Summer Newsletter
Hey Everyone!
We hope all of you have enjoyed a great summer so far! It’s been a busy couple of months for us with some exciting events, and we wanted to share a couple of quick updates with you all, along with the first in a series of videos we’ll be releasing.
Thanks to everyone who came out to join us over the summer, and we’re looking forward to seeing you all at one of our upcoming events!
-The PFP Team
Mark Your Calendars:
Raleigh Networking Event - HQ Raleigh - August 21st (RSVP Here)
Speaker Series: Networking with Purpose - HQ Raleigh - October 9th
Recap: PFP Speaker Series
Conscious Discipline | Transforming Family and Work Relationships
with Ashley Cooper of Connected at Last, LLC
On June 26th at the PFP office in HQ Raleigh, we brought EQ to the family! As a professionally focused Non-Profit, it’s easy to lose sight of the value of EQ outside of the professional sphere.
We were lucky enough to be hosted by member and friend, Ashley Cooper -- President of Connected at Last, a consulting firm focused on the “Conscious Discipline” framework and methodology.
Conscious Discipline is grounded in EQ, and focused on parent/child and parent/spouse relationships. We took this opportunity to turn our focus to the family benefits of EQ, and wow, we learned so much:
What is Conscious Discipline and the Brain State Model?
How do these models apply to my child's schooling and my parenting?
How to apply these models to my personal and professional life
Immediately actionable take-aways to incorporate into your work and personal life
I personally have deployed some of the best practices and specific exercises in my own home with 2 young children, and have seen a powerful impact with real results in my childrens’ behavior, learning, and discipline.
Thank you to Ashley for her support and for an incredible session!
Keep an eye out for updates to our events page for our next guest speaker event on “Networking with Purpose; Best Practices and Lessons Learned” in October with Durham master of Networking, Ed Dudley.
Book Review:
Never Split the Difference
By Chris Voss
Many of you may have already read or heard about our book recommendation for this month. Never Split the Difference by Chris Voss is an incredibly valuable resource that shares effective negotiation strategies through the lens of emotional intelligence. The far reaching benefits of investing in emotional intelligence skills continue to surprise us, adding negotiation to a growing list of skill sets.
Voss, a former FBI hostage negotiator, weaves some of his personal encounters and successful uses of these techniques into the narrative, which results in an incredibly interesting and practical resource.
Some of the skills and techniques in Never Split the Difference may sound intuitive and others may surprise you. We at PFP enjoyed the read, are putting some of these skills to use, and think you’ll enjoy is as well.
Dallas Update and Monthly Challenge:
Daily EQ: Don’t Ignore the Little Things
It is easy to get caught up in the hustle of professional and personal responsibilities, but taking a moment weekly, monthly or yearly to assess how we’re tracking on our commitments to ourselves, is at the core of our success.
The other day I had the opportunity to grab coffee with a close friend. During our conversation the question was asked, “how are you living out your short-term and long-term goals daily?” My close friend and I had recently made a long-term goal of prioritizing our health, and for the past month, I was consistent in my daily activities…I had been eating better and working out daily. While I noticed a number of positive changes, one thing remained the same, and it was the constant feeling of “being tired”.
I share this experience to highlight the value that Emotional Intelligence can provide to even the most mundane of circumstances. The EQ pillars of Self Awareness and Self-Management were at work for me this last month as I focused on a path toward purposeful introspection and self-improvement. Despite the physical improvements to my health, I completely ignored the one thing that Devin always reminds us is a foundational emotional need… sleep. As simple as it may seem, identifying the need for proper sleep, getting more sleep and limiting your caffeine intake are three things that are going to help you be more successful in attaining any personal or professional goals you have for yourself.
Dr. Travis Bradberry expanded on this importance in his 2016 blog post from Success.com (https://www.success.com/sleep-deprivation-is-killing-you-and-your-career/), in a nutshell, “beyond the obvious sleep benefits of thinking clearly and staying healthy, the ability to manage your emotions and remain calm under pressure has a direct link to your performance.” As August begins, I want you to challenge yourself to get more sleep and let me know how you feel a month from now.
Hope you all have a great start to your month, we’ll be announcing our next PFP Networking event and our first volunteering meet up in a few weeks. Looking forward to connecting with you all out in Dallas.
Best regards,
Chris Amaefule
Regional Char - TOLA
Finally, a big thank you to our good friend, Ed Dudley for inviting us to share our message at We are Connect-ED in July (more highlights to come). We highly recommend checking out We are Connect-ED as well as Ed’s upcoming networking workshop as a part of our speaker series in October. Thanks again, Ed!
