Surviving the Pandemic: Seven Practices for Creating a Culture of Belonging

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Practices for Creating a Culture of Belonging

A strong culture helps your team survive times of anxiety and uncertainty.

Have you ever experienced a herd of bison running straight toward you and your child, with nowhere safe to get out of the way? It is a uniquely terrifying experience, let me tell you.  A moment when you most definitely know you are alive, and are quickly assessing avenues to ensure you and your offspring remain that way.

This pandemic experience sort of feels the same to me. True – it is not a matter of split seconds before the impending impact of mountains of hide, muscle and hooves. The virus is invisible. We do not know when it will strike us, our friends or loved ones. But the speed of change with this pandemic, both social and economic, has been a whirlwind. And we have no idea where our safe havens reside or what the future will bring.
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How Emotional Intelligence Improves Well-being and Belonging

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What do well being and belonging have in common?

Turns out they are both supported by increased levels of emotional intelligence. Interesting, I think, how so many aspects of our lives benefit from understanding and knowing our selves better.

Click here for my interview on The Legal Executive Institute blog on just this topic. Its a quick 1 minute read.
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Creating Innovation that Serves Your Success

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When you hear the word innovation what comes to mind?
What do you picture?

Usually when we think of innovation people immediately assume that we are talking about technology. There is good reason for that, of course, technology is rapidly changing the practice of law and our everyday lives. Beware to the law firm or practitioner who does not keep pace.

The word innovation, though, is much broader than simply technology. To innovate is to change how something is done through the introduction of a new method, idea, process or product.
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The Kindness Challenge

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Are you kind?

Is it one of your values to be kind to people? For a week, month or even just a day, try having the courage to intentionally be kind. I challenge you to consider the possibility that by being kind you will increase your own happiness, be more productive, ensure better health and create a stronger bottom line for your practice.  Even better, how about if you work to promote a culture of kindness in your law firm or business?

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Need Mindset Tools for this Wild Ride?

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Here we are at Thanksgiving once again. I feel as if I have been on Toad’s Wild Ride. The year has flown by so fast. At the same time, I swear it has been a decade in the making! Right? Do you feel that way?

I think everyone can agree that the pace of life and the speed of change have increased exponentially. Both in the legal field itself as well as our world generally. Fast paced change is the norm now. That means increasing levels of on-going stress and anxiety. Time to determine how best to support your resilience and long term success. Read more

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Want to De-stress Your Brain? Improve Your Emotional Intelligence

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I get a lot of questions about why someone should bother with developing their emotional intelligence. After all, you have gotten this far in life and done pretty well, and besides who has the energy or time? I understand, if I am anything it is pragmatic. What I can tell you is that there are so many benefits to developing your EQ, it is rather phenomenal. That is why I am now a certified Six Seconds Emotional Intelligence Assessor, and I utilize these tools (among others) to assist my clients in improving their practices and lives.

One Major Benefit: Retraining Your Brain to Reduce Stress.

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Getting Beyond Nice

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I know a lot of people who think being labeled as “nice” is the kiss of death. It means your bland, boring and can be taken advantage of – weak, a push-over. In the dating realm, when someone describes you as “nice”, the fear is you are somehow unattractive. Right?

Think about it for a moment. If your friend sets you up with a guy and all she can say is “He is really nice” even when prompted for more, all your instincts probably will tell you to run. Nice should be a good thing, right? Yes and, well, for leaders and individuals with a backbone, I have to say many or us prefer words like kind, compassionate, empathic, authentic and humble. The language we use matters if we want people to be more open to developing new leadership skills.

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Create Success that Embraces You

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I sometimes wonder if I will ever stop measuring my “success” against that achieved by others. I know what success means to me. I do have a self-definition for my own success that has morphed through the years and base decisions upon it. Yet, our culture, and practically every message in events that I attend or the media glorify outward success (position, money, status, beauty) along with the speed and assumed ease of attainment. In moments of struggle or doubt, I find myself questioning my decisions and my path.   Why am I not like that other person? Why is my journey so convoluted and twisted? Why is it that I am not normal?

Then I think – thank God I am not normal!
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11 Tips to Foster Belonging

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Do you belong at work or in your professional or community organizations? I am asking about your subjective, internal experience of belonging. Feeling as if you are accepted as yourself. Are you accepted? Do you belong? Or, are you merely fitting in?

Effective leadership nurtures belonging and a sense of community. Being able to address indirect or overt behaviors, beliefs or unconscious biases that create separation or the feeling of exclusion is a necessary skill. As an individual faced with disenfranchising behaviors and attitudes, there are coping skills and important mindset practices to develop.

What does it mean to feel like Read more

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Top Ten Ways to Lower Stress

The most prevalent complaints in our high-paced, high impact culture are somehow related to stress.  From the ongoing, regular stress that comes from professional 24/7 demands, beastly traffic and non-stop plugged-in living, to specific life events that knock us for a loop, the impact of stress accumulates.

Pay attention to how you deal with stress. For me there is some stress that is “good” and some that is downright “bad”.
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