March Newsletter
Dear PFP Community,
During these unprecedented and difficult times we wanted to provide our community and members with an update about how the current climate is impacting PFP's community and operations.
As a non-profit focused on connecting EQ minded professionals, we have been forced to reassess what "connection" really means, especially in the current but necessary climate of virtual everything.
We don't have all the answers yet but this is what we do know:
These times represent a unique opportunity for us to come together, united by a common cause, and truly connect at a human level with those around us. And now more than ever, people hunger for connection.
In difficult times we all experience increased levels of stress, anxiety and other disruptive emotions. Those with the ability to maintain perspective and awareness of themselves and others, are the ones who experience the least amount of these disruptive emotions, limit negative impact of these emotions, and adapt/overcome.
As they should, many folks are leveraging this time to pursue long forgotten passions, pick up new hobbies, introduce new habits, etc. We say, why not Emotional Intelligence!?
Going forward, you will see a few changes from People First Professionals:
We will be converting our in person guest speakers series to a webinar event series kicking off in April. Stay tuned to the events page and newsletter for information on dates and topics
The PFP team is doubling down on our revitalization of the website including; new video library, job boards, new/refreshed pages, content/challenges and more.
We are also extending this focus on digital services to our newsletter, with additional content, guest collaborators, etc
Although much is still unknown of how deeply and for how long COVID-19 will impact our society, in the coming weeks PFP will be rolling out additional virtual programs including 1-1 EQ mentorship, Leadership and Career Development Small Groups, new philanthropic partnerships and online EQ Learning Programs
We can't thank you enough for your passion and support.
Please continue to engage us and the community through our various digital outlets and be patient with us as we pivot our model to accommodate the times.
PFP is deeply committed to furthering our charter of creating a people first, high-EQ community of passionate professionals and would argue that the world needs people like you more than ever in these times!
Stay safe, stay healthy, stay positive
-Devin
Job Board Announcement
Thank you to everyone who came out and joined us for our March networking event! We enjoyed seeing you all and making lots of new connections.
We are also excited to formally roll out our Job Board! We are partnering with companies of all sizes that have a presence in our chapter locations and live out the people-first philosophy. Our goal is to help fill their open roles with professionals from our network -- to connect people first professionals with people first companies. In the future, job board updates will coincide with networking events where recruiters will join us in-person so members and participating companies will have a chance to connect.
You’ll find regularly updated jobs from companies like Cisco, Red Hat, Pendo, and others on our job board. Stay tuned to the website for the official page to go live.
For inquiries regarding job connections through our network, please reach out to: jobs@peoplefirstprofessionals.org.
The Santa Cause 2 - Highlight Video
A big shout out and thank you to Andrew Waters for putting together this great highlight video of The Santa Cause 2!
Check out some of his other work on Instagram at @still_watrs, and on Vimeo here.
Book Review: Infinite Game
Simon Sinek
Simon Sinek has been a favorite author and speaker of the PFP team, and I know for many of you, for a while. His latest book, The Infinite Game continues to raise the bar.
The distinctions between infinite and finite games are subtle, but important, and have significant ramifications when we mistake infinite games for finite ones.
Finite games are played by known players, with fixed rules, and an agreed-upon objective that ends the game once reached. In contrast, infinite games have infinite timelines, and as a result, there is no such thing as “winning” an infinite game. The primary objective in infinite games is to keep playing.
Simon cites as examples that there are no winners of marriage or friendship, that no one is crowned the winner of careers, and no matter how successful we are, there is no winner of life. It’s when we mistake these infinite games for finite games that all sorts of problems arise.
His lessons are applicable across all infinite games, but the book focuses on business, (there is no such thing as “winning” business), and Simon shares 5 different practices that leaders who want to adopt an infinite mindset should follow while also contrasting against cases where leaders made decisions with finite mindsets and explains the outcomes that ensued.
For someone who struggles with keeping perspective, who typically looks at situations and emotions as “good” or “bad” this is an excellent book to help shift your thinking from finite to infinite.
One immediate take-away we recommend to shift your thinking; start viewing situations, days, projects, goals simply as “ahead” or “behind” vs “good/bad,” “failure/success,” etc.
So ask yourself, is today a day when you are “ahead” or “behind” and what are you going to do about it?
New Member Intake Page
We are finally excited to announce a new member intake form on our website!
There are just a few steps to get started, so if you’re ready to officially join the PFP ranks, we have a short video for you from our Director of Member Services, Jon Sousa, and then check out the link below to register!
