Posted on July 16, 2017
By Nan Russell
During The Great Recession, thanks to frequent-flyer points and a vacation club exchange, we spent a week in Hawaii for the cost of a rental car and food. While a fun and relaxing vacation, it was strange to be at an ocean-front Maui resort during peak tourist season, without the tourists. Several restaurants on this forty-acre property were even closed.
The bellman who showed us around told us he’d been working at the resort for 11 years and hadn’t seen anything like it. “I used to work full-time,” he told us. “Now I’m on a rotation with 16 others and lucky to get one day a week. I’m not sure how I can make it, even with unemployment.”
In comparison to that distressed bellman, on the last evening of vacation we chatted with a man who delivered our room service, commenting to him about the empty hotel. “Oh,” he said. “It’s kind of nice. I see this like a mini-vacation. I know it’ll pick up, and if not, I have some other things in the works.”
These were contrasting reactions to the same event. The bellman felt powerless and stressed-out while the room service staffer was calm and taking action. It reminded me of an experiment discussed in Time magazine about stress. In the experiment, (continue reading →)
Posted in: Winning at Working |
Tagged: Nan Russell, powerful, powerless, reduce stress, stress, what you can do, what you control, Winning at Working |
Posted on April 9, 2017
By Nan Russell
It’s a toss-up world. Sometimes what we encounter is truthful, sometimes it’s not; sometimes a picture is real, sometimes manipulated; sometimes a statement or “news” story is factual, sometimes “over-exaggerated,” fabricated, or plagiarized. In this kind of world, trust can seem naïve, gullible, and foolhardy.
Of course, sometimes it is. Not everyone is trustworthy. But, the reality is all people never have been and never will be. From snake-oil salesmen to the seller of the Brooklyn Bridge, there have always been scammers, cheaters, and manipulators. Technology may have changed, but the challenge of knowing how, when, and whom to trust hasn’t. It’s still an essential skill for anyone who wants to be winning at working.
In a complex, changing world with social media influence and a 24/7 connectivity of people, it’s easy for anyone — even the trust-savvy and trust-skilled — to make trust mistakes. However, some are easier to avoid than others.
Three Essential Winning at Working Trust Don’ts:
- Don’t allow the halo effect to extend your trust perimeter. According to The Oxford English Dictionary, a halo effect is: “The tendency of a favorable (or unfavorable) impression created by an individual in one area to influence one’s judgment of him or her in another.” You wouldn’t allow your auto mechanic to do your root canal, so don’t apply the equivalent elsewhere. Just because someone is successful or competent in their role doesn’t mean they’re trustworthy in other roles or areas. Be wary of giving trust-passes stemming from the halo effect.
- Don’t blanket trust or distrust, or extend or withhold trust, based on title, position, or role. Neighborhood priests and test-changing teachers offer headline examples against a trust blanketing approach. A person’s role or status (or race, gender, religion, or community) doesn’t determine trustworthiness. A person at the top of an organization isn’t inherently more or less worthy of trust than someone in an entry position. All leaders, salespeople, construction workers, business owners, doctors, police officers, protestors, students, politicians, neighbors, or friends aren’t the same — i.e. all trustworthy or all not. Trust is about individuals, not groups. Be careful about the trust-blankets you throw.
- Don’t judge only what someone says; judge what they do against what they say. Actions, at least consistent ones, do speak louder than words. But those actions don’t speak in a vacuum. Our words provide the backdrop for how our actions are measured. It’s that alignment between words and actions that creates behavioral integrity, which is a foundation for trust. Don’t give your trust to people whose words and actions are misaligned — who say one thing and do another– or those whose actions demonstrate a belief that their words apply only to others, not themselves. Pay attention to mismatched words and actions, including your own.
(continue reading →)
Posted in: Trust Inc, Winning at Working |
Tagged: behavioral integrity, don't blanket trust, essential trust don'ts, halo effect, Nan Russell, rules of trust, trust mistakes, trust or not trust, Winning at Working |
Posted on February 22, 2017
By Nan Russell
The 40 hour workweek is a myth for the majority of people who work full-time for two reasons. First, sometimes we have to work more, and second, sometimes we want to. When I’m writing a book or working on a new project, I rarely notice the hours. I’m focused, engaged, and challenged. I’m working early, I’m working late, and I’m grabbing every minute I can. But when I have to do something I’m not interested in, it’s different.
It’s not always the number of hours we work that matters, it’s why we’re putting them in. Gallup researchers note: “Highly engaged workers who log well over 40 hours will still have better overall well-being than actively disengaged workers who clock out at 40 hours.”
It’s a myth to assume long hours means less well-being. Just like it’s a myth that we’re working longer hours than ever before, or that this generation is (continue reading →)
Posted in: It's Not About Time, Winning at Working |
Tagged: accomplishing dreams, getting results, It's Not About Time, Nan Russell, next essential skill, self-management, time management, Winning at Working |
Posted on October 24, 2016
By Nan Russell
“He who cannot dance will say: the drum is bad.” Too many people I’ve encountered use a philosophy akin to this African proverb to navigate their work. It’s easier to blame the drum or the boss, the co-worker or the company. Easier to criticize the workload, the training or lack of it, the pay or one’s upbringing. And easier to fault anything and everyone rather than their own actions, choices, and results.
I hear too many creative excuses and too much blaming and finger pointing from people honing the craft of deflecting reflection. To them, it’s always the drum or the drummer, never the dancer. Excuses. Excuses. Excuses. Blame. Blame. Blame.
You’ll recognize them from their mantras: “It’s not (continue reading →)
Posted in: Winning at Working |
Tagged: accountability, blame game, can do attitude, Nan Russell, own it, Winning at Working |
Posted on September 21, 2016
By Nan Russell
When faced with catching a fly ball, Lucy missed again. “The past got in my eyes,” she told Charlie Brown, “I thought I had it, but suddenly I remembered all the others I’d missed.”
I’ve known hundreds of workplace Lucys. People who let their past get in the way of their future; who self-determine what they’re going to do, can do, or might be able to do by what they didn’t do, haven’t done, or even failed at. They stay aligned to their past like a Peanuts comic strip philosophy.
Past-focused people sabotage themselves with yesterday’s mantras that become today’s expectations: “Yeah, we tried that before and it didn’t work;” “I got rejected once already so I’m not going to make that mistake again;” or “No one listens to my ideas.”
What they miss is this: that may have been true yesterday, but (continue reading →)
Posted in: Winning at Working |
Tagged: career growth, future over past, learn from mistakes, Nan Russell, self-development, Winning at Working |
Posted on August 17, 2016
By Nan Russell
In the late 17th-century, Lord Chesterfield, an English writer and politician, wrote to his son, “Whatever is worth doing at all is worth doing well.” Over three hundred years later, we still heed this advice from the fourth Earl of Chesterfield. Yet, doing something well doesn’t mean doing it perfectly. The 21st-century workplace requires more than doing something well.
Today’s adage should be: “Whatever is worth doing, is worth doing.” That’s the secret people who are winning at working know. It’s action, not inaction, practice not theory, and progress not perfection that builds success, achieves results, and actualizes dreams.
After hearing me speak at a conference, a young woman sought me out. She was struggling with this concept of progress over perfection and asked for advice. “How do you do it?” she asked. “How do you accept something as finished when you know it could be better?” She explained she was (continue reading →)
Posted in: Winning at Working |
Tagged: action not inaction, Doing, incremental progress, Nan Russell, progress over perfection, Winning at Working, work in progress, WorkStuff |
Posted on July 28, 2016
By Nan Russell
It was his perception that caused the outburst. “Why aren’t there any managers in these sessions? Why aren’t they required to attend, too?” he challenged.
Hired to provide workshops on building trust in a workplace lacking it, I answered his question to the extent I could during that first session, “It’s my understanding that everyone is attending,” I offered. “But let me find out for sure and get back to you.”
Confirming at the break that indeed, everyone on staff would be attending one of nine scheduled sessions, he balked. “Yeah, that’s what they’ll tell you,” his anger perceptible through his tone, “but I haven’t ever seen it.”
By the end of the week, he was not the only staff member posing the question. If a direct supervisor (continue reading →)
Posted in: Winning at Working |
Tagged: assumptions, fact or fiction, get the facts, mistruths, Nan Russell, perceptions, reality, rumors, the facts, Winning at Working, workplace trust |
Posted on June 22, 2016
By Nan Russell
Reading in the airport while waiting for a flight, a housekeeper was tidying around me when approached by another facilities employee. After a few minutes of easily overheard chit-chat, she received coaching from her now apparent supervisor.
“You know,” he said “I’d like you to pace yourself.” Intrigued by his words, I stopped reading to eavesdrop and heard as he told her, “You’re doing too good a job. You don’t need to work this hard.”
“I like my area clean and looking good for everyone,” she said, confused by his direction. “Anyway, I get all my work done.”
When they parted several minutes later, her body language was not one of relief, but despair. Clearly a person taking pride in her work, the boss’s unfolding message was not about (continue reading →)
Posted in: Winning at Working |
Tagged: achievement, career path, different talents, dreams, high performance, Nan Russell, promotion, Winning at Working, your work |
Posted on March 21, 2016
By Nan Russell
Against. Against. Against. It seems that’s the political model of late. What one party is for, the other is against. Even before an idea makes it to twitter or the blogosphere, opposing party pundits and candidates are railing against whatever approach is being considered.
However, before smugness gets the better of us, I’d suggest we take a closer look. The against-it-resist-it road is alive and well in most workplaces, too. Of course the labels are different. It’s not those Democrats or Republicans; it’s those employees or that management; the boss or the staff; the finance department or human resources; or the front line versus support areas.
Being against something is so much easier. We don’t have to (continue reading →)
Posted in: Winning at Working |
Tagged: being against, contributions, engagement, Nan Russell, resistance, solutions, stand for something, Winning at Working, WorkStuff |
Posted on February 22, 2016
By Nan Russell
There’s a line in the movie Gracie that I love. Gracie is a teenager in the 70s who is competing for a spot on the boy’s high school varsity soccer team. In one scene, dejected and on the verge of giving up, her mother, played by Elizabeth Shue, tells her, “If you want to limit yourself, that’s fine. But don’t let other people do it for you.”
Most of us do an impressive job of impeding our own paths with our detrimental self-talk, minimized confidence, and self-esteem doubts without any help from naysayers. Still, too often we blame those others, not ourselves, for shrinking our dreams, aspirations, and goals. We don’t realize that sticking someone else’s critical words or limiting labels to our life potential is our choice.
It’s easier to let the people who challenge us determine our resolve; easier to relinquish our power to the boss who reviews us, believing somehow what she says we’re capable of achieving or not achieving is truth, not opinion. And it’s easier to apply societal headlines that equate money or title or possessions with personal value, than to establish what matters for our own lives.
It’s true that piercing words, harsh feedback, or demeaning critics can diminish our courage or cause us to change direction. That’s why in this age of instant messaging, anonymous blog ramblings, and self-appointed “experts,” thick skin is a prerequisite for anyone who wants to be winning at working.
In virtually every work situation you face, there will be 30 percent of people who (continue reading →)
Posted in: Tips, Winning at Working |
Tagged: beliefs, critique, feedback, grow thicker skin, Nan Russell, positive feedback, self-talk, thick skin, Winning at Working |
During The Great Recession, thanks to frequent-flyer points and a vacation club exchange, we spent a week in Hawaii for the cost of a rental car and food. While a fun and relaxing vacation, it was strange to be at an ocean-front Maui resort during peak tourist season, without the tourists. Several restaurants on this forty-acre property were even closed.
