It’s only been a week since Libya’s second-largest city, Benghazi, fell into the hands of pro-democracy rebels. But already the uprising has its own pantheon of heroes.
Among them are a human-rights lawyer whose arrest sparked the rebellion, an air force pilot who wouldn’t bomb his own people, and a balding, middle-aged oil executive whose daring raid on a base dealt the final blow to the regime in Benghazi.
Heart patients are more likely to survive if they have a positive outlook, according to research on more than 2,800 adults with heart disease.
First, they were given a psychological questionnaire and asked if they believed in their ability to recover. 15 years later, patients who had recorded an optimistic outlook were 30 percent less likely to have died, said the researchers from Duke University Medical Center.
(READ more at Business Week)
The old adage “Nice guys finish last” may not be true anymore.
New research suggests that the opposite could be true in the workplace.
The more honest and humble an employee is, the more likely he or she is to receive a higher job performance appraisal by their boss, according to researchers at Baylor University in Waco, Texas.
A new Cabinet took office in November in the capital, Mogadishu, and it’s loaded with Somali-Americans. Some have given up quiet lives in the U.S. suburbs to try to turn around one of the world’s most dangerous countries.
“I told my wife and she thought I was nuts,” said Abdulkareem Jama. They talked it over and decided they should return and try to make a difference.
What keeps you up at night? Are you getting “caught in the middle” of relationship squabbles and power struggles? Do you feel anxiety or fear around the economy, your job, or your personal level of success? Such drama always drains your energy and impacts your personal effectiveness.
According to Gallup, negativity costs U.S. businesses more than $3 billion in lost productivity each year.
To put an end to the negativity and energy drain, especially in the workplace, a good friend of mine, Marlene Chism, who specializes in helping people ‘stop the drama’, has a new book called, Stop Workplace Drama
What keeps you up at night? Are you getting “caught in the middle” of relationship squabbles and power struggles? Do you feel anxiety or fear around the economy, your job, or your personal level of success? Such drama always drains your energy and impacts your personal effectiveness.
According to Gallup, negativity costs U.S. businesses more than $3 billion in lost productivity each year.
To put an end to the negativity and energy drain, especially in the workplace, a good friend of mine, Marlene Chism, who specializes in helping people ‘stop the drama’, has a new book called, Stop Workplace Drama
The brain changes as a function of where you put your attention, according to Ellen Weber Ph.D, Director of the MITA International Brain Based Center. Every time you complain, you grow a new brain cell for the purpose of complaining.
It’s like your brain grows more coated with Teflon after each complaint. The positive will simply slide right off.
You say that drama has three components. What are they?
There is always a lack of clarity. It’s the voice in your head that makes you doubt your ability, or the fear that you don’t have enough influence, time or money. Another indicator of drama is a relationship problem. And finally, when there is drama, there is always resistance.
Your fifth principle in the book is stopping relationship drama. What does this mean?
This principle is based on The Karpman Drama Triangle. When relationships are dysfunctional, you will see three patterns emerge: the victim, the persecutor, and the rescuer. We all know what victim behavior is: “It’s not my fault…” or “There’s not enough time.” It’s the finger pointing, the pouting, the excuses. This drives managers crazy.
But not all relationships are about people. I jokingly tell everyone in my presentations that the best relationship advice I ever got was to fall in love with the phone. When I started my career, I didn’t realize what a wonderful sales tool the phone was, and I avoided it. I had a bad relationship with it. I felt like a victim, because although I had the skills to use the phone, I had negative thoughts about the calls. So when there is drama, look for a relationship issue, and that will help you get to the core of the problem.
How have you applied this concept in your life?
One way that I stepped into a new truth is that I changed the “us versus them” mentality that I had at one time. Everything is relational, and if you want change, first see yourself differently. If you want to change a relationship with another person, just learn how to “see” that person differently.
How can we “see others differently”?
We have a relationship with someone because of the way we think about them. Decades ago, when I was on the floor as a factory worker, I had a boss that I did not respect. I viewed him as “a rock that could not be reasoned with.” I had good evidence to support my view, and plenty of people at many levels who would have agreed with my assessment. However, when I got perfectly clear (about my desires and intentions), I decided I needed to see him differently. I started seeing him as a fellow worker—a human being who had struggles just like me. Then I decided to make my decisions based on who I was, not on how he behaved. I made a new commitment and I was at peace. From that decision, our relationship immediately shifted toward the positive.
Is this related to what you call the “Integrity Gap”?
Yes. The definition of integrity is to be complete and whole. When you are out of integrity, it means you are divided. Another word for this is double-minded. When you are unaware of competing intentions, you will experience anxiety, confusion or a lack of peace, and this mental and emotional state will impact your personal performance in various ways — even in your physical body.
For example, if a manager avoids a difficult conversation, it is because there is confusion about what is more important—solving the problem or keeping the peace. In effect, you have confusion because of competing desires.
What are the most common obstacles that get in the way of our integrity?
An obstacle can be a person, a situation, or a mindset. For example, right now the biggest obstacle for many is the economy; yet there are those who do not see the economy as an obstacle but an opportunity. Therefore, an obstacle is really about perception. Actually, I want to make the distinction between two kinds of drama: ‘the drama’ versus ‘your drama’. The drama is the situation or the circumstance and your drama is your experience of the circumstance, or situation. Don’t confuse where you are with who you are.
For example, your boat springs a leak; that is the situation. No drama around it; just a leak in the boat. However, your experience could be magnified into drama: it’s the boat maker’s fault. This always happens to you. Now, life is over, and so on. In other words, your experience of the leak is different from the actual event, and if you experience the leak in the boat as threatening, it becomes “your drama.”
In the example of my boss and me, our experience of each other changed.
When I left the factory, he hugged me, congratulated me and told me he knew I would be successful. That is why I know that what I teach works. I have lived it even at the bottom level and I continue to live it to this day.
Join Marlene tomorrow for a free 1-hour tele-seminar to learn the other eight principles from the book and how these workplace rules can solve problems in your personal life as well: www.stopworkplacedrama.com
Marlene Chism has a master’s degree in HR Development from Webster University and is author of the new book, Stop Workplace Drama
When the Libyan city of Benghazi fell into the hands of the opposition a week ago, Saleh Zayani grabbed two sound mixers and a microphone and headed to the radio transmission building.
His friends were too afraid to join him, so Zayani went with an armed guard, plugged in his equipment and began to speak.
America has found an unlikely leader into a sustainable new future, and that’s the U.S. military. From solar power to wind turbines, high efficiency LED lighting and even geothermal installations, the Department of Defense has been pulling out of fossil fuels and getting into clean energy and conservation.
The latest foray is being lead by Fort Benning, Georgia, which is about to install two new power stations that will convert the facility’s landfill gas to electricity.
In this video from many months ago, an air traffic controller proposes marriage over Portland, Oregon in a most romantic way, using the intercom from the pilot’s radio. (The good part starts at about 1:15)
A Stanford marketing professor is teaching her students — and company execs with AOL, Facebook, and Adobe — how to find and export joy.
Offering a happiness class to Graduate School of Business students at one of the country’s leading business schools does sound a bit touchy-feely. Yet, last fall, 80 of these type-A students signed up for Aaker’s graduate-level course called “Designing Happiness” — with another 100 clamoring to get in.
An Egyptian panel tasked with amending the country’s constitution recommended Saturday easing restrictions on who can run for president and imposing presidential term limits—two key demands of the protesters.
The eight-member panel also suggested limits on the use of emergency laws—in place in Egypt for 30 years—to a six-month period with the approval of an elected parliament.
The Mexican government has opened new venues for energy not involved with oil, placing greater importance on the development of renewables. By 2005, the government had already approved 50 renewable energy projects, that were completed by 2007 and supplying 1,400 MW of energy.
They currently sell geothermal power produced in Mexico to Los Angeles and Belize — with a Guatemala deal in the works.
Half of all Lotto sales for this coming week will be donated to Christchurch earthquake relief efforts, Internal Affairs Minister Nathan Guy and the New Zealand Lotteries Commission announced today.
“Given that the core purpose of Lotto is to raise money for the community, the Government has agreed to a ‘Special Purpose Lottery’,” said Minister Guy.
Often, the most inspiring advances are born out of the need to fill a void.
When long time Parsons residents Jacque and Kelly Rector’s grandson was diagnosed at age two with type 1 diabetes, they discovered that the kind of information and support they sought was unavailable. Realizing the seriousness of the disease, and its pervasiveness both nationally and within the state of Kansas, they became determined to find a way to make lifesaving resources available in their community and make a difference for the citizens of Kansas. Kelly Rector, the former President and CEO of Wichita Southeast Kansas Transit, has always been passionate about community involvement, but suddenly the desire was deeply personal.
Often, the most inspiring advances are born out of the need to fill a void.
When long time Parsons residents Jacque and Kelly Rector’s grandson was diagnosed at age two with type 1 diabetes, they discovered that the kind of information and support they sought was unavailable. Realizing the seriousness of the disease, and its pervasiveness both nationally and within the state of Kansas, they became determined to find a way to make lifesaving resources available in their community and make a difference for the citizens of Kansas. Kelly Rector, the former President and CEO of Wichita Southeast Kansas Transit, has always been passionate about community involvement, but suddenly the desire was deeply personal.
It’s not every day that a 13-year-old boy gets a chance to address the United Nations General Assembly. But Felix Finkbeiner is no ordinary teenager.
Finkbeiner had one item on his agenda: taking adults to task for their lack of action on planting trees.
The boy is already the head of his own organization, Plant for the Planet, dedicated to planting millions of trees all around the world.
WATCH the video below, or read the story at CNN…
Frito-Lay last year unveiled the first biodegradable snack bag for a major brand, but the effort backfired somewhat and sales dropped when the SunChips bag turned out to be so loud that a Facebook group formed called, “Sorry But I Can’t Hear You Over This SunChips Bag”.
Now the company thinks it has found a solution: a rubbery adhesive sandwiched between the two layers of the bag to create a noise barrier that cuts its sound by 15 decibels.
(READ more in Fast Company)
Hundreds of New Zealanders turned out to support a market day in Lyttelton, organized by residents to help a community in need.
Free massages, food and chocolate, coffee and music were all offered to local residents in an effort to draw an already tight-knit community closer together.
The resilient community agrees with the local vicar, “We just need to keep supporting each other and rebuilding our beautiful town again with a uniqueness which will make it attractive for people to come and enjoy.”
(READ the story here)
In a full page ad purchased in the Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel, the iconic Polish trade union, Solidarity, expressed heartfelt support for Wisconsin workers who are protesting against their governor’s plan to strip their union of its collective bargaining rights.
Piotr Duda, head of the trade union whose protests in Poland in the early 1980’s helped lead to the downfall of Soviet communism, wrote in the ad:
The White House celebrated Black History Month Thursday night with a tribute to the legendary Motown Records. Hosted by the President and First Lady, the program — to be aired March 1 on PBS — honors the Motown sound and its fifty year legacy of infusing American culture with soulful pop songs that became instant classics.
This is the eighth in a series of evening celebrations that tells the story of American culture through music. Since 2009, the Obamas have hosted musical tributes to Broadway, the genres of Jazz, Country, Classical, and Latin, along with folk music from the Civil Rights movement — all from the White House.
