FACILITATING EXCELLENCE

 As part of the reading group, I started on with a book called Critical Conversation for Dummies. This is a book by Dr Christina Schlacter. It talks about the importance of holding critical or difficult conversations in the workplace and gives a detailed guide on how to nail it.  As I whizzed through the book, I realised it is a reminder of the training I had at the beginning of my career. My 15 plus years of experience in the field have made me sit down for several critical conversations. Performance management, Redundancy, Layoffs, Project deadlines, I  have led all types of conversations, therefore this book was a trip down the memory lane.  However, now when I read it my perspectives have changed. I am a mother first and then a professional which made me realize the importance of having critical conversations beyond the workplace. Thinking of what all places critical conversation hold value- Relationships - with Parents, Children, Partner, and of course extended families Social- Fr

 When you head on a journey, more often than you often have a destination in mind. or a purpose. A friend recently announced she will be travelling 29 states in order to mobilize volunteers for her cause of working on Genetic Disorders.  Another person updated on Facebook recently about a solo ride they are going to take covering several states.  As part of various travel groups (and ardent travel dreamer), I often seek insights that will enrich my experience whenever I embark on my own journey. So by that definition, I have a lot of borrowed expectations, not just from the journey but also from myself. I know when I set for the journey, I will be prepared or Will I? Let us take a step backwards and start from the beginning!! Preparation Zone - I am set. I know my destination. I know the way and I have my GPS. I have seen photographs and heard experiences of my counterparts who will tell me what it is like to take a similar journey. I am Set. My tick marks are complete.  Anxiety Zone

We are now Self Aware- Know about our emotions, our triggers and are more in tune with our environment. All that is good but what do we do with that information.  Self Awareness generates a lot of information. A few days back there was a message shared in the group which enlisted a couple of cognitive distortions ranging from overgeneralization, catastrophizing, over- personalizing, etc etc. Each of these words had an equally valid explanation to it which explained various patterns of behaviours that we as individuals resort to at different times.  Self Awareness shows us the mirror- it tells us that we have a pattern to our behaviour.  Some common example-  Someone criticizes our work- Our thought process- They don't like US Something conflicting happens at work- We start binge eating. A tiff at the office- Children at home bear the brunt.  No matter how unfortunate the truth is, it is always a pattern. Once we are aware we start to detach incidences with make-believe consequences