Planners’ Picks — June 29, 2021

Planners’ Picks: 

A collection of resources from CSN planning committee members worth mentioning

This week we end the fiscal year on campus and start anew – new funding, new attitude, new hope for a somewhat normal fall semester. So let’s focus on developing some new habits, from managing stress better, to setting personal goals at home, and communicating more closely to your values.

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How to Let Go of Control and Lead With Relationships

For the past year, we have felt so out of control. How could we have ever imagined that we’d lose so much say over the way that we live, work, socialize and build relationships?

It makes me wonder: What are you experiencing today in terms of what control means in your life? And for leaders in particular, what IS control? Did we ever really have it? Do you feel like you’re in control today? Over the past two decades, technology has completely upended the “control” paradigm. With advances in technology, employees and customers have more agency.

Learn about a new way of defining control it here:

https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/how-let-go-control-lead-relationships-charlene-li/

What Bosses Gain by Being Vulnerable

Brené Brown, an expert on social connection, conducted thousands of interviews to discover what lies at the root of social connection. A thorough analysis of the data revealed what it was: vulnerability. Vulnerability here does not mean being weak or submissive. To the contrary, it implies the courage to be yourself. It means replacing “professional distance and cool” with uncertainty, risk, and emotional exposure. Opportunities for vulnerability present themselves to us at work every day. Examples she gives of vulnerability include calling an employee or colleague whose child is not well, reaching out to someone who has just had a loss in their family, asking someone for help, taking responsibility for something that went wrong at work, or sitting by the bedside of a colleague or employee with a terminal illness.

Why is human connection missing at work? As leaders and employees, we are often taught to keep a distance and project a certain image. An image of confidence, competence, and authority. We may disclose our vulnerability to a spouse or close friend behind closed doors at night but we would never show it elsewhere during the day, let alone at work. However, data is suggesting that we may want to revisit the idea of projecting an image.

https://hbr.org/2014/12/what-bosses-gain-by-being-vulnerable

Communications in the Workplace: Do Your Words Fit Your Culture and Values?

The past year has been a lesson in patience and fortitude as we’ve braved a global pandemic, revelations about systemic injustice, and some of the most divisive politics in our country’s history. It’s also made clear just how much of an opportunity–and obligation–we in the workplace have to step up and lead by example with inclusion and kindness. Learn how to communicate them effectively with these tips.

https://www.inc.com/may-habib/communications-in-workplace-do-your-words-fit-your-culture-values.html

Seven Steps on How To Manage Stress At Work

In today’s video, Julie Arndt shares her top 7 tips on how to manage stress at work. Stress is part of our DNA, and it actually helps us be productive in the right doses if managed correctly. Learn about routines, planning your day, eating the frog, and more.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UGIL4bzPh40

Becoming a Better Leader With Personal OKRs

Learn how Peter Kappus used a corporate review and goal-setting model to make small improvements in his personal life. Using OKR (Objectives and Key Results) as the method of drafting his goals around being a father and husband, Peter set out to improve the way he showed up for others and make improvements to his life.

Note: OKR is a goal-setting framework created by Intel and adopted by several Silicon Valley companies. Google is the most famous case, having adopted OKR in its first year. Twitter, LinkedIn, Dropbox, and Oracle are among other adopters.

https://www.whatmatters.com/articles/how-to-be-a-better-leader/

Agile vs. Phase-Based Project Management

Are you or your staff members managing large projects? Project managers know there is no perfect way to get from the beginning to the end of a project. Methodologies, project types, team sizes, and resources are all contributing factors, but what exactly is the difference between the Agile and phase-based project management frameworks? Is one approach more effective than the other? Scott Converse of the Center for Professional & Executive Development helps us figure it out.

https://blog.uwcped.org/agile-vs-phase-based-project-management/

“Find out what makes you kinder, what opens you up and brings out the most loving, generous, and unafraid version of you—and go after those things as if nothing else matters. Because, actually, nothing else does.” ― George Saunders, Congratulations, by the way