The Most Important Leadership Skill According to Research:
If you are committed to positive relationships and a compelling organizational culture that drives results, here is the leadership competency that will have a huge bearing on the present and future world of work with constructive effects on:
Innovation
Engagement
Retention
Inclusivity
Work-Life
The mental health stats cited here from September of ’21 have arguably only got worse in our VUCA (volatile, uncertain, complex and ambiguous) world.
New conditions call for new responses, in this case maybe just turning up the volume on this important leadership competency.
Harvard Research Finds Serious Red Flag To Watch Out For At Work If you have a worker that exhibits this trait, you’ll probably agree with the Harvard team’s conclusions
Changing your diet could add up to 13 years to your life, study says Switching from a typical Westernized diet of red meat and processed foods can add up to 13 years to your life if you start at age 20, but even people in their 60s can add years.
Press 3 for a pep talk from kindergartners. A new hotline gives you options for joy What started as an art project at a California elementary school has gone viral. The free hotline offers wise advice and encouraging messages from kids to anyone who calls.
Many of us have read the story about 3 people doing what looks like the same job, but when asked what they are doing:
One says they are laying bricks
The second says he is building a wall
And the third says he is creating a masterpiece!
Same identical work, but experienced so differently.
How can this be?
This story was made popular in The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People
The story is actually not by Stephen Covey, but because he sold over 15 million copies of the book it is often attributed to him.
Proper attribution notwithstanding, it does draw attention to our relationship to our world of work and invites us to explore if we experience what we do; simply as a job, part of a career, or a purposeful calling?
When we are able to find meaning and purpose in our work, the mundane can become profound and we can turn the usual into extraordinary, often leaving a legacy that lives on well past our lifetime.
Many today are revisiting their relationship to work.
Perhaps we can learn from history…
The Basilica de la Sagrada Familia, designed by the world famous architect Antoni Gaudi is a UNESCO World Heritage Site and described as, “the most extraordinary personal interpretation of Gothic architecture since the Middle Ages.”
Construction on the Basilica began on March 19, 1882 which is almost exactly 140 years ago.
Less than 25% of the Basilica was finished during Gaudi’s lifetime, and they are still working on it- though it was scheduled to be completed this year but was delayed due to the pandemic.
I am sure those working on it over the century, also viewed themselves as brick layers, wall builders and masterpiece producers- and they were all right.
It is after all all a matter of your frame of reference and your perspective.
What is often missing in the story, is that everyone focuses on the bricks, but people forget the mortar, and the mortar is just as important as the bricks!
The mortar is the social capital or glue that binds us together, when we know we are working together for a common purpose, when we know others have got our backs, when trust and transparency and even vulnerability become critical ingredients in the mix. As Peter Drucker famously reminds us, “Culture eats strategy for breakfast”.
In a time when our relationship to our work is being seriously revisited, let’s take the time to both find meaning and purpose in our work, as well as, build our bench strength, grow our franchise value, and make sure we are playing together not playing each other by strengthening the glue that binds us.
Turns out the Great Resignation may be followed by the Great Regret as many employees that jumped ship, quickly realized that “the grass isn’t greener on the other side”, the grass is greener where you water it!
So today, let’s all attend to our purpose, invest in our social capital and let’s keep serving our stakeholders with care and consideration.
Here is to the Great Rejuvenation…
Live, Love, Learn, Laugh & Leave a Legacy!
Love All,
Neville
Enlightened Self Interest-
How to Handle Stress Situations Better Than Will Smith Use the S.O.S. method when triggered for better outcomes.
Etiquette expert says we’ve overlooked Lady Gaga’s great kindness toward Liza Minnelli While Will Smith’s shocking slap of Chris Rock during the Oscars broadcast last Sunday has been big news, one etiquette expert says far too many people missed a beautiful gesture shown on stage that same night by Lady Gaga toward a visibly flustered Liza Minnelli.
When a psychologist who studies well-being ends up with a brain tumor, what happens when she puts her own research into practice? Christina Costa goes beyond the “fight” narrative of cancer — or any formidable personal journey — to highlight the brain benefits of an empowering alternative to fostering resilience in the face of unexpected challenges: gratitude.
The deceptively simple plan to replenish California’s groundwater The state pumps too much groundwater, especially during droughts. Now, it’s learning to refill the overdrawn bucket. “It’s the simplest math in the world,” says one scientist.
My doctor asked if anyone in my family suffered from mental illness and I said, “No, we all seem to enjoy it.”
Just once, I want a username and password prompt to say, “Close enough.”
Being an adult is the dumbest thing I have ever done.
I’m a multitasker. I can listen, ignore and forget all at the same time!
Retirement to do list: Wake up. -I Nailed it!
People who wonder if the glass is half empty or half full miss the point. The glass is refillable.
I don’t have grey hair. I have wisdom highlights.
Sometimes it takes me all day to get nothing done.
I don’t trip, I do random gravity checks.
One minute you’re young and fun. Next, you’re turning down the car stereo to see better.
I’d grow my own food if only I could find bacon seeds.
Some people are like clouds, once they disappear it’s a beautiful day.
Some people you’re glad to see coming; some people you’re glad to see going.
Common sense is not a gift. It’s a punishment because you have to deal with everyone who doesn’t have it.
I came. I saw. I forgot what I was doing. Retraced my steps. Got lost on the way back. Now I have no idea what’s going on.
If you can’t think of a word, say “I forgot the English word for it.” That way people will think you’re bilingual instead of an idiot.
I’m at a place in my life where errands are starting to count as going out.
I don’t always go the extra mile, but when I do it’s because I missed my exit.
I don’t mean to brag, but I finished my 14-day diet food supply in 3 hours and 20 minutes.
I may not be that funny or athletic or good looking or smart or talented. … I forgot where I was going with this.
Having plans sounds like a good idea until you have to put on clothes and leave the house.
It’s weird being the same age as old people.
When I was a kid, I wanted to be older… This is not what I expected.
Life is like a helicopter. I don’t know how to operate a helicopter either.
It’s probably my age that tricks people into thinking I’m an adult.
Never sing in the shower! Singing leads to dancing, dancing leads to slipping, and slipping leads to paramedics seeing you naked. So, remember… don’t sing!
I see people my age mountain climbing. I feel good just getting my leg through my underwear without losing my balance.
We all get heavier as we get older, because there’s a lot more information in our heads. That’s my story anyway.
Thanks this week go to Alan D, Jack A and TedX SD, Marlaine C and Parenting 2.0, Larry H, and Rejuvenators Everywhere!
Before we speak let your words pass through these 5 gates
Is it True?
Is it Helpful?
Is it Inspiring?
Is it Necessary? Is it KIND?
Jail Break Leadership:
Here is a recent podcast of me with my friend and colleague Jeff Blanton a pioneer and thought leader in the Conscious Capitalism space. Unlike the rest of us, when Jeff’s deep self-reflection recognized a “smoldering discontent” he decided to do something about it, changing his life and changing the world! If you are doing purpose work or need to operational it in your world of work, talk to Jeff!
In today’s globally interconnected world, a company must create value for and be valued by its full range of stakeholders in order to deliver long-term value for its shareholders.
Watch as the crowd reacts when a blind basketball player makes a free throw High school junior Jules Hoogland wowed the crowd at a home game this week.
WATCH: Paraplegic Golfer Sinks Hole-In-One For the Ages at Torrey Pines Most golf fans would say Tiger Woods’ playoff-clinching putt on the 72nd hole of the 2008 U.S. Open is the greatest shot of all time at Torrey Pines Golf Course. That’s because they haven’t seen this one-armed ace from Abdul Nevarez.
Madeleine Albright- The highest ranking women in the history of American government of her time
Madeleine Albright was a force. She defied convention and broke barriers again and again. She was an immigrant fleeing persecution. A refugee in need of safe haven. And like so many before her — and after — she was proudly American.
As the devoted mother of three beloved daughters, she worked tirelessly raising them while earning her doctorate degree and starting her career in American diplomacy. She took her talents first to the Senate as a staffer for Senator Edmund Muskie followed by the National Security Council under President Carter. And then to the United Nations where she served as United States Ambassador, and ultimately, made history as our first woman Secretary of State, appointed by President Clinton. A scholar, teacher, bestselling author, and later accomplished business woman, she always believed America was the indispensable Nation, and inspired the next generation of public servants to follow her lead, including countless women leaders around the world. Madeleine was always a force for goodness, grace, and decency — and for freedom.
Opinion | Why Dolly Parton was right to turn down the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame At this point, the country music icon’s personal standards may be higher than the Hall of Fame’s.
The Surprising “Disinhibition” Technique Is a Powerful Way to Stop Overthinking, According to Harvard Research Sometimes, data-based decision-making can derail you. Maybe it’s time to trust your gut.
TedX San Diego is happening this Sunday both in person and live streamed, at the Preby’s in La Jolla after 2 years of hiatus due to the pandemic. In person is already sold out, but do join the live stream
The speakers and topics are fantastic!
Mission Fed is proud to support this year’s TedX San Diego event and if you are interested in the livestream experience, sign up. You will really enjoy the content!
Thanks this week go to all women leaders, the Mission Fed Community Relations team, Jack A for holding the space for TEDx for all these years, and all of you doing good work in our world!
This week: Self Care, Ukraine, Spring Has Sprung, Daylight Savings and Cute Nat Geo Photos
Which Wolf Will You Feed?
An elderly Cherokee Brave was teaching his grandson about life.
He said, “A battle is raging inside me…it is a terrible fight between two wolves. One wolf represents fear, anger, envy, sorrow, regret, greed, arrogance, self-pity, guilt, resentment, inferiority, lies, false pride, superiority, and ego. The other stands for joy, peace, love, hope, sharing, serenity, humility, kindness, benevolence, friendship, empathy, generosity, truth, compassion and faith.”
The old man looked at the child with a firm stare. “This same fight is going on inside you, and inside every other person, too.”
The grandson thought about it for a minute, and then asked his grandfather, “Which wolf will win?”
The elderly Cherokee replied: “The one you feed.”
Make sure to feed the right wolf this week!
Ukraine- No Bystanding!
Ready to Die? Why Most People Flunk the Zelenskyy Test. Tyranny has triumphed in recent years because real courage is rare.
“They’re lying to you”: Russian TV employee interrupts news broadcast Marina Ovsyannikova ran on to the set of the Channel One transmission shouting: ‘Stop the war. No to war’
The Ukrainian girl who sang ‘Let It Go’ from a bomb shelter gave us all hope Every person fighting for Ukraine, every family ripped apart by this war – they grieve because they love. This is the language we all speak.
The power of the dog and how pets are helping Ukrainians cope with war Hundreds of thousands of pets are estimated to have crossed into countries neighboring Ukraine since the war began.
Sleep experts say Senate has it wrong: Standard time, not daylight saving, should be permanent The Senate voted unanimously Tuesday to make daylight saving time permanent, but many sleep experts argue that the U.S. should adopt year-round standard time.
28 tender photos from the Nat Geo archives that will bring a smile to your face See a selection of some of the marvelous images stored in our historic photography collection.
Whether it is the global pandemic, the war in Ukraine, or other challenges that seem to keep rearing their ugly heads, it sure seems tough to stay in a positive frame of mind.
I am telling you, if it’s not one thing, it’s another…
Now that traffic has picked up, have you noticed that if you are running late and trying to get to your destination on time, every red light can get in your head and make you stressed?
You feel your pulse racing, anxiety rising, frustration building…
Now replay the tape…
If you think back, how many of the green lights did you notice?
If you are like most of us, we have a form of attentional blindness to the green lights and seem to miss all of them, while we perseverate on all the red ones.
Humans brains seem to be wired to be velcro for the bad stuff and teflon for the good stuff.
Just recognizing this default setting, and choosing to attend to the green lights, both literally and figuratively can be a powerful tool in dealing with the day to day challenges we all face.
So here is a thought for the week:
Take some time everyday to focus on the green lights in your life.
When you find yourself thinking about all the things you don’t have, consider all the things you don’t have that youdon’t want!
Focusing on the green lights is a form of practicing an attitude of gratitude.
It is hard to be hateful and grateful at the same time.
May you have a week filled with green lights both personally and professionally, and maybe share your evergreen attitude with others.
Joy shared is doubled. Misery shared is halved…
You’ve got this!
Love,
Neville
Celebrating International Women’s Day Week:
International Women’s Day is a global day celebrating the social, economic, cultural, and political achievements of women. The day also marks a call to action for accelerating women’s equality.
“Imagine a gender equal world. A world free of bias, stereotypes, and discrimination. A world that is diverse, equitable, and inclusive. A world where difference is valued and celebrated. Together we can forge women’s equality. Collectively we can all #BreakTheBias.”
200 classical musicians join London orchestral flashmob in solidarity with Ukraine Musicians took part in a flashmob in London’s Trafalgar Square, to show solidarity with Ukraine.
With no rehearsal time, the musicians gathered for an outdoor flashmob described as “spine-tingling” by spectators walking past the square.
5 Simple Acts Of Kindness Giving Ukrainians (And The World) Some Hope The world is coming together to help Ukrainians – on the borders and at home.
5 Simple Acts Of Kindness Giving Ukrainians (And The World) Some Hope | HuffPost UK Life (huffingtonpost.co.uk)
CRITICAL FOUNDATIONS: The Thirty Questions Anyone Must Answer to Build a Meaningful Life:
By Scott Schimmel
What are the step-by-step ingredients someone needs to build a meaningful life? The current school system is a sprint to gain the knowledge necessary to pass tests and be ready for the academic challenges in college. There’s little room for reflection, integration, or building relevant self-awareness.
Through years of research and work with tens of thousands of students, educators, transitioning veterans, and parents, we’ve developed a keen perspective- a meaningful life has to be intentionally constructed. It doesn’t work to give answers—you have to ask questions. You have to create the circumstances for people to discover their own answers to life’s most critical questions.
In this book, Scott walks through each one of the thirty critical questions—why they’re so essential and how to go about answering them. With vulnerable storytelling, these foundational concepts become accessible and relatable to someone of any age. The second half of the book delves into common sense skills to help guide young people to find their answers to these critical questions.
This week: Autocracy v. Democracy & Staying Sane Even As The World Seems Mad
Different Perspectives on the World-
The Bad Guys Are Winning If the 20th century was the story of slow, uneven progress toward the victory of liberal democracy over other ideologies—communism, fascism, virulent nationalism—the 21st century is, so far, a story of the reverse.
Opinion | Why Should Americans Care About Ukraine? It’s Not Complicated. The Russia-Ukraine conflict is geographically distant, but the consequences of Putin’s aggression could have ripple effects beyond Eastern Europe.
Putin Accidentally Revitalized the West’s Liberal Order The Russian president thought he sensed an opportunity to take advantage of a disunited West. He has been proved wrong.
3 Science-Backed Ways to Better Deal With Stress and Be More Focused, Productive, and Successful Totally avoid stress? Impossible. Better deal with stress? Surprisingly simple.
The Secret to Happiness, According to This Harvard Professor: A Reverse Bucket List If you want to be truly happy, don’t just think about what to add to your life, but about what to take away.
Study Finds Having Pets May Have Positive Impact on Brain Power “Prior studies have suggested that the human-animal bond may have health benefits like decreasing blood pressure and stress,” Dr. Tiffany Braley of the University of Michigan Medical Center shared, adding that the “results suggest pet ownership may also be protective against cognitive decline.”
These Adorable Animal Pictures Will Bring a Smile to Your Face Bored Panda has collected pictures from around the world to create this adorable gallery, featuring sweet animals who will bring a smile to your face.
This week: Feb 17 was Random Acts of Kindness Day but we should practice this amazing heart-set all year long!
Kindness Pledge
The Health Benefits of a Random Act of Kindness Random Acts of Kindness Day doesn’t have to be limited to one day a year. A simple act of kindness does much more than help the receiver, studies show, and any kindness you give to others is also a gift to yourself.
Dog Saves Dog After Lab Alerts Owner to Golden Retriever Trapped in Sinkhole for Nearly a Day Wrigley, a chocolate Labrador retriever, located the other dog stuck inside a hole at Marilla Park on Saturday, according to Streator Animal Control
Birds are Remarkable and Beautiful Animals – and They’re Disappearing from Our World In the past half century, North America has lost a fourth of its birds. Earth is now a coalmine, and every wild bird is a canary
This week: Lovers of Humanity Come in Many Flavors!
“I’m no longer interested in any forms of spirituality, self-mastery programs, success mentors, coaches, healers, spiritual thinkers,
or activists that don’t ultimately lead their communities back to responsible association to tending the Earth.
The never ending quest for self-realization, personal brand mastery, self-success “soul”-preneurship all strike me as bypasses
that have only served to keep us disassociated from what’s actually going on here.
Which requires us to exit the cult of individual success, whether seen through foggy spiritualized goggles or not,
and get our hands dirty in the immediacy of our grounded environmental issues around us.
The world dies while we buy in to yet another charismatic voice telling us how to heal some yet unmastered part of ourselves even more deeply into narcissistic individual “success.”
The world dies while charismatics make millions on their self-help platforms.
Sure.. and for that matter, Please: do your personal healing.
But if my healing only keeps looping back to myself, and doesn’t ultimately lead to reassociation with the Earth and my work to be part Of It,
then I’m just a casualty of healing-themed consumerism.
And still contributing to the problems that are destroying the planet.”
– Adrianne Tamar
All Are One
This man’s dying words changed my life: After he was stabbed and lay dying on a train, Taliesin Myrddin Namkai-Meche said, ‘tell everyone on this train I love them.’ I will never forget his words
Here’s the story behind Black History Month — and why it’s celebrated in February Black History Month grew from a weeklong celebration that started nearly 100 years ago — and it’s not random that it’s in February.
A Nazi officer’s housekeeper hid 12 Jews in the basement. All of them made it out alive. “Without her, I wouldn’t be alive,” said Roman Haller, who was conceived while his parents were in hiding.
The Incredible Winners of the 2021 International Landscape Photographer of the Year Competition:
Misty valleys and magical woods win prestigious photo contest The judges chose from 4,504 entries, with photographers from the U.S and Turkey claiming medals. Here are the winning shots and shortlist favorites.
This Is The Wildlife Photo of the Year as Chosen by the Public:
An image of a frozen lake and the reflection of willow branches above the water’s icy surface has claimed the top prize in the Wildlife Photographer of the Year People’s Choice Award 2021.
‘I Didn’t Even Know This Was Humanly Possible’: The Woman Who Can Descend Into the Sea On One Breath: Scientists once thought humans could swim to a maximum depth of 30m on a single breath.
Amber Bourke has gone deeper than 70m and physiology alone can’t explain why…
Celebrating the 50th Anniversary of a Song that Transcends Time and Space:
Playing for Change- Song Around The World
“The Weight,” features Ringo Starr and The Band’s original member Robbie Robertson, along with musicians across 5 continents. Great songs can travel everywhere bridging what divides us and inspiring us to see how easily we all get along when the music plays. Take a load off and turn it up!!
