Michelle Ray

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Happiness at Work

Ending the Drama at Work – It Starts With You: Part Two

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There is no question that organizations could mitigate absenteeism and turnover by paying greater attention to the emotional impact of drama. Understandably, many of us have a preference for avoiding difficult conversations without realizing that we are doing a disservice to ourselves. Unfortunately, when the skills, desire and intestinal fortitude needed to take charge of the dysfunction are lacking, the status quo prevails. The famous poet anonymous declared: ‘nothing changes if nothing changes.” What are you willing to do to make a difference and contribute to a happier workplace atmosphere? When individuals and teams decide to positively express solutions, everyone will benefit and engagement will increase as a result. [Read more…] about Ending the Drama at Work – It Starts With You: Part Two

Ending the Drama at Work – It Starts With You

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Imagine if it were true that the majority of people excitedly leap out of bed each work day shrieking “I can’t wait to annoy my colleagues.” Although it may be a bit of a stretch to suggest that workplace “saboteurs “exist in large numbers, the fact remains that certain individuals take great pleasure in causing chaos at work, while others are completely oblivious to the damage inflicted by their dysfunctional, drama-based behaviour. Unfortunately, the potential for drama to escalate is an on-going problem, especially when one considers the fact that stress and overwhelm affect millions of people on a personal and professional level.

If you are experiencing the brunt of the theatrics displayed by the drama “queens” (and “kings”) in your workplace, the question becomes: “React? Or not?” Are there effective strategies available to mitigate the drama? Absolutely! But first, you must accept the following premise: You cannot control other people’s bad behaviour. You can, however, manage yourself. [Read more…] about Ending the Drama at Work – It Starts With You

How a sense of Purpose impacts Job Satisfaction

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Have you considered the importance of  linking your organizational vision to the meaning and value of  all job functions? One of the most important things that we need to realize is this new reality: As far as today’s workforce is concerned, there is a direct correlation between job satisfaction and purpose. Not only does the work need to feel purposeful to your employees, it needs to be evident that there is a connection between day-to-day tasks and the big picture.  When people can see the relationship between their contribution and your overall mission, engagement levels and  job satisfaction are likely to increase significantly. This will positively influence your workplace culture and your business.

Leadership needs to establish clear direction and purpose. This is a key consideration for career seekers and an expectation for today’s workforce, as well as those coming into the workplace in the next five years. Employers should be cognizant of  their influence when establishing and articulating the vision. The concept of clarifying values and the organizational mission… what are we doing, why are we doing it? What’s the purpose of it? How does this work matter? How does this work matter in the world, not only in our immediate community. Therefore, if we want to have a team that is highly satisfied and very engaged in what they’re doing, then being aware of what we do and why we do it and how meaningful it is will make a huge difference in keeping our workforce happy and satisfied.

This article is a transcript of https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vOyQyyLy18M&feature=youtu.be on YouTube.

(Twitter) is one of the best international leadership keynote speakers in Vancouver. She helps you discover your potential through presentations, coaching and consulting. With over 20 years of experience Michelle has worked with hundreds of companies around the world. She is taking bookings for speaking engagements and can be contacted at MichelleRay.com

Work as an Experience for Employee Engagement

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Do we think about work as work, or do we think about work as an experience? Because today, let’s make no mistake, people are looking for an experience, and those experiences include feeling like work is fun, and being totally engaged in what they’re doing.

People wanna have the opportunity to have balance between work and life, and when they do come to work, it’s gotta be an experience that’s a positive one, where morale is healthy, and people are feeling like they’re making a contribution. Are you recognizing people’s efforts, as well as their results? As people are on the trajectory of their career path, they may not immediately be achieving the results that you expect. So, if that’s the case, recognizing the effort they’re putting in, showing them that there is an opportunity to grow, is all part of this learning experience.

We spend a tremendous amount of time at work, and we should never forget how important it is to create the right atmosphere. Every one of us contributes to the culture, every one of use contributes to the atmosphere. So, work, because it’s such a big part of our lives, let’s make it the best experience possible.

This article is a transcript of https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8fyuDboztCU&feature=youtu.be on YouTube.

(Twitter) is one of the best international leadership keynote speakers in Vancouver. She helps you discover your potential through presentations, coaching and consulting. With over 20 years of experience Michelle has worked with hundreds of companies around the world. She is taking bookings for speaking engagements and can be contacted at MichelleRay.com

Millennial engagement in the Workplace and their Sense of Purpose

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In my conversations with HR professionals, it’s astounding to me that they are telling me that despite all the effort and energy that their organizations have put into creating more engaged workplaces, we are still finding that less than 30% of Millennials are feeling engaged in what they’re doing.

Now how can this be? As I said, all the effort, all of the energy? Well, the reason for it is that the workforce is not feeling connected to the purpose of their work and the purpose of their organization. So, to me this translates into a lack of communication regarding the vision in addition to the fact that at every level, people need to personally feel connected to the vision.

So, if we take more time to actually communicate the vision and let people know not only what their contribution is to that vision, but why what they’re doing matters, then if we do more of this, then we’re gonna have a more engaged workforce. It’s a problem that’s easy to rectify. It’s just simply about taking the time to meaningfully connect and communicate in every way possible so people see their purpose and therefore feel more satisfied and engaged in what they’re doing.

This article is a transcript of https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oWy3tzighXM&feature=youtu.be on YouTube.

(Twitter) is one of the best international leadership keynote speakers in Vancouver. She helps you discover your potential through presentations, coaching and consulting. With over 20 years of experience Michelle has worked with hundreds of companies around the world. She is taking bookings for speaking engagements and can be contacted at MichelleRay.com

How Millennials are Reshaping Corporate Culture

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According to recent research, millennials would be willing to give up $7600 of their annual salary to find a job where they felt they were experiencing a better environment. Just think about that for a moment.

Think about the fact that this is a completely different mindset, and a different attitude in contrast to generations that preceded them. It also tells us something about the importance of culture to today’s workforce. So we often think about, is that person the right fit? But now I want you to be thinking about the fact that they are also considering whether your business, your organization, is the right fit for them.

So, culture is critical when it comes to talent retention, and keeping great people happy for the long-term, and attracting those people to make sure that they are the right fit for your organization, as much as they are considering you as their employer of choice.

This article is a transcript of https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WfoWITL2flU&feature=youtu.be on YouTube.

(Twitter) is one of the best international leadership keynote speakers in Vancouver. She helps you discover your potential through presentations, coaching and consulting. With over 20 years of experience Michelle has worked with hundreds of companies around the world. She is taking bookings for speaking engagements and can be contacted at MichelleRay.com

Passionate Leadership: 12 Key Traits That Distinguish The Best From The Rest

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This article was originally published on September 7, 2016, and has been updated.

Do you remember your first encounter with a passionate leader?

The reality is that any leader can be passionate…if they know what to do.

But first, let’s look at why this is so important. [Read more…] about Passionate Leadership: 12 Key Traits That Distinguish The Best From The Rest

Why Conflict Management is an Essential Interpersonal Skill

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Conflict management is the higher order of interpersonal skills. It is so important as a leader that you are able, that you that the ability, the competency, to be able to manage conflict. You may not always resolve it, but let’s make no mistake that as a leader if we do not address conflict it is an enormous cost to morale.

It is one of the key reasons to why people start thinking about leaving a job. And it actually is one of the biggest demotivators to individuals who were already performing well and were feeling good about what they’re doing, and they notice that their leader has not addressed an issue between their colleagues. So, your ability to manage and resolve conflict if possible, as I said, to be able to resolve it, is something that your individuals who are involved in the conflict are looking to you to manage. And also the rest of your team are expecting that you are able to do that.

Developing these skills is really important because to the individuals having the issue, as I said, if they feel that you aren’t able to address it then where are they going to go? Who are they going to turn to? They’re not able to manage it on their own. So that’s why they’re looking to you to be able to help them to deal with that concern, whatever it might be.

Time and again I’ve had people coming to me, whether it’s through my coaching services, or during a workshop session. I only had it happen the other day where someone said to me, you know what? There is an issue with another manager who is a bully and I know that my senior leadership aren’t addressing that. They aren’t addressing the conflict between us. And as a result of that I’m really at a point where I don’t think I can stay. And that is a really sad thing.

So, this really capable person is considering walking away from their position after 14 years because their management, their senior leadership, aren’t able to deal with this conflict. So, I’m urging you to think about developing your skills when it comes to managing conflict to the absolute best of your ability rather than risk losing great people.

This article is a transcript of https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TkvJZeSHmBA on YouTube.

(Twitter) is one of the best international leadership keynote speakers in Vancouver. She helps you discover your potential through presentations, coaching and consulting. With over 20 years of experience Michelle has worked with hundreds of companies around the world. She is taking bookings for speaking engagements and can be contacted at MichelleRay.com

Understanding Political Skills in Great Leaders – Office Politics

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Let’s talk about political competencies as a leader. I’m not talking about you being an elected official, someone that has all the votes, but when it comes to your business, it’s all about understanding what is going on with the people dynamics, understanding when people are trying to get their own agendas heard. This is something that really does come with time and experience. When you are honing your skills as a leader and you get to understand the games that people are playing and how they’re trying to advance their own agendas, that isn’t necessarily a bad thing.

However, for you as a leader, it’s really important for you to understand that we need to manage these kind of office politics, business politics, because if we don’t, it could result in your team being very dysfunctional, and people are playing that game of trying to one-up each other, and of course, that could lead to disaster because people are constantly trying to advance their own agenda, but at what cost?

You as the leader need to really be cognizant of people trying to advance their own agenda, play the political games. What is that all about? How you manage that is really essential to keeping harmony, high morale, high engagement, and a fully functioning organization.

This article is a transcript from Understanding Political Skills in Great Leaders – Office Politics YouTube.

(Twitter) is one of the best international leadership keynote speakers in Vancouver. She helps you discover your potential through presentations, coaching and consulting. With over 20 years of experience Michelle has worked with hundreds of companies around the world. She is taking bookings for speaking engagements and can be contacted at MichelleRay.com

The impact of a Stable Personal Life on Leadership Ability

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A key characteristic of great executive is to have a stable personal life, a balanced life. You may think to yourself, how realistic is that? Well, the best executives recognize that burnout is not the optimum state. They know how important it is to take time for themselves, to take care of themselves, to prioritize in their life the most important things: family, health, personal health, mental health, physical health, all the things that make them most productive. It’s not about working ourselves 14, 15 hours a day. It’s about realizing that the more balanced our lives are, the more effective we can be, the greater the difference we can make to our people at work and at home. So to be that great executive, we sometimes need to take an honest look in the mirror and see what needs to change, and if that’s you, the change can start right now.

This article is a transcript from The impact of a Stable Personal Life on Leadership Ability YouTube.

(Twitter) is one of the best international leadership keynote speakers in Vancouver. She helps you discover your potential through presentations, coaching and consulting. With over 20 years of experience Michelle has worked with hundreds of companies around the world. She is taking bookings for speaking engagements and can be contacted at MichelleRay.com