The Lifeworks Group, Inc.

By: Christine Hammond LMHC After losing a large account over a missed detail in a report, Shaun began to take inventory of his work habits. It was an error that he would normally never miss but he had reviewed the document in the afternoon after a long morning of tough negotiations with another account. Determined to figure this out, Shaun enlisted the help of a coach who pointed out that he might have suffered from decision fatigue. Defining decide and fatigue. The Latin root of the word is ‘cide’. This is also the same root as homicide, suicide, genocide, or insecticide. ‘Cide’ means to cut out or to kill. When a person “decides” they are eliminating options or possibilities. They are effectively killing other choices in favor of one. Fatigue has its origins from the French word with the same spelling and the Latin word “fatigare” meaning to tire. It is weariness from physical or mental exertion. Putting the definitions together.   Decision fatigue is a decl...

By: Christine Hammond LMHC Morgan had not noticed the book, The Prince , sitting predominately on her bosses’ credenza. Perhaps she hadn’t previously been in the office long enough to look around, but now seeing the book, everything became clear. Her boss had a common saying during meetings, “The end always justifies the means,” and expected everyone to operate on that philosophy. “The end,” for her boss, was all about the bottom line and making the deal whatever the cost. While she didn’t directly encourage lying, cheating, stealing, and manipulating, it was clear from the team meetings that those who did were rewarded. It had been a while since Morgan read the book. She recalled being mortified by it but decided to give it a try again. One quote from Prince Machiavelli stood out, “ Anyone compelled to choose will find far greater security in being feared than in being loved.” This is one of the guiding principles of Machiavellians. Now Morgan could see why he...

By: Christine Hammond LMHC Jennifer thought that once she got into a field she enjoyed, her upward mobility would be guaranteed. It wasn’t. Frustrated by the competition in her office, she wondered if all the hard schooling was worth the effort. Things were not working out as she planned and her dreams of owning her own firm someday were quickly crashing. Worse yet, her first review at work wasn’t good. Her boss said Jennifer lacked a solid work ethic which was holding her back from achieving. While she was capable of the work, she wasn’t giving it her all and the quality of her showed it. Jennifer’s first response was to be defensive and then blame her boss for unreasonable expectations. But after she had some time to consider the points, Jennifer knew she had to change. The problem was Jennifer didn’t know what to change. So she sought out counseling to improve at work. Here is what she learned. 1.        Show up early. An old ...