By David Leave a Comment

The Uncertainty Principle; Practical advice for embracing mystery

Search “uncertain future” in Google and you will receive 56,000,000 results in .04 seconds. If you are feeling the negative affects of uncertainty in your emotions, take heart – others who also are feeling it surround you!

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Over the past few months, I’ve been working closely with many people experiencing the effects of uncertainty, and the price they (we) have been paying emotionally, mentally and even physically is significant. Some of these people are going through work-related uncertainty due to role changes and/or the possibility of dismissal because of corporate downsizing. Others are going through health-related uncertainty, such as the second round of cancer therapy or a battery of tests to determine the unknown cause of symptoms they are experiencing.

As I reflect on our collective wrestle with uncertainty, I find myself wondering:  Please Continue Reading …

June 11, 2014
By David 4 Comments

A Wholehearted Solution for Exhaustion

How do you respond to the questions, How are you doing? How are you? or How is work going?

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There are many perspectives we could choose as a basis for response, but which ones serve us best? We could talk about how energized we feel, how others are responding to us, whether or not our goals are being met, and more. However, given that we know so little about what will come our way in the next minutes, hours, days, weeks, months and years, I wonder if the most accurate perspective is one of alignment; whether or not we are in alignment within the present moment.

I’m not trying to play with semantics here – hang in there. Alignment is an issue of posture. It is the stance that enables capacity and capability. Think of what happens when you  Please Continue Reading …

April 7, 2014
By David Leave a Comment

Anxiety’s Antidote

Surveys show that more than eight in 10 employed Americans are stressed out by at least one thing about their jobs. Poor pay and increasing workloads were top sources of concern reported by American workers (Huffington Post, 2013). Workers are still weary and stressed out from years of a troubled economy that has brought about longer hours, layoffs and budget cuts.

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There is a clear indication that high levels of stress are associated with job uncertainty. This isn’t news for many of you reading this, is it? It’s interesting to me to note that there can be a similar anxiety in those who are uncertain of their employment future to those who are currently unemployed. Many people who fear that their jobs are insecure want to quit – but feel trapped or obligated with no employment options, and this elevates their anxiety. Please Continue Reading …

February 25, 2014
By David 2,967 Comments

Anxiety – 85% of it wasted?

According to change theory (Kurt Lewin), learning anxiety and psychological safety are two of the biggest resistance issues in navigating change. Why? Fear. Change involves as much unlearning as learning. It is painful, and it threatens our identity. We can often feel incompetent as we engage what we do not yet know.

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I have been engaged in grad studies once again. I wrote my prof to discuss the painful experience of adapting to language that I do not use every day (in truth, never). She put forward a helpful metaphor: “…let’s say that you have taken a few weeks of piano lessons, and that you have attended a concert pianist performance. You cannot expect to play at that level immediately…moderate your expectations…”

No circumstance has a direct link to the emotion of fear or anxiety. There is ALWAYS a  Please Continue Reading …

March 6, 2013
By David 4 Comments

Anxiety

Good morning! I am excited to share an excerpt from my soon to be published e-book: “Resilience; How Culture Impacted the Rebirth of Ford Motor Company”.

“All of the great leaders have had one characteristic in common: it was the willingness to confront unequivocally the major anxiety of their people in their time. This, and not much else, is the essence of leadership.” 
John Kenneth Galbraith

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Hmmm…but what if the “major anxiety” exists within the leader as well? Is this then an advantage…that the leader can relate? If a leader can not relate to the anxiety, do they have enough empathy to care…enough knowledge of the “stuff” to deal with it appropriately?

“The mass of men lead lives of  Please Continue Reading …

December 30, 2012