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Career, Community, Cause: Our Top Three Needs at Work

4/24/2018

What would happen if psychologist Abraham Maslow were to construct his famous Hierarchy of Needs pyramid with regard to the contemporary workplace? Top Facebook executives, in collaboration with Wharton professor Adam Grant, wanted to find out. After examining hundreds of thousands of employee survey answers, they identified three big buckets of needs: career, community, and cause.

Career is about the what of work: having a job that provides autonomy, allows us to use our strengths, and promotes learning and development. Career gives us motivation. (Tweet it!)

Community is about the who of work: feeling connected, respected, cared about, and recognized. Community gives us a sense of belonging.

Cause is about the why of work: feeling that we make a meaningful impact, identifying with our organization’s mission, and believing that it does some good in the world. Cause gives us pride and purpose.

Writing in the Harvard Business Review Grant and the Facebook team commented, “These three buckets make up what’s called the psychological contract — the unwritten expectations and obligations between employees and employers. When that contract is fulfilled, people bring their whole selves to work. But when it’s breached, people become less satisfied and committed. They contribute less. They perform worse.”

Do you resonate with these needs? Are they being met at your workplace or, if not, what should change? To join the conversation, click "comments" above.

If you would like to read more about creating a habit around masterful communication, check out our book: Be Quiet, Be Heard: The Paradox of Persuasion.

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Persuasive Speaking: Variety is the Key

4/17/2018

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Kacy Miller, President of CourtroomLogic Consulting, LLC, a jury and trial consulting firm, contends that every one of us has an innate tool we can use whenever we "put on our advocacy hat." That tool is our voice. "When used effectively," she writes (http://bit.ly/2p8XLNu), "our voice has the capacity to maintain our listeners' attention, persuade, and even evoke emotion." Variety is the key. Some strategies to consider:

Rate: We tend to speed up our speech when nervous but listeners need time to process what we are telling them, especially when the content is new, complex or technical. (Tweet it!)

Inflection: Monotony can be yawn-inducing and annoying. Vary the energy and emphasis you place on certain words.
Pitch: Research shows that higher-pitched speech conveys a sense of excitement, fear, or nervousness. A lower-pitched voice communicates confidence, certainty, and calm. We all have a natural pitch, but we can shift it up or down when we want to persuade.
Volume: Know when to turn the dial up or down. Often, people only think of increasing volume to persuade, but don't underestimate the power of a whisper If you want your audience to take notice and lean in.
Pausing: Silence is a great tool for persuasion. By integrating carefully orchestrated pauses into your speaking, you are essentially speaking in all caps. It's an easy, effective way to let listeners know that what you just said (or are about to say) is important.

We agree with Miller when she says, "We spend hours preparing content for a speech, opening statement, oral argument, or even a client pitch. Make the most of your delivery by adding a healthy dose of vocal variety to your presentation. Your listeners will appreciate it."

Think of a speaker you enjoy - do they make the most of these techniques? What about a speaker you don't enjoy? To join the conversation, click "comments" above.

If you would like to read more about creating a habit around masterful communication, check out our book: Be Quiet, Be Heard: The Paradox of Persuasion.

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The Dangers of Text Neck

4/10/2018

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Keep your head up! The problem of looking down at our phones nonstop has both social and physiological consequences (http://nyti.ms/2DEfma8).

“Text neck” is becoming a medical issue that affects countless people according to a report published last year in The Spine Journal. The average human head weighs 10 to 12 pounds, and when we bend our neck to check our texts, the gravitational pull and stress increases to as much as 60 pounds of pressure (Tweet it!). That can lead to an incremental loss of the curve of the cervical spine.

Moreover, posture has been demonstrated to affect mood (frequent slouching can make us depressed), behavior and memory. It has an impact on our energy level and the amount of oxygen our lungs can take in. And our body language, of course, affects the way other people perceive us.

The solution: Sit up and make eye contact! Social media will still be there later.

When you look around, do you see people succumbing to text neck? Are you one of them—and, if so, what new habits can turn this around? To join the conversation, click "comments" above.

If you would like to read more about creating a habit around masterful communication, check out our book: Be Quiet, Be Heard: The Paradox of Persuasion

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Replace Blame with Curiosity

4/3/2018

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For teams to succeed, their members must feel safe. Studies show that psychological safety allows for openness, moderate risk-taking, and creativity (Tweet it!). In order to achieve breakthroughs, people need to take chances—but that won't happen if they fear rejection or ridicule.

Writing in the Harvard Business Review, Laura DeLizzona, PhD, an instructor at Stanford University, notes that one of the best strategies for making co-workers feels safe—and therefore innovative and productive—is to replace blame with curiosity. “If team members sense that you’re trying to blame them for something, you become their saber-toothed tiger,” she says.

While blame leads to defensiveness and disengagement, curiosity indicates a learning mindset. Maybe you don’t have all the facts, so:

State the problematic behavior or outcome using factual, neutral language, e.g. “In the past quarter there was a decline in sales in your region.”
Explore the issue. “I imagine there are many factors at work. Can we uncover what they are?”
Ask for solutions. The same people who are responsible for creating a problem often hold the keys to solving it.

Can you recall a time when you consciously replaced an urge to blame a coworker with questions indicating curiosity? Did you learn anything unexpected? What was the result? To join the conversation, click "comments" above.

If you would like to read more about creating a habit around masterful communication, check out our book: Be Quiet, Be Heard: The Paradox of Persuasion

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Career, Community, Cause: Our Top Three Needs at Work

Persuasive Speaking: Variety is the Key

The Dangers of Text Neck

Replace Blame with Curiosity

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