DigitalJenIPC

Fancy a day trip to avoid the budget news?

June 22, 2010 By // by DigitalJenIPC

Why not pop to Milton Keynes. Yes really. Not only does it have nearly as many roundabouts to get lost in as Swindon to distract you from capital gains increases, it also has an event on which will engage you. Forget champagne bars, this is the place to go. It ends on 30 June, so get your skates on. http://www.theartofengagement.co.uk

I find that many managers and leaders don’t ‘get’ employee engagement, despite the fact that there are a lot of fed up employees at the moment. “How people feel affects how hard they work” is a very simple concept. The trouble is that there are a zillion factors that affect it, money being just 1. The 5 year returns on average of organisations in the 3 Times Best companies to work for lists 2010 (Big, mid, small companies) outstrip those of the FTSE 100 firms more than 4 times; 15.5% compared with 3.5%, so maybe there is something in that soft fluffy engagement stuff after all?

I don’t know about you, but as the average person spends around 80,000 hours at work in their lifetime, I want to enjoy my quota, especially as women in my family live until 98, so I’ll be about 88 when I retire at this rate. What engages you at work and what disengages you?

A sense of anticipation?

June 21, 2010 By // by DigitalJenIPC

It’s the emergency budget tomorrow and there’s a sense of nervous anticipation in the country. People don’t like uncertainty at the best of times, especially if it is going to be good news! Could boost the sales of piggy banks, after all every upside has a downside!

Life can be such a paradox – get clear about what you want, anticipate it, feel it etc but don’t have expectations and be attached to the outcome. Reconcile that! Easier said than done.

It IS important to have a clear focus and know where you are heading, after all the whole coaching profession is set up on this basis, but expectations can be a killer! In relationships, with new business pitches etc

What’s the happy medium do you think?

Variety is the spice of life

June 16, 2010 By // by DigitalJenIPC

Metro newspaper today in London featured research showing that over half of women are bored. Bored with too much housework and their work being the same.

I refuse to iron – it’s against my principles and love linen as I can get away with it! Variety is one of my values and I feel ‘out of sorts’ if I don’t have enough variety, both socially and in my work. All my clients are different – the themes are similar e.g. fears about change, lack of confidence, challenging relationships, lack of time, and I learn so much from my clients. Often it’s like a mirror – they reflect the issues that I am facing!

What is an important value for you?

Knowing your values helps you to make more conscious choices about decisions and what you say ‘yes’ and ‘no’ to. They also help to make sense of difficult emotions, because when our values aren’t honoured, we feel frustrated, sad etc. But that’s a topic for another day!