|
Coming in AUGUST
|
AUGUST is
Admit You're Happy Month and
National Eye Exam Month!
5 Summer Olympics in Rio
6 National Mustard Day
7 Intern'l Forgiveness Day
9 Intern'l Day of the World's Indigenous People (UN)
9 Book Lovers Day
12 Intern'l Youth Day (UN)
12 Middle Child Day
17 Thrift Shop Day
19 World Humanitarian Day (UN)
21 Senior Citizens Day
23 Intern'l Day for the Remembrance of the Slave Trade and Its Aboliltion (UNESCO)
27 Just Because Day
11-21 Edmonton Fringe Festival
|
|
Shout Out!
|
A big thanks to some who made my life better in
July!
Ginny Arnott-Wood
Erica Brown
David Cheoros
Ellen Chorley
Brian Edwards
Liz Garratt
Alana Gueutal
Ernie Paustian
Hector Pothier
Jill Wood, Jenny Narine, Aliya Narine, Helga Wood, Bobbi Fitzgerald
"A single arrow is easily broken, but not ten in a bundle."
-- Japanese Proverb
|
|
Links/Websites
|
A Guy in UK Will Make Your Cremains into a Vinyl Record (What would yours be?)
Click Here
Wear Your Music (In case you want to wear your favourite artist's guitar string instead of being made into his/her record)
Click Here
Scientists Invent a Better Shampoo Bottle (How do you get all the shampoo out?)
Click Here
Making Paper From Elephant Dung (I have some of this paper, but didn't know how it was made)
Click Here
The Science Behind Internet Trolls (Science or not, I still think they're awful people)
Click Here
How Panic Attacks Work (I learned something)
Click Here
LUE-42 Enterprises (Mine)
|
Increase Your Charisma
|
This is from an interesting article "
8 Science-Based Ways You Can Increase Your Charisma" by Yehuda Freundlich (LinkedIn,
July 2016).
Charisma is the compelling attractiveness or charm in a person, which can inspire devotion in others. It plays an integral role in leadership and persuasion, and can translate into more sales, better negotiations, and phenomenal relationships between your clients and your co-workers.
A study at University of Lausanne concluded that "charisma can be taught." Here are some recommendations as to how you can develop charisma:
Verbal techniques:
- Metaphors - Stirs the other person's emotions and invokes meaning into what you're talking about.
- Anecdotes - Helps others understand what you're saying and makes it easier for them to remember.
- Empathy - Shows you care about the other person by trying to understand and share their feelings.
- Curiosity - Ask about others' opinions and needs. Be patient, hear them out.
- Feeling - Put yourself into what you're doing.
- Rhetoric - Use contrasts to bring out your point. Create mental lists in the other person's mind by speaking out a specific number and then going through it one-by-one.
Non-Verbal techniques:
- Physical Appearance - Keep yourself well groomed. People want to connect with attractive people.
- Expression - Smile and use hand gestures when you speak and try to maintain eye-contact.
|
|
Positive Feedback
|
Felicia Spahr's article "
Three Questions To Ask Instead Of Saying "Nice Job"" in
Fast Company (July 08, 2016) says we need to do better at giving praise; specifically, that "nice job" doesn't cut it.
Instead, Spahr recommends asking questions: Questions (instead of comments) will "
move the conversation forward in ways a desultory "nice job" can't." Besides, she argues, you shouldn't make the team member guess why they are getting praise!
Here are the questions:
1. What Inspired You To Do That?
This gives you more insight and can help encourage more of the same.
2. How Is This Different Than What You Were Doing Before?
In order to deepen the meaning of the praise and help your employee internalize the lesson, ask them about the change that brought about the new outcome.
Later, if they find themselves in a similar situation, they can refer back to this moment and recall exactly what they did.
3. What Do You Need In Order To Do More Of This?
The question is designed to get the other person thinking not just about what worked and why, but also how they can turn that into a regular process that happens more often. That potentially benefits them as well as everyone on the team.
It actually sounds like a pretty good idea! Here's the article:
Click Here
|
|
It's Not Wasabi!
|
I just found out that the green stuff we get with our sushi is NOT wasabi.
Apparently the real wasabi is very expensive and hard to get at, so what we get in restaurants (to approximate the taste and burn of wasabi) is just European mustard, horseradish, and green food colouring.
Furthermore, if we were able to get the real thing the root needs to be ground fresh as it loses its "zip" in 15 minutes.
In short, it's better sushi through chemistry!
|
|
Heard in the Board Room
|
It has been quiet! Glad you're all enjoying the summer and maybe even getting to a few "rainy day" tasks.
/lmwe
|
|
Reader Notes
|
Great e-zine! EP
Love the Q&A (about the board acting like babies) JM
***
Contributors to this issue: Helena Hill, Laureen Regan
|
| Books by Moi |
| Understanding Bylaws: A Guide for Directors of Not-For-Profit Organizations ISBN 978-0-9866030-0-6 Exceptional Board Members, Exception Boards ISBN 978-0-9866030-1-3
|
| * |
| With fond acknowledgement to Douglas Adams and The Hitchhikers Guide to the Galaxy |
| Join Our List |
 |
Spread the Word!
|
To forward this to a friend click below
To use the content, please include this blurb: Linda Wood Edwards and LUE-42 Enterprises produces "Life, the Universe, and Everything" for her clients and subscribers. Visit www.lue42.com for more information
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
I was just wondering when my summer would get started and the ads for school supplies started. Somehow I missed most of it, so I need to get cracking.
Unlike last year, it seems many non-profit boards are getting the summer off. This is good news, as we all need to rest and rejuvenate. Don't worry Executive Directors! Your boards may start out groggy in the fall but they'll regain momentum before the end of September. They always do.
Once I decided to start my summer I reached out to many friends and colleagues to arrange coffee and lunch dates. It has been wonderful to not be in such a rush and to dig a little deeper into what makes us really tick (not just what we do for our jobs).
Summer is also a good time to clean the office and to catch up on some administrative and bookkeeping work. Even as I type that my nose is crinkled up and I have a sneer on my face. That said, when the phone isn't ringing and the deadlines aren't staring me in the face, these tasks are tolerable. Given a ten hour, uninterrupted span I can even find Zen moments in accounting.
I had an awesome camping trip with the women and girls in my family. Even though I only got to stay 11 hours and was only an hour out of town, I was able to disconnect completely. It was a fabulous outing and I hope we can do it again next year.
Rehearsals continue for my Fringe production of TRAIL AND ERROR, and am more impressed every day with the talented people involved. I am also grateful to so many who help out our productions behind the scenes (see below).
Even though we've had a string of hot days (and a team that isn't playing hot at all), much has been happening with respect to Grey Cup in late November. We got our game tickets, flights, (secured hotel ages ago), and Spirit of Edmonton breakfast tickets. I love having something to look forward to. Now all that's left is to pay for it all!
In looking forward, I always look back. Here's a photo that spurred TRAIL AND ERROR (and a ton of other things in my life). I hope as you start planning for fall, you will enjoy the memories you are making this summer.
"Allow the world to live as it chooses, and allow yourself to live as you choose."
-- Richard Bach
/lmwe
|
|
The Answer
|
|
|
Q: I'M ON A PROVINCIAL BOARD AS WELL AS THE NATIONAL BOARD FOR OUR PROFESSION. WHICH GROUP GETS MY ALLEGIANCE?
A: BOTH! BUT SELDOM AT THE SAME TIME
This question demands a recap of the principle of "Fiduciary Duty." You'll recall that a "fiduciary" is anyone in a position of authority (so Board members, CEOs, etc.).
When you sit on the provincial (or local) board for your profession or industry, you have a fiduciary duty to that organization. That means you put the interests of the organization before your own and avoid conflict of interest. Most people can grasp this concept. Sure, some people still manage to get elected to boards with their own personal agenda, but thankfully MOST are there to further the objectives of the organization.
Where it gets interesting is when you also end up on a national (or provincial) board because of your role on the provincial (or local) board.
So now who is owed your fiduciary duty? Honestly, it's whichever group whose meeting you are at! To use a football analogy (which I love to do), this is not just the difference between a home jersey versus an away jersey. When you are involved in this way, you need to wear a jersey for an entirely different team!
A provincial (or local) group may try to direct you to vote a particular way at on an issue at the national (or provincial) table. This is completely inappropriate because of your role as a fiduciary. When you get to that national (or provincial) table, you must vote in the best interests of THAT organization. It's not only your duty, it's the law. And sometimes it just doesn't fit with what the provincial (or local) organization wanted. Tough tarts.
The days of "being a representative of 'x'" on a board need to be behind us. This model just don't allow for good (and lawful) governance, plus confused/conflicted expectations are really hard on people!
My colleague Doug Macnamara at Banff Executive Leadership recently published a terrific article on this. He even talks about how it may take a board a generation or two (or three) to work out the conflicts that arise -- but it's possible to overcome for the betterment of both organizations! To read Doug's article Click Here
|
|
Being Manipulated
|
|
I recently watched the film "
Our Brand is Crisis." It is (allegedly) a political satire but it parallels so closely what we are seeing today
world politics that I found it more troubling than entertaining. So I was glad when an article by
Joseph Grenny on
manipulation (May 05, 2015) appeared in my inbox.
Grenny is one of the "Behavioural Science Guys" and his YouTube videos are usually very insightful and entertaining. I've summarized below, but encourage you to click the link below the title and watch the video to see the social experiments they did.
The Four Ways You're Being Manipulated (and How to Stop It)
Click here
Grenny talks about how easily people are manipulated. He cites social science experiments that prove someone can make you/me/us do almost anything. He says, "It's time we acknowledge how little control we have over our own behavior and start taking control of the things that control us. Only then will we be the real agents of our own behavior. Only then will we be able to live up to the morals, goals, and aspirations we most cherish."
Grenny says that in order to take control we need to be able to spot the influencers. To do that, he suggests that we pick an influence tactic we see in action and study it. His reason? Because "you are least subject to manipulation when you are most conscious of its attempt." For example, if you know someone is raising her voice in order to intimidate you, you may feel less intimidated.
He offers four common ways that we are manipulated "into supporting and doing despicable things" (based on Albert Bandura's book Moral Disengagement: How People Do Harm and Live With Themselves).
1. Minimizing the behavior.
Using sanitizing euphemisms to describe what we're doing (e.g., "enhanced interrogation" rather than "torture" or "waterboarding").
2. Minimizing consequences.
Minimizing the consequences of choices with advantageous comparisons (e.g., "One ice cream cone won't cause a heart attack!").
3. Dehumanize victims.
Manipulating the representation of victims, often through making them a caricature or by labeling. Grenny uses the example of "The Interview", a comedy film that depicts an assassination of Kim Jong Un. He argues you could not get away with doing the same with other sitting heads of state, but the world let this one go because Kim Jong Un is seen as "a ruthless buffoon" and "not human." With respect to labeling, Grenny noted that we also behave more favourably towards things that have pleasing names (e.g., furry-nosed otter versus sharp-clawed otter; or a particular nationality versus "enemy combatants").
4.
Moral justification. Behaving badly because something good will come out of it (e.g., Cheating because the winner gets to donate the proceeds to charity).
Grenny suggests that we sort out our opinions because "there are things we and others do that cloud and confuse the moral calculation." He says, "To stay connected to your conscience, the best course is to learn to spot these manipulations -- both self-imposed and external -- and reframe the choice in an honest way."
Anyway,
it seems like the universe wants us to pay attention to this stuff, and who am I to mess with the universe? Happy reading!
|
|
My New Play!
|
|
Written by
Linda Wood Edwards
Directed by
David Cheoros
Performed by
Ellen Chorley
Showtimes
Fri, Aug 12 - 2:00p // Sat, Aug 13 - 7:45p // Sun, Aug 14 - 4:30p //
Tue, Aug 16 - 12:15p // Wed, Aug 17 - 9:30p //
Fri, Aug 19 - 9:15p // Sat, Aug 20 - 12:15p // Sun, Aug 21 - 3:00p
STRATHCONA BRANCH LIBRARY 8331 104 STREET
Tickets available August 3rd:
(780) 409-1910 or
The Fringe
Thank you to our supporters:
BeWell Web Designs & Erica Brown & Liz Garratt
Deltalytics & Ernie Paustian
Changes North & Pat Bragg
Melltech Consulting & John Mellec
Jennie Ambrose
Helena Hill
Interested in helping out? Email me at Linda@LUE42.com
Northern Sabbatical Productions
|
| About LUE-42 Enterprises |
|
I help associations and boards with tasks that can't be done in-house due to lack of capacity, time, skill, or a combination. I spend most of my time with governance, planning, bylaws, board development, interim management, and writing. I'm also a playwright, a funeral celebrant, and a big fan of the Canadian Football League. I have a great life. If I can help to improve your life, let me know.
|
|
Contact LUE-42 Enterprises lue42@shaw.ca www.lue42.com |
|
|
