1. Our CEO is the “Chief Expansion Officer.” The reason?  We’re already really, really good at the Doing – and it’s easy to let the Being slip away.  But without balancing the two, we’re not optimized. So we’ve adjusted for the cultural bias toward Doing, by elevating the Being to the top!

2. We are completely geographically dispersed. Florida, California, Colorado, Missouri – even little ‘ole Rhode Island.  We have no office, and all of our collaboration happens online.  There’s enough technology out there to make this quite simple.

3. We give choice to our Team. Each team member chooses how many hours they work and what type of work they want to do.  They choose where they want to live and where their “office” is located.  Every single team member does this.  It is a perk, but it is also a given.

4. We optimize our leaders. Our Leadership Team is coached – by a certified professional coach – every single week.  This allows for kinks to be worked out before they become big.  More importantly, it keeps us focused on Possibilities (where true power resides) instead of Problems.  It moves us forward in an uplifted, expansive manner.

5. We hire people who “feel” right. Now before you all jumpy on me, let me reassure you that they all have stellar credentials – of course they do.  But who they are and how they are ends up trumping what they can do.  This saves us a lot of time and energy down the road.

6. We highly encourage the pursuit of dreams. One of our Owners took 4 months off to live (and surf) in Costa Rica.  Another took 5 months off to bike across the country with her husband and two children (ages 3 and 5…check it out: http://ht.ly/2bjpe).

Are you getting the picture?

At UPsidEo it’s about integration; integrating the whole person into our work culture.

The passion, enthusiasm, creativity, and innovation that comes when people are encouraged to Be, rather than to keep on Doing is utterly inspiring.

We realize it’s a new model – a New-School way of doing business – and that it’s a bit chancy.  But our little secret is that we know it’s the best way for long-lasting success.

UPsidEo’s coaches are not  the first, or the only, to suggest that attention to a work-life balance is of utmost importance.

“People who regularly  put in overtime and   work 10 or 11-hour days increase their heart disease risk by nearly two-thirds…” *

the BBC reports, and

“…doctors found those who worked three to four hours of overtime a day ran a 60% higher risk [of heart disease].”  *

Wow.  Who knew it was this taxing?

And more importantly, how do we change it?

How do we see data like this, relate it to ourselves, know we want to make a change in our own lives, and then actually make that change?

The answer, of course, will depend on the person.  But there’s at least one really good place to start:

Aside from preserving our health, and therefore arguably our happiness, creating a work-life balance just might make us better at our jobs.

Huh?!

I know it’s a stretch – because likely your mind goes straight back to that old-school-style-of-business-thing, where it’s all about the hours, the grind.  But not only have times changed, so too has our understanding of what really drives productivity.

Productivity is intricate and complex.  It’s based, essentially, on optimization.  Yes, this has to do with training, experience, hard work etc….but more importantly it’s about how filled we are, how focused we are, how creative, innovative, enthusiastic, hopeful, and energized we are.  And let’s face it, the old-school-style-of-business thing not only doesn’t account for these latter factors, it effectively annihilates them.

So for those who are ready to optimize their productivity, it just may be time to take a leap and shift your priorities.

The take-away?  That extra hour at the office is likely harming your productivity.  That little stint on your boat that you’re dreaming of some weekday afternoon?  Do it.  It’s good for you, your job, and your heart.

And if you need help, you know where to find us…having a partner as you make these shifts is worth its weight in gold.

(* http://ow.ly/1Koqo)

This is something we can all identify with.

It’s really no fun to wake up each morning and look down the barrel of another 8+ hours of a job you don’t like.  Surely that’s not the reason for your brief existence on this planet, is it?

Nevertheless, this is exactly what many of us do.  Ask yourself this:

How often do I eagerly jump (or even roll) out of bed each morning, with hopeful expectation for what the day holds in store for me?

Hmmm……………..

Yeah, that’s what I thought.  Not so often.

Wouldn’t it feel so much better, though, if this was a regular occurrence?  Wouldn’t it just plain feel good? And wouldn’t even a nugget of such enthusiasm have a pleasant ripple effect into your work, home life, and friendships?

Of course it would.

So what do you do about it?  Get a new job?  Maybe.  Or maybe there’s another way.

In the HBR article, the author points to this way.  The bottom line is one of shifting perspective.  He suggests that he made his shift by adding humor.  I would add the more critical point that he added purpose. With a clear sense of purpose, our commitment to – and our fulfillment from – anything changes dramatically.

And here’s the thing – while purpose changes things dramatically for the individual employee, it also changes things dramatically for the employer.

In the corporate world we call it employee engagement – and these two simple words are known to be at the heart of countless productivity-related dollars.  High employee engagement leads to high productivity and retention; low employee engagement leads to low productivity and poor retention.  All of these add up to dollars for the employer.  And it all stems from a sense of purpose.

So if you haven’t been paying attention to your own feeling of purpose (or lack thereof) – get started now for the sake of your Life.  And if you haven’t been paying attention to your employee‘s sense of purpose – get started now for the sake of your Bottom Line.

How can you find purpose, or help your employees to do so?  Well now, that’s the real question, isn’t it?

I know for sure coaching does this.  I also know that asking yourself honest questions, and giving yourself honest answers, is another great step.

And if I were to offer one baby step to get you started, it’d be to ask yourself this question:

How do I want to be in this situation?

This is a question that will get you directly to the heart of your very own sense of purpose.  You may answer “I want to be light and jovial” – and now you’ve identified your starting place: add humor and grace to your situation. This small key will unlock a big door.

So ask yourself that question.  Ask your employees that question.  And then put your answers into action.

We tend to forget, so I’ll say it again:

Purpose is crucial.  It changes everything.

(*HBR post:  http://ht.ly/21KuK )

Here’s the bigger point. Just as you’ll eventually go broke if you make constant withdrawals from your bank account without offsetting deposits, you will also ultimately burn yourself out if you spend too much energy at work without sufficient renewal. *

I love it when I read something that makes me want to jump up and shout “THIS IS WHAT COACHING DOES!!”

I’ll be honest – it happens a lot.  This is largely because so many people are searching for “better” – and coaching is all about helping you nail down and achieve your very own “better.”

So, what’s the quote above really getting at?

When we drain our resources without refilling them, what happens?  They disappear.

We know this. It’s a no-brainer, and we’re smart people.

Why, then, do we keep doing it?

More importantly, how do we finally get smart enough to stop doing it?

Here I am again, jumping up and shouting…because a really super-easy, expansive, cost-effective, efficient way of doing it is through coaching.

“How’s that?” you ask. Well, let’s look at the facts:

1. Draining (and not sufficiently refilling) your resources creates burn-out.
2. Burn-out is neither fun nor remotely productive.
3. You often feel yourself burning out: you may be stressed, tired, not-as-fulfilled-as-you-want-to-be.
4. You want/intend/aim/plan to change it.
5. But nothing is really changing.

So again, we’re smart people…we can see that there’s a missing element in our “I understand it and therefore I can/will now change accordingly,” equation.

That element is most likely support.  Who’s encouraging you, regularly and with no hidden agenda, with your plans to drain yourself less and fill yourself more?  Your boss?  Your colleagues? Your spouse? Your kids?

Really?

I applaud, loudly, if you answered yes to any of those.  Truly, those are people to hold near and dear – for they are supporting your own best interest.  And that is as valuable as a relationship can get.

Odds are, however, you didn’t answer yes (if you were being honest with yourself).  And that’s okay – most of us don’t have people who can support us like that.

But a coach can.  A coach does.

And they do it as the only agenda they have.

A coach is in your life for the sole purpose of supporting you as you optimize your filling-to-draining ratio – in whatever way you know is genuinely best for you.  This is the coach’s job, and it is their passion.

It is with this support and guidance that you gain the missing element to your equation.

And I tell you, it won’t be long thereafter that you’ll notice yourself feeling more filled than you’ve been in years: your work will be more productive, and your life containing less of what you don’t want, and more of what you do want.

Does it get any better than that? 

This is why I jump up and shout…

Leave a response to tell us what you do to fill your resources…you just might inspire someone else to do the same!

* http://ht.ly/1QL2L

The what?!

Barabara Krumsiek, the CEO of the Calvert Group astutely observed in a NY Times article*:

“the whole career ladder concept is a very disruptive concept because what does it suggest?  You can’t get past the person ahead of you unless you push them off the ladder.”

Recognizing the limitations of the good ‘ole ladder, UPsidEo has always moved forward with the concept of the vine to guide our growth.  Consider it like the species Clematis brachiata, or Traveler’s Joy, which winds and flowers its way into splendor.

Take a minute. Hold the image of a flowering vine in your mind. Isn’t that exponentially more pleasant than a corporate ladder?

Our preferred metaphor offers an expansive and collaborative way of conceptualizing how we can each thrive: building on resiliency and diversity, instead of maneuvering in a competitive, linear race to the “top.”

In fact, there is no top.  Instead, there is a vast array of directions that lead us to our full growth and potential, like Traveler’s Joy. The heights we can reach are limitless – at least, that is, when we trade out the ladder for the vine.

We deliberately use the this metaphor as a guiding principle at UPsidEo.  We are consciously structured as the support system for an intricate web of individual – yet functionally interdependent – parts.  We put our energy toward encouraging the best for each tendril of the vine, knowing that this is the way to achieve maximum results for the whole.  We seek efficiency so that we can flourish.

How is it that we flourish?

Like the Clematis, UPsidEo relies upon a stable structure, deep roots, and the freedom and space necessary for exploring our movement toward the sun.  So we’ve made a commitment to promoting the conditions that allow our team, and our clients, to be at their best. We strive, always, to encourage growth in its most natural forms – holding space for our team and our clients to move toward whatever it is that they most need.

This is the path toward true success.

In the end, it’s not about how each tendril gets to where it’s going; it’s about going where one needs to be, while growing in a mutually beneficial way.  We ourselves are Travelers.

So, if you’re feeling like it’s time for a new metaphor, why not jump off of the ladder and onto the vine?  Trust us, it’s a lovely place to be.

*http://www.nytimes.com/2010/05/23/business/23corner.html

Huh?   Yup.

Apparently the part of our brain who’s default is wired to “help others” is overridden by the part that’s all wrapped up in being on the fast track.

The funky thing is, it makes us feel good to help (again, we’re wired to do it) – so in our busy-ness we’re missing ample opportunities to feel good.

But as of today, you are aware. And awareness matters.

So next time catch yourself on the “too busy” cycle, take a moment to help someone out, and watch how good you feel.

And go on – post a Comment with an example of “helping = feeling good” from your experience.  It’ll make you feel good just to type it!

*http://ht.ly/1RarT