Here’s a reminder about including people in social situations
Leaders make people feel valued.
It is a skill that comes with practice.
One trick, in a social setting, is to ask open questions.
What does your team do?
Who uses your service?
Can I introduce you to any of the attendees?
Most people like the chance to share something about themselves. It makes them feel included.
Leaders show others that they are welcome to be themselves. Perhaps that is a goal for all of us to work on in 2023?
The first step to managing in diverse spaces involves listening.
If we know the people around us well enough, we can tell when something isn’t right.
That’s when we can step up and ask how are things going?
Showing we are ready to listen and to support goes a long way to improving tricky situations.
The story in the video shows how this principle works in the real world.
Why not share what works for you when you manage diversity in your team (and don’t forget to leave a Like on the video)!
There are a few simple, steps we can take to look after ourselves and improve our mental health.
Take a look at the video if you want a reminder of what they are.
Leave a Like if the information helps you and check back on the YouTube channel for related content in future.
Diverse leadership produces great results. That isn’t a slogan, experience tells me that’s true.
For instance, when I led an initiative to improve engagement with local educational, health and environmental opportunities it was brilliant to draw on the wisdom from project workers who weren’t all the same.
Tapping into the minds of people of different ages, faith backgrounds, sexualities, and social classes made a difference.
Having many voices in the conversation, offering different perspectives, kept the ideas flowing and the creative solutions coming.
The result? A successful set of outcomes, within a tight timeframe, which improved on previous results and achieved greater value for money.
Who could argue against better results?
If you want to start thinking about the advantages of diversity for your team, network or service users you can check out the video.
Feel free to leave a Like, or Comment and check back for more ideas later on.
I hope you get to enjoy your well-deserved rest and relaxation this summer. Remember though that our out-of-office messages can help build good relationships with service users and make our life simpler.
Here are 3 lessons I’ve learnt over time, that have helped keep contacts updated (the ideas expand on themes in the video above). It is important to:
Making time to manage our contacts in this way should help simplify our life and keep our relationships healthy.
Feel free to Like, Share and Comment if this reminder is useful (and Subscribe to the YouTube channel for more ideas to simplify your life)!
Joining A Zoom Or Teams Call – Photo by ANTONI SHKRABA: via http://www.pexels.com
Like it, or not, the Covid pandemic has changed the way we communicate. I mean, how many of us had regularly used Zoom or Teams before 2020?
We learnt a lot about videoconferencing software can do (and what its limitations are, especially for users with disabilities).
However, one of my main take-aways is pretty simple, it involves being camera-aware.
No one is saying we should all be as skilled as a television presenter, but now and again you see people being interviewed and blunting their message, due to their camera technique.
Here are my 3 favourite tips:
What is your video call secret?
Photo by kat wilcox: at Pexels.com
Let’s celebrate the 20th anniversary of a complex portrait of a city and its Black, Latino, White and other citizens, in the version of Baltimore where ‘The Wire’ was set.
The show had so much to say about the places in the new century where:
Police stretched the law, as far as they could.
Politicians helped themselves and sometimes their constituents.
Journalists made choices about which stories needed telling.
Teachers tried to educate the young, in underfunded schools.
Blue Collar Workers struggled to do the right thing.
While Dealers and Users crossed paths / took responsibility / showed leadership.
Fast forward 20 years. In our time ‘Leaders’ routinely lie to their followers, avoid accountability and speak in 3 word slogans.
Back then, a TV show about a changing city, and every type of citizen, left us with a simple message:
A Man Must Have A Code,
Picture by Otto Rascon on Pexels.com
One day I want to be as wise as James Earl Jones (he provides the voice of Darth Vader in the Star Wars saga).
Or maybe as creative as Clint Eastwood (a film director and musician).
I might even settle for a touch of William Shatner’s curiosity (well known space explorer).
Although these gents are now in their nineties their wisdom, creativity and curiosity were always present.
Having said that, our own unique talents can sometimes lie below the surface of our everyday armour. We can be scared to show others just how talented we are whether we are fifteen, or fifty. We have to decide we can be vulnerable, then get and hold other people’s attention.
So we need to get out of our own way and actively chase after personal success. If we are doing this, our life goals should include:
How does that sound to you?
Photo by Gezer Amorim at Pexels.com:
Sir Sidney Poitier was a thoughtful, charismatic actor and Academy Award winner.
He was also an activist. He marched on Washington in 1963, as part of the call for equality spearheaded by Dr Martin Luther King.
He could see that channelling his righteous anger could influence millions of people around the world.
His life was celebrated during this year’s Oscars ceremony, alongside others in the entertainment industry who passed away in last twelve months.
The ‘slap that was heard around the World’ might have eclipsed that segment.
I think the only slap which people will remember Mr Poitier giving was the one his character, Virgil Tibbs, gave the racist character Endicott ‘In The Heat Of The Night’ (1967).
That was a bold, justified, and revolutionary act. It is a long way from what happened on film in the sixties to last weekend at the Oscars ceremony in Los Angeles.
Apologies have been offered since then.
Learning is underway too.
Meanwhile, to close here’s a quote from Mr Poitier which puts all that into context:
I have learned that I must find positive outlets for anger, or it will destroy me.
Sidney Poitier: The Measure Of A Man A Spiritual Autobiography
Men talking – Picture credit Pexels.com
The hardest part about living with a mental health challenge?
Others can’t see it.
Broken limb?
We wear a plaster cast.
Feeling broken down?
We need to start talking.
Being vulnerable.
Opening up about the hurt.
Inviting someone to support us.
In person, or online.
In confidence.
In our own interests (and for the sake of our loved ones).
It is always a good time to talk.
Experience Your Life 