Sandbox Blog

In times of extreme stress like we are currently experiencing, we can find ourselves overwhelmed by a confusing array of feelings and thoughts. ‘Confusion’ is the key word – we can experience so many conflicting reactions that it’s hard to make sense of any of them. Unfortunately, we often react or take action without fully understanding those feelings and thoughts, leading to potentially negative consequences in our relationships.

Effective communication is a vast field fraught with a seemingly limitless number of landmines – and that is on a day where it’s ‘business as usual’. Well – currently it is not business as usual and the potential pitfalls of interpersonal communication loom large in many relationships, partnerships and corporations. In times of stress it is the brain’s job to keep us safe – that means the body is flooded with adrenalin and higher brain function is paused (effective decision making) so we can focus on escaping the looming danger. This is likely not something that you don’t already know, but what if that heightened stress response continues for days? Weeks? Or even months?

Most of us have experienced feelings of doubt and unworthiness at some point in our lives. But when your accomplishments are a result of your own knowledge, hard work, and preparation and you still feel inadequate ... you're probably suffering from impostor syndrome.

“Don’t let the perfect be the enemy of the possible.” Recent words overheard from a television broadcast, that are an adaptation of an idea contributed to the Chinese philosopher, Confucius. Confucius’ theory was “Better a diamond with a flaw than a pebble without.” In today’s business terms, perhaps this is best represented by the concept of "MVP", or minimum viable product. Let’s unpack this concept as it is something that entrepreneurs may not understand, and also find it hard to implement in their go-to-market strategy.

In times of change, business models may pivot and strategies may transition, but do your marketing efforts follow that lead? Kevin D'Arcy of ThinkFuel Marketing, who champions our Marketing CNNX group, as he shares the importance of taking advantage of change, ramp up the marketing strategy, and stay the course! Check out his thoughts on Email Marketing - Going Beyond the Monthly Newsletter and Content Marketing.

When considering the rapidly changing environment with the COVID-19 pandemic, it's a fair statement that managing change will be key for our personal and professional lives. There is great uncertainty around us, which is easy to be consumed by, and for some even harder to see beyond. The optimist knows that "this too shall pass", and in good time with a concerted community based effort, we can all work together to create 'the new world'.

LinkedIn Learning is an online professional development series that has recently released more of their courses for free.  They also offer a 30 day free trial and cover a variety of subjects including working remotely, motivating & engaging employees, marketing, speaking and creating a culture of high performance amongst other titles available to you and your team.

Being part of a business is like being one of many important moving parts in a machine. When one-piece stops working, the machine can’t function properly. One of the major criteria affecting the success of modern companies is corporate communication. This is how to speak with those around you both in higher and lower positions.

The term emotional quotient, or EQ, refers to a concept made famous in 1995 by renowned psychologist, Daniel Goleman. His book, Emotional Intelligence touched about managing emotions and the way they impact relationships both personal and professional. Goleman wasn’t the first to discover the importance of emotional interactions. A decade before his book was released Wayne Payne, who published his own ideas on the concept in, A Study of Emotion: Developing Emotional Intelligence.

The term emotional quotient, or EQ, refers to a concept made famous in 1995 by renowned psychologist, Daniel Goleman. His book, Emotional Intelligence touched about managing emotions and the way they impact relationships both personal and professional. Goleman wasn’t the first to discover the importance of emotional interactions. A decade before his book was released Wayne Payne, who published his own ideas on the concept in, A Study of Emotion: Developing Emotional Intelligence.