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Category: Personal Development

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Career Development Personal Development Professional Development

February is supposed to be a month of love…how about loving your work life?

Welcome to February! The coldest month of the year and the month when we are bombarded by the idea of romantic love and all the happiness that is supposed to come from fulfilling relationships. Yeah, I’m not going there.

February should be a month of love but one devoted to the love of self, love of work, and love of life!

With 2017 in full swing, and many resolutions are already broken, it is time to (using a political term from last year’s debates) pivot our self-talk.

Start by asking yourself some hard questions. Do you like your job? Do you like the people you work with, either your staff, co-workers, or managers?  (Heck, do you show up to work in a way that lets them like you?) Do you feel you are doing your best work and making progress in your life and your career?

So many people plod along, day after day, unhappy. I’m not talking about ‘misery can’t get out of bed’ unhappy. Rather, underwhelmed and disappointed. No one is expecting anyone to jump up and down about work, every single day. But wouldn’t it be nice to feel a sense of pride and accomplishment in your work?

Think back to the start of your current job/position. There must have been something about it that excited you or you wouldn’t have accepted the role. If your job has changed or the people around you have changed, there isn’t much you can do to control that. But what CAN you change?

Make a wish list, and go crazy with it! Write down that you want to run the company and fix everything. Then have a laugh and list the two or three, or even ten habits, procedures, or relationships that you can change and make a plan.

That plan may require training, enlisting the help of others, or being brave. Just imagine how you will feel if you make those changes and improve your outlook on your work and your career!

Then do the same exercise but pretend that your career and life are the company that you want to run and fix.  What do you want to do differently?  What do you want to do more?  Do less?  If this was your last year, what would you do to make it your best?

Now that would truly be something to love!

Wise Words Newsletter’s read the rest of the February newsletter here!

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Business Skills Training Career Development Corporate Teams Diversity Training Effective Communication Leadership Development Leadership Skills Personal Development Professional Development Wise Ways Consulting

PTSD in the Washington Region – Hidden in Plain Sight

PTSD Wise Ways Consulting
Depressed Female Soldier In Uniform Suffering With PTSD Sitting On Kitchen Floor On Home Leave

Living in the National Capitol Region, we share the area with many military installations and service members. Americans pride themselves on supporting the military. People rally around the returning troops, attend fundraisers to help support individuals, brave freezing December temperatures to lay wreaths at military cemeteries, and countless other opportunities to show their gratitude. Some even come together to build homes for those who have sustained more severe injuries that require building accommodations for prosthetics, wheelchairs, and other mobility-enhancing devices.

But what about those soldiers, men, and women, who carry silent burdens? Many look the same but suffer the natural consequences of Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD). According to a study by the RAND Corporation, at least 20 percent of service members returning from the recent wars in Iraq and Afghanistan suffer from depression, PTSD, or both. Military counselors estimate those numbers to be higher, especially when coupled with a TBI or traumatic brain injury.

As veterans transition into a civilian work environment, both themselves and their employers must understand how PTSD may impact everyone. They must work together to develop solutions so both the company and the veteran have the best chance at creating a successful work environment for all. According to 2012 research from Babbel, PTSD can impact veterans in many ways including memory loss, which can impact those struggling to learn new tasks on new jobs or function in meetings; lack of concentration; stress, including panic attacks, flashbacks, and emotional extremes resulting in the potential inability to work well with colleagues and managers; and hypersensitivity to sounds, lights, large crowds, and unknown areas resulting in headaches, migraines and panic attacks. Many veterans may not be used to the traditional work structure as compared with the military rank structure. This can cause stress and frustration as the employee works to forge a new path. For someone suffering from PTSD-induced memory loss, being unable to remember how to do that basic task explained earlier in the day may cause the individual to become overwhelmed and then lash out and blame a colleague or a supervisor. These types of negative responses can impede the development of relationships and workplace morale, particularly if other employees don’t understand that the incident isn’t about them. As the tension comes to light, it’s important to identify the root cause. Is it coming from one of the identified symptoms of PTSD? Supporting Individuals with PTSD in the workplace

  • Create a safe place to ask questions and work together
  • Bring in a trained facilitator/consultant to work with both management and veterans to better
    understand issues and then develop solutions
  • Develop written procedures, meeting notes, and training manuals so employees can refer back if they
    missed something at a session or need additional refreshers
  • Have published calendars for team tasks so individuals can refer to these privately
  • Provide access to alternate/softer lighting in workspaces
  • Initiate organization-wide strategies for managing stress
  • Set aside money for additional training for new members
  • Provide disability training to all team members

A solid relationship between employees and managers is critical for a productive workplace. This may be difficult for a veteran suffering from PTSD, working for a manager with little to no awareness of their background. Just like any employee, if the manager exhibits a lack of empathy for the individual’s situation, it becomes more difficult for the employee to be successful. This is magnified for someone struggling with PTSD.

Transitioning into a new workplace is difficult for anyone, but for those who bear the biggest burden for our freedoms, the task can seem impossible. If everyone did their part, the difference would be immeasurable.

This article was initially published in Prince William Living Magazine.
Categories
Goal Setting Leadership Development Leadership Skills Personal Development Professional Development

Set Your Sights Right for 2017

The national mood in 2016 has been the subject of a lot of writing. Even more difficult to forecast is right here in Northern Virginia. Will it be a boom or a bust? people worry amid the concern for locals who work for the federal government or its contractors directly. Will the Metro still securely transport us to and from work? How will tolls on Route 66 change? As we wait to see how our lives and livelihoods will alter, we are nearly holding our breath.

Remember to celebrate 2016’s triumphs as you turn the calendar from December to January and sigh with relief that it’s a new year.

The last 32 months have seen solid employment growth in Virginia.
According to Long & Foster Real Estate, Inc., the median price of a home in Prince William County climbed by 4% in 2016.

Both personally and professionally, there is room for development and opportunity in our neighborhood. Your success in 2017 will depend on how you set your goals.

Instead of looking back on the year and wondering, “Why didn’t I do that?”

Look at the steps you took to implement the change you wanted to see. (Insert the item that was on the list from the previous year.) Decide what worked well. Then take into account a few of these suggestions to kick off 2017:

Find a mentor, executive coach, or professional organization.
Attend networking and career-related events.
Enroll in a webinar online in your field.
Even if you are not seeking a job, update your resume.
Try to improve your health little by little.
Recruit relatives or friends as a support system to help you stay on track.
Obtain enough rest.

According to studies, writing down precise goals increases success more than simply thinking about them. Make sure to record yours.

Remember that taking action is the only way to bring about change and growth in 2017. Your own objectives won’t materialize immediately. It might take a full year longer.

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Corporate Teams Effective Communication EQ-i 2.0 Leadership Development Leadership Skills Personal Development Professional Development

Communicating from Our Corners

Election month, November is finally here. The political vitriol and hate speech will stop (hopefully). With internet jokes, pundit reports, and social media shouting at us in a never-ending cycle, it’s difficult to tune it out. I’m your neighbor from up north, and I think a lot of it is a communication issue. The United States has genuinely stopped listening and talking as a country.

Let’s examine the previous several months and how we got here.

Republicans came first, but only because of the order of their convention.

Ted Cruz declined to support Trump. For the purposes of this conversation, it doesn’t matter if you loved or supported him. What counts is that a group of people booed him, engaging in improper behavior of their own. This shows how strongly they felt about his message. Delegates then began to abuse him on the convention floor, calling him a traitor and other derogatory terms.

The Bernie or Bust Democrats followed suit a week later. Even after their candidate endorsed the opposing candidate, they refused to accept it and continued to spew hate speech.

then the debates would follow. I listened to a stammering Donald Trump ramble about, I don’t know, anything. I could share some advice with him about how to interact with a crowd as a leadership development expert. Hillary made a sincere effort to connect with the audience despite her worries about her ability to do so. She has been portrayed in the past three weeks’ worth of Saturday Night Live sketches.

Then came a series of one-liners from both Hillary Clinton and Donald Trump, including references to “Nasty Woman” and “Basket of Deplorables.”

Including the allegations of sexual misconduct, Wikileaks, remarks concerning the involvement of other countries, and so forth. We are impatiently waiting to exit the crazy Ferris wheel that is spinning nonstop.

One of the things that make the United States a nation full of ideas and opportunities is the freedom to protest and inquire. But somewhere along the line, people lost the ability to sympathize, compromise, listen, and act rationally rather than emotionally. They have retreated even further into their corners.

Do you stand in a corner and stare out? Have any of the following crossed your mind or lips?
– Because I despise candidate B, I’m going to vote for candidate A. I won’t be casting a vote at all. I wholeheartedly agree with what my candidate says. Everything the other candidate says is unquestionably false. Never support Trump! Never Hillary, I say!

If you answered yes to any of them, you’re probably in a tight spot politically.

What would happen if you declared that you would never collaborate with a person in your office or on your team? What would happen if you were asked to present evidence and information regarding a project to aid in solving a dispute but you objected, claiming the opposing side was incorrect? What would you say if a worker approached you and said, “Never”? There is a good chance that HR would receive a call.

This lack of leadership results from no one paying attention, making concessions, or showing empathy. Booing someone is simple. Finding a solution to a problem and shaking hands is more difficult.

We all have our own niches, but it’s important to identify when we start to attract less attention since all we do is boo. This is when we become the “Never.” And when we turn into the “Never,” we must understand the effect that has on other people.

What do you perceive from your position as a leader? Do you simply perceive things from your own point of view? Or can you move around the room and experience it from someone else’s perspective? Do you anticipate that everyone on your team and throughout the company will adopt your point of view? Or can you see that sometimes being a part of something bigger than yourself requires sacrificing your personal needs and ambitions in order to realize the wider picture? In my book, How Not to Act Like a BLEEP at Work, I discuss how empathy and perspective-taking are crucial for fostering teamwork. Although it’s not always simple, achieving an organization’s objective and the bottom line is essential to its success.

As an individual leader and a part of your professional and personal communities, I encourage you to turn around and look at things from a different angle. You are not required to alter your opinions. But maybe, just maybe, you can work out a compromise. Your efforts to try and meet individuals where they are will be noticed by your team, and your business will benefit as a result.

Also, don’t forget to use your voting rights!

Read the remainder of the November newsletter at Wise Words here!

Categories
Effective Communication Personal Development Professional Development Training

The Important Role of the Right “Q” in the Workplace

As leaders, one way we make predictions about potential success is through IQ, intelligence testing. First developed in the early 1900s, these tests have become standard tools for the military, school placement, and human resource departments. But what do these tests measure or really predict? If you took the SAT as part of your college entrance application, and didn’t do well, but still graduated with top honors from a university, you experienced first-hand that human intelligence cannot and should not be bound by a number.

If we simply ignore IQ and build our teams with a balance of race, gender, class, and culture that would be what many experts tout as a diversified workforce. But putting diversity aside for a moment, we still have to remember that each person, regardless of his or her diversity, is unique. Each person has experiences, a personality, and abilities. Hiring managers and teams still need to make personnel decisions based on traits and abilities that do not always include technical abilities.

In my book, How Not to Act Like a BLEEP at Work, the protagonist, Louise Jackson is a technically astute middle manager who has inherited a diverse team. She’s annoyed by their personal problems, and their need to share the ups and downs of their client interactions, and fails to see how she is losing control of her project. She suffers from a lack of interpersonal skills, particularly empathy. She is sent to work with a mentor with the dark cloud hanging over her head and unless there is improvement in her leadership and team, she’ll be looking for a new job. She confides in her mentor that, Some people at this company are just too thin-skinned. They expect you to worry about their feelings and what is going on with them outside of the office. This is work, for goodness sake. You come here to get the job done.

Lou needs to learn about EQ or emotional intelligence.

What is EQ?
Emotional Intelligence is arguably a more critical element of success than IQ in determining a cohesive productive team in the workplace.  The Encyclopedia of Applied Psychology lists three major models of emotional intelligence, Mayer-Salovey, Daniel Goleman, and Reuven Bar-On.  The Mayer-Salovey model defines this as the ability to perceive, understand, manage and use emotions to facilitate thinking.  The Goleman model views EQ as an assortment of emotional and social competencies that contribute to successful managerial performance and leadership.  The Bar-On model describes EQ as an array of interrelated emotional and social competencies, skills, and behaviors that impact intelligent behavior.

There are five composites of Emotional Intelligence that makeup the Bar-Ons EQ-I 2.0 model; self-perception, self-expression, interpersonal, decision-making, and stress management.  Arguably, the most important for successful leadership is interpersonal skills. Healthy engagement with these proficiencies allows you to understand, connect and relate better with others and become more successful in positions that require social connection and esprit de corps.

Yet many leaders bristle at the use of the term empathy. Some find it difficult to care about things outside of the production of work, but as the workforce becomes more diversified, empathy and EQ skills are essential for success.

Why is Emotional Intelligence Important in the Workplace?
You hear the term company culture thrown around frequently in modern organizations. Any research on values and goals tells you that when values and goals align in the workplace, organizations are more successful.

From a management standpoint, if you are working at cross-purposes with your employees, your productivity will be stunted. It may be easier to quantify and calibrate technical skills but the behavioral skills found within EQ fuel the growth of your business.

Organizations can benefit from bringing in a knowledgeable consultant to facilitate EQ growth by utilizing assessments such as EQ-i 2.0 and EQ360 to evaluate emotional intelligence in management, employees, and teams. From there, an interactive program to work with individuals and teams will cultivate valuable resources to improve effective communication. In the case of my struggling protagonist, Lou, she participates a formal mentoring program. Through stories, I show how she learns how to work with her team and increase organizational productivity. Those strategies will work for the real characters in our offices too!

Wise Words Newsletter” read the rest of the October newsletter here!

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Effective Communication Personal Development Professional Development

Reality TV – What is it Doing to Society?

Reality television….what is it doing to us as a society?  Does it lead to behavioral changes in a workforce?   Recently I read that one of the contestants on The Bachelorette knew he was entering the game not wanting to win.  His goal seemed to be to grab a couple of minutes of fame regardless of the impact of his behavior on those around him.  He openly admitted he wasn’t attracted to the main character, that he had no intention of being with her and could basically care less.  Assuming that all involved were there with the same good intentions, she was reduced to tears and experienced much misery as a result.

Is this what we have been reduced to?  Have we become a society where people intentionally set out to hurt others in order for their own gain?  And what about those who are watching this and enjoying it?  Others have resorted to calling out that the woman in question ‘asked for it’ by being gullible or stupid.   What causes people to progress down this path of deteriorating human behavior?

Within the workplace, what about those who intentionally throw their colleagues under the proverbial bus?  What is to be gained by this?  More and more, it appears that people have become almost incapable of choosing the mature and respectful option of having a face-to-face conversation using non-accusatory language and employing the skills of active listening.  When we already know it does not work, why do people resort to playing passive-aggressive?

If Hollywood were to make a reality TV show about your workplace, what it would be called?  What role would you play?  Would you be denigrating others while looking for your two minutes of fame?  Or would you be focusing on developing existing relationships while achieving your organization’s mission?

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Business Skills Training Personal Development

Balancing Your Professional and Personal Life

On a practical level, it is easy to see that both your professional life and personal life go hand in hand in the everyday balancing act that makes up your existence. In reality, there are five areas of life successful individuals are constantly striving to keep in balance, work, mind, body, relationships, and spirituality.

When one aspect of your life is thrown off, it can easily and detrimentally impact other aspects.

Each Aspect of Our Life Plays Upon One Another

  • Work is what feeds our careers and professional achievements. Being successful in our work life helps bring rewards our way. These rewards may include money, notoriety, mental stimulation, or something else that fuels our personal lives and further develops our self-esteem.
  • Mind deals with the desire and ability to learn, grow, and change. This is an important aspect of both our work and personal lives.
  • Body is the aspect of our lives that deals with our physical health and well-being. This is often one of the first balls to drop as our calendars fill up and we begin to feel torn in multiple directions.
  • Relationships include not only friends and family but also our co-workers and colleagues. When relationships at work are out of balance, this can often spill over into how we interact with colleagues and vice versa.
  • Spirituality or responding from a place of integrity or centeredness can be seen as the glue that brings it all together. It is this aspect that makes up our conscience as well as the principles, and values that govern both our personal and professional lives.

Bryan Dyson, former vice chairman and COO of Coca Cola says, “Imagine life as a game in which you are juggling some five balls in the air. You name them, work, family, health, friends, and spirit, and you’re keeping all of these in the air. You will soon understand that work is a rubber ball. If you drop it, it will bounce back. But the other four balls, family, health, friends, and spirit are made of glass. If you drop one of these it will be irrevocably scuffed, marked, nicked, damaged, or even shattered. They will never be the same. You must understand that and strive for balance in your life”.

How Do You Handle Things When They Get Out of Balance?

Recognize Your Patterns
One step toward regaining your footing is to identify the patterns that you are inclined to repeat when your balance begins to falter. Do you shut down? Do you explode? Do you react in a knee-jerk fashion or do you take the time to respond from a place of authenticity? How do you handle stress? Do you retreat into a different area of your life versus working on the aspect that has fallen out of balance?

Pullback and Regroup
Once you pinpoint your patterns, it is time to sit back and take stock of the various areas of your life and regroup. The sooner lack of balance is identified, the easier it will be to save other areas of life. Lack of balance in one area of life easily bleeds over into another. To prevent harm that may be difficult to recover from, take time to sit and breathe. Then from a place of centeredness, reassess the situation and identify a plan to move forward. Sometimes the best course of action at that time may be to not respond; other times the situation will require more immediate action. This will help formulate an action plan versus reacting without intent. An action plan helps minimize the effect on other aspects of your life.

Respond From a Centered Place of Thinking and Reflection
When you identify your patterns and give yourself permission to pull back and regroup, you can respond from a more centered and authentic place.

As you practice these suggestions when you feel your life is out of balance, it will help cushion the other areas of your life.

Categories
Career Development Effective Communication Leadership Development Leadership Skills Leadership Training Personal Development Professional Development

Are you a reason, a season, or a lifetime?

So here we are again in December.  The time when we reflect and take stock of all that we’ve accomplished or in some cases, not accomplished.  Heck, sometimes it is even difficult to find time during the holiday season to sit still and breathe, let alone reflect!

What did you set out to accomplish in 2016?  But, before you harangue yourself for not finishing everything, think about your year beyond your list of goals.

I’ve always found this poem to be poignant; given that we are nearing the end of the calendar year.

 People always come into your life for a reason, a season, or a lifetime.
 When you figure out which it is, you know exactly what to do.

 When someone is in your life for a REASON,
 It is usually to meet a need you have expressed outwardly or inwardly.
 They have come to assist you through a difficulty,
Or to provide you with guidance and support,
To aid you physically, emotionally, or even spiritually.

They may seem like a godsend to you, and they are.
They are there for the reason you need them to be.
Then, without any wrongdoing on your part or at an inconvenient time,
This person will say or do something to bring the relationship to an end.

Sometimes they die. Sometimes they just walk away.
Sometimes they act up and force you to take a stand.
What we must realize is that our need has been met, and our desire fulfilled; their work is done.
The prayer you sent up has been answered and it is now time to move on.

When people come into your life for a SEASON,
It is because your turn has come to share, grow, or learn.
They may bring you an experience of peace or make you laugh.
They may teach you something you have never done.

They usually give you an unbelievable amount of joy.
Believe it! It is real! But, only for a season.
And like Spring turns to Summer and Summer to Fall,
The season eventually ends.

LIFETIME relationships teach you lifetime lessons;
Those things you must build upon to have a solid emotional foundation.
Your job is to accept the lesson, love the person anyway;
And put what you have learned to use in all other relationships and areas in your life.

It is said that love is blind but friendship is clairvoyant.
Thank you for being part of my life,
Whether you were a reason, a season, or a lifetime

Consider the people in your circles at work and social.  Who were/are the reason, people?  What lessons did you learn?  How did you grow?

Who are the season individuals?  What experiences did they bring for you that brought joy?  When the reason and season people in your life moved on, were you able to accept that it was time and think about the growth in your life?

Who are the lifetime folks?  What are you doing to learn from those individuals?

Relationships are not meant to be one-sided.  Think also about your influence on the lives of others.  Who have you represented to them?  Have you been released from a relationship along your journey?  What did you bring to the space that you shared?

At work, if you are a manager/leader you can extend that idea to new employees, new clients, and new upper management.  If you have hired someone for a job you can extend that to the consultants, new customers, and customers you may have lost.

If you are a team member, you can extend that to your boss, co-worker, and the idea that 2017 is the time for a change.  Maybe it’s time for you to push for a promotion, get/finish a degree, or even a new job.

As you move forward into 2017, consider how you will ‘show up’ to those in your life.  Take steps to ensure that you are bringing your authentic self, both in the workplace and in life in general.

To those of you celebrating holidays in the next few weeks, enjoy!

All the best, see you in January!

Categories
Goal Setting Personal Development Professional Development

As the Year Comes to a Close, Are YOU Meeting Your Goals?

With 2015 nearly upon us, New Years’ Resolutions swim in our heads as we prepare to have a “better” year than the last. Often times though, many individuals do not take the time to do a critical analysis of the past, present, and future goals in order to properly set themselves on a path of change and growth. This can be felt both in their personal development and professional development.

Studies show that people who put pen to paper and write down their specific goals tend to be more successful at accomplishing whatever they set out to achieve versus those who do not write them down and are not detailed in their goal setting.

Our personal goals tend to be things like gaining a promotion, losing weight, getting into shape, getting finances under control, meeting someone, and so on. While these are great goals, they need to be quantified and put into manageable perspective. This often cannot happen unless you take stock of where you are and where you want to be. This is doubly true for professional goals. Critical analysis is an important aspect of getting your professional goals in line for growth and improvement.

Goal setting is not a set-it-and-forget-it type of activity. Look at goal setting as an ongoing process of improvement and change. Ask yourself hard questions like “Where do I want to be in a year, or in five years. How does my life look to me now and what steps do I need to make in order to achieve these goals?” These same questions can be applied to professional goals – it is important to ask yourself the difficult questions in order to identify and quantify your goals.

From a business standpoint, here are a few questions that will help you take stock of your current job performance and formulating goals.

As a leader, how do you assess your own performance and make changes?
As a leader it is important to provide tools and programs to assess not only your own skills and performance, but also those of the rest of your team. When you use assessments like EQ360 and EQ-i 2.0 to assess emotional intelligence and consult with an expert to put together an interactive program to improve professional performance and growth, you are setting up not only yourself, but your entire team for success in the coming year.

Do you take the time to review your personal and professional performance goals?
Improving goal setting skills and putting together a consistent review process whereby you are constantly reevaluating goals and readjusting them to fit your reality is paramount to successful progressive growth, both with personal development and professional development. Implementing a goal setting skills training program in the workplace will set each and every team member up for success. Goals cannot be static. Goals are a constant compass that need referencing throughout the year in order to stay on the correct path.

How do you garner honest feedback on your performance as a leader or manager?
Opening the lines of communication between all members of an organization is key to individual professional growth and the growth of a team. How can you set goals if you do not have a reference point on how you are doing? There are many different ways to ask for feedback from your peers, managers, and employees. Take a walk and talk, send an office survey, “feed forward”, or schedule regular one-on-one meetings – these are just a few ways to receive honest feedback. Here are some great ideas from SmartBlogs.

What do you do with that feedback?
Once you receive feedback, decide how you are going to incorporate this into a program to improve your performance and grow in your role within the organization. Use feedback to help map out your own goals.

Goal setting is an important part of personal and professional growth. It is essential to be able to assess where you are to see where you are going. Let us know if we can help you improve your performance and fulfill your goals in 2015.

Categories
Effective Communication Personal Development

The Impact of Tragedy

“If each man or woman could understand that every other human life is as full of sorrows, or joys, or base temptations, of heartaches and of remorse as his own…how much kinder, how much gentler he would be.” – William Allen White

As the images of the horrendous tragedy in Japan continue to bombard us on the various news channels, I am struck by the humanity with which the Japanese people continue to treat each other. I see this not only in the absence of looting but also in the manner in which they look out for each other and share the dwindling food supplies. There is no rush to get the very last morsel for oneself; rather people look to their neighbors on either side to ensure that each person has a share of the offerings.

One particular image on the news has become etched in my mind, that of a group of terrified people running up the hill to safety from the rapidly approaching tsunami. Within the group were a few who were desperately trying to carry others who appeared unable to walk. The waves rushed at them and although those ahead were clearly able to make it up the hill on their own, they turned and went back to try and ensure that the others made it to safety as well. That type of selflessness is an example of true humanity.

How will this tragedy change the way that each of us conducts our daily lives? Will we take the time to communicate with our family, friends, colleagues, and strangers in a way that shows we care about each other? Will we look them in the eyes and use words that indicate we truly heard what they were saying and recognized the importance their situation played in their lives?

Will we make the time to smile and say hello to a co-worker or client who looks like they are having one of those days? Will we even notice they’re having a bad day or will we just continue to avert our eyes and push past our offices so we can ‘take care of those files and get out of here’, all the while complaining our way down the freeway?
I viewed a segment about one particular survivor, an elderly gentleman who had lost his entire family: his wife, his sons, and all of his grandchildren. Yet despite the immeasurable grief in his heart, he still had the spirit and compassion to work with the rest of the search teams to look for possible survivors.

Considering that, it makes the traffic on ’95 seem pretty inconsequential.

So I ask you to consider – how will this tragedy impact you and how you communicate with others.

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