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Tiff Tamer This week's trek is inspired by Drs. John and Julie Gottman's research at The Gottman Institute on the mathematics and psychology of relationship building. Do you ever feel underwhelmed by your partner, co-worker, or family member? The Gottmans' research has shown that not feeling so jazzed about someone you spend a lot of time with is totally normal. However, when you are feeling a lot of conflict brewing between you and a close friend, partner, or family member it can be helpful to take a time out to promote admiration for one another. Introducing Your Tiff Tamer Exercise What It Is A 15-minute exercise for you and your partner to tame a cycle of tiffs by creating more room for appreciation in your relationship. Why We Love It  Every now and then we find ourselves in constant conflict with another person - a loved one, a co-worker, or a partner. When this happens it is easy to just write that person off as negative or incapable of doing anything right. This exercise provides an opportunity to take a step back and reconnect with the things you truly appreciate about each other so you can see more sides of that person beyond what's present during conflicts.  How It Works 1. Take 5 minutes with a significant other, co-worker, or family member to review this adjective list from the Gottman Institute. As you review, circle three adjectives that best describe your exercise partner. Have your him/her do the same for you. 2. Now, for each item you circled think of a specific moment where your exercise partner displayed that specific characteristic. Give yourself a minute to recall what they did and said and how that made you feel. 3. Take 5 more minutes and share what you wrote down with your exercise partner. Give them an opportunity to do the same.  Source: The Gottman Institute Want to dig deeper into this topic? For tips on how to make both professional and personal relationships work, read this from HBR. To learn about the 5 biggest working relationship mistakes people make, read this from FastCo. To learn about the characteristics of people who build really strong relationships, read this from Inc. Have a favorite trek?  Hit us up at treks@lifetrekkers.me and tell us which one you liked and what you learned! Here's what your fellow trekkers have to say about past treks: "The 'mindful meals' trek was one of my favorites. It started with one meal, but I've found myself focusing more intently on almost everything I've eaten since. - Ev Boyle, Executive Director, LA-tech.org Tweet Tweet Email Us Learn More Copyright © 2018 LifeTrekkers, All rights reserved. Want more information? Drop us a line at info@lifetrekkers.me. Want to change how you receive these emails? You can unsubscribe from this list.

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Dream Team This week's trek is inspired by Suzanne Johnson Vickberg and Kim Christfort's work on building good team chemistry. Are there days when you feel like the last thing your team would ever do is hug it out? Every team has ups and downs but when chronic conflict plagues a team even the most basic tasks can be hard to accomplish. Vickberg and Christfort would argue that critical to building a high functioning team is the ability to tap into every working style, not just the most dominant. Introducing Your Dream Team Exercise What It Is A 20-minute exercise to help you better understand the dynamics that might be making it hard to work well as a team. Why We Love It  We all have those moments when we wish we could make it easier to work as a team. This exercise helps you identify the most common working styles that are needed to realize your dream team. How It Works 1. Identify a group you are working with at the moment where you feel the dynamic could improve. This could be a group you are a part of for a project, a team that you are leading to accomplish a specific goal, or your direct reports.   2. Take a few minutes to review the characteristics of the four different working styles outlined below courtesy of HBR's New Science of Teamwork. Select the role(s) you tend to play most often with the group you identified in #1. Pioneers are risk-lovers who “value possibilities” and “spark energy and imagination on their teams.” They are comfortable with gut-based decisions, have a “big-picture focus,” and are “drawn to bold new ideas and creative approaches." Guardians are order-seekers who “value stability” and “hesitate to embrace risk.” They bring rigor and pragmatism to a team as “data and facts are baseline requirements for them, and details matter” as does “learn[ing] from the past.” Drivers are fierce competitors who “value challenge and generate momentum.” They are results oriented and place a premium on winning. They often “view issues as black-and-white and tackle problems head on, armed with logic and data.” Integrators are camaraderie builders who “value connection” and “believe that most things are relative.”  Since “relationships and responsibility to the group” are important to them, they tend to be “diplomatic and focused on gaining consensus.” 3. Now, consider the role each of the members of your group tend to play. Take a few minutes and think through the biggest areas where your team tends to get stuck or where tension arises. How might the different working styles at play account for some of these hiccups? Are there any working styles missing and how might that contribute to pain points along the way? 4. Finally, consider what you might be able to do to ease the dynamic. How can you help the group better understand the value of each working style? Given your own specific working style, how might you learn to be more open to the range of working styles in others? Source: HBR. Want to dig deeper into this topic? For an in-depth read on these four working styles and how to optimize for a healthy team dynamic, check this out from HBR. For 10 tips on how to build and manage a great team, read this from Inc. For an entrepreneurial take on how to build a strong team, check this out. Have a favorite trek?  Hit us up at treks@lifetrekkers.me and tell us which one you liked and what you learned! Here's what your fellow trekkers have to say about past treks: "The Tutu trek was one of my favorites. Bob Carey's story was really inspiring and the exercise motivated me to reflect on a number of things that I feel vulnerable about in life and the work place." - Alex Farivar, Product Manager @ Google Tweet Tweet Email Us Learn More Copyright © 2018 LifeTrekkers, All rights reserved. Want more information? Drop us a line at info@lifetrekkers.me. Want to change how you receive these emails? You can unsubscribe from this list.

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Daily Lineup This week's trek is inspired by Robert C. Pozen's research on productivity and finding purpose at work. Feeling a bit bored with your workday? Pozen would argue that some of this might be due to a gap in what you ultimately want to achieve and your day-to-day activities. As a result, he recommends trying this quick exercise to find alignment between the two. Introducing Your Daily Lineup Exercise What It Is A 20-minute exercise to see how your day-to-day activities can better support your big picture goals. Why We Love It  Work can feel like a drain when the things you are doing don't seem to align with the big picture. This exercise provides an opportunity to examine how you are spending your time so you can seek better alignment between your long-term goals and short-term tasks.  How It Works 1. Make a list of your top 5 career priorities for the next 6-12 months. These are big picture goals that matter to you and motivate you to get up in the morning. Consider things like getting a promotion, learning a new skill, or developing cross-functional relationships. 2. At the end of your workday, set aside 10 minutes to review your schedule from the day. Make two simple columns and write "activities" on the top left and "purpose" on the top right. Then, list out all of the activities from your day in the left column and describe the bigger purpose it aligns with in the right column. 3. Once you have listed out your activities from the day and their corresponding purpose, take 5 minutes to compare the right column against the top 5 career priorities you identified in #1. Note any areas where the right column does not support what you'd like to achieve in #1. 4. Finally, spend a few minutes thinking through areas where there is no alignment. If over 20% of your day is spent on things that don't line up with #1, select 1-2 items that you can delegate or make more efficient so you can free up more time for your top career priorities. Source: Fast Company. Want to dig deeper into this topic? For more tips and exercises from Pozen, check out his book. For a deeper dive on how to find more purpose in your work, read this from HBR. To learn about other factors that contribute to a lack of motivation at work aside from boredom, read this from Forbes. Have a favorite trek?  Hit us up at treks@lifetrekkers.me and tell us which one you liked and what you learned! Here's what your fellow trekkers have to say about past treks: "The creative recovery trek was one of my favorites. This exercise helped me push past my creative blocks. I love using it to clear my mind and reflect by rereading it at the end of the week." - Dama Dipayana, Founder Be Frank Tweet Tweet Email Us Learn More Copyright © 2018 LifeTrekkers, All rights reserved. Want more information? Drop us a line at info@lifetrekkers.me. Want to change how you receive these emails? You can unsubscribe from this list.