Stunning Employee Engagement Stats From Gallup
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Tsahi Levent-Levi
I came across this quote from Gallup CEO Jim Clifton:
“Here’s what you need to know: Gallup research has found that the top 25% of teams — the best managed — versus the bottom 25% in any workplace — the worst managed — have nearly 50% fewer accidents and have 41% fewer quality defects. What’s more, teams in the top 25% versus the bottom 25% incur far less in healthcare costs. So having too few engaged employees means our workplaces are less safe, employees have more quality defects, and disengagement — which results from terrible managers — is driving up the country’s healthcare costs.”
Study after study is showing high employee engagement to be a very strong indicator of organizations that out-perform the pack, and low engagement indicating those that will under-perform. Read More→
Visualization and DIY Gene Modification
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Courtesy Mac.rj
Visualization has long been seen by some as akin to wishing on a star or a four-leaf clover-with a rate of return somewhere in the neighborhood of a Powerball ticket.
It turns out the odds are a lot better than that. In fact hard science has proven that it is a real and powerful tool that each of us can easily use to shape our lives and create better outcomes – personally and professionally.
There is now even more breakthrough evidence that indicates visualization has the ability to affect us and cause changes at our very core – right down to our genes and how they function or “express”. Read More→
Courtesy Neelaka
Are relentless schedules, unceasing demands, and suffocating responsibilities making you feel like you are losing your mind?
Well here are a couple of simple tricks you can use to speed up the process:
- Lose your sense of perspective. Ignore the bigger picture, and focus just on your immediate situation.
- Take everything way to seriously. Especially yourself. Become more rigid in your thinking, and whatever you do – do not laugh at yourself or your situation.
- Blame others for not taking more responsibility for your success and happiness.
It is a very simple, effective recipe with guaranteed results.
If on the other hand, you’d like to get your cheese back up on the cracker and dip that other oar back in the water, the following suggestions may help: Read More→
OEN Awards – The Singular Secret to Success
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Last week at the Oregon Entrepreneur Network awards dinner, there was an impressive parade of success stories from companies of every stripe – tech, clothing, construction, you name it. In hearing the stories of leaders behind these remarkable successes, I noticed one common, pervasive theme – Persistence.
It was fascinating to hear how these people overcame obstacles, failures, and disappointments by simply refusing to take “no” for an answer. One CEO said: “Success is being knocked down, having your dreams stomped on, spat on, ground into the dirt, and thrown in your face, and being able to get back up, dust yourself off and try again – and again.” Read More→
Why Do You Do What You Do?
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Courtesy of Renato Giordanelli
This morning I heard two stories on the radio that really moved me. Stories about two people who feel very strongly that they have been called to help other people. Don’t worry, I’m not going to get all preachy on you! Just a couple of great stories that moved me and made me think.
The first is a pediatric doctor named Jim Olsen who treats kids with brain cancer. He realized early on that he had a gift for working with sick children and their parents. He has now pioneered a technique for causing brain tumors to glow so that they can be more safely and successfully removed. Read More→
Free Your Mind! (and Get More Done)
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Courtesy Cosima’s Digital Designs
The way you manage your tasks can either free you up to be more productive and creative or it can make you want to curl up the fetal position. But by making a few tweaks to your system you can free your mind to focus on your most important goals.
As I mentioned in Part One, the most important benefit of a task list is that it frees your brain from worrying about all those unfinished tasks – but only if you schedule a time to revisit the task. All your brain needs is to know that you have a plan to revisit and/or complete the task. Once it is assured of that, it can let go and go back to focusing on the task at hand. Read More→
Courtesy Sean MacEntee
Most everyone I know uses a task list. New science shows it can make you more efficient and effective. It can take you from busy to productive. Used improperly it can be a source of stress, frustration, and make you much less productive.
I’m pretty sure I would be homeless without mine.
So what’s up with task lists? What helps us? What hinders us? What does the latest science tell us? Quite a lot it turns out, about each of these questions. Read More→
Willpower, Energy, and Making Parole
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Courtesy Dan4th
A remarkable 10-month study of probation judges in Israel found that most paroles were granted first thing in the morning, after the mid-morning snack break, and after lunch. Parole rates went consistently from approximately 65% starting with the first case in each session but by the end of each session, the chances of parole being granted had declined to nearly zero. The researchers discovered that the judges granted most paroles when they were energized and able to expend more decision and willpower energy. As the judges energy levels waned after the breaks, they “preserved their options” by denying more paroles.
Many studies have now shown that utilizing willpower requires quite a lot of energy. When our energy stores run low, willpower suffers. It has clearly been shown to be a limited resource, but as we saw in Part One we control many of the variables that help us build up the strength of our willpower and resolve. Read More→
More Willpower Means More Wins
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Courtesy Jamison Judd
If you’ve ever had to stare down a freshly-baked chocolate chip cookie, you know the meaning of willpower (or perhaps a lack thereof). Cookies notwithstanding, human willpower has been called “our greatest strength.” Your strength of will however depends on a number of variables that we now know are under your direct control. By understanding what makes your willpower tick, you can improve your performance and more quickly achieve your goals (and win more stare-downs).
Find Your Power
Willpower is our ability as humans to stand up to our physical, mental, and emotional weaknesses. It means facing our fears and inhibitions, and doing what we believe is best for others and ourselves in spite of the risks and difficulties.
But what puts the “power” in willpower? How can we strengthen it and use it more effectively? Fortunately this is another area where science and research have provided some very valuable insights into the inner workings of willpower showing how we can make it stronger and become more aware of situations where it has become diminished. Read More→
Accomplish More by Doing Less
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Photo by FamilyMWR
Accomplish more by doing less. It may sound like some of the inscrutable wisdom of Kwai Chang Caine, but it is possible – just possible – that you could become much more productive by using these tips based in the latest performance science.
That science, largely accumulated in recent years, makes very clear that creating a rhythm between focus and distraction, between expending energy and recovery, and above all, keeping a clear outcome in mind, can pay off in a big way by delivering far better results.
Don’t Confuse Busy With Productive
The world we live in is filled with distractions; people, devices, media, projects, and possessions all clamoring for a slice of our attention. Like a plague of locust, they will consume every minute of your day if you let them. A few years ago I took a sabbatical and could not understand how I was ever able to shoehorn in a 50-60 hour per week job into my schedule. Every day was filled. Nature abhors a vacuum.
It is easy to stay busy. Being productive is another question. That question being to what degree are those “locust” eating into your productivity? Look at the tasks you are checking off each day. How many of them are moving you step-by-step closer to your goals? Make sure that the ones that are not moving you toward your goals are prioritized accordingly. Read More→
