Okay, high performers and high performing leaders! I hope you guys enjoy this episode - it felt a lot like having coffee with a friend because Callie and I have both had experiences with chronic disease or chronic pain and illness. We were really passionate about bringing you an episode of the Build High Performing Teams podcast where we talk to both the people who are experiencing chronic illness, disease or pain, and also the people who are leading those people. How does this affect the workplace? So whether you are dealing with a personal shift or change, a divorce, a marriage, moving, starting a new job, or you are somebody who is dealing with this chronic pain and illness or maybe leading someone with chronic pain and illness, we give you quite a few tips as well as a three part framework that really just repeats itself of awareness, understanding and communication around this topic. So please take a listen. We invite you to be part of this conversation and continue the conversation after the episode so that you can help people be more chronically well in the workplace. Enjoy!
“Yeah, so it was a year and a half after diagnosis, I was still still experiencing daily pain and symptoms. And, I always just kind of decided, Okay, this is what I have. What am I gonna do? What am I gonna do about it? Who am I? How do I move forward? How do I still live a beautiful life? And then I started experimenting.” At minute 13:51, Callie talks about how to navigate through an illness and find your identity amidst the transition before a diagnosis and after. In addition to establishing your identity with your illness, your role in your family, and in your career.
“I really think that sometimes there are things that our body is screaming for us to acknowledge and sometimes the only way that it can do that is through pain. It manifests you know, emotional pain can manifest in the body. If you look it up there. You know it's tied to different areas of the Depending on what you're going through. And for me, I realized that I needed to address some things.” At 38:39, Callie talks about the importance of listening and paying attention to your physical health when under stress or in the midst of a highly emotional situation. She expresses that pain can be a way for our body to let us know that something is not right.
“I think the first thing is believe them know that they're not trying to get attention and it probably took everything in them to just talk to you about it. Yeah. And so give them grace. Have grace on them, have grace on yourself because maybe you won't get it completely right. Maybe you won't be the perfect boss to someone who's going through a chronic illness, but if you're willing to hear them, and you're willing to change things as you go along and figure it out and just communicate.” At minute 47:49, Callie gives advice to loved ones surrounded by an individual with a chronic illness. Both in the workplace, in the home, and out in the community and how communication can go a long way in building trust.
Callie shared a lot of valuable information about managing chronic illness and pain at work. She also gave a lot of helpful tips to friends and families of chronic illness, so make sure to stay tuned!
If you want to know more about Callie, learn all about her at http://calliedixon.com/. Don’t forget to follow her on Instagram @riverandquill and on her River and Quill Facebook Page . Go follow her now! And don’t forget to listen to The Chronically Well Podcast, hosted by Callie.
Here are some of the links we mentioned in this episode:
Callie’s Interview with Whitney Goodman
I hope you liked today’s episode. Please don’t forget to subscribe on all podcast platforms and while you’re there, please don’t forget to rate and review! I truly appreciate and love you, and can’t wait to see you in the next episode!
P.S. Please don’t forget to tag me on Instagram @theannaoakes to share your big takeaways and for more Build High Performing Teams updates. I’ll see you there!
Peace & Progress,
Anna
