Connectable: How Leaders Can Move Teams from Isolated to All In

MayThere are many things people feel they lost during the pandemic. Beyond the tragic loss of life and major changes in routines, the loss I hear about most is the loss of connection. Both personally and professionally, the very real sense of isolation has grown as travel has been restricted and the workplace for many has become a table where they live. Isolation was a real problem before March 2020, but it has become more prevalent and obvious in the last two years.

Leaders may feel this isolation personally, but they must also recognize that others are feeling it too. That feeling of isolation and the associated lack of connection can have real negative consequences for individuals and the team.

Ryan Jenkins and Steven Van Cohen have written a book to help us understand and overcome these challenges. Connectable: How Leaders Can Move Teams From Isolated to All In is a timely book with great insights for us as leaders and individuals.

Connectable provides one of the most practical and accessible descriptions of the sources and challenges created by loneliness and isolation.  Whether as a leader or not, or experiencing or  isolation or not, this book will be a tremendous help to you.

The solution, in short according to the authors is belonging.  They outline what belonging looks like, and more importantly for us as leaders how to create it at work.  The balance of the book outlines the Less Loneliness Framework – a four-step process to lessen loneliness to boost belonging. The four steps are:

1. Look at loneliness
2. Invest in connection
3. Narrow the focus
4. Kindle the momentum

The lack of connection and grow of isolation is one of the biggest challenges we face individually and professionally.  This book will help you understand some of these challenges.  More importantly it will give you practical actions to take, as the subtitle says,  to move teams from isolated to all-in.

While you wait for your book to arrive, you can join Ryan, Steven, and me on April 13 as we talk about some of the big ideas in this book.  We’ll give you practical ideas and solutions to help you overcome loneliness. That is the day of our Fostering Our Mental Fitness virtual event – where I will be joined by seven experts as we look at all sides of mental fitness in both our professional and personal lives. We’ll help you build your mental health, reduce your stress, anxiety, isolation, and burnout, increase your happiness and productivity, and much more.

While you wait for your book to arrive, you can join Ryan, Steven, and me on April 13 as we talk about some of the big ideas in this book – and give you practical ideas and solutions. That is the day of our virtual event – Fostering Our Mental Fitness where I will be joined by seven experts as we look at all sides of mental fitness in both our professional and personal lives. We’ll help you build your mental health, reduce your stress, anxiety, isolation, and burnout, increase your happiness and productivity, and much more.

All of this can be yours for free to join us live all day (you can also invest in lifetime recorded access if you like) – or just at 11:10 pm ET when Ryan and Steven will be our guests.