Letting Go of the Ithoughts

One of the many qualities that make leaders stand out is their ability to see the big picture. They have an impressive way of putting others needs ahead of their own. Not everyone is naturally built this way. In fact, most of us are naturally Ithinkers. In other words we naturally ask questions like "how does this impact me?' before we look at anything else.

As a leader we have to help our team members understand the big picture and answer their Ithoughts such as:

*Who is responsible? Am I?

*How does this impact me?

*Where can I put this besides on my plate?

*What does this have to do with me? What do I get out of it?

*When is this happening to me?

*Why do I have to do this?

Try to help the team focus on these leadership thoughts instead:

*Who does this impact?

*How can we make this easier for everyone?

*Where do we start?

*What is the best way?

*When can we get started?

*Why is this important to us?

 It is our responsibility to get our team on board with the vision and be the cheerleaders for changes. Leaders make the plans, make the decisions, implement change, and most importantly listen to the team while they are doing all of that. While it is important to not muddy the waters with information Ithinkers do not need, it is more important to be honest and transparent. Leaders should always be solution-oriented and be conscious of Ithinkers who are problem-oriented. Realizing some of the team is going to be focused on the problems can help a leader be more effective in shifting focus back to the solutions. It is important to remember the mission statement is the big picture, and everything you do, all of you communication should reflect the values in the mission statement. 

A few limiting habits to be aware of (from http://blog.iqmatrix.com/habit-of-thinking-big):

• Procrastination holds you back and pulls you away from moving forward in your life.
• Short-term thinking denies you the ability to see solutions that lay a few steps ahead.
• Negative thinking prevents you seeing things that are possible to do now and in the future.
• Making excuses focuses you on what you don’t want to do, be, have and achieve.
• Solving insignificant problems distracts you from what’s most important and from the BIGGER picture.
• Over-analyzing things wastes time and energy on small matters that are of little significance.
• Seeking perfection forces you to dabble in things over and over again in an attempt to achieve the impossible.

Before implementing any big change identify your Ithinkers and some of the Ithoughts they may have so you can address them early and often to help them through the transition. Dave Ramsey said it best, “Weaknesses should not be seen as limitations, but rather as opportunities for change.”

Scriptures:

Philippians 2:4          Proverbs 21:5             Proverbs 4:7          

Introducing...Our Repair Technician

My name is Robert Ynostrosa. I've been with life-support systems for 11 years six months 11 days and three hours. It's been a fun interesting and amazing ride. I've been afforded the opportunity to work in different departments. I now work in the repair facility and work hand-in-hand with operations. The team we have is great to work with. The leadership training program has influenced me to strive to be better in everything I do. It has taught the other leaders and myself to work together on reaching the same goal by making communication and being intentional an essential part of everyday life. Striving  to work on all cylinders like a well oiled machine. Like any other Great organization or team, Life-support systems has a clear identity and direction of where they are and want to be.

Interest: I'm 97.4% proud parent of two late teenagers. Not a100% because they try to embarrass me in public. We're fun like that. My daughter graduated high school this year and my son will next year. My family is very close. My father is the absolute best man I've ever known.

When I'm away from life support, I generally enjoy spending time with friends. Since my kids are too cool for me these days I have plenty of alone time. I'm a professional nba and nfl observer! Camping is my time to truly unwind and clear my head. My goal is to visit more vacation destinations abroad.

Something I learned in sports is " hustle beats talent when talent doesn't work hard". I taught my son that there is someone always stronger faster taller. But not everyone plays with the same heart. Always play with heart. That applies to work and life. Give your best and you'll have no regrets.

Becoming King of your Stress Mountain

Stress has become a common word in every leader's vocabulary. As a culture, America seems to thrive on the adrenaline of riding Stress Mountain like a theme park roller coaster. Just like a roller coaster, riding Stress Mountain too long can cause you to get sick and have serious side effects. As a leader and a healthy human being you need to find a way to become king of your stress mountain.

Stress can be overwhelming physically, emotionally, mentally, and spiritually. It is important for you and your team that you learn to manage your stress in a healthy positive way.
Stress Defined
Stress is a state of mental or emotional strain or tension from adverse or very demanding circumstances.

Where does it come from?
Stress can come in so many shapes and sizes. It can be as little as a slightly faster turn on the lazy river or as big as the Texas Giant. People, work, home, physical illness or injury, mental fatigue, poor communication...the list is as endless as the lines at the local theme part.

The truth is the majority of the time our stress is created by our reaction to the circumstances, not the circumstances themselves.

 As much as we try to pretend it is out of our control, we decide how we react. You can take ownership and control of your reactions! When you step back from a situation and view it like a spectator mentally, it is much easier to remove emotion, not be reactive, and keep the situation down to size. It can keep you from stepping on to the Stress Mountain heart stopping roller coaster you may be used to and put you on a easy kiddy swing ride.
Expectations are the root of all disappointment. Ask yourself if your expectations of a situation are realistic. Are you giving others the same understanding and consideration you would want from them?

How do we take control?
*You need to know what triggers stress for you and start creating solutions to minimize the opportunity for that stress.
*Know your limits and communicate those limits to your team.
*Ask for resources that can help reduce work stress. Do not assume the answer is no.
*Budge your time and be intentional with it.
*When facing stress: Define the issue, make a plan, and follow the plan to resolution. This keeps the issue from getting bigger than you and takes back your control of the issue.
*Do not let broken processes cause stress by ignoring them. Speak up and take time to resolve them with your team.
*Only carry what you must. Give the load to the real owner. That can mean delegating to a team member or communicating to a manager when you have taken on more than you can effectively work through.It can also mean being true to your faith and giving your worries to God.
*Beware the little complainer! When your inner dialogue goes off and starts telling you how hard it is, how bad it is, and how you just can't even, stop it. Catch yourself and shut the little complainer down.
                Ask yourself if your complaints are valid, are they resolvable, and who can help resolve the issue?                 Then take the issue to that person or start creating your plan and resolution.
                Also ask yourself if you are letting something minor become a major stress?

What does Stress Mountain do to you?
*Long-term stress lowers your IQ!
*Chronic Stress has similar side effects to what you find on a medication label:
         -Headaches            -Diarrhea         -Anxiety       -Constipation         -Depression       -Body aches
         -High blood pressure                     -Infertility       -Heart Disease      -Reduced Immunity
         -Diabetes                -Ulcers           -Heartburn     -Nausea                -Reflux              -Vomiting

Stress management basics
Be intentional about:
*Getting sleep                        *Exercising
*Eating well                            *Drinking water
*Researching stress management tips
*Being in the moment: Leave yesterday in the past. Plan for tomorrow but do not let tomorrow steal today.
*Ask yourself "What in this moment is a problem?"

Articles
http://www.healthline.com/health/stress/effects-on-body
http://www.cpmedical.net/articles/could-chronic-stress-be-lowering-your-iq
http://greatist.com/happiness/23-scientifically-backed-ways-reduce-stress-right-now

Scriptures

Luke 21:34                     Philippians 4:6

Introducing....Our Route Team Leader

Hello to all that are reading this blog! My name is John H. Smith, born and raised in Fort Worth, Texas. I am a proud father of 3 kids: 2 boys and 1 girl. They are one of the reasons that I continue to move forward in life. Growing up, I was raised by a loving but stern grandmother and she taught me how to be caring, firm, loving and treat others with respect. She didn’t allow me to become a product of my environment and/or my surroundings by instilling the foundation of faith and God in me. Besides enjoying my children and family and all that they have going on, I do have interest/ hobbies that I love doing or watching such as basketball, mixed martial arts, cleaning, and just good ole quiet time. Two of my major interests are anime/comics and Asian weapons and art. I guess from all of those late night martial art TV shows and Bruce Lee of course. I adapted one of his motto to my life:

“Don’t pray for an easy life, but pray for the strength to endure it” …..Bruce Lee

My other motto is:

“You may not always choose the right path and it may be rough, but keep pushing forward and it will eventually open up and show you a beautiful valley”……John Smith

I use both of these mottos even in the workplace today. “Wait!!!!  What workplace?” You ask. Well Dallas Life Support Systems where I have been technically for 2 years now. I originally started with Dallas Life Support  on November 8^th 2010. Since I’ve been back I have grown more within the company. I was promoted last year to Route Team Leader and that is my current role today.  I enjoy what I do plus I work with a bunch of wonderful team members and along side the great leaders of the company. In my department (Operations/Routing) I have a group of guys that rock, are stellar, fantastic and hard working that I have the pleasure to lead every single day, the Patient Service Technicians (PSTs).

It’s funny because I never knew what it meant to be an actual leader until I started taking Entreleadership training provided by the company and instructed by LaDusta Robinette. The information and insight that it gives allows me to focus what I need to do as a leader and within my department as a whole. From the Leadership Training I have learned to be open with people, so they can be open with me and about being intentional and direct when speaking with someone. It drew out qualities that I thought I had lost, but awaken qualities that I didn’t know I possessed.  This training has awakened Dallas Life Support because you can feel a sense of new life being breathed into the company. With that new life it has boosted morale, opened up communications that were once lost and an understanding of what the goals are for the company.

Thank you for taking time out to read this blog…..I will now return you to your scheduled broadcast show!!!!

                        

Tips for Working with Different and Difficult People

At some point we have all had to work with or interact with someone that was either very different from us, or very difficult to work or interact with either in our personal or our professional lives. Some of us are naturally stronger at interaction with others and rarely feel challenged in that area. Many of us have to work at this and as leaders we should be intentional about our interactions with everyone.

Working with Different People:

So how do you work with someone that is very different from you? There is a long list of check boxes to describe how we can be different: sex, age, financial status, education, race, ethnicity, political views, religion, nationality....A very long list. Each of these boxes can indicate more difference between us and can cause more misses when we communicate, how we perceive each other and other's intentions, and how we present information to each other. 

Here are some tips to close those gaps:

*Understand Different Personalities: You do not have to understand how others think necessarily, but you do need to understand that not everyone thinks the same. We all have different personalities. If you can take the time to identify someone's basic personality, (DISC profile for example) it can help you understand why there is a difference views. Leaders should spend time identifying their team's basic personality styles. As a company we are spending some time on this so we can be more intentional in how we interact with our team. 

*Common Ground: Make an effort to find common ground, if not on a specific topic, in some other areas. When you are able to connect on something it makes it much easier to work through the areas you have a disconnect in. 

*Be Open: Try to understand their point-of-view, even if you disagree with it. If you can at least understand where they are coming from it can be easier to meet in the middle.

*Communicate:  Be honest and upfront about how you are feeling as early as you can. If you communicate that you recognize there are differences and you do not want there to be misunderstandings it opens up the opportunity to discuss them when they arise. I have tried to communicate to my team that I know the way I communicate can come across very different from what I mean to communicate and I have a standing invitation for them to let me know if they feel I am coming across in a negative light. This gives me a chance to clear up the confusion or restate my point in a better way.

*Be gracious: Always be more kind and understanding than what is expected. Any possible differences can be overcome when both parties are being gracious and respectful.

*Different is Valuable: Recognize the value in differences! When a team is able to tap into the different view-points each team member brings, they become a creative force to be reckoned with! We need people to challenge our views in order to grow and become more than we can be on our own. 

Working with Difficult People

Most of us have someone that comes to mind when we think of interacting with a difficult person. We all know them. The ones that we feel exhausted after every interaction we have with them. Nothing is ever easy with them. They have to be right, they have to be loud, they talk over everyone, they bully others with their bad attitudes, or they are just too negative. Most of the time they are what I call an emotional bully. Sometimes they are just people with strong personalities having a bad day. In either case, here are some tips to help you navigate those stressful encounters:

*Personalities: Again, it is important to understand the difference in different personality styles. Someone may seem like they are being difficult, but it might just come down to the difference in your personality styles. When you can see that, it becomes much easier to interact.

*Ask Yourself...Is it me?: Be willing to reflect on your part in the interaction. Is the other person actually being difficult or are you just being reactive expecting them to be difficult? Are they just asking you to do something you don't see the value in or want to do, and that is what is difficult? There are times the other person doesn't even see they are being difficult or even worse, they see you as the difficult one. So take a moment to ask yourself if it is you.

*What can I do?: Is there something you can do to improve interaction with them that requires little to no effort on your part? If stopping by and saying, "Hi" once in a while makes them feel you care and takes you off the list of people they feel tension with, then do it! As a leader you should be intentional about creating positive interaction with the whole team anyways. Often small gestures like saying "hello" or bringing them something they printed off the copier will make them want to interact more positively with you. 

*Keep it simple: Keep your communication with them simple and focused on the subject at hand. Do not bring up past issues, personal situations, or anything off topic. If they bring up off the topic issues or start to become negative, redirect the conversation back to the topic at hand. If necessary shut the conversation down if they will not allow you to redirect.

*Remove emotions: Remain very professional and calm. If you do not let your emotions into the conversation, it becomes very easy to navigate their emotions and recognize when they are using them to get their way.

*Stand your ground: Do not let their bad temper or negativity make you back down. Stand your ground calmly and professionally. 

*Create boundaries: Be very clear, honest, and professional in all communication. If you have someone that wants to complain or be negative, create boundaries by always redirecting them or letting them know you are there to listen, but not to listen to them complain. 

*Pick your causes and words wisely: You do not always have to react. Be smart about what you respond to and how you respond. Just because they are speaking louder does not mean they are right or that you cannot speak up in a more appropriate time and setting. Now and then, just let them have their moment and walk away from it because there was nothing of value to gain by engaging with them. 

*Use Appropriate channels: It is easy to start using inappropriate means of communication or circumventing the chain of command to avoid interaction with difficult people. ALWAYS use the appropriate channels of communication and the correct chain of command. If someone is being difficult, it will come to light. If you do not have a healthy corporate culture you may not feel like it will. That is another issue to address in other ways. 

*Be gracious! Always be kind, respectful and gracious. When you stand firm on being gracious, it makes their bad behavior much easier to see. It can make it difficult if you are resorting to bad behavior and being reactive to them for the leaders to see the difference between you and them. 

My motto applies here: A good person tries to do what is right, no matter what anyone else is doing or who else is or is not watching.

Remember to always be intentional, in the moment, and not reactive and you will find working with different or difficult people to be a much easier task than it has been. 

Here is a good article to read on the subject http://www.forbes.com/sites/travisbradberry/2014/10/21/how-successful-people-handle-toxic-people/

Scriptures

Luke 6:27-31                Romans 12:3           Colossians 4:6                    Matthew 7:3-5

Communication is Key!

Communication is vital to every relationship and every interaction. It is truly the key that can lock or unlock any door. This was by far one of my favorite leadership training sessions. In this session we viewed a video from the Entreleadership program, "The Importance of Great Communication" where Dave addresses communication.
There are many opportunities for different forms of communication for leaders. Each type of communication can have its pit falls. Great leaders learn to use communication in all forms to have the most positive and intentional impact on the team. Here I will discuss face-to-face communication and written communication.

Face-to-face
As a leader you should be making time to speak to your team in person and often. Dave Ramsey says "high quality organizations have high levels of communication." They also have high quality communication. Leaders are intentional with speaking in person and are aware of their tone and body language. Face-to-face communication allows you to address concerns and questions immediately. It allows the leader to use tone and body language to support the meaning they are trying to convey.
           The pit falls-
           Outside baggage-There can be a lot of interference in face-to-face communication. We tend to bring more with us than just the subject at hand. We bring our mood, our past, our philosophies our emotions, our fight from this morning, or worry about tomorrow...we bring baggage. When two people talk and they both bring their baggage it can become a mess very quickly. All of that baggage can create a barrier where what you are saying or what you are hearing is misunderstood.
           Tone def- The tone can be misunderstood or not in tune. You may mean to sound like you are joking but it comes across harsh. You may think you sound happy, but you sound irritated to the person hearing it.
          Every  Body talks- Body language can be easily misunderstood. If you are not being intentional and aware of your body language you can send a very confusing message. For instance, if you are fidgeting while someone is talking about something that is serious to them, they may feel you are in a hurry to get out of the room or distracted.

Written
  Written communication should be for clear concise communication and should be well thought out. It should not be used to avoid difficult conversations. For the most part it is very impersonal and good leaders want to be personal. It can be used to convey positive praises to the team or to document the facts in a situation when necessary. Emails are a great way to follow up a face-to-face talk to be sure all parties are on the same page about what was discussed. I used this with my team to give them an opportunity to ask questions later and to clarify what we discussed so there is no misunderstanding or "Opps, I forgot we discussed that, " later.
      Monotone- Written correspondence lacks all the tones we use when we speak to allow our audience to read into what is the meaning behind our words. This leaves the tone up to the reader to decide and open for some real misinterpretation.
     Lacks body-Written communication is also missing the body language that can support what you are trying to say.

Things to remember
*Leaders should always be clear, transparent, professional, and respectful.
*Communication should be early and often.
*Do not wait to discuss matters for the perfect time and risk not getting information to your team when they need it.
*Communicate about the positives and the negatives because both are important. When positives are not discussed you harm team morale. When negatives are not talked about the team will not trust you.
*Avoid gossip (communicating to anyone about a situation that cannot fix the situation.)
*Do not assume communication has happened.
*When there is doubt, go directly to the source and ask questions.
*Communication is the key to finding solutions.
*Leaders should never use communication in a way that causes harm or embarrassment to anyone, especially in front of others.
*Communication should always be in the right setting, at the most appropriate time, with the appropriate people.

Listening is just as important as talking in the communication process. Leaders, be sure you are really listening and not just listening to respond.


   

Scriptures
James 1:19               Ephesians 4:29               Psalm 141:3          Proverbs 15:2        Proverbs 12:18
Proverbs 16:23         Colossians 4:6               Proverbs 25:11      Proverbs 18:13

Introducing...Our Customer Service Team Lead

My name is Yolanda Wallace Ellis and my awesome Father in heaven sent me to LSS 6 years and 8 months ago for such a time as this. He spoke to my spirit and clearly said “I sent you to LSS to be a light” Oh how I pray that my work ethics and values have had a huge impact on my fellow co-workers, patient’s, family, and referrals throughout the years.

My gifts and talents have been displayed and utilized in the Customer Service Department the entire 6 years I have been with LSS.  I am very passionate about what I do and I live by the saying “If you love what you do, you will never work a day in your life”. Well that sums it up!

The past few months have been such a refresher for me in the work place spiritually, mentally, emotionally, and I could go on and on about how being in attendance of the leadership class has played a huge role in my transformation back to the positive, encouraging, and motivating person that I have always been. The topics that LaDusta has been focusing on from week to week has truly been informative and has gotten me back on track to being that person with compassion and understanding toward my C/S Team and work family. I have been retrained on how to approach situations and obstacles with good intentions and to not respond or react based on emotions. Last but not least she opened up my eyes to see ‘My Story’ and to the understanding that I am much greater than the roles that I play in my everyday life such as being a wife, mother, sister, aunt, etc;. “I have a much greater purpose….. “ Yes, I like that and I believe it.

The Leadership training has also been a positive tool to open up and improve communication within the company as a whole and this alone has been a huge morale booster. (IJS)

About me: I am married and have been blessed with 9 beautiful children along with several God children that my Father in heaven felt a need to send into my life. (I’m still asking Him about this)

Interest/Hobbies: Spending time with my family, dancing, GIVING (my time, money, energy) to help others, reading and writing.

My motto: To always strive for greatness and give it your all. While at it, always do the righteous thing with no hidden motives. Let it be from the heart. If you can do it with no regrets, while no one is watching, then you are doing a righteous act and it will not go unnoticed by the Father. I have adapted this motto and actively live it because I desire to hear “Job well done my faithful servant” once my journey in this life has been successfully completed.