Tips for At-Home Mini-Sabbaticals If you have been reading my blog over the past year, you may remember the post “The Fruits of Mini-Sabbaticals” that I wrote in November 2022 to share my approach to the 4 Rs (rest, rejuvenation, reflection, resetting). I was all set to head to Hawaii last month and I had to cancel the trip. Instead of giving up on the idea of a mini-sabbatical, I redesigned the week to capture the same intention at home. There are certain activities that I incorporate in my annual mini-sabbatical and I wanted to maintain as many of those as possible. I thought I would share my approach to demonstrate that it is possible to achieve much of the same outcome without the expense and effort of traveling. REMOVE yourself from your daily work routine. That means set the “out of office” reply, stating that you are on a personal retreat/mini-sabbatical. Keep the computer off unless you are using it for something creative, but definitely no email, and leave your office setting. REST. That means no alarm clock, get up when your body tells you, stay in bed if that feels right, take a nap. REJUVENATE. What brings you energy? Incorporate that into your mini-sabbatical routine. For me that is going to the gym during non-busy hours, hiking, doing yoga, scheduling a spa day/massage, and visiting the local botanical garden conservatory. REFLECTION. Each year, I decide what I want to focus on during this break, whether it is reading a book, designing a new program or deepening my learning of a subject. I also use this time for extended journal writing. RESETTING. I have used the “End of Year Reset Worksheet” process from ThirdSpaceStudio.com to look back on the year and look forward to the next year with intention. I also do the initial year-end financial review and preliminary budgeting and business planning for the next year. Although I wasn’t able to dip my toes in the Pacific Ocean, I came away from my At-Home Mini-Sabbatical feeling refreshed, focused and energized to finish up 2023 with clarity and optimism to move into 2024!
Creating a Championship Team with the Enneagram This time of year comes with many emotions. As we transition into autumn, the days are shorter, the weather starts to cool down which may slow down your energy AND it is playoff baseball time which for baseball fans is an exciting time of year! I have been a baseball fan my whole life and started playing the game at age 9. As I watched both final games of the 2023 League series (Houston Astros v. Texas Rangers) and (Philadelphia Phillies v. Arizona Diamondbacks) I saw the teams that were “supposed” to win – including last year’s World Champion- fade away and the teams that both had lost more than 100 games just two years ago, do what was seemingly impossible. So what contributed to the exciting outcome of the Texas Rangers and Arizona Diamondbacks going to the World Series? Well many things of course, but in the context of looking at team development and team dynamics, I see the same components that make teams great in the workplace. Moving from good to great team performance In my work as a leadership coach, I have supported teams to identify the “why” is our team stuck and the “how can we be better performing?” Recently, I was introduced to a framework and a process that can unlock the pathways to team greatness. Ginger Lapid-Bogda,PhD an organizational development consultant and coach, uses the Enneagram framework to support teams moving toward greatness. She developed a concept called the “3As”: alignment, attunement and acceleration. Credit: The Enneagram in Business Teams that are able to access the collective wisdom of their three Centers of Intelligence (Head Center, Heart Center and Body Center) move to peak performance. Teams have all three centers just like people. So the key question for teams is “Are we accessing and using the wisdom of all three Centers of Intelligence?” Team Alignment (the collective head center): Aligned teams have a shared understanding of team vision, goals and the team member interdependence to achieve those goals. They know where the team is headed and why each individual team member’s contribution matters to achieving those goals. Team Attunement (the collective heart center): Attuned teams feel deeply connected to other team members’ needs and feelings. There is passion for the work because each team member sees their contribution to the whole and that energy (from the heart) propels the team forward. Team Acceleration (the collective body center): Accelerating teams move forward together in a unified direction because they are aligned with passion and energy because they are attuned. Unaligned or Unattuned teams DO NOT Accelerate. Teams that are aligned but not attuned may be productive but over time they run the risk of burnout. Teams that are attuned but not aligned enjoy being together but collectively productivity may be low as the task focus is unclear. Where do you start with team alignment and attunement? The first step is to determine the team’s dominant Center of Intelligence. I support teams by conducting the Enneagram self-assessment with each team member. Through this assessment, each team member will identify whether their behaviors are driven by the Head Center, Heart Center or Body Center. With the understanding of each team member’s natural inclination, you can determine the team’s collective dominant Center of Intelligence. If your team is over-expressed in the head center, you have clarity on alignment but not enough connection or attunement so there is risk of burnout. That will point your team to doing more work in building relationships and cohesion. If your team is over-expressed in the heart center, you will enjoy collaboration but you won’t have enough clarity on team purpose, goals and deliverables. That will point your team to doing more work in clarifying team purpose, goals and individual tasks. Finally, if your team is over-expressed in the Body Center, you will need to work on both relationship building and clarifying team purpose, goals and deliverables. Let’s Get Back to Baseball! How does this connect us back to the playoffs and the two teams who are playing in the World Series? As I listened to the post-game interviews for the Arizona Diamondbacks, many comments referenced the energy in the clubhouse, the connection between team members (attunement), they also stated that everyone knew what their role was and the little things that mattered (alignment) to move toward the ultimate goal of winning the World Series (acceleration). Time will tell which team has developed the right balance of the “3As” to move to peak performance. Check out my blog series below on the Enneagram, or get in touch if you want to explore how you can move your team toward peak performance or talk about baseball. Blog Series: The Enneagram: Connecting Ancient Wisdom to Global Transformation The Enneagram and Neuroscience: Growing New Neural Pathways The Enneagram: Nine Points of View and Core Motivation Creating a Championship Team with the Enneagram The Enneagram in The Global Context
Next Level Board Leadership: What does it take? I was recently contacted by a local organization to explore supporting them with an executive transition. The leader had given the board more than 9 months notice of retirement and the board was ready to get going on the hiring process. As I chatted with the board leaders, it became clear there were other challenges that the board was avoiding because they wanted to focus on something that was less contentious and forward-looking. I have a few standard questions that I ask to gauge the health of the organization, the health of the board and the relationship between the board chair and executive director. How large is the board? Are there term limits? How would you describe the relationship between the board chair and executive director? How often do they meet? What have the revenue/expense trends been over the last 3 years? How large of a reserve does the organization have? When was the last strategic planning process? The answers to these questions determine how healthy an organization is and I strongly believe this: Your organization is only as healthy as your board and that STARTS with the relationship between your Board Chair and Executive Director. Joan Garry has written many great blog posts related to board health and this post on board chair-executive director relationship came to mind as I sat through this meeting. The answers to the above questions were the following: 1. How large is the board? Are there term limits? We have a handful of board members but we are recruiting more. We don’t have term limits. WARNING: Without a robust process for board recruitment and transition, the organization is at risk of a governance crisis with the board shrinking and stalling out. 2. How would you describe the relationship between the board chair and executive director? How often do they meet? Well, we really respect the executive director, they do a great job. The board chair doesn’t have regular meetings with the executive director. If they need the chair, they call her. WARNING: As I stated above, the most important relationship in a nonprofit is that of the chief executive and board chair. They share leadership of the organization. If there isn’t regular communication, the organization is at risk of going adrift. 3. What have the revenue/expense trends been over the last 3 years? Well, we have a very large reserve so the board has approved a deficit budget the last few years but we have told the executive director they really need to develop a balanced budget for the next year. WARNING: There are times when it is strategic to approve a deficit budget. In this situation, there was no strategic investment being funded, it was just an unwillingness of the executive director to cut expenses, or increase revenue to compensate for programs that were not fully funded. This was coupled with an unwillingness of the board to fulfill their fiduciary obligation of being stewards of the organization assets and require a balanced budget. As we all know from our own personal financial stewardship… this strategy doesn’t end well. 4. What have the revenue/expense trends been over the last 3 years? Related to the answer to the previous question,…we still have a pretty decent reserve but if we continue our deficit budgets as we have, we won’t have any reserves in three years. WARNING: I think the concern about this is pretty clear. 5. When was the last strategic planning process? Hmmm, let’s see.. I can’t recall the last time we did strategy development. We have an operational plan every year that explains the calendar of activities for all the programs. WARNING: The board is on auto-pilot. One of the primary functions of a nonprofit board is to establish the organizational identity (mission, vision, purpose) and the strategic direction in response to the community needs it is supporting. After this very enlightening conversation, I suggested the board might consider focusing on a few other things before conducting a search for a new executive director. They were not interested in focusing on anything but hiring a new executive director. I wished them well in the transition. If you are interested in how to build a high impact board, please consider attending the upcoming training on Next Level Board Leadership on October 25, 2023. For more information on nonprofit governance, check out one of these blog posts: What Sombrero are You Wearing? Every great nonprofit begins with a great board What’s Governance Got to Do With It?
The Enneagram: Nine Points of View and Core Motivation The Enneagram framework refers to nine points of view, also known as Types, or styles that reference a different perspective of the way people think, feel and act in relation to the world, others and themselves. It reveals more than a personality profile, as it goes into the often unconscious core motivations that lie deep within our personality, and helps us to understand why we are the way we are. While each of us have all nine motivations within us, one of these nine is more dominant and serves as the main driver for how we show up in the world. Typing, Not Stereotyping For the Enneagram to have value, it is essential that you identify your core Type/style. This is the starting point to explore and open up the possibility for change and transformation. There is a danger in using a “type-based” system in that it can be easy to stereotype people. Stereotyping implies that one fact about someone leads to making assumptions about many other characteristics. Stereotyping limits our openness and perspective. A person cannot be oversimplified and reduced to their type alone. The Enneagram should be used to inspire compassion for self and others. Deepening our understanding of the perspectives, motivations and behaviors of other Types/styles improves our curiosity, empathy and communication and reduces the likelihood to judge and dismiss other people’s approaches, points of view and styles. Motivations, not behavior One of the key differentiators of the Enneagram framework is that it explores deep-seated core motivations, not only the outwardly observable behaviors. Using the iceberg model, behaviors are visible and above the waterline, but they are driven by the deep, unconscious motivations. Individuals from different Types/styles may display similar surface behaviors while having very different core motivations. For example, two people may both demonstrate the behavior of being unstructured and late to meetings. However, with further exploration, one person might demonstrate this behavior because of the core motivation of an Enneagram Two style, saying yes to too many things, becoming overloaded because they are driven by the desire to be liked and needed. While the other person might demonstrate this same behavior because of the core motivation of an Enneagram Seven style, driven by the desire to keep things interesting and not experience the pain of a boring meeting. If you have ever wondered WHY someone does what they do, the Enneagram offers a pathway for exploring the core motivations of each Type/style. These insights can strengthen your understanding of tensions and possibilities that exist in relationships, teams, and organizations. Check out my blog series below on the Enneagram, or get in touch for coaching on how to begin the journey of moving toward your full potential. Blog Series: The Enneagram: Connecting Ancient Wisdom to Global Transformation The Enneagram and Neuroscience: Growing New Neural Pathways The Enneagram: Nine Points of View and Core Motivation Creating a Championship Team with the Enneagram The Enneagram in The Global Context
Celebrating Women of Distinction: Honoring Leaders Creating Change Over the last 48 years, the YWCA Madison has celebrated women who are creating new possibilities in the community through the Women of Distinction Leadership Awards. Since its inception, YWCA Madison has honored 251 women dedicated to the Y’s mission to eliminate racism, empower women and promote peace, justice, freedom, and dignity for all people. This year, as a selection committee member, I had the privilege of witnessing the inspiring work of six outstanding individuals who are actively shaping a more just and equitable society. This year’s honorees, Jasmine Banks, Dr. Christina Outlay, Lisa Peyton-Caire, Nancy Saiz, Rosa Thompson, and Alex Lindenmeyer, have each contributed significantly to their respective fields and communities. Their stories shed light on the progress we are making toward a more inclusive and compassionate society. I am thrilled that Alex Lindenmeyer was honored because I have been familiar with Alex since she participated in the Amigos de las Americas program. As a young person, Alex traveled to Latin America to engage in community development work. Alex continues to demonstrate her commitment to thinking globally and acting locally. Let us celebrate these extraordinary women and join them in their mission to create a better world for all.
The Enneagram and Neuroscience: Growing New Neural Pathways About 6 years ago, I began my training and certification in a coaching framework called Conversational Intelligence®, exploring the neuroscience of conversation and its impact on trust and transformation. Through this training, I learned a bit about the ever evolving science of brain development. When I started the training, there were five areas of the brain. When I completed the certification about 3 years later, another brain area had been identified, the gut brain. As I began my recent coaching certification in the iEQ9 Integrative Enneagram tool, I was intrigued to see that neuroscience has offered evidence to validate the key elements of the Enneagram framework. Early Enneagram theorists argued for the existence of three centers of intelligence (head, heart, gut). Now, neuroscience has proven that we have multiple centers in our brain that influence how our personality develops and how the brain responds to change and pressure. By understanding the brain, we can interpret behavior more accurately and therefore build better strategies to help shift how we behave. This deeper understanding allows coaches to better support clients on their journey of change. For example, an Enneagram Types’ worldview and defense mechanisms are neurological patterns that are formed through developmental experiences in childhood that create a comfort zone. These patterns direct our “focus of attention” to specific aspects of our world and life. This wiring underpins our personality, forming a set of deep beliefs, motivations and filters intended to keep us safe. Growing New Neural Pathways Image Credit: Integrative9.com We also know that the brain is capable of incredible adaptation and change, called neuroplasticity, the ability to rewire, adapt and respond differently within a given situation. This ability to transform allows the brain to grow new neural pathways, which can break through old patterns and defenses to unlock personal development. In coaching, we support clients to make changes (otherwise, they wouldn’t hire a coach)! Often at first, the brain will bring forward a set of defenses and triggers to avoid changing. If a client is more aware of the triggers and defense patterns, understanding the deeply programmed neurological responses, they are more able to pause, take back control from unconscious reaction to move forward with intentional action. Through exploring the Enneagram, clients become more aware of their pathways, assumptions and how they may be limiting themselves.They can step back from the knee-jerk reactions, addressing their shadow areas to move toward a greater integration of their full self. The Enneagram illuminates strategies for clients to stretch and release themselves by exploring “Wings and Lines” to shift to a new level of awareness, grow new neural pathways and establish a more integrated range of behavioral responses. Check out my blog series below on the Enneagram, or get in touch for coaching on how to begin the journey of moving toward your full potential. Blog Series: The Enneagram: Connecting Ancient Wisdom to Global Transformation The Enneagram and Neuroscience: Growing New Neural Pathways The Enneagram: Nine Points of View and Core Motivation Creating a Championship Team with the Enneagram The Enneagram in The Global Context
