Learn what mindset really is and how it can (and must) be applied beyond just learning and performance. It was actually inspired by Stanford psychologist Dr. Alia Crum's study of hotel workers that revealed how an instantaneous perspective shift can occur from a simple suggestion. You'll be amazed at the profound impact that the team's new mindset had on the physiological level - and hopefully become inspired to try planting similar seeds with your service team.We discuss...The unexpected ways that mindset is influenced in your organization.How the simple ways in which you listen and ask questions can effect mindset.The gradual and instantaneous ways that unhealthy mindsets can be shifted.General praise-filled announcements aren't enough - understand the importance of individual connection in positively influencing your team members' mindsets.The role of mindset in creating a culture of true safety where everyone feels inspired to share mistakes, struggles and differing opinions.Go Deeper Into the Mindful Service Movement:Subscribe/Review on i-TunesContact or Work With MeGet Access to the live workshops and master the service mindsetJoin the Facebook CommunityFollow Me on InstagramConnect with me on LinkedInCheck out my partnership with The Institute for Organizational Mindfulness

It seems like there's a lot that can go wrong when implementing something like mindfulness, coaching,  or any mental wellness modality into your workplace culture. You might be thinking, "What if everyone thinks it's weird ?" or "What if they don't like the facilitator?" or "What if they're tired of trainings and just don't wanna show up?"This episode answers all of these questions, and more, discussing creative (and sometimes surprising) solutions to these common uncertainties. We explore things like...How to have a remote program for team members that are burnt out of Zoom.The role of discomfort in practice, well, anything providing mental wellness.How to evaluate whether a problem with the program is actually a problem.The value of culture-matching your facilitators.How to make mental wellness less serious and, potentially, more fun.Go Deeper Into the Mindful Service Movement:Subscribe/Review on i-TunesContact or Work With MeGet Access to the live workshops and master the service mindsetJoin the Facebook CommunityFollow Me on InstagramConnect with me on LinkedInCheck out my partnership with The Institute for Organizational Mindfulness

Do you do a one-off workshop or offer continuous support? Do you offer mindfulness, coaching or some other brain-tweaking modality? Do you bring in a third party or give your team the training to build an in-house program? If you're looking to begin a mental wellness program in your organization, these are good questions to be asking. Each organization has a unique culture with its own wellness needs so knowing determining the right fit for you is the name of the game.Why should you even bother doing this in the first place? Good question. We explore the importance of articulating your mental wellness mission before initiating your program.The right kind of space to create so that your team will get the most benefit out of the program.How far into wellness do you need to go to get real results? We explore how to easily (and affordably) make it part of your culture. How to extract the most benefit from any third party teacher or coach that enters your organization.Go Deeper Into the Mindful Service Movement:Subscribe/Review on i-TunesContact or Work With MeGet Access to the live workshops and master the service mindsetJoin the Facebook CommunityFollow Me on InstagramConnect with me on LinkedInCheck out my partnership with The Institute for Organizational Mindfulness

We live in a time where it never feels like there's enough mental energy to go around. A big part of my mission is certainly to help people build more of this energy so that can be happier, healthier and more successful. But on the other side of this equation is the importance of acknowledging the limited inner resources of others. You can make an extraordinary difference in your relationship with a team member or customer by acknowledging the effort put into simple every day tasks.This episode gets into the powerful strategies you can use to build a service culture, retain your best players and ultimately provide a smoother experience for your customers. All from simply accounting for the fact that we humans have limited time on this earth and how we spend it actually matters.Highlights:People are drawn to other people and experiences that: 1) demand less energy from them 2) appreciate the energy that they do put in.The existential crises that your older team members might be facing and how you can prevent them from thinking you're the reason for it.How TV's Ted Lasso can teach us how to influence through kindness and validationHow generosity pays off in the long run.The Serve Conscious mission is re-focusing its mission on only organizational challenges (not individual professional challenges - stay tuned for the Professional People Pleaser Podcast, which will focus solely on those areas).Go Deeper Into the Mindful Service Movement:Subscribe/Review on i-TunesContact or Work With MeGet Access to the live workshops and master the service mindsetJoin the Facebook CommunityFollow Me on InstagramConnect with me on LinkedInCheck out my partnership with The Institute for Organizational Mindfulness

Maybe you say "yes" to too much, or pick up the slack of negligent co-workers, or get pushed around by customers or managers. Feelings of resentment are probably one of the most common experiences in the workplace that nobody wants to deal with. Why? Maybe we don't like our resentful selves. We'd rather not feel so petty, grumpy and victimized as it concerns our daily commitments. But what happens when we don't like a feeling? You guessed it: we avoid it! It doesn't get the attention and healing it needs and it continues to fester. So I wanted to dedicate this episode to the specific tendencies we have to perform tasks resentfully and work on them using our mindful self-coaching skills. You might learn... Resentment is a spectacular opportunity to learn about our values, relational tendencies, communication habits, and general sense of freedom.The feeling of resentment isn't necessarily the problem as much as the STORY that comes with it - so we'll learn just how to deal with such mental stories.Game-changing ways of saying no, making requests and dealing with what appear to be unavoidable demands.Go Deeper Into the Mindful Service Movement:Subscribe/Review on i-TunesContact or Work With MeGet Access to the live workshops and master the service mindsetJoin the Facebook CommunityFollow Me on InstagramConnect with me on LinkedInCheck out my partnership with The Institute for Organizational Mindfulness

I think this is the perfect holiday practice and also has a profound impact on the people-management skills you need for true  service (AKA: the part that really counts). I challenge you to practice it using the person in your life that you find most different from you, most difficult to understand, or just straight-up most annoying.This is a practice that uses visualization and intention-setting to prepare your mind for whatever all the crazy humans in your life might throw at you, making you better at automatically responding in a more compassionate, patient and understanding way. it works wonders for healing difficult relationships and for managing difficult customers. Although the full practice (minus the brief and de-brief in this recording) is around 10 minutes, you can shorten it to mean your time constraints. Go Deeper Into the Mindful Service Movement:Subscribe/Review on i-TunesContact or Work With MeGet Access to the live workshops and master the service mindsetJoin the Facebook CommunityFollow Me on InstagramConnect with me on LinkedInCheck out my partnership with The Institute for Organizational Mindfulness

The holidays provide an opportunity to connect to the aspects of service that are truly meaningful to you. And this is the key to really serving to your highest potential: doing what makes YOU feel good (not just what you think you have to do). This episode shows you how to go beyond just the transactional job requirements of service and access your natural motivation to serve REGARDLESS of what you're getting out of it.Also discussed...How to respect your customer's/client's individuality while still attempting to guide them towards their best interests.How to make a REAL new year's resolution (that will also lead to sustainable change to your life of service).How make service feel more meaningful.How pride in your work can lead to snobby mindsets that alienate you from your customers.How inner resentment of your customers can affect them even if it's bottled up.Why you need to become an expert on your own life and how that will help you serve others (especially those that appear to make the worst possible decisions for themselves).Next episode:A guided "Just Like Me" practice that preps your mind to connect to almost anyone - even if you seem to have nothing in common - and allows you to get more out of serving them. Go Deeper Into the Mindful Service Movement:Subscribe/Review on i-TunesContact or Work With MeGet Access to the live workshops and master the service mindsetJoin the Facebook CommunityFollow Me on InstagramConnect with me on LinkedInCheck out my partnership with The Institute for Organizational Mindfulness

If a customer or colleague is being unkind, why do we insist on feeling personally attacked by it? Well, we're designed to. We can try as hard as we want to not take things personally, but we all know that never works. So what do we do? You're going to learn a much different approach to keeping your sense of self from getting affected by someone else's foul mood so you can continue to perform and enjoy your service-oriented work.We'll learn...Why most of the advice your friends/colleagues/bosses give you after you've been attacked by a customer simply doesn't work - and what you need to do instead.Communication skills that get you out of your own head and into understanding where the attacks are coming from in the first place.How to stop missing opportunities to raise your self-worth and become more resilient to challenging interactions.Ways you need to start being your own support system.How to embrace taking something personally in a way that actually totally defuses its intensity.Goes Well With...How to Let Things GoMindful Communication w/ Oren Jay SoferGo Deeper Into the Mindful Service Movement:Subscribe/Review on i-TunesContact or Work With MeGet Access to the live workshops and master the service mindsetJoin the Facebook CommunityFollow Me on InstagramConnect with me on LinkedInCheck out my partnership with The Institute for Organizational Mindfulness

Do you find yourself making assumptions, criticisms or unfair evaluations of the people you serve or work with? These ideas may just float by your mind and remain internal, or they'll slip out at the wrong time and wound a relationship. Either way, being judgmental might feel like it really gets in the way of your success and happiness. Be sure to listen to the end of this episode  since you're going to be left with powerfully simple methods to master your judgmental mind. Expect to learn:That you can't control judgment, and trying to stop it can be counterproductive (I know, I know, I answer all those, "What the heck do I do instead?!" questions, don't worry).How awareness is your most powerful ally and how you can start building proper awareness skills.How mistaken judgments can be used to your advantage.The key to have the best relationship to your thoughts - even the really unhelpful ones.How judgmental tendencies make you more self-critical - and what to do about it.How judgmental thinking isn't just about being overly negative about someone. (Wait, can you actually be too positive? We'll talk about).Goes Well With...How "what" questions can often be more useful than "why" questions.Self-Worth, Gratitude & How to Make Service Feel Like A Privilege | Ep. 102Go Deeper Into the Mindful Service Movement:Subscribe/Review on i-TunesGet Access to the live workshops and master the service mindsetJoin the Facebook CommunityFollow Me on InstagramConnect with me on LinkedInCheck out my partnership with The Institute for Organizational Mindfulness

Loved having a dialogue-style session with my homie Neal Woodson, who was kind enough to return to jam out on some of our mutually-beloved topics like empathy/compassion, service cultures, dealing with difficult humans, and how to help professionals feel empowered to serve to their highest potential.Other questions we chewed on...Are we getting more empathetic/compassionate as a society?How has COVID made us better at understanding the people we serve?How can “seeing the iceberg” transform your ability to service people that are suffering?Why should you be grateful when you’re stuck in traffic?Why are people inspired to work at Disney (sometimes unconditionally)?Should a company be customer first or employee first? (Spoiler alert: you’re asking the wrong question).Find Neal here one his website. Go Deeper Into the Mindful Service Movement:Subscribe/Review on i-TunesGet Access to the live workshops and master the service mindsetJoin the Facebook CommunityFollow Me on InstagramConnect with me on LinkedInCheck out my partnership with The Institute for Organizational Mindfulness

"Ummmmmm, excuse me? I thought you always start with 'Why?'" I know, I know - sorry Simon Sinek fans. Him and all those other Why-seekers out there are not misguided, they just maybe haven't experienced the volatility and unreliability of 'Why?' questions.  In this episode I wanted to talk about contacting the purpose that drives your service and the key foundation of awareness that's good to have before the 'why's' are able to take you anyway.What the heck am I talking about?The importance of connecting to the feeling of purpose - a profoundly more effective way of approaching purpose than looking at is as an objective or a reason. True purpose is not always reasonable.How to familiarize yourself with the truly meaningful drivers of the work you do so you can create maximum impact, happiness and fulfillment.How to avoid the uncertainty and abstraction that exploring 'Why?' can create.When to check in with and re-evaluate expired 'Why's.How to use your past pain to heal and help others.Goes Well With...Service Prep Practice | Mobilize Your Inner Service SuperheroWin By Letting Go of Service Outcomes | Ep. 111Go Deeper Into the Mindful Service Movement:Subscribe/Review on i-TunesGet Access to the live workshops and master the service mindsetJoin the Facebook CommunityFollow Me on InstagramConnect with me on LinkedInCheck out my partnership with The Institute for Organizational Mindfulness

What a great conversation with a fellow service superhero, Molly Bruttomesso of Wunderkind, a company that's become a darling of the digital marketing world and seems to remain in a continual phase of blossoming.We covered a lot of ground around organizational culture, professional growth, true customer support, and more, so I definitely recommend this episode if you are a service leader or a service professional looking to grow into your potential. Some of the points we covered included:The importance of supporting the individuality and humanity of your team.Honoring the particular strengths of your people reveals that the  bubbly personality traits that are stereotypically associated with service are not necessarily what determines a great professional (and how, in fact, the opposite is often true).How setting weekly mantras can be more effective than weekly goals.How true professional growth sometimes doesn't require seeking the next promotion.Mindfulness and meditation practices that are actually relevant to the workplace (and life in general).Roads That Lead to MollyConnect w/ Molly (LinkedIn)Work for Wunderkind - they are growing and need awesome people like you!Go Deeper Into the Mindful Service Movement:Subscribe/Review on i-TunesGet Access to the live workshops and master the service mindsetJoin the Facebook CommunityFollow Me on InstagramConnect with me on LinkedInCheck out my partnership with The Institute for Organizational Mindfulness

This guided practice combines a lot of tools into one big activation of your very best qualities. By envisioning yourself handling challenges, creating positive impact and generally being the person your want to show up as, the mind will begin to habitually think, act and crush it as the superhero you already know you are. To maximize this session...Find a comfortable spot, where you won't be disturbed. (Do NOT attempt this while driving).Hit play.Follow the instructions. Embrace doing any aspect of it "imperfectly."The main stages of the practice look like this...Focusing the mind.Understanding your current emotional state.Envisioning your service superhero self.Feeling embodied in this fully-realized version of yourself.Visualization yourself thriving in challenges and creating positive impact.Setting the intention to embody more of your service superhero self throughout the day.Practice this before service or a big moment you want to feel super prepared for. Once you get the hang of it, you can dip into shortened versions of it, but as much of the full journey as possible is ideal since it prepares the mind for optimal visualization and intention-setting capabilities.Note: Planning to later add a script so you can pick and choose sections in the event that you're ever short on time.Go Deeper Into the Mindful Service Movement:Subscribe/Review on i-TunesGet Access to the live workshops and master the service mindsetJoin the Facebook CommunityFollow Me on InstagramConnect with me on LinkedInCheck out my partnership with The Institute for Organizational Mindfulness

As service professionals, our work gets super-powered by the need to help others, bring happiness, solve problems, etc. The problem is: we get so latched onto these outcomes manifesting that we get crushed by things not turning out how we want. What to do? You can't control people's disappointing responses to our good service intentions. But if we let go of our need for positive outcomes, we may lose the very spark that motivates us!Guess what...Letting go is an art that you simply haven't been taught properly.When and where we aim our "letting go energy" is everything.You can still double down on setting really lofty intentions for a good service outcome if you learn some tricks for adapting to the outcome.You can't force letting go...so stop trying.Letting go actually involves the most surprising and counterintuitive approach to our minds that you imagine.Mindfulness makes this all happen beautifully (P.S. It's easy and I end up teaching it to you on the fly in about 90 seconds).Goes Well With...You'll Never Make Anyone HappyKarma Yoga (Article)Karma Yoga (Podcast)Go Deeper Into the Mindful Service Movement:Subscribe/Review on i-TunesGet Access to the live workshops and master the service mindsetJoin the Facebook CommunityFollow Me on InstagramConnect with me on LinkedInCheck out my partnership with The Institute for Organizational Mindfulness

Relationships to customers are everything - same with relationships to coworkers, friends, family and (maybe most of all) ourselves. This episode looks at the inevitability of stress - especially in a role as stressful as service - and how to not only be able to handle the discomfort of it, but also rise to meet the challenges ahead of you.This one is part of a continuing series on stress and, though it stands alone, you can listen to the first part here.Inside:What stress really is - and how often you experience it - may surprise you.Do we really need stress to perform?How your mind prolongs what would otherwise be a short stress reaction - and how to hack that programming.How stress compromises your judgment, awareness and general humanity - and to prevent it from taking over your mind.How to use stress as a call to adapt to change. Complementary:Free Mindfulness Course - Master That Human Thing!Guided Practice: Self-CompassionGo Deeper Into the Mindful Service Movement:Subscribe/Review on i-TunesGet Access to the live workshops and master the service mindsetJoin the Facebook CommunityFollow Me on InstagramConnect with me on LinkedInCheck out my partnership with The Institute for Organizational Mindfulness

What would service life be like if stress wasn't a problem? Thus begins a series tackling the obstacle to service success that is so pervasive, its influence cannot be understated.Inside:Stress release: effective and ineffective ways to actually get the stress out of your physiology.Keeping stress from messing up your work life is not just a matter of "reducing" it, but becoming resilient to it.How stress affects you and lives in your body - and what you can do about it. The positives and negatives of "letting your anger out" - are there alternatives?Complementary...Previous Episode: The Struggles of Holding in Our Pain & Performing the "Happy" Customer Service RoleUpcoming Free Mindfulness Course - Master That Human Thing!Go Deeper Into the Mindful Service Movement:Subscribe/Review on i-TunesGet Access to the live workshops and master the service mindsetJoin the Facebook CommunityFollow Me on InstagramConnect with me on LinkedInCheck out my partnership with The Institute for Organizational Mindfulness

Service professionals are especially required to show that they are in pleasant emotional states - cheerful, calm, friendly, etc.  But when you're not feeling that way, it's often difficult and straining to fake these emotions. This episode talks about these struggles of "Emotional Labor" and how to emerge victorious in what can often feel like a miserable trap of performance expectations.You'll learn...How to get better at feeling unpleasant emotions and the surprising positive impact that it has on our emotional state.What real authenticity is - it's not what you think.When empathy can work against you.How to cultivate compassion for customers.A powerful visualization practice that allows you to genuinely become more of the person you want to be so that you can more readily summon authentic emotions when you need them.How to bring the right intentions to everything you do.Do This Too!Self-Compassion Practice - feel what you're feeling!Free yourself from any ideas of being obligated.Go Deeper Into the Mindful Service Movement:Subscribe/Review on i-TunesGet Access to the live workshops and master the service mindsetJoin the Facebook CommunityFollow Me on InstagramConnect with me on LinkedInCheck out my partnership with The Institute for Organizational Mindfulness

Important stuff we make sure you walk away with in this episode...No more fear of being "selfish". Selflessness is not what you think it is.The importance of understanding and meeting your needs (as well as your customers'/coworkers'/employers')Do you feel "forced" to serve a certain way (by clients or management? Here's how to work with this.How to make everything feel voluntary (esp. service!) - AKA: like it's your choice. Freedom is a mindset!The importance of boundaries (personal and professional) in order to be the service master you can be.Why you also need to keep the macro-aspect aspect of your service game in mind.As promised, some complementary content...Upcoming Free Mindfulness Course - Master That Human Thing!Serving Mindfully = Understanding How Free You AreGo Deeper Into the Mindful Service Movement:Subscribe/Review on i-TunesGet Access to the live workshops and master the service mindsetJoin the Facebook CommunityFollow Me on InstagramConnect with me on LinkedInCheck out my partnership with The Institute for Organizational Mindfulness

Do you think that the principles of running an organization and the best practices of piloting a commercial jet are an unlikely combo for a leadership guide? You won't think so by the end of this discussion with dynamic duo Octavian Pantis and Emil G Dobrovolschi. They share pearls of wisdom from the book they recently co-authored, Dark Cockpit: How to Communicate, Lead, and Be in Control at All Times Like an Airline Captain.Get ready to learn some interesting and powerful new perspectives on communication and leadership practices!Inside The CockpitWhy good leaders do as little as possible during a crisis (wait, what?).How to create better learning environments by forcing mistakes.How to be more supportive, patient and understanding, even in high stakes environments. How to work fluidly and intimately with an ever-changing team.Don't underestimate the power of briefings - learn how to actually nail the art of information your team (or speaking up as a teammember).How to communicate like nothing can be assumed (because it can't be). Use repetition and redundancy to make people feel understood.The BookDark Cockpit: How to Communicate, Lead, and Be in Control at All Times Like an Airline CaptainThis is EmilLinkedInThis is OctavianLinkedInGo Deeper Into the Mindful Service Movement:Subscribe/Review on i-TunesGet Access to the live workshops and master the service mindsetJoin the Facebook CommunityFollow Me on InstagramConnect with me on LinkedInCheck out my partnership with The Institute for Organizational Mindfulness

Being able to connect with people and navigate a social situation is not a “have it or you don’t” quality. It’s a learnable skill that gets nurtured by surprisingly simple practices. In this episode you’ll get connected with some of the ways that I broke out of emotional illiteracy.You’ll also learn ...How to build your social capabilities without learning “charisma tricks”.How restoring your mental and emotional health is  the root structure of social competency in service.A 3-step process for shifting a bad work situation from something you’re simply “surviving” to something you actually have the power to change.How to give more balanced service by pulling back on an area that you commonly over-deliver on and give more to an area that you often miss.How mastering your emotional life is at the core of mastering your customer’s emotional life.What it means when you’ve been “working on yourself”, but some old emotional pattern shows itself.Further Assistance:Guides: Meditation that works for anybody plus a meditation that I think particularly transforms your emotional and social range.Go Deeper Into the Mindful Service Movement:Subscribe/Review on i-TunesGet Access to the live workshops and master the service mindsetJoin the Facebook CommunityFollow Me on InstagramConnect with me on LinkedInCheck out my partnership with The Institute for Organizational Mindfulness