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Time to shape up
4 Mar, 2009 By: Marty Whitford LM Direct!<!DOCTYPE html PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD XHTML 1.0 Transitional//EN" "http://www.w3.org/TR/xhtml1/DTD/xhtml1-transitional.dtd">
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| Break-out discussions on wellness/fitness, stress management and family-work balance revealed as many solutions as they did issues. |
Too many Americans are in shape — near-circular shape, that is. According to new data from the National Center for Health Statistics, 33% of Americans are overweight and another 34% are obese. That’s two-thirds, so the majority rules — from the couch, with the TV remote in one hand, and soda and snacks in the other.
Thankfully, though, “fitness” does not have to be the past tense of “fatness.” Today is a new day ripe with opportunity for renewed commitment to a magical balance of life, work and wellness. That’s the take-home message from the Professional Landcare Network’s (PLANET’s) Executive Forum held Feb. 19-22 at Disney’s Beach Club Resort in Orlando, FL.
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| PLANET President Jason Cupp eagerly plays the part of our Stone Age counterparts — cave men who thousands of years ago had many more “acceptable” ways to let off steam. |
PLANET’s 2009 Executive Forum drew 235 attendees, including 54 spouses and 48 children, to the city that Walt and Mickey built. Ninety-seven companies from 35 states, as well as Canada, Bermuda and India, were represented.
The event’s sponsors included John Deere (platinum level), Caterpillar (gold level) and Vermeer Manufacturing (silver level). CNA sponsored the golf tournament, Cub Cadet the Feb. 20 networking reception, Syngenta the Feb. 21 breakfast, Husqvarna the portfolios, and LandOpt, Agrium and Christmas Décor each sponsored the hospitality suite one night.
Food for thought
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| Murray Banks |
Murray Banks of Peak Presentations and Scott Smith of Motivation to Move are 60 and 49, respectively, but don’t let their ages fool you. The wellness/fitness gurus look and act like recent college graduates.
Full of energy, passion and life, the dynamic duo shared with PLANET members their secrets to staying fit, reducing stress, and striking and maintaining the ever-delicate family-work balance — all keys to better harvesting the fun and fruits offered daily by our increasingly intertwined work and home lives.
Wellness — being physically fit and mentally and emotionally well — is America’s largely untapped productivity booster, Banks said.
“How’s your physical stamina?” Banks asked attendees. “We don’t just want to be able to finish each day. We need to start strong, stay strong and finish strong — each of us and each of our co-workers.
“Make no mistake: Wellness and balance are directly tied to the bottom line, but because they’re among the many business intangibles, they all too often get ignored,” Banks added.
Attendees were “Amen”ing their way through Banks’ keynote, but shortly afterward many of us rolled over on our renewed commitment to wellness. The ice cream bar at the welcome reception called our names. Strike that. Its sirens — M&M’s, Snickers and other candy mix-ins — sang to our hearts.
“Quite a few of you had wheelbarrows full of ice cream and candy toppings last night. I think you got workouts just carrying your bowls,” Banks joked on the second day of the Executive Forum.
“I’m right with you. I denied I would get ice cream three times, but I just couldn’t pass it up, either,” Banks admitted. “I believe in being good 90% of the time. I exercise a little more to offset the 10% of times I stray a little in my food choices. I walked off that wonderful ice cream after the reception.”
Stress less, move more
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| Scott Smith |
Banks urged attendees to create their own Richter Magnitude Scales to more accurately weigh seemingly stressful situations.
“When something upsets you, give it a number from 1 to 10, with 10 being the highest stress level. Then give it the energy it deserves in accordance with the number.
“A 10 is you receive a call from the hospital concerning a loved one and they say, ‘We need you to come in right now.’ Everything else is a 9 or below. The main thing is to keep the main thing the main thing.”
Smith added that uncontrolled stress can cost you up to 46% more in healthcare costs — for you and each of your stressed-out employees.
Simplifying and organizing your life works wonders to alleviate unneeded stress. So does exercise, Smith said.
“Who weighs 250 lbs. or more?” Smith asked attendees. I slid down in my seat (as much as a 270-lb. man can). One attendee with more courage than me (and quite a few of my portly industry brothers) stood up.
“I was your weight just a few years ago,” Smith told the attendee. “I’ve since lost 85 lbs. and a world of stress. It’s as simple as ‘Stand up. Take a step. Repeat.’”
Life balance
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| Chris Joyce |
When Chris Joyce, president of Marstons Mills, MA-based Joyce Landscaping started his business, and for several years following, he pursued very few non-work related activities.
“For many years, I did nothing but work,” said Joyce, noting he really appreciated the PLANET Executive Forum’s focus on wellness and balance this year — especially given the mounting cost-cutting and revenue-saving stresses with which Green Industry professionals are grappling.
“But I got older, got married and became the father of four children,” Joyce added. “Work no longer is the most important thing in my life. Family is.”
Joyce said most in this industry are very passionate about what they do, so working most of the time comes easy to many — too easy, perhaps.
“The need for me to spend more time with my family has made me a better business person,” Joyce noted. “When I realized I could not be there to manage the business 24/7, it made me realize I work with a great team of people empowered by great systems.”
Believe it or not, the company still runs when Joyce isn’t there. In fact, Joyce admitted that sometimes, in some areas, it runs better when he’s away or hands-off.
“When I realized this, and learned how to balance a great career with an enriching, full family life, it made for much healthier and enjoyable living,” Joyce said. “It also gave my co-workers the opportunity to take on more responsibilities and more fully develop, both professionally and personally.”
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BONUS COVERAGE: That was the lead-off question posed by Bill Arman, cofounder of The Harvest Group consultancy, to more than 130 attendees of the Professional Landcare Network’s (PLANET’s) 2009 Executive Forum in Orlando in mid-February. Not a single hand raised. Silence enveloped the meeting room.
“OK. How many think they’ve got incredible potential — that there’s a lot more room for growth?” Arman asked. A sea of hands shot up and the room buzzed with affirmations. Getting from “there” to “here” — a more-fruitful harvest — requires we plant the many seeds to success and tend daily our corporate garden, according to Arman. Here are a few tips from the Head Harvester:
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