LEADERSHIP Spring 2015
Evaluating Your Strengths and Weaknesses as a Communicator pg. 9 Neurobics: Brain Exercises for On the Job pg. 5
Dealing
with An ger at W ork Build Co munica with Ym our Tea tion m Unenfo rceable Contrac ts
Leadership Summer 2014
MINES & Associates 10367 West Centennial Road Littleton, Colorado 80127 800.873.7138 www.MINESandAssociates.com
A word from your Account Management Team... Welcome to the Spring 2015 issue of Leadership!
The first twenty-five percent of the year is already in the rear view mirror, but that doesn’t mean that its too late to stop for a second and make sure you’re geared up for the next quarter. To assist with this, check out our articles on evaluating your strengths and weaknesses as a communicator, building communication with your team, and dealing with anger at work. We have also put together some resources that will help build your coaching skills, exercise your brain, and even reinforce your contract knowledge. We hope that you can use this information to make the 2nd quarter of 2015 prosperous and free of stress, but every road has unexpected bumps so remember we’re here to talk if you need us, please don’t hesitate to call your Employee Assistance Program at 1-800-873-7138. To your health!
– The MINES Team
. . . . . . . . C redits . . . . . . . Life Advantages - Author Delvina Mirtemadi ©2015 Evaluating Your Strengths and Weaknesses as a Communicator pg. 4 Dealing with Anger at Work pp 8-9 Build Communication Within Your Team pg. 10 Coaching: What Makes an Effective Coach pg. 11 Krames Staywell Neurobics: Brain Exercises for On the Job pg. 5
NOLO Legal Press ©2015 Unenforceable Contracts: What to Watch Out For pp. 6-7
2015 Awareness is the name of the game in 2015! We here at MINES believe the first step to enhancing your wellbeing is becoming aware. By becoming aware you not only become cognizant of new ideas and open your mind to the world around you, but you also open your eyes to see yourself in a new light as well. Total Wellbeing will continue to bridge the gap between our potential and optimal wellbeing by bringing light to the 8 dimensions of wellness: Physical, Occupational, Intellectual, Environmental, Financial, Social, Spiritual, and Emotional Wellness and expanding your awareness of ways to support these dimensions in your life to help you promote your own Total Wellbeing.
Total Wellbeing
Focus on Awareness
Physical Spiritual Intellectual Social
Total
Emotional Financial Occupational Environmental
Keep an eye out on MINES & Associates in 2015 as we explore the awareness landscape. From financial planning to social influence, physical wellness to emotional health, all aspects of your life are connected and can affect your wellbeing. Let us help you stay on top of this constantly shifting world and make your wellbeing easier to focus on than ever before.
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Your Own Perspective In the spirt of awareness in 2015 we want to hear from you. We want to know about the things you do to support your own happiness and wellbeing. So please share your stories, whether they are success stories or struggles you have faced. We will be featuring some of your wellbeing stories in our publications to inspire and let others know that they are not alone. Email your wellbeing story to: communications@minesandassociates.com
Wellness Webinars
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Wellbeing
Join our partner, Brown Richards, for any of their monthly webinars. 2015 will cover great new topics ranging from organizing your life, facts about Alzheimer’s, family cultivation, eating right, and much more! Visit our website to learn more, or register for upcoming events at www.minesandassociates.com/webinar.
Is there a topic you’d like to see us explore? We’d love to hear from you. Shoot us an e-mail at communications@minesandassociates.com and let us know what you’d like to see.
www.MINESandAssociates.com | 800.873.7138
Evaluating Your Strengths & Weaknesses as a Communicator Most communicators will have both strengths and weaknesses when it comes to their communication skills and style. Taking time to evaluate what you are good at, and what you are not-so-good at, can help you perfect your communication skills and improve your ability to connect with people. Follow the steps below to examine your communication skills and find where improvements are needed.
“Taking time to evaluate what you are good at, and what you are not-so-good at, can help you perfect your communication skills and improve your ability to connect with people.”
Record Your Voice
View How Listeners Respond to You
Record your voice, and practice different speeds and deliveries until you find what sounds best. • Check for pronunciation. Are you saying words correctly? • How is your speed? Are you talking too fast or too slow? • What is your tone like? Does it sound high-pitched or nervous? Or does it sound confident and cordial? • Examine the variation in your vocals. Is your speech lively? Do you enunciate the right words? Is your speech natural or forced?
Watch how people appear when you speak to them. This will give you keys into how well you are communicating. • Do they make eye contact? Does their body language show interest? • Do they ask questions? Do they seem interested in the subject matter? • Do they look like they want you to finish? • Do they seem satisfied?
Videotape Yourself
Role Play with a Friend
Tape yourself as you make a presentation. The video will give you insight into your physical mannerisms and expressions, so you can see if they are effective. • What does your posture look like? Do you seem confident? • Does your body language send the right message? Should you use more gestures to be livelier? • Are you making effective eye contact? • What are your facial expressions like?
Communicate with a friend using various roles so that you and the other person can analyze your communication skills. • Ask the friend to take turns playing the role. Find a scenario that you would like to have feedback on, like going to a supervisor with a complaint or approaching a team member with constructive criticism. • Ask the person to give suggestions on how to improve your skills.
Look in the mirror and think how people will perceive your: • Clothing and jewelry • Hairstyle • Posture • Make-up • Expressions
Ask trusted team members to give you tips to be a better communicator. • Ask a close colleague to give honest feedback about your delivery and appearance. • Inquire about not just how well you communicate, but how well you listen to coworkers. M
Check Your Appearance
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Get Feedback
Neurobics: Brain Exercises for On the Job
Just as cross-training helps you maintain physical fitness, using your brain in a variety of ways can help you keep your mental fitness, strength, and flexibility strong.
“Presenting the brain with non-routine or unexpected experiences using combinations of your physical senses - vision, smell, touch, taste, and hearing – keeps your thinking and perception active and growing,” says Lawrence C. Katz, Ph.D., professor of neurobiology at Duke University Medical School in Durham, NC, and co-author of Keep Your Brain Alive. “It stimulates patterns of neural activity that create more connections between different brain areas and causes nerve cells to produce additional brain nutrients.”
Dr. Katz calls these brain – stimulating exercises “neurobics.” “Just like aerobic exercises emphasize different muscle groups to enhance coordination and flexibility, neurobic exercises involve activating many different brain areas to increase the range of mental motion,” he says. “They result in a mind that’s fit to meet various challenges – whether it’s remembering a name, mastering a new computer program, or staying creative in your work.”
Activities are neurobic if they:
Involve one or more of your senses in a novel context. “By blunting the sense you normally use, you force yourself to rely on other senses to do an ordinary task,” says Dr. Katz. For example: Try getting dressed for work with your eyes closed.
Engage your attention. To stand out from everyday events and make your brain go into alert mode, an activity must be unusual, fun, surprising, engage your emotions, or have meaning for you. For example: Turn the pictures on your desktop upside down. Do a routine activity in an unexpected, non-trivial way. For example: take a completely new route to work.
Neurobics
The following are examples of neurobic exercises you can do at work. Tailor them to fit your particular workspace and responsibilities. • Arbitrarily reposition everything on your desktop. From being exposed to it daily, your brain constructs a spatial “map” of your desktop so that very little mental effort is required to locate your computer mouse, telephone, stapler, and other tools. “Scrambling the location of familiar objects you normally reach for without thinking re-activates spatial learning networks and gets your visual and brain areas to work, adjusting your internal maps,” says Dr. Katz.
• Use your fingers to learn the Braille numbers for different floors of your office building or for controlling the elevator doors. “Learning to make distinctions and associations with your fingers - such as between two and three dots - activates a whole new set of pathways linking the cognitive regions of your cortex to the sensory regions,” says Dr. Katz. Collect small objects - paper clips, fasteners, nails, or screws - in a cup and, during a break or while on the phone, identify them strictly by touch. • Try working with the hand you don’t normally use for some familiar tasks, such as writing, stapling, turning on copy or fax machines, or dialing the telephone.
• Change where or with whom you eat lunch. If the weather permits, eating outside instead of inside will automatically increase your sensory stimulation.
• Turn your desk clock or an illustrated calendar upside down. “When you look at a familiar image right side up, your left brain quickly labels it and diverts your attention to other things,” says Katz. “When the picture is upside down, the quicklabeling strategy doesn’t work and your right-brain kicks in, trying to interpret the shapes, color, and relationships of a puzzling picture.” M Spring 2015 Leadership
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Unenforceable Contracts: What to Watch Out For Since a contract is a legally binding agreement, in the typical scenario, once you enter into a contract with another person or business, you and the other party are both expected to fulfill the terms of the contract. But it’s possible for an otherwise valid contract to be found unenforceable in the eyes of the law, and this article looks at some common situations where that might be the case.
Lack of Capacity
It’s expected that both (or all) parties to a contract have the ability to understand exactly what it is they are agreeing to. If it appears that one side did not have this reasoning capacity, the contract may be held unenforceable against that person. The issue of capacity to contract usually comes up when one side of the agreement is too young or does not have the mental wherewithal to completely understand the agreement and its implications. The general idea here is to prevent an unscrupulous person from taking advantage of someone who lacks the ability to make a reasoned decision.
Duress
Duress, or coercion, will invalidate a contract when someone was threatened into making the agreement. In an often cited case involving duress, a shipper (Company A) agreed to transport a certain amount of Company B’s materials, which would be used in a major development project. After Company B’s project was underway and Company A’s ship was en route with the materials, Company A refused to complete the trip unless Company B agreed to pay a higher price. Company B was forced to pay the jacked-up rate because there was no other way to get the material, and not completing the job would lead to unsustainable losses. The court ultimately found that this agreement to raise the price was not enforceable, because it came about through duress. Another common example of duress is blackmail.
Undue Influence
If Person B forced Person A to enter into an agreement by taking advantage of a special or particularly persuasive relationship that Person B had with Person A, the resulting contract might be found unenforceable on grounds of undue influence. In general, to prove undue influence, Person A would have to show that Person B used excessive pressure against Person A during the bargaining process, and that for whatever reason Person A was overly susceptible to the pressure tactics - or that Person B exploited a confidential relationship to exert pressure on Person A.
Misrepresentation
If fraud or misrepresentation occurred during the negotiation process, any resulting contract will probably be held unenforceable. The idea here is to encourage honest, good faith bargaining and transactions. Misrepresentations commonly occur when a party says something false (telling a potential buyer that a house is termite-free when it is not) or, in some other way, conceals or misrepresents a state of affairs (concealing evidence of structural damage in a house’s foundation with paint or a particular placement of furniture).
Nondisclosure
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Nondisclosure is essentially misrepresentation through silence - when someone neglects to disclose an important fact about the deal. Courts look at various issues to decide whether a party had a duty to disclose the information, but courts will also consider whether the other party could or should have easily been able to access the same information. It should be noted that parties have a duty to
Leadership Spring 2015
disclose only material facts. But if Party A specifically asks Party B about a fact (material or nonmaterial), then Party B has a duty to disclose the truth. When contract disputes involve fraudulent dealings like misrepresentation or nondisclosure, and one side of the agreement has already suffered financial losses as a result, a lawsuit for breach of contract might be filed over the matter.
Unconscionability
Unconscionability means that a term in the contract or something inherent in or about the agreement was so shockingly unfair that the contract simply cannot be allowed to stand as is. The idea here again is to ensure fairness, so a court will consider: • Whether one side has grossly unequal bargaining power, • Whether one side had difficulty understanding the terms of the agreement (due to language or literacy issues, for example), or • Whether the terms themselves were unfair (like sky-high arbitration costs). If a court does find a contract unconscionable, it has options other than just voiding the agreement altogether. It may instead choose to enforce the conscionable parts of the contract and rewrite the unconscionable term or clause, for example.
Public Policy
Contracts can be found unenforceable on grounds of public policy not only to protect one of the parties involved, but also because what the contract represents could pose harm to society as a whole. For example, a court will never enforce a contract promoting something already against state or federal law (you can never enforce a contract for an illegal marijuana sale) or an agreement that offends the “public sensibilities” (contracts involving some sort of sexual immorality, for example). Other examples of contracts (or contracts clauses) that are against public policy and therefore unenforceable include: • An employer forcing an employee to sign a contract that forbids workers from joining a union • An employer forcing an employee to sign a contract forbidding medical leave • A landlord forcing a tenant to sign a contract forbidding medically necessary companion animals such as seeing eye dogs • Contracts for child custody are invalid in California if their terms are not in line with the child’s best interest.
Mistakes
Sometimes a contract is unenforceable not because of purposeful bad faith by one party, but due to a mistake on the part of one party (called a “unilateral mistake”) or both parties (called a “mutual mistake”). In either case, the mistake must have been about something important related to the contract, and it must have had a material (significant) effect on the exchange or bargaining process.
Impossibility
In some cases, a contract is deemed unenforceable because it would be impossible or impracticable to carry out its terms - too difficult or too expensive, for example. To claim impossibility, you would need to show that you can’t complete performance under the contract because of some unexpected event that’s not your fault, and that the contract didn’t make the risk of the unexpected event something you needed to shoulder, and performing the contract will be much more difficult or expensive now. For example, if Company A contracts to sell 20 barrels of its flour to Company B and a natural disaster wipes out Company A’s entire stock of flour before the sale can be completed, Company A might be able to have the contract ruled unenforceable on grounds of impossibility. M
“It’s expected that both (or all) parties to a contract have the ability to understand exactly what it is they are agreeing to.”
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Dealing with Anger at Work Anger is a complex human emotion that can cause problems anywhere in life, including the workplace. Deadlines, important meetings, and other stressful situations can all contribute to anger.
When anger is left unaddressed, people are more likely to be distracted, make mistakes, be apathetic toward their work, or hurt themselves or others. In its extreme form, anger can be a sign of your inability to calmly and rationally cope with the situations and events that make you feel uncomfortable. In turn, how you deal with your anger says a lot about you and your personality. More importantly, it can also have a grave impact on your quality of life. The more you let anger control your life, the more likely you are to drive away the people and opportunities that can enrich your life. Therefore, it is extremely important that anger in the workplace be addressed and resolved. “When anger is left unaddressed, people are more likely to be distracted, make mistakes, be apathetic toward their work, or hurt themselves or others.�
Anger typically comes in one of three forms: 1. Suppressed Anger: Many people are taught from childhood to withhold anger, believing that it is unacceptable to act on angry feelings. When the person denies or suppresses that he or she is angry, the anger can smolder. In addition, the person may refuse to communicate or talk about feelings, which can create a stressful work environment. People with suppressed anger may let out their anger in unhealthy ways, such as gossiping about coworkers or trying to isolate others. Suppressed anger should not be ignored. It can lead to harm for angry people and those around them. 2. Emotional Anger: Anger is often viewed as a powerful or masculine emotion. Sometimes when people are anxious, afraid, overwhelmed, or embarrassed, they might be more comfortable showing anger as opposed to vulnerability. This form of anger can usually be traced to specific triggers brought on by a person’s inability to cope with deep emotional distress. 3. Explosive Anger: Explosive anger is seen when a person blows up or blames others. Instead of working towards a solution, these people often yell and point fingers. Others tend to react to these types with more anger, which often worsens the situation.
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Dealing with Your Anger Once the immediate feeling of anger has subsided, the first thing you should do is try to find the root cause for your anger in the workplace. Are you really angry because you have a problem with a coworker’s behavior towards you or are you angry because of an argument with a loved one that occurred before arriving to work? Anger is a normal feeling, especially when people are stressed. However, extreme and frequent anger can be bad for your health and overall quality of life. It’s important to think about why you’re angry so you can find solutions and cope with the things that are making you upset. “Anger is a normal feeling, especially when people are stressed. However, extreme and frequent anger can be bad for your health and overall quality of life.”
Connect Constructively Once you are feeling calm and have identified the root of your anger, the next step is to approach the appropriate person and try to solve the problem. Be open to solutions and stick to facts, rather than opinions. Share your feelings but also be sure you listen to the person’s point of view as well. For instance, if a coworker fails to e-mail you an important part of a project, don’t say, “Don’t you care about anyone? You made us miss the deadline because you are so unorganized.” Instead, say, “I’m angry that I didn’t receive that important part of the project. How can we make sure this doesn’t happen again?” By using this technique, the person will feel less defensive and more willing to work toward the solution.
If you are angry about a situation that you can’t do anything to improve, don’t feel alone in your anger. Talk about your feelings with a trusted person and brainstorm potential coping mechanisms that will help you better handle the situation. “If you see others with explosive, emotional, or suppressed anger, don’t fuel the fire and react with more anger. Instead, listen to the person’s concerns without judgment and acknowledge their feelings.”
Dealing with Anger from Another If you see others with explosive, emotional, or suppressed anger, don’t fuel the fire and react with more anger. Instead, listen to the person’s concerns without judgment and acknowledge their feelings. Try to work with the person to find solutions. Lead by example and show the person how to deal with anger effectively. M
Spring 2015 Leadership 9
Build Communication Within Your Team In order to have a productive and successful team, effective communication is key. To encourage communication among your team members, follow these important tips. Check them off as you see them happening:
___ Have team members focus on cooperation and how each person can use his or her unique goals ___ Delegate duties so team members can make for the benefit of the entire group. decisions, set goals, and solve problems on their ___ Have the team meet for extracurricular activities own. or after-work get-togethers to help build ___ Reiterate the purpose of the team and have relationships. members contribute ideas on how to achieve the ___ Remind the team that each person’s position in team’s purpose. the team is just as important and essential as the ___ Make sure each team member knows what he or next person’s position. she is responsible for. ___ Lead by example: Demonstrate effective and ___ Keep an open, safe, and relaxed environment that genuine communication. helps individuals connect. ___ Mediate disputes between coworkers. Focus on ___ Encourage positive and negative feedback; if facts rather than personalities or opinions. feedback is negative, make it constructive and for ___ Praise individuals and the team for a job well done. the good of the entire team. ___ Meet with the team to define and review goals.
___ Schedule regular meetings and keep the meetings focused. Talk about important ideas and review information.
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Coaching: What Makes an Effective Coach? As a manager, supervisor, or team leader, you probably have valuable experience that can to be shared with your co-workers to create a more effective team. But experience alone won’t make you an effective coach. Below is a list of other tips and techniques that are important for you to learn in order to mentor and support your team well: • Recognize and develop your employees’ strengths
• Give clear reasons behind your decisions
• Look at your employees as partners who drive the success of your organization
• Set meetings to discuss workplace performance with each team member
• Set and model workplace performance
• Encourage your employees when they feel overwhelmed by or lost in their work
• Ask for ideas and listen to what your team • Provide notice to your employees in advance of the changes that are coming in your company members share • Give your employees recognition when they succeed
• Hold your team members accountable when they don’t meet organizational expectations
• Do your part to protect employees from harmful, on-the-job stress
• Build trust with your team members at every opportunity M • Remind everyone of their roles and responsibilities • Provide training opportunities and additional support programs • Give your team members the room to do their jobs • Define priorities and expectations for each employee • Understand that you’re a role model and can positively and negatively influence the workplace • Keep things said to you in confidence, except when such information is illegal
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A note to Supervisors... From time to time, situations arise when a supervisor is not sure how to respond to a particular behavior. The Employee Assistance Program is available on a 24/7 basis for consultation on issues such as: referring an employee to the EAP, how best to respond to and manage difficult behavior in the workplace, and whether training or some other form of group intervention (such as an organizational intervention or a conflict resolution) may be helpful for a particular situation. The EAP can serve as an ally to anyone who is working with a troubled employee.
• 24/7 supervisor consultation regarding problems in the workplace
• Assessment of behavioral risk on the job • Return-to-Duty conferences
• Advisory services in writing, revising, and implementing policies
• Supervisor and Manager training
• Unlimited formal Work Performance Referrals
• Coaching for management and leadership skills
• Conflict resolution for supervisor-employee problems
MINES believes that employees are an organization’s most valuable resource. Your EAP is always available to provide you and your employees with support.
The MINES Team
Questions? Reach us at 800.873.7138 | www.MINESandAssociates.com