Odds are you provide training for your people. You budget for it, you schedule for it you invest in it. You cull providers and products to determine which trainings are going to sell your products faster, provide better service, increase efficiency or enhance soft skills for team members to lead or collaborate more successfully to meet those objectives. You probably know your market, your competition, your industry cycles, and have a pretty good handle on the environmental waters in which your company fishes.

The question is: Have you spent considerable resources to provide training or introduce initiatives to accomplish the task, the function, the goal only to be disappointed by lackluster engagement, application of, or downright resistance to them and not know why? 

I invite you to consider the overriding effect the “seas” are having on your team’s ability to be open to new information, ideas, processes or change. The “seas” are your employees’ mental and physical states, the filters through which they perceive and react to external conditions. 

You may be aware of some of the negative effects that stress produces – inability to concentrate, immune system depletion, chronic tension or muscular pain, heart function irregularities. 

There is another aspect to consider that has a deeper impact. Stress also switches the nervous system into Fight/flight or Freeze. Fight/flight demonstrates as anger, frustration or anxiety. Freeze shows up as shutdown/overwhelm. These states neurologically inhibit people from being able to think coherently, act decisively, and work collaboratively. 

The ability to be receptive, clear-minded, and socially engaged happens when humans operate from the health and restoration or parasympathetic side of the nervous system. While it used to be believed that the Autonomic Nervous System was “automatic”, science has proven that it’s possible to consciously direct and switch it. That’s a very helpful skill that sets up your team members to maximize the value of the other success and collaboration training resources you provide.

If you want people to be more receptive and capable of handling stress and change and succeeding, enhance their ability to do so with tools that get to the deeper level of the issue – the nervous system.

About the Author: Kathleen Gramzay

Kathleen Gramzay, BCTMB is Body/Mind Performance Expert, 20-yr Board Certified Massage Therapist, and Developer of Kinessage® Self Care and Mindful Resilience. Her mission is to empower people to release their stress, chronic tension & pain to live more joyful, productive and healthy lives.  If you would like to learn more about Kinessage® Self-Care or the Mindful Resilience programs, contact Kathleen