Finding Joy through Encouragement

From Forming to Performing: Leading yourself through change and challenge This is the first of four episodes where we will look at how we lead ourselves through change and challenge. This episode is for you if you have.. Just stepped up or into a role where the team has grown or is newly established Led your team through change and you've got your team in place but they are not yet performing You've led a team through growth. There are new team members or a new strategic direction This is a key moment where Tuckman's Four Stages of Group Development come in. This episode will help you reflect on which stage your team is at and how you feel about each stage. This is a moment to plan and equip yourself for what is to come so that you can effectively lead your team from forming to performing.

Are you in the right PLACE to find joy? This is the final component of the Thinking Environment: Place - producing a physical environment, the room, the listener, your body that says you matter. Where do you work? Where do you meet? Does the environment say you matter for you or for your team? What can you change or control about your working and meeting environment that will help make everybody matter? Recommended reading: The Art of Gathering, Priya Parker

Finding Joy in Asking Questions to Unblock Thinking Time to Think call the core question the Incisive Question™ Freeing the human mind of untrue assumptions lives as true. Think of an outcome you or your team would like to work towards. Then answer What are you assuming that is stopping you... (insert outcome)? What are you assuming that is most stopping you... (insert outcome)? Is it true that... (insert the thing that is most stopping you)? If it is not true that... (insert the thing that is most stopping you) then what can you credibly assume instead? If you knew that... (insert new assumption) then what first first step would you take? When we can ask questions to unblock our thinking we can moved from being fixed and defensive to being able to liberate our thinking and free our minds. This is where we find joy.  

The Joy of Information It may feel like information is a pretty dry and boring subject. But when we don't have the information we need we are not able to make decisions or think for ourselves. A lack of information excludes, reinforces hierarchy, causes frustration and anxiety. When we have the information we need we can feel more at ease. There is equality. Our ideas can flow. Yet in our workplaces we often don't have the information we need, it is supplied late or we make decisions without all the relevant facts. In this episode I explore how you can challenge where information has not been provided and provide information to others.  

Joy is a Feeling - so let's get comfortable with feelings Feelings - welcoming the release of emotion. Unexpressed feelings can inhibit good thinking. Thinking stops when we are upset. But if we express feelings just enough thinking restarts. > Which emotions are safe to express at work? > How might you talk more about how you feel and help your team to put a path forward.   Highly recommended reading on all things feelings. Brené Brown - Atlas of the Heart No Hard Feelings: Emotions at Work and How They Help Us Succeed - Liz Fosslien and Mollie West Duffy    

The Joy of Appreciation Noticing what is good and saying it. The human mind works best in the presence of appreciation. In this episode we talk about the small moments of connection where we can appreciate not only the work someone has done or outputs but to appreciate a quality in them, or something that they did that we appreciated. That could be Helping get the room ready for the meeting. Asking a thoughtful question. Their wisdom or courage. We will also find it hard to appreciate others if we don't take time to notice what is good in our own lives. Think of a time when a quality of yours was appreciated. What impact did that have? What have you appreciated about your team this week? How can you let your team know?  

The Joy of Difference "Committing to freedom from untrue assumptions driving prejudice." How can we find joy through challenging the assumptions that keep us blocked, limited, fixed and set against anything or anyone who is different. When we challenge these assumptions we can explore and be open to new possibilities and opportunities. New ideas emerge,  It starts with us and our personal commitment to challenge ourselves. If you lead others we must choose to act and show our actions first. This starts with our choice to change and challenge our thinking.  

The Joy of Equality Ok I am going to be honest. If you are serious about creating equality there will be some discomfort first. In facing up to the fact that your meetings may not be places where there is equality. You will be able to take authentic and impactful action. Once we have faced the discomfort deep joy and connection can be found from creating spaces where everyone is equal. Spaces where we regard each other as thinking peers. In this episode we explore what meetings look like when there is not equality. What they could look like and how create equality. Spoiler alert they can be joyful, energising, refreshing and motivating - for everyone. Some questions for reflection How might people be feeling excluded in your meetings or workplace? Do you really believe everyone is equal?  What one action can you take to your next meeting ensure that everyone is equal?

Finding Joy through Encouragement The third component of a Thinking Environment talks about - giving courage to go to the unexplored edge of thinking by ceasing competition as thinkers. Where there is competition, judgement or fear of speaking up there will be no joy. There will be performance, conformity and a lack of creativity. The questions I want to leave you with are.. How can you find courage? What conditions do you need to find courage? How can you help others find courage? What conditions do they need to find courage? Learn more about Time to Think and the Thinking Environment HERE  

Welcome to the second episode of the Finding Joy Mini series. Finding Joy with Ease Ease is disregarding internal urgency. How can we find ease and what impact will that have on our team finding ease? When we are at ease we will be more present, be creative, notice what is good, connect powerfully. Ease is destroyed by our digital distraction - emails, slack, WhatsApp, social media, notifications, meetings. All of these things are valuable and can serve us we just need to be intentional about how we use them, how we work at our best and what will help us to achieve our goals. The first thing we can do is notice - where do we not feel at ease? Then ask - what will make me feel more at ease? Join me on Tuesday 2 September at 12.30pm for a lunch and learn where we will delve deeper into how we can Find Joy for Ourselves and how that will impact how we create joy for others at work.