Communiqué August 14, 2013

Contents

• Positive Thinking Quotes to Get You Thinking
• All-Extension E-Mail Listserv Reminder
• OSU Extension Annual Conference Keynote Speaker
• StrengthsFinder™ Workshop – August 28
• Presidential Search Committee Letter

Positive Thinking Quotes to Get You Thinking

-Keith Smith, associate vice president, agricultural administration and director, OSU Extension

As I continue our series on positive thinking, I would like to share with you some thoughts from the book Attitude is Everything – 10 Rules for Staying Positive by Vicki Hitzges (2010) published by Simple Truths.

Rule #6 - When you feel that you’re losing the fight start to write!

One of the best things you can do when you find yourself in the valley is to write about what you’re feeling. Note what’s happening to you and what effect your circumstances have on your emotions. Whatever comes into your mind, scribble it down. Don’t edit your thoughts, just capture them.

Whether you scribble your feelings on paper or type your thoughts into a computer, journaling lets you release frustrations, hurts and confusing emotions. Like letting a shaken can of Coke spew open, journaling releases pent-up feelings, leaving you more relaxed and calm. As a result, you’ll find yourself better able to move forward.

If you journal your feelings, you’ll benefit both mentally and physically. James Pennebaker, a psychology professor at the University of Texas at Austin, found in his research that writing about upsetting experiences for just 20 minutes at a time, over three or four days, can boost your immune system and make your blood pressure drop significantly.

Set Goals
If you feel “stuck” after you write down your thoughts, spend time setting goals. You’ll probably find that journaling gets rid of your negative feelings, then setting goals can focus on a bright future. By putting your goals in writing, you move from victim to victor. Seeing your goals in black and white can boost your spirits.

Send a Note
Encourage someone else by keeping note cards and pre-stamped postcards handy so you can easily jot a letter to someone who needs a boost. You can’t make someone else happy without making yourself happy. It is always heartening to know someone cares.

Write down your goals. Send someone a note letting them know you care. It will surprise you how quickly you will feel better.

Back to Top

All-Extension E-Mail Listserv Reminder

-Cheryl Buck, executive assistant to the director, OSU Extension

We have an updated all-Extension e-mail listserv, and the new address is all-extension@lists.service.ohio-state.edu. Please begin using this address immediately to send messages to the entire organization.

This is the main OSU Extension e-mail listserv. Anyone who has an Extension appointment (full or partial) is able to post to and receive messages from the all-Extension list. It is not necessary for anyone to subscribe to this list. Also – please do NOT try to remove/unsubscribe yourself from the list; you will simply be added back onto the list as it is refreshed each week. When the list is refreshed, anyone who has joined or left Extension in the prior week will also be added or deleted from the list accordingly.

Thank you for your patience as we have tweaked and reworked the e-mail listserv during the past few months. As you may recall, at year-end 2012, all CFAES listservs were changed due to an Ohio State-required migration. Since the migration, we have had issues with some OSUE employees not receiving all-Extension messages. That should be fixed with this update; however, if you know of someone who is still not receiving all-Extension messages, contact Cheryl Buck (buck.19@osu.edu).

Back to Top

OSU Extension Annual Conference Keynote Speaker

Marshall Stewart, associate director of 4-H and FCS for the North Carolina Cooperative Extension Service, was chosen by the annual conference planning committee to speak about this year’s theme of “Moving Forward, Looking Back: A celebration of history and possibility.” The conference is December 4 at the Ohio Union on main campus. The association and program meetings will be held at the Nationwide and Ohio Farm Bureau 4-H center on December 3. The RFPs will be announced soon. Registration for the event will begin on October 21.

Back to Top

StrengthsFinder™ Workshop – August 28

"You get what you focus on." -Vannoy & Ross, 2008

As a leader it is important to know what talents you possess, what you bring to the leadership table. Do you know what strengths you possess? Every leader possesses her or his own unique set of talents. According to the Gallup Organization, "we spend too much time focusing on our weaknesses, trying to make them stronger rather than recognizing our strengths." When you focus on your weaknesses, you miss out on utilizing what you do best for your organization.

Participants in this workshop will take the Clifton StrengthsFinder™ inventory to learn their five strongest talents. By focusing on your strengths, you increase your effectiveness as a leader.

What is the Clifton StrengthsFinder™ inventory?
"Marcus Buckingham, coauthor of the national bestseller First, Break All the Rules, and Donald O. Clifton, chair of the Gallup International Research and Education Center, has created a revolutionary program to help readers identify their talents, build them into strengths, and enjoy consistent, near-perfect performance. At the heart of the book is the Internet-based StrengthsFinder™ Profile, the product of a 25-year, multimillion-dollar effort to identify the most prevalent human strengths. The program introduces 34 dominant "themes" with thousands of possible combinations, and it reveals how they can best be translated into personal and career success." http://www.strengthstest.com/.

• Gain a better understanding of yourself
• Identify your top five strengths
• Learn how to maximize your strengths to increase your effectiveness as a leader

Beth Flynn is facilitating this workshop on August 28 from 9:15 a.m. – noon in room 105 of the Agricultural Administration building. The registration fee is $60 per participant; register online.

Back to Top

Presidential Search Committee Letter

Dear members of the Ohio State community:

With the fall semester approaching, we write to share information about the university's presidential search. Ohio State is in a strong position to attract its next leader, and your engagement is central to our success.

We are beginning the search process, officially launched last month, by actively seeking suggestions from students, faculty, staff, alumni, and friends. Please share your ideas through the presidential search website, linked from the university's homepage. There, you can suggest a potential candidate, offer thoughts on qualities needed in our next president, or comment on Ohio State's unique opportunities.

You will also have the opportunity to provide your thoughts and suggestions at one of our open forums. These conversations will occur at a wide variety of locations. We hope that you will join us at one of our forums: