The Talent Flywheel: The secret to creating a repeatable talent recruitment and development process

TRANSCRIPT:

One of the things that we have seen with a lot of CEOs in the marketplace these days, is that they have not developed a repeatable process to find, select, and develop great talent. As a result, their impact and their growth, while okay, is far less than it could be. One of the things that we've seen in our Scaling Up practice, and all the great clients that we get to coach, is leadership is key. It's all about finding, developing, growing, and retaining the absolute best players out there. 

So, we have put together a tool called the Talent Flywheel. Many of you may be familiar with the great work that Jim Collins has done on strategy flywheels to drive growth, and so we’ve found you can take the same core of that tool and apply it to the people in your team to drive incredible growth.  The purpose of this Talent flywheel is to get clear about the key steps on recruiting, selecting, developing and retaining the right leaders in the right roles, so it becomes a repeatable process for your organization. We want you to be able to get the best leaders into these roles that tie to their superpowers to drive your growth and fully realize your vision.

Step 1: CEO is accountable for stewarding culture and overcommunicating

The first step of a talent flywheel belongs to you as the CEO. It is so key that you steward your organization's culture. A key element of that includes: being very clear with your senior team what your organization’s core values are. They should understand the principles that guide every decision you and your team make. As you work to discover those, to reinforce them, and to cascade them down in the organization one of the key steps is to overcommunicate those core values. Repeat yourself so many times until your team is making fun of you -  that's how you know it's starting to set in.

Step 2: Learning and growth mindset and culture

The second step is stewarding and developing a learning and growth mindset and all of your people. It is key that when you're bringing new leaders into the company that they have a learning mindset. Any great scaling up company is a learning organization. We all constantly need to be growing and learning as the world is constantly changing all around us. All the information we need is out there is just a click or two away, but if we're not asking the right questions, if we're not using a learning mindset, our growth is going to be so much slower than it could be - and a lot less fun. 

Step 3: Unique and valuable employee experience

The third key element of the talent flywheel is making sure to create and reinforce a unique and valuable employee experience. If you think back to some of the key elements of your company strategy, we want to make sure we have a strategy that's unique and valuable to your core customer. The same logic applies to your employees. You will  want to make sure that you are selecting the best talent you possibly can that fits your culture, and once you got them you want them to stay. You want to go off for them things that are valuable to your employees that no one else. It's a key part of reinforcing the culture and thinking about your overall employee experience. What are your benefits? What is the work environment like? How are you investing in their growth? How are you making sure they've got a better future and they have today? As you look at these different things that you're doing for your employees, make sure you are offering them, individually and especially collectively, a set of benefits and opportunities that no one else can. If they are the right fit for your organization, this will help ensure employee retention, as they will never want to leave.

Step 4: Clear strategic direction from the senior team 

The fourth step to the talent flywheel is ensuring you have a clear and focused strategic direction from the senior team. Right now with all the uncertainty out there, there's unlimited opportunities and possibility for growing your organization; however, if every senior leader has a different vision for where you're going and what success looks like, your growth will be slowed, it will be more political, and it will be a lot less fun. So it is really critical to spend the time with your senior team on your strategy. We recommend, either two days a quarter or at least a half day per month, that you spend the time to clarify and reinforce your culture, that you get so clear what mountain is it that we are climbing, and for the current quarter, how do we stay focused on those opportunities that will lead to our greatest growth. It is important that the senior team do this collectively. While the CEO can help guide this, this needs to be a collaborative effort, because the process that your senior team goes through to create this focused strategy is just as important as the outcome.  This is because this process creates buy-in to ensure good implementation of the strategic plan.

Step 5: Transparency: KPIs and brutal facts

 The fifth element of the Talent Flywheel really caters to what A-Players want. A-Players want to win, and they want to know the difference they're making individually and collectively. So this step is really important. Where the leadership team is focusing, those metrics must be very visible so that everyone can track the progress of what's working and what's not working.  If there are brutal facts (i.e. any material fact that could impact business operations) and there will always be brutal facts, it's so important they get raised. When brutal facts surface, we can deal with them. They may reflect great challenges and they capture huge opportunities in front of us - or both. As we surface the brutal facts, we can identify them, we can figure out what the plan is to take advantage of them, and we can be successful together. We can surface these facts to drive rigorous discussions  with the leadership team, and align to this strategic direction that we discuss the previous step, so that we never lose sight of where we're going and that we will prevail in the end.

Step 6: Videos and stories that reinforce the core values told with emotion

With all the work that you've done to steward and reinforce the culture, to set a clear strategy, to bring the right people into the organization, and to have that learning mindset, step number six is where it starts coming together. This is where we start having great stories of impact that allow future A-Players to find your team, and to want to join your team as they realize you have a very unique and valuable employee experience for them.  This step will also allow you to  leverage all this talent that you have internally, because your current A-Players will know who the other A-Players are out there. They know who their friends are, and they will recruit them because they want to be around other A-Players. Making sure you have a process for your A-Players to refer other A-Players to your organization is absolutely key, because this will help them to take ownership of the recruiting and selection process to make sure we are bringing the right people in the organization to fuel our growth.

Step 7: Repeatable, strong, applicant pools: Topgrading, Job Scorecard, and referrals

Step number seven is all about making this a repeatable process which is so key for our growth. Right now, we know we're going to go fishing every time that we need great talent that are also a good cultural fit, which takes time and energy. As we get the flywheel moving, we will spend less time and energy on each candidate. As the CEO, you should always be recruiting, and your senior team should always be recruiting. When you come across great talent, make sure to get their contact information - reach out to them and put them early on in the process to start seeing your core value videos and the other ways you will be able to signal to them what do you unique and valuable experience it would be for that applicant to join your organization. Having a  strong pool is critically important, and how we screen is just as important. We have had tremendous success both internally and with our clients using the Topgrading process. The Topgrading process brings a whole new level of rigor to hiring. Many companies tend to hire quickly and fire slowly - on average are getting a hire right about half of the time. This is not good for the company and it's not good for that applicant.  With Topgrading, we see our clients getting much closer to a 90% success rate in hiring, and with the cost of a bad hire at 10 to 14 times their salary, getting this right is critical. 

Using the Talent flywheel is so key for your future growth and success. The Talent Flywheel will give you a repeatable process to identify, select, develop, and retain the top talent that you will need to make the impact that you want to in the world.

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Leader Spotlight: Kenneth Morris, Aviation Community Foundation

Mr. Kenneth Morris

As a pilot, I am always quite attuned to the weather, so I would be remiss if I did not speak to the dark cloud that has settled over this country and our business community. We live in incredibly turbulent times. We as a nation are experiencing loss resulting from Covid-19, and we are also experiencing great racial turmoil. At PFD, we are most certainly grieving the losses of George Floyd, Ahmaud Arbery, and Breonna Taylor, who are some of the most recent victims in a long list of men, women, and children to wrongly suffer terrible deaths. Much like a dark cloud, these events are obscuring a way forward, and they cast a shadow over the landscape of America. Given the circumstances, each of us are wondering how we can help create positive, lasting change. In the midst of this dark cloud, we would like to celebrate a leader that works tirelessly every day to create this change: Mr. Kenneth Morris.

What is important to remember is that the tragedies and acts of violence we witnessed this week don’t exist in silos, they exist within complex social and economic systems of which we are all a part. One dimension of this social system that I will highlight is poverty, which disproportionately affects people of color. In 2017, 25.4% of Native Americans and Alaska Natives, 21.2% of African Americans, 18.3% of Latinxs, and 10% of Asians experienced poverty compared with 8.7% non-Hispanic Whites. This sort of hardship was exacerbated among women of color, as in 2017, women were 38% more likely to experience poverty than men, with Black, Native American and Alaska Native, and Latinx women experiencing double the rates of poverty as non-Hispanic White women. Further, studies in the United States have found that employers respond more favorably to white candidates than their African American and Latinx counterparts. In recent months, this situation has gotten worse, as the economic and health impacts of Covid-19 also disproportionately affect communities of color. Further, as another result of Covid-19, nonprofits that aim to provide services and resources to these underserved communities have seen their revenue streams dry up, which means less support is being delivered at a time when these communities need it most.

It is easy to get discouraged when we look at these complex social systems, as so many factors that exist are out of our control. Even if we have relatively little control over the acts of violence, Covid-19, and large-scale poverty, as leaders, we must ask ourselves, “what can we influence? What is something we can do to make a positive impact in our communities?” We all have spheres of influence and areas of passion, and we must leverage our opportunities to the people within our communities that we can support.

At PFD, we are passionate about using our business to contribute upward mobility, aviation, and helping great leaders to make an exceptional impact on their communities. Inspired by General Stanley McChrystal’s Team of Teams model, we have decided to identify and support strong leaders to collaborate and support the greater good. We are dealing with increasingly complex situations, and because of this no one person can do it alone - we have to collaborate. We are better together.

In keeping with these passions, we are highlighting a great leader who has dedicated his life to making an exceptional impact on his community: Kenneth Morris.

Kenneth is using his passion for aviation to create incredible opportunities for upward mobility for diverse students.

Kenneth Morris speaking after receiving the Educate Our Educators Grant

Kenneth Morris grew up in Houston’s fifth ward, which, during the time of his childhood, was notorious for being one of the poorest and most dangerous places to live in Texas. Three weeks after high school, Kenneth enrolled in the Navy, where he joined the aviation field as a Naval Aircrewman. He viewed aviation as a challenge, working diligently to better himself, and quickly rising to the top of his class. Kenneth made rank in three years, an accomplishment that normally takes seven years to complete. As a veteran of Operation Enduring Freedom/Operation Iraqi Freedom, Kenneth is a recipient of the Navy and Marine Corps Achievement Medal, NATO Medal, Kosovo Air Campaign Medal, Armed Forces Expeditionary Medal, Sea Service Deployment Medal and more. Further, Kenneth has a degree in Computer Information Systems from Seward County College. In 2018, Kenneth was selected as one of 11 U.S. military veterans and the only African American selected by the Department of Transportation to fly in the Forces to Flyers initiative. Upon completion, Kenneth will be a Certified Flight Instructor.

Kenneth’s impressive accomplishments don’t fully capture what an incredible human being he is. He is a humble leader who has the incredible gift to truly connect and mentor students from underserved communities to transform their lives. He has an empowering vision for a much better future – one of diversity, inclusion, and upward mobility - and he inspires students to see the same future for themselves.  These students can see themselves in him, and they are inspired by being exposed to opportunities that they never thought were possible.

Jet Blue & ACF 2017 New York Student Aviation Expedition Video, Featuring Kenneth Morris and the impact aviation education can have on students.

Within the next twenty years, there is expected to be large workforce shortages for pilots, maintainers, and cabin crew. While this is undoubtedly worrying to industry leaders, Kenneth’s love for and experience in the aviation industry has led him to see incredible opportunity. He knows how aviation has transformed his own life – and he engages students with little opportunity elsewhere to pursue careers in an industry where there is incredible opportunity for growth. Kenneth knows that many of his students don’t even realize that these opportunities are available to them, and he connects with them, mentors them, and provides additional means of support to them so that they can pursue these careers and break the cycle of poverty themselves. In fact, Vaughn College of Aeronautics and Technology was recognized as the #1 College for upward mobility in the nation, demonstrating how these careers in aviation can be transformational in the lives of students from underserved communities. He also connects with leaders of other great aviation programs, so they can share best practices and scale their impact. It is quite rare for a leader to be able to both have an incredible and futuristic vision that takes into account nation-wide trends but also be able to connect on an authentic and personal level with the students he is serving

Kenneth is making a real, tangible, and incredible difference in the lives of the students that he serves. In a world where poverty and lack of opportunity disproportionately affect people of color, leaders like Kenneth are making incredible strides to make lasting, structural changes that bring real, meaningful opportunities to students in underserved communities. Not only that, but Kenneth can truly connect with and mentor these students authentically and genuinely. To make lasting change and to provide opportunities to students and communities who need it most, we need to support and collaborate with amazing leaders like Kenneth Morris. We are incredibly humbled to be serving such an incredible leader.

If you want to support Kenneth in his mission of serving students, donate here:

How We Can Use Covid-19 as an Opportunity to Create a New, Better Normal

At this point, we have heard repeatedly that Covid-19 has created a ‘new normal’. Implicit in this concept of this ‘new normal’ is fear – fear that we will not recover from this crisis, fear that we will not make it out of this crisis alive, and fear that we will not be able to adapt to and take on the challenges that this crisis-induced ‘new normal’ poses.

But what if we used Covid-19 as an opportunity to create not only a new normal, but a new, better normal?  

We seem to have this collective nostalgia for the old normal, before this giant mess occurred. But in the midst of this unprecedented mess, we also have the unprecedented opportunity to reflect and ask ourselves – was what we were doing really working? Not only do we have the opportunity to ask these important questions, but we can also take this time to rethink how we are running our businesses to create new and better experiences for our employees and community overall.

One major theme of this new normal is isolation. In response to this virus, we have created measures where we isolate ourselves away from our friends and workspaces to prevent the spread of the virus. Importantly, I am not advocating for rash and unwise decisions to be made when we regard isolation as we move through this post Covid-19 world; rather, I would like to discuss isolation in an honest way that brings to light just how much isolation impacts us, so we can include it in the conversation going forward.

When we think of isolation, we don’t give it the credit it deserves in how it impacts us. We often regard experiences of isolation as “painful”, but we tend to consider this sort of pain as more abstract or metaphorical, separating it from other types of pain (i.e. physical pain) that we experience. Sure, we acknowledge that isolation isn’t ideal, but when we feel the impacts of isolation and loneliness, we don’t tend to name isolation as the problem – we internalize the blame, and we think that there is something wrong with us for feeling the way that we do. We might think that we should be able to handle the inconvenience of isolation without much of an issue, but our brains disagree. They simply don’t work that way.

Ample evidence exists to show just how detrimental isolation can be. The pain arising from isolation is a legitimate type of pain, and it is more similar to physical pain than we once might have thought. Modern neuroscience backs this up: Functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) tests show that the pain associated with social exclusion and isolation closely resembles physical pain, as the same neural pathways are activated. This means that our brains have a hard time telling the difference between physical pain and social pain because it is registered in the same place. Further, isolation and loneliness has been shown to have long-term mental and physical health effects. When we say that isolation is painful, we are not talking about some abstract pain that we should be able to ignore. We are talking about real, concrete pain that we have been able to see in our brains. This world of isolation that we have created is incredibly painful to live in.

But is this painful isolation just a consequence of this post Covid-19 ‘new normal’?

No, it isn’t. We were isolated long before Covid-19, we just tended to ignore it and not take it seriously. In fact, one study from NPR shows that loneliness was on the rise in the United States long before the virus hit our shores – as more than three in five Americans reported feeling lonely in 2019 – one report even showing a 13% rise in loneliness from 2018. Isolation was already trending upwards, but we are now forced to look at it in a more brutal and honest way.

What is also important to note about the modern science about loneliness and isolation is that it does not prize just any connection over no connection. In fact, parallel to the studies on isolation are studies on exclusion, which show that if we feel excluded from the people around us, we experience the same neurological response of pain in our brains. Intuitively, we know this to be true as well. We’ve all been in these super toxic environments, and even if we are surrounded by people, the lack of meaningful connection in these situations is also isolating and painful. In fact, the same NPR study mentioned earlier cites modern workplace culture as a potential contributing factor to our increased loneliness. What we really need is positive connections where we can empower others and be empowered, and foster growth for ourselves.

This photo was taken from our May 2019 Workshop with Shannon Susko, before the pandemic hit and social distancing measures were put in place

So how do we create a new, better normal out of this isolated one?

We can use our businesses as a force to make real, positive changes in the lives of our employees by fostering a culture in which positive relationships can be formed. The average American works about 90,000 hours in their lifetime – so if you and your employees are having to deal with a painful, isolated, and toxic work environment, it is very unlikely that you can live a positive, fulfilled life. What we need to do is create work environments that foster meaningful connection – both inside our companies and out.

We can do this by:

• Focusing on the foundational elements of our business – our core purpose and core values – so we can intentionally create a culture that is meaningful to us.

• Intentionally hiring and training people to create a positive and empowering culture that people love to come to every day.

• Giving back to the community especially in times of need, so we can create meaningful connections between our business and the broader community.

• Taking care of yourself and your employees by creating intentional peer relationships with other forward-thinking CEO’s that you can trust. At PFD, we offer both Comprehensive Coaching Services as well as a CEO Growth Forum to build a community and support around you to tackle isolation to help you thrive

Covid-19 has given us a brutally honest lesson in isolation, which, frankly, is a problem that we have been ignoring with for a long time. However, with this unprecedented virus comes an unprecedented opportunity to rethink how we are doing business, so we can create a new, better normal together.  

If you are interested in learning more about our comprehensive coaching engagement that will give you support as you navigate Covid-19 and scale your business, click here to schedule a call:

If you are interested in learning more about our new CEO Growth Forum, that will build a trusted peer community of CEOs around you, click here:

Our Finest Hour

We live in a time that is undoubtedly marked by fear.

There have been several events in recent memory that have instilled a culture of fear in our society – the most recent of which is, as we all know, the emergence of Covid-19 as a global pandemic. Further, in America, we have seen the second economic recession in twelve years, contributing to thirty million unemployment claims filed since mid-March. The fear we feel might well be justified, but it is also disempowering to everyone.

We also all know by now that Covid-19 will be in the history textbooks. While we might want to dwell on the magnitude of the situation, we should also remember that history not only remembers the large, defining events but also the leaders that stepped up to face those challenges and empower others to do the same. We remember the terrible Civil War, but we also remember Abraham Lincoln and Harriet Tubman. We remember segregation, but we also remember Martin Luther King Jr. Despite the hardships and difficulties of their times, we remember incredible leaders like Mohandas Gandhi, Eleanor Roosevelt, and Nelson Mandela for their bravery and service to others.

Source: The International Churchill Society

One particular leader that inspired us during this time is Winston Churchill. When we talk about an era that is marked by fear and anxiety, a quintessential example is Great Britain during WWII. To the left, you will see the ending of one of Churchill’s most famous speeches – “This Was Their Finest Hour”. Preceding this speech, France was overtaken, and the United States had not joined the War effort yet, essentially leaving Great Britain to fight the Nazi empire alone. As the Prime Minister of Great Britain, Churchill had to stiffen his resolve, to fight, and to inspire his nation to do the same. Eighty years later, this is still widely regarded to be one of the best and most important speeches ever given. Even though we face different circumstances, we decided there was great wisdom to be gleaned from Winston Churchill.

In this era of Covid-19, we asked ourselves, “What can we do, so that someone, one thousand years from now, could say that this was our finest hour?” In our community, we have seen many examples of how people have made this ‘their finest hour’. We see how our healthcare heroes and our frontline essential workers show us every day how to make a difference. We greatly enjoy seeing John Krasinski’s weekly installment of Some Good News, and the positivity that is spread through that. We are inspired by the parades of cars throughout the neighborhoods celebrating our local high school graduates. We know that there is incredible power within communities where people support one other. We wanted to be a part of that movement.

At PFD, we decided to gamify our positive impact. We know the power of Quarterly Themes and how they can strengthen morale, so we decided that our theme this quarter is “Our Finest Hour”. We set a goal for ourselves, even in this time of self-isolation, to positively impact 1,000 lives. We made the visual you see to the right, modeled after WWII propaganda posters to pay homage to our inspiration and to track our progress.

To meet our goal and to make this “Our Finest Hour” we decided:

• We can coach our clients so they can navigate the uncertainty and make the best possible impact on their employees. We are so blessed to work with a wide range of CEOs that truly care about their teams and their community.

• We can rally entrepreneurs in our area to buy meals for our healthcare heroes – both supporting a local business and our healthcare workers

• We can support our own team by investing in tools that allow them to work safely from home and encouraging them to practice self-care. The person who is writing this blog post, Emmalee, has asthma, so she is especially grateful for this one.

• We can keep our commitments to our summer interns, so that they don’t have their work cancelled like so many other college students.

• We can launch a CEO Growth Forum using proven strategy and execution frameworks to create confidence and clarity for entrepreneurs that are navigating an especially challenging portion of history.

• We can work intently and creatively to figure out how to hit our revenue targets for this year, so we have the resources to also hit our corporate giving targets to support non-profits that were hit especially hard by the recession.

• We can be a voice of positivity and empowerment. This is not to diminish the hardships of our time, but to offer a way forward through this crisis and to support and recognize the ingenuity and spirit of humanity.

Our Quarterly theme printed, so our progress can be tracked & shared

We might facing difficult circumstances that will alter the course of history, but history will also remember the great leaders of our time that rose to the challenges. We want to be among the leaders that step up to face the challenges of Covid-19 and empower others to continue to do well by their community. We know that business can be an incredible platform with which we can transform lives, and we want to be just one company that intentionally creates that impact. We are so incredibly humbled and inspired by the tenacity and altruism of our clients and community, and we are very excited to continue to serve them, no matter what lies ahead.

Recommended Reading List: May 2020

Great leaders are capable of leading their teams through both the good and the bad times. These three recommended books below share best practices regarding how to make the most of the current challenges and opportunities, all while being a servant leader.

1.) The Splendid and the Vile by Erik Larson

The Splendid and the Vile is a captivating read that we found nearly impossible to put down. Erik Larson tells the story of Churchill’s family life and leadership. Churchill’s story during his prime is a great example of how an individual can effectively inspire teams. This narrative shows how important great leadership is at all levels of an organization.

2.) Shackelton’s Way by Margot Morrell

By including anecdotes from Shackleton’s journey in the Antarctic, Margot Morrell shows the incredible leadership style of Shackleton and addresses how it can be used today. This novel demonstrates how to build a diverse and highly functioning team in any circumstance while navigating through uncertainty.

3.) Right Away and All at Once by Greg Brenneman

Written by one of the top turnaround leaders in the world, Right Away and All at Once provides a framework for what is important to keep in mind during uncertain times. Greg Brenneman is able to show how creating an effective life plan can translate into a successful business. This book gives a 5 step roadmap to help create their own plan that will better both their business and themselves.

Creating Quarterly Themes to Strengthen Team Morale

As we all think about transitioning to what the “new normal” is, while being physically apart, it is still beneficial to motivate your team towards your company’s Core Purpose. Regardless of what the world looks like, your employees want to be seen and inspired. Quarterly themes can do that, while moving your business forward. Gather a representative from each department, and/or your leadership team, for a quick 45 minute pow-wow to discuss and figure out a theme that your team can rally behind.

The most important thing to remember while developing a theme is that it should create a “win x4” mentality: a win for the company, a win for the customers, a win for the employees, and a win for the community.

Being dubbed “Theme Queen”, there are some learnings and examples I’d love to share with y’all. This 9 minute video (yes, sounds long but is packed full of knowledge bombs!) will explain the suggested steps below in more detail and give you examples along the way! - Developing a Theme for Your Team

Step 1: Quarterly Priority/Focus & Timeline - Indicate the priority, or metric, for the quarter, that as a company, you want to focus on. Then decide what success looks like at the end of the quarter if you hit that goal/target.

Step 2: Actions/Game-ify - Decide how people can get involved and what they can do to reach the target number or desired outcome. In other words, the actions that will drive results.

Step 3: Name - Brainstorm 8+ names for the theme, and choose the best one.

Step 4: Reward/Celebration - Decide on the reward/celebration if your team hits the theme goal/target. This does not have to be monetary, choose something that gives back to the community or gets your team together in one place!

Step 5: Visual - Brainstorm what the visual scoreboard will look like.

Step 6: Owner & Theme Team - Assign the theme owner and their “theme team”. They can even create a fun name for themselves. I’ve heard, “Culture Crusaders”, “Dream Team”, “Theme Queens”... They will be responsible for sharing the visual and the progress being made weekly. This is a great way to give team members responsibility.

Step 7: Rollout Date - Put a rollout date on the calendar and send out calendar invites to the whole organization. You’ll be rolling out the details: what, when, how, why, etc. Inspire the team at this event!

Step 8: Theme Team Makes a Plan - The theme team needs to get together again to create their plan and delegate who is doing what. 

If you would like help figuring out a theme that is right for your team, don’t hesitate to reach out. I am always happy to lend a hand.

Pouring From a Full Cup - What resources are available and how to utilize them

Self care right now, both physically and mentally, is a hot topic while we are all at home. Instagram and Facebook are plastered with videos and photos of workouts, healthy recipes, and meditation routines. When I ask some of my friends and the CEOs we work with what they are doing, the answer is often that they don’t have any more time than they did when they were commuting to work everyday. 

COVID-19 has definitely pulled out all the stops when it comes to messing up our normal routines. Is this such a bad thing though? How about we use it to reset our priorities and work on “filling our cup” instead of constantly pouring from an empty one? Queue you jumping off your couch and firmly saying “yes, Katey, let’s do this!” How do you do this though and what is available?... Let me give you some tips and resources that other busy, firefighting CEOs and professionals are utilizing right now to stay healthy.

Block time on your calendar & set a reminder

First things first, you’ll want to block the time on your calendar and set a reminder. You don’t need a ton of time, so find a half hour slot that you can fit in a workout, or a 10 minute window of time for some meditation/mindfulness. Doesn’t matter when in the day it is, just block it off.

Dress for success

It is so easy to just wake up and work in our pjs or to put on a decent shirt for Zoom calls with pj pants as bottoms. PS. the secret is out, everyone does this! To help you get into the mood to workout, pull on your workout leggings or shorts and running shoes/tennis shoes instead. Just dressing for a workout get’s your mind ready for one and there is no hassle of changing later when your calendar reminder goes off. Get your mind wrapped around the idea early on in the day.

Use the workouts you see posted on social media and all over the internet

The entire world has shifted their attitude towards one with giving at the center. Peloton’s app is free for 90 days. It has instructor based workouts anywhere from 15-60 minutes, ranging in type: cycling, boot camp, yoga, strength, and everything in between. Plus, these workouts can be done anywhere and usually without equipment. *insert clapping and cheers*. Centr, Chris Hemsworth and his trainer Luke Zocchi’s fitness and lifestyle app, is also free for 6 weeks right now. Score! 

Additional Instagram accounts going live or posting daily workouts:

• rrayme - daily live HIIT workouts with her husband who is ex special forces, also posts amazing healthy Japanese recipes

• stevecook

• clairepthomas

• rachaelgoodeats - HIIT workouts, plus yummy healthy recipes you can easily make allergy friendly no matter what your allergies are

• paigereilly

• andrew_pap_

• risenationco - currently doing a 2020 challenge and posting daily workouts by their trainers, the workouts are amazing and they post videos on how to do each exercise

• cb_orchardparkplace - this Cyclebar is going live daily with cycle workouts, they are also posting healthy recipes

• kelseywells

**If you like working out with people, ask your family to join you or FaceTime your friends to do the workout with you**

Practice gratitude & mindfulness

There are so many ways to practice mindfulness and being thankful for what you do have. Writing down three things you are thankful for on a sticky note and posting it on your laptop or mirror keeps your blessings front of mind and helps keep things in perspective when you are firefighting. Rewrite this sticky note everyday to really see all the beautiful things you are blessed with. Additionally, the Headspace and Calm apps are free right now, you can find uddles of guided meditation and mindfulness sessions. You get to choose the length. 5 minutes to 30 minutes or more, you choose what fits your day. They walk you through the process so don’t worry about not knowing how to meditate.

The more you focus on the positives, the more likely you are to find them when times get tough. Hanging onto what you are grateful for shifts your view on what is going on around you. You may even start to see working from home as a blessing in disguise rather than a total inconvenience. 

So, with all these free resources, let’s start to pour from a full cup instead of doing our best to just get by every day. Fuel your mind, fuel your body, and in turn, you’ll fuel your team and your company’s purpose.