Erika's Blog - Northern Connections

Recently someone has come into my life. I needed some temporary office help and this person was sent my way. She was very friendly, outgoing and humorous. We hit it off immediately. Over the past 3 weeks, we began to learn more about each other and found ways that we can be supportive to eachother with the challenges that we are facing. I was able to give her advice in my areas of knowledge and expertise and vice versa. I believe that people are put in our paths for reasons, whether they need us or we need them. Being able to render a service to someone to help them on life's journey is a special blessing.

Labels: inspiration, networking, spirituality

The interesting thing about life is that whenever you think things are going rather smoothly, something always comes along to challenge you. If you can take a moment to look at life objectively, you will find that we are not meant to live in a status quo environment. Our mortal existence is to develop character through trials. In our family we have been dealing with ill and ageing parents which is difficult but inevitable. Then along comes some unexpected trials that stretch your endurance even further. I am thankful that I have an eternal perspective and the knowledge that all good things in life are counteracted by negative occurrences, just to keep you grounded. I ask for help and guidance daily and that's what keeps me going.

Labels: family, health, spirituality

In my last blog I talked about building relationships, either family or work-related. I volunteered to be on a communications committee recently to see where improvements can be made in the corporate environment. It was interesting to note that there is always much to do to make communications better. Front line workers often feel undervalued when their opinions are not listened to. Management may feel that they don't have time to relay important information down the line, or don't know who really needs (or wants) to know about high level issues. We often get deluged with emails in an attempt to keep staff informed. The real communication skill is not sending out newsletters, or fyi emails. It comes down to whether someone feels they are being listened to, understood and cared for in this busy, rushed world we live in. If you can master that, your staff will become truly engaged in their work and want to go the extra mile.

Labels: business, communication