When AT&T was broken up years ago, Salvatore Maddi and Deborah Khoshaba did a longitudinal study of the employees at Illinois Bell Telephone. They followed these folks for years and found that there was a set of characteristics that were common to the folks that did well. Those without the characteristics they described, did not do so well. They experienced more performance issues, conduct problems and a deterioration of their health. It turns out that only one third of the people excelled in two thirds of them did not do well. Let's take look at what separated the groups.
Those that excelled demonstrated three key attitudes. They showed commitment, control, and challenge. Maddi and Khoshaba described these as the three C's. They describe them as follows:
"What we called commitment was a predisposition to be involved with people, things, and contexts rather than be detached, isolated, or alienated. Control involved struggling to have an influence on outcomes going on around oneself, rather than sinking into passivity and powerlessness. Challenge signified wanting to learn continually from one's experience, whether positive or negative, rather than playing it safe by avoiding uncertainties and potential threats." (Maddi, S. R. (2002). "The story of hardiness: Twenty years of theorizing, research, and practice." Consulting Psychology Journal: Practice and Research, Vol. 54, No. 3, 175–185 54(3): 175-185.)
There is a hardiness survey called the HardySurvey that you can take at the Hardiness Institute Website. There is a cost for it but it will give you some insights that may save your job.
Dr Dan Diamond's Powerdyme Blog
Seth Godin recently posted a 45 minute master class session on his blog that is well worth the 45 minute investment! He discusses the barriers that keep us from taking risks and being successful. He is primarily talking about "business" but many of the concepts that he presents apply equally as well to overcoming the difficulties that you are facing in your personal life. If you want to leave a legacy despite the challenges that you are facing, grab a cup of coffee, pull up a chair and listen to this:
After listening...
Melanie Thomas put this show together. She has some tremendous photos that I just saw for the first time today. Mel was a wonderful member of the Medical Teams International team that was on the ground in the early response to the earthquake. She spent a bunch of time at King's Hospital sorting out the supplies and organizing the supplies that came in. She is one of the type of people that doesn't scramble to get in the limelight. She just gets busy doing the tasks at hand. Wow, did she work hard! She was such a blessing to the team! The show that she put together will move you and bless you. After watching it, please consider the questions that I've posted for you by clicking "read more" below.
Here are a couple of questions to get the discussion going:
During my senior year at Washington State University I did research on chickens at the Veterinary school. You know, it was just one of those things. In the process of it, I learned how to hypnotize (mesmerize) chickens. It really is something that everyone should know how to do. After all, you never know when it might come in handy. At WSU we did it so we could put them on their side and give them medication to relax them before we operated on them. So I just couldn't resist teaching my Haitian friends how to do. Besides, the team was eager to learn as well.
So, with everyone gathered around I began the secret procedure. The first chicken I tried wouldn't cooperate. Well...neither did the second. So, being the bold man that I am, I decided to try the rooster. You can tell from the picture that the rooster thought he was king. I looked deep into his eyes, performed the hand motions and voila! The rooster was still wide awake.
A couple of months ago I received a call from the folks at Apple because they wanted to do a profile vignette about how I use the iPhone in my practice. I had a great day with their team. They met me at my house at 6:30 AM and followed me at my practice all day long. My patients and staff were gracious and willing to pitch in. We finished the day at about 10:30 PM. I'm impressed with Apple's commitment to excellence and willingness to go the extra mile. If you would like to meet some of my patients and see our clinic, CLICK HERE.
Just wait 'till you've watched the video embedded in this blog entry. I've watched it a couple of times now and the more I ponder it, the more significant I think it is. At first, it made me laugh. I had to. I couldn't help it. But, carry it around in your noggin for a couple of days and you might start to think differently about the impact you could have at work if you were fully engaged.
Peter Bregman, on his blog at Harvard Publishing, wrote an interesting article entitled "Why You Need to Fail". I encourage you to read it. He quotes Dr. Carol Dweck, professor at Stanford University, on her research into why people give up VS why some folks press on and overcome.
"If you believe that your talents are inborn or fixed, then you will try to avoid failure at all costs because failure is proof of your limitation. People with a fixed mindset like to solve the same problems over and over again. It reinforces their sense of competence."
In 1933, during his inaugural address, Franklin Roosevelt proclaimed, "The only thing we have to fear is fear itself."
He went on to say, "Happiness lies not in the mere possession of money; it lies in the joy of achievement, in the thrill of creative effort. The joy and moral stimulation of work no longer must be forgotten in the mad chase of evanescent profits. These dark days will be worth all they cost us if they teach us that our true destiny is not to be ministered unto but to minister to ourselves and to our fellow men."
