Encouragement Archives - Greatness Magnified

How our Biggest Crisis Led to Our Juiciest Possibility

April 13, 2019 By Sarah McVanel Leave a Comment

As you may already know, a few years ago my family experienced a huge transition when we moved to Niagara. It all was precipitated by one of our kids having a very serious mental health crisis. At the time, I was working as a senior leader, living in a small town, thinking everything was fine. We were unaware that for years, my child had been bullied. And it was getting worse.

I quickly learned, by speaking with the principal, coaches and daycare workers, my son was being bullied by everyone except our home and a few select friends’ houses. We were horrified. How could we let this happen? Why didn’t we know? What would happen to him if we couldn’t fix this? And the crushing reality was this: he would be with the same kids that had been bullying him for years until the end of high school (because there was only one high school in town) if we didn’t make some major changes.

As hard as it was to do this, we restarted our life. We sold our house. We sold our cottage. We uprooted our family mid-way through the school year.

Part of the transition included me leaving a senior leadership role and starting my own business. It was a very scary decision, not to mention one that shook my ego and identity. But I had a vision one day.

As I was on a yoga mat, a beautiful picture popped into my mind. I had such clarity in that moment. I knew exactly what our destiny was. I pictured standing in the middle of a converted barn and was facilitating a group of motivated professionals. I realized this was my barn and my house was on the same property. I could, in this vision, see out the window at rolling hills and a lake beyond. I felt happy, lightness and purpose.

I knew that this was our destiny.

Sure enough, we went on the hunt to try to find a place and hit many dead ends. Until one day my parents sent me a picture, my mom standing in front of an old barn. We went to look at the house and barn that night and I knew, from the moment I stepped out of the car, this was the place I had envisioned (prior to renovation of course). And it’s how we wound up back in Niagara, on a beautiful piece of property on Sixteen Mile Creek. Four years later, that barn is almost ready to be a retreat space and my office.

Why do I share this? For many reasons.

We often forget to dream and imagine possibilities, shutting them down as impossible. But are they?
We see all our debt, obligations, responsibilities and feel immobilized. But are you?
We get so busy caring for others, working and living life that we get so burnt out we can’t move forward. Is this a wakeup call?

Now is not the time to hit the snooze button on your life. Wake up calls – illnesses, family crises, disengagement at work, toxic colleagues, angry spouses – are a wakeup call. What do you need to pay attention to? And if you did, what opportunities might you create for yourself that you wouldn’t have otherwise? In other words, how could the things in life, like my son’s mental health crisis (that fortunately has now abated) be a blessing versus a curse?

I have some other videos you may be interested in watching to help you clarify what’s next for you. Why not check out:

And you never know where our paths might cross. Perhaps you will find your way to a retreat here at Greatness Magnified, learning and growing with me in our new preferred future.

Three Secrets to Recognition: Making it Easy to Recognize your Peers, Staff and Clients

April 1, 2019 By Sarah McVanel Leave a Comment

When I was flying back from a recent speaking engagement, I happened to be sitting beside somebody who, I learned very quickly, was an incredibly motivated middle manager. He was on the way up in his career and very passionate about his people. When he asked me what I did, I shared I was a recognition expert, he excitedly peppered me with questions.

What is the value of recognition?
How could I do more of it?
Given I travel so much, how can I do it from another country?

That question inspired me to create this post, because he’s not the only one who has these and related questions. For busy professionals like him, here are three essential ingredients to successful recognition:

Have the tools for recognition available.

Have a stack of “thank you” cards in your office or work bag. If you are really savvy, you’ll already have them stamped with your return address! All you need to do is fill out the card, write the person’s name, and pop it in the mail. If it goes to their home, think about the impact of that for the person receiving it! What a wonderful way for them to be able to share it with their family.

I have a product, called, “FROG Kudos Cards” that some of the folks that I know, they keep two in their pocket every single day. They put them in their pocket at the beginning of the day and they find somebody to give it to, whether personally handed over or placed in one of those envelopes. Whatever your ritual is, find recognition tools that you can have handy. You are so much more likely to recognize people when the resources and tools are at your disposal.

At a recent International Conference I spoke at, after the break, one of the business owners came back with a big smile on his face. I inquired if he had taken out my homework of recognizing a colleague over coffee with a compliment card. He replied, “I actually went down to the gift shop and bought enough postcards and stamps to write a thank-you card for every member of my team and I’m sending them before I go to bed tonight.” I was so impressed! Now that is a resourceful man! If he can do it in the middle of a conference in another country, think about how much easier you can continue recognition with the tools already available!

2. Intention

When you are engaging in a discussion with your team, “How are we going to use recognition?” be intentional. Knowing what you believe will be better as a result. And be ready to break down barriers and support the converted. Be intention about making it work.

I was recently doing some work with a group that wanted to make sure that the moms and kids in their facility were able to feel valued and appreciated. They were able to talk about all the ways in which they already do it as well as some very specific strategies. That led to a beautiful conversation about how they could do the same things in their team meetings. Thinking intentionally about how you can do this daily or on a weekly with each other meant that doing it for their clients would be that much easier and more natural! When you have your team doing it, you not only have accountability, you also have greater sustainability.

3. Experiment

If you notice somebody doing something that deserves acknowledgment, don’t lose that opportunity. For example, I carry little squishy frogs in my purse. My brand is FROG – Forever Recognize Others Greatness™. When I FROG a perfect stranger, of course, handing over a little squishy frog and saying, “Have you been frogged lately?”, which can sometimes get a strange reaction, of course. I will tell them what it means and then say, “And the greatness I want to recognize in you is…” That is something I don’t plan, I just spontaneously do it in the moment.

By catching people off guard and surprising them, that’s the exponential power of recognition. It means more, because you’re surprising people. It’s something they are not expecting. This kind of surprise factor will go farther than if somebody shows up, for example, to an annual award ceremony. Spontaneously acknowledge people in whatever way you are comfortable with. How can you experiment with different ways of recognizing individuals organically in the moment? How can you take recognition efforts that are going “stale” and mix them up? You don’t have to do it alone! Think it through with others and try some things! What is the worst that can happen? Believe me, it’s worst if folks thing you don’t care and aren’t noticing their greatness.

I hope you have found this really helpful. For more recognition tools and tips daily, why not check out my Flash Briefing on Amazon Alexa. You can have an app, you can have the device and you can also subscribe to Podbean, and every day you’ll get a new juicy insight to keep your recognition going, to retain your best people, delight your customers, and of course make sure you love your job.

5 Misery-Making Things At Work We Accept (But Don’t Have To)

March 7, 2019 By Sarah McVanel Leave a Comment

As a recognition expert, I often find that following a keynote, or when coaching leaders, there are a few common things mention that annoy, frustrate and roadblock their productivity, yet they’re so commonplace they haven’t put steps in place to change them. What if in fact, you could make your own workday and others more enjoyable, satisfying and productive? Wouldn’t you try it?

You may be thinking, if the solutions were that obvious, why wouldn’t we be fixing them? As I begin to share this list, you’ll probably realize they are deeply embedded in workplace behaviour and culture – your workplace and many others! Yet, with some help and commitment to tweaking things, you may find you can take more of your time, focus and energy back, redirecting it to what you do best and enjoy most.

1.Emails

There’s some research now that’s showing that emails are becoming one of the biggest stressors that people deal with. Not being caught up, having to check it while you’re on vacation, arriving to 50 more after just one meeting (that you notice on your way to your next meeting). Ring a bell?

Some people think email is inevitable. A necessary evil. However, there are lots of things you can do to reduce email traffic. Check out systems like Slack and Click. Tools like these and others are helping work teams contain conversations around projects so that your communication stays focused, productive and updated. Say goodbye to long never-ending lists of emails in your inbox!

2.Committees and Meetings

Death by committees and meetings! Patrick Lencioni wrote a great book on this a number of years ago. Sitting in meeting after meeting, 8 am to 5 pm, it occurred to me we didn’t have to be this overscheduled. Furthermore, I began to notice how many things we discussed just to feel like everyone was included because no one read the written communications (perhaps because they were always in meetings), and as the only means to keep a project on track. Some meetings didn’t even have a structure such as an agenda! Oh, the pain!

When a new CEO came in and he said, “What is with all of these meetings?” I, perhaps unpopularly said, “Why don’t we put a hiatus on all meetings that are not absolutely required? Only support meetings that are legislated and mandated, but every other meeting is on hold for three months. Let people get their time back. And that after three months, people need to pitch to bring back the meeting.” He agreed. Initially, people said, “Oh my gosh, we can’t do without these meetings!” But it is incredible how focused, productive, and collaborative people were able to be when their calendar was not blocked during their most alert hours. You can probably imagine, many fewer meetings came back. Could you try a meeting holiday, even meeting free Fridays?

3.Task Delegation

When support departments delegate tasks to busy middle managers who are already overwhelmed to do work that is very specialized, not only will they feel anxious that they can’t do it as well as a trained professional, but also, they don’t have time to do it. Consider your processes and determine if there’s something that we’re asking people to do that isn’t really reasonable and, frankly, is causing them undue stress.

Also, consider what tasks people are doing that aren’t necessary. Plan your next group meeting with Doodle or purchase a scheduling software system like Calendly or TimeTrade. You are too busy and it’s painful to go back and forth setting up meetings (it just compounds problems 1 and 2 we discussed above). Let technology do the work for you.

4.Corner of the desk phenomenon

When we add projects, we may have great reasons why we want somebody to do it, and yet, they cannot get it done because they already have a full-time job. How much do you ask people to do without having a conversation about what’s coming off their plate? Why don’t you initiate that conversation?

5.Annual recognition only

Failure to recognize people in a meaningful way on a regular basis leaves people to feel less motivated, energized or clear if what they’re contributing is making a difference. Leaving it to annual (or worse, only at 5, 10 or 25-year marks) is even worse than infrequent recognition!

I can’t tell you how many people have still had large amounts of email in their inbox, sat on many committees, and still have tasks that haven’t made it off their plate yet. However, when somebody takes the time to acknowledge and appreciate how hard they’re working, the strengths and the skills that they’re bringing to the organization, how they know that there has been an extra push lately and that it is valued and appreciated, when it’s specifically, authentically, meaningfully acknowledged, people are willing and able to work for you; that much harder, that much more focused, that much more productively. You won’t get your best from people if you only make a big deal of them once they’ve been with the company for 25 years (and believe it or not, the main investment Canadian organizations make in recognition is this!)

If you find that people are not performing at their best, and that includes you, perhaps burnout has set in from the very things we can change in organizations. Isn’t it worth trying to shift? Wouldn’t a small improvement make a huge impact when you consider your whole workforce?

There are many easy things you can do about each one of them, which is why I invite you to spend 15 minutes chatting over a virtual cup of coffee to strategize how I can help you.

5 Ways to Bring Meaning and Joy Back to your Career

March 7, 2019 By Sarah McVanel Leave a Comment

Do you feel meaning and joy every single day from the work that you do? Do you love your career? If Oprah invited you to be a guest on Super Soul Sunday, would you have so many stories and examples to share you would not know where to start?

Well, if you’re not sure or if you’re worried the answer is no, you are not alone. A small percentage of us are actually satisfied and engaged in the very place we spend most of our time – our workplaces. The good news is, we have found it elsewhere; 67% of Canadians say they’re very happy. Imagine how many more would be happier, or happier for a greater part of our day, if we could find that joy at work too? I believe it’s possible.

I want to share with you five powerful questions to clarify where you can find more joy and satisfaction at work:

Are you proud about the work you do and who you work for?
Do you have a close or even best friend at work?
Do you have joy and happiness at least once every single day at work?
Do people see and honour your greatness – your talents, passions, and virtues?
Are you recognized for that greatness every single day?

If the answer is no to any of those questions, just ask yourself, “What would Oprah inspire you to do? Would she settle? Nope. So why should you?

What is one thing you could do to bring greater joy and happiness into your workday? Here are a few ideas:

Speak positively about your job, employer and accomplishments in your role
Spend time socializing at work or outside of work with coworkers you respect and share common interests with
Before you finish work, write down, note in an app like WinStreak, or simply think about one thing you that worked well or was positive about your day
Recognize someone’s else greatness (they’ll be more likely to recognize yours and others)
Find a way to bring recognition into your workplace such as in team meetings, stand up morning huddles, a kudos board or random acts of recognition (e.g., thank-you notes)

No matter how much control you feel you have at work, there is always something you can do to regain joy and contentment at work. And isn’t it worth it? You spend enough time there…

Want ideas every day of how to keep doing this? Listen on your Amazon Alexa device or podbean app to Forever Recognize Others’ Greatness.

Are You An Employer of Choice for Today’s Employee-Driven Market?

March 1, 2019 By Sarah McVanel Leave a Comment

Being aware of some of the workforce trends allows you to be responsive. Many clients of mine are from the healthcare industry, so let’s start there. Healthcare and the tech industry are the two areas with the greatest shortage of talent, and this will only exponentially grow in the years ahead.

It doesn’t necessarily mean that we don’t have gaps elsewhere. Many of my hospitality clients also experience large turnover in staff and retaining your best people is an incredible challenge. Sure, you can replace people, but do you replace them easily with the right people? To speak nothing of the high costs of orientation and training.

Remaining an employer of choice is an essential focus for you in 2019. there to be a dramatic shift in the abundance of talent and that this shortage will remain across industries, so being a great place to work is still your best way to retain and attract talent away from the competition. It’s similar to real estate – there’s buyers’ markets and sellers’ markets. Right now, it’s an employees’ market, not an employers’ market.

Some of my clients don’t like this so don’t address it. Like it or not, you’re already experiencing the pain from it.

When you do, the talent shortage can actually good news for you. You’re the organization who cares, who works at being a great place to work, who values and recognizes your people every day. It is okay for it to be an employees’ market because, actually, it means that people are savvier. They’re more selective. And you’re more likely to recruit them away from the competition who don’t love up and care about their people. Who are still caught up in old notions that “you’re lucky to have a job”. True, and they can get a job elsewhere; it’s time to accept this reality.

Where the Biggest Talent Gaps Exist

So how worried should you be? Well, there are some key positions that are on the rise and if you need them in your organization, workforce planning needs to be a priority. The top shortages in 2018 with the steadiest increases include:

1.Fulfillment Associates.

As we continue to see more online shopping, this is not going to go away anytime soon. I’d love to have a fulfillment associate for every time somebody buys something from my store. I get how valuable these people are.

2.Machine Learning Engineer.

These are people who know artificial intelligence. It’s only getting more sophisticated, and we’re seeing it everywhere now. If you’ve got kids, direct them into one of these areas.

3.Family Doctors.

If you speak with physicians, some will tell you that there is a surplus of doctors and that there’s no shortage. But family physicians specifically, and in some parts of the country, are in short supply, and our aging demographic will only heighten the gap. Add to this that more recent grads work of hours of previous generations, it’s also a work-life balance that doctors are craving like everyone else.

4.Manufacturing Technician.

Given how many products and services continually need to be serviced, we are creating products that stay in the marketplace longer, and so we need people to be able to fix and repair those products.

5.Technical Recruiter.

In this tech field, given that there is such a shortage, one of the most coveted roles that we have is somebody who can be a recruiter finding some of those amazing tech people.

Responding to Talent Shortages and an Employee-Driven Job Market

So what do you do to remain an employer of choice and retain great people? Here are five things that I know will help to keep and attract top talent.

1.Compensation Strategy.

Do you simply pay people what you can get by, or do you, in fact, have the intention of being one of the top payers in your sector?

This is particularly important when people make under $50,000 a year. A fulfillment associate, for example, would likely make the leap from another organization to you if you are paying in the top 25% of your sector. As soon as people make over $50,000 a year, the culture, their colleagues, and other variables rise. If you are in the bottom percentage, people will feel frustrated, resentful, and may not take a promotion if it doesn’t seem like it’s going to make a big difference in their paycheck.

2.Long-term Career Options.

I was speaking with somebody just the other day about how he continues to put forward more and more discretionary effort because he knows there’s growth potential in his company. Are there opportunities for people to move around and do interesting, meaningful work?

3.Sense of Ownership.

How much are people able to have a sense of ownership? And ownership can be conceptual, as well as literal. When we talk about ownership, this is people feeling like they have a sense of control and that they can impact the work. For example, a product has a defect, and they bring forward ideas about how to make that better and that’s valued and heard. If people see there’s a piece of garbage on the floor, they pick it up, and they will put it away because they feel a sense of ownership. They treat their workplace like it is their own family, their own clients, their own living room. There’s a sense of ownership.

If you’re in the for-profit sector and there is actually an opportunity for employees to own a part of the company, that makes a tremendous difference in their commitment to the long-term success of it.

4.Recognition.

Be sure your people feel valued and appreciated for their unique greatness. Are they able to bring their talents, passions, and virtues, and when they do, are they appreciated? It all comes back to people doing meaningful work, that they’re valued, they’re appreciated, and that they have options.

Looking to create your own strategy to address the shortages you’re seeing your workplace? Happy to share a few additional ideas. Jump into my calendar here for a 15-minute culture consult.

“How can I start my own business?” The Question Every Talented Professional Will Ask at Some Point (Unless You Give Them a Reason Not To)

February 19, 2019 By Sarah McVanel Leave a Comment

Last week I discussed how leaders and business owners who are running amazing organizations don’t need to worry about their best people having side hustles in this new gig economy.

On the flip side, if you are running or working for an organization and it is not a great place to work, I have been giving fair warning to employers, “It is your job to build an employee experience where people want to work. It is important to know that we have a talent shortage and that you are a valued member in short supply.”

And believe me, it’s on people’s minds. One of the top questions I get asked is: “How did you make the move into entrepreneurship?”

It’s a relevant question. About 50% of us are in the gig economy in Canada and this is a trend worldwide. It’s an easy way for professionals to test the waters of entrepreneurship and to discover if it is right for them. You can experience it in low-risk ways, such as being part of a marketing team, or setting up an e-commerce business, or speaking at events in your evenings. There are many shapes and forms to entrepreneurship today, and it doesn’t have to carry a risk for individuals but does allow them to experience if it is a good fit for them.

For businesses, this is a good thing.

If it’s not a good fit, your top talent will stay employed full-time
If they like it but have a big mortgage or risk-averse, you can at least keep them part-time
If they are good at it, they can bring those intrapreneurial skills to work with them
If the workplace isn’t a good fit or unhealthy, folks will leave on their own versus presenteeism setting in

If you’re the employee or leader considering this, how do you set yourself up for success? Here are a few tips. And employers, take note, as this is helping you to better understand the landscape of the gig economy.

1.You Already Have All the Formal Education You Need

One of the biggest barriers I hear from folks is: “I just need X certification/degree and then I’ll be ready.” In 99% of cases, I disagree. What got you hired will get you hired again (by an employer or client in the gig economy). You don’t need anything else. And this includes a business degree (trust me, I don’t have one!) Now, some guidance from a coach or some virtual programs on entrepreneurship might come in handy, but you don’t need to be a bigger expert in your field. You just need to own your expertise. This is where I see the biggest gap (which is why in my virtual program we deal with this early on to squash the fears and actually build the brand around your expertise).

2.You Can Still Have a Great Lifestyle

Some worry about their lifestyle going down the drain by having a side hustle. They assume they’re going to be working even more hours in their business, taking time away from fitness and having no time for their partner or kids. This doesn’t necessarily have to be the case. Have you watched Netflix lately? Cut that out. Do you scroll and scroll through Instagram or Facebook? Do you run errands more than once a week? There’s your found time. Consolidate that time and use it. You may find, by making more efficient use of your time and making better choices, you actually work fewer hours in your job and side gig!

3.You Can Afford It

I often hear folks saying that they will start their business when they can afford it. When they’re retired. When they pay off their house. When their kids go off to post-secondary education. I said this too! If that’s what you want, amazing! However, if it’s a limiting belief that you can’t do it until then, know that you can. It wasn’t until we had a family crisis that pushed my decision to move into entrepreneurship formally, but you know what, I had been working in the gig economy for years, being asked to speak, facilitate retreats, and train. I would take a vacation day (cleared with my boss of course) or do it on a weekend. It didn’t hurt financially, it brought in extra cash (although looking back I way undervalued myself in price…but that’s for another post). I felt wealth in other ways too; I always felt grateful to be able to do work I loved, learned something new, and had perspective how great I had it with my employer. You can afford to do your side hustle now for sure, and, if a lot is on the line like it was for me, the question sometimes becomes, can you afford not to become an entrepreneur?

If you are concerned about feeling disloyal to the organization you work for, remember, you’re not necessarily abandoning your profession. You don’t necessarily have to leave at all! Employers and leaders, if you’re worried your best people will leave, give them the space to learn and grow from these new experiences! In the succession planning world, we used to have to pay to have our employees get stretch assignments; their side hustle may fill that need for them at no cost to you!

Here are some tips to help you along with thinking about building a business on the side. One of the most interesting, and sadly, ironic things that I have seen over the years during team consultations, keynotes or when people are struggling in their job, I remind them that the people who work part-time are usually the most satisfied people in the whole place.

Sometimes this can be a both/and solution, cut back your hours, have a job share, or work part-time. As your business grows, it doesn’t have to be in one world or the other. It’s a very limiting, fixed mindset thinking to believe it’s an either/or.

So now you may be wondering: What are the things that I can be doing to investigate this and to move ahead? Here are a few tips:

1.Listen and read.

Fuel your knowledge by listening to podcasts and/or reading books about entrepreneurship, marketing, and sales, etc. There are specialized podcasts and books out there that are amazing. The value of the content is tremendous. If you have some questions and specific recommendations for podcasts or books, just pop them in the comments below.

2. It’s a side gig! Enjoy it.

As I mentioned before, this can be a side hustle. By seeing it this way, you have very little financial investment and stress attached to that which, allows you just to play, and fun, and experiment with your business idea. Experiment to see what you love and what you don’t. Then if you go full-time, do only what you love by specializing as an expert in what fires you up, delivering the “how” in a way that best fits your preferences and lifestyle. Then subcontract out the rest!

3.Always Find the Win-Win!

Be very intrapreneurial in your organization. Volunteer to do projects (things that you want to learn about and interest you), contribute more than is expected, seek out collaborators that you can learn and grow from. For example, to work for yourself, you’ll need to be able to pitch companies and speak confidently about your products and services; perhaps there’s something you can do with the communications or sales team at your current workplace to learn and get comfortable with this skill set? The more you’re able to practice the skills where you are, the more you’re able to see if you like it or not, but also be able to learn. Your workplace is a learning laboratory. Whether you’re learning it to only invest it into your workplace, or even your own future too, it’s a win-win.

4.Speak up.

If there’s something that you don’t like about your workplace, that you would stay if it weren’t for this thing, then speak up. What concerns me is when people make the leap to entrepreneurship it’s kind of like jumping into a new relationship just because they’re so different from the last person that you dated. If you choose to move into entrepreneurship part or full-time, you want it to be for you, for your passion, to serve a need, as opposed to that scarcity and just trying to escape.

5.Frame the plan.

Consider the context or a framework in which you need to learn, and grow and think about your business. I have a great resource for you – the Genius Greatness Biz Blueprint. Discover from it how you can clarify your professional credibility, education, and experience that will make you stand out and get hired. Identify the customers and industries want to keep or start working with. Identify what could potentially be a marketable business, how to build out product offerings, how to identify clients willing and needing to buy from you, and a few tips around sustainability in business as well. It’s all the things I’ve learned through big investments in coaches, taking programs, being mentored and trial and error over the last four years.

Did you find this valuable? Why don’t you subscribe to my YouTube channel so you don’t miss a single weekly VLOG.

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