Why Encounter Groups Work

One year ago this month, Mary Ila published “4 Exercises to Enhance Your Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion Efforts” and featured the Encounter Group Model. This blurb stuck out to me the most:  “When we engage in these types of activities, we get to know people. We build relationships. And when we know people it makes it much harder to hate them, or people that are ‘like’ them.’” Since then, our team has partnered with a client to pilot Encounter Groups with about 50 people in an organization of thousands. And it’s working.  We define Encounter Groups as “a group of

What Cultivates Gratitude? Or Better Yet, What Does Gratitude Cultivate?

I was tasked with writing a blog post on gratitude for this week- Thanksgiving week. I love it when my team gets together without me while I’m on sabbatical and sends me an email telling me what to write 🙂  It’s a given- a post with a theme of thankfulness- even though as a culture we’ve seemed to skip right to Christmas once Halloween ends.  I’ve written about counting your blessings and even counting your first-world problems and being thankful when tasked with the same thing before.  But what keeps jumping back into my mind this year as I think

7 Ways to Complete the Stress Cycle

We’ve been looking at all things workplace wellness throughout the fall, seeking to provide insight to ourselves and our clients about how to create workplaces where people can thrive.  A lot of the impetus is put on individuals to manage their wellness and stress.  This has its place but is also up to organizational leaders to help create systems and structures that give people the ability to survive and thrive at work.  This will impact how they also thrive in all aspects of life given that people do not live and operate in silos.  A thought-provoking book that is geared

Show Compassion, Save Your Empathy

“What the world needs more than empathy is compassion. Empathy is feeling the pain and suffering of others. Compassion is acting to relieve the pain and suffering of others.” – Adam Grant A couple of weeks ago I was listening to Adam Grant’s podcast while driving and the topic was mental health and how organizations can make an impact. At Horizon Point we’ve been having candid conversations about our own mental health in the last few months. As Mary Ila mentioned in her blog post Taking a Walkabout we have all been dealing with health issues as a result of

Personal Wellness Strategies

Personal wellness is something that is often considered a luxury. However, the older I get, the more I realize it is a necessity. Earlier this year, I had a scare with my blood pressure that sent me to the emergency room. After multiple tests and a follow-up with a cardiologist, I was diagnosed with stress and anxiety. On a side note, my elevated blood pressure is something inherited that will most likely result in medication for the rest of my life.  Stress which often leads to anxiety can cause a host of issues if not addressed. When my episode happened,