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The Challenges and Strengths of Hyperactive-Impulsive ADHD ADHD is one of the most common information-processing challenges in the world today, and it affects people of all ages.  As discussed in my last article, there are three different types of ADHD: Hyperactive-Impulsive ADHD, Inattentive ADHD, and a combination of the two: combined ADHD.  Now, we will discuss the strengths and challenges involved with Hyperactive-Impulsive ADHD and how to leverage these traits as a remote worker or entrepreneur. Its symptoms of impulsivity and hyperactivity best characterize Hyperactive-Impulsive ADHD. People with this type of ADHD often have difficulty sitting still, may talk excessively, and may be impulsive in their actions. If you have this type of ADHD, you probably find yourself constantly on the go. You may feel like you’re always running from one task to the next without ever really taking the time to stop and think about what you’re doing. This can be both a blessing and a curse. On the one hand, your ADHD may make you more productive than others. On the other hand, your ADHD may also make it difficult for you to focus on any one task for very long. Some of the challenges of Hyperactive-Impulsive ADHD in regard to the work environment are : – Difficulty staying on task – Difficulty focusing on one thing at a time – impulsiveness can sometimes lead to problems with communication and boundaries. The strengths of Hyperactive-Impulsive ADHD are: – People with this form of ADHD are often very creative and expressive. – They are also often natural leaders. Hyperactive-Impulsive ADHD can make it difficult to focus on any one task for very long. As a remote worker or entrepreneur, you can leverage your ADHD by using it to your advantage. For example, if you find yourself constantly jumping from one task to the next, try to use that to your advantage. Use your ADHD to help you focus on multiple tasks at once. You may find that you’re able to get more done in less time than other people. If you have ADHD, you probably already know that it can be both a blessing and a curse. On the one hand, ADHD gives you a unique set of skills and abilities that can be leveraged in a variety of fields. On the other hand, ADHD can also make it difficult to focus and stay on task One of the best things about Hyperactive ADHD is that it allows you to think outside the box. If you can harness your creativity, you will be able to come up with unique solutions to problems that others might not even think of. You might also find that you have a knack for multitasking and are able to juggle multiple tasks at once without getting overwhelmed. If you have ADHD, you can do a few things to set yourself up for success as a remote worker or entrepreneur. First, ensure you have a dedicated workspace that is free of distractions. This will help you stay focused and on task. Second, create a daily schedule and stick to it as much as possible. This will help you stay organized and on track. Finally, don’t be afraid to ask for help when needed. Plenty of resources are available to help you manage your ADHD and succeed in your career. One such resource is my Get in Focus and Skyrocket Your Productivity Workshop. In this event, I will teach you some hacks you can use immediately to hone your focus and skyrocket your productivity. Hope to see you there! In my next post, I will be discussing Inattentive ADHD.

Do you have ADHD? If so, you’re in good company! ADHD is one of the most common information-processing challenges in the world today, and it affects people of all ages. There are three different types of ADHD: Hyperactive-Impulsive ADHD, Inattentive ADHD, and a combination of the two: combined ADHD. Each type has its own unique set of strengths and challenges. This is the first in a series of blog posts. This one will discuss the three types of ADHD, the symptoms, and ways to leverage your ADHD traits as a remote worker or entrepreneur. Symptoms of Hyperactive-Impulsive ADHD: – You have difficulty sitting still for long periods of time. – You are always on the go and find it hard to keep your energy focused on one task. – You tend to be impulsive and act without thinking things through first. – You may have a hard time following instructions or completing tasks. – You may be easily distracted by your environment or other people. Strengths of Hyperactive-Impulsive ADHD: – You are naturally energetic and enthusiastic. – You are spontaneous and enjoy trying new things. – You are quick to act and can think on your feet. – You have a high level of physical energy. There is also Inattentive ADHD.  Inattentive ADHD can be harder to spot as one doesn’t necessarily bounce all over the room with boundless energy.  It is much more subtle.  Symptoms of Inattentive ADHD: – Difficulty sustaining attention – Easily distracted – Frequently loses things – Daydreams excessively – Has trouble following instructions – Often avoid or procrastinate on tasks that require sustained mental effort Strengths of Inattentive ADHD: – You are able to focus deeply on things that interest you. – You are highly creative and have a rich imagination. – You are good at thinking outside the box. – You are independent and self-motivated. – You have excellent problem-solving skills. The third type of ADHD is combined ADHD.  With Combined ADHD, you show symptoms of both inattentive and hyperactive ADHD.   ADHD Isn’t Just for Kids: It’s Estimated That ADHD Affects Over 60 Million Adults Worldwide. And according to a recent study, ADHD is on the rise in adults. If you’re an adult with ADHD, you’re not alone! There are many successful people with ADHD who have leveraged their ADHD traits to create successful businesses or careers. Some well-known people with ADHD include: Richard Branson Will Smith James Carville Justin Timberlake ADHD isn’t a death sentence. In fact, many people with ADHD go on to lead successful and productive lives. With the right knowledge and tools, you can leverage your ADHD traits to your advantage. Here are three tips for doing just that: – Use your ADHD to your advantage. – Find an ADHD coach or therapist. – Join an ADHD support group. If you have ADHD, you probably already know that it can be both a blessing and a curse. On the one hand, your ADHD gives you boundless energy, creativity, and enthusiasm. On the other hand, it can also make it difficult to focus and stay on task. As a remote worker or entrepreneur, you can use your ADHD to your advantage by harnessing your natural energy and creativity to get things done. One of the best ways to leverage your ADHD is to find an ADHD coach or therapist. A coach can help you develop strategies for managing your ADHD symptoms and achieving your goals. A therapist can help you understand and accept your ADHD, which can make it easier to manage. Another great way to leverage your ADHD is to join an ADHD support group. There are many online and in-person groups that offer support, information, and community for people with ADHD. This can be a great resource for finding tips and tricks for managing your ADHD. If you have ADHD, you have the potential to be a successful remote worker or entrepreneur. Use your ADHD to your advantage by finding an ADHD coach or therapist, joining an ADHD support group, and harnessing your natural energy and creativity. With the right knowledge and tools, you can leverage your ADHD traits to achieve success. You can also contact me for a complimentary 30-minute VIP Session that I guarantee will be transformative and provide a lot of value VIP Session In my next posts, I will be discussing Inattentive, Hyperactive-Impulsive, and Combined ADHD in more detail.   For more articles: https://plusultrava.com/work-from-home-blog/ For my ebook:  Getinfocusbook.com For my event: https://getinfocusworkshop.plusultrava.com/

Why Reboot Your Life? For the Get in Focus and Reboot Your Life Workshop click here So we are only a few weeks into the New Year, and already you have broken your resolutions.  resolutions may not work, so why not try to reboot your life? Or are you feeling flustered, distracted, or stressed out most of the time? Does it seem like you are on a treadmill in a life that has detours? Your mental space is but a reflection of your internal space, physical space, cyberspace, and the space between you and others, otherwise known as your relationships. Having one of these spaces cluttered and just not feeling well can take away from being in action and attaining your goals. It can make it seem like you are just going around in circles. If there is no free space, there is no room to create. Let’s say your goal is to paint a masterpiece, but you cannot find your paint, paintbrushes, or other tools, and there are posters taped to the wall. Or let us say that you have a friend who could help in a project, but you borrowed 20 bucks that you hadn’t paid back when you agreed, so you are hesitant to call. When your messenger thread is filled with pictures of people’s food, and your e-mail is filled with offers from Nigerian Billionaires. You don’t see the important e-mail from your client. Your own physical, cyber, and relationship clutter is distracting you from taking your business to the level where you can get incredible results. When your mental and emotional space is filled with incomplete relationships, there is no room for you to conjure up those grand plans to transform the world. You gotta free up some space. So what are the first steps to Reboot your Life? You need to get yourself on a program. Here are your first actions: IMPORTANT NOTE: DO NOT DROP EVERYTHING ELSE TO COMPLETE THESE ACTIONS. LIFE GOES ON, THESE ACTIONS ARE TO ENHANCE YOUR LIFE…. NOT TO BRING IT TO A STANDSTILL 1. Get caught up on your correspondence, real and virtual; whom do you need to return an e-mail or call to? Drop a note to someone you have been thinking about but haven’t spoken to in a while. You and he/she will appreciate it. These incompletions take up space in your head that could otherwise be used to create. 2. Clean up any past miscommunication and broken agreements. If you made a promise to someone, including yourself, acknowledge to that person that you didn’t keep your commitment and see what it takes to move forward. Choose to move forward or not. If you break, make it a clean break. 3. Organize and clean your home, car, and place of work. You want to have your space organized so that it works. You want to get rid of the stuff you don’t use and sit in your closet for years. This can get in the way of actually getting something done. You have to know where your tools are and have a defined workflow. Beware of going down the Rabbit Hole of finding something exciting, like your high school yearbook, and spending the next four hours reminiscing through it. 4. Fix any appliances, etc., that need fixing, change any burned-out light bulbs, etc. It can be quite annoying to have a lamp that doesn’t work that you keep reaching for to turn on 5. Delete your old e-mails and files, especially the SPAM. The most insidious thing about SPAM is that it clutters your inbox increasing the chances of missing an important e-mail. Amongst those e-mails asking you to invest in some scheme, there may be hiding an inquiry from a prospect. 6. Clean up your social media. Leave groups that you do not participate in, and defriend or unfollow anyone you do not really want to be connected with.   Being in Facebook Groups that you never care to access just clutters your news feed to where you have to search through the clutter to find what is important, why bother?  If your Uncle Oscar keeps posting political conspiracy theories you don’t want to hear, unfollow the guy, he won’t know the difference.  To reboot your life, you must reboot your social media For the Get in Focus and Reboot Your Life Workshop click here 7. Delete all the stale and unreal stuff from your calendar…. Priorities change, and your calendar reflects your current priorities.  If you have stuff on your calendar that may reflect old priorities, get rid of it!  Reboot your life by keeping your calendar up to date 8. If you are behind on any bills, make arrangements with your creditors to get caught up. If it has gotten overwhelming, there are options like debt consolidations, but you gotta confront where you really are and deal with it first.  Reboot your life by rebooting your finances 9. Make a list of all those tasks that you are incomplete; you know the ones that, despite the best intentions, you never do! Choose either to do them or not do them. For the ones that you choose to do, put them in your calendar!  Task management is an important part to reboot your life. 10. Have your calendar run your life. When the calendar says to do something, do it. If you are not going to do it, choose not to do it. Reschedule if something comes up, but if you reschedule it more than three times, you must ask yourself if you really are going to do it or if you are just kidding. yourself.  To reboot your life, you have to start being honest with yourself 11. Get a physical exam if you have not had one in the past year. Follow your doctor’s instructions. Also, find out your fat percentage and your BMI. Go to the dentist and have your teeth looked at if you haven’t been there in a while. 12. Do at least

Skyrocketing your Production as an ADHD-Entrepreneur If you’re like me, you probably love the flexibility and freedom that comes with working remotely. But if you’re also like me, you sometimes struggle to stay productive when there are so many distractions around. Here are five ways to optimize your remote workspace for peak productivity! 1) Invest in a comfortable chair and desk for your home office An ADHD-entrepreneur is a unique breed. We’re creative, passionate, and always looking for the next big thing. But there’s one downside to our ADHD brains: we have trouble sitting still. That’s why a comfortable chair and desk are essential for any ADHD-entrepreneur who wants to be productive at home. We need a chair that lets us move around, and a desk that gives us plenty of space to spread out. Otherwise, we’ll just get up and pace around the room or fidget with whatever is within reach. So if you’re ADHD and you work from home, make sure your office is set up for success by investing in a comfortable chair and desk. Your productivity will thank you for it. 2) Make sure you have a good internet connection and enough bandwidth to support your needs An ADHD-entrepreneur is often the life of the party – but only because they’re always the ones starting the party. They’re also the ones who stay up all night long working on their latest project and then wake up at 4 am to do it all over again. So it’s no surprise that an ADHD-entrepreneur needs a strong internet connection to keep up with their fast-paced lifestyle. And not just any old internet connection – they need one with enough bandwidth to support their needs. Otherwise, they’ll quickly become frustrated and their productivity will suffer. So if you’re an ADHD-entrepreneur, make sure you have a good internet connection and enough bandwidth to support your needs. Otherwise, you’ll be quickly left in the dust. 3) Create a designated workspace that is free from distractions An ADHD-entrepreneur tends to be creative, easily distracted, and always on the go. This can make it difficult to find a workspace that suits our unique needs. One solution is to create a designated workspace that is free from distractions. This might mean working at a coffee shop, at the library, or even in your car. The important thing is to find a place where you can focus on your work and tune out the rest of the world. Once you’ve found your perfect ADHD-friendly workspace, you’ll be able to work more efficiently and get more done. 4) Establish routine work hours and stick to them as closely as possible The ADHD-entrepreneur is known for his or her ADHD tendencies, such as having a hard time focusing, being easily distracted, and being impulsive. But there’s one ADHD trait that can actually be helpful in business: the tendency to be a “workaholic.” An ADHD-entrepreneur is often passionate and driven, and they may have trouble shuttering their business thoughts at the end of the day. While this can lead to burnout, it can also be an asset if channeled correctly. One way to do this is by establish routine work hours and sticking to them as closely as possible. This will help the ADHD-entrepreneur stay focused and prevent them from working around the clock. Additionally, schedule breaks throughout the day to give yourself time to move around and re-energize. And lastly, make sure to set aside time for family and friends; don’t let your business consume your entire life. By following these tips, you can learn to harness your ADHD tendencies and use them to your advantage. 5) Take breaks throughout the day to stay energized and focused As any entrepreneur with ADHD knows, it can be tough to stay focused and energized throughout the day. The key is to take breaks frequently and give yourself time to move around and clear your head. For me, that means taking a few minutes every hour or so to get up and walk around, do some stretches, or just take a few deep breaths. Sometimes I even set a timer to remind myself to take a break. It may sound silly, but it really does make a difference. Not only does it help me stay fresh and alert, but it also gives me the chance to clear my head and come back to my work with fresh eyes. So if you’re struggling to maintain your focus, don’t be afraid to take a break. It could be just what you need to stay productive and successful. ______________________________ So there you have it – five ways to optimize your remote workspace for productivity. I hope these tips help you as much as they’ve helped me. But if you want even more helpful hints and hacks, be sure to check out my Get in Focus and Skyrocket Productivity Workshop. https://getinfocusworkshop.plusultrava.com/!  I’ll show you tips and hacks you can use for yourself and your workspace to skyrocket your productivity.

ADHD IN THE  REMOTE WORKPLACE You’ve just pivoted to a Work from Home paradigm. It is working out great, but you find that some of your team members have difficulties focusing and are highly distracted. They also hyperfocus on some seemingly unimportant task… or they may even get stuck for hours in their own thoughts and get nothing done. This happened in the office too, but the effects are amplified in working from home alone. Your team member might be facing Adult Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD). Rather than being a barrier, though, ADHD can actually be an accelerator to skyrocket production. How do you leverage ADHD in the Remote Workplace Remote work is here to stay. What can you do with these people who are easily distracted? Fire them? I don’t know if you would really want to do that. Aside from the distractions, people with ADHD can be very innovative and creative and bring a lot to the table. You could be violating the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) by doing so. It is best to accommodate them so that they thrive and skyrocket your company’s productivity, and attain your mission that much faster. So what can you do? 1) Make supervisors aware.  Awareness of ADHD in adults and its symptoms is necessary to understand the situations when they arise. Managers and supervisors should be aware of ADHD in the remote workplace symptoms. Hence, they know it isn’t because the team member is lazy or a space cadet. If they can recognize that a person may be having focus issues, they can direct that person to resources. 2) Use Employee Assistance Programs (EAP).  Unless you are a licensed psychologist or psychiatrist, you are not qualified to diagnose ADHD in the remote workplace, so you don’t want to tell your teammate that they have ADHD. Fortunately, most of the tools and practices that allow those with ADHD to focus and skyrocket productivity, such as the Pomodoro System, can be used by anyone to eliminate distractions, better focus, and skyrocket productivity. There are workshops such as my Get in Focus and Skyrocket Productivity Workshop, https://getinfocusworkshop.plusultrava.com/, which can train someone in the tools of focus. There are also coaches who can help with this. 3) Provide physical accommodations.  ADHD in the remote workplace may require some physical accommodations to decrease the number of distractions. The employer has much less control of these distractions in remote work than in a physical workplace. As someone with ADHD, I have to keep my home office door shut, and my curtains closed so I am not distracted by my cats fighting or some squirrel sitting on a car.    A regular break schedule of 2.5 hours of work / 15-minute break simply does not work for people with ADHD. Having someone remain on task for 2.5 hours with no breaks is sheer torture. A schedule with 25-minute “Sprints” followed by 5-minute ‘dance breaks” works best for me, and I have found a variation of this works well for most people I have worked with. Providing tools such as checklists, calendars, and the automation of the routine tasks is also a great idea, along with holding the teammate responsible for using these tools to reinforce workable behaviors.  There is also a lot of legal mumbo-jumbo, so you may want to check with your lawyer to see what other accommodations need to be implemented for people with ADHD. ADHD is both a blessing and a curse. It can be a real blessing. People with ADHD can be highly successful in the right setting, have a strong awareness of the condition, and learn tools and strategies for coping with it. My Get in Focus and Skyrocket Productivity Workshop teaches these tools and processes, https://getinfocusworkshop.plusultrava.com/. By helping people better focus, and eliminate distractions, what may have been a barrier to a work from home paradigm can be an accelerator to skyrocket production.

Why being in action is the key to success. One of my hobbies is dealing poker at private parties (Well, actually I do get paid for it). There is rarely any money changing hands; It is all just good fun! I will never forget this one hand: It was the river, in layman’s terms the last card had been dealt. Three cards of a straight flush were on the table, and there were only two players left.  Someone had to take action. Everyone at the party was watching the hand. One player bet 100 dollars in fake money. The 2nd player raised by 100 dollars. The 1st player re-raised, and the 2nd player re-raised again. This went on for two more cycles and the 2nd player finally folded. The first player, being brand new to the game and not knowing better showed his cards after winning quite a big pot. He had nothing! Not even a pair! The second player had the straight flush, the 2nd highest hand in poker after the royal flush but he folded, losing his investment. “I thought he must have had a higher straight flush he bemoaned.” The winner of the hand replied, “What’s a straight flush? I just kept betting because I thought that was what I was supposed to do!” He won the hand based on sheer luck and the other guy giving up just a little too soon!  Now, that’s how success is achieved! But remember, if he hadn’t been in action, luck wouldn’t have come his way. Being in action does not guarantee you success, but not being in action does guarantee your failure For the Get in Focus and Skyrocket Productivity Workshop:  https://getinfocusworkshop.plusultrava.com/ About me

Why continue working remotely? The Worldwide COVID-19 Pandemic has caused us to make many changes in our lives and how we conduct business. A large segment of the population has seen their workplace move from a centralized location to their homes. Now that it appears like the pandemic is winding down, we will be able to move back into the office. I, however, believe that despite the impending end of COVID, we should keep the workforce at home, at least some of the time. In 2019, I wrote a dissertation well before the pandemic, where I found several advantages to Working from Home. to continue working remotely can fundamentally transform our society in employee well-being, sustainability, and lower costs for all stakeholders in the enterprise. Employee well-being. The first reason to continue working remotely is that remote work provides a means for workers to maintain a satisfactory work-life balance (Raghuram & Wiesenfeld, 2004). For Work from Home to be workable for all the stakeholders, remote workers must exhibit self-efficacy regarding their jobs and non-work activities (Raghuram & Wiesenfeld, 2004). the downside of this is that distractions inevitably surface while working from home, and there is no manager to watch over the workers to help them get back on task (Raghuram & Wiesenfeld, 2004). Workers should minimize the effect of these distractions by exhibiting characteristics such as high self-efficacy and the ability to structure their day to manage interruptions efficiently (Raghuram & Wiesenfeld, 2004). Workers with higher self-efficacy are more likely to use tools such as the Pomodoro System, their calendars, and collaboration tools to help them minimize these distractions (Raghuram & Wiesenfeld, 2004).   Raghuram and Wiesenfeld (2004) found that those who did extensive virtual work benefited from structure their work and non-work schedule. For example, parents could be home when their children came home from school (Raghuram & Wiesenfeld, 2004). To continue working remotely can also improve happiness as remote workers feel that they are in better control of their time, thus reducing commute-related stress (Cloutier et al., 2017).   Lower Costs A company’s costs might also decrease through telecommuting arrangements. The whole idea of remote work, initially, was to cut down on costs. Companies’ desire to cut down on costs was one of the drivers of the telecommuting initiative (Messenger & Gschwind, 2016).  In a remote work arrangement, companies do not have to invest in real-estate for their workers to sit at their desks and work at their computers. Employees can sit in Starbucks (or anyplace) using available resources (Ashford, George, & Blatt, 2007). Another consideration is employee relocation costs. Relocating employees can be relatively high. One company, Nortel, estimated that they save $100,000 per employee that they do not have to relocate (Patterson, Harvey, & Bosco, 2014). With the global economy and an international work pool, telecommuting can save a company substantial money. Patterson, Harvey, and Bosco (2014) noted that absenteeism is quite expensive for a company. The company would save costs simply by reducing absenteeism.   When employees telecommute, they can stay home and work and care for their sick spouse or children. Patterson et al. implied that when the child is sick, the parents can be at home working when they are not caring for their child.  There is also a link between absenteeism and job satisfaction (Whyman & Petrescu, 2015). In their study conducted among British small businesses, Whyman and Petrescu (2015) found a link between companies using family-friendly practices such as telecommuting and job satisfaction—the satisfied employees spent less time off the job, thus cutting down on absenteeism. Sustainability. Telecommuting cuts down on commute costs and cuts down greenhouse gas emissions (Zhu & Mason, 2014). Zhu and Mason (2014) also pointed out that telecommuting cuts back on the need to drive to work and the need to build new office space. Although their data in this matter is inconclusive, the study’s authors theorized that this could be because remote work had still not proliferated into society. Belgium, however, saw a decrease in greenhouse gases emitted, perhaps due to implementing telecommuting and other eco-friendly commuting (Almeida, Verbist, Achten, Maertens, & Muys, 2014).   Concerns about climate change also increase the demand to lower one’s carbon footprint. To continue working Remotely decreases the need to commute and use fossil fuels helps in the battle against human-sourced climate change (Pyöriä, 2011).  Yes, in remote work, we do have to find different methods of collaboration and team building. We have made strides in that area and collaboration. Team-building tools, such as Zoom, Microsoft Teams, Google Hangouts, Mighty Network, Trello… have made it possible for improved cooperation among remote work teams.   With COVID making its exit (knock on wood), there are also openings for hybrid models where we can continue working remotely but come to the office as needed and go to the restaurant with fellow team members. So to sum things up, if you own a business of any size and you have been utilizing remote work during the pandemic, continue working remotely! Allow the lowered costs, employee well-being, and sustainability benefits to continue. Consultancies such as Dr. Work from Home can help you with optional efficiency with these arrangements. With these benefits in mind, we offer a consultation at no charge to evaluate and optimize your situation. The link is below. To book your complimentary appointment:  Click Here To find out more about Dr. Work from Home and Dr. Jeffrey Levine, Click Here REFERENCES Almeida, J., Verbist, A., Achten, W., Maertens, M., & Muys, B. (2014). Sustainability in development cooperation: Preliminary findings on the carbon footprint of development aid organizations. Sustainable Development 22(5), 349-359 doi:10.1002/sd.1553 Ashford, S. J., George, E., & Blatt, R. (2007). Old assumptions, new work: The opportunities and challenges of research on nonstandard employment. The Academy of Management Annals, 1(1), 65-117. doi:10.1080/078559807 Cloutier, S., Karner, A., Breetz, H. L., Toufani, P., Onat, N., Patel, S., . . . Carlson, C. (2017). Measures of a Sustainable Commute as a Predictor of Happiness. Sustainability (2071-1050), 9(7), 1214. doi:10.3390/su9071214 Messenger, J. C., & Gschwind,

Remote Coaching Methodologies by Demographics. Since a remote workforce is off-site, coaching team members increases in importance geometrically. The question, therefore, becomes not if to coach your team but how to go about coaching your team. In this article, I use characters from one of my favorite movies to illustrate how to coach team members in different demographic groups. Freedonia Sporting Goods’ mission is to provide low-cost sporting equipment to the community; its vision is that everyone has the opportunity to play. The company’s target market is low-end department stores such as Wal-Mart and Target. The business strategy that they use to market their products, therefore, is a low price strategy. The sales department’s pay structure is a base salary with a quarterly bonus for individual production and a bonus based on the sales group’s output. Rufus T. Firefly is the sales manager for the company’s Bocce Ball Division, running a department of twenty salespeople, two of them being highly producing employees, Pinky and Chicolini. Pinky, a 55-year-old salesperson, has worked for Freedonia for 17 years with a strong sales record bringing on several new clients who generally stay with the company for many years. Chicolini is a 23-year-old programmer who has graduated from Stanford a year prior and has many great sales ideas, and has a methodology some have called unique. Sales at Freedonia have been flat for several months, and Firefly is under pressure from management to increase sales. Hence, he wants to coach these employees to take their sales up to the next level. Although the essential technique to motivate these workers would be the same, adjustments in the methodology would be needed per demographics. However, it must be cautioned that demographic information should not be used to stereotype these two workers (Macon & Artley, 2009). They are both individuals, and demographic research is no substitute for sitting down with the workers and finding out their values through personal conversation. It is essential to not have the field of demographics be used to stereotype. The key to any coaching is to listen to what is occurring in the person being coached universe. What is happening in Chicolini’s and Pinky’s universe is partially a function of their demographics. Demographics There are four generations in the workplace; The Traditionals, The Baby Boomers, Generation X, and the Millennials. Pinky is a Boomer. Baby boomers did not grow up with technology and can sometimes be overwhelmed. Being a senior salesman, Pinky commands respect from his co-workers, who generally will go to him for mentoring and advice. Boomers are known to be very idealistic and can achieve greater if this sense of idealism is tapped into (Macon, & Artley, 2009). Generally, they prefer face-to-face or telephone communications over electronic style communications such as texting and e-mailing (Macon, & Artley, 2009). They are known to be team players who are great at consensus building but can be perceived as micromanagers who think others are lazy (Macon, & Artley, 2009). Chicolini is a member of the millennial generation, sometimes called Generation Y. The millennials are characterized by their familiarity with high tech; they are much more comfortable with electronic communications (Macon, & Artley, 2009). They are optimistic multitaskers, demand instant feedback work well together in groups (Macon, & Artley, 2009). They are, however, perceived as being poorly read and as having no context due to insufficient knowledge of history. Although Chicolini has excellent problem-solving and communications skills, he is often perceived due to his age. This can be pretty frustrating to Chicolini. Coaching The model for building a performance strategy is to: 1) develop a strategic plan 2) write the requirements document 3) write the operations plan, 4) write the performance plan and scorecard (Harbour, 2009). When building a performance strategy, it is imperative to balance several different factors (Harbour, 2009). Demographic differences need to be balanced. Chicolini and Pinky are of different generations; therefore, the manager would need to take these Demographic factors into account when giving these two employees coaching to achieve the company’s strategy. The system, however, would be the same. There would just be slightly different tactics to execute that strategy; thus, the difference would be in the tactical planning (Chapter TWO: The Strategic Business Plan – Tactical Section, 2004). The difference in tactics would come into play in the performance plan and scorecard (Harbour, 2009). Being a baby boomer, Pinky has a very high sense of purpose. A coach would best motivate Pinky by letting him know how much Freedonia helps the community by providing affordable sporting goods. Because of the sales team’s hard work, kids play Bocce Ball rather than join street gangs. Firefly will want to provide “face time” for Pinky to discuss sales difficulties with someone. (Macon & Artley, 2009). Face-to-face training, where Pinky is in a classroom, can ask the instructor questions, and interact with the other students would be best (Macon, & Artley, 2009). The training may include modules on leading without micromanaging and dealing with people of the younger generation. Firefly should also have weekly meetings with Pinky to discuss his goals and any issues he may have in attaining those goals. Firefly also may want to have Pinky mentor some of the workers of the younger generations. Non-monetary rewards could include donating to charities on Pinky’s behalf. Motivating Chicolini, on the other hand, would be slightly different. Millennials tend to work well in groups and are highly optimistic, so Firefly may want to stress group goals to Chicolini rather than personal goals. (Macon & Artley, 2009). As he is of the millennial generation and is comfortable with technology, Firefly may want to set up webinars to train Chicolini on aspects of his job and work as a part of a work team to do webinars rather than face to face seminars. Firefly may even want to throw in a webinar or two about working with others of different generations, such as Pinky. Electronic methodology such as e-mail and surveys can be

Intercultural Competence in Remote Work? Remote work opens up the possibilities of having a global workforce without anyone leaving the comfort of their living room. In my remote work, I have worked seamlessly with people working from the United Kingdom, Japan, Dubai, Germany, Israel, India, Pakistan, Hong Kong, and Canada, so Intercultural competence in remote work has been vital for my business Yeah, on occasion, I did screw things up rather royally. I once made a gesture to someone that in their culture meant, you are a filthy animal, but the person did realize that I did it out of ignorance rather than malfeasance. That could have been a disaster, though, for both my company and me. Even in the United States culture, at one time, if you insulted someone, they could challenge you to a duel to save face. Something not good! Thankfully, those days have long passed. However, you can still have the equivalent for your business if you don’t have intercultural competence.  In the Era of Remote Work,  Interculture Competence is even more critical. Although an insulted stakeholder couldn’t pull out a Derringer and shoot you in the liver, he/she could still block you on Facebook and give you a One-Star on Yelp. That’s even worse!  So, suppose you are Sam Drucker at his General Store in Hootervile. In that case, Intercultural competence is far less significant than it would be for a global high-tech firm. Actually, in my parts (The San Francisco Bay Area), a corner grocery store would have customers from all over the world who spoke a multitude of languages (Deardorff, 2009)! I have been talking about Intercultural competence, but what the bleep is it anyway? Intercultural competence is the ability to act in a culture other than your own. Intercultural competence has to do with demographics, religion, and country where one is doing business. A high school teacher who wants to be interculturally competent needs to know about Miley Cyrus and all the other mashugana pop cultural stuff that the students follow. Someone who is doing business in the Lower East Side of Manhattan, who likes to lace their speech with Yidishisms, would need to know what mashugana means.  I may have been exaggerating earlier about being shot in the liver for committing what a social faux pas in another culture is. There is a cost to not being interculturally competent: the team isn’t as cohesive as a unit, or if it is with your customer, it means that there is just one more thing to get in the way of doing business. Of course, as Malcolm Gladwell (2009) discusses in Outliers, the cost of a lack of intercultural competence could be the life and well-being of the clients or customers should the business be an airline and should there be miscommunications because of a misunderstanding of power distance. So what can we do to develop intercultural competence in remote work? Have an open mind and be willing to learn from others. Knowledge is infinite, and o it dramatically enhances the experience to be open to new information and multiple perspectives and interpretations other than your own. I am not saying to agree with all views but to be available to them. Be aware that others may not share the same cultural values that you do. When working with people from all over the world with different backgrounds, this awareness is a necessary step to intercultural competence in remote work. Realize that you don’t know everything, and yours may not be the best way to do something. Be willing to learn from your cohorts and not automatically think that your way is the only way. Develop the ability to adapt and accommodate behaviors to a different culture. Team members must be willing to assimilate new cultures. Connect and listen to people. Have the ability to visualize the situation of another person intellectually and emotionally, show compassion for your team members, think from more than one perspective, and listen actively.[ Business at one time could get away with not having a multicultural business model, but in this post-COVID world, unless you are that general store owner in Hooterville, you would need to have a multicultural business model. A lack of intercultural competence in remote work can lead to bad relations due to cultural misunderstandings, inefficient teams, and even lawsuits.    I can help you to develop intercultural competence in remote work and help your remote teams increase their effectiveness with my  CAUSE PROGRAM Please schedule your Complimentary Strategy Session. References: Deardorff D. K. (2009), The SAGE handbook of intercultural competence. Thousand Oaks, CA: SAGE Publications. Gladwell M (2009) Outliers.  NY Little Brown

What I learned in the Year of COVID It was the year of COVID! I remember last year, at the beginning of March, I was thinking how bad a year it was for Basketball; Kobe was killed a month prior, and people were still in mourning. My Golden State Warriors, after dominating the NBA for several seasons, were in last place. I was looking forward to watching Star Trek Picard on Thursdays. Oh, and the media was (as usual) overhyping this thing called the Coronavirus. The media does tend to overhype this kind of thing: killer storms turning into drizzles, The Y2K bug, The African Killer Bees … That is the media’s job to scare the bejesus out of us all over some exaggerated disaster that would eliminate all life on earth. In the year of COVID, though, they were actually under-hyping it. COVID 19 would end up altering our very reality. Thus far, it has taken over half a million lives, instantly transformed one of the most prolonged periods of economic growth in America to that of a deep recession. Sporting events have been canceled, restaurants closed down, and movie theaters empty. People began working from home. My mother fell down and needed skilled nursing. She was there alone for a month and passed away a few weeks after she got home. My mother-in-law and father-in-law both had COVID and were both put on ventilators, my mother-in-law not making it through.  Only in my deepest nightmares would I have thought up a scenario that has been the Year of COVID. As we come to the tail-end (I hope), I have begun to reflect on what it meant for me. I think that something can be a curse as well as a blessing. In the Year of COVID, you don’t need Physical contact with people to be a community During the pandemic, I have created communities with people I would have never met in person. I have taken to meeting with people on Zoom and have at least 4 organizations I have joined. I am on Zooms, interacting with people hours a day with people I didn’t even know before the pandemic. Some of these people are my neighbors that I never talked to and now do regularly. I am building businesses and helping others who I have never actually met to achieve their dreams  In the Year of COVID, you solve medical problems with medicine, not with politics I know several medical doctors. ALL of them have said that the way to slow down the spread of COVID is to social distance and wear masks. Yet, a certain percentage of the population refuses to do so because a particular politician with a background in Business, NOT Medicine, told them they didn’t need to. This politician also told his followers to drink bleach to be cured. He knows nothing about medicine, and his advice should be put on the trash heap of bad ideas. Politicians should deal with politics and allow medical decisions to be made by doctors. Had this politician just kept his damned mouth shut, my mother-in-law and several thousand others might still be alive. In the Year of COVID, just because it is on the internet does not mean it is true. I read on Twitter that Doctor Harry Vanderspeigle said that if you drink lots of coffee and watch Law and Order reruns, you will be shielded against COVID… Harry Vanderspeigle is an alien posing as a doctor on the TV show resident alien, played by Alan Tudyk. It is a hilarious TV Show, but Alan is hardly an expert on infectious diseases. This sounds absurd, but it is incredible how many people get their medical advice from You-Tube and other social media. There is a process to publish scientific articles known as peer review. Peer Review is required to publish in scientific journals. Neither Twitter, Facebook, You-Tube, nor for that matter Tic-Tock require peer review. Anyone can post without any peer review. Get your medical advice from qualified physicians, not aliens in Colorado Life can change drastically at a moment’s notice I was working as a substitute teacher in a local high school district. I was teaching a special-ed science class. I had recently completed my Ph.D. in Organisational Development, having written my dissertation on Working from Home. I had put myself through grad school doing substitute teaching. Still, I was finished and looking for something that would better utilize my talents. A Ph.D. is a little overqualified to work at a job babysitting high school students. Then the notice came over the loudspeakers: the school would be shut down for three weeks. Those three weeks, so far, have been a year, and no work as to when schools would reopen. I took the opportunity to transform myself into Dr. Work from Home and realize my vision of closer families and a cleaner environment. Our hand was forced in the matter of working from home. Who here would have ever thought that would happen? In the Year of COVID, human beings can work together to achieve common goals. Despite the barriers, businesses are continuing. We are working together. I work with several fine organizations to support each other in attaining our mutual goals. It has always been that to accomplish anything significant and lasting requires a team. Without the Apple team, Steve Jobs would have lived his life as some Doc Brown type of crackpot with these wild ideas. Give him a team, and he revolutionizes the world. The COVID Crises gave us more and more enormous barriers to face. Only by working together can we dissolve the obstacles that we were facing In the Year of COVID, sometimes you need to have the government take charge I had always been a die-hard libertarian; I thought that the private sector should be left to solve all problems. In “normal” times, that is true, but when there is something like war or a pandemic, our