Article published in Progress in Lending for July 2014

Dealing With Negativity in the Workplace

Do any of these symptoms of negativity appear in your workplace through employees or even leadership? Complaining; not listening well;finding only the negative aspects of any situation; not offering solutions to problems; not seeing that someone's behavior affects others; someone attempts to create discontent in the workplace; blaming others; disrepecting others; resisting organizational change;disclosing too many personal problems; getting easily angry or upset; alienating themselves from co-workers. The list could go on and on. If these type of situations aren't addressed or changed quickly, the negativity can spread like a disease throughout an organization. There are two types of negativity - situational and chronic. Situational is linked to an event or occurrence that is impacting someone's life situation(think divorce, a death in the family,a change in a position at work, etc.) If the person is normally not a complainer or negative they can work their situation out over time, get some help or possibly leave. A chronic negative person walks around with a lot of baggage, stress, are not happy with their life, etc. This type of negativity can put a damper on the positive and productive environment of a workplace and spread like wildfire throughout the company/organization. These individuals need guidance and boundaries established between what's happening with them as a person and the work that needs to get done. It's up to management/leadership to address these situations on an individual basis. If you manage negative staff, there is a great opportunity to have a conversation with the person by asking them what's going on; sharing with them how their negativity is affecting the workplace and have them share with you what some solutions could be to address the issue. If you have allowed this negativity to fester for a long period of time, it will take a longer period of time to change behaviors. If the person is a complainer, immediately ask that person what would they do if they were in your shoes as the manager/leader? Maybe you can help them create a plan they can implement to be less negative. Asking "how can I support you?" and "who else can support you?" are great questions as well. One practice involves holding conversations on what's going on. Two sentences that can be used to help turn around the negativity are: "I know I'm being negative right now; I'm just really stressed out over _________________. I'm trying not to let it affect others." or taking responsibility for their part of a negative environment "I think I am not working at my peak - what do you think? Maybe I need to focus on________________________ until I get myself together." A manager or leader can request that the negative person create sentences like these or use them to practice instead of simply complaining. The more comfortable management can get in having regular communication on what's going and how things impact the business without someone feeling they have to defend themselves, the better. Try it or hire a coach to help change these sitatuions.

The incredible story of how leopard Diabolo became Spirit - Anna Breyten...

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Royal Yoga - Spinal Twist

Clash of the Titans: Gen Y and the CFPB

The latest article co-authored by Barbara Perino and Becky Walzak - Clash of the Titans: Gen Y and the CFPB

Right Sizing The Mortgage Industry

Here is the latest article co-authored by me and Becky Walzak:  http://progressinlending.com/blog/2014/03/14/right-sizing-the-industry/

The BEATLES "Birthday" song - celebrating my birthday tomorrow!!!

Safe Inside Yourself: Cynthia Loy Darst at TEDxOlympicBlvdWomen

Words of Wisdom From a Successful CEO

Had the privilege of sitting in on a lecture facilitated by Keith Koenig, President of City Furniture. FAU Business School offers a series of monthly lectures by prominent and successful local business leaders. The audience is comprised of MBA students, some faculty and local business people. By coincidence (and I don't believe in coincidences) he parked right in front of me and we both had to get our parking tickets.  We chatted briefly, me sharing I had come to listen to him and complimenting him on all the great things people had to say of him as a leader.  He was very humble. We introduced ourselves to each other, shook hands and met again on our way to the room where the event was being held.  Nice man with great words of wisdom he shared with the students.

After going through the history of how he got started after finishing a masters degree at Flordia, his brother opening a water bed store, Keith joining his brother and the store evolving into City Furniture.  Key words he shared in his success over the good and bad years of the economy, conservative business decisions, being reserved when it comes to money - accumulating money; testing the market, hiring good people and staying private. He also talked about how furniture stores are impacted by the housing market and he predicted that Florida is going to be a place to buy real estate now, encouraging the folks in the audience to buy soon if they can.  He was also a proponent of our federal government as there are many things we are doing well and we will always be a world leader.

He was smart in the sense of asking the audience to share their perspectives on buying furniture on-line vs. going to a showroom and when do they go to a showroom.  He is very aware of the Millennial generation being the largest generation now and in the future and how imporatnt is was for him as a leader to recognize their buying power and habits. City Furniture makes it a practice to hire college grads and grad school grads and is one of the largest companies, probably in Florida to do so.

I really like his style of speaking because he engaged the audience throughout his lecture, very interactive.

The Art of Extreme Self-Care: Transform Your Life, One Month at a Time

The Importance of Play in the Work Environment

We humans take ourselves too seriously at times. While walking around, be aware of how many people are smiling and laughing in a normal business day. Are you one of them?  I believe the Millennial generation does this more than the other generations and I say good for them.  Do you notice when you get in an elevator that everyone is really quiet - you can hear a pin drop at times. People are deep in thought or just being quiet to get where they are going. And, they typically are not smiling.

It's really important to goof off once in awhile and laugh at ourselves.  The definition of "play" is time spent without purpose.  Far too often in our American culture we feel that we have to have our nose to the grindstone, be productive, having our day planned out, working, cleaning, taking kids to practice, having a structured day, every day.  It's really important that we make time to just have fun without achieving a goal.  This is vital to our health and our human development.  Creativity and innovation stem from play. Check out the environments of Google and Zappos. People have freedom to be creative and enjoy their working environment.  More and more companies are creating these type of work environments especially in the technology fields.

Please don't save play just for a scheduled vacation. Incorporate fun into your life regularly through taking time to develop a hobby, being outdoors enjoying nature, being with your family and loved ones - maybe grabbing a cupcake after lunch or a yogurt or going to a great movie, having people over for dinner, etc. There are so many ideas you can explore.

Some suggestions around integrating play into your life are: 1.  Create a list or a couple of activities you could do for hours on end and forget about time - reading, playing a game, running, etc. that you really enjoy and maybe have forgotten about. 2. Schedule some unstructured time on your calendar and commit to play without feeling guilty. 3. Include others - family, friends, kids, a coworker.

Your mind and body will thank you for this believe me.

Write a Love Letter to Yourself - Man on the Street

Happy New Year - Auld Lang Syne by Sissel (Live) Movie

Happy New Year - Auld Lang Syne by Sissel (Live) Movie: Receive my simple gift of Love Wrapped with Sincerity Tied with care and Sealed with blessings To keep you happy and safe all the life long. Happy New Year!

Happy Work Places

Being happy in a work environment should not be taken too lightly.  Studies have shown over the years that high performing employees are also typically happy employees.  Did you know that happy employees take one tenth the sick leave of their least happy peers?  Are six times more energized in the workplace; intend to stay twice as long in the organization, especially millennials; are twice as productive.

iOpener Institute conducts data studies and did one on happiness in the workplace.  Their Performance-Happiness Model is made up of five components

• Contribution - what you do (I add, ask yourself "is what I docontributing to the organization?"
• Conviction - short-term motivation ("what is your short term motivation?")
• Culture - feeling of being a good fit with the company or organization (ask yourself - "is this culture a good fit for me?")
• Commitment - your long term engagement (ask yourself  - "what would I like to be part of here long term?)
• Confidence - self-belief (I am confident in my abilities and value I bring to this organization)

It's the job of the leadership team and human resources to constantly work on creating a better work culture. Part of this includes understanding how people deal with change (which is unique for everybody), continually allowing and encouraging open dialog on topics that matter to the company and keeping everyone informed.

Zappos is the prime example of a happy company. Check out their culture on their website.