Motivate and inspire employees to act as participants in their own personal/professional growth

As I am compiling my research results, I have to be honest, I love that both personal and professional growth is showing up as a pattern of attention in the workplace.  Long gone are the days of leaving some personal piece of yourself in the parking lot so that the professional self can work.  Often when I am supporting organizational leadership as a crisis management consultant, it is around the nuances of “bringing your whole self to work.” Without getting to deep into leadership and diversity challenges, let’s focus on how to both motivate and inspire our employees!

Often as a dynamic diversity speaker, event professionals assume that keynotes just engage participants to produce more, but there is really more to it.  Motivation and inspiration connected to growth is good for the organization and the people that make up the organization.  Sure the fact that I can combine humor and current events together as a diversity and leadership speaker; who doesn’t like a stand up show with a point?

Never underestimate the power of laughter as the great equalizer because it pulls audiences together to do their own work.  Unifying a diverse group of people from across political ideologies, backgrounds, and allowing us all to share our humanity, we rise called into our own personal and professional growth.  I like to start my keynotes asking participants to take off their metaphorical nametags and job titles.  Be a person I am more likely to bump into in the grocery store.  It is from this place that we can really grow, inspire, motivate ourselves (and others).

Conversations that matter happen all the time – we willingly use our difficult communication skills even when things go awry.  It is when we don’t that we need support.  Growth isn’t always about new skills, but reflecting on when you choose to use them and don’t.  The challenges we face in our personal lives no longer stop at the workplace door.  Our professional stressors don’t clock out at 5pm.

The blending of the two roles is significantly more complicated as we shift through different relationships, responsibilities, and interactions both in person and online.  Little computers in our pockets connect us globally, workplaces exist on our dining room tables, coworkers are best friends, biggest rivals share children pick up duties, and we generally are less compartmentalized.  The blending is the growth and it can be overwhelming.

I like to think of my style as being multiple one on one conversations and just in time, I am turning my attention to the blending of personal and professional development to better inspire, motivate, heal, and engage across differences.  It is time for our growth to support others and others to be a key part of our growth.

To keep this conversation going – or really get it started – I published a new book, Almost Doing Good, and will be showcasing my new keynote What if it happens? as a free virtual event and you and your team are invited!  Specifics will be announced when the research survey closes.

https://zoom.us/meeting/register/Tvd2gKGfTSiGZgu9BrYrXw

June 11 10am pacific

June 19 12pm pacific

June 24 2pm pacific

If you are interested in being part of the research project on uncertainty, this is last call to complete the survey.

Conversations That Matter: Better Connections Keynote

Regardless of how traditional or progressive your organization is, there are some people and topics that at some point are off limits. You just can’t do them right now, especially when you have to bring up the difficult topics with the difficult people.

• What if you could engage in these conversations with more confidence, humor, and ease?
• What if you could let go of someone has to win and someone has to lose or someone has to be right and someone has to be wrong?

You can! Because no matter the person or topic, you are your best tool for conversations that matter. Understanding yourself and others as differently right gives you the tools to intentionally design teams, groups, and partnerships that can bring value to a single project or your entire organization.

We are all frustrating to someone (and at times even to ourselves). Once you know who and how you are, you can (re)claim responsibility for your behavior-response-patterns and leave room for others to do the same. Before you know it, you are having better conversations and fuller relationships with those around you and clearing the way for your organization to experience greater efficacy and growth. It really is that easy.

BONUS SESSION:

Workshop: Coping with Uncertainty and Unknowns

Before you can effectively normalize complexity, you need to understand your own relationship with uncertainty. Jess will facilitate a self-reflection journey to help you trace where you have come from and what you have learned. You can participate in a primarily silent reflective process and an authentic conversation regarding current emotions, anxieties, and realities.

Learning Outcomes:

• Identify messages you learned about yourself
• Identify messages you learned about others
• Identify moments of your own behaviors that impact others
• Connect behaviors to your own self learning
• Participate in an authentic conversation regarding emotions, anxieties, and the realities of living

Bring pen and paper to (re)connect with your own foundation during this complicated time full of unknowns.