Wednesday, November 14, 2012

Want to Enhance Your Professional Success?

In the spirit of the 1% Edge, here are 4 areas to consider offered by guest blogger Glen Gaugh. His posts first appeared on the 1% Edge Portable Coach App and as we close out his series, I've wanted to make sure more folks got a chance to hear his wisdom. I'll be posting them as a series over the next week or so.

As a reminder, the 1% Edge premise is - it doesn't have to take much to make a difference - it could be the 1 thing that could make all the difference.

Glen's view is that balance is essential to professional success and he targets 4 key areas:

Area #1: The Emotional Bank of Yourself & Others

Personal Balance - Professional Success: Emotions Matter in Balance

Working in child and adolescent crisis work, the thing we focus on almost as much as clinical skill is self-care and balance. There are things I can do as a supervisor that may help ease my team's stress level, but remaining balanced falls mostly on my individual counselors. And so it does with you, regardless of your business or position within your company.

I believe personal balance is a key ingredient to professional success.

Stephen Covey described the “emotional bank account” in his landmark book, The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People. Making emotional deposits into the lives of family members and friends is important in order to maintain positive relationships, reduce stress, and have support when things around the office begin to take time and toll. The mental picture of an emotional piggy bank still comes to mind when I think of maintaining balance with people who are significant to me.

But for true balance that leads to growth, I want to challenge you to be more than transactional in your relationships with others. Be transformational! How?

·      Do not view those emotional deposits as ways to “keep him/her happy” for the next time you have to stay late at the office. Look at it as a way to share your enthusiasm for your work and include others in the reason- and the passion- that you have for doing what you do.
·      Let others make deposits into your account.  Share in the stories your loved ones have to tell and support them in their endeavors. Find joy in others’ accomplishments.
·      Be appreciative of the ways your closest friends and family bend to allow you to do what you do- and be just as flexible for them.

What keeps you balanced? Do you ever get in the transactional “rut?” How can you build enthusiasm for your professional endeavors, and show enthusiasm for the endeavors of others around you?

Glen's Series:
4: You are the key to your balance

Glen is a social worker and supervisor for Youth Villages Specialized Crisis Services in West Tennessee (www.youthvillages.org). He leads professionals in mental health to help families be their best. Connect with Glen at glengaugh.com, twitter.com/glengaugh, or facebook.com/FaithFamilyFatherhood.


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This blog is based on this book: The 1% Edge - The Workbook - Power Strategies to Increase Your Management Effectiveness - It contains immediately actionable ideas to help you be a better manager.

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