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Namaste. Take a Deep Breathe to Becoming Less Stressed and a Better Leader

If you’re not feeling a little stressed during this time in history, our hats are off. Here’s some help for the rest of us, and it can make you a better leader.

Enter the ancient practice of yoga.

The word “yoga” comes from a Sanskrit root “yuj,” which means union, or yoke, yoga brings together mind and body.

Backed by science, yogic practices offer a variety of mental and physical health benefits: reduce stress, enhance muscular strength and body flexibility, and can make you a better leader by increasing your calmness and focus.

It all starts with your breath. Here are five easy steps to experience yogic breathing:

  1. Sit on a blanket, mat, or the floor in Sukhansana or Easy Cross-Legged Pose. Straighten the spine and soften your shoulders.
  2. Place both or one hand over your navel so you can feel your breath.
  3. Take a slow, deep breath into your belly. Feel the abdomen and chest inflate like a balloon as you inhale, and deflate as you exhale slowly. Practice this for five breaths.
  4. Move your hand two to three inches above your navel to your rib cage. Feel the ribs expand as you inhale, and retract as you exhale.
  5. Place your hand below the collarbone, at the center of your chest, and inhale. Feel the chest open as you breathe in, and withdraw on an exhale. Practice this for five breaths

When Steve Jobs passed away, friends and family attending his funeral received a small gift from the late tech genius: Autobiography of a Yogi, a book focused on the ‘ancient science of Yoga and its time-honored tradition of meditation.”

Like the late Jobs, more and more leaders are adopting this kind of mindfulness into their lives with great results.

If you’re not ready to head to your local yoga studio and want to explore a yoga practice at home, check out Yoga with Adriene. Her YouTube channel is full of sun salutations designed to meet all levels and time constraints. The return on your yoga practice could help your leadership skills grow.

Returning to Office Life

As lockdown restrictions ease and the world attempts to re-open, some companies are prepping to transition back to the workplace, which raises a common question: do employees want to return to office life. 

 

Covid-19 has forever transformed the psychology of the American workplace. Gallup Panel findings indicate that 54% of U.S. adults believe the disruptions caused by Covid-19 will last for the rest of 2020 and beyond. 

 

Recent research found that over half of workers are afraid to go back to work due to the risk of exposure and are concerned about the safety measures in place for workers upon returning to the office, with a lack of communication on their employer’s strategy contributing to the unease. 

 

A great place to gauge how employees feel about a return is to take a holistic approach in caring for your employees. Gather employee feedback before communicating a strategy. Managers should ask employees about their needs and the demands they’re facing outside of work. With that broad perspective, managers can better support each employee’s long-term wellbeing and engagement. 

 

Most state re-opening plans have phases, take a similar approach with your return-to-work transition plan, and make sure it’s communicated clearly. 

 

You can start by only bringing back the staff that you need, in shifts. Implement new office rules, like mandatory face coverings, a regular supply of hand sanitizer, extra sanitization procedures, and health checks provided to employees regularly. 

 

Whether an organization sends everyone back to the office or sticks with a partial or complete work-from-home workforce, business leaders need to make sure the technology infrastructure is in place to support the modern digital workplace. 

 

One trend undoubtedly here to stay is a more relaxed approach to working from home. In the future, there’s now an expectation for businesses to have flexible-working policies in place with more employees opting to stay remote. Leaders can create a more supportive, engaging work environment by accommodating employees’ desire for flexibility. 

 

During this transition period, organizations can build trust with their employees and show that they prioritize their physical and mental safety. Companies that strategically provide freedom and flexibility to employees can help employees thrive and, in turn, stoke performance. 

 

There’s still a lot of uncertainty as we transition to a post-pandemic world; one thing remains constant; the heart of any organization is its people. 

Creativity and Taking Breaks

So here’s the scenario: you are asked to solve two problems that require creative thinking. What approach do you take to get the best results?

  • Break up the time in two separate intervals, solve one problem, and ultimately move onto the second.
  • At regular, predetermined intervals alternate between the two problems.
  • Or ping pong between the two problems at your discretion.

Harvard Business Review posed this scenario to hundreds of people and found that most would choose to switch between the two problems at their discretion.

But if coming up with creative answers, is your goal, this approach, according to their research, may produce less desirable results.

Here’s why: When attempting problems that require creativity, we often reach a dead creative end without realizing it. Their research found that regularly switching back and forth between two tasks at a set interval can reset your thinking, enabling you to approach each task from fresh angles and creativity. Other studies have found that brief breaks during idea generation can increase creativity and the variety of ideas generated.

Try it out! The next time you’re working on tasks that require some creative thinking, consciously insert breaks at regular intervals. Remember, if you’re hesitant to break away because you feel like you’re in the zone, be mindful that it might be a false impression.

Take breaks, your creative juices will thank you.

 

 

 

5 Lessons on Success from Michael Jordan in ‘The Last Dance’

Michael Jordan’s epic career is a master class on the mindset necessary to achieve extraordinary success. ESPN’s sports documentary miniseries, The Last Dance, dives deeply into the mindset of the legendary Michael Jordan and the championship Chicago Bulls teams that he led.

The series didn’t just resonate with sports fans; many wore their Air Jordans the Nike signature shoe while watching (not naming any names here); it is also full of vital lessons on success. Here are our top five takeaways from the show:

Success requires total and complete dedication to your craft.
It becomes apparent early on in the series that while Michael Jordan has incredible athletic ability, he improved dramatically throughout his career. Even after winning a national championship with North Carolina, being named the NBA Rookie of the year, and reaching the NBA finals, Jordan always wanted more and was willing to do whatever it took to improve. One example: when the Bulls were eliminated from the NBA Championships by the Detroit Pistons, Jordan immediately went to the gym instead of taking a vacation and put on 15 pounds of muscle in the off-season. His teammates followed his lead.

To be successful, you need this same constant drive for improvement. Jordan could have been complacent with all he had achieved at that point in his career, but instead, he went back to work. Growing complacent or settling not allows others to catch up and eventually surpass you but limits your potential.

Team First
In his early years, Michael Jordan focused heavily on his play. It got him a high stat line, but he couldn’t cross that threshold to win a championship. Ultimately, Jordan realized that achieving team success was the only way he would be considered the greatest of all time. When Jordan set aside his ego, and the Bulls emphasized teamwork over dominance by one superstar, the real magic happened.

No matter how much of a superstar you are, you can never do it alone. Success for any leader depends on the ability to surround yourself with team players you trust to take the last shot.

Be Willing to Push Others Around You
One theory on why it took over 20 years to release this documentary was that it showcased how Michael Jordan treated his teammates. He wasn’t always the most approachable, friendliest, or most understanding leader. He expected his teammates to perform at their personal highest level, the same standard he held himself. Jordan pushed his teammates out of their comfort zones, even if they didn’t like it.

The same lessons apply to leaders. Influential leaders know how to challenge those around them to become the best versions of themselves. It wasn’t always pleasant, but Jordan forced his teammates to accomplish more collectively.

Know When to Take a Break
At the height of his career, Jordan walked away from basketball and turned to his first love, baseball. Even the greatest basketball player of all time needed to take a break.

Burnout can be personally or professionally ruinous if you don’t listen to your body and take time off when needed.

The Mindset of a Champion
As physically gifted as his body was, the secret weapon Michael Jordan possessed was his mind. Nobody in the world could compete with him. He believed he was the best and committed to the idea that he would overcome all competitors.

Leaders and entrepreneurs require that same tenacious mindset to grow companies and achieve success. What separates the best from the rest of the crowd is that commitment and unflappable belief in themselves, their mission, and organization.

 

Tech Companies Move to Work from Home Permanently

As states begin the reopening process, most companies are evaluating their work from home policies. Many big-tech companies are leading the way in assuring employees they can work from home until the coronavirus clears up. 

 

Google has extended its work from home limit for the remainder of 2020. Those employees who need to return to the office would be able to do so in June or July, with specific safety measures. Contrary to its original plan in April, where Google told employees it was extending work from home to June 1 and planned to “stagger” a return to the office. 

 

Facebook, CEO Mark Zuckerberg, told employees that the company had updated its remote working policy to allow most of them to work from home permanently. However, offices will reopen on July 6 after the Independence Day long weekend for those who need to return. The company will also begin taking job applications for remote positions later this year and start allowing most of its employees to request a permanent change in their jobs to remote work.  

 

The social media giant has more than 48,000 employees working in 70 offices worldwide, is the largest company yet to move aggressively into remote work in the wake of the pandemic.

 

Zuckerberg said in a live stream on his personal page this week that he guesses as much as 50 percent of the company workforce could be working entirely remotely in the next five to 10 years. 

 

“The reality is that I don’t think it’s going to be that we wake up one day on January 1, and nobody has any more concerns about this,” said Zuckerberg on the live stream about the lasting impact of Covid-19 on office employees. Zuckerberg went on to lay out immediate and gradual shifts the company will be making to how it manages and hires new workers.

 

The announcement comes after Twitter announced it would allow its entire workforce to permanently work remotely, along with other tech companies like Shopify and Coinbase. Up the West Coast, Amazon headquartered in Seattle, currently allows corporate employees to work remotely until at least October, the company said earlier this month.

 

Still, many questions remain about the shift to remote work. Will collaboration be the same? What about the perks and the lure of a modern campus? What about diversity and inclusion? 

 

One sure thing; these moves illustrate how swiftly the COVID-19 pandemic is reshaping the global economy and will be a part of the American landscape for the foreseeable future.  

Not sure which direction to go in regards to letting employees going back to the office? Contact our HR experts to help guide you.

Record Spike in Demand and Pay for Nurses

If there wasn’t already a demand for nurses, the Covid-19 pandemic has created a critical nationwide call. The highly skilled are earning record compensation. INNOVA people have crisis response and permanent positions available throughout the country with a range in contract lengths. Log in to view salaries and hospitals or contact us today.

Hospitals need your help now!

The average weekly pay for Registered Nurse (RN) jobs was $1,700 nationwide in January 2020. As of March 2020, the average salary for COVID-19 related RN jobs jumped to over $3,000 – with specific locations and specialties seeing increases even higher than 100 percent.

In California, there was more than a 60 percent increase in average weekly pay, while the state of Washington saw more than a 90 percent increase in the same timeframe for RN jobs.

Roles that are currently in high demand are Staffing at Intensive Care Units (ICUs), emergency departments (EDs), and nurses who specialize in Infection Control.

At INNOVA People, our clinicians are our heroes every day. We’re focused on you and your future.  Talk to a recruiter today to streamline what your vision is for your future employment.