Bringing the Best Out of One Another

The New Year is often a time for assessing things: For looking back over the past year at your successes and shortcomings, and for looking ahead at the things you hope for the coming months.

In this post, we want to highlight a few of the efforts we have been making at MCNC, or are beginning in the New Year, to continue to enhance the intangible things we do, that in turn, strengthen the tangible services we offer to our customers every day.

In the past year, we implemented a series of TED-style talks.

In June, we looked at The Power of Moments: How through countless instances and interactions, every one of us, everyday, has the ability to affect other people’s lives in meaningful and lasting ways. We each have the power to help others see that who they are, and what they do, matters.

In September, we explored Living to 100 (and Beyond): What secrets about life can we learn from those regions of the world with the highest concentrations of people flourishing into their 90’s and 100’s? (Hint, our relationships with others has a huge effect!)

This month, the focus is on Celebrating You at Your Best. Often the things that trip us up, at home or at work, are not our weakness. Rather they are the “blind spots” caused by our strengths. By learning to identify our strengths, and those of others, we will become happier and more effective, at work and in our lives.

This year we are also going to experiment with a couple of other development and well-being activities.

We are starting a Leadership and Development “book club,” where those who are interested can come and explore various ideas and strategies for growth and development. Building on the lessons from Living to 100 (and Beyond), we are also going to schedule more time to simply meet and laugh, after hours, over a glass of wine or light snacks.

These talks and activities have been light, fun opportunities for our employees to connect, to develop clarity around why we do what we do, and offer tangible skills for serving one another. By deliberately focusing on bringing the best out of the people around us, the hope is it will enhance our personal and professional lives, as well as the lives of the people we touch.