October e-news

Dr Suzy Green & Associates

Wow!  How quickly time flies!  Less than 3 months to Christmas!  Didn’t mean to panic anyone however with all the anxiety in the air concerning the global financial markets, it doesn’t take much!

When we’re feeling increased levels of stress, anxiety or depression, research has shown that our thinking and behavioural responses narrow (Fredrickson, 1998, 2000).  Often during stressful times, In a very reactive response, we tend to let go of any proactive behaviours we were previously engaging in.  For example, often the first thing to stop is our exercise regime – sound familiar? We also often put ourselves under enormous pressures to do what we believe we need to do to survive – by working longer and harder!  However, it’s precisely these times when we need to be thinking creatively to find ways to work within our current reality or to identify strategies to work around it!  Research has shown that we need positive emotions to broaden our thinking and behavioural responses.  One of the best ways to do this is through a regular exercise regime – so back on the treadmill!

It would be wise to take some time out this week to review how you’re traveling.  What have you stopped doing that you need to start doing?  Set a goal and monitor it leading up to Christmas.  Perhaps set up a co-coaching situation with a friend or colleague to hold you accountable to this goal and to support each other in your goal pursuit.  Don’t forget to find ways to boost your positive emotions both in life and at work….here’s a few ideas:

1. Take yourself off to see a funny movie or revisit your Seinfeld DVD collection!
2. Keep a gratitude journal at home or work once a week for a month.
3. Find opportunities to engage in random acts of kindness ie pay for someone else’s parking meter!
4. Practice “extreme self-care” activities eg book yourself in to a day spa – yes even if you’re a man!
5. Spend two minutes with a buddy or colleague practicing “mindful listening” where each person has an opportunity to talk about things they love eg I love swimming at Bondi Icebergs!  You could do this as part of a team meeting as a way to kick-start positive emotions and build off the emotional contagion effect – particularly useful for brainstorming sessions (thanks to John Barter of www.well-awareness.com.au) for this suggestion for building conscious relationships.

Last month my discussion was on social capital. Perhaps use this time now as a reminder to review which of your relationships needs the most attention at this time.  Again often in the narrowing of our focus, we lose touch with people in our life that can support us and encourage us through tough times.

Month 10 - 2008 – Introduction to Psychologial Capital

Psychological capital or “PsyCap” (as referred to in the book “Psychological Capital:  Developing the Human Competitive Edge” by Luthans, Youssef & Avolio) is an individual’s positive psychological state of development and is charactersied by:

1. having confidence (self-efficacy) to take on and put in the necessary effort to succeed at challenging tasks;
2. making a positive attribution (optimism) about succeeding now and in the future;
3. persevering towards goals and, when necessary, redirecting paths to goals (hope) in order to succeed; and
4. when beset by problems and adversity, sustaining and bouncing back and even beyond (resiliency) to attain success.

Leading up to the end of the year and into early next year, I’ll use this concept to discuss the key components, as noted above, being self-efficacy, optimism (also refer to may 07 e-news on my website); hope and resilience.

PsyCap is particularly important for organizations to consider.  Luthans et al (2007) suggest that “simply concentrating and accumulating more of the traditional resources once considered vital for organizational success have proven insufficient for attaining sustainable sources of competitive advantage eg economic & financial capital, advanced technology and proprietary information” (page 7).  They argue “sustainable competitive advantage can best be accomplished through context-specific, cumulative, renewable and thus hard-to-imitate factors – such as investing, leveraging, developing and managing psychological capital (PsyCap) (pg 7).

They further propose PsyCap goes beyond the existing established theory and research on human capital, being “what you know” and social capital, being “who you know”.  They state PsyCap is concerned with “who you are” and “who you are becoming” (Avolio & Luthans, 2006). 

This Month's Action Plan - PsyCap Reflect & Review

This month, before we begin dissecting PsyCap and learning more about its key components, it might be helpful to keep the big picture in mind and reflect on what you’re doing well already or what behaviours you believe you are currently engaging in that might fit into the PsyCap realm.

Luthans et al (2007) refer to their earlier research on Positive Organisational Behaviour (POB) which they define as “the study and application of positively oriented human resource strengths and psychological capacities that can be measured, developed and effectively managed for performance in today’s workplace (Luthans, 2002b).  A few examples of behaviours that might fit into this definition may be:

1. Setting goals and utilsing a coaching framework to enhance chances of success & maintenance (profession, peer or self-coaching modes).
2. Making building & maintaining positive relationships at work a priority.
3. Implementing self-management strategies such as exercise, mindfulness practice and meditation and a healthy diet.

This month might also be a great time to revisit your strengths (go to www.authentichappiness.org) and complete the VIA Strengths Inventory if you haven’t already done so.  Then look for novel ways of using your “signature strengths” for yourself and for others – particularly if you work in an organization.

Stay positive till next month!

Next Month…I’ll be continuing my discussion on psychological capital with a focus on hope!

"If you are going through hell, keep going." 
Winston Churchill

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