Teams365 Blog - Potentials Realized

#TEAMS365 #1791 Sunday Audios

11/25/2018

This week’s Sunday post takes us back to some of the varied Sunday audios I recorded for the Teams365 blog. Many of these posts are “Evergreen” and haven’t dated too much. I’ve selected a few to spotlight as I think they are a good reminder for us at this time of year. Let’s take a listen back into them again:

Four Tips to Overcoming Procrastination
Three Key Facilitation Skills
Gratitude, Recognition and Month-End Reflection
Your Vision and Goals – while this post was for 2015, it still works for 2019. Listen into this if you are now turning attention to your vision for 2019…You might also want to join me for a year end PlanDoTrack Virtual Retreat. Here’s the link to the Vision and Goals session.
Ten Questions Team Leaders Should Be Asking

As we move into the end of the fifth year of the Teams365 blog, I wanted to thank you for joining us. Whether you’ve only read a few posts, or followed along with many, it’s been a pleasure to join you on a daily basis for 2014 -2018. I look forward to continuing to provide regular sparks here at the Teams365 blog.

Best,
Jennifer

Jennifer Britton
Potentials Realized | Effective Virtual Conversations | Coaching Team Leaders
Join Jennifer for a year-end virtual planning retreat in the PlanDoTrack Series!
Instagram @CoachingBizBuilder
YouTube – Teams365 Leadership Channel
Email: info@potentialsrealized.com
(416)996-8326

#TEAMS365 #1776 – Weekly Journaling prompt 23

11/10/2018

This week’s Weekly Journaling Prompt brings us to #23 in the series. It’s the prompt, “What are three things you are grateful for?”.
This question comes from the positive psychology movement that found that people who asked themselves this question were happier.
Action for Happiness goes into a great description of some of the research and other supports, such as apps, that can support you with this gratitude practice. Check out their post here.
It’s a great time of the year to start developing the practice of thinking about, and also speaking to, what we are grateful for, letting those around us know what we are thankful for.
This week, build in some time to reflect regularly about the three things you are grateful for each day. You don’t have to do it every day, just a few times a week.

Enjoy!
Jennifer

Jennifer Britton
Potentials Realized | Effective Virtual Conversations | Coaching Team Leaders
We provide team and leadership development support through coaching, consulting and training services
Author of several books including the 2018 Coaching Business Builder Workbook and Planner & Effective Virtual Conversations (2017)
Email: info@potentialsrealized.com
(416)996-8326

#TEAMS365 #1741 – Gratitude

10/7/2018

It’s Sunday and also the day we celebrate Thanksgiving in my family here in Canada. A lot of my American colleagues are always surprised to hear that I’ll be taking off this Monday to celebrate. We’ve had this as our Thanksgiving for generations, marking it as a time for the end of the harvest, and a time to give thanks.

As you think about your work and life right now, what are you thankful for?
Where would you like to practice some gratitude?

One regular practice which has shown to have positive impact, is commonly referred to as "Three Things". At the end of every day, take stock and note 3 things which you were grateful for. Read more about this practice here from the Greater Good Science Center at the University of California, Berkeley.

I hope that you will enjoy some time this weekend, whether you are celebrating Thanksgiving here with me in Canada or not, to say thanks! It’s good for us too.

Best wishes,
Jennifer

Jennifer Britton
Potentials Realized | Effective Virtual Conversations | Coaching Team Leaders
We provide team and leadership development support through coaching, consulting and training services.
Author of several books including Coaching Business Builder Workbook and Planner (2018) & Effective Virtual Conversations (2017)
Email: info@potentialsrealized.com
(416) 996-8326

#TEAMS365 #1705 - Weekly Journaling prompt #13

9/1/2018

Welcome to a new month! This month here at the Teams blog I’ll be sharing a mixture of posts geared to get you set up for the back-to-work and school routines. Posts this month will include a focus on planning, organizing, goal setting and coaching. Let’s get started with the first blog post of the month – the weekly journaling prompt.

This week’s Weekly Journaling Prompt #13 gets you to think about the statement “The One Thing…”.
This question might take you in a variety of areas including:

What’s the one thing you are most proud of accomplishing this summer?
What is the one thing you are most grateful for?
What is the one thing you want to do before the end of the year?

If you are just joining us here at the Teams365 blog, take a look at past Weekly Journaling Prompts, which are published on Saturdays. They are an encouragement for you to grab a few minutes each week to stop, pause and reflection your work (and possibly life!). They are inspired by my latest publication – The Coaching Business Builder Workbook and Planner.

Enjoy your weekend,
Jennifer

Jennifer Britton
Potentials Realized | Effective Virtual Conversations | Coaching Team Leaders
We provide team and leadership development support through coaching, consulting and training services
Author of several books including the 2018 Coaching Business Builder Workbook and Planner & Effective Virtual Conversations (2017)
Email: info@potentialsrealized.com
(416)996-8326

#TEAMS365 #1659 – Team Development Focus Areas – E through H

7/17/2018

We are continuing on a look back at different team development focus areas. In today’s post we are exploring E through H. What are the different things we might explore with teams we are working with?

E is for exceptional, excellence, emotional intelligence. Read Teams365 #1070 - Team Development Activities – E is for Exceptional here.

OR

Other posts on building emotional intelligence here.

F is for fair, frank, focused.

In team development, one of my favorite travelling tools is to pack a roll of tin foil or aluminum foil. This can be used for a number of team development activities including foil modelling by a team of their vision, next steps etc. Creating a model that they can take back to the office is a great reminder of commitments and their focus. Read my Teams365 post on foil modelling here.

Check out these posts on the Leadership A – Z on F here.

G is for goals, gratitude and also the GROW model of coaching. Take a look at this post around the Leadership A – Z of G here.

For leaders working on Authenticity you may want to check out this other “G” post where I share some resources around being genuine here.

And finally, H is for Habits.
In an era of ongoing change and uncertainty, habits play an even more critical role. Habits are things that we have typically done so consistently that they become second-nature and automated. This means that we often don’t need to think about doing them as much, freeing us up to look at and consider other things. When teams are virtual, habits also play a critical role in creating consistency across the team. It’s an important part of culture.

Check out Teams365 #323 for H is for Habits here.

I’ve written a lot about habits and you can find other posts here.

Enjoy your Tuesday,
Jennifer

Jennifer Britton
Potentials Realized | Effective Virtual Conversations | Coaching Team Leaders
We provide team and leadership development support through coaching, consulting and training services
Author of Effective Virtual Conversations (2017)
Email: info@potentialsrealized.com
(416)996-8326

#Teams365 #650: Gratitude

10/12/2015

Happy thanksgiving to other Canadians who are celebrating today. Each year our thanksgiving marks a thanks for the bounty of the harvest.

What are you grateful for? What have you been able to reap the bounty of the harvest from recently?

Gratitude often gets short-changed in today's work environment, and from a wide growing body of research we know that practicing gratitude has tremendous impact, not only psychologically, but also physically. Check out what UC Berkeley's Greater Good Science Center has pulled together over the last three years around Gratitude and emerging research.

I hope that you will take at least a minute today to think about what you are grateful for today.

Enjoy!

Jennifer

Jennifer Britton
Potentials Realized | Coaching Team Leaders
Coaching Skills Training | Leadership Development | Teamwork
Growing Team Leaders, One Conversation at a Time(TM)
Contact us to discuss coaching or performance needs for your and your team
Phone: (416)996-8326

#Teams365 #334: Sunday Audio: Gratitude, Recognition and Month end Reflection

11/30/2014

Welcome back to another Sunday audio. With US Thanksgiving just behind us and the holiday season starting to kick into full gear, this week's audio focuses on gratitude, recognition and month end reflection questions. I've got a nine minute audio for you this week which you can listen to here.

Questions to consider this week:
1. What practices will work well for you, and your team, around gratitude?
2. What, who, and how do you want to recognize team members in the upcoming month?

Given that it is the of November, as I've encouraged at the end of every month this year, take ten minutes to make some notes around
1. Your major achievements this month
2. Lessons you've learned
3. Any feeedback (positive and constructive) you want to share with your team

A quick reminder too that I will be hosting the December Team Leader Breakfast Cafe call this Wednesday December 3rd at 7:15 am Eastern/Toronto. You can join me live by dialing in at 1-857-232-0155, access 503003, or listen in later. (Callers are responsible for any long distance charges). The call later this week is going to be about reflecting on the year that was, and planning for the year ahead.

Enjoy your Sunday! What are you grateful for today?

With best wishes,
Jennifer

Jennifer Britton, MES, CPT, PCC
Potentials Realized
Supporting Team Leaders to do their best work, one conversation at a time
Coaching | Teamwork | Leadership
Author of From One to Many: Best Practices for Team and Group Coaching (Jossey-Bass, 2013)
(416)996-TEAM (8326)
Eager to focus on your development as a leader during 2015? Consider joining me for a group coaching program or Teams365 Team Leader Foundations course.

#Teams365 #331: Fostering Gratitude

11/27/2014

Many readers will be celebrating Thanksgiving today. Even if we aren't it is a great opportunity to pause for a few minutes and think about what we are grateful for. I wanted to share a recent blog post from my group coaching blog for coaches on why gratitude is important. In it I include three practices you can share with your team to foster more gratitude. You can read the blog post here.

Flowing from gratitude are a number of health and psychological benefits which include higher levels of optimism, increased positivity, more pro-social relationships , happier relationships, and also lower levels of toxic thoughts. As you will read, one practice which has been shown to increase gratitude and the benefits is keeping a gratitude journal, which is as simple as writing down on a weekly basis five things you are grateful for that week.

You can read more ab0ut what science has found about the importance of gratitude and how to incorporate more of this at this link from the Center for Greater Good from the University of Berkeley.

Enjoy!

Jennifer

Jennifer Britton, MES, CPT, PCC
Potentials Realized
Supporting Team Leaders to do their best work, one conversation at a time
Coaching | Teamwork | Leadership
Author of From One to Many: Best Practices for Team and Group Coaching (Jossey-Bass, 2013)
(416)996-TEAM (8326)
Eager to focus on your development as a leader during 2015? Consider joining me for a group coaching program or Teams365 Team Leader Foundations course.

#Teams365 #285 - What Are You Grateful For?

10/12/2014

This weekend marks Thanksgiving weekend in Canada which marks the harvest and a time to give thanks for the bounty of the year. Just as in the US, it's a time of family celebration and time to sit back, reflect and give thanks for what we have.

This fall I joined almost 100,000 others from around the world to take part in the first online MOOC offfered in the area of Positive Psychology. The course is called The Science of Happiness and is offered through the University of Berkely and the Greater Good Science Center.

It's taken me back to many lectures at McGill Univsrity as an undergraduate Science student in the area of Psychology. In those days MRI studies were just in their infancy, and neuropsych - how the brain works, was a focus of what I was studying. I did not continue in that vein with my Masters years ago as in fact, it was the focus on what didn't work, and what was dysfunctional, that dissuaded me from pursuing a full-time career in that area as a young adult. I've never actually moved that far however with my own work focusing on leadership and team development.

Today, almost 25 years later it's interesting to see how the brain-based science has really caught up to validate and illustrates what happens when we engage in positive processes, focusing on what does work, our strengths etc.

Each week as learners we have been invited to participate in practices which have been scientifically validated to enhance happiness and other measures of positivity. One which I have been engaging in that I thought you might want to try is the Three Good Things Activity. On a daily basis - perhaps at the end of the day - write down Three Good Things that have happened to you that day. As you write, capture the energy, emotion and how it felt.

Personally I have noticed that this practice has enabled me to look at the lighter side of things in this last month despite the passing of a relative, a contract that we were outbid on, the movement into fall (spring and summer are my favorite months!), support to leadership clients who are grappling with some of the very profound global issues of the moment, and some other events that had more of a general negative vibe for me.

When it comes to teams and leadership we have such an impact on the energy, focus and spirit of the team. Our ability to remain positive and resilient is critical in today's business environment. Focusing on practices that will boost our own internal optimism.

If you are interested in learning more about what the research does, do visit the Greater Good Science Center at Berkeley.

In the spirit of Thanksgiving Sunday, What are You Grateful For? Spend a few minutes today reflecting on, and perhaps journalling on, what you are grateful for. As I thought about this question recently I pulled together some photos which represent some of the things I've been grateful for this year.

Jennifer Britton, MES, PCC, CPT
Potentials Realized | Teams365
Growing Team Leaders One Conversation at a Time(TM)
Leadership Development | Coaching | Retreats
(416)996-8326

Join us for an upcoming public offering of the Teams365 Team Leader Foundations program - online learning modules geared to sharpen your skills as a team leader. You can also join us for a 4 or 6 month Teams365 Team Leader group coaching program geared to take a deeper dive into your strengths and capacity as a leader - starts Tuesday October 15 at 5:45 pm Eastern by phone.