Monthly Newsletter

December 2008

Holiday parties and family reunions can make this season a great time of year to strengthen or improve existing relationships or create new friendships. But it's equally important to honor all those folks who may not be a part of this inner circle but who have made a significant contribution in our lives. How do we show this appreciation?

Gratitude and Relationships. That's the focus of this month's newsletter.

In this issue of the newsletter, we at Influens reflect on all that we're grateful for. We've also included a couple of holiday articles you might enjoy, as well.

We hope that during this volatile economy, the holidays offer you a respite from the external drama. May the season bring you peace, comfort, and serenity. And as always, please continue to direct any inquiries to our Relationship Manager, Dan Oropesa. We'll do our best to support you and your organization's needs with our experiential training and transformational coaching programs. We love to hear from you!

The Influens Team

What We're Grateful For
The Influens Team Reflects on 2008

Carnival Center As the year comes to an end, and as many of our clients struggle to adjust to an economic slow-down and an unpredictable future, the Influens Team reflects on the many wonderful relationships we have experienced with our clients in 2008. And we look forward to a ripening of these relationships in the year ahead! Here's what we're grateful for.

Carnival Center I so appreciate how generous people have been with their time, how engaged they feel in our program discussions, and how meaningful and stimulating their feedback is. And I truly cherish their extraordinary level of competence and creativity!
Olga Botcharova, Influens Associate

Carnival Center I end this year focused, calm, and energized! This is to the credit of many folks, and in no small measure our Influens clients. I feel so blessed! Thank you all for allowing me to be a part of this amazing collective energy. Your courage and generosity inspire and touch me every time. It is a privilege and a joy to share this journey with you!
Margarita Gurri. Ph.D., Influens Associate

Carnival Center Our clients come to us with their own worlds, and it is such a great honor for me to enter into their experience. I'm always so pleased when a level of trust is established and I am asked to be their companion on their road. This is what I most appreciate about our work - the chance to walk with others as they grow and excel!
Robert Hernandez, Psy.D., Influens Associate

Carnival Center I'm so grateful for the intimacy of the work we all get to do together. I marvel at the risks our clients take with me, both in group settings and the one-on-one coaching. The striving for excellence, the yearning to learn, and the desire to be more authentic and daring in our professional roles - it all really moves me. It reaffirms my deep faith that we are all working together to create a better world!
Achim Nowak, President, Influens

Carnival Center I am extremely grateful to have established so many wonderful relationships with our clients this past year. I've realized corporate concerns are universal and I'm inspired by our team's ability to think outside the box and resolve situations proactively - with enthusiasm. I look forward to enhancing my existing friendships and excited to create new ones with clients on the horizon.
Dan Oropesa, Influens Relationship Manager

Practice Gratitude During the Holidays

''Tis THE SEASON to be jolly "..." "Bah, humbug!"

This holiday season we don't want to artificially manufacture good feeling, nor to drag down ourselves and others with a Scrooge-like attitude. Underneath all the external stimulation and internal stress, we can practice gratitude in ways that will refresh our hearts and the hearts of others.

Our culture pressures us first to give thanks at Thanksgiving, and then to give gifts, parties, time and energy, followed by post-New Year winter blues. In the midst of all of this can be special moments of giving, receiving, celebrating, reflecting and enjoying good cheer.

Practicing gratitude does not only mean writing thank-you cards for gifts and parties. We can take time to let in the blessings of our lives, especially as we are exposed to the misfortunes of others.

Read Article by By Sandra J. Cohen and Roger Cormie>>

Kindness, Gratitude and Your Career

Is an attitude of goodwill a strength or a weakness
in the workplace?

I know, I know, the holidays are a time we should be extra kind, burying our inner Scrooge in favor of peace and goodwill to all. And with the tough economy taking its toll in workplaces and households nationwide, that principle would seem to matter doubly this year.

Indeed, I told my editor that was going to be the theme of my December column whereupon she asked a provocative question: "Is showing kindness in the workplace seen as a strength or a weakness?"

Read Article by Marty Nemko on Kiplinger.com>>