We acknowledge many of us enter this new year with some uncertainty - and maybe even some fear.  Some of us are just depleted.  As we go into 2025, we need to care for ourselves and each other, preserve our sanity and focus our energy.

January is a great time to reflect on what 2025 will look like for each of us - and not just because it is the beginning of the year, but also because we do the least amount of productive work in January as compared to other months of the year, which means we have some time to consider what we can do in 2025 to create more ease, meaning and joy.

Ideas for 2025:

-Try unexpected appreciation in the workplace.  Surprising coworkers with lunch or a compliment or if you are the manager, sending folks home an hour early can lift spirits.

-Remember the why and connect with how we serve our customers and clients, which is best done through examples. 

-Devote some time in the new year to experimentation - try something new with your personal routine or consider what Shopify did - cancelling all meetings for two weeks to reconsider what meetings were productive and necessary

Wishing you a 2025 filled with ease, meaning and joy.

Contagious Positive Energy: The Rocket Fuel of Great Leaders

Let’s talk about relational energy and why it’s a game-changer for organizations! With new books bursting onto the scene every year, it's like rummaging through a treasure trove of ideas. But what if we told you that the magic ingredient isn't charisma, charm, or sheer brilliance? Nope! It's all about that vibrant, uplifting energy that flows between people!

SHOW NOTES

Enter Kim Cameron from the University of Michigan’s Ross School of Business. While diving into the dynamics of various organizations, he made an electrifying discovery: some groups were absolutely buzzing with productivity, and it wasn’t just luck. What was their secret? It’s what we call relational energy — that wonderful sense of positivity that comes alive during interactions. Some people ignite our spirits, while others leave us feeling a little flat. You know the ones who light up the room just by walking in? Yup, that's relational energy in action!

So, why is this so important? Leaders who radiate positive energy are like magnets, attracting motivation and enthusiasm from their teams. When you surround yourself with these energizers, the performance of the entire organization skyrockets. Think about it: when a leader embodies positivity, the whole crew vibes off that energy, leading to a healthier, happier workplace. 

Now, what makes someone a true positive energizer? It boils down to a handful of essential qualities. These folks genuinely care about others, uplifting everyone around them. They show support during tough times, inspire their teams to focus on the bright side, and celebrate successes. They embrace meaningful contributions and treat everyone with respect and kindness. Most importantly, they nurture a loving relationship with themselves, ensuring they radiate that positivity outward.

Why does this all matter? Research reveals that positive energizers significantly boost engagement, lower turnover, and foster a culture of well-being. When organizations are led by these energetic dynamos, they often see a flourishing bottom line too!

It turns out the positive relational energy doesn’t just benefit the workplace — it’s like a health potion for our brains and bodies! Studies indicate that when we soak in this vibrant energy, we reduce stress, boost our immune systems, and foster healthier connections all around us.

GOOD READS

The Best Leaders Have a Contagious Positive Energy

Relational energy - what it is and why it matters to organisations

Women are responsible for over 85% of consumer spending. Not only do we buy for ourselves, but we purchase for everyone else in the house! (Don’t get us started on the burden that represents). Why not consider using your economic power to support businesses that are owned by WOMEN! 

SHOW NOTES

Globally, women control about $20 trillion in annual consumer spending, and that figure could climb as high as $28 trillion in the next five years.   These numbers amount to women controlling and/or influencing 85% of all consumer spending.  Wow - that’s a lot of votes with our economic dollars.  We buy for ourselves, our families, including children and spouses and so many of the people we care for.  And yes, women find the shopping experience unsatisfactory and in many cases shopping experiences are foolishly geared to men.  Ladies, let’s leverage our economic voting power for women owned businesses.  

The number of new women owned businesses is outpacing the number of businesses owned by men.  In 2021, women owned about 25% of all businesses in the US and by 2023, that number had reached 39%.  While women owned 39% of business in 2023, we employed about 9% of the employees and about 5% of all revenues.  Just under 40,000 women owned businesses employ 50 or more people.  This is all to say there are lots of small women owned businesses out there.

Women owned businesses face particular challenges - such as lack of access to capital - but the impacts of women owned businesses are significant, and that incongruity does not make sense.  So let’s use our dollars to support the business making the most difference.  Women tend to start businesses to make a difference rather than just to make money; and women owned businesses are more likely to support their communities.  

Turn Black Friday into a political act and shop women owned.

More good reads:

Women Owned Directory 

The 2024 Impact of Women-Owned Businesses

Women-owned businesses | U.S. Small Business Administration

Women Ownership Statistics 2024 | Advocacy

New Report Finds Growth of Women Business Owners Outpaces the Market

Supporting Women-Owned Business Giving Back To Communities | Bankrate

In this episode, we embark on a catharsis regarding bosses who change their minds, can’t make a decision or jerk us around. 

When bosses change their minds it impacts us as workers.  These changes mean we often redo our work or work we have done becomes unnecessary.  This impacts the meaningfulness of our work - and what was useful work is often not meaningful work when we just need to redo it.  The impact of mind changing can also make us feel disregarded and not valued - and demoralizing.

Implicit - and maybe obvious - in changing a decision is there is change and change is hard and lots of change can really mean chaos.  

What are some approaches to managing situations when it seems like direction from those above us is changing?  Harvard Business Review suggests a “tee-up” with what changes in process, events and decisions have occurred that led to how your team got to a particular place - through whatever circuitous journey.  Another idea is to ask questions about the change, which can help us understand how we got to the place and may provide useful feedback to your boss.  Bosses do not have all of the information we have and communicating that can be helpful.

And it may be you just need a cocktail or a hot bath - or both - because change and revisiting work can be exhausting especially when it happens again and again.

Thinking about making a career change? Feeling stuck in your job? Curious how to change directions, after you’ve spent years (or decades!) building your career? You’re not alone. According to an Indeed survey, the average age for people making a drastic career change is 39. The leading cause? Happiness.

SHOW NOTES

In this episode, we discuss signs that indicate it might be time to consider a career pivot, such as persistent unhappiness, lack of motivation, health implications, increased comparisons to peers, and reticence towards career commitments. We also share Crina's story of feeling burnt out and uninspired in her job, prompting her to consider a change.

Of course there are ways to make a successful career pivot, especially when you focus on the "working identity" approach. Instead of following the conventional wisdom of knowing what you want to do next before taking action, we explore why doing comes before knowing in the process of career change. And of course there are  pitfalls of relying on self-knowledge, advice from friends and family, and consultations with career professionals when considering a career pivot.

Tune in to learn more about how to navigate a career pivot successfully, what to expect after making a change, and how to build a new working identity that brings more happiness and fulfillment. Thank you for listening!

GOOD READS

A Mid-Life Career Shift Is Not a Crisis — Here’s Why You Should Consider One & How to Pull It Off

How much work is too much work? Can you ever turn it off? We’re exploring the roots of workaholism, its impact on our lives, and—most importantly—what to do about it.

What is Workaholism?

Could this be you?

Sometimes we overwork because of external circumstances such as financial problems, distraction from an unsatisfying marriage, or maybe pressure from our workplace. The differentiating feature of real workaholism from similar behaviors is the excessive involvement of the individual in work when it is not required or expected.

Norwegian researchers the University of Bergen created a work addiction scale which uses the following seven criteria to assess the likelihood that an individual possesses a work addiction:

1. You think of how you can free up more time to work.

If you answered with “often” or “always” to any of these points, you may be a workaholic. And if we are agreeable, neurotic, intellectual or imaginative, we are more likely  

People identified as workaholics often ranked high in terms of these three personality traits:

• Agreeableness – Workaholics are more likely to be altruistic, compliant and modest.

But what to do about it?

• Redefine “urgent”

Our lives are too precious to be consumed with work.  While work is fun and rewarding - it is not all things, so let’s not get caught in workaholism or even workaholic behaviors.

A survey by LLC Inc. of over 1000 people across the US with an average age revealed that 83% of us have coworkers who annoys us, 21% have been so annoyed by a coworker they have considered quitting, and 52% say annoying coworkers prevent them from doing their best work.  Yowza - that is something.  And what don’t we like about our coworkers? We do not like complainers, laziness, arrogance (our personal favorite), too much talking, negativity, entitlement (okay so maybe this is our favorite), poor communication, oversharing, or gossipping.

So, what do you do when you’re stuck working with someone you dislike?  There are some good strategies, but first, get some perspective.  How much does it matter and are there ways of looking at it differently?

What to do:

As always, the person we control is ourselves, so when we have feelings of dislike for a coworker, looking inward can be very helpful.  Do you let your brain run with every little incident?  What do our reactions say about us?

Here is the hard one - be the grown up.  The emotionally intelligent grown up. We can stay away from the resentment spiral and remove ourselves from unproductive conversations.

Work very hard to find something you like or admire.  People are rarely just one thing and we can usually find something to like or admire.

Being anything less than respectful ends up leaving us with metaphorical egg on our faces.  Try compassion and respect - who knows, we may find ourselves surprised by the person we dislike.

If we feel pretty confident with checking in with ourselves, being the grown up, seeing the good and embracing compassion and respect, we will find ourselves in connection, which of course is the big payoff.

And if we cannot get to connect, then we can be strategic about how we expose ourselves, which includes being very intentional about what we need from the interactions we really have to have with the coworkers we do not like.

Not everyone we work with needs to be our friend or even someone we like.  While it sure is great when it happens, we can work well when we respect others and ourselves.

Survey Reveals the Most Annoying Coworker Habits - LLC.org

How to Work with Someone You Really Don’t Like

Unpack the magic of saying “yes” more often, the beauty of spontaneous connections, and why your next best decision might just be unplanned.  Even at work!

Most of us pride ourselves on our planning – we are prepared, we are ready for anything and we are efficient and effective – BUT, let’s consider the unplanned.

Spontaneity

Why You Need More Spontaneity in Your Life

Tiny Acts of Spontaneity at Work

Barriers to Spontaneity

How to be more spontaneous: 7 tips to live in the moment — Calm Blog.

From the sexualized Kamala t-shirts to the way women are treated in areas such as caregiving, menstruation, and menopause, misogyny is pervasive in our society.

Misogyny is defined as the hatred, contempt, or prejudice against women or girls, which keeps them at a lower social status than men, perpetuating the social roles of patriarchy. Misogyny can manifest in obvious and subtle ways, affecting women in various aspects of their lives.

Feminist scholars like Andrea Dworkin and Kate Manne have shed light on the insidious nature of misogyny in our culture.  Dworkin argues that society regards women as contemptible and subjects them to violence and discrimination, while Manne describes misogyny as a shock collar that enforces women's subordination in a patriarchal society.

The demographics most affected by misogyny is also alarming,  with BIPOC women experiencing its effects in conjunction with racism. From medical research to athletics and law enforcement, examples of misogyny in plain sight illustrate the lack of value placed on women in our society.

Finally, there’s the importance of fighting misogyny in the workplace, advocating for oneself, and celebrating International Women's Day. There are so many amazing women and influential figures like Drew Afualo, who uses her platform to combat misogyny and empower women. 

Join us as we unravel the complex web of misogyny, sexism, and patriarchy, and explore ways to challenge these harmful ideologies in our daily lives.

Good Reads:

Misogyny - Wikipedia

Kate Manne: The Shock Collar That Is Misogyny 

Celebrating International Women’s Day! [2024 DEI Resources] | Diversity for Social Impact

How Misogyny Became Part of Our Culture & Workplaces | InHerSight

How to Fight Misogyny in the Workplace | Inc.com

As if FOMO were not enough, now we consider FOBO, or the fear of obsolescence, in this climate of ever changing technology.

SHOW NOTES

Obsolescence is a reduction in our competence as an employee resulting from a lack of knowledge of new work processes, techniques, and technologies that have developed since we completed our education - and that we have somehow missed out on acquiring.  As humans we have been becoming obsolete since we stood up on two feet - the hunter gatherers became farmers, the farmers became factory workers and the factory workers have become technology and service industry workers.  We know how to do this - on the macro level, as an economy and society.

Trucking is a great example of worker obsolescence.  In the early 20th century, truck drivers replaced the cart and horse for deliveries and now the promise of self-driving trucks, making truck drivers obsolete, has done a couple of things in the market - truckers are generally older and the wages have risen according to NPR.  

The mysterious threats and impacts of workforce obsolescence : NPR.  Older workers with less time in the workforce are willing to keep or go into these jobs, but younger workers with more time to work are far less willing to enter an occupation that may very well go away.

According to a recent Gallup Poll 22% of workers are worried that technological advancements will make their jobs obsolete, a 7% jump since 2021. The increase is being driven "almost entirely" by college-educated workers. The Gallup data shows that men and women currently express equitable trepidation levels when it comes to being replaced by technology.  Good to know there is some equity in FOBO!

Fearing obsolescence is not just self-doubt, rather, we fundamentally question our ability to participate in the workforce. When we experience this kind of fear, it can affect our behavior at work and our experience of ease, meaning and joy.  In a study of counterproductive work behaviors, researchers found some common counterproductive work behaviors in workers who were experiencing FOBO: attention-seeking behavior; being hypervigilant; and drawing unhealthy comparisons.  We can counteract FOBO by focusing our efforts on training - either for the current job or a new one; taking on new opportunities, saying yes and telling yourself the truth about your skills and your current job and its future - and being willing to consider what is next.

MORE GOOD READS

How to Stop Worrying About Becoming Obsolete at Work (hbr.org).

U.S. Workers Face Growing Fears Of Becoming Obsolete— Here’s How You Can Fight Back Against ‘FOBO

’Face Your Fear of Becoming Obsolete