Posted on September 23, 2018
By Nan Russell
Once upon a time, a prince and princess lived in stressful palace, surrounded by a stressful village, inside a stressful land. They knew it was stressful because everyone said it was. Their parents, the king and queen, worked from sunrise to sunset hearing issues from their kingdom, weighing the requests, and appropriating the collective harvest to the people of their land.
The people also worked from sunrise to sunset, doing their assigned tasks, completing their logs, filing their reports, and seeking an audience with the king and queen to request their needed resources. So it went, year after year after year. And the land became known as Stressland.
When the princess and prince grew up and took over the responsibility for the kingdom from their retiring parents, having watched and listened and learned the process for years, it was second nature for them to share responsibilities according to their talents.
But it happened that the young royals grew tired of their inherited routine and began to feel the stress they had only heard spoken of, but never experienced personally. “Enough of this,” said (continue reading →)
Posted in: Winning at Working |
Tagged: efficiency, ideas, Nan S. Russell, productivity, stress, thoughtful questions, time, what are we busy about, winning at working; too busy, workplace stress |
Posted on July 24, 2018
By Nan Russell
Maybe you read on Facebook that Dollar General Stores were celebrating their anniversary by giving out $150 shopping coupons to those who liked and shared their posts, or maybe you received an email seeking applicants as paid mystery shoppers in your area. Maybe you heard that theaters used subliminal advertising to increase sales of popcorn and soft drinks, or saw a “send old shoes, get a new one free” promotion that caught your attention. Or maybe you read about the discovery that disease can be cured by drinking four glasses of water every morning.
The fact that these are all false didn’t stop thousands of people from forwarding, liking, retweeting, repeating, or believing them. One even made it into the top 50 “hottest urban legends” on snopes.com.
Likewise, the fact that office grapevines are filled with false information, speculation, innuendo, and gossip doesn’t stop people from using rumor to fuel distrust, reinforce silo building, or enhance “us” versus “them” thinking, either. This workplace ladder fuel can devastate motivation and destroy work cultures as quickly as nature’s fuel of underbrush, branches, leaves, and vegetation can cause a ground fire to scale trees and devour forests.
A few years ago a forest fire came within a half-mile of our remote cabin, engulfing (continue reading →)
Posted in: Winning at Working |
Tagged: accountability, communication, fake news, false information, gossip, ladder fuel, mistrust, mistruths, Nan Russell, results, rumors, trust, Winning at Working, work relationships, workplace culture |
Posted on May 16, 2018
By Nan Russell
I once worked for a boss who was never wrong, never made a mistake or a bad decision. All you had to do was ask him. To his staff he was Teflon-man. Nothing stuck to him and everything came sliding toward us.
Accountability was not a concept he practiced unless things turned out well and then, he claimed the credit. But if they didn’t, he immediately embarked on endeavors to identify someone responsible. Being called to his office typically meant he was looking for information and trying to decide whom to blame.
Justify. Justify. Justify. Like a battle cry, he commissioned reports, graphs, charts and enhanced documentation whenever his boss questioned him. He found it easier to dig his heels into a position than admit he might have been wrong or change his mind. Working for someone I couldn’t respect eventually led me to transfer departments.
But it still baffles me. People do make mistakes, they do trip up sometimes and they do, on occasion, speak or act in error. And while there’s nothing that says we should be happy about it when we do it ourselves, trying to act (continue reading →)
Posted in: Winning at Working |
Tagged: accountable, blame game, finger pointing, fix it, initiative, lack of accountability, mistakes, Nan S. Russell, ownership, success, Winning at Working |
Posted on March 20, 2018
By Nan Russell
It was a dimly lit restaurant. Still she was dressed in pink, and while I admit it’s hard to tell the gender of babies, clothing color is a reliable clue. So, it surprised me when the waitress began playing with my granddaughter, asking “How old is he?”
Twenty minutes later, that same waitress served our dinners into my daughter-in-law’s lap, spilling the contents of her tray as she approached the table. We made light of the occurrence, assisting her with basic cleanup, but the interaction got me thinking.
In today’s world, too many people are “at work” but not “present.” Preoccupied. Disengaged. Daydreaming. Bored. Text Messaging. Socializing. Whatever. Their bodies are somewhere their mind isn’t. They’re easy to spot as they go about their tasks in a robotic dance of just enough-to-get-by-ness.
These disengaged people seem unaware their present actions carve their future opportunities. They’re surprised when (continue reading →)
Posted in: Tips, Winning at Working |
Tagged: being present, best of self, engagement, getting results, Nan Russell, passing time, passion, Winning at Working |
Posted on January 23, 2018
By Nan Russell
After the completion of Walt Disney World, the story goes that someone went up to Mike Vance, Creative Director for Walt Disney Studios and said, “Isn’t it too bad Walt Disney didn’t live to see this?” Without pausing, he replied, “But he did see it, that’s why it’s here.”
If any outside figure influenced my life early on, it was Walt Disney. Maybe it was because when I was five, my favorite uncle took me to a wondrous new place called Disneyland; or because I grew up in Southern California, visiting it every year or two, watching a man’s vision come to life and grow; or because I believed that “when you wish upon a star, it makes no difference who you are.”
Growing up on the Wonderful World of Disney, I learned how to dream. But as I got older I realized it wasn’t just the dreaming and wishing that made the dreams possible; it was the doing.
Wishing and hoping are poor strategies for making dreams come true, yet that’s (continue reading →)
Posted in: It's Not About Time, Winning at Working |
Tagged: acting and doing, determination, focus, hard work, It's Not About Time, life dreams, making dreams reality, Nan Russell, passion, persistence, time, Winning at Working, wishing and hoping |
Posted on November 15, 2017
By Nan Russell
The man in front of me in the breakfast order line at the food court, in one of the busiest airports in the country, wanted a “full” cup of coffee. He kept raising his voice, yelling at the woman to “fill his cup to the top.” His words peppered with angry comments about her not giving him his “money’s worth.”
His voice was loud; his attitude hostile; his words caustic. Despite how rude he was, she remained calm, professional, and polite throughout the challenging encounter. Even from my close vantage point, I didn’t detect a hint of irritation in her demeanor.
People trekking to their gates paused to see what the commotion was. The upheaval, as it appeared to me, was about a person angry over something other than coffee, and taking whatever it was out on a stranger attempting to fulfill his request.
Maybe he couldn’t control what was happening in his life, but he could control how much coffee he got. Who knows? After the fourth time he shouted at her about not satisfying his request for a “full cup of coffee” and accusing her of “stealing his money” by not giving him what he paid for, she glanced my way. Shooting her an encouraging look, her eyes smiled in return.
I’m sure that in that busy airport, this woman gets her share of “crazy people.” But (continue reading →)
Posted in: Tips, Winning at Working |
Tagged: choice, Compassion, crazy people, grace under pressure, holiday stress, Nan Russell, Nan S. Russell, Winning at Working |
Posted on October 26, 2017
By Nan Russell
I still have the email. It’s been years since a highly placed corporate boss, who had the reputation and approach that things were never quite good enough, sent it to me. He was long on critique and revisions; short on acknowledgement and appreciation.
Anyone else reading his message would deem it ordinary. No flowery words, no glowing adjectives, no verbose flattery or deliberate feel-good rhetoric. It was written in a matter-of-fact, straight-to-the-point style that took three sentences.
Yet its mark was indelible. Not because his appreciation was infrequent, but because it was genuine. While it was an out of the ordinary contribution he acknowledged, the message didn’t come in a signature-pen form letter “from” him via HR, nor was it composed and sent by an executive assistant. It came from him. He took the time to notice, comment, and engage. That simple email reconfirmed my commitment and spurred my enthusiasm.
It doesn’t take much to let someone know they’re valued. So why it is that so few people take the time to do it?
According to an online survey, (continue reading →)
Posted in: Leadership, Trust Inc, Winning at Working |
Tagged: appreciation, communication, contributions, dialogue, genuine, genuine noticing, Nan Russell, noiticing, respect, simpe things, thank you, to be seen, value, what people want, Winning at Working |
Posted on September 18, 2017
By Nan Russell
Twelve minutes before I was to speak to a large group in a hotel ballroom, I was struggling with A/V equipment. With hundreds of presentations under my belt, I’m accustomed to glitches, but no matter what I tried my presentation wouldn’t project.
Hailing the meeting planner, he did his magic and within minutes an A/V tech arrived with another projector. That, too, failed and with five minutes remaining, he began troubleshooting each part of the set-up; I began rearranging my opening to buy more time. There was no need. The projector wasn’t the problem, the cord was. I was up and running with two minutes to spare.
But, this isn’t a story about A/V problems. It’s a story about two kinds of people.
At the end of my session, the technician returned to pack the equipment, putting the defective cord into the box with the projector. Thinking he forgot there was a problem with the cord, I reminded him.
“Yeah, I remember,” he said matter-of-factly. “But every projector has to have a cord. There are two projectors, so I need to put two cords back.” His thinking startled me. Clearly he (continue reading →)
Posted in: Winning at Working |
Tagged: choice, do the right thing, ignoring problems, Nan Russell, other duties as needed, problem solving, two kinds of people, Winning at Working |
Posted on August 1, 2017
By Nan Russell
How mindful are you when it comes to your personal impact on trust at work? Are you contributing to the derailment of trust without even knowing it? Find out. My latest PsychologyToday piece.
Social media and a 24/7 news-frenzy fuel distrust no matter one’s political leanings. From governmental leaks to behind closed door healthcare dismantling, we live in times of intrigue, spin, rumor, jockeying, and miscommunication; some deliberate, some not. And all of that being accelerated and highlighted via technology. No wonder trust in government nears historic lows.
While most of us don’t work in such politically charged, made-for-reality-TV workplaces, we do encounter similar missteps, even mini-dramas, impacting trust levels in our own work groups of peers, staff, coworkers, and leaders.
While it’s easy to point fingers or notice others’ trust-derailing behaviors, it is difficult to create personal awareness about our own. In reality, we all contribute to the trust or distrust levels where we work, often through unintentional, mindless behaviors that diminish trust.
There are numerous ways we can spark distrust at work; below are a few. Whether you’re someone’s leader or coworker, consider how many of these behaviors are true, more often than not, for you.
15 Mindless Ways to Sabotage and Derail Trust in Your Work Group:
1. Focus on your “win” without thinking how it’s achieved or its impact on others
2. Ignore standards, values, policies, approaches teammates are expected to follow
3. Operate with 20th-century thinking in a 21st-century world; stop learning at work
4. Treat your small work issues, needs, or problems as five-alarm fires
5. Practice “cordial hypocrisy” — i.e. “pretend trust when there is none.”
6. Be unresponsive to requests that aren’t of personal interest or importance to you
7. Share confidential information from or about others
Read the rest: PsychologyToday.com
Interested in creating more trust at work? Checkout my book: Trust, Inc.: How to Create a Business Culture that Will Ignite Passion, Engagement, and Innovation
Posted in: Trust Inc, Uncategorized, Winning at Working |
Tagged: engagement, innovation, Nan Russell, trust, trust at work, trust the new workplace currency, work culture, workplace trust |
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 |
Once upon a time, a prince and princess lived in stressful palace, surrounded by a stressful village, inside a stressful land. They knew it was stressful because everyone said it was. Their parents, the king and queen, worked from sunrise to sunset hearing issues from their kingdom, weighing the requests, and appropriating the collective harvest to the people of their land.
