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DRIVING FEAR FROM THE WORKPLACE
One of the hardest emotions for most of us to
manage, admit, own and experience is
fear.
It is understandable given the complexity of the
emotion and the confusion about it in the collective
culture. Yes, fear is all around us in hundreds of
guises and forms.
The Fear Factor (now spreading to countries all over
the globe) has been one of the highest rated TV
shows in decades. Horror and violent crime genres
are hugely popular and reach younger audiences
each year. Amusement park rides get scarier and
riskier with each new season. Is it logical to
conclude then that some of us like being afraid?
Or has fear (or the avoidance of real fear)
become a habit that many of us are simply
out of
touch with? Now that's scary!
What are we so afraid of? According to
the
NIH (National Institutes of Health) more than 13% of
American adults aged 18-54 experience a
diagnosed form of anxiety. Understanding
fear is challenging. So much so that we cannot begin
to touch on exploring it within the space of this short
piece. But understanding fear, learning how
it motivates our lives and using the vast,
untapped information that drives our fear is possible.
Ultimately it is essential if we are to
free up our energy to live and work optimally.
We cannot work optimally if we are afraid! Do
you believe that? That's an important
question because your beliefs drive your
fears. If you
want to understand why you do what you do (and
don't do) look first to your fears.
READ ON...............!
LINKS TO READ MORE ON FEAR IN THE
WORKPLACE
Are
you afraid
to
speak up at work? The amount of fear in
the modern workplace is just one surprising finding
from recent research done by Harvard Business
School professor Amy Edmondson and James Detert
from Penn State.
So what
are
people afraid of at work?
Manager Tools Blog discussion forum on
workplace fear points to the "fear load" of many
workers.
Rob Rosner hosts the "Working Wounded"
(yes,
you read
that correctly) blog for ABC news online. He explores
the question, "What is your biggest fear at work?"
We pay a lot of attention to BODY
LANGUAGE in our
work. Looks like body language really counts when
trying to understand how fear spreads.
Sadly, "bully
busting" (a recent incarnation of
Ghost Busters?) is becoming a bit of a cottage
industry.
The marvelous Meryl Streep plays the high-gloss
version of a BULLY BOSS is, "The Devil Wears Prada."
(PS -
and
Stanely Tucci is terrific in the
film as well)
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What's Happening at Intentional Communication Consultants?
Copyright 2006 Intentional Communication Consultants
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Greetings!
Welcome to the 2nd issue of "Mindset
Matters" a mostly monthly eNewsletter
created to
provide you with interesting, enjoyable and valuable
information on the world of work and beyond.
We promise to keep the newsletter brief, concise and
infrequent!
We are committed to supporting individuals and
organizations in developing workplace environments
where people experience trust, respect, integrity and
a sense of interrelatedness that sustains the best in
all!
Each month (or so) we will feature a theme - this
month's issue looks at the role of FEAR in it's
many
forms in and around the workplace. (By the
way - if you want to explore this topic with us in
more depth - be our guest (meaning it is FREE) for
our July 25th telecall! See details below in UPCOMING
EVENTS.
We hope you will check out our August
issue
which will look at how we begin to move from fear
to
creating workplace trust.
Stay tuned for future themes which will look at:
conflict as a missed opportunity in the
workplace; using emotions as a resource
to support your work: your "spirit" at work; ANGER &
work and navigating the waters of "generational
diversity."
PLAN TO JOIN US for our upcoming
seminar on September 21st & 22nd in La Jolla,
CA., "Pathways to Values Based
Leadership."
Please check
out the
details below
in our
UPCOMING
EVENTS section.
It is a wonderful opportunity to move to the next
level of leadership in a beautiful, relaxing setting!
Hope you enjoy the issue - please send us your
comments, feedback and questions! Enjoy
the "lazy" days of summer!
PS: Coming Soon - In the next few
months we
will be
adding our new BLOG and Discussion Forum!
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| WHO SAID THAT? |
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"Executives and the senior HR officers who
counsel them, struggle each day with how to deal
with toxic leaders, the ones who try to acheive high
performance by abusing, intimidating, mistreating and
demeaning their subordinates." Michael
Feiner, Professor, Columbia School of Business,
Former Sr VP & Chief People Officer, Pepsi-Cola
Worldwide
"Freedom is the capacity to pause between
the stimulus and the response." Rollo May
"One of the symptons of an approaching
nervous
breakdown is the belief that one's work is terribly
important." Bertrand Russell
"F.E.A.R is False Evidence Appearing
Real." (We don't know who said that - we
have seen it around for years)
"Fear is only as deep as the mind allows."
Japanese Proverb
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| WHAT WE ARE READING |
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You would think there would be VOLUMES devoted to
issues of fear in the workplace. Not the case. Apart
from the book from which we borrowed the theme
and title for this issue, we have had to dig deep into
our library to make our recommendations.
We begin with the book that inspired this
work, Driving Fear from the Workplace (2nd Ed.)
written by Kathleen Ryan & Daniel Oestreich.
Organizational Development specialist Terence Deal
captures the essence of the book (and the topic)
when he says, "Fear is an aggressive predator
of joy and creativity in the workplace. This insightful
book digs deeply into the root causes of fear and
the pervasive "flu of mistrust" that weakens
motivation and commitment."
Another book we highly recommend is, Toxic
Emotions at Work" by Peter J. Frost.
Frost focuses the light on the "shadow" side
of organizational life. The book illuminates how
organizations and their leaders cause emotional pain,
how it affects performance, and what can be done
before it becomes toxic!
Coping with
Toxic
Managers,
Subordinates..and Other Difficult People:Using
Emotional Intelligence to Survive and Prosper
by
Roy H. Lubit. Although we
would love to change the title, this book covers
important ground in examining the kinds of "toxic"
behaviors that have a destructive impact on so many
workplace environments. Filled with case studies,
narratives and how-to examples on understanding
and addressing fear-based viruses at work.
Outstanding! Get Kay Gilley's
"The Alchemy of Fear: How To Break The
Corporate
Trance
and Create Your Company's Successful Future."
The
Alchemy of
Fear a smart, touching, valuable book on
workplace fear and moving beyond it.
Note: Check out our other recommended
reading at our website: Click on READ ON BELOW!
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Read on... |
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| WHAT WE ARE WATCHING |
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FEAR. It's everywhere in films (sadly, as in life). Lots
of people walk around believing its our "natural
state." Some people really like a good dose of fear
with their popcorn. Not us. So no horror flicks on our
must-see list.
Instead, we have suggested 3 films that look at fear
from very different perspectives. We hope you enjoy!
We begin with Office
Space a '99 loser at the box office that has
become (apparently) a "cult classic" in video
and DVD. We remembered it as a depressingly funny
look at the mindlessness of certain jobs, managers
and corporate environments. When we tried to rent it
at our local store - it was out! Apparently, it is and
has been one of their top rentals for years!
North
Country is our second choice. The talented
Charlize Theron (and a stellar cast including Frances
McDormand & Sissy Spacek) overcomes the fear of
shame, humiliation and isolation in confronting sexual
harassment from her bosses and co-workers in the
mines of Northern Minnesota. Based on actual events
in the Eveleth Mines in the early 1990's, Charlize's
character, Josie, challenges the status quo in the
quintessential "male dominated" workplace. Riveting!
Our last recommendation is
"The Peaceful Warrior." Still in theatres (in
limited release). Based on the landmark 1980 book,
author Dan Millman blends fact and fiction in telling
his extraordinary story. An Olympic gymnast,
Millman "encounters" warrior-sage Socrates one
evening in 1967 in an abandoned Texaco station. In
a series of magical meetings with Socrates over a
period of time, Dan's fears (well camouflaged) by his
amazing athletic achievements) are confronted and
transformed. A wonderful story about fear and
the human spirit.
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