In yoga today we did a pose known as The Dancer.  Our instructor, Joy, told us the pose is typically depicted as the dancer standing balanced on a small object while surrounded by a ring of fire.  The fire represents chaos and the small object is the ego.

I think this is a key question for many of us today.  How do we stay balanced in the midst of chaos?  What helps us stay balanced?  Is it having a purpose?  Is it staying centered and rooted? Is it continually learning and growing?

Lori Zahn, founder of Perceptive Leaders, recently wrote a post about using these chaotic and uncertain times as an opportunity for learning. I liked it so much, I asked Lori’s permission to repost the whole article and she graciously agreed.  Thanks Lori and happy reading everyone.

MOVING FORWARD: From Resilience to Realistic Optimism
by Lori Zahn

On March 24th President Obama signed the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act, a historic overhaul of the nation’s health care system.  The world knows about it.  Everyone is talking about it.  Yet, too many companies are saying nothing to their employees about it.

This is a problem because now that the bill has been signed into law, employees are wondering what it means for them and what it means for their companies.  What will happen to our benefits?  Will our out-of-pocket costs go up?  What if we work in health insurance or health care – how secure is our future?  The more these questions are left unaddressed, the more they amount to distractions and anxiety in the workplace.

Larry Turner, CEO of Roundhouse Advisors, points out that “employees will fill any void of information with their own assessment of the situation.” When company leaders aren’t communicating, employees often come to the conclusion that management has no idea what they are doing.

Have you had a good laugh at work lately?

Joseph Grenny, co-author of Crucial Conversations and several other bestselling books recently wrote, “If people in your organization don’t frequently cackle out loud with each other, you’ve got serious trouble.”  According to Grenny, a lack of laughter can signal a lack of trust.  In addition, a lack of laughter may be impeding a group’s ability to connect and bond.

It so happens that I came across Grenny’s article at the same time that I was reading Kay Redfield Jamison’s book, Exuberance.  Jamison makes scores of references to the importance of play and laughter at work.   Jamison states that laughter would have been vital to the early development of humans because it would have helped to disarm tension and relieve stress.  It would also have been a sign of trust that would then allow and encourage people to come together and take risks as a group.

Right Management recently conducted a survey of more than 650 senior leaders and human resource professionals to identify the most important leadership practice fundamental to achieving business goals during tough times. More than half (51%) of respondents cited “engaging employees to ensure organizational alignment and commitment” as being the most important leadership practice.

So how do you engage employees, or re-engage them? Lessons from the field of positive psychology indicate the importance of paying attention to how people feel before you focus on what you want them to do.  In her book, Exuberance, John Hopkins psychiatry professor Kay Redfield Jamison writes, “In times of adversity, inspired leadership offers energy and hope where little or none exist.”

Has your company held layoffs this year?  If so, chances are high that the layoffs are taking a toll on the morale of your employees.

A survey released last month by Watson Wyatt found that:

• Employee engagement for workers at all levels dropped 9 percent last year and close to 25 percent for top performers.
• Compared to last year, top performers are 20 percent less likely to recommend their organization to job seekers and 14 percent less likely to remain with their company.

For more results from the Watson Wyatt 2009/2010 U.S. Strategic Rewards Survey, click here.

To learn how to re-engage and re-energize your workforce post-layoffs, check out our e-book:  Leading after Layoffs.

Despite signs that the economy is improving.  Anxiety over layoffs, declining profits, and questionable futures still plagues most workplaces.  Instead of ignoring anxiety altogether, or – even worse – soothing people into a false sense of complacency, great leaders figure out how to transform anxiety into energy.

John Kotter, Harvard professor and change expert, uses the term “A Sense of Urgency” to describe how critical energy is for any change to succeed.  In a recent, Inc. article, he gave an example of how one leader communicated with his staff to address the recession and to build energy for moving forward.

If you want to dispel the anxiety growing in your workplace, build a foundation of trust built on communication. When times are tough, the workplace rumor mill swings into action, so act quickly and communicate openly and honestly with your employees to stop rumors in their tracks. Here are a few tips.

Be Accessible

As a senior leader, you need to be accessible and visible to your employees. When there is a problem, don’t wait until all the details of the solution have been fleshed out before informing your workers. Instead, inform them of your progress along the way as the decisions are being made. In uncertain times, it is more important than ever to be accessible. You’re not just there to share information with the workforce, but to build trust with them along the way, and dispel rumors as they spring up.

Don’t Hide From Bad News

My colleague Beth Papioano sent me this quote today:

I have always thought the actions of men the best interpreters of their thoughts.
- John Locke

The timing could not have been more perfect.

This week I am teaching a dialogue skills class and working on the course has given me a chance to think about the conversations we dread and the conversations we simply don’t have. One theme that keeps coming to mind is the importance of the stories we tell ourselves.

So often we avoid difficult conversations because we tell ourselves a “story” that gets in our own way.  If I tell myself that another person is being impossible, that he or she won’t listen, that there is no possible resolution, or that bringing up an issue will forever destroy our relationship – those thoughts dictate my actions.  I avoid the person.  I stay silent.  I stew and simmer.  When anyone tries to convince me to talk with the person, I count of the score of reasons why nothing will help.

I was summoned to appear for Jury Duty today and was pleasantly surprised when the experience resulted in an effective example of communicating with an audience full of resisters. 

After the 30 or so of us signed in with the Court Clerk, we were shown a video.  I admit to bracing myself for something preachy and boring. However, 30 seconds into watching “The Colorado Juror” I was digging in my bag for a pen and paper to capture notes on how good the video was!  I thought it was an effective example of the order in which to cover points when dealing with a resistant, skeptical, or hesitant audience.

#1: Start with empathy for the emotions people are feeling.

The video started with clips of four past jurors talking about how anxious and annoyed they were when they received their summons.  As people chuckled and nodded along, the tension in the room started to dissapate.

A new MetLife Mature Market Institute study, conducted in partnership with Boston College’s Sloan Center on Aging & Work, indicates that the economic downturn has had a greater psychological effect on younger workers than it has on workers of the Baby Boomer and Traditionalist generations.

The results of the study are summarized in the report, “Engaging the 21st Century Multi-Generational Workforce.”

The primary focus of the study was on whether generational differences matter when it comes to employee engagement.  In short, the answer is yes.  Marcie Pitt-Catsouphes, Ph.D., director of the Sloan Center says, “We found that different factors ‘drive’ the levels of engagement of different groups of employees.”

While the insight into engaging the different generations is reason enough to read the report, I was particularly interested in the findings related to how different groups of employees are weathering the economic storm.