40: #40 Purpose & Well-Being at Work

05/17/21 • 35 min

In this week’s podcast we reflect on what we learnt from our last 3 guests; Adrian Hawley, Melanie Weller, and Simon Town who are very in touch with the mind, body, and environment connection.

We reflect on the often elusive yet alluring life purpose, and chat about how to combat the detrimental effects of modern life and our ways of working. In particular we think about what leaders can do for their employees that can have dramatic results for the organisation and its people, and doesn’t cost the earth.

Our Leadership Essentials:

1. It can take years to find your life purpose – keep going, it’s really never too late

2. The power of storytelling and meaning making on mind and body. We’re all connected mind, body and environment and our bodies reflected the archetypal stories we tell ourselves

3. Don’t get comfortable being uncomfortable. If we make some minor adjustments to our daily lives, we can massively improve our personal future health and wellbeing.

In The Coaching Approach we catch up with our fictional organisation Safina has introduced George to fellow CEO Andrew Thomas at Better You and he’s keen to learn more about the benefits of offering his employees a free Vitamin D level test. John is pleased to be back in the office showing off with his new Postural exercise regime, and we find everyone in good spirits where employee wellbeing has never felt so good.

In this week’s podcast we reflect on what we learnt from our last 3 guests; Adrian Hawley, Melanie Weller, and Simon Town who are very in touch with the mind, body, and environment connection.

Our Leadership Essentials:

1. It can take years to find your life purpose – keep going, it’s really never too late

Previous Episode

S1: Perfecting Posture with Simon Town

Our entire modern way of life adversely influences our postural position - where our bodies are out of balance and our muscles become both over active and under active. In this weeks episode Rachael & John are joined by Simon Town. After a life threatening accident at 16 Simon has endured PTSD, depression, drug and alcohol addiction, yet his remarkable story has served to become many other peoples survival guide. His community interest company Roots of Yggdrasil helps people with their individual physical challenges and postural imbalances. Beginning with a postural assessment, based on how you sit, where your head position is, even how you talk, you learn what your potential list of injuries might be, and how to avoid them through a tailored exercise programme. Our whole kinetic chain is at risk of modern life, yet 10 minutes of proper corrective exercise personally tailored to the individual can prevent future injury. We make the comparison as to how coaching is very similar in helping people avoid unhelpful current and future behaviours. We discuss how leaders can help their teams by looking out for early warning signs and taking some positive action. Rach and John run through a few simple exercises with Simon starting with hands & fingers that help with rheumatoid arthritis and carpel tunnel. We really enjoyed one of Simon’s favourite exercises which corrects forward head posture reducing risk of tension headaches and tightness in the upper chest. Simon’s Leadership Essentials: 1. Lead by example - let your barriers down show some vulnerability 2. If someone has back issues send them for an assessment now 3. Take sometime out for yourself; get out a do something that means you are moving - even have a phone meeting in the park

Next Episode

S1: Leading the Sober Curious Movement with Clare Pooley

Six years ago Clare Pooley was drinking about 90 units of alcohol a week. Fast forward to today and she’s a successful author, fulfilling her life’s dream. We talk to Clare about how alcohol works as a drug, and how our tolerance to it builds over time, bringing with it- issues of poor sleep, reduced creativity and anxiety. We talk about Clare’s previous career as a senior leader in the booze advertising industry, and how her recklessness while drinking nearly cost her her job. We Discuss the idea of ‘sober curiosity,’ and how people interested in having time without alcohol might reassess their relationship with it. This conversation provides thought provoking insight into a relationship many Brits have with alcohol that they’re not aware of, and how taking a more mindful approach to consuming alcohol can make you a better leader, and provide many with the opportunity to uncover their full potential. Tips for leaders about being more inclusive in the workplace about team bonding without the booze:

Ask your team what they’d like to do - don’t assume
Rethink networking and bonding opportunities that are richer in experience - running, walks, health club, theatre trips, afternoon teas, bakeoffs
Be mindful of what you role model. Boozy leaders tend to attract and hire boozy teams which can be an issue in itself for productivity and diversity of thought.

Clare’s Leadership Essentials:

1. Take a break - Ideally take a 100 days break from all alcohol to give you and your body time to decide mindfully what relationship you want to have with alcohol, rather than the relationship you have fallen into 2. Set yourself rules - once you’ve decided the relationship you’d like to have with alcohol, set strict rules and stick to them 3. Keep an eye on it - Be mindful about why and when you are drinking. If you can’t stick to step one you might want to reconsider the benefits of quitting.
Useful Links:

You Tube: https://www.ted.com/talks/clare_pooley_making_sober_less_shameful Website & Book: https://clarepooley.com/