Welcome to the November edition of "In Equilibrium".

In this edition, we are delighted to announce the re-introduction of our open courses from Spring 2008; there's a great resilience stress tip from Michaela Loughney; an action model from Business in the Community entitled Wealth from Health; as well as all our regular features.

You also have the opportunity to win an armchair holder for your mobile phone - you'll never have to phone it from a landline to locate it again!   Take five minutes out and enjoy ....

 1. In Equilibrium News

2008 Open Courses dates
We are offering three of our courses at three UK venues in the Spring of 2008.  These will be the first open courses we have run for over a year and are back by popular request.  We know that open courses are an ideal opportunity either for you to see a course at first hand prior to booking it in-house, allow you to train one or two people on occasions where you can't justify a full in-house course.  The courses are being run in London, Warrington and Scotland and full details are available on our website here.

Managing Stress at Work Conference
We still have some spaces left on our "Managing Stress at Work Conference" which will take place at the BLCC in Dunfermline on Wednesday 28 November.

Such has been the response to our new Developing Resilience in Managers training course, we have altered one of the four workshops offered to enable interested delegates to have a taster of this course.  During the 80 minute workshop, Michaela Loughney will look at the evidence that supports the benefits of developing resilience in managers and will provide some examples of how managers can develop resilience skills and attributes.

Full details about the conference together with the full conference programme are available on our website here  

Bookings can be made by telephone on 01383 622002, email at bookings@in-equilibrium.co.uk or by completing our online booking form here. 

2. Quotations

"Ability is what you're capable of doing.  Motivation determines what you do.  Attitude determines how well you do it."

Lou Holtz, Sports Coach (1937 - )

"What would you attempt to do if you knew you would not fail?"

Dr Robert Schuller, Clergyman (1926 - )

"By the time a man realizes that maybe his father was right, he usually has a son who thinks he's wrong."

Dr Charles Wadsworth, Pastor (1814 - 1882)

3. In Equilibrium tip of the month

This month's tip comes from our very own In-Equilibrium consultant Michaela Loughney:

Why are people like tea bags?

Because people don’t know how strong they are until they get into hot water! It may sound a bit corny, but the answer to this riddle, for me, sums up the benefits of focusing on developing our personal resilience, both at work and at home.   Dealing with difficulties is part of life, and the more we can see setbacks as opportunities for personal growth and development, the stronger we can become.

So how can we learn to be more resilient?  Read more here

 4. Web-sites/resources

Both Ban Bullying at Work Day and National Stress Awareness Day fell this year on Nov 7th.  In case you didn't have a chance to view them before the day, we thought we would give you the details of their websites:

Ban Bullying at Work Day
http://www.banbullyingatwork.com/

This is the fourth year of the campaign which aims to raise awareness of this issue in the UK and encourages both individuals and organisations to have the strength to speak up and speak out about bullying.   

National Stress Awareness Day
http://www.nationalstressawarenessday.co.uk/

This year the International Stress Management Association have highlighted the stress-busting effects of smiling with their campaign "Smile away stress".  As well as more information about the day which took place on the 7th November, their website also features 10 stress busters, a stress busting game, and further details about the "Stress - Don't Let it Get to You" campaign.  You also have the opportunity to send a smile e-card to brighten up someone's day.

Click on either of the links above to go to the websites.

The websites featured in this section are chosen because we feel they may be of interest to you, none of the organisations mentioned have either approached us or requested they be included in our newsletter.

5. Stress in the News  

In this section we give you links to recent articles in the press that we have found interesting:

New survey shows stress is taking its toll
 
Wealth from Health (Health + People = Results)

Five unlikely research findings about work-related stress

Voice analysis technology helps detect mental stress 

Read more here 


6. Amanda's Column

This summer saw me eventually put into practice something I’ve talked to friends and family about doing for a long time.  In fact, so long that in the meantime, it has become a very trendy pursuit … I grew my own vegetables.   

Well, that’s slightly misleading, I don’t want to give you any false images of my becoming like Felicity Kendal in “The Good Life” (more’s the pity as far as my other half is concerned!).  However, this spring I did manage to get my vegetables patch both dog and rabbit proof.  A challenge in itself as my dog manages to urinate over most plants irrespective of whether they’re at the front or back of a bed (wouldn’t you fail to appear at your best after such treatment?), and the kids are convinced the wild rabbits bounce around on the trampoline at night (“Well, how else do the droppings get there?”).  I then spent forever digging over some totally weed-ridden soil before finishing up with what rather surprisingly looked like a vegetables patch.  The next problem was what to do with it!  Read more here

 7. In Equilibrium Consultant Profile

We now have 12 consultants working throughout the UK and thought you might be interested to know a little more about them.
 

Lesley Jefferson

Lesley Jefferson’s work is mainly based in the South West and M4 corridor. Although she is Scottish born and Geordie raised, she has lived for many years now in the Cotswolds near Bath, and considers herself to be a domiciled Southerner.

An early career as a management lecturer gave way to working ‘in the real world’. Starting with managing Vauxhall’s graduate programme and then designing and delivering leadership and management programmes for organisations as diverse as Renault Europe, Intel, Lloyds TSB and the NHS. She believes that this has given her valuable insights into cross sector best practice, and is fascinated by how much the culture and behavioural norms of organisations can vary.

Lesley thinks her key strength is being able to work at all levels in an organisation, moving her focus as required from strategy and organisational outcomes to the detail of individual performance challenges. Recently her focus has been increasingly on 1/1 coaching interventions, supporting executives through change transitions. The changes may be organisational or personal – usually a bit of both! 

Her interest in well-being came after years spent trying to discover where she had mislaid her work/life balance, wondering how everyone else coped so marvelously. She found 2 answers; firstly – some of the others were covering up – but more importantly, that it really is possible to build resilience into your life once you know what works for you.

At that point she vowed never to darken the gym again, but to hike in the countryside, play the piano, read books, make time for loved ones, and drink the best red wine available. It seems to work…most of the time, and stress management has become something of a passion.

8. Your Feedback - Send us your thoughts and win a Prize!

Please let us know what you think about this edition of "In Equilibrium".  This month we are again offering you the chance to be the winner of an In-Equilibrium stress toy (in the form of an armchair for your mobile phone!). 

The winner of Newsletter 37's feedback prize is Kathy Hammond, Occupational Hygienist, Directorate of Safety and Claims, London.  Congratulations to Kathy who will receive a relaxing armchair for her mobile phone!  A big thank you to all those who gave us valuable feedback,  we really appreciate it and do please try again on this edition.