Stress Free Thoughts 29
What Color Is Your Canvas?
My name is Claude Jones and I have and still do personally experience racism, hatred, and bigotry. I also know many out there have faced the same. And while I still have breath in my lungs, my goal is to share my heart and fight for unbiased opportunities for all. According to art theory, the […]
Breaking Down Unconscious Bias with Conscious Thought
Have you ever been the victim of unconscious bias and felt the sting of unintentional discriminatory behavior? None of us wake up in the morning and say, “I’m going to show my bias today”. But unfortunately it happens. Not only have I been on the receiving end of unconscious bias, but I have unintentionally demonstrated […]
Don’t be a Structureless Leader: Avoid These 4 Behaviors At All Cost
If you are a leader of people, it is your responsibility to provide the structure needed to shape, plan, build, and organize your team towards a common goal. In the absence of structure, chaos and confusion show up, causing organizational disfunction. To prevent this, avoid these 4 behaviors at all cost: #1 Not defining a […]
Why People Leave their Jobs.
There are three known factors for why an associate chooses to leave their job. They don’t feel appreciated They aren’t passionate about their work They don’t like their direct manager Attrition can’t be prevented, however, as leaders, we have influence over each one of the factors above. So the question is, are you solving the […]
Find Your Totem Pole: The Bear, the Fox, and the Owl.
A young man went hiking and stumbled upon a totem pole that stood 10 feet tall. The structure had detailed carvings of three animals: a bear at the base, a fox in the middle, and an owl at the top. As he approached the totem pole, he noticed words etched next to each animal. They […]
A Warning on Complacency
Have you stopped pushing yourself out of your comfort zone? Are you at a stage in life where you’ve achieved your career goals or accepted your personal situation because “it’s not that bad”? If this sounds familiar, be careful, as you might be getting too complacent. Being satisfied with your accomplishments or situation is not […]
Focus on the Low-Hanging Fruit
Is your todo list overwhelming? Well try focusing on the low-hanging fruit. The term “low-hanging fruit” refers to a set of tasks that take minimal effort to accomplish. Here are three ways to identify the best low-hanging fruit: Avoid procrastination. Sometime when we know a task is “easy” we put it off till later. If […]
Do You Hear or Listen To What Others Say?
The ability to understand what someone is saying is one of the critical elements of the communication process. When someone is speaking do you find yourself hearing or listening to what is being said? Let’s look at the difference: Hearing: means your ears are working. You are conscious of the sounds made by someone or […]
It’s OK To Say No
Now, I know the word “no” has a negative connotation and we are coached to use “yes and” or “yes but” as a negotiation technique to help reduced our workload, but does this actually solve our problem? Imagine if you were juggling three balls and someone added seven more. Unless you were a professional juggler, […]
Living Your Authentic Self
Have you ever felt social pressure to change the way you speak, dress, and act just be to accepted by others? I have. There was a stage of my life where I allowed fear, doubts, and insecurities to define who I was which caused me to hide my authentic self and become what I “thought” […]
Inspirational Talks
