“If You Can Do Your Job From Home, Be Scared.”

“If You Can Do Your Job From Home, Be Scared. Be Very Scared… Put on a shirt and get into the office.”
Scott Galloway

Working from home is dangerous, especially for young workers…

“Offices are where young professionals establish relationships with mentors, colleagues, and mates.”

If you are young and ambitious, get to the office. But, even if you are productive at home, you will only be promoted if you learn how to build relationships.

Scott Galloway is a successful entrepreneur, and a professor. He speaks bluntly and clearly about life in today’s world. I may not agree with all that he says, but it always pushes me to think and clarify my own beliefs.

On Building Relationships

Entertaining Games for Zoom Calls

I’ve spent a lot of hours on video conferences over the last 6 weeks. I’ve run my company with Zoom, IESE faculty meetings through Zoom, webinars on zoom, family lunches and dinners with Zoom. Here are some of the entertaining and engaging options to add more fun and engagement to your zoom calls.

Virtual Quiz https://create.kahoot.it/ My daughter uses this at school and has been instrumental in getting our whole family onto Kahoot for family quiz nights.
Someone is a spy https://www.spyfall.app/ built for zoom calls
Pictionary word generator https://randomwordgenerator.com/pictionary.php (and then use a shared whiteboard or just point your camera at your paper while you draw)
Cards against Humanity (not one to play with parents) http://playingcards.io/game/remote-insensitivity
Who is the Most Likely to? Here are 150 questions to see who knows each other in the call… https://www.tagquestions.net/most-likely-to-questions-tag/

Card Games

https://app.jok.ge/game

Whiteboards, Interactive Documents

Shared Google Sheet/Doc http://sheets.google.com Do “Share” and share a link that allows anyone with the link to edit… Voila you have a shared space that everyone with the link can edit
https://miro.com/ Shared whiteboard

Game Apps

Brawl Stars https://supercell.com/en/games/brawlstars/

Mainly because my daughter and all her cousins connect and play one or two times each day. Each game lasts 1-2 minutes, so handy for a reward after finishing a pomodoro.

What do you Use?

What have you found to increase team engagement via Video Conference calls? If you share more resources with me I will add them to this post.

PS Photo credit to Rich Mulholland for Cat Watches Conor

Listen with Your Eyes

This week I have been teaching at the Mid Atlantic Business School on the island of Santa Cruz de la Palma. This video shares a lesson that many participants took from the day: “Listen with Your Eyes“.

Hearing is a sense that differs from all our other senses, because it has a buffer. I am able to re-listen to the last 8 seconds of what I have recently heard. This allows me to pay little attention to what is being said, until I hear my name or a silence that indicates that someone is waiting for me to respond. We need to practice listening to a deeper level – what I call “listening with your eyes”.

If you liked this post, you will also like listening is seeking to be changed by another person and How to ask the best Questions.

How to influence people who are close to you

How can you influence people who are close to you without impacting the quality of your relationship?

What do you do to influence a behaviour of your child?
How do you speak to a friend with an addiction that is affecting their life?
How can you help a family member with a poor habit that is affecting their quality of life?

How to Influence People who are Close to you (without damaging the relationship)

Michael Pendelton of Yale University has spent many years looking at how families can intervene in the life of a loved one with an addiction problem and achieve lasting positive change. He has shown that long term, forcing change will not work.

There are 3 ingredients that are necessary to achieve lasting change in a person who is challenged with an addiction.

Let me know in the comments below what you think of Michael’s influencing strategy? Is it realistic? Can you see it working in your relationships?

The Formula for Changing People

There is formula for changing people. Doctor Malik Mohammed shared this wisdom with the EO Global Leadership Academy last week in Washington, USA. If you are to change someone’s behaviour patterns, two things are necessary.

Learn more about Dr Malik Mohammed and watch Dr Malik Mohammed speaking.

Happiness = The Quality of Your Relationships

What keeps us happy and healthy as we go through life? If you think it’s fame and money, you’re not alone – but, according to psychiatrist Robert Waldinger, you’re mistaken.

What is the Most Important Aspect of a Happy Life?

It is the quality and depth of your relationships that make all the difference… to health, to brains, to overall life happiness.

Good close relationships are good for our health and our happiness. Here’s Robert Waldinger’s TED talk:

As the director of a 75-year-old study on adult development, Waldinger has unprecedented access to data on true happiness and satisfaction. In this talk, he shares three important lessons learned from the study as well as some practical, old-as-the-hills wisdom on how to build a fulfilling, long life.

Why is it hard?

We often look for quick fixes. There are no relationship quick fixes. Relationships take lifelong, constant effort. You must actively work to keep the important relationships in your life strong.

What does leaning in to relationships look like? Do something new together. Reach out to the family regularly. Listen and share. Reach out without reason to friends. Pick up the phone and meet.