Enjoy Being You: What is it that attracts and keeps good people where you work?

Enjoy Being You: What is it that attracts and keeps good people where you work?

What is it that attracts and keeps good people where you work?

People with high skills are getting hard to find - and keep - in business. They know it and they are cruising the market, looking for employers of choice. They don't have to be the best organization, or even pay the most. They do however need to have a management culture that earns and sustains the respect, support and energy of its people, 24/7. Most people resign from the people they were being managed by, rather than from the organisation.

I'd love to know what it is about your workplace culture ('the way we do things here') that attracts and keeps good people?

Change of Life

We used to think of "the change of life" as being menopausal, usually something experienced by women but also increasingly - in a different way - by men. These days we hear more about such things as sea-change, tree-change, down-shifting, or reaching "the big 0" - 40, 50 or 60.

It's just another of the many areas of thinking affected by the dramatic changes, pressures and stresses of 21st century living. People of any age are simply wanting to get a sense of purpose and reason out of the chaos. We look at everything we do, who we spend time with, what the real pleasures in life are for us. Nothing is taboo in our scope of thinking.

Lifestyle is now a major issue affecting every part of life, every type of business and people of any age. That's why you're reading this very message.

Here's an instant tip to help you.

1. List every skill you believe you're good at or you've been told by others you're good at.
2. Think about what you love doing, what your passions are, when you feel you 'come alive' - at work, at home and at play (discretionary interests).
   
3. Have some fun letting those thoughts roll around in your mind, play with them in your own time, in your own way, whenever and wherever the mood strikes you.
4. Watch any small child who just wants to play, to live in the moment, to have some fun.
   
5. Think about developing your second childhood. But now you can mix in your life experiences to create your second adulthood.

You're on your way!

Celebrities Who Value Work Life Balance

Stories have surfaced this week (commencing 22 July 2007) of two celebrities who highly value work life balance. Hollywood film director Scott Hicks will be known to many of my international readers. The other is Steve Bracks, who, until this week, has been the Premier (Chief Minister) of the State of Victoria here in Australia.

Scott works in Los Angeles of course but lives 16 hours flying time away - here in the gentle hills outside of my own city of Adelaide Australia. He even pedals his bicycle to the CBD of Adelaide, through our beloved historic parklands, when he needs to work here. The value of the yin yang means that much to him. i.e.:
– the energy that the peaceful Adelaide Hills environment generates to sustain his creative efforts in the pressure-cooker world of Hollywood, and
- ‘complementary opposites’ – opposite home and work environments that mutually support each other.

None of the passengers of the 9/11 flights who could make a phone call called their office. They all realized that, when the chips are down, they value their loved ones far more than their jobs. Victoria's Premier Steve Bracks came to that realization this week when his son was charged with a serious drink driving offence. Steve had given body and soul to his job as Premier for eight years but saw the danger of completely losing touch with his family.

These are just two isolated examples of how people in high places see the need to have a life outside of work if they want to survive and thrive in the 21^st century. Scott Hicks and Steve Bracks are two celebrities who know what it means to enjoy the true riches of life.

How can a man write an E-Guide for Busy Women??

I had to laugh today (in good spirit, I hasten to add) when I got an email from a woman (Life Coach) in San Juan, Puerto Rico, who had bought a copy of my Busy Women's E-Guide to Enjoying Quality Personal Time (go to www.workleisure.com and click on the thumbnail). She used the Guide in a recent workshop and was thrilled with the content and the response of her group. Part of the review she sent me said "It’s incredible to believe that it was published by a man". She added : "A man with great insight on Feminine Energy."

I accept both of her comments with pride and humility. I need to make clear a couple of things though. I am 'very male' but have long found my material has great appeal to women generally. The other point is that, while the Guide is totally my own work, I had a whole heap of editorial help from a number of women, all of whom had the best interests of women in mind.

I'm really pleased this opportunity has arisen to clear the air about how a guy comes to successfully write a guide for busy women. I feel sure there have been many women who have visited my website and thought "I'm not going to pay money to be told by a man what to do". (My partner would , at times, agree with you! :) Hopefully this interchange will help you appreciate my respect and sensitivity to the needs of women. And besides , no-where in the guide is anybody told what to do. Enjoyment is a very unique personal experience. I can only offer the benefit of 30 years experience in helping you come to your own well-considered decisions about how you can best enjoy being you.

Cheers,
Peter Nicholls
Adelaide, Australia, 6 June 2007

Watching a Seminar Audience

I went to a seminar today on values in the workplace - personal and corporate. I found myself spending more time observing people than listening to the speaker (who, by the way, was very good and clearly knew his stuff). But it's ages since I have been to what I would call a training seminar - where the trainer speaks to a powerpoint presentation of headings and dot points and everyone tries to keep up. Only late in the hour-long presentation was there a brief table discussion...and boy, what a difference in the audience mood after the discussion. You could feel the sense of engagement rise 1000% for the rest of the session.

I could never run a lifestyle workshop that way. Lifestyle is a very individual issue and requires a highly facilititatory role on my part, with lots of input and discussion from the group. Even when I do a speaking presentation I get the audience involved in lots of ways - and my only use of powerpoint is to graphically visualise the occasional key point.

One of my core messages is that the best way to educate people is to make the process fun. There was all too little fun in the session today. I wondered how many people in the audience really enjoyed what the speaker had to say and how many were there because their job required them to learn it - not quite "or else", but you get my drift. I think the latter people would have struggled.

Why do you work? (other than for the money)

Work is such a central part of life today that people seem to take it for granted - until they are no longer able to work for whatever reason. Why do you work (apart from earning money)?
The office camaraderie?
Recognition of what you do well?
Making a contribution to the community?
People have lots of reasons. What are yours?

Linking to my website

I can get people who are visiting my website at www.workleisure.com to link here to my blog. But I haven't yet figured out how to put a link into here that you can click on to go to my website at www.workleisure.com. Can anyone tell me what to do? Thanks in anticipation Peter Nicholls

Work Life Balance Isn't Working

Generally, business seems to accept in principle the need for, and benefits of, work life balance but there is plenty of doubt about the extent to which its being practiced. When I say work life balance, I mean much more than "family-friendly" policies. I'm talking about everybody - male and female, from the CEO to the junior assistant - having mutually-energising lives that allow us to cope with life's pressures.

I think a big reason is that everyone involved has recognized work life balance as a conflict between employer and employee that neither 'side' is going to win. We can't 'deficit budget' time. While everybody is trying to pack more into every day, we won't get more time than 24 hours a day, or 168 hours a week. The treadmill is getting faster, the pressure more intense and people more stressed. It's based on the increasingly "time poor" situation and it has to change.

We need a different approach and I suggest that it's in the idea of Work Life Harmony. By that I mean getting some harmony between the personal goals of individual employees (including managers and CEO's) and the corporate goals of the business. The word harmony infers diversity that works together to form a pleasing outcome for all - including the listener (customer). This requires us to change our thinking from managing time to managing energy. People are putting personal goals ahead of corporate goals and emotional desires ahead of material desires. I have plenty more ideas on this subject but want to know for now if you agree with the general approach I am advocating.

Cheers
Peter N

Have Fun Planning Your Life

Yesterday I had a 'ball', facilitating my latest "Integrated Life Plan" workshop. It's a fantastic feeling to run a workshop that focuses on enjoyment as a life-changing experience. Lots of laughter of course, but more rewarding was seeing the light come into participants' eyes as they luxuriated in the opportunity to stop, be themselves and reflect on some wonderful experiences in which they enjoyed the peace of feeling truly alive.

The point of it all was to help them build on their positives, discover new horizons and plan to "write their own script" for the coming acts of that drama we call "My Life".

Here are a couple of the testimonials given to me at the end of the session:
"Stretched the mind - moved the barriers - 'permission-giving'. A most helpful time of sharing, thinking and learning - Thank you!"
"Thought-provoking at an appropriate time in my life. Has given me real strategies to action".

An Integrated Life Plan workshop takes over where financial planning leaves off. Its even more important to invest in yourself. The workshop is especially helpful to people who are planning to cope with a major shift in their life.

Like public transport, there'll be another one along shortly!

Why "Enjoy Being You"?

"What better way to express yourself, develop your abilities and find your purpose in life than through doing something purely for the joy it gives you" - from my book "Enjoy Being You".

It has been my passionate belief for over 30 years that the path to personal fulfillment is to enjoy being the person that is uniquely me. The real me has been so since the womb. The person you see may now look rather mature, bald - and healthy! But the "me" looking out is unchanged and unchanging since childhood. I was born with a unique set of talents, skills and abilities, upon which my full potential relies for maximum development, happiness, success and purpose for living.

We are each unique in human history. We can take pride in being different to everyone else, or we can hide in conformity. Too often we do the latter and forsake the growth, joys (and risks) of the former. Enjoyment is a life-expanding experience. Enjoyment is essential to real personal growth and development. Enjoyment is a unique expression of one's individuality.

I am proud to be me! However it is only in recent years that I have allowed the real me to shine through. Writing "Enjoy Being You" in 1999 and 2000 (published in 2001) was one of the first major expressions of "the real me". In 2002 I decided to establish my own business and in 2003 I created Work Leisure International. I love the life and I am passionate about what I do - and am achieving. Like any new business, it is a struggle but persistence and perseverance are key words in my vocabulary.

That's enough for now. If what you read intrigues you, you can go to my business website at www.workleisure.com to learn more. I pride myself in that it is light on "sales speak" and heavy on information and resource material.

And if you like the sound of my book "Enjoy Being You", look for more information at my site in the Products section.

Nice to meet you and I hope this blog is the start of some fascinating discussions.

Ciao for now!
Peter Nicholls