Title-only promotion meets stiff smile.
Karl Edwards
Category: Working Matters
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Event Review: 4th Annual Faith at Work Conference
Hats off to Stephen Christensen and his team for making the 4th Annual Faith and Work Conference at Concordia University an all-around great experience.Excellently organized they managed to pack seven quality speakers into a one-day event without feeling squeezed or rushed.
More significantly, all the speakers except one passed my main guest speaker test, which is that they brought quality content to the table instead of disguised pitches for their own services. Very refreshing!
The integration of work and faith is not a simple or straightforward field about which to think or speak.
I have long advocated that the primary theologians we need to help us think critically about this crucial faith context of the workplace need to be the (more…)
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Loving Monday: Begin With an Ally
Reality can be harsh. Reality includes angry bosses, frustrated clients, and co-workers who don’t carry their weight.You, of course, will face all these realities with poise and grace, because you are a secure leader who is comfortable with the whole spectrum of work realities.
Having said that, though, you don’t need to begin your week with your worst problem.You don’t need to have the first thing you hear to be insults, complaining, or criticism.
Try starting the week spending time with an ally.
Go for some coffee together. Take a walk around the premises. Meet for breakfast before coming into the office.
Choose to make the first thing you hear be compliments, encouragement, acceptance, respect, and expressions of support.
Reinforce in your soul that you are a gift with the input of someone who is on your side.
It can be a good friend, a trusted co-worker, an admiring fan, a supportive supervisor, or an adoring significant other.
The point is to begin the week with the positive, excellent truth about yourself.
From this solid foundation, you will be better equipped to face your mistakes, confront unexpected problems, and sort through the myriad of mixed messages that one encounters in a messy and complex workplace.
Pause and put a call into an ally right now. Begin the week with the truth.
On your side,
– Karl Edwards
Loving Monday is a weekly column designed to encourage us to step into our weeks with an intention to show up authentically, engage fully, and choose to make it a good week for ourselves. Explore past columns here.
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Quote to Consider: Steve Jobs on Living True
“Your time is limited, so don’t waste it living someone else’s life. Don’t be trapped by dogma – which is living with the results of other people’s thinking. Don’t let the noise of others’ opinions drown out your own inner voice. And most important, have the courage to follow your heart and intuition.” Â Steve Jobs -
Karl Shares Six Words… #45
Surprising inspiration from the raucous meeting.
Karl Edwards
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Loving Monday: Staying in the Game
There are times when simply getting the job done isn’t enough.There are times when how the work was completed overshadows that the work was completed.
We all get weary. We all experience boredom, stress, and fatigue among other difficulties at work.
Very few of us can simply override these feelings by sheer force of will, working with as much vigor, enthusiasm and effort as we would in the best of times.We need a way to stay in the game when work and life pressures are weighing heavily on our spirits.
Who would you give the promotion to? The person who is engaged or the person who is distracted? The person who is taking the initiative or the person who is doing the bare minimum?
Who would you give the job to? The person who believes in their ability to make a meaningful contribution or the person who is trying to get away from a bad supervisor? The person who is eager to jump in with both feet, or the person who wants to know how much overtime is expected?
We need a way to hold ourselves with poise and a comfortable confidence. We need a way to stay interested and engaged. We need a way to restore (more…)
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Quote to Consider: The Absence of Bad is Not the Presence of Good
“There are those who are so scrupulously afraid of doing wrong that they seldom venture to do anything.”Vauvenargues
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Karl Shares Six Words… #44
Nervous intern listening with every sense.
Karl Edwards
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Loving Monday: Taking Your Cue
I remember when I first caught myself taking my cues from others.I‘d be about to pass by someone walking the other way, and I would keep an sly eye peeled for whether or not they would greet me.
If they did greet me, I’d instantaneously gauge their mood and respond appropriately. If I received a warm greeting, I’d respond warmly. If they were grumpy or stressed I would either keep my distance with a curt reply or engage with a sympathetic “How ya doing?” Or if no acknowledgment at all was extended, I would keep my focus elsewhere and carry on.
Then it hit me like a ton of bricks. I was taking my cue from others. I was playing the passive, responsive role in the relationship.“What’s the big deal?” you might ask.
Well, it’s a big deal if I’m in a great mood, ready for a good day of engaging work, and I let someone else’s mood determine mine.
It’s a big deal if I want to greet and be greeted in the morning, and I miss out because I waited for the other person to initiate.
It’s a big deal because others might be operating out of a perspective of caution or fear or anger or bitterness in any given situation, for example. If I take my cue from those people, then I’ll be interpreting and responding to them instead of to the situation. Not taking my cue from others, I may very well have chosen to respond to that situation in a very different way.
By taking my cue from others I turn my brain, intuition and social skills off too early. I grant more credibility to other people’s discernment than my own.
And so I have stopped taking my cue from others, so to speak. If I want to greet someone, then I do. And I let them greet me in return. I have more say in my own day, because people are responding to the mood, tone and subjects that I am putting forth instead of the other way around.
Who are you taking your cue from?
On your side,
– Karl Edwards
Loving Monday is a weekly column designed to encourage us to step into our weeks with an intention to show up authentically, engage fully, and choose to make it a good week for ourselves. Explore past columns here.
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Quote to Consider: Law or Liberty?
“Never yet has law formed a great man; ’tis liberty that breeds giants and heroes.”Friedrich Schiller
The Robbers