I watched my boss hurriedly hit the mute button. We were onboard a floating production storage and offloading (FPSO), floating in the Atlantic Ocean, and dialed into a large international call with operations leaders from around the world.
“Welp, I messed that one up! Yikes.” He chuckled and shook his head. I stood by his desk, transfixed, watching in awe as he let his faux pas roll right off his back.
It’s January: The season of goal setting, good intentions and grand resolutions. It’s a fresh start to a new year and an opportunity to re-envision the future we’d like to build for ourselves. January is the month of new gym memberships, new app downloads and new habit trackers.
It makes sense that many businesses run on a calendar year and use this annual cadence to set performance targets. Yet the convention of setting personal goals at the beginning of the year introduces a host of challenges for us humans.
You may be hearing a lot these days about the importance of mentorship programs, particularly as we work to close opportunity gaps and pull-through talent representative of our communities. You may also be hearing a lot about professional coaches and perhaps have even considered working with one. Maybe you’ve been offered one through your workplace. January is National Mentoring Month, and we figured this would be a good time to provide a refresher.
The fourth quarter is in full swing and the end of the year is within sight. This is an excellent time to take stock of where our time and energy are currently being invested as we look ahead to 2024. In Part I, we discussed the importance of setting boundaries around our commitments to ward off burnout and, importantly, to be more present and joyful in the activities that we do take on. I introduced a basic framework:
Less adding,
More subtracting, and
Making the most of what’s retained.
In our ongoing Reclaim the Floor series, we began last week by exploring some of the context and considerations that will set the stage for how we handle interruptions. Before we tackle tools and techniques, we’re going to dive a bit deeper into what makes up an interruption.
‘Tis the season for burnout. Ah, yes, September is upon us. The summer holidays are behind us and schools are back in session, including sports practices, band practices, PTA meetings, and yellow buses joining our commute. The fourth quarter is staring us down, along with all the commitments and goals we made for the year. Daylight is waning, but the to-do lists are growing. Have you planned your Halloween costume yet? How about Thanksgiving dinner? They’re right around the corner, you know.
