The ROI of Respect in the Workplace... and life.

More people quit jobs because of a boss who makes them miserable. And why does failing leadership and mediocre cultures make employees miserable and want to quit? Lack of respect. 

"One of the best forms of respect is actually listening to what another has to say." - Bryant H. McGill

Respect begins with the self but should be complimented with a heavy dose of humility and love. Employees thrive when valued, appreciated and heard. We must listen. Respect is, however, a two way street. Respect invites respect. 

When leadership respects their teams, they establish a platform that invites more participation and commitment. A respected employee feels valued and important. A respected employee will be more loyal, more productive and simply put... better.  

Probably the most effective way to show respect is to listen and hear what a person has to say or offer. Empower your employees by listening and making them feel respected. It's that simple.

The effort required to show respect is zero. The ROI is limitless - guaranteed!

THANK YOU for reading - Vital Germaine

3 Simple Steps to Inspiring and Achieving Greatness

Many pursue and desire greatness but don't know how to achieve it or inspire it. Fortunately, through years of experience and extensive research, ENGAGE has created relevant and meaningful guidelines or tricks, approaches, attitudes and mindsets that can enthuse, activate, and enable extraordinary results on a personal and/or professional level. 

There is no quick fix, singular formula, pill or overnight solution to inspiring or achieving greatness. It is a process a never-ending pursuit that can be attained more easily than one thinks.

At ENGAGE, we have broken down the process into to 3 simple to follow steps listed below.  We call them: FUEL - AMMUNITION – TOOLS (F.A.T)

Establishing the “why” behind any pursuit or goal, and understanding the purpose and meaning is paramount. The more significant, expansive and encompassing your “why” is, and the greater its positive and relevant impact is on others, the easier it becomes to realize. We are always more driven by a cause that is greater than ourselves.

Here are the 3 SIMPLE STEPS (F.A.T).

1. FUEL

• Determination (drive, resilience, persistence)
• Courage (inner strength)
• Happiness (joy, love, humor and gratitude)
• Belief (conviction, confidence)
• Passion (desire, determination, feelings
• Patience (endurance)
• Respect (appreciation, acknowledgment, recognition

2. AMMUNITION

• Meaning (significance)
• Sense of Purpose (the why, the motivation, objective)
• Social Relevance (who benefits)

3. TOOLS

• Creativity Ingenuity (envisioning, trying new possibilities)
• Awareness (self awareness and of our environment/people)
• Childlike Approach (the love of exploration and discovery)
• Adaptable Perspective (willing to change)
• Positive Outlook (yes or why not)
• Willingness to fail (without risk there is little reward)
• Connectedness (egoless, authenticity, empathy) 

Contact ENGAGE today and allow us to inspire your team to greatness.

• www.ENGAGEteams.com
• Vital@ENGAGEteams.com
• 702.523 1792

If this post has been of benefit to you, please feel welcome to borrow, copy and share. Thank you, Vital Germaine

How to fly without a net and achieve your goals

FLYING WITHOUT A NET is a metaphor about taking a leap of faith with love, passion, and the conviction to give it your all and achieve regardless of events and situation.

We are never victims of circumstance unless we so chose. Choice empowers us -  IF we can handle the fear, the risk and the possibility of failure. But what if we, truly desire to fly and actually chose to believe we can fly and commit to that choice? 

Flying needs courage, a willingness to fail and a childlike spirit to explore and discover the endless possibilities that await on the other side of failure and fear. 

BUY THE BOOK with its new vibrant orange cover that captures the essence of the top selling author - be inspired to overcome your obstacles, turn your attitude into one of belief and positivity and empower yourself to achieve. It's been called a:

"A Life Changer"

"A Must Read"

"Exhilarating"

"Inspirational"

Thank you for reading. If this blog was of value, please feel welcome to borrow and/or share.

VITAL GERMAINE

Life lessons

There are many lessons I learned during my years at Cirque du Soleil... some of them I now use to inspire as a speaker because they relate and lend to the business world. Other lessons focus on who we are as individuals, as humans. All the lessons have helped me grow as a person and I gadly share them.

One of the biggest take aways from my 5 years in the company were the lesson learned about integrity and being authentic - being true to who we are and not being afraid of our individuality or expressing it; qualities Cirque thrived on and inspired us to be, encouraged us to do, including being CHILDLIKE and in the moment.

Here is an excerpt from the sequel to FLYING WITHOUT A NET (still yet unnamed and close to publication) - this little "tease" gives a hint as to one of those many lessons.

CHAPTER 13 ~ The Cirque Audition… continued ~

There I stood below the trapeze; confused—a part of me fearless, the other half trembling.

The first part of the Cirque du Soleil audition had been a whirlwind of exploration, discovery, some really crazy shit, and a sturdy reminder to let go of conformity, feel and express without inhibition. Debbie Brown’s creative insanity left me none the wiser, only more curious and eager to play, be silly and have fun at the expense of the clowns, midgets and sword-swallowers I thought lived at the back in trailers.

The coach, Pierre, and his quiet assistant whose name I don’t remember, placed me into a harness. It fit snug around the waist. It squeezed my inner thighs and everything in between. They attached the belt to the bungee cords by a clip that mountain climbers use.

Pierre began my crash course like he had done to the other dancers...

...Instead of dancing up there as the other dancers had done, I played like a child on Christmas day. I made up several silly spur of the moment moves: the suspended swimming frog, followed by the flying monkey, ending with the slow motion astronaut and the seventies aerial robot. I went from zero to genuine clown in under six seconds.

 “It’s fun, non?” asked Pierre.

Debbie and Pierre congratulated me.

I had apparently captured their attention, imagination and curiosity despite having no idea what I was doing. It sometimes pays to be vulnerable and authentic and just do without a plan or a sense of direction—to be spontaneous regardless of circumstance—to reconnect with one’s forgotten inner child and just be.

"It's not always easy to be in the moment, authentic and let go of your inhibitions to be free, to be vulnerable and childlike. But when I do, good things happen!"

Vital Germaine

5 Simple strategies to improve creativity for the business professional

1. Take a walk. Exercise will stimulate ideas because more oxygen will be pumped to your numb brain.

2. Have a good glass of wine and talk to a friend (or your pet) about something completely unrelated.

3. Read a book.  Play a game (video games included).

4. Browse the Internet meaningfully.

5. Try something completely new and different (regularly): new route to work, new restaurants, new magazines, new habits, say hello to unknown people at work.

If this blog was of value, please feel welcome to borrow and/or share. 

THANK YOU, Vital Germaine

How to improve your communication skills.

COMMUNICATION comes in many forms. As leaders, we must develop an acute sensibility to the non-apparent messages that humans send. We must listen, not only with our ears, but our eyes, our hearts, hair follicles, our noses and our intuition.

We must develop the ability to speak and be heard without words. Be understood without gestures. We must pay attention to the nuances of expression on all levels.

Albert Merhabian illustrated this best when he stated that only 7% of our communication is actually through words. The remaining 93% is non-verbal!

All the clues, skills and solutions of relevant and clear communication lie within our awareness and sensitivity to ourselves and the external world (Emotional Intelligence) - it opens doors to connectivity and increased levels of company growth and success. Poor communication can lead to disasters and easily avoidable errors and conflicts.

The more aware we are, the better and more effectively we can send and receive messages.

To further improve your communication skills, always place yourself in the shoes of the receiver, as their perspective might not align with yours. And finally, if not most importantly, it is the responsibility of the communicator to make sure clear and correct communication has been established. The best way to achieve this is by asking the receiver to clearly communicate back what they have understood, bringing everybody on the same page. 

Become a more confident communicator

If this blog was of value, please feel welcome to borrow and/or share. 

THANK YOU, Vital Germaine

What's the value of connectivity in the workplace?

Putting down our guard and our ego, being receptive and fully cognisant or aware of our colleagues and ourselves allows for a stronger sense of CONNECTIVITY. The ego is often the root cause of conflicts and misunderstandings. 

Allowing for authenic, sincere and open expression can encourage a sense of vulnerability which makes people more relatable. Relatability creates stronger bonds. The more common threads we can create between ourselves and our peers, the higher the performance levels we will achieve. A team that works together on a relatable and common level is a team that THRIVES. 

To further strengthen the team, consider encouraging such important fundamentals as, camaraderie, collaboration, listening, appreciation, respect and understanding - and most definitely empathy and LOVE.

With these common threads in place, all barriers such as: cultural, social, economic, gender and religious etc, can be broken down, allowing for people to relate more to each other and therefore exist in a more harmonious and profitable environment.

Put down you guard, and allow yourself to CONNECT - it will improve some many elements of life both at work and home. 

If this blog has been of value, please share or borrow, Vital Germaine

For more on ENGAGE log onto our website www.ENGAGEteams.com

Is creativity sometimes misunderstood in the business world?

Often times the logical, business mind can be thrown off, confused, if not intimidated by the word creativity. It can scare because it is associated, if not subconsciously interpreted as meaning "artistic". 

"Oh, I'm not creative in the slightest. I can't even draw a stick figure, or dance, let alone paint or play a musical instrument."

There is, however, a huge difference between being artistic and being creative. Art comes as a result of heightened creativity, but creativity is not limited to art.

More importantly, everybody is creative... but not everybody is artistic.

• Creativity is more about having an open, curious, flexible and childlike mindset that allows for growth and expansion. It's the ability to generate innovative and original ideas; problem solve, see beyond limitations. It is an approach - an attitude - perspective - a mindset. A mindset that embraces and encourages the new, the different - a mindset that is adaptable to change and can have fun in the process. It is clarity and diversity of thought. Creativity can be science, philosophy, law, athletics, culinary, business, architectural, art, esthetics, math, politics and finances. 
• Art is a talent, a refined skill (regardless of mindset) given to a select group of people. It evokes emotion and is valued for its beauty. Art is fueled by passion, extreme sensitivity, tragedy, oppression, interpretive expression, abstract thought and artistic communication (and a few other elements). Add your two cents please, as I don't wish to attempt to define what is and what is not art - it is in the eye of the beholder apparently and takes on many forms :)

Nonetheless, I will firmly argue that art is not synonymous to creativity. The business world needs and thrives on creativity to stimulate innovation, growth and sustainability. It does not need art... society does, nonetheless.

The fact is, every successful business needs innovation and a forward thinking mindset in order to compete and stay relevant in today's faster-than-ever, changing business trends. A creative approach can lead to the development of such valuable tools as, establishing memorable sensory experiences for your clients, to implementing cutting-edge marketing and sales strategies and methodologies - even identifying new markets, or fashioning a defining product that will separate you from your competitors. It leads to relevant paradigm shifts.

What creativity and art have in common is that they both originate from the launching pad of our imagination. And the beautiful thing is, WE ALL HAVE IMAGINATION.

Logic will take you from A to B. Imagination will take you everywhere. - Albert Einstein 

Now, that quote comes from a scientific, mathematical and logical brain - that happens to be creative, yet not "artistic."

I invite you to come to your own "creative" and "artistic" conclusions as to what is what. In the meantime, I encourage you to remember that everybody has imagination and is therefore creative :)

Set yourself free to grow and expand through a more creative mindset and and open-spirited, adaptable attitude. Don't let the power of your imagination go to waste.

Oh, btw, I happen to be an artist in my spare time and believe to understand the difference.

If this blog was of value, please feel welcome to borrow and/or share. 

THANK YOU.

HAPPY MINDSET_RICHER LIVING

Actively disengaged employees cost the US economy $500 billion annually, simply because they are not happy!

• Is your company culture, or your leadership, remotely contributing to this statistic?

• Are you inspiring greatness, peak performance, collaboration and happiness from your employees.

• Is your team as engaged as they should or could be?

The mental wellness of your work force and company culture has such profound effects on your company's bottom line.  It's simple!  When we’re happy, we’re simply better. We’re better leaders, better lovers, better parents, employees, friends… better everything.

Have you ever noticed that when you are happy, things fall into a place a little easier: the sky's a little bluer. You don't notice all the red lights on the way to work - in fact, there are no red lights. When our mindset is positive, we have more clarity, more energy, more focus and of course more confidence. WE BECOME BETTER LEADERS... BETTER HUMAN BEINGS.

The math behind a happier mindset. Happy, forward thinking companies are up to %20 more profitable according to Gallup.  

There is sadly not enough happiness in the workplace.

According to a Gallup, who surveyed 25 million employees in a 189 different countries, to determine employee satisfaction and engagement, concluded that 1 in 2 employees are not happy at work! 

By inspiring relevant paradigm shifts within yourself as well as your company culture, these "unhappy" facts can be turned around very easily. The change will stimulate personal and professional growth and benefits.

On a spiritual level, one could say HAPPINESS is a question of vibrating at a higher frequency. On a chemical or scientific level, it's about stimulating the production of key hormones like, Serotonin, Oxytocin and my favorite, Phenylathamine (chocolate!!!).  Be it spiritual or scientific, happiness is in part due to mindset, lifestyle, attitude and perspective. It's the result of a series of choices; but there is more than that (for another blog).

Is your leadership stimulating happiness and satisfaction in your team, thus maximizing their contribution and impact to the relevance and growth your company (or your own life)? If so, SMILE and be happy - stay calm and carry on :)

If this blog was of value, please feel welcome to borrow and/or share. 

THANK YOU.

Maximizing potential

The brain is often divided into left and right, and more recently into lower and upper. As a result, people are catagorized as "left" or "right" brained.

Our brain, however, works best when stimulated as ONE with both right and left stimulated and encouraged to collide and collaborate.

The most amazing minds in the history of the human species (Einstein, Da Vinci, Jobs, Hawkings, Galileo, Aristotle, Tesla, Gates) had the ability to think logically with the curiosity and imagination of a child.

They capitalized the resources of their complete brain.