CWO Diary, April 2024

Hello and welcome to the April edition of the Chief Wellbeing Officer newsletter on LinkedIn. It's been a fast month and I didn't quite feel ready to publish again but that's the great thing about routines and structure, one of our themes this month. It's the final Friday of the month, so the newsletter goes out -- whether I like it or not ;)

This month we look at the classic Stockdale Paradox, a personal story on trust and reciprocity, reflections on our own personal Operating System, the power of streaks, two great new books in the wellbeing space by Lieven Van Linden and Jonathan Fisher, the Sustaining Executive Performance journey and short recap on CWO programs. May is just around the corner. Let's GO!

New Writing

Levels of uncertainty and disruption remain sky-high around the world. It seems many of us never came down from heightened levels of alert and anxiety established during the pandemic. Within this context I think the Stockdale Paradox offers value.

James Stockdale was a US pilot who was a prisoner of war in Hanoi, Vietnam for eight years where he was routinely tortured. In the book Good to Great, Jim Collins writes about a conversation he had with Stockdale regarding his coping strategy during this period, who said:

“I never lost faith in the end of the story. I never doubted not only that I would get out, but also that I would prevail in the end and turn the experience into the defining event of my life.”

This gave rise to the Stockdale Paradox: the appreciation of one’s brutal reality, but with an all-powerful positive vision.

Click below to watch me discuss the Stockdale Paradox in the context of the workplace today with Dr. Rupy Aujla.

From a well-known classic to a personal story. I look for learning opportunities everywhere in my daily life and this was a powerful one. To preface the passage below I see a person during my morning routine doing the schoolrun. It taught me that things take time and that we shouldn't always seek immediate reciprocity.

Everytime I’m on the mountain I see him. Rain or shine. From my car or walking or running past him.

Everytime I see him I wave.

He never waves back.

For 6 months (at least) nothing came back.

Until today.

He waved back.

A big happy, smiley wave!

It took me completely by surprise and it was beautiful.

Our learnings become part of who we are, and I reflected recently on the elements that make up our own personal Operating System. I like to think of five areas in our personal OS:

1. Tools and artefacts
2. Habits
3. Routines and Rituals
4. Priorities
5. Values

When was the last time you purposefully designed intentions in these areas? Here's some questions on that Values element that Rory Simpson has used at Universitas Telefo?nica over the years to help guide thousands of people in the next stage of their lives:

• Who are your heroes?? What qualities do they possess?
• Recall a time in your life when you made a stand on an important issue. What values were you “protecting” at that time?
• What is your favourite poem, book, or movie?
• What would you be prepared to die for? If it’s an idea, person, or possession, ask yourself what value(s) they represent.

A final area of writing this month looks at how we might automate behaviour through the power of the streak. This was particularly relevant for me last week as I sent the 50th consecutive edition of the Chief Wellbeing Officer weekly email newsletter. It's been another interesting streak experience, which makes me reflect on my own paradox. In the words of Jerry Seinfeld, Don't Break the Chain! but when it inevitably does, then accept and celebrate that too!

Community Spotlight

A slight departure this month in highlighting new book releases in addition to the practitioners themselves. We've looked at the work of Lieven Van Linden in a previous edition of Community Spotlight. I like his practical and rigorous approach to wellbeing and performance. And he has a great looking book just out. English version soon right Lieven? :)

Also with a new book is cardiologist Jonathan Fisher. I've considered demanding environments over the years and how wellbeing fits, being inspired by the extreme user approach from design thinking. The clinician environment must be one of the most demanding, so hats off to Jonathan for not only thriving in that personally but offering insights to us all. This looks like a great book. Best of luck Jonathan!

Back Catalogue

My wellbeing career was built on the convergence of two unlikely sources: leadership performance and social responsibility. I pioneered wellbeing teaching in executive programs at IESE Business School via the Sustaining Executive Performance course and went on to teach it in schools around the world.

We've looked at the course over three editions of the CWO weekly email newsletter (First FOCUS, then MOVE + RECOVER, followed by FUEL + TRAIN). It was great to reflect on some of the original messages that resonated with people a decade ago but which are still relevant today, especially since the whole 'human sustainability' term seems to (at last) have taken hold.

It's also a lesson in embracing my own progress and not being too precious about previous work. We recorded the eLearning course in 2014 and the production is a bit dated. My delivery could also be better, but then again if I was completely happy with something I recorded 10 years ago, I don't think that would be a good sign! In any case, this was a course that was licensed to organisations around the world and also distributed by The Economist for several years. So, if you're interested, you can view all 32 clips (2+ hours) on YouTube below.

CWO Programs

• I’m touring Asia-Pacific in a few weeks. If you’d like to find out more on my dates and discuss possible engagements with your team or organisation please drop me a line ([email protected]).
• I had a wonderful time in Puglia last week with the Global Leaders in Law community. Such a fun, hard-working, inspiring group of human beings. Feeling very grateful.

• I’m excited to deliver a virtual keynote for Netsuite sales leaders next week as they prepare for a demanding final sprint of Q4. We’ll cover all things wellbeing and performance in “Wellbeing for Business Success.”

Thanks for reading everyone and happy start to the wonderful month of May. Keep well.

Steven