For the past three days, I’ve been immersed in Globoforce’s WorkHuman conference. Have you ever been to a conference that was so amazing, you feel like you’re literally bursting at the seams with all the ideas? Yeah, that’s how I am right now, two hours after the conference wrapped.
Watch for detailed coverage in the weeks ahead. For now, here are some quick hit ideas that I’ve gleaned from the various speakers:
From Michelle Gielan, Positive Psychology researcher
Gielan, who’s a former CBS news journalist, sees life through the lens of broadcasting. When it comes to how we communicate, she says,
In our daily lives, we’re all broadcasters. What we choose to talk about matters. And how we talk about it [positively or negatively]matters as well.
Gielan says if we change our story, we can “change our power.” She’s not talking about telling untruths, but rather finding different parts of a story to share that reflect the positive element.
From Eric Mosley, CEO of Globoforce
On performance appraisals:
Have you ever noticed that when the media reports on performance appraisals, they use graphic, almost violent, words to describe the process? Words like “kill” the performance review, “blow it up” and the performance appraisal process is “dead.” It’s time to find a new way to recognize performance, one that has a more positive meaning.
From Shawn Achor, Harvard researcher, Positive Psychology expert, New York Times bestselling author
Achor talked about the multiplying effect of happiness. If you focus only on an individual’s happiness, then you are limited in your scope. But if you focus on how that individual’s happiness can cascade to improve others’ lives, then you are able to achieve bigger goals.
We need to not only redefine happiness, we need to redefine potential. Last year this conference was about happiness; now we need look at how we define potential – moving from the individual to the group, and how we accomplish great things through others.
From Caroline Adams Miller, Internationally-Known coach, author, speaker and expert on cultivating grit
Grit is behind every business breakthrough. And the good news is, grit can be cultivated. People with grit are lit up with passion, endure hardship with grace and are ok with being uncomfortable.
From Amy Cuddy, Harvard Business School professor, author of New York Times bestselling book “Presence”
When we are present, we liberate others to also be present.
From Christine Porath, associate professor at the McDonough School of Business at Georgetown University, expert on civility in the workplace
Your success depends on getting people to give more. How you show up and treat people means everything.
From Gary Hamel, author, Harvard Business Review contributor, innovation and strategy expert
You cannot “command” people to be passionate at work. It’s a gift they give you.
That’s it for now. I’ve got a lot of really amazing ideas to pass along from the speakers about how to bring more humanity to your workplace. Stay tuned!
Disclosure: I attended the WorkHuman conference as an analyst/blogger. Globoforce, the sponsor of the event, provided me with a free pass to attend the conference.
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