DAY 1: Leadership Presence Begins with Being PRESENT.

As many of you may have noticed, we have lost a sense of control in the workplace and home. Studies now show that this has led to increased anxiety, unpredictability and ambiguity in our daily lives. The result is an increase in anxiety that has affected even those who are not normally anxiety prone. It’s basic biology: Our brain has a built-in negativity bias that makes us focus on negative experiences more so than on positive ones! Neuropsychologist Rick Hanson says that our brain is “like Velcro for negative experiences and Teflon for positive ones". This means that we readily notice and internalize anything negative that happens to us during the course of a day, while glossing over any positive situations because we're busy solving problems or scanning for something to worry about. Does this resonate with you?

If you have experienced this situation, the best way to shift your bias is to practice experiencing positive emotions. If you savor positivity, you'll grow your competency of experiencing positive emotions in the future. —Sarah McKay, Ph.D., neuroscientist.

Could this be your leadership lab? Ask yourself, how will I strategically pivot to meet the challenges I face?   Even without a crisis, leaders, like you, need to step back, breathe and ask what is happening. The next 21 Days will be a reminder to all of us!! Only you know how this can help you and your team!

A great place to start your positive spiral is by simply breathing!

Try and practice focused breathing.

1.     Sit nice and tall, shoulders back, in a relaxed position.

2.     Breathe in through your nose, all the while counting slowly to four.

3.     Hold your breath, counting slowly to four.

4.     Breathe out through your mouth, counting slowly to four.

5.     Repeat.

That’s it! That’s all there is to it

Keep Practicing and Breathing :-)

After this exercise, try to answer these coaching questions!

What’s most important about taking time to breathe today?

Now what will I do differently today?

If you want more guidance on your journey from Chaos to Calm, you can contact me here: https://thecoachingnest.ca/contact-shelley-cox/