Smoking Can Be Beneficial to Your Health!

Did you know that NOT smoking can be dangerous to your health?  Actually, I'm talking about your ORGANIZATIONAL health.  Of course cigarettes can and will still kill you. 

This past week I delivered a three-day leadership development workshop in Georgia.  One of the many issues we discussed centered around engaging employees.  Some of the attendees pined for the days when both management and staff took time away to network and toss around great ideas.  This usually happened at the designated smoking areas.  I thought about that and reflected back on my Navy days when the smoking area was the informal gathering center for similar activity.  While I didn't smoke (I used Kodiak back in those days), I do remember how much business actually was conducted there, free from the bureaucracy and rules.  In fact, more problems got solved during those meetings than during lengthy, formal staff meetings.

Has the ban on smoking resulted in a lack of organizational health?

Possibly.

Unless you provide an outlet for some type of informal networking, free from the entrapment of normal channels, you may in fact be missing out on some new ideas or solutions to chronic problems.  Should smoking be allowed and even encouraged then?

Absolutely not!

Instead, if you're in a management or supervisory role, why not set up opportunities where this informal idea exchange can occur? If you don't have that positional authority, why not establish your own forum of informal networking?  There is strength in that network that you'll need if you want to succeed in any role.

Now I realize my readers may not always be in managerial roles, but the lessons of breaking free for short periods of venting and creativity apply to all.  Are you taking time to reenergize and reengage with those around you?  If not, why not take some time this week to do so!

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