Health, Exercise and Milestone Birthdays: A Day in the Life Sunday

Tips, tricks and carrots-on-a-stick may work for short-term goals but when it comes to motivation for health, exercise and lifestyle changes, these techniques fail for me every time. 

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I am a reluctant exerciser. I exercise in starts and stops. After a 2-1/2 year start, one thing lead to another and my latest stop was in August. I have not exercised since August. Sure, there were a few cursory visits to the gym but nothing that amounted to anything other than a weak attempt at easing my woes. 

On Tuesday, this will change. I have 2 more days to hang out with my excuses, regrets and over-40 hips before I take that first step back into the gym. I am dreading(and scared by) the hard work it's going to take to get back into shape. Add that to the impact of a low MPH on the treadmill and having to reach for the pink weights on my psyche and, well, this is NOT going to be fun at all. 

Where the promise of new exercise clothes, a spa-day or getting to shop for new clothes has failed to get my butt into the gym, the arrival of Tuesday, February 12, 2013 changed the game.

February 12 is T-6 months to a very significant birthday. For the record, I plan to bust, rather than stroll, right through this one.

Here goes nothing.

Email and Employee Engagement

When we discuss factors impacting employee engagement, the manager-employee relationship always makes the list. Originally published in 2008, this post from the archives addresses an often overlooked element of day to day interactions.

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Managers can be a major source of dissatisfaction for employees. One thing a manager can do is make sure you're as nice in email as you are in person (click for link). 

• Respect the impact an email can have on an employee. When an employee sees an email from their boss, their blood pressure actually goes up (click for link), no matter what the content of the mail is. But, understandably, blood pressure went up even more when employees got angry emails from the boss, or emails from a boss they perceived to be unfair. If you get in the habit of sending little bombs throughout the day, you will create a truly deadly workplace.

• Be consistent. People read a lot into emails because the emails are devoid of the nonverbal cues we use to judge a message delivered in person. If you usually send very cordial ones, and then send a cold one, people who depend on you will spend hours analyzing it. The more consistent you are, the more people will focus on your content and stop wasting time trying to figure out subtext.

Managers, are you ready to fire off a strongly worded email, tip the balance of power in your favor and enjoy the illusion while it lasts?  Don't. Step away from the computer. I expect more from a leader in my organization and you should too.