Tag Archives: Conflict

Pirates Fighting Among Themselves While the Spanish Galleon Sails On Up by Kimberly Wiefling (Wiefling Consulting)

 

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(This article was originally published on www.svprojectmanagement.com)

This past summer I went to a baseball game. It wasn’t completely without benefit. I enjoyed indulging in the traditional stadium food and libations, the $1 hot dogs formed from some unrecognizable substance and the “it shall offend no one” stadium beer (nor shall it please anyone, but let’s not be sticklers). While being herded out with the crowds I noticed that many people seemed to be truly elated or dejected based on the victor in this sports match. Who won? Who cares! While I really tried to get into the spirit of things, I just couldn’t work up a good head of steam around caring who hit a little while ball farther or ran around a dirt track before that little white ball could touch them. Baseball is a perfectly fine way to spend an afternoon, and it’s a hoot to sit there cheering with the crowd and jeering at the umpires, but it didn’t seem to be worth agonizing or celebrating the outcome. Maybe I am missing a sports gene? Is it carried on the X chromosome but recessive? Or is it dominant and on the Y chromosome? Who knows, but it got me thinking . . . Continue reading→

Weed Your Life

Originally posted on SVProjectManagement.com December 2011.

Here’s another personal musing promoted by what I’ve come to call the “alcoholidays”.

This time of year my mind wanders to gratitude. I’m grateful for the incredibly talented colleagues who have made this year’s relentless stream of work border on enjoyable. And I’m thankful for friends who have made life’s normal burdens lighter through their kindness and support. A garden of friends and colleagues has made this terrifically challenging year much more pleasant for me. But, like all gardens, it occasionally needs weeding.

Many years ago when I was exiting physics graduate school, and sad to be leaving friends behind, one of my professors advised me to let go of relationships that had passed their time, and not to grieve for their loss. While many relationships grow more satisfying over the years, he cautioned that clinging indiscriminately to all past relationships can burden a person – like accumulating too much baggage on an around-the-world tour. This was a man whose life’s ambition was to get all of his worldly belongings into no more than 2 suitcases. I must say, now I see his point.Continue reading→

Increased Emotional Intelligence and Teamwork Through Snack Foods

M&MsUnless you’ve spent your entire career with your face bathed in the light of your computer monitor, you’ve probably come across the concept of emotional intelligence. Popularized by Daniel Goleman at the end of the last century, emotional intelligence, or “EQ”, can be condensed to three criteria: self-awareness, the awareness of our impact on others, and the good sense to make better choices as a result of that awareness. (I’m not recommending increased awareness, mind you, because I was a heck of a lot happier when I thought other people were to blame for all of my problems. But if you want to be an effective leader you’ll probably have to risk it.)

There’s no guarantee that a bunch of high EQ people will form a high EQ team (witness the US presidential campaign), but it’s a good start. Reflecting on a couple of decades of leading and working in teams, I’ve had the opportunity to work in teams that that were emotionally intelligent, and in teams with the collective “EQ” of a scallop. Emotionally intelligent teams are a lot more fun, and get way better results. The Enneagram, available from The Enneagram Institute and numerous other sources, is one tool that I’ve found extremely useful for increasing the EQ of a team.Continue reading→