The Leadership Blog by Ann Vanino

It’s a simple question. You are all you’ve got. It’s essential to nurture yourself, particularly when you are under stress. I have found in my work with clients that self care must raise equivalently to the level of stress you are experiencing. The negative effects of stress can be reduced when you take care of yourself. I use a simple tool to help my clients. When you recognize that stress is getting the better of you, make a commitment to nurture yourself one time within a week in each of these four areas: physically, mentally, emotionally and spiritually. It can be as simple as taking a walk in nature or something more, such as a weekend at the beach. Are you taking care of yourself? Make sure your answer is “yes”.

I spoke with a friend today who is an artist and finds herself in a position where she must develop her negotiating skills. It is not a skill she has been taught, nor does she have any great desire to develop it. But, learn to negotiate she must. She has a business challenge that could negatively impact her work. She is now called on to be a savvy and effective negotiator with someone who has honed their negotiating skills for years and also knows how to use them to their advantage.

So, she asked, “what do I do?” My answer was you become a negotiator and make sure you have skilled people working on your behalf and advising you. Your interests are not something you can hand over to another person. Knowing the art of negotiating helps you assure others will act in your interest. How good a negotiator are you?

If you want to go further with this, I have a free article on my web site titled ”Negotiating with Skill and Ease”.

I found an interesting web site today: The Workplace Bullying Institute. I am so glad that this concept of workplace bullying is getting attention. On the website there is an announcement of Freedom from Bullies Week: A Week for Support, Inspiration, Peace & Health October 19 - 25, 2008. The purpose of the week is to practice different strategies to overcome indifference to the plight of over 54 million Americans who endure bullying at work on a routine basis. By raising the awareness of those affected by workplace bullying and validating their feelings, they can then regain their power. No one has to endure workplace bullying. I hope we are seeing the beginning of its end.

Several roads are currently converging on my journey and creating exciting opportunities. There is a movement underway to merge the country’s need for renewable energy sources with the desire to provide opportunities that lift people out of poverty. By combining this need and desire, we can train unemployed youth and adults to work in the renewable energy sector – wind, solar, alternative fuels. This is something I want to be part of. I’m ready – with years of experience in the environmental field, coaching skills and a passion to help out of school youth find fulfilling careers.

Look for more to come on using the green revolution to lift people out of poverty!

There’s a lot of uncertainty in the world right now. I’ve had people say to me that we are in chaos and they are uncomfortable with that. What is chaos? One definition of chaos is: the confused, unorganized condition or mass of matter before the creation of distinct and orderly forms. There are two things to look at in this definition: “confused unorganized condition” and “before creation of distinct and orderly forms”.

A futile response to chaos is to try to control it.  Chaos is motion and you cannot pause it. If you lose your bearings, irrational actions or emotions can send you further into chaos. The negatives of the situation are then compounded.

The ability to deal with uncertainty brings freedom. Change is constant. If you accept that life will change, you can make the best of it. A static life eventually would be dull and boring. Develop ways to deal effectively with change and even chaos. One way is to view chaos as allowing the opportunity for creativity and growth.

There are many things in our world that need changing. Look at the chaos that is happening in the world now. If the chaos were to bring change, what changes would you like to see? What opportunities for creativity and growth are available to us now?