Project Exponential

Tag: relationships

  • Connect today

    Pick up the phone and ask someone to meet you for lunch. Invite someone you’d like to learn from, someone you could get to know a little better. Choose four questions to bring along with you:

    • What advice would you have given yourself five years ago?
    • Favorite aspect of your work?
    • Most challenging part of your job?
    • You can pick one person to have coffee with. Who would it be?
    • Where do you go for inspiration?
    • What do you do to recharge?
    • Last meaningful book you read?
    • If you had an extra hour each day, how would you spend it?
    • If you were gifted one million dollars, what would you do?

    Tomorrow, send a thank you email with two things you learned.

  • When you meet the right person

    1. You are encouraged to continue.
    2. A new approach is considered.
    3. You learn something about yourself and/or the world.
    4. Unexpected commonalities are uncovered.
    5. Beliefs are questioned, challenged, or possibly scrutinized.
    6. Solutions are brainstormed, or different outcomes to existing situations are imagined.
    7. You are prompted to change, grow, create, question.
    8. Mutual beliefs are shared and exchanged.
    9. Meaningful conversation occurs, and a deep connection is experienced.
    10. Respect forms.
    11. Confidence is strengthened.
    12. You are inspired to explore a new path.
    13. Additional introductions manifest as a result of the meeting.
    14. An authentic emotional exchange takes place.
    15. The meeting leaves you with new ideas, zest for life, passion, or energy.

  • The link between success and generosity is no accident

    Observation #1: The most successful people I know are also the most generous.

    • Leaders who give their time and of themselves endear those around them, building trust and respect among teams.
    • “Scarcity mentality” repels and detracts from passion, energy, and fulfillment.
    • Altruism and great financial success are not mutually exclusive.

    Observation #2: Some of the best connections arise from places of abundance and giving.

    • When you are focused on “the other,” conversations are more meaningful, authentic energy is exchanged, better solutions can be brainstormed.
    • Folks can sense greed and selfishness; it is not attractive.

    Observation #3: By giving to others, you can more clearly identify what brings you joy.

    • True growth comes from helping others, encouraging someone’s dreams, furthering their project.
    • Helping may be learned as a practiced skill but can emerge as a core element of your being.
    • Most artists, creators, and makers are givers — they share physically, mentally, and emotionally of themselves. Dedicated to their craft, they put their art into the world expecting little (if anything) in return. The emphasis is on the work, the sharing, and not necessarily the outcome.
    • Meaningful dreams evolve from a special sauce of individual enthusiasm, passion, sweat — and the generosity of others.

  • 5 steps to great team dynamics

    Set up a ping pong table and buy as many board games as you like — positive rapport doesn’t happen overnight. Employees naturally travel through phases of exploration, challenge, acceptance, and performance. Recognize that all teams move through stages of development, and some individuals require more time to assert their skills and integrate into preexisting units.

    1. Encourage interdepartmental collaboration.

    The opportunity to work together can significantly contribute to an employee’s ability to relate to others and feel a sense of loyalty to their team. Introduce colleagues thoughtfully. Generate new ideas and unexpected outcomes by pooling together individuals who don’t typically share projects. The best solutions arise from a variety of sources and inspiration.

    2. Provide leadership opportunities for all.

    All employees should be given a chance to shine, regardless of role and level within the company. Create environments in which everyone’s feedback is respected and make training available to all members of the group. By shaking up responsibilities and expected performance, you’ll give employees the opportunity to appreciate their colleagues’ talents.

    3. Creatively encourage relationship building.

    The best connections rarely form inside of the office. Bring employees together in unique environments; schedule company outings, host dinners in your home, arrange group trips, encourage brown bag lunches at the nearby park. Promote a culture that provides opportunities for individuals to create and bond outside of daily tasks, enabling deeper feelings of satisfaction and connectedness.

    4. Shared experiences unite teams.

    Challenges can serve as teaching moments and unite individuals within a given project. Ushering teams through trying times will reinforce competence and trust among each team member. Alternatively, working towards a shared goal and focusing on mutual success can help keep your team’s energy positive. Celebrate triumphs together.

    5. Model constructive communication.

    The best way to encourage positive communication is to demonstrate and conduct the types of interactions you’d like to see. Effective communication and empathic listening doesn’t come easily for everyone. Your verbal and non-verbal cues will be imitated by staff. Be aware that your clarity and expectations regarding communication, trust, respect, and honor are an integral component of determining the communication patterns of your team.

    It’s up to you to create the time and space for employees to connect meaningfully. Equip your team with what it needs to succeed: support, clear objectives, effective means of communication, strong leadership. When the right roles and responsibilities mix with a carefully selected group of individuals, great team dynamics will follow.

  • 10 questions to the best version of yourself

    1. Are you surrounded by people who encourage you to step up your game?
    2. Does your work excite you?
    3. Do your daily priorities align with your grander visions and dreams?
    4. What do you gravitate towards during unscheduled time?
    5. Have you set subgoals that tee you up for greater success?
    6. Do you schedule time each day to recharge and create?
    7. Have you written your dream list?
    8. Do you actively step outside of your comfort zone and seek adventure?
    9. Do you scare yourself regularly?
    10. Are you proud of the story you tell? (Is it positive or discouraging?)

  • Find people better than you.

    He always makes the deal. She finds coveted inside information. He lands top meetings and befriends the opposition. Her comments catalyze progress that proceeds company-wide change. These folks are not your competition. Their work, their composure, their grace under fire, their successes are not your threats. In fact, these people are your greatest allies.

    People better than you offer a tremendous opportunity. They are resources to help you up your game. Their excellence can challenge you to learn the tools and techniques you need. Their greatness can inspire you to ask difficult questions. Their wins spur self-assessment. Their honesty can remind you that little steps and a slow start is what is needed until answers become clear. Their bravery and fearlessness can spark your own leap into the unknown.

    Extraordinary individuals provide an outside window into your own work. If bridged properly, these relationships will lead you to goals you have yet to dream of.

    Forget comparisons. Use the gifts of others as a personal springboard, and align yourself with those you admire as you continue to polish your own story. Delight in the company of those who push you.