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There is nothing so stable as change. – Bob Dylan

I’ve not felt like writing in weeks. I have 45 open drafts. That’s a record (even for me).

There is a malaise that meets me at my desk on many mornings. I would characterize this as a lack of energy. A bit of resistance to do the work I normally love.  (Indeed, I am grateful to still have a role to occupy my mind.) I will hypothesize that the pace of both challenge and change in our world, has finally caught up with me.

Of course, none of us has all of the answers. We can only bring our collected knowledge and best intentions to forge ahead.

As I usually do, I’ve talked to others about their work as well — how it has changed (for better and worse), how it will remain so for some time, how we must adapt. What I’ve learned, is that we are entering a new phase of work life, “post” the arrival of Covid. The changes we are going through come with an element of loss and we should open to speak about all of it.

We are each affected differently, that goes without saying. But, as aptly expressed in this HBR article: “If we can name it, we can manage it.” I’ll start. You can join in the comments section if you wish.

I am quickly realizing that this crisis isn’t a sprint. It is a marathon. We are in this for the long-haul. Some of the elements of work life that once were — may never return. Some of the changes will be useful. Other changes will likely make us feel oddly out of sync. (We seem to be moving through a crash course in “digital transformation,” in real-time.)

I also know that we should draw from our foundation, our built work life core — to help us along. We must acknowledge what we can bring with us on this journey. More specifically — that we can bring along the good, as well as the challenging. (A strong nod to positive psychology here.) Bolstering our resolve with the positive, is vital. This may be a useful strategy in our arsenal to combat all of the work life twists and turns, yet to come.

What we’ve built.

We bring along the elements of our work lives that we have nurtured. The strong teams. The great colleagues. The challenge of the work. The healthy cultural landscapes.

These elements will help us adapt, help us face the changes with resilience.

Of course, when the dust settles we’ll have decide if we still fit — and at least assess where we find ourselves within our current organization. The outcomes of which will not be easy to predict. It is hard to know what choices (good or bad) an organization will make. What choices you must make. Yet, I do know that you should pause to re-evaluate constructs such as the psychological contract. Discuss it openly. Declare what you need to stay engaged and healthy. Managers should have an open and honest conversation with each one of their employees to take stock.

Ultimately, our world of work is now characterized by change.

To keep pace — look to your core.

Lean in to the great things you have built.

Please Note: The articles on this site are the intellectual property of the author — and cannot be used commercially without expressed written consent.

Dr. Marla Gottschalk is an Industrial/Organizational Psychologist & speaker, who explores the value of core stability to empower work & career. Her course, The Core Masterclass teach managers how to build core stability for themselves and their team.

I’m sure you can think of a heated or stressful work life situation, where you felt that a perfect comeback was in order. A precise (possibly biting) response that might preclude any future discussion or debate. The perfect word salad, to prove your point and end any confusion concerning who was in the right.

However, I’d like to pitch a radical technique that I often discuss with coaching clients. A technique that could change the tenor of the moment. A technique that might offer an alternative avenue to help you through a frustrating situation.

So — here it is.

Double-down on empathy. The ability to put yourself in the other person’s shoes and possibly walk in their world for just a moment. Empathy is an often undervalued work life strategy for a number of reasons. This may be pride-based. Ego-based. Habit-based.

Here are a few thoughts about empathy — and how we might make a habit of maximizing its potential.

• The gut response. Our “fight or flight” reflex often stops us from applying empathy. We might anger quickly or have little patience to move beyond the initial emotional hurdle. In these cases, a lack of empathy might operate as a means of protection.
• We right empathy off. I challenge you to pick a work life scenario (if it is recurring, even better) that you would not normally apply empathy. Now try it on. Is there a colleague that you interact with regularly, that you just can’t seem to tolerate? Is there a client you find particularly grating? These could be opportunities to see issues from a very different perspective.
• Finding empathetic inspiration. We often undervalue our own potential for empathy. Think of situations where you have felt true empathy for someone else at work — and remind yourself that this emotion lives within you. Moreover, think of situations where you would have personally benefited from empathy. How might another have behaved to make you feel supported? Now take that knowledge and apply it.
• Be “empathy” accountable. With any behavioral change, you should monitor progress. This demands that you reflect on what you have been doing that is different. Be sure to note when you’ve infused more empathy within your daily work life. Record what you said and did. How did this affect others? How did the change make you feel?

Infusing empathy into work life, likely has benefits that we simply cannot measure. Have you noticed this dynamic? Share your experiences in comments.

Dr. Marla Gottschalk is an Industrial/Organizational Psychologist who explores the value of core stability to empower work & career. She helps people & teams build a stronger work life foundation through The Core Masterclass. A charter member of the LinkedIn Influencer Program, she has been featured at the Harvard Business Review, Talent Zoo and The Huffington Post.

Rose update: We’ve lost one. The others are hanging on. (It’s quite hot and dry here at the moment.)

I’ve become painfully protective of my morning ritual. If I’m up early enough, I can log in an hour’s worth of reading & writing before anyone invades my cocoon. There is a designated YouTube playlist bookmarked to avoid any aberrant selections. My notebook is handy. I filter in the birds — and filter out the news.

It’s my own thing. It is specific and highly idiosyncratic.

Your journey through the current pandemic is a personal one. In a sense, we have all been thrown head first into the annals of history — and left to our own devices. Each day can be a challenge. Each moment unsettling. Yet, there have been increased moments of clarity. You may have noticed them.

If there is one thing that I’ve learned over the last months it is this: Abundance isn’t really about more. It is not about doing more — or achieving more — or earning more. It is about identifying the moments that bring you more. The moments that expand your world. That fuel you. That become your work life fire.

(Less noise, more signal perhaps?)

Finding more of these moments is the priority. I’ve learned that fewer, in many cases is better, and we can apply minimalism to our work lives. With that — here are a few common work life elements that could be recast with this strategy in mind:

• Your Network. The number of people with whom we “connect” has grown precipitously over the last decade. While these so called networks may be expansive, they usually have “inspiration” gaps. Take a closer look at your network. Are there individuals that help you feel creative or energized? Someone you can riff with about the state of your industry? You cannot give back to the world — if the fuel is not present.
• Your Goals. How we view goals, has been a deep concern of mine for some time. Most specifically, their often inelastic nature. We tend to collect goals over time, but fail to consider which goals actually serve us. This can cloud our view and dampen focus. In my course, we spend a fair amount of time reflecting on the goals that live in our heads, but fail to inspire or direct us. Try not to fall into the “crowded” trap.
• Maintenance. Self-care is a worthy goal. Yet, I’ve seen it become an obsessive chore rather than a dynamic to truly restore ourselves. Integrating self-care options within our daily lives doesn’t need to be a drawn out or elaborate process. Simple solutions, such as jotting down thought & ideas in a notebook to clear your mind or a daily walk, are worthy solutions that have been utilized for centuries.

Do you capture abundance with less? Share your story.

Dr. Marla Gottschalk is an Industrial/Organizational Psychologist who explores the value of core stability to empower work & career. She helps people & teams build a stronger work life foundation through The Core Masterclass and Work Life 101. A charter member of the LinkedIn Influencer Program, she has been featured at the Harvard Business Review, Talent Zoo and The Huffington Post.

 

Rituals are the formulas by which harmony is restored.- Terry Tempest Williams

We planted four clump, yellow rose bushes in our backyard garden last summer. They are situated in an area that for some odd reason, everything seems to perish. I have a number of concocted theories as to why this continues to happen. Our home is well over 70 years old and from what I discern from original plans, a garage once stood near that area. Maybe this contributes somehow. Or there is possibly too much sun. Too little water. Or our 100 pound German Shepard stomps over the plantings when chasing her tennis ball.

I’ve just surveyed the situation. It’s not looking all that hopeful.

The point is not the roses, but that the ritual of the garden occupies my mind in a manner that frees me for a stretch of time. Small rituals makes us more comfortable, more centered — even when a sense of instability may exist all around us. For you, this may mean walking around the block after dinner, game night, sitting on your balcony in the morning or a quiet cup of coffee before you write a report. You could call these routines, but somehow these idiosyncratic actions hold more value than that label would imply.

Whatever that ritual is, no matter how small it may seem — it matters. Small rituals help define who we are as individuals. They help align who we are with our surroundings. I feel they likely make us better contributors, as well.

When we get back to our desks, the rest will still be there.

But for that moment, I’m rooting for the roses.

Strategy: Rituals

• Do you have a small ritual that helps you remain productive right now?
• Do you feel rituals have become more important during this crisis?
• Does your organization or team have a ritual that helps them along?

Dr. Marla Gottschalk is an Industrial/Organizational Psychologist who explores the value of core stability to empower work & career. She helps people & teams build a stronger work life foundation through The Core Masterclass. A charter member of the LinkedIn Influencer Program, she has been featured at the Harvard Business Review, Talent Zoo and The Huffington Post.

Every story has another way of being told. – Krishna

Notes
As human beings we naturally create narratives. These are the stories that connect our experiences and can become fodder for the voice that we hear in our own minds. As things shift and sputter within our own work lives, narratives can become very active. The shock of our new lives and the uncertainty of how the future might unfold — is ample fuel to build them.

Narratives can take on many useful forms and can be positive. For example, a smart strategic narrative can fuel an entire organization and a well-crafted career narrative can support career paths. Yet on the flip side, narratives can be negative — causing great distraction. This brand of narrative, can play havoc with our own self-image, our work and our work-based relationships.

Most of us have built a narrative about who we are and how we work. Your team may harbor a set concerning who they are as a group, as well. Ditto for leadership.

This is not a surprise.

Stories are central within our history as human beings. (Interestingly, this tendency to connects the dots, or pattern seek is named narrative bias.) Even while we sleep we seem to weave a story, comprised of the bits and pieces of our day, blended with our unique past. On a basic level, we build narratives to make sense of the world. They are much like shorthand. At their best — narratives can build confidence and power our paths. Yet, at their worst, they can become misleading and destructive.

The problem arises when the narratives get in the way of our own development or our work.

Narratives have become a very present fixture in my work as a coach. This is because it became evident that narratives affect nearly every individual, team and organization. Moreover, the thread of narratives was a common blockade to progress, and can become active when we deal with people, teams and even other organizations.

When the narrative surrounds our own paths, skills & abilities — an entirely new problem can emerge. In this scenario, the stories we tell ourselves or others that other might build about us begin to define us. When you hit a pothole in our paths, these narratives seem to be waiting ringside.

Let’s take advantage of the current pause to identify them — and make an attempt to challenge the negative variety.

Only then can we unravel their power and move forward without them.

Strategy: Narrative Identification

• Identify a narrative that affects you personally as a contributor. This narrative could speak to your skills/traits/abilities, your work, how you feel about yourself or how you believe others see you.
• Identify a narrative that affects your team. This can include your team’s internal functioning, and how it behaves with adjacent teams/functions or clients.
• Try to pinpoint how these narratives developed. This could be rooted in an experience, a conversation or possibly hearsay.
• Challenge the narrative. This involves challenging the narrative by posing an alternative explanation and possible outcomes.

Our innate need to make sense of the world, can make us susceptible to built narratives. Be ever-vigilant, to recognize if they helping or hurting your work life.

Author’s note: The Core File is now featured at LinkedIn.

Please note: All posts are solely owned by the author. Reprinting (other than re-blogging at another WordPress blog) is by permission only.

Dr. Marla Gottschalk is an Industrial/Organizational Psychologist, diagnostician & speaker, who explores the value of core stability to empower our work. A charter member of the LinkedIn Influencer Program, she has been featured at the Harvard Business Review, Talent Zoo and The Huffington Post.

No man ever steps in the same river twice, for it’s not the same river and he’s not the same man. – Heraclitus

We all have our own predisposition toward change. This likely colors our initial response toward disruption in both life or work. Although we might adapt to our surroundings with time — I’m unsure we emerge on the other side the same as we once were.

The changes we have been experiencing regarding work life of late, run far deeper than the notion of working remotely. The experience is likely a layered one, where we have not only faced a steep need for technological adoption, but a certain form of loss. Moving through a crisis with sustained resilience is not an easy task. Whether we are actively working (as an essential contributor or virtually) or isolating, that journey is bounded by the honesty, empathy and ingenuity that we bring. This includes acknowledging what has already changed — and what may change longer-term.

Like the world of work, we are not static. We are human beings. We change as we process what is laid before us. We bob and weave, we acknowledge and adjust — yet we also take a certain number of direct “hits”. None of us should expect to be the exactly same as we once were, or work as we once had, for that matter. It is the nature of these things. For better or worse, we evolve as the result of what we live through. We may not recognize the exact changes in the current moment, but we may sense their presence.

At some point, our work lives will resume in earnest. How closely our work will resemble what we once knew, is only speculation. How we will align with these changes — is another matter.

When we step into the river, we will likely be different.

Part B. I’ve come to believe that considering our psychological resources can help us prepare for change. Whether you work solo, within a team or run an organization — caring for the psychological resources which comprise our work life foundation, the core, is wise. That foundation may not directly affect the bottom line, yet it sits squarely on the path leading to that success.

I would like to briefly mention two supporting constructs that may have been affected recently; locus of control and self-efficacy. There are uncertainties operating currently, which can drain us. Changes in the status of these constructs can affect how we engage with our work and spark dark side narratives.

Locus of control explores our beliefs concerning the power we have over our lives and our work. Individuals who possess an internal locus, generally feel that through their own knowledge, skills and behavior they can impact shape their lives. Those with an external locus of control may feel at the mercy of things outside of themselves. Becoming aware of our own “locus”, can help us understand our own journey.

Self-efficacy refers to the feeling that our actions are impactful and can lead to desired outcomes. If we feel that no matter the effort we invest — the results do not come, self-efficacy suffers. This can lead to feelings of helplessness.

While you isolate, please keep these constructs in mind. Try to identify what you can control and what effort-to-outcome relationships have been disrupted. Then monitor how you are feeling.

Meanwhile, a brief guide.

Strategy: What to consider or discuss, going forward.

• Acknowledge uncertainties.
• Acknowledge what we’ve lost.
• Acknowledge what has already changed.
• Discuss how things may change.
• Consider how we have changed personally.
• Identify what we can control.
• Lead with empathy, toward yourself and others.

My best to everyone.

Author’s note:  The Core File is now featured at LinkedIn.

Please note: All posts are solely owned by the author. Reprinting (other than re-blogging at another WordPress blog) is by permission only.

Dr. Marla Gottschalk is an Industrial/Organizational Psychologist, who focuses on empowering work through the development of core stability. A charter member of the LinkedIn Influencer Program, her thoughts on work life have also appeared at the Harvard Business Review, Talent Zoo and The Huffington Post.

“Do what you can, with what you have, where you are.” – Teddy Roosevelt

The idea of success is foundational within our work lives — and we are continually bombarded by metrics and memes regarding it. Yet in times such as these, our definitions of success have quickly faded or have become entirely obsolete. For many of us, what we once deemed important has shifted. Considering success may seem shallow, as we ask the question “How can I help?”. For those of us in roles which are not essential, we may feel pangs of uselessness. Yet as the weeks have progressed, it has become clear that we can all play a role even if its scope feels dwarfed. Moreover, we should continue to do the work we are committed to and love, if possible. Hopefully in this way, we can contribute. (I am forever grateful to those who are working to bring us essential services. To those who stock our grocery shelves, protect us and bring needed healthcare within our hospitals, thank you.)

Productivity and progress have been altered as well. We must now work within the changing confines of our current lives. (And this may become our new normal for quite some time.) Yet this sudden transition doesn’t necessarily limit us entirely. While adapting to how we work, I can’t help but think of how others lived with the limitations of their own circumstances — and how they contributed.

The Bronte sisters, Charlotte, Emily and Anne, lived lives of relative isolation at a parsonage, yet managed to create some of the most engaging stories in literature (Charlotte’s Jane Eyre and Emily’s Wuthering Heights to mention two). Their lives were difficult, as was common in their time, losing their mother and two older sisters to tuberculosis early on. As women, the sisters struggled to find a publishing channel to share their work. Eventually, all were published under male pseudonyms; Currer, Acton and Ellis Bell.

While they were tenacious in the quest to become published authors — it was their gift of imagination that would set them apart. They utilized every experience, every observation, every crumb of nuance as fuel to create brilliant, layered, psychologically-complex characters. The fabric of their lives and the dire experiences they faced, were woven into their books. (Sadly, Emily & Anne also succumbed to tuberculosis by age 30. Charlotte lived to the age of 39.)

In some instances, resource constraints can bring both creativity and innovation. Our imaginations can be triggered by even the most mundane of details. Anything can serve as that fuel. A conversation, a tweet, a walk around the block. Combined with knowledge & experience, the results can be both formidable and enduring.

I can’t help but wonder, if we can somehow utilize the shift in our daily experience as an opportunity. To look deeper and create perspectives, products and services that would enrich the lives of others. Just as the Bronte sisters managed to do.

While our lives may currently have increasing boundaries — our minds remain infinite.

Strategy Shift: Progress/Success in these times.

• How have you adapted over the last weeks?
• Has your overall idea of success shifted in some way?
• Have you adjusted your goals in any way, subtly or radically, as you move forward?
• Have you utilized resources differently? Supported other to do so?
• What have you gained?
• What have you learned that you might share with others?

Author’s note: The Core File is now featured at LinkedIn.

Please note: All posts are solely owned by the author. Reprinting (other than re-blogging at another WordPress blog) is by permission only.

Dr. Marla Gottschalk is an Industrial/Organizational Psychologist. Her Masterclass for managers focuses on empowering work through the development of core stability. A charter member of the LinkedIn Influencer Program, her thoughts on work life have also appeared at the Harvard Business Review, Talent Zoo, Forbes and The Huffington Post.

 

I’m not usually a list person. Or a quote person. Or a “jump on the bandwagon” person. Yet, these are extraordinary times and I seem to be becoming all of these things. I suppose that different times, create different needs.

You (and possibly your team), may also require more support to tackle the day with positivity & fortitude. A dose of guidance, from those who you have been through it all, might help us.

So, here goes.
A few quotes of the moment. One from yours truly, at the closing.

1. Do what you can, with what you have, where you are. –  Teddy Roosevelt

2. Difficulties mastered are opportunities won. – Winston Churchill

3. The best way out, is always through. – Robert Frost

4. From caring, comes courage. – Lao Tzu

5. There is nothing like staying home for real comfort. – Jane Austen

6. Attempt the impossible to improve your work. – Bette Davis

7. Wherever a man turns, he can find someone who needs him. – Albert Schweitzer

8. The true sign of intelligence is not knowledge, but imagination. – Albert Einstein

9. If you are going through hell, keep going. – Winston Churchill

10. Thinking will not overcome fear, but action can. – W. Clement Stone

11. While our lives may have increasing boundaries —
our minds remain infinite.

Share your stirring favorite in comments.

Dr. Marla Gottschalk is an Industrial/Organizational Psychologist who focuses on empowering work through the development of a strong foundation. She is a charter member of the LinkedIn Influencer Program. Her thoughts on work life have appeared in various outlets including the Harvard Business Review, Talent Zoo, Forbes, Quartz and The Huffington Post.