March 2, 2022

Today’s Workforce Seeks Well-Being

Today’s Workforce Seeks Well-Being

“Do you really care about me? Or, do you just need me to get the work done?” Such a common refrain among a frazzled workforce still weathering the COVID fallout after two years. People everywhere have gotten sick with the virus, their loved ones have...

iHeartRadio podcast player iconSpotify podcast player iconAmazon Music podcast player iconAudible podcast player iconPandora podcast player iconApple Podcasts podcast player iconPodchaser podcast player iconDeezer podcast player iconAudacy podcast player iconYoutube Music podcast player iconSpreaker podcast player iconPodcast Addict podcast player iconCastbox podcast player iconJioSaavn podcast player iconCastamatic podcast player iconCastro podcast player iconFountain podcast player iconGoodpods podcast player iconOvercast podcast player iconPlayerFM podcast player iconPocketCasts podcast player iconPodimo podcast player iconPodurama podcast player iconPodverse podcast player iconPodyssey podcast player iconYouTube podcast player iconRSS Feed podcast player icon
iHeartRadio podcast player iconSpotify podcast player iconAmazon Music podcast player iconAudible podcast player iconPandora podcast player iconApple Podcasts podcast player iconPodchaser podcast player iconDeezer podcast player iconAudacy podcast player iconYoutube Music podcast player iconSpreaker podcast player iconPodcast Addict podcast player iconCastbox podcast player iconJioSaavn podcast player iconCastamatic podcast player iconCastro podcast player iconFountain podcast player iconGoodpods podcast player iconOvercast podcast player iconPlayerFM podcast player iconPocketCasts podcast player iconPodimo podcast player iconPodurama podcast player iconPodverse podcast player iconPodyssey podcast player iconYouTube podcast player iconRSS Feed podcast player icon

“Do you really care about me? Or, do you just need me to get the work done?” Such a common refrain among a frazzled workforce still weathering the COVID fallout after two years. People everywhere have gotten sick with the virus, their loved ones have died from it, and the intensity of it seems to have both led to burnout and elevated what is wanted and possible in life. As employees contemplate their choices and options, they are increasingly leaving their current employer often without having a new job secured, a phenomenon referred to as The Great Resignation. Companies understandably are, for their part, scrambling to remain viable in a world turned upside down by supply chain issues, labor shortages, and a whole myriad of other challenges. As the pandemic continues to unfold, one trend is that talent, especially the millennial generation which comprises the majority of workers, is on the hunt for companies who will honor their well-being.

WEBVTT

1
00:00:05.200 --> 00:00:09.439
What's working on purpose anyway? Each
week we ponder the answer to this question.

2
00:00:10.000 --> 00:00:14.679
People ache for meaning and purpose at
work, to contribute their talents passionately

3
00:00:14.960 --> 00:00:19.519
and know their lives really matter.
They crave being part of an organization that

4
00:00:19.600 --> 00:00:25.120
inspires them and helps them grow into
realizing their highest potential business can be such

5
00:00:25.120 --> 00:00:29.480
a force for good in the world, elevating humanity. In our program,

6
00:00:29.519 --> 00:00:34.600
we provide guidance and inspiration to help
usher in this world we all want Working

7
00:00:34.640 --> 00:00:41.679
on purpose. Now Here is your
host, Doctor Elise Cortez. Hi there,

8
00:00:41.840 --> 00:00:44.240
Welcome back to the Working on Purpose
Program. Thanks for tuning in again

9
00:00:44.320 --> 00:00:47.200
this week. I'm your host,
Doctor Elise Cortez to any Life from Dallas,

10
00:00:47.240 --> 00:00:49.640
Texas, which is home based for
me. If you don't know me

11
00:00:49.719 --> 00:00:54.159
yet, I'm a management consultant specializing
in meaning and purpose, organizational logotherapist,

12
00:00:54.320 --> 00:00:58.079
inspirational speaker, social scientist, and
author. My team and I help companies

13
00:00:58.119 --> 00:01:02.119
discover and articulate their purpose to embedded
into culture and operations. We work with

14
00:01:02.200 --> 00:01:07.359
forward thinking or forward reaching organizations to
develop inspirational leaders who create cultures where people

15
00:01:07.400 --> 00:01:10.920
actually want to come to work and
do their best, and we provide programs

16
00:01:10.920 --> 00:01:14.719
like the Grab Your gusta that enable
individual team members to discover and unleash their

17
00:01:14.760 --> 00:01:19.200
passion and purpose at work to catalyze
fulfillment, engagement, and productivity. You

18
00:01:19.200 --> 00:01:22.200
can learn more about us now we
can work together at at least Cortez dot

19
00:01:22.200 --> 00:01:26.480
com. With us today is Laurie
Van, Their Licensed Professional Counselor Supervisor practicing

20
00:01:26.480 --> 00:01:32.079
Mental Health Counseling and LPC associate to
provision in the state of Texas. She's

21
00:01:32.120 --> 00:01:36.560
an international speaker, media guest,
and five time author. She is regarded

22
00:01:36.760 --> 00:01:40.959
as she's a regarded behavioral health expert
and founder of Van and Associates, Coaching,

23
00:01:41.000 --> 00:01:44.920
counseling and consulting, and is a
go to authority on such topics including

24
00:01:45.040 --> 00:01:49.719
bullying, self injury, perfectionism,
and ethics, to name a few.

25
00:01:49.040 --> 00:01:53.200
Today we'll be talking about the problem
of perfectionism in the workplace, what's contributing

26
00:01:53.239 --> 00:01:57.799
to the great resignation, and what
companies can do to address the well being

27
00:01:57.840 --> 00:02:00.159
sought it by so much today's workforce? Do you know today from the greater

28
00:02:00.239 --> 00:02:05.280
Dallas area, Lorie, welcome to
Working on Purpose. Thank you, It

29
00:02:05.439 --> 00:02:08.159
is a pleasure to be here today. Thanks right, you know this isn't

30
00:02:08.240 --> 00:02:12.159
This is important stuff we're talking about
here, and we can still have fun

31
00:02:12.199 --> 00:02:15.879
about what they can't we. Yes, So I know you are up to

32
00:02:15.919 --> 00:02:20.360
all kinds of things and really have
done the work to establish his office and

33
00:02:20.360 --> 00:02:23.240
authority. But for our listeners and
viewers who don't know you yet the way

34
00:02:23.280 --> 00:02:25.759
that I have gotten to know you, some would you just start by sharing

35
00:02:25.800 --> 00:02:30.879
just a bit about your background and
really what you're focused on today. Well,

36
00:02:30.919 --> 00:02:36.479
I am a licensed professional counselor supervisor. I've been a professional counselor and

37
00:02:36.960 --> 00:02:40.479
whether it's an intern or fully licensed
for over twenty years in the state of

38
00:02:40.520 --> 00:02:46.759
Texas regard as an authority and non
suicidal self injury, and I've been working

39
00:02:46.759 --> 00:02:52.439
with that for over twenty years and
wrote four out of the five books on

40
00:02:52.479 --> 00:02:57.960
that particular topic, founder of the
Institute for Non Suicidal Self Injury. And

41
00:02:58.000 --> 00:03:05.280
what's oftentimes connect I did into that
is perfectionism. Perfectionism is something that's also

42
00:03:05.680 --> 00:03:10.719
an area of expertise for myself that
I've worked with people as young as probably

43
00:03:10.719 --> 00:03:15.719
ten years of age up into well
into the adult years that struggle with it,

44
00:03:16.039 --> 00:03:21.439
and having worked with in corporate America, having worked with a lot of

45
00:03:21.439 --> 00:03:27.240
clients in corporate America. I saw
perfectionism as one of the key factors in

46
00:03:27.319 --> 00:03:30.960
them going on too short term disability. And it's also something that I see

47
00:03:31.479 --> 00:03:38.360
so many students struggle with and that
becomes a factor for well them not doing

48
00:03:38.400 --> 00:03:43.400
well in school. And on a
global part, I see perfectionism connected into

49
00:03:43.479 --> 00:03:50.159
things like substance misuse and maybe eating
disorder, self injury, and just a

50
00:03:50.199 --> 00:03:54.960
whole slew of not great coping skills
to deal with it. But yes,

51
00:03:55.120 --> 00:04:00.960
I've worked all around the place,
from inpatient psych outpatient ship, director of

52
00:04:00.960 --> 00:04:08.400
a nonprofit and then here in my
private practice with the other counselors here under

53
00:04:08.439 --> 00:04:12.960
my supervision, or just in my
office. Wow, a lot to draw

54
00:04:13.000 --> 00:04:15.759
from, Laura. That is really
an impressive, extensive background to draw from,

55
00:04:16.360 --> 00:04:19.959
and that makes me think that you
have your really well positioned to comment

56
00:04:20.040 --> 00:04:23.800
on. I'm very interested. I
just had today a lunch with a friend

57
00:04:23.800 --> 00:04:26.920
of mine. We were talking about
this topic. Help us from your vanished

58
00:04:26.920 --> 00:04:30.800
paint, your vanished point understand what's
going on in the workplace these last couple

59
00:04:30.800 --> 00:04:33.000
of years. We've been in the
pandemic for a couple of years now and

60
00:04:33.040 --> 00:04:35.519
there's a lot of things happening,
which we're going also address on the show,

61
00:04:35.879 --> 00:04:41.040
but paint for us what you see
going on in the workforce these days.

62
00:04:41.720 --> 00:04:45.360
There's been a lot of changes and
it's one of those I think we're

63
00:04:45.360 --> 00:04:47.639
not going to be able to put
the genie back in the bottle. As

64
00:04:47.680 --> 00:04:51.199
Well said yes, yeah, And
in some ways, I think that's a

65
00:04:51.240 --> 00:04:59.959
really good thing because the pandemic,
especially very early, odd and we didn't

66
00:05:00.079 --> 00:05:03.360
understand it, and there's so much
fear and anxiety, and we were forced

67
00:05:03.399 --> 00:05:10.000
to stay at home and many many
different job markets, and I think that

68
00:05:10.120 --> 00:05:15.439
became the reality check. I think
for many people it was that realization of

69
00:05:15.839 --> 00:05:21.800
what really matters in life when you're
faced with the fears that we're being put

70
00:05:21.800 --> 00:05:27.560
out there about COVID and not knowing, well, if my loved one gets

71
00:05:27.600 --> 00:05:29.639
it, are they going to live? If I get it, well,

72
00:05:29.680 --> 00:05:34.240
I live. There's nothing more sobering
in life than death. And I think

73
00:05:34.360 --> 00:05:39.920
that was the wake up call for
many people, and that really got them

74
00:05:39.959 --> 00:05:44.519
thinking, am I doing what I
want to do? Am I really okay

75
00:05:44.600 --> 00:05:49.120
giving sixty hours sometimes more of my
life to a job that I feel is

76
00:05:49.160 --> 00:05:54.680
dead end that has no purpose that
takes me away from my family, from

77
00:05:54.680 --> 00:05:59.720
the things that I realize I really
care about in value, and I think

78
00:05:59.759 --> 00:06:04.160
that it really has contributed to things
like the great resignation and people going,

79
00:06:04.839 --> 00:06:11.199
you know what, I'm not okay
with how things have been, and the

80
00:06:11.199 --> 00:06:15.079
fact that we've been able to work
from home and we've been doing it pretty

81
00:06:15.319 --> 00:06:20.160
successfully. It got rid of that
whole argument of like, oh, well,

82
00:06:20.279 --> 00:06:24.759
employees are going to be total slackers
and they're not going to get anything

83
00:06:24.800 --> 00:06:28.839
done if they work from home.
It's like, I think people that were

84
00:06:28.839 --> 00:06:34.079
slackers got weeded out, and what
we saw is the more employees because they're

85
00:06:34.120 --> 00:06:40.959
working from home. Actually we're working
more hours, and I think there was

86
00:06:41.680 --> 00:06:46.839
a certain quality of life that came
back because they were working from home versus

87
00:06:46.879 --> 00:06:53.279
being stuck on LBJ Freeway for an
hour and backed up traffic, getting frustrated

88
00:06:53.399 --> 00:06:58.160
and wasting all that time and energy
and gas and everything else going back and

89
00:06:58.319 --> 00:07:02.639
forth. Giving the community I think
has been a helpful quality of life improvement.

90
00:07:03.360 --> 00:07:08.720
Yeah, but the one complaint I
have about that is that's what a

91
00:07:08.759 --> 00:07:11.959
lot of people would listen to my
show, you know, you know,

92
00:07:12.199 --> 00:07:15.399
is so that's the only thing.
It's the only downside of up But but

93
00:07:15.480 --> 00:07:17.600
one, let me time into what
you said, because this is so important

94
00:07:17.720 --> 00:07:23.600
for people to really understand this phenomenon
that has occurred in society across the world.

95
00:07:24.040 --> 00:07:26.680
I think a couple of the things
that bear pointing out from my perspective

96
00:07:26.720 --> 00:07:29.759
and love your perspective on it,
is last week we were on here with

97
00:07:29.800 --> 00:07:32.120
doctor ron Jay Gulati and he wrote
a book called Deep Purpose, and he

98
00:07:32.480 --> 00:07:36.279
had a perspective about the pandemic and
he said, you know, the best

99
00:07:36.399 --> 00:07:41.879
upside of the pandemic is that it
taught people to want more from their lives.

100
00:07:42.480 --> 00:07:45.680
And I think that's true. And
then the other thing, of course,

101
00:07:45.879 --> 00:07:48.160
that's really interesting about about the pandemic, and of course I see that

102
00:07:48.240 --> 00:07:53.920
with my clients now, Laurie,
is people literally are as as we're let's

103
00:07:53.959 --> 00:07:56.759
just talk about this next. You
know, this this phenomenon of the great

104
00:07:56.800 --> 00:08:01.319
resignation, which what that really speaks
to is people are literally leaving their job

105
00:08:01.360 --> 00:08:03.000
before they even have something else lined
up. They are just they just quit,

106
00:08:03.040 --> 00:08:05.319
They're out of there. And one
of the things that I think is

107
00:08:05.360 --> 00:08:09.920
interesting and love your perspective on this, that I have read somewhere is that

108
00:08:11.360 --> 00:08:15.199
part of what's causing and undergirding that
is that one that people were cooped up

109
00:08:15.199 --> 00:08:16.439
for a couple of years and maybe
a job they really didn't want to be

110
00:08:16.519 --> 00:08:18.920
in there, it was hard to
make a change during the height of the

111
00:08:18.920 --> 00:08:22.600
pandemic and a lot of things going
on on moving parts, they were taken

112
00:08:22.639 --> 00:08:26.920
care of kids or elder elder elder
members of the family, et cetera.

113
00:08:26.439 --> 00:08:28.759
So when you think about, you
know, when you feel sort of stuck

114
00:08:28.800 --> 00:08:31.840
in life, you know, it's
really hard to change your spouse, it's

115
00:08:31.919 --> 00:08:37.120
really hard to change your children,
swap out your children, really hard oftentimes

116
00:08:37.120 --> 00:08:41.000
to change the homeie live in.
But you can change jobs pretty easily,

117
00:08:41.559 --> 00:08:45.320
right, So this idea that you
know, if you can just I'm moving

118
00:08:45.320 --> 00:08:46.879
on from something, it's going to
be this job. Do you have any

119
00:08:46.960 --> 00:08:52.320
any perspective or thought or have you
have you learned something about that connection?

120
00:08:52.879 --> 00:08:58.039
Why keep recording their jobs? I
mean, partially it is the unhappy factor.

121
00:08:58.480 --> 00:09:03.559
They didn't feel appreciated and short life
is just too short to be miserable.

122
00:09:03.600 --> 00:09:07.679
And again I think that goes back
to and I'll touch on the purpose

123
00:09:07.840 --> 00:09:13.759
aspect in a moment but if our
health is a critical part of our existence,

124
00:09:13.799 --> 00:09:18.679
which it is, do we really
want to sacrifice or physical and psychological

125
00:09:18.720 --> 00:09:24.799
health to something that doesn't treat us
well, that doesn't appreciate us. I

126
00:09:24.840 --> 00:09:30.159
mean that's almost like dare I say, almost being in an abusive relationship?

127
00:09:30.799 --> 00:09:35.080
Hope? Well? Yeah, I
mean that I'm trying not to be too

128
00:09:35.159 --> 00:09:39.320
casual about that, but we do
know some jobs were actually sort of borderline

129
00:09:39.320 --> 00:09:46.840
abusive and not taking care of their
employees, of their safety, whether it's

130
00:09:46.919 --> 00:09:50.759
physiologically or psychologically. And again,
I think that sense of life is too

131
00:09:50.879 --> 00:09:58.480
short to sacrifice all of those very
valuable things for what. And I think

132
00:09:58.519 --> 00:10:03.080
there's also that sense of purpose,
that wake up call that whenever we go

133
00:10:03.159 --> 00:10:09.080
through something big and traumatic, and
definitely there's a lot of trauma that's happened

134
00:10:09.080 --> 00:10:16.279
with COVID, it's that opportunity to
step back and assess our life and go,

135
00:10:16.200 --> 00:10:20.440
is it going where I want to
go? Do I feel like I

136
00:10:20.480 --> 00:10:24.799
am contributing? Do I feel like
I have value? But I'm also providing

137
00:10:24.879 --> 00:10:30.120
value? And in general, I've
come across so many employees that they got

138
00:10:30.159 --> 00:10:33.080
burnt out, that they wanted to
leave their job because They're like, I

139
00:10:33.120 --> 00:10:37.440
have no sense of purpose. I
go on each day and I assemble my

140
00:10:37.480 --> 00:10:41.600
widgets, or I do my payroll
report, or I do whatever thing,

141
00:10:41.919 --> 00:10:48.080
and for what, like what benefit
is there to it. I'm not leaving

142
00:10:48.080 --> 00:10:52.759
a legacy. I feel like I'm
not really doing anything meaningful. And when

143
00:10:52.799 --> 00:10:58.840
you lack purpose, you become depressed. So I think being at home two

144
00:10:58.919 --> 00:11:01.759
gave people a lot of time to
just pause and really reflect on where their

145
00:11:01.759 --> 00:11:05.960
life was going. I completely agree
with that, Laurie. And so you

146
00:11:05.960 --> 00:11:11.120
know, as you might remember,
my whole jam is about helping people to

147
00:11:11.679 --> 00:11:15.519
access their passion, inspiration, meaning
and purpose. And I, because I

148
00:11:15.559 --> 00:11:18.080
know how vital that is, it
goes right smack into logo therapy for me.

149
00:11:18.919 --> 00:11:24.120
So I totally am picking up what
you're laying down, shall we say,

150
00:11:24.759 --> 00:11:26.759
so, now let's turn it over
them to the other side then,

151
00:11:26.799 --> 00:11:28.399
So, if you know, I
know there are a lot of companies,

152
00:11:28.399 --> 00:11:33.440
including the clients that I'm working with
right this very moment, who were struggling

153
00:11:33.440 --> 00:11:37.559
to be able to find people to
join their team and stay on the team.

154
00:11:37.679 --> 00:11:41.399
If we we've now presence kind of
maybe what's undergirding the great resignation so

155
00:11:41.440 --> 00:11:46.200
what can employers do to address that? What can they do to stop and

156
00:11:46.279 --> 00:11:50.080
stem that tide. Well, one
of the things I talk about as a

157
00:11:50.159 --> 00:11:56.240
behavioral health consultant for companies is that
you know, obviously you want to attract

158
00:11:56.240 --> 00:12:00.679
the good employees, you want to
maintain them, retain them, and keep

159
00:12:00.679 --> 00:12:05.080
them happy. Even before the pandemic, when I was working more in the

160
00:12:05.120 --> 00:12:09.879
Lost Cleaness irving area around a lot
of Fortune five hundred companies, I was

161
00:12:09.919 --> 00:12:15.879
filling out quite a bit of short
term disability paperwork, which obviously isn't great

162
00:12:15.919 --> 00:12:20.879
for the employee, it's obviously really
bad for the company and for the coworkers.

163
00:12:22.000 --> 00:12:26.360
So even back then I saw the
situation of burnout and what it came

164
00:12:26.399 --> 00:12:31.759
down to is it is too much
micromanagement. That's great to know. Yeah,

165
00:12:31.840 --> 00:12:33.759
micro management is a really big piece
of it. When people feel like

166
00:12:33.759 --> 00:12:39.480
they have no autonomy, they feel
like again lack of purpose and their job,

167
00:12:39.559 --> 00:12:43.600
when they feel like people are breathing
down their neck and thus not being

168
00:12:43.639 --> 00:12:50.000
trusted, and that also goes to
respect and that you know, the layers

169
00:12:50.039 --> 00:12:54.639
of responsibility keep getting added, but
there's no appreciation to it, there's no

170
00:12:54.720 --> 00:13:00.600
compensation for it. Eventually, you
get burnt out. Lori BA is one

171
00:13:00.639 --> 00:13:05.759
of the best succinct, well put
together ways to help understand really what was

172
00:13:05.799 --> 00:13:09.159
behind all this. And I do
know, you know, when when companies

173
00:13:09.159 --> 00:13:11.200
feel like, okay, we're doing
something different. People are working from home.

174
00:13:11.399 --> 00:13:13.600
Are they working from home, or
are they doing the laundry or they're

175
00:13:13.600 --> 00:13:18.200
watching their favorite you know, football
game or whatever it is. And then

176
00:13:18.200 --> 00:13:20.000
of course, and then then they
don't trust, so they micromanage, and

177
00:13:20.039 --> 00:13:26.240
then of course the employee feels then
mistrust and shrinks back. It's a vicious

178
00:13:26.240 --> 00:13:28.879
cycle. So that really actually helps. And so one of the things I

179
00:13:30.240 --> 00:13:35.159
teach clients that I'm working with is
the importance of extending trust in order to

180
00:13:35.200 --> 00:13:37.480
be able to connect with your employees
to extend that trust. And sometimes it

181
00:13:37.480 --> 00:13:41.679
doesn't always work some people, some
people don't work very well from home,

182
00:13:41.720 --> 00:13:43.600
and to your point earlier, some
of those people got weeded out. And

183
00:13:45.080 --> 00:13:48.799
but it's really interesting how you put
this together, so you know, so

184
00:13:48.000 --> 00:13:52.960
how can I how can employers what
can they do to start to be able

185
00:13:54.000 --> 00:13:58.840
to support this more hybrid workforce,
this virtual workforce, and continue to meet

186
00:13:58.879 --> 00:14:03.799
the demands of this changing workforce.
I do think communication is a big piece.

187
00:14:03.840 --> 00:14:09.159
So when I work with clients coaching, counseling, either one, I

188
00:14:09.320 --> 00:14:13.159
say think it as this triangle,
and part of the triangle is communication,

189
00:14:13.240 --> 00:14:20.000
trust, respect. If you're not
communicating, it's hard to trust someone because

190
00:14:20.279 --> 00:14:24.639
you fill in the blanks, you
make assumptions. Truly, if you're not

191
00:14:24.679 --> 00:14:28.679
communicating, then that's also a sign
of lack of respect. It's like I

192
00:14:28.720 --> 00:14:33.080
don't even have the time and effort
to even communicate with you. Well,

193
00:14:33.159 --> 00:14:37.480
yeah, that's pretty disrespectful. And
if you don't trust someone, then you

194
00:14:37.519 --> 00:14:43.120
don't respect them. So the three
just work together. So I would encourage

195
00:14:43.159 --> 00:14:48.039
employees managers you have to start with
the communication. You can't make assumptions.

196
00:14:48.840 --> 00:14:54.399
You can't assume, for example,
the employee thinks the same way that you

197
00:14:54.480 --> 00:14:58.600
do, and sometimes you actually don't
want them to think the same way that

198
00:14:58.639 --> 00:15:03.519
you do, because they're some benefit
in seeing things from a different angle,

199
00:15:03.679 --> 00:15:07.200
a different point of view. And
I think sometimes that becomes a little threatening

200
00:15:07.799 --> 00:15:13.480
because we may interpret it as oh, they're saying I'm wrong. That's not

201
00:15:13.519 --> 00:15:16.720
the case at all. But if
you communicate with someone, then you can

202
00:15:16.759 --> 00:15:18.240
find out their point of view and
go, oh, it's not what I

203
00:15:18.279 --> 00:15:22.200
thought it was, and likewise they'd
better understand you and go, oh,

204
00:15:22.240 --> 00:15:30.759
so my boss isn't some sob that
this is actually their thought process? Yeah,

205
00:15:31.279 --> 00:15:37.440
implasically left brainers versus right brainers,
right right, Such important points for

206
00:15:37.519 --> 00:15:39.000
us to be talking about, Laurie, So let's grob our first break here.

207
00:15:39.080 --> 00:15:41.360
I'm Elise Cortez, your host.
We've run in the year with Laurie

208
00:15:41.399 --> 00:15:45.759
Van. She's an international speaker,
media guest, and five time author.

209
00:15:46.120 --> 00:15:50.279
She is a regarded behavioral health expert
and founder of Band and Associates Coaching,

210
00:15:50.399 --> 00:15:54.159
counseling and consulting. We've been talking
a bit about the great resignation and what's

211
00:15:54.240 --> 00:15:56.559
underneath it, what employers can do
to start to address it. After the

212
00:15:56.600 --> 00:16:00.960
Rake, we're going to get into
more about perfectionism and brown to state with

213
00:16:00.039 --> 00:16:04.200
us. We'll be right back,
Doctor Release. Cortez as a management consultant

214
00:16:04.480 --> 00:16:11.399
specializing in meaning and purpose and inspirational
speaker and author. She helps companies visioneer

215
00:16:11.519 --> 00:16:18.240
for greater purpose among stakeholders and develop
purpose inspired leadership and meaning infused cultures that

216
00:16:18.399 --> 00:16:23.279
elevate fulfillment, performance, and commitment
within the workforce. To learn more or

217
00:16:23.320 --> 00:16:26.919
to invite a Lease to speak to
your organization. Please visit her at a

218
00:16:27.000 --> 00:16:32.519
lease Cortez dot com. Let's talk
about how to get your employees working on

219
00:16:32.559 --> 00:16:44.000
purpose. This is working on Purpose
with doctor Release Cortez. To reach our

220
00:16:44.039 --> 00:16:48.720
program today or open a conversation with
Elise, send an email to Elise Ali

221
00:16:48.919 --> 00:16:57.120
se at Elise Cortez dot com.
Now back to working on Purpose. Thanks

222
00:16:57.120 --> 00:17:00.960
for seing this, and welcome back
to the program. Before we get back

223
00:17:00.000 --> 00:17:03.759
into the content, I wanted invited
to check out the book I put out

224
00:17:03.119 --> 00:17:07.079
in fall of twenty twenty. It's
called Purpose Ignited, How Inspiring Leaders Ignite

225
00:17:07.079 --> 00:17:11.960
Passion and Elevate Cause, which is
on Amazon. I wrote it to awakened

226
00:17:11.079 --> 00:17:15.160
readers to their passion and purpose and
helped transform them into inspirational leaders who in

227
00:17:15.279 --> 00:17:18.759
life in the workplace and the elevated
contribution of the people to make them actually

228
00:17:18.799 --> 00:17:22.200
want to come to work. That's
what it's for, and I use the

229
00:17:22.240 --> 00:17:25.839
content as a basis for my Bideal
Inspired Leadership program and the Grab Your Gusto

230
00:17:25.920 --> 00:17:29.240
program. So I hope you'll check
it out if you're just joining the program.

231
00:17:29.240 --> 00:17:33.559
My guest is Lorie Van, a
licensed professional counselor supervisor practicing mental health

232
00:17:33.599 --> 00:17:37.079
counseling and LPC Associates provision in the
state of Texas. We've been talking before

233
00:17:37.119 --> 00:17:41.119
about when we was starting to be
undergotting the great resignation. Now I want

234
00:17:41.119 --> 00:17:45.039
to get more specifically into a couple
issues that you know about that are probably

235
00:17:45.119 --> 00:17:48.240
underneath that too. So let's start
with perfectionism. You mentioned that at the

236
00:17:48.279 --> 00:17:52.880
beginning of the show, So what
is first off? You know, I

237
00:17:52.920 --> 00:17:56.440
think most of us have an idea
what perfection perfectionalism is, but really,

238
00:17:56.480 --> 00:18:00.039
from your manage point, technically,
what is it and why is it such

239
00:18:00.039 --> 00:18:07.240
a problem. I talk about there
are four main types of perfectionism that iss

240
00:18:07.279 --> 00:18:11.440
for. So everyone thinks of what
I call the hundred percenter, the stereotypical

241
00:18:11.680 --> 00:18:17.920
perfections nineties not going of it has
to be a hundred and oftentimes this is

242
00:18:17.960 --> 00:18:22.400
a person that after they've achieved one
goal, they can't really enjoy it because

243
00:18:22.440 --> 00:18:26.039
now it's on to the next.
You often see performance based self esteem that

244
00:18:26.119 --> 00:18:33.079
goes with this type of perfectionist.
Now, a lot of companies take advantage

245
00:18:33.240 --> 00:18:38.799
of that particular type of perfectionist,
and I'm going to say sometimes it's unintentional

246
00:18:40.000 --> 00:18:44.119
that oh, here's the high performer, and so now they raise the stake

247
00:18:44.200 --> 00:18:47.960
because this person was able to get
things done. A lot of things done

248
00:18:48.200 --> 00:18:52.000
in the timeline did excellent, so
let's raise the bar and they're like,

249
00:18:52.119 --> 00:18:56.240
okay, I can do that.
Eventually the bar keeps getting raised to the

250
00:18:56.240 --> 00:19:00.839
point they can't meet that bar anymore. And that's where I see the burnout.

251
00:19:02.079 --> 00:19:04.839
That's where I see them go on
short term disability. Now, the

252
00:19:04.960 --> 00:19:11.160
other types of perfectionism, you do
have what I call it all or nothing,

253
00:19:11.359 --> 00:19:15.680
and sometimes that actually looks like procrastination. It's an individual that goes,

254
00:19:15.960 --> 00:19:19.920
I'm going to get done, but
please let me do it on my timetable,

255
00:19:21.359 --> 00:19:25.839
my standards. Don't have me start
it and then interrupt me and have

256
00:19:26.000 --> 00:19:29.799
me go do something else and then
come back to it, because that just

257
00:19:29.880 --> 00:19:36.279
throws them off. They hate that, so oftentimes before somethings do, that's

258
00:19:36.359 --> 00:19:40.119
when they're doing it. And it's
not because they were being lazy, it's

259
00:19:40.200 --> 00:19:45.599
because cognitively that's how they work.
There are those that I refer to as

260
00:19:45.680 --> 00:19:51.640
start over perfectionist, and you tend
to see this maybe more in the artistic

261
00:19:51.720 --> 00:19:56.279
sense of they will see every little
flaw and may not turn something in because

262
00:19:56.319 --> 00:20:02.359
it's never perfect enough for them to
trend in, or they might keep starting

263
00:20:02.359 --> 00:20:06.079
it over of like Okay, yeah, but there's this and I just need

264
00:20:06.119 --> 00:20:10.799
to redo it again. And that
comes to the phrase of done is better

265
00:20:10.920 --> 00:20:15.160
than perfect. Thing I work with
them on. And the last one is

266
00:20:15.200 --> 00:20:19.720
a fear of failure perfectionist. And
this person often gets unmobilized by that fear

267
00:20:19.759 --> 00:20:26.279
of not doing well, of failing, so they'll either not even attempt something.

268
00:20:26.680 --> 00:20:30.319
They're like, I'm not even going
to put myself out there, and

269
00:20:30.400 --> 00:20:34.079
that could look like the employee that
never volunteers for anything, that never tries

270
00:20:34.119 --> 00:20:38.079
to do something, and again initially
may look like oh they're just being a

271
00:20:38.119 --> 00:20:44.920
slacker, but not necessarily and that's
where communication comes in and find out the

272
00:20:45.000 --> 00:20:48.920
why. Yeah, there's a lot
of things I could talk about with that.

273
00:20:49.759 --> 00:20:53.279
It's fascinating. I don't think I
would have ever ever fleshed that out

274
00:20:53.319 --> 00:20:56.480
like that, but that's why you're
the expert. So the first one,

275
00:20:56.519 --> 00:21:00.920
I recognize the hundred percenters. I
recognize those being that I've done a lot

276
00:21:00.960 --> 00:21:06.599
of work and organizations and continue helping
them understand how engage is their workforce in

277
00:21:06.680 --> 00:21:10.279
other words, how productive, how
connected is their workforce to the company.

278
00:21:10.839 --> 00:21:14.079
And so you know, what we
find is to your point is those people

279
00:21:14.160 --> 00:21:18.279
that are oftentimes you know, uber
engaged and really engaged, at some point

280
00:21:18.279 --> 00:21:22.839
they do burn out because what happens
is they you know, their own efforts,

281
00:21:22.839 --> 00:21:25.960
they just run out of steam.
And then too, the company relies

282
00:21:26.000 --> 00:21:27.880
on them so much and gives them
more and more work because they just keep

283
00:21:27.880 --> 00:21:33.039
performing. And so it's a self
fulfilling again vicious cycle. So that one

284
00:21:33.079 --> 00:21:36.720
I recognize, the other ones I
don't recognize as much. So I wanted

285
00:21:36.759 --> 00:21:40.920
to translate that into you know,
more of corporate speak as well. And

286
00:21:40.920 --> 00:21:44.680
and for those of you who are
listening, here's what's interesting is I recognize

287
00:21:44.720 --> 00:21:47.519
myself and the first one, and
that I do. I'm constantly like I,

288
00:21:48.079 --> 00:21:49.240
you know, I finished this this
book or this one, and I

289
00:21:49.319 --> 00:21:52.640
go into the next thing. So
I do recognize myself there, but I

290
00:21:52.720 --> 00:21:59.079
also recognize myself in that thing.
I there's something about like, you know,

291
00:21:59.079 --> 00:22:02.039
knowing that I I knew that I
was supposed to get this thing done,

292
00:22:02.079 --> 00:22:04.559
you know, two months ago,
but I'm working on it literally the

293
00:22:04.640 --> 00:22:08.519
day before but there's something in that
that like juices and jazz is me,

294
00:22:08.680 --> 00:22:14.160
what is that? And I bring
it? I mean it happens. Yeah,

295
00:22:14.240 --> 00:22:17.440
I think there is an adrenaline piece
to it. You know, without

296
00:22:17.440 --> 00:22:22.359
a doubt, we're more focused where
there's the sense of that pressure. And

297
00:22:22.480 --> 00:22:26.680
some people theoretically do work better under
pressure, and I think maybe even those

298
00:22:26.759 --> 00:22:33.759
that have some ADHD traits may do
better in that kind of environment. They

299
00:22:33.799 --> 00:22:38.319
need that kind of pressure. But
the key pieces that again, they don't

300
00:22:38.359 --> 00:22:42.400
have anything else. They have cleared
their plate, so that's the only thing

301
00:22:42.519 --> 00:22:48.480
that they are focusing on and that's
what they need. And during the average

302
00:22:48.480 --> 00:22:52.400
work day, there's so many distractions. There's so many things going on of

303
00:22:52.559 --> 00:22:53.960
like hey, can you work on
this project? Heay, can you do

304
00:22:55.000 --> 00:22:57.599
this for this project is outstanding?
And what about this and this? And

305
00:22:57.680 --> 00:23:03.799
so when they have that task,
they are being drug pulled in so many

306
00:23:03.799 --> 00:23:07.039
different directions. They can't really do
the main thing they need to do,

307
00:23:07.200 --> 00:23:11.599
and that's where it ends up being
that weight till the night before and they

308
00:23:11.640 --> 00:23:15.440
feel that pressure, but there's also
a little bit of the relief of I

309
00:23:15.480 --> 00:23:18.440
don't have anything else to work on, like this is it this is all

310
00:23:18.480 --> 00:23:23.359
I get to do. So for
managers, some of this is fleshing out

311
00:23:23.720 --> 00:23:29.400
what kind of employee do you have, which of those four boxes, if

312
00:23:29.559 --> 00:23:33.079
any, because you may have employees
that don't fit into one of those four

313
00:23:33.119 --> 00:23:37.200
types of perfectionists and that's great too, But figure out if you have an

314
00:23:37.200 --> 00:23:42.319
employee that struggles with getting work done, that they may not be actively participating,

315
00:23:42.400 --> 00:23:48.799
that something just seems to be off. Talk with them, those to

316
00:23:48.920 --> 00:23:53.319
them, some of these traits,
some of these characteristics, see if they

317
00:23:53.359 --> 00:23:57.599
relate to any of them, and
then it's working with them to see how

318
00:23:57.680 --> 00:24:07.079
can you bring out their most productive
self by harnessing that personality type. And

319
00:24:07.119 --> 00:24:08.680
the thing is is that in work, just like in school, a lot

320
00:24:08.720 --> 00:24:11.559
of times we're a cookie cutter of
like, no, it has to be

321
00:24:11.640 --> 00:24:17.839
done this way. And just like
in school, not every employee is cookie

322
00:24:17.839 --> 00:24:23.599
cutter and thinks and works in the
same way. You know what you're making

323
00:24:23.640 --> 00:24:27.000
me think of is you know I
know for me, I like to be

324
00:24:27.079 --> 00:24:30.599
busy, I like to be productive. My number well, for the longest

325
00:24:30.599 --> 00:24:33.119
time, my number one drink was
achiever. Now it's like second or third,

326
00:24:33.160 --> 00:24:37.319
But I really like being productive and
efficient and effective. And that's just

327
00:24:37.640 --> 00:24:40.599
kind of my jam and one of
the clients that I'm working with here in

328
00:24:40.680 --> 00:24:44.319
Dallas and my team and I are
doing some exit surveys because they're some people

329
00:24:44.359 --> 00:24:49.279
are leaving and what we're finding and
it does fall more on the gen y,

330
00:24:51.000 --> 00:24:56.000
it would be the gen y millennials. They're what they're saying is they

331
00:24:56.079 --> 00:24:59.599
felt they weren't being challenged enough,
they felt like they weren't being asked to

332
00:24:59.599 --> 00:25:02.000
do in it they had there was
too much slack in the rain, if

333
00:25:02.000 --> 00:25:04.079
you will, and I could,
I could relate to that. And so

334
00:25:04.119 --> 00:25:08.880
I remember years ago when I took
a job in some transition time and they

335
00:25:10.000 --> 00:25:11.319
had this program to have me wait, and I'm like, it would have

336
00:25:11.319 --> 00:25:14.720
been better if you distir me in
the deep end. It really would have

337
00:25:14.759 --> 00:25:17.519
been. You know, if you
would have just I would have been so

338
00:25:17.599 --> 00:25:21.119
much better off if you've done that, right, So, just knowing and

339
00:25:21.400 --> 00:25:22.680
to your point, and this is
where it gets really interesting, Laurie.

340
00:25:22.720 --> 00:25:26.720
From my vantage point is, you
know, managers often are very well intended

341
00:25:26.759 --> 00:25:30.079
and they want to take care of
their people, but they're doing it for

342
00:25:30.079 --> 00:25:32.920
the vantage point of, well,
this is what I would want the golden

343
00:25:33.000 --> 00:25:36.759
rule treat me, treatos as you
would do unto yourself, not the platinum

344
00:25:36.839 --> 00:25:40.400
rule, which is treatos as they
want to be treated. Right, So

345
00:25:40.440 --> 00:25:42.880
if we find out, to your
point, how does the employee work best,

346
00:25:42.960 --> 00:25:47.039
maybe they need twenty six projects going
on at one time. That's how

347
00:25:47.079 --> 00:25:49.559
they how they how they jam their
best. And somebody else is like,

348
00:25:49.680 --> 00:25:52.319
I need to finish one at a
time, but I'll knock it out of

349
00:25:52.319 --> 00:25:57.480
the park each time. To your
point, communication, yes, it absolutely

350
00:25:57.720 --> 00:26:03.440
is. And you have an element
of boundaries too, which haven't touched on,

351
00:26:03.599 --> 00:26:08.119
because boundaries are a really big piece
of one on the burnout side,

352
00:26:08.440 --> 00:26:12.680
but also on the perfectionism side.
And whether I see is the individuals that

353
00:26:12.799 --> 00:26:18.319
struggle was setting good boundaries, they
struggle with being assertive. They're the ones

354
00:26:18.400 --> 00:26:22.400
more likely to go to the short
term disability as well, because they get

355
00:26:22.400 --> 00:26:26.720
into people pleasing and they might go
into that job being the super go getter

356
00:26:26.839 --> 00:26:30.039
and give me all the projects and
I can do because I want to please

357
00:26:30.160 --> 00:26:33.559
you, and they give, give, give, and at some point there's

358
00:26:33.599 --> 00:26:37.799
no more give I mean to give. You know, we only have a

359
00:26:37.839 --> 00:26:44.680
certain amount. Yeah, the tank
gets empty and they set such a high

360
00:26:44.720 --> 00:26:48.039
standard for themselves going in people pleasing
that they might be giving one hundred and

361
00:26:48.039 --> 00:26:52.240
fifty percent, and so if they
drop down to even one hundred and ten

362
00:26:52.319 --> 00:26:56.000
percent, the manager the director might
go, what's wrong with you? Like,

363
00:26:56.039 --> 00:27:00.960
what's going on? There's a problem. But other individuals that went in

364
00:27:02.119 --> 00:27:06.799
just maybe giving the eighty percent,
maybe a hundred percent, but maybe a

365
00:27:06.839 --> 00:27:11.680
little bit less than they don't get
the same eyebrows raised because they already set

366
00:27:11.720 --> 00:27:15.839
that expectation of this is where I
work. Don't expect much of me.

367
00:27:15.279 --> 00:27:21.400
So for them, yeah, they
get less attention and it's usually less stress.

368
00:27:21.960 --> 00:27:26.599
But the people pleaser raise that bar
so high from the beginning that if

369
00:27:26.599 --> 00:27:30.920
they drop that bar at all,
they're getting the attention on them and then

370
00:27:30.279 --> 00:27:33.279
you know it's not great, and
then they feel bad and then oh boy,

371
00:27:33.359 --> 00:27:37.759
that just sets off a whole chain
of events. Now I see the

372
00:27:37.799 --> 00:27:41.759
relationship to burnout, So let's talk
about that next. So I have a

373
00:27:41.839 --> 00:27:45.039
dear friend and colleague, doctor Naja
Sanguan. She's doing a lot of work

374
00:27:45.039 --> 00:27:48.720
in the space too, and burnout
boy, I mean it is real,

375
00:27:48.920 --> 00:27:52.559
right, this is a real thing. So talk to us about burnout.

376
00:27:52.880 --> 00:27:56.720
How would you, you know,
describe that from more of a you know,

377
00:27:56.799 --> 00:27:59.279
a therapeutic vantage point. What is
it and why is it such a

378
00:27:59.279 --> 00:28:03.839
problem. I like to keep things
pretty simplistic. It's it's similar and nature.

379
00:28:03.839 --> 00:28:07.880
Actually, when someone becomes severely depressed, which depression them burnout do sort

380
00:28:07.880 --> 00:28:12.640
of go together, and it's the
your give a care, just isn't there

381
00:28:14.240 --> 00:28:18.680
anymore? You like care? Figure
out to edit that part, make it

382
00:28:18.759 --> 00:28:23.759
nicer, But I mean, it's
really it's a numbness. A lot of

383
00:28:23.839 --> 00:28:29.839
employees report like I just go in
and I'm going through the motions. I've

384
00:28:29.880 --> 00:28:36.480
got nothing left to give that I'm
barely surviving. Getting up bed is a

385
00:28:36.599 --> 00:28:42.240
chore and again very much parallels a
lot with depression. And they don't have

386
00:28:42.279 --> 00:28:47.599
the energy, they don't have the
motivation. There's just nothing that's giving them

387
00:28:47.880 --> 00:28:53.599
excitement. There's this ad hedonia that's
present. It's just da that's an interesting

388
00:28:53.599 --> 00:28:56.759
word. Never heard it? Say
it again? Please? Oh, ad

389
00:28:56.759 --> 00:29:02.720
hedonia. It's the it's a clinical
term of its lack of enjoyment. It's

390
00:29:02.759 --> 00:29:07.200
the blah. Yeah, now this
sounds a lot like depression. How is

391
00:29:07.240 --> 00:29:12.640
it different to me? Burnout really
does fall in the depression category. I

392
00:29:12.680 --> 00:29:18.920
really do think they work together.
You could have burnout that maybe goes with

393
00:29:18.960 --> 00:29:23.759
some anxiety, but there's also understanding
anxiety and depression work in tandem. The

394
00:29:23.799 --> 00:29:26.640
majority of the time, if you
have one, you're going to get the

395
00:29:26.680 --> 00:29:32.920
other. How that manifests in a
workplace environment is maybe initially it starts off

396
00:29:32.920 --> 00:29:36.200
with anxiety of like, oh my
gosh, so much I have to get

397
00:29:36.200 --> 00:29:40.680
done, and you can even go
into pank attacks because I have plenty of

398
00:29:40.839 --> 00:29:45.920
individuals that we did disability paperwork because
the pank attacks were so bad they couldn't

399
00:29:45.960 --> 00:29:52.240
even go into the parking lot because
they got so anxious about going into work

400
00:29:52.720 --> 00:29:56.480
and that fear, that worry that
like what's it going to be today?

401
00:29:56.599 --> 00:30:00.559
And is the boss going to say
something? A I am able to perform

402
00:30:00.599 --> 00:30:06.880
and whatever thoughts go through their mind. But it takes a lot of energy

403
00:30:07.000 --> 00:30:10.839
to be anxious. I mean,
that's that's a lot of adrenaline pumping through

404
00:30:10.880 --> 00:30:15.839
your system, and at some point
you can get adrenal failure or you just

405
00:30:15.880 --> 00:30:22.839
get that exhaustion where your glands just
I got nothing, like there's no powering

406
00:30:22.880 --> 00:30:27.119
down, powering down. Absolutely,
that's when we see people go into medical

407
00:30:27.359 --> 00:30:32.680
hospitals. It's also aware. I've
seen play off people go into behavioral health

408
00:30:32.920 --> 00:30:40.200
hospitals and you that anxiety. It's
just the lack of energy and you're just

409
00:30:40.279 --> 00:30:41.839
like, I can't be anxious,
saying more, there's nothing, and so

410
00:30:41.960 --> 00:30:48.799
you fall into depression and that tired
that no energy, no motivation, no

411
00:30:48.960 --> 00:30:53.119
nothing. How it can work,
how depression leads to anxiety is I have

412
00:30:53.200 --> 00:30:56.279
low motivation. I'm not getting stuff
done. I know I've got to get

413
00:30:56.359 --> 00:31:00.160
stuff done, but I just I
can't do it. So now the anxieties

414
00:31:00.200 --> 00:31:04.880
building of it's back there and it's
just beating on me, and it's just

415
00:31:06.000 --> 00:31:10.279
I know I gotta get done.
And so anxiety just builds and builds because

416
00:31:10.400 --> 00:31:15.640
you know you're not performing and you
need to, but you got nothing to

417
00:31:15.720 --> 00:31:22.440
perform with. So that's a simplistic
example of how they work in tandem and

418
00:31:22.440 --> 00:31:26.559
awesome. Yeah, well explained,
and that helps us really situate what we

419
00:31:26.559 --> 00:31:30.240
want to talk we want to talk
about after we get back from the next

420
00:31:30.240 --> 00:31:33.359
break, which is really how can
we situate well being in the workplace.

421
00:31:33.359 --> 00:31:36.160
So let's grab our last break.
I'm on these Cortez, your host.

422
00:31:36.440 --> 00:31:40.240
We've run the Lorie Van. She's
an international speaker, media guest, and

423
00:31:40.319 --> 00:31:44.000
five time author. She is a
regarded behavioral health expert and founder of BAN

424
00:31:44.119 --> 00:31:48.799
and Associates Coaching, counseling and consulting. We've been talking quite a bit about

425
00:31:48.079 --> 00:31:51.920
perfectionism and burnout, and now after
the break, we are going to treat

426
00:31:52.319 --> 00:31:56.839
just really what employees are looking for
in the way of employers honoring their well

427
00:31:56.880 --> 00:32:00.599
being. Stay with us, We'll
be right back. Doctor released Cortez as

428
00:32:00.599 --> 00:32:06.559
a management consultant specializing in meaning and
purpose and inspirational speaker and author. She

429
00:32:06.720 --> 00:32:13.559
helps companies visioneer for greater purpose among
stakeholders and develop purpose inspired leadership and meaning

430
00:32:13.559 --> 00:32:19.920
infused cultures that elevate fulfillment, performance, and commitment within the workforce. To

431
00:32:20.079 --> 00:32:23.200
learn more or to invite a lease
to speak to your organization, please visit

432
00:32:23.240 --> 00:32:28.440
her at Elise Cortez dot com.
Let's talk about how to get your employees

433
00:32:28.559 --> 00:32:39.200
working on purpose. This is working
on Purpose with doctor Elise Cortez. To

434
00:32:39.279 --> 00:32:44.599
reach our program today or open a
conversation with Elise, send an email to

435
00:32:44.720 --> 00:32:52.160
Elise Alis at Elise Cortez dot com. Now back to working on purpose.

436
00:32:53.480 --> 00:32:57.519
Thanks for staying with us and welcome
back to working on purpose. One other

437
00:32:57.559 --> 00:32:59.880
bit of news that I want to
share with you is at the anthology I

438
00:33:00.039 --> 00:33:04.400
spent a couple of years finding people
for and curating has just been released,

439
00:33:04.440 --> 00:33:07.720
and it's a collection of twenty five
stories from women across the globe who share

440
00:33:07.759 --> 00:33:10.119
their intimate details of finding their purpose
and what they're now doing to serve from

441
00:33:10.160 --> 00:33:14.480
it. It's called Passionately, Striving
and Why, an anthology of women who

442
00:33:14.599 --> 00:33:17.519
persevere mindly to live their purpose.
It's on Amazon and it is I'm so

443
00:33:17.559 --> 00:33:22.359
proud of that I could busts.
We have stories from Australia to Zambia and

444
00:33:22.440 --> 00:33:24.759
that they're personal and they will help
you discover your own purpose. And by

445
00:33:24.799 --> 00:33:28.880
the way, now I'm out scouting
the globe to recruit men who are living

446
00:33:28.920 --> 00:33:30.960
their purpose and want to share their
story. So contact me if you know

447
00:33:31.039 --> 00:33:34.960
someone or if you want to share
your story at least at Elis Cortes dot

448
00:33:34.960 --> 00:33:37.559
com if you're just joining us.
My guest as Lorie Van. She's a

449
00:33:37.599 --> 00:33:45.039
licensed profession Professional Counselor Supervisor practicing Mental
health counseling and LPC Associate Supervision in State

450
00:33:45.039 --> 00:33:47.839
of Texas. She's an international speaker
at media guest and five time author.

451
00:33:49.200 --> 00:33:52.559
She joins today from just outside of
Dallas area. I'm Elise Cortez, your

452
00:33:52.559 --> 00:33:55.160
host. So for those last bit, I really want to focus on bringing

453
00:33:55.200 --> 00:33:59.440
us home into what can we do
about this. We've been presentcing the problems

454
00:33:59.440 --> 00:34:01.759
of what's going on the workplace,
I think quite handily. So now I

455
00:34:01.839 --> 00:34:06.720
want to focus on this notion of
well being. And I have had that

456
00:34:06.759 --> 00:34:10.079
on my radar, Lorie Gosh,
I really got it probably in twenty twenty

457
00:34:10.079 --> 00:34:14.440
one, and so when I cross
pass with you, I own thing ding

458
00:34:14.519 --> 00:34:16.360
ding, Yes, well being.
Let's talk about that. So it's so

459
00:34:16.440 --> 00:34:21.320
important. And one of the things
that you said in our conversation was that

460
00:34:21.639 --> 00:34:22.679
you know, of course, we
know that there are five generations in the

461
00:34:22.679 --> 00:34:25.920
workforce today, but you say that
the millennials, which we know are quite

462
00:34:27.000 --> 00:34:30.599
large, are really looking for a
company who will honor their well being.

463
00:34:30.639 --> 00:34:35.639
So I want to finish this show
this segment here focused on this piece of

464
00:34:35.639 --> 00:34:39.320
well being. So first, since
we positioned that the millennials out there,

465
00:34:39.320 --> 00:34:44.119
can you help us understand what proportion
of the workforce do they comprise? I

466
00:34:44.159 --> 00:34:46.159
know they're quite a bit but I
don't really know what the number is or

467
00:34:46.159 --> 00:34:51.719
the percentage. Well, they are
thirty five percent of the workforce, and

468
00:34:51.800 --> 00:34:58.519
that translates to fifty six million.
They are the largest representation in the workforce.

469
00:34:59.000 --> 00:35:04.119
Now right behind them, really close
are the Gen xers at fifty three

470
00:35:04.440 --> 00:35:12.119
million, So pretty neck and neck
there. But I dare say it is

471
00:35:12.159 --> 00:35:19.639
that each generation has its own nuances
and people give or I would say millennials

472
00:35:19.639 --> 00:35:22.239
get a bad rap in a lot
of ways. But I think they've also

473
00:35:22.159 --> 00:35:30.000
brought to awareness some things that have
been been going on too long and probably

474
00:35:30.119 --> 00:35:35.559
shouldn't have been going on for that
long. So while there's some things that

475
00:35:35.639 --> 00:35:39.440
go okay, maybe that's a little
extreme, there are other things like expecting

476
00:35:39.480 --> 00:35:44.400
that your boss doesn't take advantage of
you. I mean, that doesn't sound

477
00:35:44.440 --> 00:35:51.119
like such a bad idea, It
doesn't. Yeah, expecting that you'll be

478
00:35:51.159 --> 00:35:55.440
treated with respect, I don't think
that's such a bad concept. Expecting to

479
00:35:55.480 --> 00:36:00.760
not give the best years of your
life and slave away to the point where

480
00:36:00.760 --> 00:36:05.920
you have health problems for your job, Yeah, I you know what,

481
00:36:06.119 --> 00:36:12.320
I think that's such a bad concept
there, So for millennials. In one

482
00:36:12.360 --> 00:36:15.840
of the studies, one of the
top things they are looking for an employer

483
00:36:16.119 --> 00:36:20.639
is someone that's going to respect their
well being, and that's on a physiological

484
00:36:20.800 --> 00:36:27.400
and on a psychological level. Now
how that may look depends on who you

485
00:36:27.480 --> 00:36:34.599
ask within that demographic. But things
of well as I mentioned the respect piece,

486
00:36:34.679 --> 00:36:38.639
but I'd also say even just feeling
there's a fairness, there's an equity,

487
00:36:38.760 --> 00:36:44.480
that there's not this favoritism, that
there's not a discrimination. Yeah,

488
00:36:44.519 --> 00:36:50.159
that goes to psychological health when you
feel that you're valued and you're treated equally

489
00:36:50.199 --> 00:36:55.599
as an equal human being. Things
of shorter work weeks. I mean,

490
00:36:57.360 --> 00:37:01.119
America got into a really bad habit
of even a six day work week in

491
00:37:01.280 --> 00:37:08.840
some professions. That's ridiculous. And
so now going from okay, a lot

492
00:37:08.880 --> 00:37:13.639
of businesses, a lot of professionals
working fifty sixty seventy hours a week and

493
00:37:13.719 --> 00:37:17.480
go, you know what, why
we do it? And millennials saying it's

494
00:37:17.519 --> 00:37:22.000
not worth it. There have to
be some other ways besides sacrificing our health

495
00:37:22.760 --> 00:37:27.079
that we would like to have time
with families. Whenever we decide to have

496
00:37:27.159 --> 00:37:31.639
a family, that's good because that
benefits the next generation of employees. If

497
00:37:31.800 --> 00:37:37.480
employers want to put it in that
context, you know what kind of new

498
00:37:37.480 --> 00:37:42.119
employees are we going to be producing
If we've stressed out the previous one are

499
00:37:42.159 --> 00:37:47.800
the ones that we have. And
there's also just the work from home aspect,

500
00:37:47.880 --> 00:37:53.440
and and yeah, that did bring
about some definite benefits. I don't

501
00:37:53.440 --> 00:37:57.639
think it's you know, it's ridiculous. If your job can do it,

502
00:37:58.199 --> 00:38:02.159
then allowing that is an additional option
for your employees. I'm not saying five

503
00:38:02.239 --> 00:38:07.920
days a week, but maybe if
they could have one or two days off

504
00:38:07.000 --> 00:38:12.559
the five days where they get to
work from home, that shows that you're

505
00:38:12.679 --> 00:38:15.639
listening to them. If that's something
people want, you need to listen to

506
00:38:15.719 --> 00:38:22.039
it. And there's definitely the ways
to do that, not in every profession,

507
00:38:22.199 --> 00:38:25.679
bit and a lot of them.
And I would encourage just listening,

508
00:38:25.880 --> 00:38:31.199
like actually sit down and listen to
say, hey, what are the top

509
00:38:31.280 --> 00:38:38.079
five things that you're looking for?
Regularly survey your employees and even maybe changing

510
00:38:38.079 --> 00:38:43.360
the language of it from employees to
like team members, because we're all sort

511
00:38:43.360 --> 00:38:45.920
of in it together, aren't we. Don't we want more of a team

512
00:38:45.960 --> 00:38:50.119
culture? I would say so.
Well, So a couple of things came

513
00:38:50.119 --> 00:38:52.960
to mine as you were talking Laurie, and thank you for helping to sort

514
00:38:52.000 --> 00:38:55.400
of paint and broaden the picture for
people to understand. I know that.

515
00:38:55.920 --> 00:39:00.559
You know, I'm working with some
companies now they're just exact ready by all

516
00:39:00.559 --> 00:39:01.719
this, and I you know,
it's really hard work to be a leader

517
00:39:01.760 --> 00:39:06.119
today. I don't want to really
honor that. Who's ever listening. You're

518
00:39:06.119 --> 00:39:07.440
watching and if you're a leader,
go on, you're pulling your heart like,

519
00:39:07.519 --> 00:39:09.519
well, I don't know what to
do, And I get it.

520
00:39:09.559 --> 00:39:13.480
That's why, you know, happy, happy to help in that regard,

521
00:39:13.559 --> 00:39:16.119
but you know, I being someone
to be able to understand what do I

522
00:39:16.159 --> 00:39:20.920
do with this all this this stuff
that's swirling. And so when you talked

523
00:39:20.960 --> 00:39:24.280
about just listening to them and you
know, caring for them, I think

524
00:39:24.280 --> 00:39:29.280
what we're what we're also speaking about
here is caring for your team members.

525
00:39:29.719 --> 00:39:31.360
So one simple thing that's coming to
my mind. I've got a couple of

526
00:39:31.360 --> 00:39:35.800
companies that I'm working with, and
they're really having a hard time with this

527
00:39:35.800 --> 00:39:38.599
thing of you know, working from
help the they like they they you know,

528
00:39:38.719 --> 00:39:42.639
some of it does come down to
mistrust. They don't trust that the

529
00:39:42.639 --> 00:39:45.360
work's going to get done, which
gets conveyed. Even if they don't say

530
00:39:45.360 --> 00:39:49.960
it with words, it gets conveyed
a message received by by the team member.

531
00:39:50.840 --> 00:39:53.800
But what's what I found, especially
in December, January and the early

532
00:39:53.840 --> 00:39:58.360
part of February when COVID, you
know, was really really spiking, is

533
00:39:58.639 --> 00:40:00.599
a lot of employees were having a
hard time with having to come into the

534
00:40:00.599 --> 00:40:05.119
office. They didn't feel safe,
and you know, to keep your job,

535
00:40:05.119 --> 00:40:07.400
you've got to come to the office. And I think that's a perfect

536
00:40:07.440 --> 00:40:12.599
example of not demonstrating that you care
for your employees, that you're extending that

537
00:40:12.639 --> 00:40:15.760
you care about their well being,
right, perfect example. And I can

538
00:40:15.800 --> 00:40:19.920
remember when this thing was first unfolding, a couple of my colleagues said,

539
00:40:19.960 --> 00:40:22.440
you know what I mean, Like
first, this is now two years they

540
00:40:22.480 --> 00:40:25.440
said, this is probably going to
turn into a time when you're going to

541
00:40:25.519 --> 00:40:29.519
talk to people that say, so
do you go to the office Tuesdays and

542
00:40:29.559 --> 00:40:31.639
Thursdays? So you go Monday,
Wednesdays and Fridays. You know, it's

543
00:40:31.679 --> 00:40:35.880
not going to be that you go
every every day anymore. And so I

544
00:40:35.920 --> 00:40:38.559
think, what what's you're surfacing law
is really important, you know, and

545
00:40:38.960 --> 00:40:42.880
you know, managing and then of
course through that's the whole thing of balancing

546
00:40:43.440 --> 00:40:46.280
how do you get work done in
an organization and as well as take care

547
00:40:46.280 --> 00:40:51.880
of your people. Yeah, there's
definitely accountability that has to be there of

548
00:40:52.000 --> 00:40:55.440
like, hey today, this is
your expectations. So again goes back to

549
00:40:55.480 --> 00:41:01.400
communication, our managers being really clear
about timelines for projects. And yes,

550
00:41:01.440 --> 00:41:05.719
I do want to stop and say
being a manager and a director, being

551
00:41:05.760 --> 00:41:09.639
an employer is a difficult thing.
Without a doubt, not going to take

552
00:41:09.639 --> 00:41:17.199
anything over specially now, especially absolutely, there's also a piece of situational awareness.

553
00:41:17.639 --> 00:41:22.639
And I think what happened and turned
a lot of people off, maybe

554
00:41:22.639 --> 00:41:28.000
from their current workplaces, is they
felt that, hey, you're asking me

555
00:41:28.119 --> 00:41:30.800
to do this when we don't really
know what's going on. I don't feel

556
00:41:30.800 --> 00:41:37.480
physically safe. But also no,
I don't feel really necessarily necessarily psychologically safe.

557
00:41:37.880 --> 00:41:43.519
And it's that lack of situational awareness
of look around, understand where the

558
00:41:43.679 --> 00:41:50.880
other person is coming from, put
yourself in their shoes, and then respond

559
00:41:51.320 --> 00:41:55.880
with that information with that context,
because I think sometimes we get in that

560
00:41:57.000 --> 00:42:00.239
like Nope, this is the memo
and this is how it is, and

561
00:42:00.280 --> 00:42:05.440
we totally detached from do you understand
how this comes? Across like if you

562
00:42:05.599 --> 00:42:09.719
sat back and read it as one
of your team members, if this were

563
00:42:09.800 --> 00:42:15.159
given to you, how would you
respond to it? And I think that

564
00:42:15.320 --> 00:42:22.280
is a really important piece for those
in leadership positions to you know what,

565
00:42:22.519 --> 00:42:27.639
have someone else read the memo,
whether that's your spouse or whether that's another

566
00:42:28.679 --> 00:42:31.639
you know, someone else in the
office before you actually send it out,

567
00:42:32.239 --> 00:42:38.199
because there has been a lot of
damage done when people were not situationally aware

568
00:42:38.519 --> 00:42:43.800
and then those situations made it all
over social media and it doesn't make your

569
00:42:43.840 --> 00:42:46.559
company look too good or glass door
for that matter. They show up on

570
00:42:46.599 --> 00:42:51.639
glass Door. So back to this
whole situational awareness thing. You know,

571
00:42:51.840 --> 00:42:53.880
one of the things that I've really
gotten present to working with my clients and

572
00:42:54.239 --> 00:42:58.920
their team members is, you know, think about this the last two years,

573
00:42:59.159 --> 00:43:00.920
although it has been nice to work
from home, but you're still in

574
00:43:00.920 --> 00:43:05.159
the situation where a lot of these
people who are employees, they're caring for

575
00:43:05.320 --> 00:43:07.880
children who are trying to be homeschooled
because they couldn't go to school. So,

576
00:43:08.119 --> 00:43:12.920
you know, just trying to handle
kids and keeping them focused and or

577
00:43:13.039 --> 00:43:16.280
taking care of parents or extended family
members. You know, just a lot

578
00:43:16.320 --> 00:43:21.920
of bandwidth drain if you will write
on people so and then still trying to

579
00:43:21.920 --> 00:43:24.519
be a productive and focused at work, and yet they're and they're tired and

580
00:43:24.639 --> 00:43:29.360
overwhelmed, or maybe they caught COVID
and they're sick. I mean I talked

581
00:43:29.400 --> 00:43:34.039
to somebody who you know, had
taken a couple of days off from from

582
00:43:34.039 --> 00:43:37.800
from work and because his a very
important family member of his has died from

583
00:43:37.800 --> 00:43:40.679
COVID, and he said, I'm
on the way to the funeral and my,

584
00:43:40.679 --> 00:43:45.119
my, my, my work is
calling saying where is that report that

585
00:43:45.159 --> 00:43:46.559
you said you were going to send
tocent. I know you're dealing with some

586
00:43:46.599 --> 00:43:49.800
family stuff, but you know,
when do you think you could send it?

587
00:43:50.840 --> 00:43:54.519
Walking into the funeral as we speak? Could you cut me some slack?

588
00:43:55.039 --> 00:44:00.519
You know? So s total lack
of situational way us. Right.

589
00:44:00.559 --> 00:44:04.119
So I think if we really step
back and you know, we recognize what

590
00:44:04.199 --> 00:44:07.159
people have really been through these last
two years and just a little bit of

591
00:44:07.199 --> 00:44:12.280
empathy here and so, then then
that means we have to give people the

592
00:44:12.599 --> 00:44:15.000
ability to talk about when they don't
it's I don't, I'm not okay,

593
00:44:15.039 --> 00:44:20.519
it don't feel good. So making
you know, talking about mental health openly

594
00:44:20.559 --> 00:44:22.159
whereas we didn't used to be able
to do that, so you know,

595
00:44:22.239 --> 00:44:25.480
making that more of a practice.
So what else can you can you tell

596
00:44:25.559 --> 00:44:30.800
us that you would recommend that employers
can do to be able to create a

597
00:44:30.840 --> 00:44:35.320
workplace where they're honoring that well being. Well. One of the things going

598
00:44:35.360 --> 00:44:39.960
back to the feedback is anonymous feedback. So when I was things consulting for

599
00:44:40.239 --> 00:44:45.000
a nonprofit for example, and they
were wanting to know, well, what

600
00:44:45.000 --> 00:44:50.039
what are they really thinking? Was
the team think that the team had fear

601
00:44:50.239 --> 00:44:57.039
of some kind of retribution? So
what I recommended is that you have formed

602
00:44:57.079 --> 00:45:00.679
not something that you can do online
per se, because then people are like,

603
00:45:00.719 --> 00:45:02.559
oh, well it could be traced
back to my email or whatnot.

604
00:45:04.960 --> 00:45:09.000
Yeah, the IP so something printed
up, something that they could either type

605
00:45:09.000 --> 00:45:14.800
in if they wanted to, or
you know, handwrite, because most things

606
00:45:14.960 --> 00:45:17.679
were not handwriting anymore. So it's
a little bit you know, trickier to

607
00:45:17.719 --> 00:45:22.599
figure out whose handwriting is who.
But it gets submit and one lump sum,

608
00:45:22.639 --> 00:45:28.960
so it's not individuals turning it in
at individual times. It's like it

609
00:45:29.000 --> 00:45:34.440
all goes into one big envelope or
one big box or whatever, and then

610
00:45:34.559 --> 00:45:37.079
it's just you know, someone goes
through it and maybe even better yet,

611
00:45:37.519 --> 00:45:43.519
having it be a neutral person,
so not even the manager that goes through

612
00:45:43.559 --> 00:45:46.360
it, someone that's neutral, that
really doesn't have skin in the game and

613
00:45:46.480 --> 00:45:52.679
let them tally the results. And
then there's that one more degree of separation,

614
00:45:52.079 --> 00:45:58.079
and that helps build some trust.
But then once you have the information,

615
00:45:58.679 --> 00:46:00.880
what are you going to do with
that? It's the follow through,

616
00:46:01.280 --> 00:46:07.079
yes, for you know, and
you've probably heard it too that people said,

617
00:46:07.079 --> 00:46:09.760
well, yeah, I spoke up
and I made the suggestion and nothing

618
00:46:09.800 --> 00:46:14.960
ever happened precisely, so lack of
trust there, it's like, well,

619
00:46:15.000 --> 00:46:19.320
why do I even bother because nothing's
going to change. It's even more demoralizing

620
00:46:19.360 --> 00:46:22.639
for sure. Absolutely, yeah,
So I mean those are first steps.

621
00:46:22.679 --> 00:46:29.559
But I would also if there's EAPs
employees assistant programs, make sure that's left

622
00:46:30.119 --> 00:46:34.400
or made available for employees. There
are different training groups that come in.

623
00:46:34.440 --> 00:46:39.840
There's Workplace Mental Health Institute that I'm
the North North American representative, and we

624
00:46:39.960 --> 00:46:44.320
go in and do trainings for companies
of like, hey, this is how

625
00:46:44.360 --> 00:46:47.559
you manage this in the workplace.
Okay, great, we're running out of

626
00:46:47.559 --> 00:46:51.920
time, Laurie, were just's running
away here quick, any last quick,

627
00:46:52.000 --> 00:46:54.840
quick part tips you can give to
us. I think a great way to

628
00:46:54.880 --> 00:47:01.039
build a team workplace and also give
people a sense of purpose is figure out

629
00:47:01.079 --> 00:47:06.639
ways to have volunteer activities. It's
a great way to team build. It's

630
00:47:06.679 --> 00:47:08.679
a great way for people feel sense
of purpose. It's a great way if

631
00:47:08.719 --> 00:47:14.679
you as talk strictly marketing, to
get your company's name in the community in

632
00:47:14.679 --> 00:47:21.280
a positive way. But I think
there's so many benefits in service. Agreed.

633
00:47:21.920 --> 00:47:23.920
So you know this show is listened
to by people across the world,

634
00:47:24.039 --> 00:47:29.000
and it's all about being able to
elevate workplaces and creates inspirational leaders and new

635
00:47:29.000 --> 00:47:31.159
business at better as the world.
Just in say twenty seconds, what would

636
00:47:31.159 --> 00:47:36.159
you like to leave us with?
My big thing is just here to serve.

637
00:47:36.199 --> 00:47:39.079
When we have a service attitude,
whether as in leadership or as a

638
00:47:39.079 --> 00:47:45.400
team member, it changes our perspective. And when you lead with service as

639
00:47:45.400 --> 00:47:50.400
your mindset, you leave the world
a better place. I agree, Laurie,

640
00:47:50.400 --> 00:47:52.199
and I thank you so much for
your heart and your contribution to this.

641
00:47:52.280 --> 00:47:54.920
It's so great to know you in
You're in my own backyard. So

642
00:47:55.360 --> 00:47:59.880
you can run, but you can't
hide. I'll find you. Thanks for

643
00:48:00.000 --> 00:48:04.400
coming on. Thank you listeners and
viewer. If you will learn more about

644
00:48:04.440 --> 00:48:07.760
Lorie Van and the work she does
improving mental health or her books, you

645
00:48:07.760 --> 00:48:09.800
can visit her at a couple of
sites. One is Lori Van dot com.

646
00:48:09.880 --> 00:48:15.719
Let me spell that for you l
O r I v Ann Lori Van

647
00:48:15.840 --> 00:48:21.880
dot com or Van Associates dot com
via n N Associates dot com. Last

648
00:48:21.920 --> 00:48:22.960
week, if you miss the live
show, you can always catch it via

649
00:48:23.039 --> 00:48:27.719
recorded podcast. We were on the
earth doctor ron Jay Gulati, a Harvard

650
00:48:27.719 --> 00:48:30.480
professor and the author of Deep Purpose, The Heart and Soul of High Performance

651
00:48:30.480 --> 00:48:36.360
Companies, was an incredibly elevating yet
completely accessible conversation. The man is brilliant

652
00:48:36.400 --> 00:48:39.480
and he really just rocked the conversation. You got to catch it. Next

653
00:48:39.519 --> 00:48:44.119
week we'll be on the air with
Melanie Pump talking about her book DTOX,

654
00:48:44.239 --> 00:48:47.280
Managing Insecurity into Workplace. See you
there. Remember that work is at least

655
00:48:47.320 --> 00:48:52.960
a third of our lives, So
let's work on purpose. We hope you've

656
00:48:52.039 --> 00:48:55.840
enjoyed this week's program. Be sure
to tune in too. Working on Purpose

657
00:48:57.159 --> 00:49:01.000
featuring your host, doctor Elise Cortez, each week on the Voice America Empowerment

658
00:49:01.119 --> 00:49:07.960
Channel. Together, we'll create a
world where business operates conscientiously, Leadership inspires

659
00:49:08.000 --> 00:49:14.360
impassioned performance, and employees are fulfilled
in work that provides the meaning and purpose

660
00:49:14.440 --> 00:49:17.400
they crave. See you there.
Let's work on purpose.