make it so" statement.  Be careful what you label yourself.  Have a positive intent for your own highest good and that of those you deal with.  Be confident that everyone can thrive.
• Remember: Think of the many times you've accomplished things you thought were impossible, until you achieved them.  You don't have to be that athlete that broke a record for the first time, and then many were able to break it again after that.  You certainly have experienced this yourself.

The Tesla was not invented by people who believed in the word impossible and neither were most of our greatest inventions.  Most of us can't stretch that far to such game changing examples but we can remember our own experience of turning the impossible to the possible, when we remember I'm possible.

This is the premise of my book "The 101% You" in which I offer a metaphor based on my doing a ropes course exercise: climbing a 50 foot pole, standing on a pizza-sized disc, turning 45 degrees and leaping to catch a trapeze bar.  Learn more about the book here.

Igniting a culture of believing and practicing this concept, of turning the impossible into the possible, with confidence in the "I'm possible," can go a long way in increasing employee engagement and empowerment in the workplace.

QUESTION: Does your company culture believe in and practice turning the impossible into the possible?  Share your experiences by adding a comment here or on Twitter.  Sign-up to receive my infrequent newsletter.

Five Ways to Have Fun at Work

According to Gallup “of the approximately 100 million people in America who hold full-time jobs, 30 million (30%) are engaged and inspired at work, so we can assume they have a great boss.”  It’s true, the biggest reason people are dissatisfied and leave a job is their boss and the reverse is true.

A lot of attention is paid to managers’ responsibility to create a conducive environment for people to do their best work.  True.  That’s important.  I invite us to flip that.  What’s an individual’s responsibility to “do what they love and love what they do?”  Knowing we all face challenging work environments, here are five keys to making work fun for yourself, in any company culture and with any manager.

#1. Be a Beginner

Wake up every morning willing to let go of all that fantastic intellect you bring and ready to challenge what you know.  Feeling stuck at work is typically about not feeling like we are growing and learning.  Apply a “beginners mind” and make it an internal game with yourself.

#2. Be Selfish

Most company cultures strive to create a “we” and “us” environment.  Yes, that’s a lofty goal.  The path to an authentically thriving team environment must start with caring for yourself.  Be clear about what you want at work, name it and claim it.  No one else will, so it might as well be you.  Ask yourself in any situation “what’s in it for me?”  Remember what they tell us on airplanes: “put your oxygen mask on first before helping a child or person next to you.”  Redefine selfish as being self-responsible.

#3. Be at Choice

The moment you feel stuck, forced to be or do something that doesn’t resonate with you make a choice.  Is the situation worth your energy?  If no—move on.  If yes, what can you learn in the situation?  Is it really about you or the other person?  Are you willing to take a radically different approach?  Your choices are endless.  In the end, you are always at choice about how you react or respond to a situation.  

#4. Be You

Oscar Wilde said “Be yourself; everyone else is already taken.”  How often do you consciously recognize that you are comparing yourself to others?  It’s likely not something you do consciously.  Try it for a day.  Notice when you get angry or sad.  Notice when you compare, condemn or criticize a person or situation.  Then let go of what’s not yours to do and be you.

#5. Be Compassionate

If you believe we are all at choice on how we react or respond to a situation, what’s stopping you from being compassionate?  Creating or participating in work drama is totally your choice.  To be clear, being compassionate doesn’t mean taking a “soft” approach.  Speak your truth and still do it with the best interest of the other person and yourself in mind.

Thank you for reading these five simple and not always easy keys to making work fun for you.  Go do it yourself today and share your experience with others here.  If you choose, sign-up for our mailing list, share this with others and commit to thriving together.

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