Healthy Organizations

I very much enjoy Simon Sinek's talks. I find him to be very intelligent and well spoken. I was excited to see some more of his videos for this week's class.
His video about Millennials gave me some new insight into myself and those around me.

I started watching the video with my husband and we both thought "this won't apply to us." Well... there were more similarities to what he was saying than I thought there would be. One thing that made both my husband and I laugh at was when he was talking about charging cell phones in the living room at night, not next to the bed. The first thing I said was "I use mine as my alarm." Not even 2 seconds later, Sinek brought that up and then stated that real alarms were only $8. Busted.
I also related very much to the social media topic he discussed. Sinek states that dopamine is released when we get a "like" on facebook or a text message from someone. I am guilty of checking my phone very frequently, especially when I am in a public area where I don't know anyone. I am very shy, so I use my phone as a buffer between myself and those around me. Watching this video has made me more determined to put my phone away when I am with my family and friends and to "live in the moment" more often.

Another take away point that I got from the video was that impatience sets us up for failure. I see it in my work life, home life, personal relationships, etc. We want instant gratification and most often that does not work. I have always known that I am impatient and I try to work against that, but it is difficult to do. However, I liked Sinek's example of the mountain. We know there is a point at the top that we have to get to, but we often times forget about the mountain to climb in order to get there.

In Sinek's video "First why and then trust", he uses an example of making a business deal and not receiving a hand shake to close the deal at the end.

It made me realize just how important those small acts can be. When he stated that the business deal either would not go through, or that the person making the deal would feel uneasy about it, I agreed with him. I thought that if I was the manager of a large company making a deal with another company, that the refusal of a hand shake would put me off greatly. After watching these two videos I feel that I will actively work towards communicating better and being more present when I am with other people. A smile, hand shake, eye contact, wave, all make a difference in personal and professional relationships.

Porath's article titled "No Time to be Nice at Work" was an eye opener. The statistics she included in her article were interesting. For example, she has conducted surveys about civility and why people behave uncivilly. She states "Over half of them claim it is because they are overloaded, and more than 40 percent say they have no time to be nice" (2015). It made me wonder "who doesn't have time to be nice?" Being nice takes no more time than being rude does. There are many times in the hospital that people act uncivilly. Patients, coworkers, family members, and bosses have all acted uncivilly towards me at some point in time. Porath closes her article saying "In every interaction you have a choice: Do you want to lift people up or hold them down?" (2015). I will be remembering that phrase at work in the future.

In the article by Dellasega and Volpe, they ask whether the reader can be considered as a toxic nurse or not. Unfortunately my result was that I can be toxic. I do believe it differs from week to week. When things are more stressful at work, I know I am more toxic. When the work week is flowing nicely and everyone is getting along, then I am less toxic. The quiz did make me realize that I do behave in a manner at times that can be toxic to myself and those around me. I don't want to be known as "the complainer" at work. I used to work with someone who did complain quite a lot at work, and even now she is still known as the complainer to some people. I hope that term never follows me, so this quiz has steered me in the positive direction of change.

References:

Dellasega, C., & Volpe, R. (2013). Could you be a toxic nurse? Retrieved from https://courses.mnu.edu/pluginfile.php/453678/mod_book/chapter/8845/Toxic%20Nursing%20Quiz.pdf

Porath, C. (2015). No time to be nice at work. Retrieved from https://www.nytimes.com/2015/06/21/opinion/sunday/is-your-boss-mean.html?smid=pl-share&_r=0&module=ArrowsNav&contentCollection=Opinion&action=keypress&region=FixedLeft&pgtype=article

TEDx Talks. (2011). TEDxMaastricht - Simon Sinek - "First why and then trust". [video file]. Retrieved from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4VdO7LuoBzM

Willrath, B. (2016). Simon Sinek-Millennials in the work place. [video file]. Retrieved from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5MC2X-LRbkE