What gives you oxygen and what steals your oxygen? As leaders, humans, spouses, friends, teams, etc., our effectiveness begins with our awareness of what brings out our best.
SHOW NOTES
Jason introduces Season 6 episode 31 of the podcast, What are do you need to breathe? Welcome back to the podcast on corporate culture and leadership and thank you for listening. We engage thought leaders like CEOs, CFOs, managers, VPs, directors, and more for this podcast. We wish to create content that engages your mind and heart and allows you to step back and think and add some positivity to your life. We deep dive into today’s topic.
We can’t control everything but what we can control is our response. Still a lot of work to do but wanted to remind the audience what is within our control is the temperature we create in the organizations and teams we work with. If you have a suggestion, please send it to info@jasonvbarger.com
Please leave a review for the podcast It really helps the podcast to spread these messages out into the world. Please share this podcast with your organization, on your team, or in your life to help spread these messages. Thank you!
“There are oxygen givers and oxygen takers”
7:13 – Jason begins with an update on the new book breathing oxygen to better explain today’s topic. What air do you need to breathe? Some of the following episodes will be a deep dive into the new book, so you can grab a copy to better follow along with some of the messages moving forward by going here to order. Breathing is essential, it helps with life and going through the world. There are oxygen givers and oxygen takers. People who might be a friend or people who in a meeting just helps elevate everyone else around them. There are also oxygen takers, people that always see the negative perhaps in a meeting that stops the creative momentum and hijacks it with a cloud of negativity or blame or gossip. Oftentimes people don’t even recognize they are doing it but it has become a habit. So what is fueling you? Our brains use 25% of the oxygen we take in to fuel our bodies. When we have a lack of oxygen it stunts our ability to think, to move, to make decisions. The oxygen we breathe is so important.
11:27 – The national science foundation did a study and found that humans have anywhere between 12,000 and 60,000 thoughts in an average day! How many do you think you have per day? Wherever you fall in that spectrum, about 80% of the thoughts are identified as negative thoughts. They also found that 95% of the thoughts are repetitive. That means the stories that we are telling ourselves are self-serving to snowball. Negative gains negative and positive will gain positive. When our minds are cluttered with gossip and toxic air, how do we think that will impact our performance?
14:12 – There are many challenges in the world today that Jason talks about to acknowledge the realities we are all facing. We are dealing with foggy and toxic times and so we need good air to breathe! Some teams get pulled into the negative toxic work culture and can blame other people. This is a work culture choice that has been allowed to linger. Others choose to breathe in different mindsets of positivity, nurturing, and caring. Choose the air you wish to breathe at work for your own performance and the performance of your team. What is the different air that I want to breathe?
17:15 – Jason talks about solutions-focused approaches to making a team culture better. Many of these examples start at the lower level as well which employees can do as individuals to improve work performance for themselves and overall. Stop for a second and breathe. Take a deep breath.
19:05 – Being aware of yourself and those around you in your life and work is a very important first step in this process. There are many episodes about emotional intelligence that Jason recommends listening to, check them out here.
Questions to Ponder
-
What habit activity or practice would help breathe good oxygen into you?
-
What are the toxic or unhealthy situations that you need to avoid?
Listen to the end of the episode for a special word from Jason.
Please leave a review for the podcast It really helps the podcast to spread these messages out into the world. Please share this podcast with your organization, on your team, or in your life to help spread these messages. Thank you!
Remember, the best leaders, teams, & cultures stimulate progress by recalibrating their thermostat together.
If you like the podcast, have a question, or just want to share your thoughts about daring to begin please leave a comment below or please leave a review on Apple Podcasts or Google Podcasts.
—
Barnes & Noble Amplify Books Publisher Amazon Books & Kindle
ABOUT THE THERMOSTAT
Conversations and micro-thoughts to engage your mind and heart.
A thermostat is proactive. It sets the temperature in a room. Controls the temperature. Regulates the temperature. But in today’s distracted, fast-paced and digital world, it’s easy for individuals and organizations to act more like thermometers, slipping into reactionary thinking, becoming scattered and inconsistent. The most compelling leaders, teams, organizations, families, or collection of humans of any kind operate in thermostat mode. They calibrate their mind and heart to set the temperature for the vision and culture they want to create. Jason Barger, globally celebrated author, keynote speaker, and founder of Step Back Leadership Consulting, is the host of The Thermostat, a podcast journey to discover authentic leadership, create compelling cultures and find clarity of mission, vision, and values.