Check out this inspiring commencement speech given by Melinda Gates. She tells Duke graduates to make deep human connections and goes on to describe connection as the purpose of a meaningful life.
Category Archives: Connection Culture
100 Ways to Connect: Develop the Courage to Connect
This post begins our series entitled “100 Ways to Connect.” The series highlights attitudes and behaviors that help you connect with others. Although the attitudes and behaviors focus on application in the workplace, you will see that they also apply to your relationships at home and in the community.
#1 Develop the Courage to Connect – It requires courage to make the effort to connect because not everyone will reciprocate. You may hold out your fist to invite a “fist bump” only find you are left hanging or you may say “hi” to a passerby and receive no response. When our efforts to connect are spurned it triggers “social pain” in our brains (the part of the brain that feels physical pain becomes active when we are left out of a group or our efforts to connect with someone are turned down). That’s why it’s necessary to be prepared by knowing that not all people will connect with us. In such cases, we need to recognize that we made the effort and had the courage to do so. Of the three core elements of a connection culture, this practice reflects “Value,” which is also known as “human value.”
Update: It’s been a busy beginning to the summer. I just returned from speaking at conferences and teaching workshops in Chicago, Dallas and New Orleans. People in attendance at the workshops represented a wide variety of organizations including Allstate, AAA, Blue Cross Blue Shield, FINRA, the U.S. Government Services Administration, Leo Burnett, Liberty Mutual, Northern Trust, and United Airlines. Recently, I also spoke with Jim Blasingame on his radio program entitled The Small Business Advocate. You can hear recordings of topics we covered during the conversation at the links below:
Who feels the most stress in the workplace?
New Mummy Movie: Connection is Life-Giving
Recently I was speaking at a university about the importance of connection and Connection Cultures to help students, faculty and staff thrive in institutions of higher education. After I spoke, the president of the divinity school came up to me and said I needed to see a great new comedy entitled Warm Bodies. He informed me that the movie is about mummies who are brought back to life by human connection. How great is that! Check out the trailer above. I plan the watch the movie on iTunes this weekend.
It’s been said that artists have their finger on the pulse of the culture. Warm Bodies is a case in point, even if its protagonist had no pulse to speak of.
Former Cab Driver Helps Liberate WWII France
After American and British troops took control of the beaches on D-Day, they got stuck in France’s hedgerow country. Sergeant Curtis Cullen, a former cab driver from Chicago, came up with an innovation that General Omar Bradley, commander of America’s First Army, credited with helping to liberate France. Watch the video to learn about this extraordinary story of innovation and the leaders and culture that made it all possible.
Your Work Culture: Live-Giving or Killing You?
Are you working in a “culture of connection” where you feel a sense of connection to your supervisor, your colleagues, your day-to-day job tasks, and your organization’s mission, values and reputation? A connection culture is life-giving as compared to a culture of indifference or culture of dominance that drain the life out of you. To learn more, check out the video interview I did with Michelle Pokorny of Maritz Motivation following the keynote speech I gave at the Recognition Professionals International Annual Conference in New Orleans.
Attention is Oxygen for Relationships
It’s been said that attention is oxygen for relationships. That’s why it’s important when meeting with an individual, to develop the habit of being present by staying focused on him or her and giving your full attention. Be engaged and curious by asking questions and then ask follow-up questions to clarify. Listen carefully to words and observe facial expressions and body cues. Pause before you respond to make certain he or she has finished. Don’t check your smart phone, don’t look at your watch, don’t look around the room or let your mind wander. Develop the habit of being present during conversations and you will soon see how it improves your relationships and influence.
Update: Engagement Strategies Magazine just featured an article we wrote entitled “Do Leaders Need to Make Employees Happy?” This week I had the pleasure of giving a keynote speech on employee engagement at the Recognition Professionals Association’s annual conference in New Orleans. Later this month I’ll be speaking on inclusion and innovation at the Dallas Convention Center as part of the American Society for Training and Development’s International Exposition and Conference. We will also be exhibiting at ASTD so if you’re attending, please come visit us.
Harvard Study: Happiness = Positive Relationships
Check out this Atlantic article about Harvard professor George Vaillant re-visiting the research from his study of human thriving, which happens to be the longest longitudinal study on the topic. Vaillant’s study concludes that happiness comes from experiencing love in relationships over the course of one’s life. To learn more, I encourage you to read the fascinating article entitled “What Makes Us Happy?” written by my friend Joshua Wolf Shenk (it was the Atlantic’s cover story in June 2009).
Connection Necessary to Alleviate Poverty
More astute observers who work with the poor see that “poverty is broken relationships” and a connection culture is required to restore human dignity, productivity and prosperity. Check out this insightful piece entitled “Restoring Broken Relationships” by Sean Dimond of Agros International. You can also hear echoes of what Sean described in Acumen’s Manifesto.
Many thanks to Riley Kiltz of Cephas Partners and Paul Michalski of the New Canaan Society for bringing these examples to my attention.
From Boston, to West, TX to the NCAA Final
Connection is the bond among individuals in a group that moves them to care for and help the group and its members. The power of human connection to unite, inspire and heal has been on full display of late in West, Texas; Boston; and at the NCAA men’s basketball final. To learn more, check out the articles below.
West, Texas’s Small Town Values — and People — are Anything But Small (USA Today)
Boston Bombing Followed by Stories of Kindness and Heroism (Washington Post)
Brothers, Champions: The Secret Sauce Behind Louisville’s Third Title (Sports Illustrated)
To the people of Boston and West, Texas and to Kevin Ware, Louisville’s reserve guard who suffered a devastating injury, our thoughts and prayers are with you.
Connection Cultures Help Students Thrive, Part II
Here’s additional evidence that Connection Cultures help students thrive. Many students today are struggling with stress, loneliness, anxiety and depression. Tragically some students lose hope and commit suicide. A recent report by entitled Connectedness & Suicide Prevention in College Settings concluded: “in the wake of repeated suicide and suicide prevention efforts we have learned [a] valuable lesson: we should not be preventing suicide. Instead, we should be be promoting life. Research unequivocally shows that connectedness, belonging, and mattering are all linked to decreased rtes of mental illness including suicide… Colleges and university settings provide an invaluable opportunity to prevent suicide and promote thriving through active engagement in connectedness building efforts.” If you’re interested in helping prevent student suicide, check out this excellent report.