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New York Times
22-05-2025
- Entertainment
- New York Times
Joey Votto and Steph Curry found a secret to workplace happiness. You can, too
Editor's Note: This story is a part of Peak, The Athletic's new desk covering leadership, personal development and success through the lens of sports. Peak aims to connect readers to ideas they can implement in their own personal and professional lives. Follow Peak here. The realization came to Joey Votto in the middle of his career. Advertisement As a young first baseman for the Cincinnati Reds, Votto showed up to work, kept his head down and locked into his routine, the same drills, the same swings, the same results. 'I want to do my routine until it becomes boring,' he told one of his coaches. He arrived at the clubhouse most days and did not say hi to anyone. Part of that was his personality; he is a natural introvert. But part of it was a conscious choice. 'I was there to work,' he said. Younger teammates were cautious to approach him, mindful of his intense dedication to his process and wary of disrupting it. 'He got so good that he could do his routine and all the balls would end up in the same spot,' Tony Jaramillo, one of Votto's coaches, said. 'So he'd hit the ball off the net in the batting cage and they'd all end up in a circle right beside each other. No one does that.' The routine turned Votto into one of the best hitters of his era, a multi-time All-Star, an NL MVP, an on-base machine and a potential Hall of Famer. But then one year, he read the seminal book by Dale Carnegie, 'How to Win Friends and Influence People,' a self-help tome originally published in 1936. Votto was struck by a passage about connection. One of the best ways to reach others, Carnegie wrote, was to offer sincere appreciation. It wasn't enough to show up; you had to be intentional. In the months and years that followed, Votto began to change. He came out of his shell and found his voice. He counseled younger players, doling out hitting advice and telling jokes, letting teammates into his world, a charming mix of chess, philosophy, science and dry comedy. 'He was probably the most interesting man in the game,' Reds coach Freddie Benavides said. For Votto, the shift was transformational. 'My workplace felt warmer,' he said. 'My teammates and I had a stronger bond than I ever thought would be possible. And it helped my general well-being. I felt happier at work. I felt warmer with my new friends.' Advertisement What Votto had discovered was an idea that Jane Dutton, an organizational psychologist at the University of Michigan, has spent nearly three decades researching. Her key finding: There is a simple formula for being happier at work. For professional athletes, the closest analog to an office is the locker room. The schedule is daily, and the days are stressful. Players exist close to co-workers, hovering around lockers, attending meetings on strategy and refining skills on the practice field or weight room. For decades, the intimate confines convinced general managers and coaches to consider team chemistry. Coaches emphasized building relationships and forging ties. The Boston Celtics, for example, hired a Harvard business professor with expertise in conversation to optimize communication and expedite relationship building in the locker room. But research has suggested that there's an even simpler way to foster happier work places and more cohesiveness among team members. The answer is in what Dutton calls 'high-quality connections,' a term she coined to describe the brief, positive interactions between colleagues. They can be a quick conversation, an email exchange or an interaction in a meeting, but they are marked by trust, equal engagement from both sides and acceptance. Perhaps more important: They don't require a long or deep relationship. In some ways, it may seem obvious that having positive interactions would boost team morale. Yet the magnitude of the impact is surprising. Studies have shown that an increase in 'high-quality connections' can improve physiological health outcomes for employees and increase measures of energy and vitality. It can also increase resilience and coordination in organizations. In other words, fostering more connections may be more powerful than trying to change a company's culture. 'This is such a simple idea, but I've been stunned at how powerful it is,' Dutton said. 'It doesn't cost money. It's easier to actually change (that) than culture, which is really hard to change in an organization.' The origins of Dutton's work began in the 1990s, when researchers were studying people who clean hospitals. Dutton was interested in how people in low-status jobs dealt with feeling, in her words, 'devalued.' The study offered a surprise. The maintenance workers and custodians were having regular, brief interactions with patients and their families, which allowed the cleaners to reframe their work as meaningful. Advertisement They were able to see themselves as 'part of being healers,' Dutton said. The result spurred years of research around a simple question: Why are those brief, positive moments with co-workers so invigorating? Dutton, who spent years teaching MBA students at the University of Michigan and executives throughout the business world, came to believe that one of the first ways to foster more connections was to educate about their power. A second aspect of HQCs, however, could be more useful to coaches and sports executives. When it comes to building resilient organizations, it's sometimes easier to think smaller than to build a deep relationship. 'The idea of changing a relationship can be really daunting,' Dutton said. 'But if you think about, well, that relationship is made up of a whole bunch of little micro bits of connection and disconnection, you're gonna build a better relationship if you have more of these moments of high-quality connecting.' Through her research, Dutton devised a set of categories and strategies to foster these 'connections' at work. The first was what she called 'respectful engagement,' which included words of affirmation, praise or genuine interest in a colleague's work. The second was 'task enabling,' or helping an employee accomplish something. In sports terms, it might include a baseball player offering a tip in the batting cage or a basketball coach introducing a drill to a player. But it could also be more abstract — creating the conditions or culture for success — a concept that former NBA coach Phil Jackson once described as 'invisible leadership.' The final category was creating trust, either through moments of vulnerability or by soliciting information or input. The connections are often brief — just 30 or 40 seconds at the most. But Dutton thinks of them 'like vitamins,' nutrients for the mind and spirit. Those moments help propel people forward. Then the cycle continues. On some level, Steph Curry has understood this intuitively. When former Warriors guard Glenn Robinson III joined Golden State in 2019, Curry greeted him with a handshake and offered him a list of churches in the area. When Jeff Addiego, who runs the Warriors' youth basketball academy, made a rare appearance at the Chase Center, Curry asked how the basketball season was going for Addiego's daughter. When the Warriors landed late in Indianapolis one night, Curry knocked on young teammate Quinn Cook's door and walked with him to Steak 'n Shake, where they ate burgers and talked until 4 in the morning. Advertisement 'He had relationships with everybody,' Cook said. It's no surprise that the word most Warriors teammates and coaches associate with Curry is joy. It's the kind of connection and communication that every professional sports team hopes to foster. What many don't understand is that the interventions for improvement are simple, too. Alison Wood Brooks is an associate professor of business administration at Harvard Business School and the author of the recent book, 'Talk: The Science of Conversation and the Art of Being Ourselves.' She's also a consultant for the Boston Celtics, where she looks at how conversations move throughout the organization and how those connections can drive culture. According to Brooks, there are simple tools anyone could use to have better conversations with co-workers. Prep topics beforehand, ask a lot of questions, do not fear small talk but don't be afraid to go deeper quickly. A recent study by Brooks and a group of researchers delivered an intriguing finding: People with more diverse 'social portfolios' — that is, people who have conversations with others of varying degrees of social connection — tend to be happier. 'Talking to different types of people, and different levels of closeness to you, makes people feel a lot more embedded in the world,' Brooks said. 'You're learning more, different information, you're getting all different kinds of emotional experiences, and those people are happier.' The point is simple: For someone like Curry, those varied interactions with co-workers and even strangers, according to the research, may be more powerful than having a number of conversations with the same close friends. The idea of connection was what stuck with Votto. When he decided to be more intentional and engaged in the clubhouse, he looked for tools to help. He started with something basic: Communication. Advertisement Back in high school, he had maintained a group of close friends, but he was never particularly outgoing. He sat in the back row at school. He tended to be reserved. Benavides, a Reds coach and close friend, used to laugh at how Votto could walk to his car after a game and zoom past Benavides' wife without noticing. To push himself out of his comfort zone in the major leagues, Votto decided to take an improv class at Second City in Toronto, where he grew up. 'I took one class and it just immediately hit home,' Votto said. Votto was inspired by the classic improv rule of 'Yes, and …,' where performers affirm what another performer has said and then add to it. The training sharpened his listening skills. It also helped him speak extemporaneously to reporters and teammates. Votto continued by refining his Spanish. He texted teammates and experimented with social media. When outfielder Jesse Winker debuted with the Reds in 2017, a decade into Votto's big-league career, there was always one person he wanted to spend time with in the batting cage: Votto. 'He was open,' Winker said. 'He connected with people.' For Votto, the change began with a small idea. It soon led to something big that anyone can replicate at work. 'I just think, as people, we should all strive for that, to find connection,' Winker said. 'Because I just think the world could probably use some of that.' Rustin Dodd is a senior writer for Peak, The Athletic's new desk covering leadership, personal development and success. He last wrote about his experience drinking coffee like Dan Campbell for a day. Follow Peak here. (Illustration: Dan Goldfarb / The Athletic; Emilee Chinn, Harry How / Getty Images)
Yahoo
20-05-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
The Inner Circle acknowledges, Jeff Cockrell as a Pinnacle Professional Member Inner Circle of Excellence
PLANO, Texas, May 20, 2025 /PRNewswire/ -- Prominently featured in The Inner circle, Jeff Cockrell is acknowledged as a Pinnacle Professional Member Inner Circle of Excellence for his contributions to Empowering High-Performance Development and Veteran Success. Jeff Cockrell, a distinguished entrepreneur, trainer, coach, and Navy veteran, is making a significant impact through his business Gettin' Short, LLC, and its flagship program, the Strategic Leader Transformation. With over four decades of experience in leadership, training and professional development, Mr. Cockrell provides tools and guidance for individuals to thrive in high-performance environments and develop the skills to build and lead high-performing teams in today's challenging business environment. He is also focused on equipping veterans to more smoothly and successfully transition from military to civilian life. Through Gettin' Short, LLC, Mr. Cockrell specializes in coaching and training services designed to enhance corporate growth, leadership and interpersonal relationships. His work extends to veterans through which equips veterans with communication skills, strategies and frameworks to more effectively lead in the civilian world and reconnect with a greater sense of purpose after their military service. After graduating from the University of Virginia with a Bachelor of Arts in Government and Foreign Affairs, Mr. Cockrell's career began with service as a Navy Officer. After serving successfully in various leadership roles, he left the Navy and moved into the private sector, gaining additional sales and leadership experience. For more than 25 years, he has been a certified Dale Carnegie trainer, and for the past several years, a Dale Carnegie Master Trainer, and a Certified High Performance Coach. His inspirational coaching and training style reflects empathy, respect, and intentionality, which he strives to integrate into all facets of his work. A former member of the International Training Quality Board, Mr. Cockrell has been recognized as a Trusted Trainer responsible for more than $1,000,000 in training delivered over the past 3 years and has been ranked in the top 1% of Dale Carnegie trainers worldwide. Mr. Cockrell attributes much of his success to the influence and guidance of his mentor, Jim Perdomo, the love, support, and example of his late father, Will Cockrell, his mother, JoAnne, and to his Savior, Jesus Christ. Looking ahead, Mr. Cockrell is focused on expanding his leadership development program, The Strategic Leader Transformation, into a global initiative which empowers trainers to amplify their impact and increase their income while helping thousands of veterans worldwide. When not working, Mr. Cockrell enjoys sailing, skiing, hanging with family, and giving back to his community. He can be contacted through his website: His email address is: Jeff@ Contact: Katherine Green516-825-5634editorialteam@ View original content: SOURCE The Inner Circle Sign in to access your portfolio
New Indian Express
18-05-2025
- New Indian Express
Sword-cutting reels land Hubballi-Dharwad rowdies in police net
DHARWAD: How to win likes and influence people is the big game in the town. It has always been. Social media platforms have opened the doors to notoriety and stardom to all--heroes as well antiheroes. In the twin cities of Hubballi Dharwad, rowdy-sheeters have read their Dale Carnegie. These social media bullies are making reels of their birthday celebrations for their 'fan base' with a flourish--they ram home the point by using a sword to cut the cake. All to peddle their influence and to intimidate the town folk and let it be known to authorities that ''no one can touch them.' But now they are in for a rude shock. The Hubballi Dharwad police are finally cracking the whip against the rowdy-sheeters who have assiduously built a fan following on various social media platforms. The police have found 700 accounts on Facebook, Instagram and YouTube being handled by rowdy-sheeters and their cronies. The police said that these accounts carry crime-promoting videos and messages. A few accounts portray these rowdy sheeters as superheroes and claim no one can touch them, said the police. The police have filed 28 first information reports against 50 rowdy-sheeters across 15 police stations in the twin cities. All such account handlers are being questioned by the police.
Euronews
08-05-2025
- Entertainment
- Euronews
Behind the memeification of the conclave and the viral ‘Tagle core'
They may be small and seemingly harmless, but emojis can carry more weight than you might guess. Sometimes they serve as nothing less than social hand grenades. That's the message from Unnur Magnúsdóttir, an Icelandic consultant with Dale Carnegie, who leads workshops on emoji use. Her focus is on helping people navigate the waters of emoji communications, especially in professional settings. She explains that any given emoji one person sees as friendly or funny could strike someone else as confusing or even offensive. Food-related emojis are particularly prone to misinterpretation, she says. While they may appear innocent, some of them carry sexual innuendos that users may not be aware of, posing a risk in workplace communication. Even the classic smiley face isn't always safe territory: the degree of a smile and the shape of the emoji's mouth can send subtly different signals, and generational divides only add to the confusion. For example, older users may view the thumbs-up emoji as a sign of approval or encouragement. But to younger generations, it can seem dismissive or even passive-aggressive, highlighting a cultural shift in digital expression. To explore this further, Icelandic broadcaster RÚV asked pedestrians to interpret a selection of emojis. The responses varied wildly. One person saw a certain emoji as joyful, while another thought it expressed sadness or irritation. The exercise showed that in the world of digital communication, meaning isn't fixed —and that even the simplest symbols can speak volumes. As the conclave begins today, social media has been hard at work already when it comes to turning the process of electing a successor to the late Pope Francis into something that feels more like the Met Gala and less like a secretive ritual. How? Through memes. Heresy for some; adding some lightness to an ancient ceremony featuring a lot of elderly men in robes for others. And for those who aren't convinced by that second option, let's not forget that it was Pope Francis who said: 'There is faith in humour.' Many are choosing to memeify the conclave through the film Conclave, which has seen a spike in viewership numbers since the death of Pope Francis, while others are trying to make light of what some are describing on TikTok as the 'Sistine Chapel sleepover'... "Let's Go Girls" 'Being in a conclave sounds sick. just locked in a room with your absolute boys voting on which one of your friends is just gonna be the man until they die' 'i would have the best time at a conclave because it's basically just a work convention where you get paid to gossip plot and scheme. god is literally demanding that you judge your coworkers. in his name we pray' Aside from social media users – specifically Gen Z - adding their unique take to the proceedings, the internet has also found its winner: Filipino Cardinal Luis Antonio Tagle. Indeed, Cardinal Tagle, 67, is often dubbed the 'Asian Francis' for his warmth, apparent affability and his progressive views. Clips featuring Tagle have been going viral over the past week. On TikTok, he has become everyone's favourite. One viral video shows him joking that he knows only three Polish words: kielbasa (sausage), pierniczki (gingerbread) and vodka. There are also several videos the cardinal singing along to John Lennon's 'Imagine' in 2019. The clip received backlash from some conservative Catholics, including LifeSiteNews. 'Shocking', reads a post on X of Cardinal Tagle singing along to 'Imagine'. It described the song as an 'atheist anthem rejecting religion, heaven, and Christ's Kingship'. 'The song's lyrics directly contradict Catholic doctrine... Is this scandal or scandalous ignorance?' Many came to Tagle's defense. One user commented: 'The guy sang a song about world peace. If that's really the most dirt you can dig up on him, he'd make an excellent pope.' Another user added: 'God forbid a pastor advocates for peace.' Gen Z have fought back, championing and memeing the clip in support, and sharing other wholesome clips of Tagle, including one of him dancing in a church. Others have created edits to show their support and one video titled 'Tagle core' has gone viral, showing the Filipino cardinal singing, laughing and dancing. Still, some traditionalists aren't impressed, including Filipino papal contender Cardinal Pablo Virgilio David, who warned against turning sacred rituals into public spectacles. In a Facebook post, he cautioned against using social media to campaign for favourites. 'Creating or sharing campaign videos, even with good intentions, risks turning a sacred discernment into a worldly spectacle. It may inadvertently pressure or politicise the conscience of the electors, and distract from the silence and prayer needed to truly hear the voice of the Spirit,' he wrote. While some Catholic circles bemoan the conclave's 'irreverent' memeification and continue to raise ethical questions about making light of sacred traditions, it's worth reminding that the last conclave took place in 2013, when social media was in its infancy. Amused or shocked by the viral content, it can't be too surprising in 2025. The phenomenon only shows how Gen Z deal with serious events by creating online moments. There's joy - and catharsis - to be found in that. As long as the memes don't spread disinformation, there's also a case to be made for the language of memeification actually helping the Church, as it modernises a sacred but archaic ritual. Furthermore, online buzz is now a potential gateway into more serious conversations. So before anyone cries blasphemy, it's worth not condemning humorous content from the get-go. To do so would only prove that the Church is averse to evolve with the times. And who would castigate a man with such a lovely singing voice and an infectious laugh? 'A joyful heart is good medicine, but a crushed spirit dries up the bones.' Proverbs 17:22. Some would do well to crack a Bible. We first met him as a rookie, clumsy and a bit overwhelmed by the intricacies of the European Parliament; now we find him still just as awkward, but this time catapulted into the heart of the European Council. Samy, the endearing parliamentary assistant from the series Parlement, brilliantly portrayed by Xavier Lacaille, returns for one last battle in the fourth and final season that's now available on the France Télévisions website. Political intrigue, colourful personalities, backroom maneuvering and a great deal of conflict and confusion… the European institutions provide the ideal setting for a good political drama. However, they have perhaps been overlooked by popular screenwriters, who've set their stories within the more prominent White House or the Elysée Palace rather than in Brussels and Strasbourg. According to Maxime Calligero, co-writer of the series Parlement, this lack of interest stems from a persistent image: that of a European Union perceived as technocratic and consensual, founded on cooperation, stability, and overcoming disagreements. "For a story to exist, there has to be conflict. But Europe, for historical reasons, was built away from conflict. The European institutions were created to foster compromise,' he says. Parlement shakes up the uniform and polished image the European institutions want to portray, revealing their tensions, absurdities, and power plays. 'Having worked for the European institutions for a long time, I know the backstage of European compromises—that is to say, the low blows, the negotiations, the conflicts between members of parliament and between member states. Our job as screenwriters was to bring that hidden conflict to the surface, the one the public never sees, but which definitely exists within the European institutions, and to turn it into fiction material,' continues Maxime Calligero. The heavy weight of bureaucracy, procedures and cultural differences within the European institutions are rich sources of comedy, leading to absurd situations, hilarious misunderstandings, and witty dialogues. 'What is a weakness of the European Union—its complexity—becomes a strength, because complexity is always a good vehicle for comedy,' Calligero adds. While Parlement plays with the institutional machinery and paradoxes of the European system, the tone of the series remains light and ironic, steering clear of harsh mockery or cruelty. 'In Parlement, we're more on the side of comedy than satire, because we have a lot of affection for our characters. There are very few characters we don't end up redeeming. We don't glorify the European Union, but we don't criticize it either. We try to laugh, not at the European Union, but with it,' says Calligero. Watch the full interview with Maxime Calligero in the player above.
Euronews
07-05-2025
- Entertainment
- Euronews
Emojis as social hand grenades: a consultant explains how they fall through generation gaps
ADVERTISEMENT They may be small and seemingly harmless, but emojis can carry more weight than you might guess. Sometimes they serve as nothing less than social hand grenades. That's the message from Unnur Magnúsdóttir, an Icelandic consultant with Dale Carnegie, who leads workshops on emoji use. Her focus is on helping people navigate the waters of emoji communications, especially in professional settings. She explains that any given emoji one person sees as friendly or funny could strike someone else as confusing or even offensive. Food-related emojis are particularly prone to misinterpretation, she says. While they may appear innocent, some of them carry sexual innuendos that users may not be aware of, posing a risk in workplace communication. Even the classic smiley face isn't always safe territory: the degree of a smile and the shape of the emoji's mouth can send subtly different signals, and generational divides only add to the confusion. For example, older users may view the thumbs-up emoji as a sign of approval or encouragement. But to younger generations, it can seem dismissive or even passive-aggressive, highlighting a cultural shift in digital expression. To explore this further, Icelandic broadcaster RÚV asked pedestrians to interpret a selection of emojis. The responses varied wildly. One person saw a certain emoji as joyful, while another thought it expressed sadness or irritation. The exercise showed that in the world of digital communication, meaning isn't fixed —and that even the simplest symbols can speak volumes.
