Personal Power Series

We all have weaknesses. Don’t let them become an obstacle to your ambition. Instead, identify and amplify your strengths. Call on your strengths to help you with tasks that are affected by your weaknesses. Take advantage of other team members’ strengths that might be at your disposal, as well as the strengths of your team as a whole.

Objectives:

• Start by identifying what your strengths are and how you can use them
• The four categories of strengths are relating, thinking, influencing, and executing
• Ask a close friend or colleague what they perceive to be your strengths

Course Features:  Audio Narration;Video;Job Aids and Reference Materials

Uneasy feelings like distraction, agitation, and anxiety can be signs that one of your basic human needs isn’t being met. There are physiological needs like hunger that can inhibit your ability to focus, security and social needs like safety and belonging, and higher-level needs that you might not even recognize as basic human needs. These include accomplishment, creativity, independence, and freedom.

Objectives:

• Being aware of your basic human needs allows you to fulfill them and reduce related anxiety
• Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs includes self-actualizing, esteem, social, security, and physiological
• Investigate your own basic human needs and discuss with a friend to discover how they differ

Course Features:  Audio Narration, Video, Job Aids and Reference Materials

Mindfulness is not about thinking, but about quieting your mind to achieve a state of awareness that allows for greater perception and clarity. Meditation is a popular way to achieve mindfulness. Schedule a time for yourself to simply sit, close your eyes, and focus on your breathing. Encourage your thoughts to stay on breathing and don’t try to accomplish anything else in that moment.

Objectives:

• Research shows that mindful reflection and meditation reduce stress and improve innovation and self-compassion
• Powerful outcomes don’t come from focusing on them, but from deliberately not focusing on them
• Once you master mindful meditation, you can use it in situations where you might benefit from the calm and clarity

Course Features:  Audio Narration, Video, Job Aids and Reference Materials

Strength comes in several forms. You can be physically, mentally, intellectually, morally, or emotionally fit. The strength you value will depend on your experiences and role models. Take a moment to reflect on the type of strength you’ll need to accomplish your goals and dreams for your life. Remember you only get one body and one life, so develop the strength you value while you’re able.

Objectives:

• Identify situations that required strength from you or someone else
• Determine your purpose and the type of strength you’ll need to fulfill it
• Practice demonstrating the strength you want to develop

Course Features:  Audio Narration, Video, Job Aids and Reference Materials

Burnout is physical, emotional, social, or mental fatigue that comes from maintaining a high level of stress and drive. It goes deeper than regular stress, often manifesting as cynicism or giving up. Learn the steps to fight against oncoming burnout and prevent it in the future, including control, support, boundaries, and purpose.

Objectives:

• Signs of burnout include exhaustion, cynicism, and feeling ineffective
• Stress in small doses can be helpful to drive productivity
• Watch for signs of burnout in your team members and provide the support they need

Course Features:  Audio Narration, Video, Job Aids and Reference Materials

Focus seems to be easy to come by when we’re driven. That drive can help you discover your purpose. You can feel the difference between putting effort into something meaningful and something meaningless to you. Identifying the purpose behind your drive can give you direction and fulfillment that achievement without purpose cannot offer.

Objectives:

• Be honest with yourself about what you love, what you care about, and what drives you
• Work more cohesively with team members by giving them room to serve their purpose
• Model purposeful living for your team and others around you

Course Features:  Audio Narration, Video, Job Aids and Reference Materials

It’s easy to get into the habit of talking down to yourself, saying things inwardly that you’d never say to another person. Speaking to yourself the way you would speak to a friend or loved one can improve how you feel about yourself, which will improve your performance. Self-compassion is kindness and care you show yourself in response to negative or unpleasant situations.

Objectives:

• During moments of negativity, think of what you would say to a friend in your position
• Practice showing yourself kindness when things go wrong
• Reframe negative self-talk in a constructive and positive light

Course Features: Audio Narration, Video, Job Aids and Reference Materials

We tend to subconsciously seek out the vulnerability in others while going to considerable lengths to conceal vulnerability within ourselves, even though that vulnerability can make us more appealing, courageous, and trustworthy to others. Practice sharing insecurities in appropriate situations and being honest in your communications with friends and team members, even if it makes you feel insecure or vulnerable.

Objectives:

• Vulnerability is the antidote for shame
• You can utilize vulnerability to connect with others in difficult situations
• Accepting your vulnerabilities and sharing them can improve your self-acceptance

Course Features: Audio Narration, Video, Job Aids and Reference Materials

Your experiences with a person will define your perception and expectation of him or her, but people exist in many more dimensions than what is shown to you. We seek predictability because we take comfort in consistency. Revealing more dimensions of yourself to others can help expand their expectations and encourage team growth.

Objectives:

• Dimension in the workplace can improve open-mindedness and achievement
• Changing the setting or type of activity you usually engage in can reveal new dimensions
• Reveal more about yourself by asking questions, pitching original ideas, and inserting more of your personality into your work

Course Features: Audio Narration, Video, Job Aids and Reference Materials

Avoiding job insecurity often means avoiding risk at work by accepting unprofessional treatment, following weak leadership, and suppressing your individuality and strengths. In reality, you’re not likely to be fired for taking initiative and creating value, even if you take a risk and fail. Companies that don’t value that type of bravery don’t have the longevity for job security anyway.

Objectives:

• Instead of casually mentioning ideas, make an effort to create and present real value
• Focus on creating great work instead of just falling in line
• Remember successful people and companies aren’t afraid to fail on the way to success

Course Features: Audio Narration, Video, Job Aids and Reference Materials