That subject line might sound like a strange magic trick.

But by the end of this email I’ll show you exactly how to tell what’s going on in your colleagues’ heads.

Quick backstory to set the scene:

In 2023, I ponied up $5k to join American supercoach Michael Neill on his Genuis Catalyst training program.

Along with various online webinars, the program also featured three 5 day in-person events in London, Toronto and LA.

As it happened, the 5 day LA leg turned into a 4 day event for me. The last day coincided with Lauren’s birthday and I decided to grab an early flight home to dash back to Casa Grundy for a quick shower, then head into Soho to meet Lauren for dinner and a show. That turned into a long 24 hours and Lauren still teases me about falling asleep in the balcony’s front row while the musical Operation Mincemeat romped merrily away.

Anyway, back to the story:

I’d checked in at LAX and was strolling through the airport, still riding a high from the training, when I rounded a corner and was confronted by the security line.

Four gruff looking American blokes wearing official clothes and shiny silver badges glanced my way. 

Each of them had a gun holstered by their waist.

Two of the blokes were holding leads. On the end of the leads were two majestic, stern looking dogs.

I gulped. I could feel a few butterflies start to flutter in my stomach.

All I was carrying was my backpack. The only thing in my backpack was my laptop, T-shirts, socks, underwear, a toothbrush and a copy of Nancy Kline’s book Time to Think which a fellow course-mate had lent me (Graham – I need to get that back to you!).

But as I shuffled gingerly forwards, I began to feel like I was under suspicion. 

Sure, I’d done nothing wrong. But something about the way the security line was set up made me feel like I had. 

In the end, I made it through unscathed.

But it did make me think how the way something gets created often mirrors the impact that thing has. Almost as if the stuff that gets put into the world carries the mood it was made in. Like a sort of emotional fingerprint.

Now compare that with another place where people queue for hours: Disneyland. Walt Disney wanted to create "a place that would make people feel happy". But he didn’t use a spreadsheet to engineer that joy and wonder. Instead, he brought that feeling with him. And it’s almost impossible to find a 7 year old who doesn’t jump up and down on the spot or break into a huge smile at the mere mention of a trip of Disneyworld.

That’s how contagious the Disney magic is.

Of course, it works both ways.

Clock back into the office and you'll see how a compliance process built from paranoia usually creates paranoia. And how a presentation drafted from stress often creates stress. And how an overloaded team working on a new project will create a project that itself is overloaded and then goes on to overload others. 

And so on.

So how can you tell what’s going on inside your colleague’s head?

All you need to do is look at what they’re creating and the impact this has. Their work mirrors their mind.

As it happens, this idea is very much on the kitchen table for me now I’m a bona fide Dad to a one year old whippersnapper.

I have a history of anxiety and while I’m over the worst of that, the last thing I want is to transmit my anxiety onto Baby Grundy. But this isn’t something I want to get anxious about either. Otherwise my anxiety to help Baby Grundy avoid my anxiety will filter through me and my parenting, land square on Baby Grundy’s shoulders…

And create the very anxiety I’m trying to avoid!

Anyway, that’s an email for another day.

Luckily enough, one gem I learnt on that same Genius Catalyst training was a way to inoculate myself from the contagious stress, pressure, paranoia and fear which often haunt the hallowed hallways of companies up & down the country.

A couple of weeks ago I asked a bunch of colleagues if they’d send me some words to describe me. This was an exercise from my employer-sponsored Coaching Apprenticeship.

The most common word my colleagues used to describe me?

Calm.

That never used to be my modus operandi at work.

But it’s a handy reminder that just because your colleagues are stressed or your boss is firing off frenzied emails like confetti from a confetti gun, you don’t have to catch that stress or frenzy.

I mean, you can grab hold of them if you like.

But if you’d rather do your job with more calm and composure, that’s 100% possible too.

If you’d like more of calm amidst whatever whirlwind of office chaos you’re up against, I have an offer for you today.

I’m calling the offer Calm On Demand.

Calm On Demand is a 45 minute Zoom call where we’ll (metaphorically) put on a pair of noise cancelling headphones and start to notice the calm beneath the chatter. You’ll come away from the call feeling refreshed, lighter and with space where there used to be stress.

I have two slots open for Calm On Demand:

Monday 2^nd March 8.30pm UK Time

Tuesday 3^rd March, 8pm UK Time

A session costs £82.

As you might’ve gathered, this offer isn’t for everyone. It’s certainly not for the A-type brigade who wear their stress like a badge of honour. It’s more for people who have a sneaky suspicion that stress, pressure and worry aren’t actually helping (despite the corporate wisdom which is trumpeted from the boardroom) and would like a “shot in the arm” of calm instead.

If that sounds like you, my suggestion is to click the link, book the session and I’ll be in touch straight after with the Zoom link.

If the link doesn’t work when you click it, it means someone else has beaten you to it.

To fulfilment,

Tom