SOULUTIONS October 2009
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| in this issue | | A Healthy Dose of Branding | | Healthy Listening Supports Healthy Organizations | | Volunteer to Improve Your Health | | Volunteering May Improve Job Prospects | | Quick Wins: The One Question We Never Ask |
Dear Reader, To Your Health! Welcome to Fall! We all seem to be thinking about how to stay healthy now that kids are back in school and, for some of us, the weather is getting colder. This month's newsletter is all about health, and how to keep not just our bodies, but our brands, our careers, and our relationships healthy as well. And an example of how a group of organizations that support healthy families are practicing some healthy listening skills themselves.
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A Healthy Dose of Branding ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Thanks to all the participants who joined us for our second lunch hour webinar series on branding. We spent an informative and entertaining hour with Steve Brock of Brand: Wallop who helped shed light on what quality branding is all about. Along the way he shared some interesting tidbits. Did you know that by law all bleach is exactly the same? But why do many of us have Clorox bleach in our cabinets? That's healthy branding working its magic.
Steve shared insight on some questions that all organizations, big or small, should be asking themselves when creating their brand, such as: What makes your organization unique? Would the majority of your staff describe your organization the same way? And: When you are fulfilling your mission, what happens?
To learn more about Branding, visit our website at www.vesperservice.net or click here to read more about the questions you should be asking to give your organization a check-up. And stay tuned for our encore performance of Steve's Branding webinar tentatively scheduled for Friday, October 16th. |
Healthy Listening Supports Healthy Organizations
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How do you know you are meeting the needs of your constituents? And, how do you motivate more people like them to support your cause?
A group of eight organizations from across the United States, with the shared mission of supporting strong families, are working together to answer those questions. With the help of the research team from the Vesper Service Network, these organizations are in the middle of a joint survey that will help them understand what their constituents care about and how to tell stories that inspire greater support. By working together they've been able to save money (contributing to healthy bottom line), and will have the benefit of learning what is working, not just for their organization, but across the country. What healthy questions could you be asking? Click here to see a list of our favorites. |
Volunteer to Improve Your Health
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Take a look at this study showing how volunteering not only helps others, but also yourself: The Health Benefits of Volunteering: A Review of Recent Research has found a significant connection between volunteering and good health. The report shows that volunteers have greater longevity, higher functional ability, lower rates of depression and less incidence of heart disease. The full report is available by clicking here.
"Volunteering makes the heart grow stronger," said David Eisner, CEO of the Corporation. "More than 61 million Americans volunteer to improve conditions for people in need and to unselfishly give of themselves. While the motivation is altruistic, it is gratifying to learn that their efforts are returning considerable health benefits."
The Health Benefits of Volunteering documents major findings from more than 30 rigorous and longitudinal studies that reviewed the relationship between health and volunteering, with particular emphasis on studies that seek to determine the causal connection between the two factors. The studies, which were controlled for other factors, found that volunteering leads to improved physical and mental health.
Research suggests that volunteering is particularly beneficial to the health of older adults and those serving 100 hours annually.
To read more, please click here. |
Volunteering May Improve Job Prospects
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Volunteering may help your work health as well! In an article posted by TheLadders, Debra Donston-Miller suggests a non-traditional way of finding a job - by volunteering. See the article by clicking here.
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Quick Wins: The One Question We Never Ask At the Vesper Service Network, we believe that asking good questions can help build healthy relationships. Good questions show others that we care about them, we value their thoughts and opinions, and we'll take the time to listen. But there is one question we never ask, because instead of inviting communication, this question shuts it down.
We never use the word, "why" when we ask questions. Not because we aren't deeply interested in causes and motives, but because the word, "why" tends to put people off, and put them on the defensive rather than inviting them to open up.
Try it for yourself today. Spend a day without using the word, "why." Instead ask questions like, What were your reasons for that? What could we have done differently? How did you come to that conclusion? Or encourage more conversation by using statements like, Tell me more about that, Describe that process for me, or Help me understand how that happened. Pay attention to how people respond, and see how healthy a good question can be. |
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