Living Balance

The dreaded company retreat

Just have to share this with you.  We hear about this dreaded event all the time from our VIP clients.

BBC business news has a great, bold and controversial article out today: Why corporate team-building events can be terrible. (love the title already)

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-45260246

 

There is nothing worse than opening up your email to an invitation to attend one of these company weekends. It leaves many of our clients with that ‘pit-in-the-stomach’ feeling.

You know you can’t get out of it. You know it will be a waste of time. And this is the important bit…you believe it will be a hornet’s nest of problems.

Have a read why. We are sure many of you will relate 100%.

These events require a solid and deep understanding of group dynamics, communication skills, trust-building, and a high level of crowd control. These skills are reserved for the professionals who know the psychology behind all of these seemingly innocent and fun weekends.

The article makes a great point at the end…good managers year-round should be able to avoid the necessity of having one of these retreats in the first place.

Our best advise to clients: Beware the facilitator, and if you have to attend one of these, put your game face on, keep your guard up, follow the instructions and get out of there at your earliest convenience. You are not weak, you aren’t the problem, and you should never be the scapegoat for the wrong facilitator.

And our next executive coaching session will be devoted to ‘the debrief’ with someone you already trust.

 

Reader Feedback we love

Reader Feedback!

Huge response both on and offline to our June 30th Feature Article on Bullying in the adult world [Stand Tall, No Sagging Allowed!  HSPs Stand Up To Bullies]

Here’s a taster of the feedback from across the globe!  Thank you all.

 

“Great ideas for coping with bullies! Thank you.”   Deb V.  Las Vegas, USA

“Hi there  I’m not being bullied but was when I was a teenager and my daughter has been too.I used to have a background in HR. I would have loved to have shared these tips to our staff back then. Fab post 🙂 Have a lovely weekend x  Wishing you fabulousness! ” Ruby McGuire, MCIPD, ASC  (Visibility Diva, aka Queen of Connection Visibility Strategist, Trainer, Speaker, Author.  UK

“I just had to tell you how timely your latest email was about bullying. I am currently going through the negotiations over dissolving the partnership in my business and everything in your email hit home for me. I was literally lying awake at 1am so upset over everything and I pulled out my phone and saw the headline of your email. Thank you! This will make me stronger throughout this time! ” J.G.  BC, Canada

 

 

 

What if your workplace is toxic?

What is a toxic workplace and how will I know if mine is toxic?

The Burnout Queens love to share good articles and this is a good article in Inc.com (Marcel Schwantes) based on solid research out of Harvard.

 

The article titled 5 signs of a toxic workplace that should be stopped immediately (Inc.com magazine), summarises who toxic workers are and what they do that is so counter-productive to the company and their workers.

“much has been written about hiring and developing top performers in the workplace, but less attention has been paid to the effects of toxic workers on their organizations.  [toxic] workers are not low-functioning or low-status employees…[they]are talented and productive….”

Here are this article’s 5 signs of a toxic office.

  1. Gossip is spreading
  2. Morale is at an all-time low
  3. Managers are dictators not leaders
  4. The human touch is lost
  5. Health issues and absenteeism are on the rise

These are just some of the situations our Executive Clients find themselves in, many of them disheartened by their company culture, disillusioned by an absent listening leadership.  Others grapple with questioning whether they should stay or take the opportunity to leave and place themselves in their dream career move. This all leads to low morale and possibly burnout, which has a knock-on effect on many leaders, teams, executives and ultimately erodes the company’s bottom-line.

Read the full article and get really honest with yourselves. Next step? Implement healthy, rather than punitive change. To ignore and keep following the same path is to risk losing your most talented to the competition.

The step after that?  Get in touch (www.livethesolution.com) .  We coach Highly Sensitive Executives in these situations all the time and they learn to thrive.

A 9 year anniversary for The Burnout Queens

Well it is hard to believe.  A lifetime ago now, really.   This was Dr T at the airport in Vancouver (Dr B taking the photo) awaiting our flight to London, England.

Our adventure that we both dreamt about in 1972 was about to come true, albeit late.  But then we have both always been off-time (off-beat even).

Big change was happening, and more was about to happen.  Change that we didn’t know but were fully ready to embrace.  We left Canada knowing we would not return.  When that last call to board was made (Ladies and gentlemen we are now boarding Air Canada flight to London) Dr T & Dr B smiled widely and joyfully marched into that plane to our new homeland.

Nine years ago, on July 4th we landed at Heathrow and the first words out of the immigration staff when she looked at our passports stamped VISA, she said “welcome home ladies”.  London was our independence and our freedom.  Little did we know how much!

Yes, we are home.  We had lost a lot leading up to that day, but we have gained so much more in taking that final leap.  Would we redo it again?  No.  We have created a culture and lifestyle for ourselves here in the south-east of England.

This was just meant to be, the way we had always planned and more.  We are so fortunate to have met and lived close to wonderful people who have been so open to helping us out and sharing our good moments (and stressful ones).  Don’t think we even think like we used to.

And then of course there is the joy of art, pastries, walks, our dogs, and last but never least, tea and cake.

They say you can’t go home again.  Well Darlings, we are home at last.

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Photography: Caroline True Photography | Illustration by Veronica Miller | Site Design: Kim McDaniels | Disclaimer