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Breathing Room This week’s trek is inspired by Liz Wiseman’s research on leadership and collective intelligence. Are you the person everyone relies on for answers? We all have certain areas of expertise that others regularly rely on us for. Sometimes, though, our tendency to have all the answers makes it impossible for others to step up on their own. In her research on leadership, Liz Wiseman talks about the importance of being a leader who knows when to take a back seat so other people have a chance to learn and grow.  Introducing Your Breathing Room Exercise What It Is A 10-minute exercise to identify some of the ways you can take a step back and empower others to step up.  Why We Love It  We all enjoy being in the company of people who give us room to breathe. This exercise provides a quick way to consider how you can shift your behavior so others can grow. How It Works 1. Identify a meeting this week where you’d like to create more space for others to contribute.  2. Ask yourself what kind of energy you typically display in meetings. Consider how your behaviors might be preventing more junior people on your team from developing their own skills in that same area. Some examples: Are you the first one to have an answer, serving to keep others from having their own point of view? Are you constantly coming up with ideas, making it hard for others to formulate their own and/or identify the top priorities? Are you always communicating the big picture, serving to keep others from learning how to craft a vision? Are you quick to speak up and put your thoughts, reactions, and feelings out there, leaving little room for others to have a say? 3. Based on #2, consider playing a different role in your next meeting, so others have a chance to step up. Instead of offering up your ideas, try building on those of others. Or rather than providing all the answers, try asking questions to steer the group towards their own meaningful conclusions.  4. After your meeting, reflect on how the dynamic shifted. What knowledge did you gain about your team and about yourself? What strengths can you see in team members that weren't apparent before? How might you further cultivate those strengths moving forward? Want to dig deeper?  For more from Wiseman on how to bring the best out in other people, read this from HBR. For timeless leadership lessons from Bill Campbell, read this from Fortune. To read about the five tips Wiseman believes makes teams better, read this from Forbes. Here's what your fellow trekkers have to say about past treks: "The What's Your Tutu? trek couldn't have come at a better time. I've always had a hard time showing emotion in romantic relationships, so it's helpful for me to to check in with these questions after a date." - Beebe Xia, Copywriter and Single Lady Tweet Tweet Email Us Learn More Click here to subscribe to the weekly email! 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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Error Extinguisher This week’s trek is inspired by Princeton Review founder, Adam Robinson’s recent research on why people make stupid mistakes. You know that feeling when someone on your team totally blows it?  It happens. We all have to untangle snafus on occasion. Once the error is corrected, though, we don't always take time to ensure it won't happen again.  According to Robinson, there are seven factors that contribute to human error. He believes that you can prevent mistakes from happening in the first place if you work to eliminate those seven factors from your work environment.  Introducing Your Error Extinguisher Exercise What It Is A 15-minute exercise to look at the things you can do as a leader to help your team avoid unnecessary mistakes. Why We Love It  We all know that little slip-ups happen and sometimes aren't worth sweating because they likely won't happen again. However, when mistakes occur regularly enough that they become a pattern, you gotta find ways to course correct your team. This exercise offers up a simple approach to analyzing the factors that might be contributing to your team's errors. How It Works 1. Identify a situation where chronic errors seem to be occurring on your team. 2. Take a look at the seven factors below and identify which ones might be present when the errors in #1 are occurring: Context: A change in routine or environment Groupthink: Pressure to conform Authority: Being in the presence of an expert (this could be you!) Focus: A task that requires intense focus Strain: Information overload Rushing: A sense of urgency or pressure to rush Stress: Fatigue or physical or emotional stress 3. Of the items you identified in #2, consider what you might be doing as a leader to exacerbate the presence of those factors. Keep in mind that all seven factors don't have to be present to contribute to human error. If you've only got a few, it can still be beneficial to work through. Some examples: Context: Do you provide the right structure, context information, and environment for your team to succeed? Groupthink: Does your team feel they can discuss opposing views openly even when they don't fall within party lines? Authority: Does your team feel pressure to please authority? Do you loom over team members when they're trying to complete tasks? Focus: Do you allow for adequate downtime between cognitively draining tasks? Strain: Do you organize information in a manner that's easy to follow? Do you keep your team focused by avoiding nonessential details or oversharing? Rushing: Do you create unnecessary feelings of chaos or immediacy when accomplishing tasks? Stress: Are you sensitive to signs of fatigue on your team? Do you consider how your team's emotions might be affected by your actions? 4. Identify one thing you can do in your list from #3 to alleviate pressure on your team and test it out this week. As you try it out, keep tabs on the following: - Is there a shift in the team's ability to accomplish goals? - Is there a reduction in errors? - Is there a shift in team dynamics or overall mood? Want to dig deeper?  For the full interview with Robinson, read this from Farnam Street. For some tips on how to react when you mess up at work, read this from the Muse. For a simple technique on how to own up to a mistake when you make one, read this from Forbes. Here's what your fellow trekkers have to say about past treks: "The Wake-up Call trek really hit home for me. My best days are the ones when I avoid email until as late as possible and this reminded me to stay mindful. It's key to make sure I get grounded first so I can give important things the attention they deserve." - Vijay Rajendran, Director of Innovation and Partnerships @ 500 Startups Tweet Tweet Email Us Learn More Click here to subscribe to the weekly email! 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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Strength Training This week’s trek is inspired by the research of University of Pennsylvania Professor Martin Seligman on positive psychology and the science of well-being. Do you feel disengaged at work from time-to-time? According to research by Seligman, when someone's work doesn't focus on their strengths, they tend to feel less engaged in what they're doing.  In addition, his research has shown that when you know your strengths and are able to re-craft your work and hobbies around them, you are able to boost your overall sense of happiness. More specifically, he found that when individuals focus on four or more of their character strengths (see Seligman's VIA survey for more on those), they are more likely to refer to their job as a calling rather than just a job. Introducing Your Strength Training Exercise What It Is A way to realign your daily activities around your strengths to boost your sense of engagement at work and in your personal life. Why We Love It  When we don't feel motivated, we sometimes assume it's because we have to make a major change in our lives. Sometimes, big change is necessary. Other times, we'd benefit greatly by simply restructuring situations to better utilize our own strengths and passions. This exercise focuses on the latter, helping us remember the small things we can do to feel more engaged in our day-to-day. How It Works 1. Take 10 minutes to list out your core strengths. If this is something you feel unclear about, check out Via's Character Strengths test (it's quick, free and based on Seligman's research). 2. Next, make a list of your current job responsibilities. Include hard skills like “managing projects” and “analyzing data” in addition to those just as important soft skills like “motivating a team” or “listening to and empathizing with clients.” 3. Then, make a list of your hobbies, side hustles, and personal projects you have going on right now. This can be stuff like cooking, writing, or making pottery; list whatever you're into as long as you are actually doing those things each week. 4. Now, take your list in #1 and compare it to the items in #2 and #3. Which of your strengths are present and which are not? How many strengths are present at work versus your personal life? 5. Pick one strength that isn’t getting as much love and find a way to incorporate it into your schedule this week. For example, let's say mentoring is one of your strengths. You might join an advisory committee at work. Or let’s say humor is a strength of yours (not kidding, humor counts!). Try cracking a joke at the beginning or end of each meeting you have this week. 6. At the end of the week, take stock of how things went. How did focusing on one of your strengths relate to your sense of motivation? How did it relate to your emotional state this week?  Want to dig deeper?  For an overview on Seligman's theory of positive psychology, check out his TED talk.  For a deeper dive on some of the reasons why accomplished people may feel unhappy or unmotivated, read this from the Atlantic. For more on the science of flow and meaning, check out Seligman's book. Here's what your fellow trekkers have to say about past treks: "I liked the Empathy Ladder trek and found it to be versatile in a variety of settings. I found it helpful when communicating with my spouse to increase mutual understanding, connecting with people upon a first introduction, and interacting with my clients, co-workers, and supervisors at school." - Jaclyn Valla-Rawlins, Social Worker Tweet Tweet Email Us Learn More Click here to subscribe to the weekly email! 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.