You hear it ad nauseam when it comes time for the playoffs in major sports. The team that has “chemistry” is the one that often goes on to win the championship, even if their talent level isn’t the best. Chemistry in this case is just another word for culture and it is one of the most important aspects of team dynamics.
“If we hope to go anywhere or develop ourselves in any way, we can only step from where we are standing.” Jon Kabat-Zinn wrote these words in the book Wherever You Go, There You Are, a favorite of mine as an introduction to mindfulness. This sentiment transcends personal and professional boundaries. If we seek meaningful change or progress, we must recognize our existing strengths, limitations, highlights, and blind spots to know what areas to target and determine where to go next. These characteristics represent a foundation upon which all else is built — everything that happens is from now on (another quote; this one from a Bon Iver song).
This week’s leadership challenge is going to be short and sweet. Some time ago I had been lamenting that every time my iPhone notified me of how much screen time I had in the past week, it was always much higher than I wanted it to be and often times the culprit was social media.
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Over the holiday season, my wife and I each had two weeks off at home to reflect after a challenging year. She’s a school teacher, so the holiday break is a usual component of her schedule; however, as someone who worked rotating shifts—including holidays, overnights, and everywhere in-between—prior to this year, this was uncharted territory for me. Even when I do have time off, I usually fill it with travel, providing little opportunity for true relaxation and introspection. Aside from a couple of local day trips around the Black Hills, this was a legitimate staycation.
This year I am stepping away from traditional New Year’s goals. I’m not going to lose ten pounds, I’m not going to become fluent in Italian and I am not going to go viral with the Human Constant. Don’t get me wrong, I wouldn’t mind doing all of those things but I have had those “resolutions” before and I don’t typically hit the goal, or I forget about it by February and move on to something else.
The end of the year is quickly coming to a close and this is the time of the year that people start to ease into the holidays and take stock of the year that was. While more people are likely to make New Year’s resolutions than look at their year in review, the two are really symbiotic if you want to maximize your momentum going into next year.
If you have spent any time online recently, you have probably run across the phrase “toxic positivity” more than once. While toxic positivity certainly is something to be aware of, it seems to me that lately, as the world becomes increasingly negative, there is a drive to label any kind of positivity as toxic.
This week’s leadership challenge goes hand in hand with our three thoughts of the week in which we recognize we have come face to face with a productivity plateau and we need to take the next step to continue to climb the mountain again.
It doesn’t matter what time a day or what season we are in, it seems like there are always a multitude of fires to put out. Whether it’s the daily mundane of the dog barking because it’s time to eat or something much more complicated, there are 100s of things we are thinking about daily.
Everyone romanticizes about taking the big risk. Pack up shop, sell the house and move to Europe and start the life of your dreams! I definitely have found myself falling into that category more and more over the last several years. Don’t like your job? Just quit! When reality sets it, rarely is it that simple and also very easy for others to tell YOU to take the risk, but it’s not their life at stake if the risk doesn’t pay off.