Inspirational Podcasts We’re Listening to From Home — Week 7
HR Lab Blog Team
September 2, 2020
With everything going on in the world right now and the extra time we have being home, many people have been listening to podcasts. They are a great way to learn something new, gain ideas, and new perspectives. Here at HR Lab we have weekly discussions about a podcast we have listened to and inform each other a few things we learned from them.
Let’s take a peek into what a few of our leaders are listening to from home these days!
Kimberly, HR Coordinator
UNDERSTANDING AND USING THE AMAZING POWER OF SELF DISCIPLINE 7 GOOD MINUTES DAILY | CLYDE LEE DENIS
In this podcast, Clyde helps us understand the amazing power of self discipline. Of 1000 principles for success developed over the ages, the quality of self discipline will do the most to guarantee that you accomplish wonderful things in life. As Clyde explains, the quality of self discipline is incredibly important, if you don’t develop it to a high degree it may be impossible to ever achieve what you are truly capable of achieving. Scary right? But do not worry! Clyde reassures us that the quality of discipline is something we can learn, by continuous practice over and over again , until we are able to truly master it. And once you are able to master it, there is no task that you cannot complete! Clyde studied many successful people, and all highly successful individuals are extremely self disciplined. When you are able to attain that same level of discipline, you will start experiencing the same level of success. As Clyde states, “It is no miracle.”
There are several disciplines you must accomplish to achieve your full potential.
Clyde teaches us the “Discipline of goals.” For this discipline, you must sit down with a pen and paper. Think through your goals and write down what you wish to accomplish 1, 5 , or 8 years from now. You then must organize the list within various areas of your life (eg. your career, family, health, pay.) Then, you must make a second list and write down what you can accomplish right now to move you closer to the fulfilment of your most important goals. The reason for this is, if you are clear and write down your goals, there is nothing that can stop you from reaching them. Most of us try to live our lives without clear specific goals.
I love the way Clyde explains the importance of this discipline . It’s like traveling to a new country with no road map. You may get somewhere eventually. But most likely, you will get lost and waste an enormous amount of time than if you had planned your trip.
Hiral, HR Coordinator
10 WAYS TO HAVE A BETTER CONVERSATION | CELESTE HEADLEE | TED TALKS DAILY
Celeste Headlee gives 10 tips on how to have a better conversation, but also to be a better listener. My initial thoughts when I saw the title of the podcast was that it will include points that I already know and it is always great to remind myself of conversational cues. However, there are deep points that we do not realize we do and it is important for everyone to listen to these tips to start having better conversations.
The tips are as follows:
1. Do not multitask. Be present, be in the moment. Try not to think of other things while having a conversation and put your full focus in.
2. Don’t pontificate or express one’s opinions in a way considered annoyingly pompous and dogmatic. Set aside your personal opinion. Assume you have something to learn from this person.
3. Use open ended questions. Questions like what was that like? How did that feel? Don’t answer for the person, let them explain how they are feeling.
4. Go with the flow. Thoughts will come into your mind. Let them come and go. We have a short attention span so it will happen and you have to refocus yourself.
5. If you do not know, then say that you do not know. The ego can get in the way here as you may not want to admit that you do not know what they are talking about. It is better to say it truthfully and let them explain to you, rather than going along with conversation and not knowing.
6. Don’t equate their experience with yours. If you went through the same thing do not start telling your story. All experiences are individual. It is not about you.
7. Try not to repeat yourself. Stop rephrasing things over and over.
8. Stay out of the details. People don’t care about the year and dates you are struggling to come up with. Focus on main points and getting the point across.
9. Listen. It takes effort and energy to pay attention to someone. Stephen Covey once said, “most of us don’t listen with the intent to understand, we listen with the intent to reply.”
10. Be brief. Be interested in other people.
There are many points that I have a habit of and I can relate to. This podcast made me look deeper into the way that I communicate and highlighted the aspects I need to work on which I am very grateful for. Through this, I realized that conversation and listening go hand in hand. I used to view these concepts as two separate things. To have a great conversation, you also need to be a great listener. Once you are a great listener, you can ask thought provoking questions to show that you are engaged in the conversation and also consuming the themes and messages being relayed. I am excited to keep practicing and working on my conversational skills.
Nelli, Social Media Intern
60 SECOND SCIENCE | IN BEE SHORTAGE BUBBLES COULD HELP POLLINATE
Bees are one of the most important living organisms. Without the work that they do life would not be possible on Earth. Sadly bees, like many other animals, are going extinct. Scientists all over the world are trying to come up with ways to perform pollination. Eijiro Miyako, a Japanese scientist, and his team started using soap bubbles to pollinate pear trees. The outcome of the bubble pollination was as good as bee or hand pollination.
Anna, Founder & HR Director
ANOTHER WORKPLACE CRISIS: LONELINESS | HBR IDEACAST | EPISODE 737
This podcast addresses how companies with increased employee engagement have spillover effects for one’s productivity, creativity and retention in the workplace. In other words, caring for your team members is not just good for them but it also good for your company. When teams work together there is a level of social connectedness that has very positive effects.
According to Dr. Murthy, former Surgeon General of the United States, even small acts of kindness, such as smiling at a stranger in the workplace, helping somebody you don’t know well, who may have tripped or dropped a file, create positive relational energy.
We cannot stop raving about this practice. Try it and you will love it for it is an incredible opportunity to learn.
