#also as a person vehemently opposed to the idea of living forever being a vampire is A LOT but dating one? right up my alley
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I think the main reason I didnât want mc to be turned this soon is purely bc the feeding scenes were so intimate in a way that a lot of the make out scenes arenât like Iâm SO sorry those feeding scenes were the equivalent to a 30 diamond scene TO ME.
#this is so h*rny im sorry#Iâm showing my whole ass on main today#Id really is the only book I turn up this hard for these days#also as a person vehemently opposed to the idea of living forever being a vampire is A LOT but dating one? right up my alley#playchoices#immortal desires#cas harlow#gabe adalhard
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by Jon Gordon,
If youâre like most people, 2010 was a long, exhausting year at your workplace.
Youâre tired, depleted, and quite frankly just done with âbusiness as usual.â Youâre laying the blame for your fatigue squarely at the feet of the increased responsibilities and long hours you faced. But whatâs wearing you out at work might not be the work at all.
âMost people wrongly assume that their tasks and responsibilities are whatâs grinding them down,â explains Gordon, author of the newly released Soup: A Recipe to Nourish Your Team and Culture. âHowever, while âworkâ is a convenient scapegoat, the real culprit is often the negativity of the people you work with and for, their constant complaining, and the pessimistic culture that is now the norm in a lot of workplaces.â
The fact is, many of us work in a world of drainers. And what, exactly, is a drainer? Gordon says the term can describe anyone in the workplaceâa boss, coworker, employee, or clientâwho sucks the life and energy right out of you.
Hereâs how to not be a âdrainerâ
1. The Energy Vampire Attack
DONâT: Let negativity become your go-to response. Thereâs nothing more draining than a boss or coworker who is constantly negative. Gordon calls these folks âenergy vampires.â They are never happy, rarely supportive, and constantly nay-saying any and all ideas and suggestions that arenât their own. According to them, you might as well give up before you start.
DO: Respond constructively when someone offers up an idea. Even if you know more about a particular project, have more experience than the rest of your team, or are positive that the suggestions others are making are off the mark, hear them out. Let employees and coworkers know that when they come to you with their ideas, theyâll be heard with an open mind and received with respect. Insist that everyone else practice positivity as well. While negativity squelches creativity and initiative, an encouraging attitude will keep creative juices flowing and encourage constructive dialogue.
âAs pessimism rises, performance decreases,â Gordon explains. âYou have to encourage optimism and guard against pessimism, or your team will suffer.â
2. The Out-of-Control Complain Train
DONâT: Give in to the temptation to whine. Itâs a well-known phenomenon that can have catastrophic consequences: One personâs complaint resonates with someone else, who then proceeds to add grievances to the pile, which prompts yet another individual to throw in her two (negative) centsâŠand so on. Before you know it, everyone is complaining, and any work that gets done thereafter is marred by a bad attitude.
DO: Push for solutions. The next time a water-cooler conversation threatens to barrel out of control into Complaint Central, step in and ask the complainees how they would make things better. Better yet, take a cue from Gordonâs bestselling book The No Complaining Rule and ban complaints altogether. Itâs tough love for sureâbut it will also create and sustain a positive culture.
âWhen you boil things down, complaints are just noise and nothing moreâbut each one does represent an opportunity to turn something negative into something positive,â Gordon points out. âTurn your employees from problem-sharers to problem-solversâitâll make an unbelievable difference in your officeâs atmosphere!â
3. The Vicious Voicemail (or Email)
DONâT: Leave critical or harsh messages on voicemail or send them to an email inbox. Nine times out of ten, these critiques seem much more vehement and condemnatory than they actually are. Plus, any communication you send via electronic methods can potentially last forever. Not only could your words come back to haunt you, but theyâll also be a constant reminder to your coworker or employee of his or her supposed shortcomings.
DO: Suck it up and conduct the tough talks in person. If you need to have a stern talk with someone, or if you need to talk through a conflict or problem, do it in person if at all possible. Youâll be able to ensure that your words and tone arenât misinterpreted, and youâll be able to immediately have a constructive dialogue with the other person. By talking about ways to improve, you can end the conversation on a positive and encouraging note.
4. The Loaded Monday Morning Inbox
DONâT: Overwhelm your team with a mountain of emails before the week is underway. If youâre finishing up your own to-do list late on a Friday night, or if youâre simply trying to get a jumpstart on the week ahead, it can be tempting to dish out the details and to-dos as you think of them. After all, if you wait âtil Monday morning, you might forget to tell those who need to know! However, coming into an inbox of fifty-seven new messages is draining and makes folks feel like theyâre fighting an uphill battle from the start.
DO: Boil down and bundle your communication as considerately as possible. Inevitably, people are going to be working late and sending emails over the weekendâin todayâs business culture, itâs unavoidable! However, there are a few things you can do to make âYouâve Got Mail!â less stressful and more efficient for the recipient. Be sure to flag any urgent emails so that your teammates know which tasks to tackle firstâand include as many details as possible so that 1) you wonât forget them, and 2) the recipient can get started as quickly as possible. If you can, combine as many of the tasks and questions as you can into one document.
âOne email, as opposed to ten separate ones, is a lot less intimidating,â reminds Gordon. âAnd if you do fire off a multitude of messages in a moment of panic, a quick note acknowledging the unusual volume can change everything!â
5. The Busy Bee Bamboozle
DONâT: Confuse activity with progress. You know the person. Sheâs always soooo busy but doesnât ever seem to meet deadlines or get anything done. When teams are being formed, people secretly hope she isnât assigned to theirs. Sheâs living proof of the fact that just because your day is full of things to do doesnât necessarily mean that youâre getting them done.
DO: Set goals and hold yourself and your employees accountable for results. These results should be ones that matter and that are visible and valuable to your team. It can be helpful to transition over to a day-to-day plan that will help everyone stay on the right track. Most importantly, donât put your team in situations where the lines are blurred. If the goals are crystal clear, theyâll be easier to accomplish.
6. The Low Performer Look-Away
DONâT: Let sub-par work slide. Simply put, low performers drag the rest of the team down. They are like cancer inside your organization, creating resentment and generating more work for everyone else. And if you allow them to linger and thrive for too long, your best employees will move on to a more productive environment.
DO: Institute a zero-tolerance policy for low performers. Hold your entire team accountable for meeting their goals and adhering to the same performance standards. If one person consistently misses the bar, then you need to take swift action. Let your employees know that you value their hard work and that you will not allow others to do less and get away with it.
âIn support of this initiative, strive for complete transparency,â Gordon advises. âWhen your team knows exactly whatâs expected, theyâll know where they standâand youâll be able to make sure that their fears, uncertainties, and questions arenât holding them back.â
7. The Unclear Communiqué
DONâT: Assume others have all the information they need, or that something you know isnât really all that important. These hastily drawn conclusions that result from chronic poor communication can lead to serious mistakes and major missed opportunities. Plus, lack of clarity is incredibly frustrating to those who must work with you. When employees, coworkers, or supervisors have to spend their time tracking you down for clarification, rather than getting the communication from you that they need, productivity falls and creativity is stifled.
DO: Make a concerted and proactive effort to make sure that the right people are in the know. Whether itâs letting your boss know that a clientâs daughter is getting married (so he can call in congratulations) or telling a coworker that a vendor prefers to be contacted only via email, be sure to tell the appropriate people. Youâll set your entire team up for success and ensure that your clients get the service they deserve. Also, make sure you copy the right people on emails, promptly return voicemails, and are clear about directions and expectations. And if you say you are going to do something, mean it.
âA big part of a successful culture is having a relationship between employees and managers that is built on trust and collaboration,â says Gordon. âAnd that can happen only if a clear line of communication is established so that inspiration, encouragement, empowerment, and coaching can take place.â
8. The Disorganization Drag-Down
DONâT: Allow disorganization to impede productivity. If youâre managing or leading a company, heading up a big project, or traveling non-stop, itâs likely youâve lost an email, important paper, phone number, or pie chart or two (or three or four) in your day. Youâre busy, and thatâs understandable. But constant disorganization can drain your employees and coworkers if they always have to cover your tracks. It may not always be possible, and accidents do happenâbut not being able to find the quarterly report for the third meeting in a row sets a bad example, and it depletes others of the energy they could be putting towards other, more productive work.
DO: Make a concerted effort to keep up with your tasks and responsibilities. And if you canât immediately put your hands on something you need, donât automatically ask others for help. Take a few minutes to try and find what you need on your own. Better yet, try to think of better systems and processes than the ones youâre using (or not using) now. If you see that someone in your office has a particular knack for organization, ask her for some tips to help you out.
âRemember that thereâs no substitute for communication when you do drop the ball,â Gordon instructs. âTell your employees that between travel, a jam-packed schedule, and working between two computers and a smartphone, youâve lost something you shouldnât have. If you are humble and honest about it, theyâll be more sympathetic to your plight and more likely to jump in and help you keep things organized!â
9. The Hasty Plate Clear-Off
DONâT: Sacrifice quality on the altar of expediency. Thereâs a lot of work to do, and you (understandably) want to get your own tasks done so you donât hold up others. However, moving through assignments quickly in order to get them off your own plate can also mean that youâre piling the work on someone else. If youâve rushed, youâre more likely to have made mistakes and been sloppy, which isnât fair to the person who gets the assignment after you.
DO: Take the time you need to do the job right. Rather than rushing through a report or clicking âsendâ just because itâs 5:00 p.m., get focused and make sure you do your best work the first time. Pay attention to details, check over your work, and make sure youâve followed the proper guidelines. Your coworkers and employees would rather have a project thatâs done right than one thatâs ahead of schedule. (And if you have to turn in a project a day late on occasion, itâs not the end of the world.)
âDoing your best work sets the rest of your team up for success,â notes Gordon. âWhen people realize that youâre this kind of teammate, theyâll take on your projects with confidence and energy.â
10. The Chronic Deadline Dodge
DONâT: Allow unmet deadlines to throw everything and everyone off-track. With all the unexpected obstacles you face in a workday, itâs not always easy to meet deadlines. And yes, sometimes itâs impossibleâbut those times should be few and far between. When people chronically miss deadlines, itâs a sure sign of a cultural issue. Either people arenât giving it their allâor theyâre truly overburdened. Either way, your companyâs productivity will suffer.
DO: Set reasonable, clear deadlines for everyone involved (and hold hem accountable). Once something gets off-track, nobody is willing to own it. Make sure you set reasonable deadlines that you and your teammates can meet in order to avoid setting folks up for failure. And even if it takes some extra elbow grease from time to time, make a conscious effort to meet every deadline every time (and hold your team accountable for meeting them, too!).
11. The Unattainable Atta-Boy (or Atta-Girl!)
DONâT: Get so caught up in whatâs coming down the pike that you forget to acknowledge whatâs happening now. Most managers and business leaders would agree that they feel a lot of pressure. And it can be hard for them to constantly be the ones catching the heat from the higher-ups while the rest of the employees have only their own goals to meet and worry about. However, when responsibilities give you to-do tunnel vision and cause you to skimp on the âjob well done,â employees can get discouraged in a hurryâespecially if you immediately ask about another goal thatâs gone unmet or push more work at them to try and make up for losses in other areas.
DO: Express appreciation and admiration when appropriate. Employees donât need a pat on the back and a round of applause at every turn. What they do need is to know that you can be satisfied. If, like a hamster running in a wheel, an employee feels as though no amount of hard work or hours spent will ever garner the bossâs approval or satisfaction, his energy and self-motivation will be zapped.
âLeadership is not so much about what you do,â asserts Gordon. âItâs about what you can inspire, encourage, empower, and coach others to do. If employees know you can be pleased and that goals can be reached, then they will happily work toward those things.â
12. The Blame Game
DONâT: Point fingers at others in order to take the heat off of yourself. A mistake is made, the boss is mad, a deadline is missed. If all eyes are on your team and you start pointing fingers, you could be making a huge mistake. If your employees or your coworkers donât think you shoulder your share of the blame or are unapproachable when it comes to constructive criticism, theyâll start to shut down toward you.
DO: Accept responsibility for your actions gracefully and humbly. Nobody likes to be the one at fault. But owning up to your mistakes and learning from them are big parts of working together and being successful. If you make a mistake, be the first to own up to it and try to do things differently in the future. Also, be open to suggestions and criticismsâthey may make the going much smoother!
If some of these behaviors sound all too familiar, donât despair. The cusp between the year thatâs just passed and the one thatâs to come is the perfect time to take stock of whatâs making your culture less than nourishingâand resolve to make it better.
âItâs important for managers to acknowledge that itâs been a tough twelve months and that you understand why folks are feeling drained and depleted,â concludes Gordon. âAbove all, tell them that you are willing and eager to help alleviate some of that stress! A little acknowledgment can go a long wayâ
  Go to our website:  www.ncmalliance.com
12 Things You Do At Work That Kill The Office Vibe by Jon Gordon, If you're like most people, 2010 was a long, exhausting year at your workplace.
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