August
August| 2021 news & updates
Mental Health in the Workplace
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Dr. Cherry Collier, Ph.D., MCC., Lead instructor & DEI expert
Live 30-minute info session to get a close look into TLG/Personality Matters Inclusion, Diversity, Equity in Action (IDEA) Certification
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This session will cover:
- How becoming IDEA certified can equip you with the tools you need to lead positive change and courageous conversations within your organization.
- How IDEA offers continuing education credits for ICF certified coaches and SHRM HR professionals.
- A preview of the eight interactive course sessions and how they work.
- What to expect in terms of course work, time commitment, and overall effort.
- Your questions answered live by Dr. Cherry herself!
You won’t want to miss this! Register today!
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“What it Takes to Succeed at Work and in Life: Try Grit and Gratitude"
Featuring: Jamine Moton
Founder/CEO Skylar Security, 2019 ATP Startup Disruptor Award Recipient
Women in Leadership Signature Series
Friday, August 27, 8 - 10 am, Virtual
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Calendar: Upcoming TLG Events
Founder/CEO, Skylar Security. 2019 ATP Startup Disruptor Award Recipient
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Mental Health in the Workplace |
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Mental Health in the Workplace
Excerpt:
"There are many reasons people are finding themselves in a precarious mental state. Yet, that doesn’t mean there are not a multitude of ways to enhance their state-of-mind."
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by Shawn Achor
The happy secret to greater success and fulfillment in work and life—a must-read for everyone trying to flourish in a world of increasing stress and negativity. Great read!
Tino
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Tino's Featured Product for August: |
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A recent study from Mental Health America found that 83% of employees reported being emotionally drained from their work, and early sign of burnout. On top of this, 99% of employees agreed that workplace stress affects their mental health. Does this sound like you?
Having strong resilience is how we can protect ourselves from the damage of stress, anxiety, and burnout. Join Resilience Expert and Senior Consultant Vicki Abelson for a in-depth three-session course on building your personal resilience. For more information and to register, please visit our website!
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Webinar: Resilience in a Rapidly Changing World |
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ICYMI: Last week, we had a powerful discussion with TLG Senior Consultant, Vicki Abelson, on building your personal resilience. Check out the full recording of the webinar! |
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What Really Impacts Mental Health in the Workplace |
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What Really Impacts Mental Health in the Workplace
by Lyn Turknett
Co-founder & Co-chair, Turknett Leadership Group
Excerpt: "While compassion for individual struggles is essential, as is recognition of the stress we are all under, creating workplaces that really support mental and emotional health requires bigger thinking. Here are four ways I think we can create workplaces that help."
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A Wonderful Concept for Well Being
Eudaimonia
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Founder & Host Emerita Women in Leadership
From Psychology Today Tchiki Davis, Ph.D.
"While this isn’t about well-being or wellness in the workplace, it is I believe a wonderful concept – worth sharing. "
Susan
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Marty Gupta
Vice President Strategic Services TLG
By Lee Vinsel & Andrew L. Russell
Our preoccupation with innovation (‘the new’) is often at the expense of maintaining ourselves, our homes, and collective infrastructure. This is the premise of, The Innovation Delusion: How Our Obsession with the New Has Disrupted the Work That Matters Most, which was published last Fall by two professors who study the history and long-term impact of technology. This thought-provoking book could not be more timely given the current, national discussion on infrastructure spending and pending legislation. The authors delve into the differences between ‘innovation-speak’ and actual innovation, and the consequences of blind consumerism, our failure to maintain roads, bridges and other necessities, and penchant for celebrating innovators over the people who keep things working (‘maintainers’). Innovation and maintenance are not opposites, they can work together, and we need more balance, for example, repair and retrofit infrastructure versus raze and replace with something new.
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In order to protect our productivity, our mood, and our mental health in the workplace, we need to have strong resilience.
So, how resilient are you? Take our free survey, designed by Resilience Expert and Senior Consultant Vicki Abelson to discover your level of resilience now!
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Mental Health in the Workplace: Answers from the Experts.... |
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When you are under stress yourself, what coping mechanisms or grounding techniques do you use?
My quickest “go to” is deep breathing – with a slow exhale of at least thirty seconds. Being mindful of my breathing, and working to make sure I am breathing deeply and slowly, is always relaxing to me. Next I monitor my thinking – how I am talking to myself. I usually find that I am saying things to myself that are counterproductive – things like:
· Why did I agree to do this!
· I can’t believe she said that! or
· Why can’t I get this right?!
I have practiced countering my thoughts with things that are more calming and productive, like “It is what it is, Lyn. You agreed to do it, so finish it as quickly as possible. And maybe try next time to decide up front whether you should say yes.” My next “go to” is moving – maybe a quick walk or ten-minute YouTube cardio.
AND STOPPING TO BE GRATEFUL AT LEAST ONCE A DAY IS A HUGE STRESS RELIEVER!
What are the key stressors you are seeing right now in clients?
A top one for leaders now in most industries, and one that’s been mentioned frequently, is Zoom fatigue. We are so fortunate to have these technologies, but it’s also more stressful to interact when you are missing the nonverbal signals we are used to as humans. Also, many organizations are booking meetings with no “commute time” between meetings. Response to the pandemic is a continuing stressor, with a big one now decisions about returning to the workplace. And many companies find that employees are stressed and anxious about return. Everyone with children is worried about safety in returning to school and care for children if schools or childcare facilities are closed.
Stressors change by industry as well. In healthcare there is extreme fatigue and frustration as hospitalizations rise again, while restaurants and food service are stressed by changes in infection rates just as diners were returning to indoor dining. Finding employees is a huge stressor for service and retail industries, and many workers in those industries are anxious about serving the public during a pandemic.
I have to add, though, that one of the silver linings of being consultant during the past 18 months is the opportunity to see the incredible resilience of the human spirit and the capacity for adaptation and innovation. Seeing people in multiple industries adapt and change so quickly has been a remarkable opportunity.
TLG Co-founder & Co-chair
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When you are under stress yourself, what coping mechanisms or grounding techniques do you use?
When I’m under stress, I am very intentional about self-care. In addition to making sure I’m getting enough sleep, I meditate, and carve out time to engage in activities I enjoy. In particular, I find that working up a sweat by hitting balls on the tennis court works wonders for releasing physical tension. I also find it helpful to take a step back and figure out my top priorities. That way, I can get the most important things done, while not letting the less important items overwhelm me.
What are the key stressors you are seeing right now in clients?
Currently I see clients struggling with some pretty typical stressors such as managing their workloads and juggling their personal and professional obligations. In addition, many are dealing with unpredictability related to the resurgence of Covid-19 and uncertainty with regards to returning to the office (with differing perspectives from leaders and employees).
Senior Consultant TLG
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When you are under stress yourself, what coping mechanisms or grounding techniques do you use?
My go to's for combatting stress include exercise, music, time with friends and reading (anything but work!). I also try and practice meditation at least 10 minutes/day. Did I mention exercise? It may be the most important one.
What are the key stressors you are seeing right now in clients?
The biggest stressor I'm hearing about is the safety of the workforce relative to the risk of Covid-19. Employers are losing sleep wrestling with the question of bringing people back to the office and/or requiring vaccines versus respect for the right to individual choice or possibly losing valuable employees. Labor shortages are also an issue, particularly in less skilled positions.
Senior Consultant TLG
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When you are under stress yourself, what coping mechanisms or grounding techniques do you use?
For me, there's a first step that I try to take...and that is to manage how much I commit to take on. Even though I'm (fortunately) able to influence this to a large extent, I always run the risk of committing to more than I can handle - in an optimal manner.
When I am stressed, I rely on these specific routines and tactics to manage it:
- Put it in perspective. It's usually the case that what I'm feeling stressed about pales in comparison to difficulties and challenges that so many other people must endure. I'm fortunate, and taking that appreciative view is valuable.
- Break the stressful situation down into manageable parts. This re-establishes my sense of control and confidence that I will be able to make it through whatever the stressful situation might be.
- Remind myself that I've been in similar situations in the past, have gotten through those, and will be able to do the same in this situation.
- Take time to calm my mind and my thinking.
- Self-care...trying to get enough sleep, taking breaks, exercise as a non-negotiable.
What are the key stressors you are seeing right now in clients?
- Workload pressures.
- Life balance stresses.
- For many people, the performance scorecard has changed...and many are struggling to identify what the new performance measures are...how they will be evaluated.
- Some leaders and managers are feeling stressed by not being able to do as much to support their team members (in handling stress or managing workload) as they feel they should be doing.
- Some are experiencing "compassion stress" - listening so empathetically so often - that they become emotionally depleted.
Senior Consultant Assessment & Development Practice
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When you are under stress yourself, what coping mechanisms or grounding techniques do you use?
Exercise, gratitude journaling and mindfulness meditation have been my go-to stress relievers for a number of years. I find that stress can trigger my imposter syndrome and/or a feeling that I am "weak". Exercise is the physical manifestation of strength so my exercise regiment increases when stress finds me and tends to calm the "not good enough" gremlins.
Having a grateful heart has been scientifically proven to increase our happiness so I make sure I take a couple of minutes to name at least three things I am grateful for every day. If I can't find the time to record it in my journal, we go around the dinner table as a family and share. Lastly, mindfulness meditation. I am such a believer in the benefits of mindfulness meditation that I bring it into my coaching practice and share a copy of the book Mindfulness: An Eight-Week Plan for Finding Peace in a Frantic World with all of my coachees at the start of our coaching engagements. The ones that explore it and start a practice reap the benefits and continue their practice well after our engagements concludes.
What are the key stressors you are seeing right now in clients?
One of the assessments that I use when coaching clients highlights an individual's stress behaviors. I have been working with clients to not just identify their stress behaviors but to also find the good in them. For example, I have a client whose stress behavior is that she becomes emotional and take things very personally. But one of her other stress behaviors is that she becomes a master planner and executor because she needs to feel some sense of control. Together, we are working to identify the behaviors and triggers when they arise, accept them and lean into the positive that they bring while not obsessing on the negative. Stress is constant and knowing how to channel it appropriately is so beneficial.
Senior Consultant TLG
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When you are under stress yourself, what coping mechanisms or grounding techniques do you use?
My favorite stress relief action is to go for a long run outside. Nothing beats good exercise on a nice day! I also like to spend some quiet time and unplug from e-mails, phone calls, social media, etc and just listen to music or read a book. Any way I can give myself some distance from the stressor to gain a healthy perspective before re-engaging is very helpful. Sometimes that might mean simply closing my eyes and taking three deep breaths before joining my next meeting!
What are the key stressors you are seeing right now in clients?
I’m definitely seeing a trend of increased stress in inter-personal relationships from my clients. Being remote for an extended period of time while trying to grow a high performing team, especially with new team members, can be very challenging and stressful!
Senior Consultant TLG
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When you are under stress yourself, what coping mechanisms or grounding techniques do you use?
Fundamentally, I have found that the most important factor in managing stress is self-awareness. By doing the work to understand who I am, what motivates me, and what triggers me - I can more easily leverage that understanding to map out a “stress plan” for when stress inevitably arises. My coping mechanism invariably involves some type of ‘pause’ - as I like to call it, ’the pause that refreshes.’ Depending upon the stressor, it could be as simple as a pause to exercise, do a crossword puzzle, walk the dogs or organize my closet - to something with a longer pause like a staycation or day hike in the mountains around my home in Arizona.
What are the key stressors you are seeing right now in clients?
The most consistent stressor I am seeing is burnout. Clients are mentally, physically, and socially exhausted by the continued uncertainty around the pandemic. Lately, that has centered around what work will look like coming out of it based on their companies’ policies (all remote? hybrid? back in the office?) , and how that affects them. The other consistent stressor I hear is around ‘work overwhelm.’ While I would not say that this is specifically correlated to the pandemic - clients have been complaining about being ‘crazy busy’ for years now - the pandemic has certainly exacerbated the issue given the blurring between work and personal time and space.
Senior Consultant
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When you are under stress yourself, what coping mechanisms or grounding techniques do you use?
For mental stress I like physical activity. And I would rather do physical labor than exercise if possible. For emotional stress I need to be around family and friends. Those who love me unconditionally and listen. For the ultimate stress, mistakes and other forms of self-induced failure, I need nature. As a classic over-thinker, haunted by mistakes, I need to be alone and surrounded by forces bigger than myself. These days I stare out into Lake Michigan, and she stares back, and, at some point, catharsis, by way of learning and renewal, happens. I am still learning how to manage stress.
Senior Consultant TLG
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When you are under stress yourself, what coping mechanisms or grounding techniques do you use?
Meditate and use HeartMath’s heart centered breathing app. And plenty of walks in nature.
What are the key stressors you are seeing right now in clients?
Dealing with the many uncertainties presented by the issues of Covid-19 and trying to figure out how to manage all of the issues related to whether folks can effectively work from home or need to be in the office.
Strategic Partner, Chief Storyteller
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During times of unprecedented uncertainty, we know the need for leading and developing high performance teams has never been greater. If you want to see increased efficiency, innovation, and collaboration among other things in your team, our Psychological Safety and Team Norms for Sustainability program is for you. |
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Assessing and Leveraging Remote Work Styles |
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With new uncertainty looming over the delta variant, return-to-office plans are being hijacked and remote work continues to be leveraged. TLG understands the challenges that many organizations face in supporting their employees remotely and building successful remote teams. Our Assessing and Leveraging Remote Workstyles program is the solution. |
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Barrier Busters: Women of Character Podcast |
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Vicki Escarra
You do not want to miss this podcast!
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Sr. Advisor, Boston Consulting Group, former EVP/CMO of Delta Air Lines, CEO, Feeding America, and Global CEO, Opportunity International |
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Find the balance between confidence and humility through the lessons shared by Vicki Escarra during this podcast. She provides practical advice to women aspiring to senior leadership positions and gives us insight to how and why she turned her focus from corporate leadership toward leading two of the largest non-profit organizations in the U.S. It’s an important discussion about aligning one’s life’s work with a core set of values. |
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“What it Takes to Succeed at Work and in Life: Try Grit and Gratitude"
Featuring: Jamine Moton
Founder and CEO of Skylar security, 2019 ATP Startup Disruptor Award Recipient
Women in Leadership Signature Series
Friday, August 27 8 - 10 am Virtual
Jamine is a former collegiate track and field star, national champion, Olympic alternate, and future hall of famer who also earned her master’s degree from Clemson and served as a Clayton County Police Sergeant. She has taken her ability to give 100%+ to the next level in her own private security business. Her differentiators are her focus on client support, success, and retention plus a new business model: above the industry standard with customizable solutions and word-of-mouth referrals. Jamine is a 2017 Women’s Entrepreneurship Initiative (WEI) alumna, Entrepreneur in Residence for GSU’s Main Street Entrepreneurship Seed Fund, and a Goldman Sachs Small Business Ambassador & Alumni.
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Guest Host:
Tino Mantella
TLG President & CEO
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Introducing NEW Feature: SHEroes |
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Susan Hitchcock Presents...
SHEroes | Ft. Nikki Lanier
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Introducing the Age of SHEroes, founded by Susan Hitchcock, TLG Advisory Board Member & Founder of Women in Leadership. In this series, Susan interviews high-profile women who have inspired and awed generations through their contributions to women's progress and society at large. This time, Susan caught up with Nikki Lanier, SVP and Regional Executive of the Louisville Branch of the Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis. Read on to discover Nikki's incredible journey and the lessons and insights she has learned about racism and inequity. |
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Coming in September 2021
TLG Booth & Panel Presentation at SOAHR SHRM-Atlanta
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TLG Panel Topic:
DEI- Fostering Courageous Conversations for Lasting Change in the Workplace
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Mark this date for TLG's LIVE (yes!! in person) session
Tuesday September 28, 2021
at the Cobb Galleria, 2pm
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Looking for more inspirational and relevant content? |
Be sure to follow our LinkedIn page to keep up-to-date with everything happening at TLG!
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