Tag Archives: respect

Congruency matters

ON AND OFF-LINE …

What can we really know about a person from on-line profiles?  How true are they to the person behind that all singing, all dancing, slick on-line image?  How much do our profiles really tell us, potential clients, potential employees, potential friends? Our Workplace can be a really emotional place, sometimes when we’ve things on our minds and our reaction to a situation, a comment can be out of proportion. Someone’s ‘pushed’ our buttons and triggered a response that under normal circumstances wouldn’t bother us but hey, too late. We’ve pushed the send button or the words have leapt out of our mouths before we’ve had time to blink.  Too late. In person it is easier to make amends.  On-line, it’s gone.

Congruency matters.  On-line or off-line, it is you, what you do and how you do it that makes all the difference.

Whether you are standing up in front of an audience or emailing someone.  Or talking on the telephone, maybe blogging. You are putting yourself ‘out there’. It is taking a leap of faith especially on-line where once it’s gone and you’ve pushed that send/publish/share button,  what you’ve created is an extension of you, The question is, is it really you?

A company whose values align with your own, who you are proud to be part of benefits from having employees who know who they are and what they stand for.  People who are proud to be working for them, as after all, employees are ‘brand ambassadors’ and make no mistake, people who work for themselves are walking advertisements for themselves too.  An an Employee or Business Owner, you need to be able to express yourself, voice your opinion in a way which shows respect and appreciate another’s point of view.   When someone has the courage to say ‘I’m not sure about this, can you help me’ or perhaps ‘Do you think there’s a better way of explaining the problem’ or quite simply ‘Can I ask you what you think’, it’s a real indicator that there is space for growth, for improved performance, a willingness to expand one’s horizons.

Sometimes I find myself technically challenged.  Spending time working out how to use a new phone, a new app, embrace a new way of getting my message out there I find hard.  I am sure I am not the only one. Once a ‘twit-nit’ does not mean forever and now I’ve asked for help, though a slow learner know it will get easier!

Being able to be yourself matters.

To express yourself matters.

You matter.

Congruency matters – on and off-line…

Join us for breakfast and be part of the conversation

Mindfulness – A passing Fad?

I recently wrote on Mindfuilness for the Irish Motor Neurone Disease Association and drew on my experience of living with Annette Evans and her husband Roland who has MND.  Against all odds I feel they embody all that is indeed Mindfulness. Click to read full article   Mindfulness… A Passing Fad

[quote align=”left” color=”#999999″]Mindfulness … ” A form of secular prayer” Roland Evans October 2014[/quote]

Check out Roland’s book,The Marshlander Chronicles –  ALL proceeds will go to the IMNDA, 

 

 

RUDE!

I’ve come to the conclusion that the only way to deal with rudeness is simply to utter the word rude.  My pal in London Maggie came up with this simple solution.  Sometimes there is absolutely no merit in dealing with an ignorant person.  Their rudeness and inability to be civil is their problem, not yours. Not mine. [quote align=”left” color=”#999999″]Rudeness is a reflection of someone else’s problems[/quote]

In saying RUDE either silently or under my breath quickly enables me to move on quickly and forget the unpleasantness, rather than fuming and continuing to fume, for hours, days, weeks.  Thank you Maggie for simplifying what can be over-laboured.  RUDE. That’s it.  done and dusted.

Cleaning for the Cleaner?

Obsessive? Never …

Long gone are the days of having the luxury of having a cleaner and that’s a good thing.  It’s good in that there’s pleasure to be taken in a simple job well done and giving it due time and attention. What I’ve come to re-appreciate is that I like an orderly home. I like to work with a clear space around me.  When I do, I can channel my energy into good work.  So why, when working away from home for a week, did I take so much stuff with me that I crowded my space and as a result, no concrete work at the laptop was done!  Instead, I took off to the great outdoors. What it did was to remind me of what’s important.  In getting outside to clear my head, I found myself surrounded by the staggering beauty of Valentia Island, off season.  Where the landscape is overwhelmingly beautiful.  Where I realised the value of simple being…  One of those lightbulb moments.  With the recognition of being happy in my own company – cats being the exception at the time – I was able to piece together a new workshop I’d been conceptualising.  Result, albeit inadvertently achieved.

As for the connection with cleaning for the cleaner, well, apart from the obsessive nature of having done that often in a previous life, house-sitting calls for a different skill-set.  Apart from the care you lavish on someone else’s home and their pets. you are there to care, simply care, for their home.   And most importantly, it is remembering to make sure everything is back in its place and there is no sign that you were ever there! The power of focus, not allowing an obsessive nature to take over and just letting things be.  Whether it is letting a cleaner do what they are meant to do or leaving someone’s home the way they left it.

‘Sure… ‘ as we say in Ireland, ‘I knew that anyway.’…

Love your day !!

 

Asset or Liability?

With family on the other side of the world, I often read their national newspapers on line just to see what’s going on.  Quite often there are similarities in trends, research and events and it helps to get a different perspective on what are common human issues.  Take for example, a recent survey carried out by Ernst & Young on Productivity in the Workplace.  The New Zealand Herald reports (June 10th) that being treated badly in the workplace and poor communication were the biggest obstacles to increasing output.  Whilst some time was spent on social media during work hours, waiting on other people and time spent on unecessary emailing accounted for an average of one hour and nine minutes time being wasted daily. What workers want it appears to be universal.  Workers want more effective management, more motivation and more recognition.  The question is if what workers want is seemingly so simple, why is it so difficult to get it right?

don’t copy, be inspired

there’s so much stuff that you can sign up to and learn from for FREE.  So much that we’re in danger of not being able to think for ourselves.  Does it matter if you take an idea from somewhere else? There are some bloggers out there who inspire and write for people to take the germ of an idea and run with it.  There are others who want to frighten the pants off you, so you don’t take a single word from what they say.  It all comes down to choice.  You can control what you think, what you write, what ultimately bothers you. Everything in life is kickstarted by something someone else has done, or something that already exists. It may be in nature, it may be something that is there but doesn’t provide the solution sought and so inspires a new product or service.  Does it matter?   Take the learning and do not copy or imitate.  Make something better and then be proud of your work. Even if it is simply being inspired to do something that already exists and making it far better, go for it. Just do the right thing and don’t forget to respect, really respect the work of others. Edward de Bono says that thinking is a skill that ought to be developed, so let your imagination be fired and challenge yourself through thinking. You’ll amaze yourself!

 janie-says be inspired by what strikes a chord, follow your intuition and always, do the right thing.