Our organization recently hosted Cy Wakeman, HR pro extraordinaire, on her topic of how to Ditch the Drama and Drive Big Results. Of course, I had a scheduling conflict and missed it. After hearing the rave reviews, I did what I usually do: see if she has something online. Sure enough, she had given a similar talk at SXSW 2018. Here is below.
It is 54 minutes long, so not a TED talk, but FIND THE TIME. She has a ton of great ideas, great stories from her own life, and she tells it well. My favorite points:
- Ask a colleague who is having a melt-down: What does GREAT look like if you were at your best right now?
- Your brain has a toggle between VENTING and SELF-REFLECTION. You cannot do both at the same time. Asking a colleague who is venting to stop and think: “What is the best thing I could be doing (for my patient right now, or for the team right now)?” flips this switch.
Nicely put. Although I’m tempted to put this in front of my colleagues and my family (we so often blame others, when we have interpersonal trouble), I think I’ll watch this again and really absorb some lessons for myself.
There are echoes in her talk of “7 Habits of highly effective people” (seek first to understand before being understood) and “Crucial Conversations” (control your own stories) and “Good to Great” (Level 5 leaders), and “The Fred Factor” (change lives by building surprising relationships).
CMIO’s take? Listen, learn, apply to yourself FIRST even if tempted to force others to watch this. SO helpful.
