Atomic Habits

One hundred is a nice, round number. It's also quite an achievement. Most importantly, 100 is/was our episode goal. Since we launched, we didn't miss a week. Through work travel, vacations, a pandemic, job changes, and everything else life threw our way, we stuck to a schedule. For us, this was about growth through challenges and critical review. We admitted to mistakes and celebrated success. KL has also been about you, the listener. Early on, we stopped worrying about how many of listened and focused on creating great content for any number who did. Thank you for listening. Thank you for your feedback. Thank you for keeping us going. In our final episode, we look back on our favorite moments, the ones that make us cringe, and how we felt about making this podcast come to life.

This is a big question. This is a face the mirror and sweat it out question. This is a nail biting, teeth grinding, try to ignore it because it's just too damn scary to face it and really think about it question. Ok... but why? Is there a chance we aren't following our purpose? We won't know unless we dive into it. The answer requires thought. There's no way around it. Start with these questions and enjoy the journey. 1. What would you do if you never had to earn another dollar? 2. What would you choose to do, even when it sucked? 3. What did you love doing as a child? 4. What makes you afraid of judgment? 5. What makes you angry?

With so many variations on the definition of Quiet Quitting, we're not able to tell you exactly what it means. We can't even tell you exactly how it feels. But, we know it when we see it. Maybe. On one hand, Quiet Quitting is when you do you job and nothing more. No extra assignments. No "above and beyond." No overtime of any sort. On another hand, Quiet Quitting is not doing anything you are specifically asked to do. That may mean that your day is wide open because no one has emailed you, called you, or given you a to-do list. You might get to Friday without ever having done any actual work. In either case, Quiet Quitting can be damaging to your business and to your team. In this episode, we discuss ways to prevent or treat Quiet Quitting.

You might struggle to imagine a gym full of people exercising their brains, but replace "gym" with "office" or "classroom" and you'll understand. Our brains are the muscle that sets us apart. Training those blobs of gray matter elevate our ability to negotiate the big and little challenges we face every day. Through intentional engagement, you can buff your brain. It's time to get your pump on.

Here's the deal: some requests are unreasonable. This is not the same as "out of line" or "unethical," though those requests are unreasonable and should be addressed quickly. We're talking about the requests that may prevent you for getting home in time for family dinner or put you on a red eye flight for an early morning meeting. You *could* do it, but is it necessary? If not, how do you address those requests without limiting your career?

Uh oh. Your boss' boss just called you and your peers in for a quick meeting. The news: you're getting a new boss. OR You've just accepted an offer and are moving to work for a new boss. In either situation, you have to learn a new leadership style. One one hand, this can be stressful. What are the expectations, boundaries, and cultural values of your leaders? On the other hand, this can be exciting. You can reinvent yourself, your old leader wasn't all that great anyway, or you really want to work with this new boss. No matter the path to a new leader, there are some critical actions you can take to ensure a smooth(er) transition.

Generally speaking, people don't enjoy delivering bad news. At the same time, people don't want to get bad news. Delivering a tough message at work can result in a no-win situation for everyone, but with preparation and critical listening skills, leaders can help their team through the message and get back on track. Today, we discuss multiple instances of tough messages. Sometimes, you have to make a call that will negatively impact your team. Other times, you have been handed a message to deliver. Regardless of the situation, we have key strategies to improve the outcome.

We've all been there. Day in and day out, we're on autopilot. Not to take anything away from autopilot because the technology is truly amazing, but the drone behavior is hardly one of creativity. When was the last time autopilot surprised you with a new idea or shifted the culture in a positive way. When we are stuck in a rut, we need a serious boost to get out, but first we have to admit we're in a bad place. For the sake of argument, let's start there. Now what?

Our final episode on Stoicism focuses on applying the beliefs and virtues to your professional life.

Part 5 is our final discussion on Stoic virtues. We will discuss Wisdom. Next week, we close this series.