Pessimism has its place. It helps us deal with reality and helps us plan for contingencies. Pessimism has been so important to the survival of our species that it’s “hardwired” into our brains. That’s the rub. It’s hard NOT to be pessimistic sometimes.

Marty Seligman, Ph.D. The author of “Authentic Happiness,” “Learned Optimism” and 20 or so other books and one of the most prominent leaders in the Positive Psychology field. (It’s Marty’s course in Authentic Happiness Coaching that I graduated from a few years ago) feels that optimism is critical for business success today.

The Foresight Institute, a human resources consulting firm New Zealand which has been applying his techniques for almost 15 years, agrees. According to the institute’s director, Jamie Ford, more than 1000 studies using Seligman’s methodology prove beyond doubt the link between optimism and superior performance in many aspects of life, including academic achievement, sales productivity, resilience to adversity, the strength of the immune system and even cancer survival rates.

That’s important to note at times like this when the pessimists are shouting from the rooftops. Both optimism and pessimism are ways of thinking, frames of mind about situations. Pessimists focus on the negative and see those conditions as permanent and pervasive. Optimists see them as temporary and specific.

Optimists look for what is right and good in a situation and focus their attention on that. We get more of what we focus on so it’s important to notice where our thinking is.

As you go through your day today, watch your thoughts. Are they influenced by watching the news? Are you dwelling on the things that are wrong? Could you have more control of what you put your focus on?

Here’s an exercise that Marty’s clients and Happiness Coaches do. At the end of the day write down three good things that happened that day and why. Do it everyday and your happiness will go up over time. Do it right before you go to bed so you are going to sleep on a positive note and you will sleep better too.

While things out there are tough you’ve got to take control of the media that plays in your mind. Are you listening to the good news network – or the bad news network in your head?

With determination and practice you can become an optimist. The payoff – they live about nine years longer than pessimists. (oh yeah, they tend to make more money and have more friends too.)

My friend John is growing tomatoes, from scratch. He has patiently sprouted the heirloom seeds and then transplanted them to small pots. He carefully waters them and watches them (and I suspect talks to them) as they grow a little bigger every day. Soon they will be strong enough to put them in the garden.

The garden has been rototilled and carefully prepared for the dry season in CA. It’s been fed with compost and is watered on a regular basis. He’s doing everything he can to make sure that after the new little tomatoes are planted, they will succeed.

I can never look at a garden without thinking about business. It’s the best metaphor I’ve ever known for what an organization needs to be successful. Good culture, careful planning and selection, feeding, weeding, pruning. And of course, nurturing, nourishing and lots of encouragement to grow.

My tip this week talks about another element - besides the good culture - the commitment of the customer service people involved. Take a look at the 7 Things Every Customer Service Person Needs To Know. http://www.customercarecoach.com/public/current_tip.asp

Even the seeds bring something to the party - the commitment to grow.

So I’ve been bad about blogging. I know, I know.

It’s for my own good.

It’s like any other good habit - it takes time, motivation and repitition (and occasionally a reward) before it gets established into a regular habit. I’m not there yet. Mea culpa.

My coach used to say to me “the higher the value, the higher the motivation.” So I have to suspect that I have yet to put enough value on my blogging. In truth, I’ve been more focused on helping my daughter and son in law get ready for the birth of their first child here in California. Focused as I am on becoming a Nana, I am enjoying time away from work and being with my family. They’ve recently moved so there’s much to do to get settled in time to greet the newest member of our little tribe. I’ve been distracted from work, and from blogging.

Last week the NY Times reported the death of a blogger who worked around the clock around the world to scoop the latest and get noticed and rise to the top of rankings in the blogosphere. That’s the other end of the spectrum. I’ll be happier with myself when I have habituated the reflex of sharing my thoughts in my blog on a more regular basis. I’ll never blog or write or work so hard that I lose sight of the other things that matter in life. And that’s a good thing.

I’ll be back shortly to tell you about the amzing fire walk I did recently and how that got me “all fired  up.”

I just got back from the HDI (Help Desk International) show in TX. Great show. Larger than ever - over 2,800 help desk professionals and faculty members - all anxious to learn to teach and to enjoy. I did a session called “PowerUP Performance - Three Keys to Understanding What Really Turns Employees On.” It was extremely well attended (SRO and seating on the floor - I LOVE the energy in a room like that!) and well regarded.

The best part for me? My new friends, listening to the keynotes that really “juiced” me up and confirmed that I am on the right track and catching the drumstick thrown by one of the Doobie brothers. How does it get any better than this?

For all of you faithful “tip” readers ~ you’ll be happy to know that I found and met the “Mermaid Man.”

If you recall, a few weeks ago I wrote a tip titled “The Joy You Leave Behind” about a sand sculpture I discovered on the beach (you can read the original here (February 5, 2008 Tip)).

This Saturday, I am taking a walk down the beach and discover two seals, one porpoise, one dog and then finally one man in the process of sculpting a reclining otter out of sand.  Of course I had to stop and ask about the mermaid.

And yes, he had sculpted the mermaid ~ and yes he was aware of the joy he left behind.

He was quite aware of the joy he was creating for himself (he was having a grand time) and the joy he was creating right then. People stopped to watch him work and tell him how wonderful his work was. I stopped to tell him about an article I had written and sent out to close to ten thousand people, a woman stopped while I was there to ask if he could be there next week for her granddaughter’s birthday. He talked about how much fun that was for him.

He was aware that even after he’d left for the day people still marveled at his work and felt joyful. He did the work for himself and also felt good about the effect it had on others. ( So it wasn’t that far a stretch to compare it to the work in customer contact - even when we do a good job simply because it makes us feel well to do so, the joy spreads outward to others.)

I expect I’ll see more works from the beach sand sculptor, I’ll report back to see if I find any more parallels with the work with customers. Meantime - I thought you might be interested. Sorry it’s taken so long to get back to blogging - the spirit didn’t move me to blog while I was on the road.  I’ll have to work on that. Blogging hasn’t become quite the habit I need it to be - yet. I’m working on improvement. It’s a process. JoAnna
 

As I’ve mentioned before, when new subscribers come on board they have the opportunity to tell me a little more about what they do and what they would like to learn more about. Last week Kristina asked me how to keep their “good team happy” She said “For once we are fully staffed and all our reps are pretty good (no negative attitude in the bunch!) How do we keep them?”

My fingers started flying across the keyboard so fast I could hardly believe my eyes.  Here’s what emerged.

“Create a fun and nurturing environment to work in. Make sure that your positive to negative ratio of actions and words is 5:1. Listen carefully for positivity and negativity in language and lean towards the “Here’s what I CAN do” rather than the “No, I can’t.”

Make sure that you understand what everybody’s strengths are, and focus on giving them the opportunity to express their strengths in their work.  Find people doing something right. Then recognize them for it. Give people the chance to do what they do best.

Give them challenges that take them out of their comfort zone but not into the panic zone. Be there to encourage. Ask good empowering questions. Make sure you create the kind of environment where people feel good in your presence. That means make sure your light is shining first.

Don’t get out of the car if your don’t have a smile on your face and the intention to get in there and do the best job you can and help people feel good about themselves and you will have them forever.”

Now there are a few things I would add to this… of course.  And can we actually keep them forever? Probably not in this day and age but we can keep their loyalty forever if we treat them right. Even if they do go, they will tell their friends what a great place it is to work and they will go out into the world as your ambassador.

There’s so much more to say about keeping the team happy, and more will come in time, after all this is a blog - an ongoing conversation.  And take note - the conversation is changing as the world does. Pay attention. In the future places that are great places to work will be the only place the “A” players want to play.  

I just got off the phone with the “Founder’s Group”. We are a group of graduates of Dr. Marty Seligman’s Authentic Happiness Coaching program.  We graduated years ago but participate together in a study/mastermind group to share and understand how to take the amazing things that are happening in the world of positive psychology and create workplace applications for them.

Today we talked about a new book called “Thanks (How the New Science of Gratitude Can Make You Happier) and a lively conversation it was.

Did you know that practicing gratitude can make the workplace more civil? Yep - friendlier too. Did you know that if you want to sleep more soundly you should count your blessings, not sheep?

Here are just a few of the benefits of gratitude (my tip readers have been hearing about gratitude a lot in the past few months). It helps you cope with everyday stress, it helps you recover more quickly from illness and have greater overall health. It increases your sense of connectedness and improves your relationships. It is the critical component of happiness. It delivers increased satisfaction in life. Oh, the benefits go on and on. (Check out the book.)

Try it for yourself. Keep a gratitude journal. Write in it every day. Focus on the things for which you are grateful. Do this for two weeks and see how you feel. Benefits of gratitude last a long time.

You can get a gratitude journal for the office, and have everyone use it. You can start a meeting by asking people what they are grateful for. You can express gratitude more often to customers. Done with sincerity, this will help you build “emotional bank accounts” in relationships of all kinds.

For the past several months I have been training my mind to go to gratitude whenever I catch myself “awfulizing, complaining, dramatizing or “catastrohizing”. It works like a charm (the more you do it the quicker it works) in calming my system and helping me to think better. Stop reading right now and think deeply about three things for which you are grateful. Savor these moments. Enjoy. Experience the effect. Now take a deep breath and go on with the day.

JoAnna

Today I started writing a response to a request from the Customer Service Advantage, a newsletter. I’m on the advisory panel and I get questions to answer now and again - an “expert’s opinion.”

I’m always uncomfortable being considered an “expert.”  I may know more than the average person on a topic or two, but I’m still learning every day. But I do what I agreed to do and answered this question. This time though, I’ve been unable to stop writing. The topic is “stress“. What can we do about stress?

I’m three pages into it. I decided to turn it into a “tip” publishing on the 22nd. of Jan. I may extend it to be an article.  And maybe I’ll do a short video. I am discovering a depth of knowledge (much from personal experience) and a desire to share the information - and maybe a few anecdotes - even if I can’t say it in three paragraphs or less!

So when it’s done, I’ll be happy to share it - I’ll post a link here. In the meantime, in case you’re wondering, I am writing - I’m just writing too much to pop into the blog.

Let me give you a few key thoughts though. First - you have to slow down and understand where the stress is coming from and what steals your energy. Next you have to take a look at the perceptual filters you have on situations and see if you are creating the stress with the way you frame the picture and then you have to make some changes in how you think or what you do or both.

Hey! I did it. Oh yeah, one other point. Stress kills - so you might want to take it seriously and get rid of as much of it as you can - AND offset it with positive experiences and emotion.

I’ll be back soon with the link to a longer story.   JoAnna

 Click here to view the article on stress

I’m working on a whitepaper about different trends on the business landscape and how they will affect companies in the future. So, my “reticular activating system”( the part of the brain that makes you see yellow Volkswagens all over the place just when you are about to buy one) is on the alert for articles that corroborate my theory that unless organizations change their leadership styles and ways of thinking about employees AND customers they are in big trouble. Yesterday an article landed on my desktop called “Employee Engagement - The Topic You Can’t Escape” and it really shook me up. maybe because of the way the author phrased it - Managers are scared, “They are staying up at night, they are afraid of losing their employees.” Click here for the article on Employee engagement

Mores in the workplace are changing and changing fast. Talented people (yours) could be looking for another job, unless they find great value in working for you. And by that I don’t mean money (although that is a piece of it.) Money is an important motivator by NOT by any means the most important. Money becomes more important in the scheme of things when people are unhappy at their jobs.

If people are getting what they need from their jobs emotionally and intellectually - if they are challenged appropriately, have the opportunity to grow and learn, know what the expectations are of them, are recognized frequently for what they do right, are coached well to improve, and are appreciated for their contribution to the enterprise, money is only a piece of the puzzle.

As a large portion of the baby boomer generation retires in the next few years the workplace is in for a shock. If these talented people don’t get what they want and need and think they deserve, they leave. With all that knowledge about your customers and your business in their head.

To me there is a clear and present danger to any business that isn’t looking at upgrading it’s leadership style. The bright young people out there want you to have the latest in technology AND the latest in understanding how to make their experience a good one.

More info to come when the paper is published. We are currently looking for sponsors for the paper. If you are interested or know anyone who is give me a jingle.  561-279-0027

When someone new finds my website (www.customercarecoach.com) and signs up for my “tip” list they get an email from me asking for a little information – who they are, what their job is, what challenges them and what they’d like to learn.  10 – 20 % of the people that subscribe take the time to write to me and that makes me very happy.

It’s a way for me to “stay tuned” to what my tip readers want and helps me stay relevant.  When I went into my mailbox today there were a few responses that accumulated over the holidays. I make it my business to write a personal message to everyone who has taken the time to share their situation with me. One of those emails was from Kathy who works at Cargill.  

She recently took a new position and was looking for some information on keeping employees engaged and satisfied and found me (YAY – the key words are working.) Like many people today she is smart enough to know that good people are hard to find and sometimes even harder to keep. (She’s also smart enough to know that the first step to engaging customers is engaging employees.) 

She said something that stopped me in my tracks and is food for thought for all of us. She said,  “Good, honest and happy employees are precious and need to be keep engaged if they’re going to be kept on board.”  

Yeah, read it again. Precious.  According to dictionary.com that means “of high price or great value; very valuable or costly.” Ain’t it the truth?

She commented that it was harder to keep them engaged and I wrote back that I agreed. I commented that  Engagement – especially for the younger generations -  has a lot to do with allowing people flexibility, choice, and the opportunity to work from their strengths. And that is hard for many managers - it involves letting go of their own egos (ouch!) and really listening to what people have to say, and the willingness to be wrong (ouch again). Great leadership today looks different than leadership in the old “command and control” days. (And if you think those days are gone, don’t kid yourself, there’s lots of what I call “legacy leadership” styles still out there.)

 Kathy loves working at Cargill there because she thinks it’s a fabulous place to work. When people have a great place to come to work, they are more likely to do great things.  

We all need to ask ourselves the question, ”What am I doing to make this place a great place to work?”

I believe you can’t add really add sustainable value in the marketplace until you add value in the workplace.

Thanks, Kathy for getting me started… let’s all gnaw on that thought for a while.

Happy New Year! Peace and Prosperity