This month I was delighted to accept the position of Inspiring Ambassador for the new women-in-business connections agency and news site, inspiring.ie. All 32 counties will be covered eventually, starting off with Inspiring Cork – naturally!
This piece of inspiration itself is the brainchild of publisher and entrepreneur, Michael Mulcahy.
It’s a mighty challenge but one that I look forward to with great zest and it directed my thinking effortlessly towards what you can do as employers to enthuse and inspire your own staff. Here’s a charming story that gives a good illustration. It’s about the late John F Kennedy.
One day he was visiting NASA – the space headquarters – when he spied a janitor pushing a broom. He went over to the man, introduced himself and asked him what he was doing. “Well, Mr President,” the janitor said. “I’m helping to put a man on the moon.”
For employees, the moral of this story is that no matter how small you think your job is, your contribution is important. You are part of something that couldn’t be achieved without you. So, don’t underestimate your contribution.
But what if you’re on the other side of the fence? How much do you communicate the moral of the JFK story to your employees? Imagine how much more appreciated they would feel and how much more inspired they would be to do the job to the best of their ability if you did. And that’s precisely what you want from an employee; a better sense of well-being, of being valued resulting in greater productivity and less staff turn-over.
This is just one very small aspect of how to bring a sense of wellness into your company, a trend that is growing in Ireland at the moment because you must know that the days of wellbeing focused just around health and safety are fading fast. Employees now want a more holistic approach.
My new website, which is about to be launched, deals extensively with bringing wellness to executives, to communities and to you as individuals. I offer a wide range of topics and programmes, all of which can be contoured to suit your individual needs. I’m also making available classes in public speaking and presentation because poor public speaking so often can be the product of a lack of confidence and a sound, confident voice is part of your wellness goal. I think these are so important for corporates, communities and for you too. So, whether you need help with a job interview, presenting an annual report to the board, speaking at your local GAA club or making a speech at a wedding, I can help.
It’s going to be a busy Winter!
Bibi Baskin is a motivational speaker and wellness advisor. Having lived in India for 15 years, where she managed her own hotel, she also has wide experience of the Indian system of wellness – Ayurveda. Her many and varied career choices in different countries, in addition to having presented more than 1,000 live TV shows, makes her a compelling speaker on aspects of wellness and other life challenges.
