Hello Readers,

It’s “been a minute” — school break is behind us and work, ideas, community, conferences are swirling with activity. I hope you enjoyed some time off and slower rhythms to catch up with yourself, your health & loved ones, and reconnect with your perspective, peace, and priorities. And, if you’ve been feeling exhausted these last few weeks, like I was, I hope you’ll take a breath and pay attention to your basics — SNEC (see the video)- to keep yourself healthy, grounded and soon-again, going strong.

✨ I’ve got some exciting news to share with you 🥁
and a “friends’ link” to my article on burnout, employee dis/engagement, some reasons, and the effects on organizational effectiveness and profits. Corporate wellness and culture are far-from-fluff; they are a necessary profit play.

My reminder & tool, SNEC — Almost everyone I’ve spoken with in the last couple weeks seems to be mentally & physically tired — there’s some messy stuff out there in the world these days (wars, elections, mis/disinformation, mental health challenges, relationships, change…), and with the start of school, and ramped up work- and community-activity, it’s easy to be overwhelmed. So, I’m focusing on what I can control or affect, and paying special attention to the basics, in these fast paced times : sleep, nutrition, exercise & stress reduction, connection. This helps me to be more grounded, and I can better discern my next step (vs react to a statement or emotion). More details in the youtube video description.

On a related note, in my recent newsletter on big changes and building the world we want, I mentioned the power of taking small steps and James Clear’s book “Atomic Habits”. If you improve 1% each day, by the end of the year, thanks to compounded “interest”, you’ll have improved 37x. We receive so many messages to set goals and achieve an outcome. That is great when, important caveat, the goals draw us forward or inspire us, rather than whip us from behind and come from fear. It keeps us motivated, rather than forcing our way through with sheer will power. Think about it, how do you speak to yourself? what’s your office culture like? how much is that contributing to your fatigue or engagement levels?

✨I have some exciting news🎉… I’ve been sharing versions of my articles here, and they, along with the 50 CxO interviews that I will be starting later this month will become a book and more. The working title is “Embracing the Alphabet Soup of Corporate Citizenship; How to Become What the Market Increasingly Demands, and Succeed in a Fast Changing World”.
Thank you to all of you who’ve encouraged me to make this into a book and beyond (workshops, courses, possible podcast, etc), those who reviewed earlier versions of the long white paper, and made so many helpful suggestions to improve, and all of you for the moral support and lessons you share. I am both thrilled and overwhelmed by the idea, opportunities, and the work. Stay tuned over the next 8 months! Book, workshops, and snippets from the interviews will be coming.

In the meantime, in keeping with this issues’s theme of fatigue, charging ourselves up, and staying engaged, here is the 📰 friends’ link to my pre-published article on burnout’s effect on people and their organizations 🎁.

Image by Cup of Couple from Pexels

There is so much to say, and the article is a 8 minute overview. But I’ll leave you with this —

  • employee disengagement costs the U.S. economy $450–550 billion every year (Conference Board).
  • Can you imagine how much innovation, profit and growth, would be unlocked globally if all employees were both welcomed and empowered (with good training, management, safe speak up culture, etc)?
  • If you’d like to go deeper, check out Gallup’s global research, and this article with a summary of recent US statistics, impact and recommendations; and I’m happy to share additional recommendations.

➡️Get in touch if you have any questions about the articles, or related to your facilitation or coaching needs🔥- book a call or zoom here ⬅️

Good luck navigating this messy world and taking the steps for your 1% daily improvement goals. Take care of yourself along the way — SNEC. And please wish me luck in this book and CxO interviews process!

I look forward to sharing their wisdom with you.

Thanks for reading.

Rachel