Check out this article entitled “Wellbeing on the Home Front.” It describes how social connections at home, at work and in the community affect our wellbeing. Gallup’s new research provides additional support for the Connection Cultures we described in Fired Up or Burned Out.
Category Archives: Wellness
Cancer Free, Seven Years Today
Seven years ago today, my wife Katie had surgery for advanced ovarian cancer. The prior year, Katie had surgery to remove breast cancer. Today, she is cancer free.
I wrote an essay entitled “Alone No Longer” about how setting my work aside to focus on being with and helping Katie and our daughters changed my perspective on life. The essay has been read by many individuals who want to know how they can help people in their lives who are battling a serious illness. The essay also challenges readers to examine their own lives to consider if they are too focused on status and achievement and insufficiently focused on relationships. I hope you’ll take time to read “Alone No Longer,” reflect on your life and share the essay with friends who might benefit from reading it.
Chief Happiness Officer at TED
Watch my friend Alexander Kjerulk, the Chief Happiness Officer, speaking at TED Copenhagen about happiness at work. You’ll love it. Alex is fun and thoughtful. He provides a global perspective on happiness at work. Not to mention that you’ll learn about
The happiest bus driver Alex ever met.
The strange Danish word arbejdsglæde, and why the rest of the world needs to learn it.
What makes us happy in life and at work.
Why Denmark isn’t really the happiest country.
What you can do to be happy at work.
More Evidence: Trust and Connection=Life, Distrust and Isolation=Death
Trust increases when people feel a sense of connection to one another. Strength of connection and trust develop over the time. This happens as people interact and get to know one another increasing each person’s credibility and reliability in the eyes of the other, and as intimacy develops. Several studies support that this connection that develops trust is the most or among the most significant factors affecting the performance of organizations.
Parker Palmer, the Quaker writer and educational thought leader, told me about the book entitled Trust in Schools by Anthony Bryk and Barbara Schneider. Bryk and Schneider found that far and away the most powerful factor affecting school improvement during the 1990’s in Chicago was “relational trust.” Money, governance, curriculum, etc. were nowhere close to affecting educational outcomes as compared to relational trust (Tony Bryk is now the president of the Carnegie Foundation for the Advancement of Teaching and Learning.)
I learned about two additional studies related to connection and trust from the writings of Dov Seidman, the founder and CEO of LRN.
Happier People Connect Daily
Here’s a link to a New York Times article entitled “Talk Deeply, Be Happy.” The study cited is additional evidence that people need to connect during the workday in order to flourish. It is especially relevant today when workers do more work online. I like Dr. Edward Hallowell’s advice that human beings need face-to-face human moments of connection on average at least every four hours to perform at the top of their game.
Connection Preserves Brain Power
Evidence continues to mount that social connections help us survive and thrive from the time we are infants to the twilight years of our lives. This excerpt from an article I recently discovered that appeared in The New York Times earlier this year suggests that it may be the degree of cognitive function used during social interactions that strengthens and preserves cognitive ability:
The Power of Connection to Heal
Over at Steve Roesler’s “All Things Workplace” blog, he posted a wonderful video about the power of connection to heal. Check it out.
A poignant journey to heal and reconnect
In honor of Mother’s Day tomorrow, I am taking a break from writing about connection at work to focus on connection in families. Each of us experience times in life when we feel disconnected from family members. The lack of relational intimacy with the people we love can be especially painful. It often contributes to unhealthy behaviors as a means to cope with the pain. In the stories of individuals who break their addiction, you will nearly always find one person or a group of people who helped heal the wounds of the addicted with love and encouragement.
Lost & Found is the poignant story of Kathryn Slattery, a contributing editor of Guideposts magazine and author of several books. In the book, Kitty describes her disconnection with her mother and father, the onset of bulimia, how her husband Tom’s love and encouragement helped her overcome bulimia, and finally how Kitty reconnected with her parents.
I enjoyed this book.
Alone No Longer
Four years ago this month, I learned that Katie my wife had advanced ovarian cancer. I set my work aside to focus on helping Katie and our daughters through a difficult season in life. During that period, I spent a lot of time with people. As a result, I learned that I am an “achievaholic” and because of it I had been missing the joy of developing relationships in life beyond my family and close circle of friends. Amazon.com recently published my essay entitled “Alone No Longer” about what I learned during the years Katie battled cancer. For a free download, click here.