We’re on the heels of Valentine’s Day and talking about love and kindness in this issue of PP. We also question what we’re consuming, check on our constraints, and chat with some strangers.
:: Image of the Week
The food and information you consume, along with your habits, play a gigantic role in how you feel. If you want to feel better, improve your mental and physical diet. It’ll make a huge difference.
:: Work Culture & Team Development
7 Steps to Lead With Love Even When Your Organization Isn’t Ready To Yet
When Renée Smith of A Human Workplace delivers a keynote or consults about building loving, human workplaces people ask her, “How can I convince my leaders to embrace leading with love so I can lead with love too?” She’s also experienced the challenge of believing in loving leadership when others in my organizations were skeptical or disinterested. So she wrote a special document that answers this question.
Renée shares seven things she did as a leader in fear-focused organizations that weren’t ready to embrace love yet. She’s confirmed these shifts in perception and actions in her research interviews and workshops with leaders and team members from hundreds of organizations too.
These seven things are responsible for transforming her leadership journey and the leadership of those she coaches too. If you are ready to embrace Loving Leadership, download her list to get started.
https://uwmadison.box.com/s/ybgn9v4lldm0d18br0dfd0db8o0ohrqm
“Everything can be taken from you but one thing: the last of the human freedoms – to choose one’s own way.” – Viktor Frankl
Why Kind Workplaces Are More Successful
Unfortunately these days, the number of employees who say they feel engaged, satisfied, purpose-driven, and energized at work is at a historic low. People of all stripes are leaving the corporate rat race to pursue their own entrepreneurial ventures. Add to that the large surge in layoffs in 2024, and you’ve got a recipe for cynicism.
How can companies retain their top performers and keep their businesses thriving?
The good news is that a growing body of research finds that kindness reaps tangible rewards in the workplace. Studies suggest that friendly and generous leaders and employees who help out the organization beyond their job description significantly improve organizational performance and the bottom line, and this is a culture that can be fostered.
Check out this article from Greater Good Magazine.
https://greatergood.berkeley.edu/article/item/why_kind_workplaces_are_more_successful
:: Communication
A Leadership Communication Strategy to Ensure Your Message Sticks
You’ve said it. You’ve said it again. And yet, somehow, people still don’t seem to know what’s going on. If you’re ever frustrated that your team doesn’t act on important priorities, you’re not alone. Leaders everywhere wrestle with getting their message to stick. That’s where your 5×5 Communication Strategy comes in.
5×5 communication means that you communicate your most important messages five times, in five different ways. A 5×5 communication strategy ensures your team and organization internalize those critical messages. More from Karin Hurt and David Dye on this subject:
:: CSN’s Book of the Week Recommendation
The Goal: A Process of Ongoing Improvement
Written in a fast-paced thriller style, ‘The Goal’ contains a serious message for all managers in industry and explains the ideas which underline the Theory of Constraints developed by the author. Dr. Goldratt is best known as the father of the Theory of Constraints (TOC), a process of ongoing improvement that continuously identifies and leverages a system’s constraints in order to achieve its goals. He introduced TOC’s underlying concepts in his business novel, The Goal: A Process of Ongoing Improvement, which has been recognized as one of the best-selling business books of all time. First published in 1984, The Goal has been updated three times and sold more than 7 million copies worldwide. It has been translated into 32 languages.
Everyone from production managers to college students to CEOs should read The Goal. It is surprisingly easy for people of all levels to read because it is written as a story. Although it describes manufacturing operations, The Goal book is relevant for all types of situations because it is about learning what makes the world tick so that you can improve it. As the characters “think logically about their problems” they gradually uncover the “cause and effect relationships” between actions and results.
:: Mental Health and Self-Care
‘Adulting’ classes offered by UW-Extension
“Adulting” is how many young people refer to the myriad ways they’re required to adopt the life skills of grown-ups. Unfortunately, these skills — from buying groceries, signing leases and paying taxes — aren’t always taught before they’re needed.
Offering classes under the broad umbrella of “independent living skills” are people like Amanda Kostman, a family living educator with the University of Wisconsin-Extension’s Human Development and Relationships Institute.
Look for parenting advice, financial literacy topics, and more in this series.
https://www.wpr.org/education/adulting-classes-kostman-larry-meiller-uw-extension
“My wish for you is that you continue. Continue to be who you are, to astonish a mean world with your acts of kindness. The effect you have on others’ lives is the highest expression of your own.” – Maya Angelou
Why talking to strangers is good for you, them and all of us
In childhood, we’re told: “Don’t talk to strangers.” But this is short-sighted advice because after we finish high school and move out into the world, everyone we encounter is a stranger. And we’re a social species, which means we need each other. So instead of avoiding strangers, we need to get good at interacting with them, both to get help when we need it and to be of use to them.
More on this topic and for a link to a TED Talk on this subject, visit the link below.
https://ideas.ted.com/why-talking-to-strangers-is-good-for-you-them-and-all-of-us/?mc_cid=481e8557f7
:: Self-Leadership Development
The 5 Virtues Every Leader Needs to Create a Self-Actualizing Enterprise
Author Massimo Backus introduces us to the 5 Virtues every leader needs to not only lead with self-compassion but to cultivate a Self-Actualizing Enterprise. These virtues aren’t skills you acquire through seminars or certifications. They’re innate, embedded within every leader. The key isn’t learning them; it’s activating them. And that activation happens through the “3 A’s” of SAE: Awareness, Acceptance, and Accountability.
See his article on LinkedIn with the 5 virtues and how to incorporate them into your culture.
“If you are going to change direction, sometimes you have to make a few waves.” – Robert N. Golden, exiting Dean of the UW-Madison Medical School
The Love Letter You’ve Likely Never Written (But Should)
In the depth of Wisconsin winter, February’s halo of love arrives at just the right moment. Who in your circle needs a dose of love now? Pause and consider . . .
I have a hunch that there’s one who’s neglected. One who really deserves to know they’re loved unconditionally. That’s you. Yes, you. How rare it is for us to remind ourselves that we are loved. Read Leslie O’Connell’s post on giving yourself some love through a letter to yourself following Elizabeth Gilbert’s LETTERS FROM LOVE formula.
:: Trust, Psychological Safety & Belonging
If You Say Yes to Any of These 3 Questions, Your Leadership Skills Are Way Better Than Those of Most Managers
Leadership is a matter of the head and the heart–it’s about results and relationships. So, if you’re in a leadership role now or aspiring to one, the journey toward leadership greatness never ends. But it does have a starting point. And sometimes the beginning of the journey requires some tough questions you need to ask yourself to raise your own bar. Can you answer yes to any — and hopefully all — of these?
“Happiness is when what you think, what you say, and what you do are in harmony.” – Mahatma Gandhi
Building a Culture of Belonging, Flourishing, and Love
Dr. Tony Chambers focuses on ways to support human flourishing and build a sense of belonging for all. He explores the art and science of flourishing and belonging, as well as the personal and organizational impact of human flourishing and belonging. Tony Chambers has over 40 years of teaching, researching, and leading college student learning and development initiatives in the US and Canada. He has done extensive professional work focusing on student well-being and flourishing. He is a Professor Emeritus from the University of Toronto, and the current Director for Community Well-being in the Center for Healthy Minds at the University of Wisconsin. He is committed to equity, inclusion, and belonging in all facets of his work and life.
Watch this recent Badger Talks video at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=h3RTaPb5hfY
:: Onboarding
Get a Tour of Campus!
New employees (or any employee interested in getting to know our main campus better) are encouraged to register for an upcoming New Employee Tour. Climb aboard a climate-controlled trolley and enjoy a 1-hour driving tour of our campus hosted by a retired employee. Tours highlight landmarks, history, and the different areas of our campus. Contact marci.birkes@wisc.edu for special accommodations or questions. The tour leaves from and returns to 21 N. Park Street.
Registration for other upcoming tours can be found here: https://hr.wisc.edu/professional-development/courses/?q=Tour