Planners’ Picks
A collection of resources from CSN planning committee members worth mentioning
The Year in Review: How we made it through this dumpster fire of a year (and 2/3rds!) and still managed to be productive and lead teams. This, of course, was through building our resilience muscle.
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||| Building Resilience For Our Future Self |||
We spoke a lot about resilience this year in The Art of Caring Leadership Book Club sessions. Author Heather Younger promotes the 3 R’s of Resilience:
Reframe
Cognitive reframing is a mindfulness tactic in which you shift the way you view difficult situations and focus on benefits rather than the disadvantages.
- What thoughts are you ruminating on? Are they grounded in rationality or emotion?
- List negative and positive things that happened during a recent crisis or situation. Which of these were things you could control?
Restructure
Acknowledge some positives of the situation and work toward implementing changes to work toward those positive goals. Include a diversity of perspectives during the brainstorming phase.
Reimagine
Innovate and change course with your new information to move on and learn from the prior situation. Imagine a new workplace based on these changes.
“Everything can be taken from a man but one thing: the last of the human freedoms-to choose one’s attitude in any given set of circumstances, to choose one’s own way.” – Viktor Frankl
Here are a few resources to support resilience for you and your team:
Healthy Minds app provides relief from pandemic stress
While no one could have planned for the COVID-19 pandemic, Healthy Minds Innovations found itself in a position to meet the mental health needs of a world in crisis with one of its signature programs. The Healthy Minds Program app offers a guided path to well-being, grounded in neuroscience and the concept that people can train their minds to be more calm, focused, and resilient. It was unique and innovative in a broad field of well-being and meditation apps.
https://news.wisc.edu/healthy-minds-app-provides-relief-from-pandemic-stress/
Linkedin Live Conversation with Rachel Druckenmiller on Resilience
This is a one-hour discussion around multiple topics, but Rachel covers resilience very well in this.
https://www.linkedin.com/video/live/urn:li:ugcPost:6874332016486174720/
“Resilience is not, as so many of us thought in the early days of the pandemic, an end state we can reach. It’s a constant process of becoming. Not a destination, but a mindset.” – Arianna Huffington
LifeMatters Resilience Scale
Are you aware that we have access to resources through LifeMatters? They have two logins for their website; one for staff and one for supervisors, which unlocks more information.
Login:
bucky1 for staff
bucky2 for supervisors (some additional resources)
Find out where you or another person stands on their resilience by taking this survey. Log on (above), then go to
https://members2.mylifematters.com/portal/content/10096776;subject=10004590
Search for Resilience in the toolbar for other resources they have.
“How to make stress your friend” Ted Talk
Stress. It makes your heart pound, your breathing quicken, and your forehead sweat. But while stress has been made into a public health enemy, new research suggests that stress may only be bad for you if you believe that to be the case. Psychologist Kelly McGonigal urges us to see stress as a positive and introduces us to an unsung mechanism for stress reduction: reaching out to others.
Watch the full talk here: http://t.ted.com/aJlD86b
“You can’t calm the storm, so stop trying. What you can do is calm yourself. The storm will pass.” – Timber Hawkeye
National Champs-No Easy Task
We’ve all talked a lot this year about resilience, grit, turning adversity into opportunity, and soldiering on in spite of setbacks. The Campus Supervisors Network has had many group discussions and book clubs on these topics.
We want to shout out to the UW Women’s Volleyball program for tapping into a crazy amount of perseverance and resilience over the span of this season, which culminated in a National Championship win for the first time in our school’s history. The super seniors, along with many other players including some freshmen, provided a thrilling Final Four weekend of entertainment for their loyal fan base and should be commended for their efforts.
Yes, it’s been a long time coming, Badger Nation! More on the team and their journey here: https://lnkd.in/ea2-SGin
||| Starting Out Strong in 2022 |||
This is how to make a New Year’s resolution like a pro
It’s that time again — when we sweep the current year into the dustbin of history and scramble to make a fresh start. Dan Pink’s newest Pinkcast shows the right way to make New Year’s resolutions. (Hint: Kill the plural. Make just one resolution.)
Watch the 147-second video to get prepared for 2022.
https://www.danpink.com/pinkcast/pinkcast-4-17-this-is-how-to-make-new-years-resolutions-like-a-pro/
A Beautiful Day in Your Neighborhood? 5 Lessons From Mr. Rogers
Note: this article is geared toward HR reps, but is relevant for all of us in leadership or mentoring roles. Hone your skills like Mr. Rogers to be there for those you serve.
Stop talking and listen, a lesson for HR from Mr. Rogers. We sit in awe of Mr. Rogers’ unwavering kindness. Of his unabashed refusal to cast judgment. Of his absolute and complete willingness to accept that even the darkest of souls possess light that simply has not yet, but undeniably will, reach the surface. And all of these traits are trainable and learnable for you and I to be better humans. Read on for details…
https://hrexecutive.com/a-beautiful-day-in-your-neighborhood-5-lessons-for-hr-from-mr-rogers/
“I’m intrigued that the same letters from the alphabet are used in the word silent and in the word listen. Perhaps it’s evident that the most important part of listening involves remaining silent.” – Robert Herjavec
Maintaining a Weekly Planning Ritual is the Highest Form of Self-Care
A planning ritual does not sound like a form of self-care. It’s not exactly bubble baths and meditation. The idea of planning and organizing can feel constricting. Or it can feel like a chore. If the sound of routines and rituals isn’t music to your ears, you’re not alone. Here are 3 ways to get started.
||| Book Recommendations |||
No end-of-year newsletter would be complete without the book suggestions for the year! Here are several CSN Planners recommend.
Think Again: The Power of Knowing What You Don’t Know by Adam Grant
Thinkers and leaders including Cicero, Thomas Aquinas, and Teresa of Avila often claimed that “humility is truth.” Through insights from behavioral psychology and empirical studies, Adam Grant proposes a “confident humility” that recognizes our own blind spots, weaknesses, and deficiencies in both thought and action. Grant proposes that these are not hindrances to good and healthy leadership. They opportunities for moral growth in attentiveness to the needs, perspectives, and insights of others.
“It’s better to be valued by a few than to be known by many.” – Adam Grant
What Matters in This Moment: Leading Groups Through Uncertain Times by Harry Webne-Behrman
Note: CSN featured Harry’s previous book What Matters at Work in a book club this year. This is his follow-up performance to that great resource.
These are times that challenge us to Be Present in This Moment. There has been vast disruption of the world we once accepted as “normal:” Coronavirus has changed the ways we live and work. Massive demonstrations of concern regarding social justice issues, coupled with deep threats to democratic institutions, have transformed the political landscape. Environmental imperatives challenge us to fundamentally rethink the underlying assumptions of our economy and society. We are only beginning to comprehend the costs of this time, as well as the opportunities offered to be resilient, creative, and compassionate in the face of such disruption.
At my core, I am a teacher and a facilitator. I try to create environments in which people can work together, learn together, and otherwise collaborate to address the key issues of their lives. I’ve been doing this work for over forty years, and I have been fortunate to witness amazing people coming together to successfully navigate impossible challenges. It is with this Calling that I approach my work. Here are some questions we hope to answer: How can I BE IN THIS MOMENT, aware of who I am, the people I care about, the things that need to be noticed? How can I WORK WITH OTHERS, in small groups and large, to act upon What Matters with intelligence, integrity, creativity, and compassion? How can I BRING ABOUT MEANINGFUL CHANGE IN THE WORLD through my connections with others ― those with whom I have affinity and those who are strangers to me ― so we may work collaboratively to address the most complex and pressing issues of our times? How can WE, TOGETHER, FOCUS ON WHAT MATTERS IN THIS MOMENT, in ways that allow us to create a new set of processes, structures, and institutions that truly serve the complex needs of our communities?
This book is about answering these questions, a resource for those who wish to embrace This Moment as caring leaders, colleagues, and community members. Some of us are managers, facilitators, and teachers, while others are concerned citizens, seeking ways to constructively influence the future. We may engage as individuals, work teams, and community members to address the challenges that call to us. Whatever vantage point and role speaks to you, I hope you find resources in these pages. As a companion volume to What Matters at Work (2020), we continue to build practices and capacity to lead groups through the important issues of these uncertain times.
Anxiety at Work: 8 Strategies to Help Teams Build Resilience, Handle Uncertainty, and Get Stuff Done by Chester Elton and Adrian Gostick
Executive coaches and #1 bestselling authors of All In and The Carrot Principle offer insight and advice in this practical eight-step guide both managers and employees can use to reduce work anxiety in the office and at home.
Have you ever dreaded Sunday night, got a pit in your stomach on the way to work, or had your heartbeat speed up at the sound of your boss’s voice? If so, you may have had anxiety at work. In this empathetic and wise guide, executive coaches and gurus of gratitude Adrian Gostick and Chester Elton explore the causes of workplace stress and anxiety and the management practices that have proven successful in reducing tension and cultivating calm.
If you’re a manager, how do you keep up with demands while creating a stress-free work atmosphere? How can you spot rising anxiety levels in your people? If your employees feel overwhelmed or worried about the future, what can you do to ease their concerns? How do you engage in productive conversations about emotions in uncertain times? Anxiety at Work builds on the authors’ vast knowledge and experience working with the leadership teams of some of the world’s most successful organizations to offer effective strategies that can make any workplace better, helping supervisors and their employees:
- Weather uncertainty
- Balance overload
- Beat perfectionism
- Build confidence
- Create and sustain an environment that fosters resilience
- Strengthen strong social bonds
In today’s volatile, fast-paced, and ever-changing global climate, organizations and their employees are under more pressure than ever to perform. Anxiety at Work shows how everyone at all levels can work together to build an environment that fosters camaraderie, productivity, and calm.
“Our highest priority is to protect our ability to prioritize.” Greg McKeown, author of Essentialism and Effortless
Really Care for Them: How Everyone Can Use the Power of Caring to Earn Trust, Grow Sales, and Increase Income by Mareo McCracken
Note: this is a “sales” book, but the concepts apply to selling your ideas to your team and peers, managing up to leadership, and building trust with any group. We share content from Mareo regularly on leadership development.
The true secret to success in sales is caring. Caring for others, caring for results, caring for growth. Those who care the most, sell the most.
Really Care For Them is for those who want to learn to do sales the right way with the most success as fast as possible. It helps readers escape adversarial, competitive, self-destructive sales behavior by developing a collaborative, trust-based approach to selling in a way that builds value and trust. Many sales books teach what to do, Really Care For Them teaches how to do it. Everyone can learn skills and scripts; the real differentiator is the salesperson and how they sell. Packed with only the most important information, behaviors, and characteristics that enable personal and professional growth, Really Care For Them is the first book every salesperson needs to read. It demonstrates what the top performers do in an accessible, easy to understand format and makes it easier to learn to sell without reading tons of extra words, boring theories, and outdated ideas. Really Care For Them inspires growth, creativity, compassion, accountability, and courage.
Greenlights By Matthew McConaughey
In Greenlights, Matthew McConaughey shares advice on how to navigate life’s challenges and how we can take advantage of the opportunities that come to us as “greenlights.” In the book, he explained the traffic analogy behind his philosophy: that green lights signify moving forward, but on our “highway of life,” people often struggle with the red lights that can stop us in our tracks. Matthew’s book is filled with helpful insights into how we can remain resilient through those barriers and persist through our most difficult times.
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Building Employee Trust During Times of Crisis
On this side of the COVID crisis, only 44% of employees trust their leaders and managers to navigate a crisis well! (Gartner’s survey of the Top 5 Priorities for HR Leaders in 2022). How confident are you that your employees would say they trusted you during this recent crisis? How confident are you that they will when the next crisis comes along?
In this 90-minute session, you’ll leverage reflections and lessons learned during COVID to help focus on what you can do to gain your employees’ trust. Using these lessons, you will be able to create an action plan to build employees’ trust before the next crisis occurs. Come prepared to reflect on your experiences during COVID.
Facilitated by Learning and Talent Development.
Date: January 11, 2021
Time: 10:00 – 11:30 am via Zoom
Register here: https://go.wisc.edu/ct4592
||| In Gratitude |||
We have been doing Planners’ Picks for 16 months now. As we sunset 2021 and look forward to 2022, the planning committee members of CSN want you to know how grateful we are for this community and the interactions we have all experienced in the sessions we have hosted. It’s amazing how much we can learn simply by sharing our stories with each other. Thank you for your participation and contributions to making this campus the best place to work, period.