My Holland, Author at EQuest Asia

Empathy at Work Drive Your Business Forward

Compassion, Emotional Intelligence, Mindfulness, Tâm Lý Tích Cực / My Holland

What Is Empathy? Empathy is the capacity to recognise and understand the emotions of other people. It’s about putting yourself in another person’s shoes, understanding his/her perspective and reality. You’ve heard about this often enough during call center and customer service trainings where the trainers tell you to “put yourself in the customer’s shoes to better understand what’s going on in the customer’s heart and mind.” You might think that empathy is spontaneous. It’s not. There’s a little science to it. What happens is …when you hear a compelling story or see a scene or a situation that hits your soft spot, our body releases Cortisol which helps us to concentrate on the subject matter. Simultaneously, the body also releases Oxytoxin. This is sometimes called the “Trust Hormone” or the “Bonding Hormone.”. It’s what makes us care about the subject matter and increases our empathy. Recent research which had men undergo an aerosol shot of Oxytoxin found that this group had exhibited emotional empathy in higher levels. All of us have these, but depending on genetics, our mood at the moment and how we relate to the other person, levels of our individual empathy varies. Why Empathy Is Important In Businesses The ability to connect with and relate to people, (in particular, prospects and regular customers of a business) is true empathy. It’s a force that can move the business forward because empathy makes you think beyond yourself and your own concerns. The minute you begin seeing and understanding that side of the business, you’ll realise there’s a lot to discover and appreciate. This inevitably leads tocreativity and innovation and happy customers. To start applying empathy at the workplace more effectively, especially among employees who interact with customers, you as a manager might want to have them consider the following guides: Get rid of your own perspective. Instead look at things from the other person’s viewpoint. As soon as you do this, you’ll get to realize these guys aren’t being wicked or unkind or difficult and unreasonable. They’re just responding to the situation with the information they’ve got. This happens all the time with customer complaints. Listen and listen well. Listen with your ears (what is the other person saying? what kind of tone is he using?) Listen with your instincts (Is he communicating all the important issues? Is there something he’s not telling you?). Listen with your heart (how do you think he/she feels?). Acknowledge the other person’s perspective. Once you recognize why the other person believes what she believes, then acknowledge it. This doesn’t equate to you agreeing but it’s an acceptance of other peoples opinions and they may have solid reasons to have those opinions. Be flexible. When interacting with your company’s customers, be prepared to change directions as the other person’s thoughts and feelings might also change. Getting yourself and your team to develop an empathy approach at the workplace may just be the most relevant decision you can make to improving your business. When you start understanding others, they’d want to understand you too and that’s how effective collaborative work goes.

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Loving what you do… small steps

Compassion, Mindfulness, Productivity, Wellbeing / My Holland

Can you picture Tiger Woods driving a heavy truck hauling cargo from the piers to their destination in the city’s warehouses? How about Meryl Streep? Do you see her counting dollar bills as a bank teller? Neither, I’ll bet, can you visualise Steven Spielberg as a used-car salesman convincing a prospect to buy that Toyota Camry. Along with a lot of other people, these three personalities : an excellent young , meticulous golfer, an accomplished, multi-awarded actress and a highly successful film director with the wild imagination of a 12 year old, all love what they do. They enjoy every aspect of the careers they’ve chosen to pursue and excel in, and presumably wouldn’t trade it for anything else. Fate has been good and generous to them – loving what they do and getting paid handsomely for it. The celebrity status, the fame and glamour that come with it are gravy for a remarkably delicious steak! Wouldn’t it be grand if we can all just do what we enjoy doing and get a hefty paycheck at the end of each month? Is there actual truth to what most commencement speakers tell a graduating class, “Do what you love. The money will follow,” ? Surely, it’s inspirational, but there aren’t any guarantees. You could pretty well go broke doing what you truly care about. The experts say desire is all important when you’re treading into the unknown. When you simply want to follow your passion and do what you enjoy doing, or at least pursue something that’ll lead you to what you love in order to do your best work, a certain degree of uncertainty revolves around it. Success isn’t a sure thing. It’s a make or break thing. Your strong desire though will push you to be more creative, more resourceful and help you go for the whole nine yards. So, what if I have the desire but am sure it won’t lead to anywhere that’ll bring in the money, should I still go for it? In a research study, “The Power of Small Wins” which ran in Harvard Business Review a few years back, it showed that people who progress everyday toward something they love, feel tremendously satisfied and fulfilled. And so to answer the question … Yes, go for it! But let’s qualify that. If chasing this thing you’re crazy about won’t enable you to bring food on the table or, it would keep you away from a college degree, then hold back. Don’t make any big bets on your desire. This does not mean though that you cannot work on your passion a little at a time, or start building blocks. Spending 15 minutes or half an hour a day on it will keep the embers burning. And you really should. Why? Because you could be wrong! Assuming doing what you love won’t bring in the greenbacks could ruin your whole life. So, take those small steps towards what you love doing. Who knows? You just might discover that this passion of yours is a treasure chest waiting to be opened.

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New Year…New Goals. Goal Setting Doesn’t Always Work. Why?

Tâm Lý Tích Cực / My Holland

It’s funny. We go through our lives chasing our careers with the common knowledge that goal-setting works. Our business management professors, company head honchos and peers in the same industry tell us that an ample amount of energy and self discipline go a long way too. We’d bring into the equation, large figures of determination and perseverance and most, if not all hurdles vanish like magic, right? Then, what gives? Why are so few of these goals get to be realised? Most people are likely to dismiss these questions with …”Maybe, you’re lazy, you don’t have any staying power or you easily get distracted” In other words, what this is telling you is that “You, dude, ain’t got no will power!” … which therefore creates an impression that the goals are in reality, a gigantic task needing a lot more hard work, sacrifice and effort that could be beyond human bounds. So, why be surprised many people raise their hands in surrender? In truth, the lack of will power or strong discipline may not be the issue at all. These guys have the ability to succeed. They may be wanting in focus, but that raises the big “WHY?” The Three Most Common Mistakes In Setting Goals Compromising a lot in your goals and choosing only what’s traditional. When you consider only what’s reasonable or what’s tried and tested, it undermines your chances of success. In lieu of going for what’s new and original … you opt instead for what’s been done before and already packed in neat little boxes, … the results you get are too predictable and too safe but not necessarily successful. When you stay too much in your comfort zone, you’re limiting your imagination and not letting your creative juices flow. What happens is that your enthusiasm, motivation and passion go down. Dare to think beyond what is traditional. Create something that’s never been there and go beyond your limits. Choosing the outside trimmings rather than the content. Don’t go choosing goals because the façade looks good and impresses your peers while there’s not much substance in it. That would be like attending a training program so you can have the certificate hung on your wall instead of learning and acquiring skills you never had before. Ask yourself “What do I get out of this? Is this something I really want? What do I achieve, learn or develop?” Selecting your goals by consensus. This is a case of you having the herd mentality and going with what everybody wants or needs. When you give in to others’ considerations, and not stand up for what’s true for you, you risk the goal being misaligned with your own purpose. You just might end up blaming others for holding back and resulting in an unrealized goal. Achieving your goals will require many steps. If you give yourself a pat on the back or a token reward for every little step you take, it’ll jack up your state of mind and boost your energy and motivation. As you properly set your goals, staying away from these errors enumerated above, keep this little piece of advice alive in your heart.

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Do you procrastinate? Why Do We Procrastinate?

Emotional Intelligence, Mindfulness / My Holland

Whether we’d like to admit or not, a lot of us have been guilty of procrastination at one time or another. Somehow, we’ve gotten into this bad habit of putting off till tomorrow what we could have done today. It’s crazy! It’s weird! We know it’s not good! It hurts us and others! So, why do we do it? Why do we put off writing that report that’s needed for the committee meeting, or, why do we keep postponing that critical sit-down with a client who’s lodged a complaint about the poor service she’d experienced with our company? Here’s Why Julie Morgenstern, a New York Productivity consultant and author of “Time Management From The Inside Out” says it’s because we’re overwhelmed. The recent recession had led to work teams being trimmed down in most companies and the workload shifted to other teams. In addition, top management demands and expects these employees to be harder working, more innovative, creative and more efficient. This, Julie continues, often leads to a standstill. Meanwhile these workers turn to other avenues for distraction. There’s the technology of the e-mail, Facebook and Twitter. Replying to a trivial e-mail or attending to some other little thing provides them a sense of accomplishment, a sort of a quick win. Joseph R. Ferrari, a psychology professor at De Paul University and author of “Still Procrastinating? The No Regrets Guide to Getting It Done” says procrastinators are overly concerned with what other people think of them, so that in essence, they’d rather be thought of as lacking in effort than lacking the ability to accomplish things. They’ve got this funny idea that if they never finish, they don’t get to be judged. Procrastination usually happens in connection with long-term projects. Somehow one convinces himself that putting off a part of a long process is simply a deviation and in itself isn’t significant, but then this behavior gets to be the rule rather than the exception and the work never really gets done! What To Do If you want to change and get rid of this habit, these experts suggest you identifythe specific areas where you tend to procrastinate. Is it in writing reports? Trade development? A management task? Once you’ve identified the area, write down the steps you’ll need to take to get the job done. If it’s a long-term project, break it down to small easier-to-complete tasks. Then reward yourself (a good dinner or a movie) as you finish off these small steps one at a time. Not sure what the next steps are? Don’t be shy. Ask for help. These management techniques have been known to work for most procrastinators, unless you happen to be the chronic type, in which case it’ll be smart to seek some professional psychological advice.

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Get Your People Motivated! get the right motivation…

Compassion, Khả năng lãnh đạo, Tâm Lý Tích Cực / My Holland

No question about it. The driving force that gets employees towards achieving their goal is motivation. Of course, we talk about motivation among company personnel, and the first thing that comes to mind is either money or promotion or both. Sure, that helps a whole lot. But, that’s just extrinsic motivation. That’s when you set goals, measure results and reward the achievers with various kinds of incentives. Obviously, those who didn’t perform too well will have to undergo moretraining. Or, it’s probably the right time for you to understand, appreciate and adopt intrinsic motivation as part of your company’s working policy. Intrinsic Motivation. While extrinsic motivation deals with those dangled rewards that could get employees to put in the extra mile, those who are intrinsically motivated won’t need them as much. These guys simply get turned on by the actual work they do. It’s the “high” or the “rush” they get from doing the tasks involved and the deep-down, self-fulfilled feeling when the job gets done, that truly motivate them. The experts say employees are more likely to be intrinsically motivated when a company’s vision is strongly compelling, when its objectives are specific and clear, and when the corporate culture is one that is friendly andsupportive of all its employees. The Downside Of Extrinsic Motivation The goal-setting and getting the employees motivated and rewarding them with different kinds of incentives for what they’ve done and achieved is one of the best examples of extrinsic motivation. What happens here though, is that little attention, if ever, goes to the other inputs such as hard work, collaboration, cooperation and teamwork. It’s a situation where the top performers are motivated and the average guys get de-motivated. The Best Solution: Combine Extrinsic and Intrinsic Motivation You can see it makes sense to get these two types of motivation in place in your company. Now, that may be easier said than done, but getting these two elements in, should lead to unprecedented productivity and realisation of those corporate goals. These two suggestions should help: Create a powerful, compelling corporate vision, map out a clear set of specific goals and develop a more employee-centered culture with improved working conditions. Recognize your employees for great outputs and achievement (extrinsic)and for their inputs like can-do attitude and close collaboration (intrinsic) that runs alongside your company values. As a good leader, you should understand and appreciate the difference between these two motivations and use them to get your people really moving. Forget your whip! These work better!

Get Your People Motivated! get the right motivation… Đọc thêm »

My Holland

Empathy at Work Drive Your Business Forward

Loving what you do… small steps

New Year…New Goals. Goal Setting Doesn’t Always Work. Why?

Do you procrastinate? Why Do We Procrastinate?

Get Your People Motivated! get the right motivation…

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