Ignite: Blog

3 Ways to Deal with Tediously Negative Employees

Mon, 13 Feb 2012 07:03:00 +1300

How to Captialise on Complaining Employees

There are genuine complaints – based on valid points of view, considered and aimed at the betterment of all.

And then, there are individuals, who complain instead of taking responsibility and doing something about their concerns.

Such individuals emit low intensity, high frequency complaints that are a substitute for genuine thought. They are quick to make value judgments with incomplete understanding of a situation.

In terms of being engaged, they are highly engaged; it’s just their high levels of participation are self-centred; they’re amazingly creative around finding the negative in everything.

These people are black holes

These people are black holes - they drain energy, both yours and the team's.

So what to do about them?

There is the simple dictum of ‘Train. Transfer. Terminate.’ Try training them, if that doesn’t work, transfer them to somewhere where they will be better suited. And if that doesn’t work (or is not possible) terminate.

What follows are my three suggestions that fit into the ‘Train’ phase.

Ask turnaround questions. They are complaining because they have a picture of how they want the situation to be (and that is not happening). So say to them “I can tell by your complaint that you are not happy. That tells me you have a clear picture of how you’d like it to be. Can you tell me about that?” Get a very clear picture of that – it will force their attention to change and clarify matters for you. Then you can ask, “So, how can we move towards this?”
Help the employee see the bigger picture. For example the employee might say: "I am so tired of dealing with so and so." Your response might be: "I agree it can be difficult, but let’s take a moment to put yourself in their shoes, to see where they’re coming from?" or "Yep that can be tough, but isn't it nice to have a customer like so and so that helps us pay our bills?"
Create a "Working Together" agreement up front with the team. This will help create the foundation for functional, solution-focused conversations. When there is discussion of what could ‘kill this team’ (i.e. doing a pre-mortem) followed by agreed behaviours of what ‘fits’ and ‘doesn’t fit’, the team tends to ‘police’ each other. Complaining can be addressed here before hand. For me this has been one of the most effective ways to deal with whining in a team.

General Rule of Thumb

The Rule of Thumb is, if in doubt – LISTEN. If you want middle and top performers to continue to perform at your expectations listen, listen, listen to what they are telling you. They are your eyes and ears of your organization. They see everything first.

Actively listen to their issues and seek real clarity. Then assist them with identifying solutions to fix it. If any employee doesn’t see results, they will continue to complain or constantly bring it up until it is solved either by themselves (which you may not agree with) or by someone else in the organization.

How do you deal with chronic complainers?

I would love hear your personal stories and tips. I'd love your comments and input.

Source: 3 Ways to Deal with Tediously Negative Employees

Not Sure How to Develop Your Leaders?

Tue, 31 Jan 2012 07:23:00 +1300

Not Sure How to Develop Your Leaders?

Seven Simple Suggestions

I was camping over the weekend with two other families (including parents and young children). The highlight of the weekend was the 'Walk of Importance' ceremony for Ben, an 11 year old boy.

A 'Walk of Importance' formally recognises and highlights the transition from boyhood / girlhood to manhood / womanhood. I was fortunate enough to one of the participants.

It had been a great break but on the day we were packing up, the kids were getting fractious.

I happened to be near Ben as he was getting really frustrated folding up his tent. He stamped his foot and was turning to storm off.

His father, close by, quietly but firmly said, "Don't walk off. A man faces issues. Deal with it. Bruce (that was me) is there to help you."

Nothing else was said. No heat. No judgement. Simply brilliant.

Ben turned back and dealt with it - he was becoming a man, ably lead by a wise man (his father).

Leadership Development is like parenting - a mindset that is always 'on'; it doesn't sleep, it's always ready.

Here are several suggestions for consideration for whenever you meet your leaders, even casually.

Spend time with each leader talking and listening. What's going well for them? Where are they struggling? Are they working in an area they are passionate about? If not, what type of work do they crave?
Challenging each leader's thought process while providing emotional support. Using a coaching model to help them solve problems. Not "telling" them the 'answer'.
Showing appreciation, recognition, credit and giving them an opportunity shine.
Creating cohorts where leaders and emerging leaders can work together and learn from one another.
When ready, providing them with a project or new challenge.
Promoting external knowledge gathering - education, seminars, trade shows, professional associations, etc.
Designing a platform for knowledge sharing - learn something, teach something.

This is more of an individualized, high-touch, caring approach to leadership development, but it is like parenting. This is the best method to continually foster learning and development.

Source: Not Sure How to Develop Your Leaders?

The Equation that Unlocks Our Potential

Thu, 26 Jan 2012 15:35:01 +1300

The Equation that Unlocks Our Potential

Our talent/ability + what unlocks that talent = fulfilled potential

Conventional wisdom says fulfilling our potential (or brilliance) is heavily reliant upon our talent/ability. (Some would call it intelligence and, yes, there are multiple intelligences).

Psychologists have, for the most part, focused on the intelligence / talent piece and only recently begun the researches into the necessary capacities that unlock our talents. Today, we introduce one of these: Grit

The 10,000hr Rule

This rule stems from the work of Anders Ericsson, a Psychologist at Florida State University then popularized by Malcom Gladwell in Outliers.

The number refers to the number of hours of deliberate practice that's universally required for world class achievement in any domain. In studies of experts of various kinds (performance musicians, world class athletes, highly skilled professionals), nobody reaches world class levels until they have acquired 000s of hours of the hardest, most concentrated practice.

This is 10,000hrs is not just any practice, it’s deliberate practice

Deliberate Practice

Deliberate Practice is the practice that actually makes you better at what you do. It has three elements:

You need a specific goal in mind of what you want to improve – e.g. you can’t say "Today I’m going to be a better leader... or a better coach”. It needs to be more specific – "Today I am going to listen closely for understanding when my clients/staff have an emotionally charged comment to make”.
Then you have to get feedback - some way of knowing whether the adjustments in what you're making are working or not working.
And then you need iteration. This is where you come back and try it all over again, and again and again... with further adjustments and refinements.

This kind of practice is extremely effortful; it takes all of your concentration and, crucially, it’s not like flow – it doesn’t feel very good. You don’t feel like you're ‘at one with the music’ or that time is warped and that you could do this forever.

In studies of experts, the most deliberate practice they can reliably do in a day is four hours. Hence the 10,000hr rule: breaks down to 4hrs of deliberate practice, six days a week, 52 weeks of the year for 10 years.

Why aren’t we all doing deliberate practice all the time?

Why am I not an Olympic level athlete even though I have been running for 10 years? I’ve gone for my daily jog and haven’t got a second faster during that time.

The reason is, I haven’t been doing deliberate practice. I have been doing practice, but not the very specific kind deliberately directed at improving a particular facet of my performance with feedback and iteration

Where does Grit fit into this?

Grit as a character strength really predicts how much deliberate practice people are willing to put in.

But where does ability fit into this?

High achievers in any area are usually extremely hard working and prodigiously talented. They tend to be on the right tail of the distribution bell shape – the outliers.

Interestingly, however, Anders Ericsson would argue that effort and practice are enough!

How to develop more grit in yourself?

Outsource your grit – have a coach or mentor. Feeling tired, stressed, frustrated and bored are natural process because if always stuck to your path, wouldn’t make good trajectory changes. It’s powerful to someone outside of your skin who is not feeling those emotions, brings objectivity and reminds you that this too shall pass.

Love the burn. Reframe feelings of frustration and boredom. These emotions are definitive of learning experiences. When children experience boredom or frustration, they take this as a cue to stop what they’re doing. But in adults, they are often simply symptoms of learning. If you’re not confused, falling down, if things aren’t lumpy, then you’re performing some highly practised skill, but you’re probably not improving.

Figure skaters, when learning new moves, fall down all the time. If you’re confused and bored and max-ed out, take this as a cue that says ‘Oh, I am probably on my edge. I’m probably doing deliberate practice. It’s good for me.’

De-synchronise bad days from decision days. There is a timing issue with quitting and emotion. Time your big decisions (quitting decisions: stick with your career, partner etc) so as not to co-incide with bad days. Make those decisions in a much calmer, reflective space. Schedule deliberate angst filled moments at a particular time of the week/month over coffee at Starbucks and between those monthly sessions I’m not going to worry about it. This is one way to de-couple them

Implications for Improving Your Leadership Skills

Leadership is, by definition, moving into the unknown; leading is learning, self-learning. The more you extend your edge, the more emotionally challenging it can become. Grit is what will get you to the ease of expertise on the other side. The change is messiest, most demanding in the middle.

One effective strategy is to outsource that grit – hire a leadership coach who can both support and hold you accountable. They will ensure your goals are highly specific, provide regular feedback and support you to try again.

For further information, contact Bruce or phone 0800 548 900

Source: The Equation that Unlocks Our Potential

Coming Through Hard Times Stronger Than Ever

Thu, 12 Jan 2012 16:04:00 +1300

Harnessing the Power of Engaged People

There’s another excellent article in December 2011’s Harvard Business Review on harnessing the power of highly engaged people.

Professor of leadership, Douglas Ready, and PhD student, Emily Truelove, report on how companies like the beauty retailer Sephora, luxury hotel chain Four Seasons, and French food giant Danone, came through hard times stronger than ever.

In “The Power of Collective Ambition” report on their three year study of 45 companies, dozens of senior executive, manager, and CEO interviews, and workshops to construct a model summarizing why these companies defied conventional logic.

What emerged is “what we call collective ambition — a summary of how leaders and employees think about why they exist,what they hope to accomplish,how they will collaborate to achieve their ambition, and how their brand promise aligns with their core values.

These companies don’t fall into the trap of pursuing a single ambition, such as profits; instead, their employees collaborate to shape a collective ambition that supersedes individual goals and takes into account the key elements required to achieve and sustain excellence.”

Collective Ambition

So what elements does a company’s collective ambition comprise? All seven must be carefully integrated.

Purpose: your company’s reason for being; the core mission of the enterprise.
Vision: the position or status your company aspires to achieve within a reasonable time frame.
Targets and milestones: the metrics you use to assess progress toward your vision.
Strategic and operational priorities: the actions you do or do not take in pursuit of your vision.
Brand promise: the commitments you make to stakeholders (customers, communities, investors, employees, regulators, and partners) concerning the experience the company will provide.
Core values: the guiding principles that dictate what you stand for as an organization, in good times and bad.
Leader behaviours: how leaders act on a daily basis as they seek to implement the company’s vision and strategic priorities, strive to fulfill the brand promise, and live up to the values.

The authors include this very insightful and useful seven scale quiz that flow from their study.

1. “Does your company have a clear and meaningful statement of its core purpose — why it exists?

2. Is your company’s vision compelling and aspirational yet achievable, motivating employees to contribute their very best?

3. Has your leadership team gone through the hard work of identifying targets, milestones, and metrics that ground the vision in reality?

4. Has your company ruthlessly prioritized the choices it will make to build the capabilities required to win on a sustainable basis?

5. Does your company’s brand promise capture the experience you intend to deliver to stakeholders (customers, communities, investors, employees, and business partners)?

6. Do your company’s articulated values represent what you stand for as an enterprise and as a group of people working together?

7. Do senior leaders’ day-to-day behaviours reflect the leadership behaviors that you say are critically important to your company’s success?”

Katie Taylor, CEO of Four Seasons, summarizes how the company has thrived through one of the worst business slumps in decades:

"We have 34,000 employees who get up every morning thinking about how to serve our guests even better than the day before. So while all of this trouble is swirling around us, our brand promise of providing the most exceptional guest experience wherever and whenever you visit us is instilled in the hearts and minds of our dedicated employees. They are the ones who fulfill that promise day in and day out.”

From my 15 years consulting experience I would add two additional factors for consideration when building a peak performance culture: Alignment and Accountability. The challenge for every leader therefore is to master blending both task focus (exert my will) and collaborative orientation (exert their will) aspects of the role… in which every member of the organisation is a leader.

Source: Coming Through Hard Times Stronger Than Ever

Turn Resolutions into Reality

Wed, 11 Jan 2012 11:10:00 +1300

Hi there

Happy new year. New years hold all the promise of writing the first entry on the first page of a new exercise book - a clean start. We set off with the best of intentions – usually written to ourselves as New Year’s Resolutions.

Turn Resolutions into Reality

Five Steps for Creating What Really Matters Most in Life & Work

Those who do not create the future they want,must endure the future they get.

- Draper L. Kaufman, Jr.

"Quitting smoking is easy!” quipped my friend, Steve. "I've done it hundreds of times."

Steve was genuine at the point of making new year’s resolutions but didn't really expect them to produce results. I do. So do most people I work and talk with.

No matter how deliberate we are, something will upset our plans. We get tired, or lose focus then drift into comfortable but ineffective habits. Instead of achieving the results, rewards and good feelings we seek, we feel frustrated, guilty, and even depressed.

This year, why not learn to re-craft your resolutions so they turn into real and lasting results. The following steps consistently help my coaching clients turn dreams and aspirations into actual results.

The steps I'm about to take you through are simplified into a one-page, downloadable worksheet diagram, for those who prefer a graphical approach.

Step 1. Your Opportunity Statement – stating clear RESULTS

Most people's resolutions focus on input processes - not results.

Lose weight. Quit smoking. Write every day. ...

Notice the focus is on the verb (process) not the thing (result).

Lose. Quit. Write.

Instead of motivating you, these resolutions can become demands, not desires. Imperatives we impose on ourselves, and, often, rebel against. Actions by themselves aren't very motivating. They imply work, and that can put us off.

So, instead of action-focused resolutions, put your focus on results you truly want to create.

‘Lose weight’ becomes, "A fit, well-toned body."

‘Quit smoking’ becomes, "A non-smoker with healthy lungs."

‘Write every day’ becomes, "A blog I am proud of."

The key here is that whatever you come up with, really enthuses you; gives you an 8/10 jolt of excitement.”Yeah, that’s what I really want!”

Let your aspirations soar. Grounding vision in reality is the next step

Envision a picture of your desired result, fully complete. What would you be feeling, hearing, saying and seeing? You’ll probably find it easier to see it as a video of activity rather than a static image.

Step 2. A balanced look back from the future. Benefits & Barriers

Neuroscience tells us that for optimum performance, we need to engage both sides of the brain. In this instance it is Benefits (right / motivational side) and Barriers (left / practical side).

This is called mental contrasting.

We start with motivation / aspiration: Imagine the activity having been accomplished, what benefits would that bring? e.g.

A fit, well-toned body: sense of satisfaction, reduced pain, better sleep, more energy, fit into my clothes etc

Being a non-smoker: more energy, clearer lungs, easily exercise with my kids, saving $x etc

A blog I am proud of: add to the lives of my database, unlock my own writing ability, generate business, become recognised as an expert in my field etc

Then we balance this with reality. What are/were the barriers to overcome to achieve these results? e.g.

A fit, well-toned body: don’t like going to the gym, poor eating habits, don’t have a structure to follow etc

Being a non-smoker: psychological – I’ve tried many times before, I enjoy it, it’s hard etc

A blog I am proud of: it takes so much time, I’m not good with words, not sure what to write about etc

Step 3. Re-acknowledge Your Enablers

Your enablers are your personal promoters of success. We all have them and they’re right within arm’s reach.

Their names:

Previous Successes
Established Strengths
Helpful Relationships

Previous Successes

These are all the times in the past when you have been successful. Times when you have faced similar challenges and prevailed. It doesn’t matter if they were large or small challenges – you were successful.

Recall and list several of these.

What enabled you to prevail? Why were you successful?

Doing this reconfirms your achievement-ability, from within your own experience.

Established Strengths

We all have them – the things that we are good at and energise us. Those areas that just flow.

What are they?

What are the strengths you already possess that you can call on to achieve this resolution? Come up with at least five

How can (and will) you apply them?

Helpful Relationships

Who are the people you know who can help you achieve this challenge? Perhaps those who have done it before.

Who are those people you trust to give well-informed insight, encouragement or fortification?

List at least four people

Step 4. Your Action Plan

This is where you draw together all of the considerations from the previous stages, and plan the actions you will take.

What could you do? Where would you start?

By now, because your energy would be quite high (having gone through the ‘Enablers’ section), ideas should flow more readily.

So for ‘A fit well-toned body’, actions could include:

Speak to X (good friend) about doing it together
Set up a chart to measure water consumption during each day
Go to be by X time each night
Measure my calorie intake via iphone app
Join Weight Watchers

Prioritise your list and, if necessary, break each tasks into smaller, sub-tasks to make them even more achievable

Step 5. Practice, Practice, Practice!

Few of us are born with the skills and talent to achieve all our visions. But we are learners.

We can try, correct mistakes, and practice until the new becomes natural. Practice may not make us perfect, but it does make us better -- and the road to success always runs through better.

Recent research shows that, along with passion and perseverance, practice is the key to lasting success.

Resolutions To Reality!

"Whatever you can do, or dream you can do, begin it," said Goethe. "Boldness has genius, power and magic in it."

So why not be bold this year? Dream big. Accept reality as-it-is. And use these practices to turn your resolutions into real and lasting results.

And you? What're your resolutions? What do you want to create? If not Now, when?

Taking Action

If you recognise you will require a combination of support and accountability to take the lead in your world this year, I have spaces for 2 clients in January/February. Get in contact and we can set up a complimentary session together.

Source: Turn Resolutions into Reality

The One Word That Focuses Your Year

Thu, 05 Jan 2012 14:02:00 +1300

The One Word that Focuses Your Year

I have spoken before of humans being dual aspected – Being and Doing. We are human beings AND we are human do-ers.

The Being side of us is our inner world (of feelings, intuition, purpose, imaginings, consideration of the essence of things… the boiler room of our motivation).

The Do-ing side is our outer world (of facts, results, actions, efficiencies, processes… the arms and legs of our achievement).

Usually when we consider our lives (especially around new year and resolutions) we tend to focus on our Doing/outer world

e.g. lose weight, stop smoking, write a book, achieve this, accomplish that.

Little attention is given to how we want (or need) to BE to achieve those things in our outer world.

So the concept here is to acknowledge your Being side by identifying your one word - your potent BEING word. It’s the word that will give meaning and focus to your year, that will capture the essence of what we hope to accomplish and who we want to be.

Further, because we live such busy, stressed-filled lives full of distraction, we can forget our goals. But we can all remember and focus on one word.

How to find that word?

It’s not a random selection, rather the result of reflecting on the year that has been, what is needed in the year ahead, what you feel you need more of.

My word for 2012 is: Proactive

It challenges me with 'how can I be more proactive today, this week, this month… at work, at home, within myself, within the community?'

I can see this year is going to be unlike any other we have experienced, especially given the explosion of international financial crises points. It will need eyes wide open, forethought and preparation, high levels of light responsiveness.

In My Face

I have PROACTIVE in front of me every day. It has a prominent position on my one page, four quadrant planning schedule that sits in full view right beside my computer. This allows my semi-conscious to be triggered by it every day.

So two questions remain. Is this something of interest for you? What will your word be?

Supporting you to release your brilliance

Bruce

Source: The One Word That Focuses Your Year

De-Mystifying Strengths (Part I)

Wed, 16 Nov 2011 18:30:00 +1300

You sit at your desk first thing in the morning and prepare for the day. You make a list of activities, and as you reflect on these, you will feel more drawn to some and a subtle (or not so subtle) avoidance of others.

You may even prioritise, then start work on the top priority – whether you ‘like doing’ that thing or not but eventually you will revert towards those things you are naturally drawn to, excited by, interested in… those activities that energise you.

It’s the most natural thing in the world, to do those things we love to do; we have a gravitational urging towards to those things that energise us and we feel an ease doing.

It is just these areas give us an insight into what our strengths might be.

I’ve been fascinated by the concept of ‘flow’ – achieving optimal performance with ease. And so studying the area of strengths was inevitable.

I therefore decided that rather than simply reading about them, I’d go for a ‘full immersion’ and recently travelled to London to get trained in this area – to get my Strengths Practitioner’s Certification for both individuals and teams with CAPP – the Centre for Applied Positive Psychology (www.cappeu.com).

Over the next few blog updates, I’ll be sharing additional distinctions and insights around this fascinating area. But let’s get started.

What are we talking about with strengths anyway?

A strength…

Is a pre-existing capacity – it already exists within us
Is authentic – when using our strengths, we feel like they come from the ‘real me’, our own direction
Is energising – applying our strengths recharges us; there is more energy connected to
Enables optimal functioning and performance – allows us to be at our best; more engaged, more alive, more vigorous, and more in flow

In short, we eagerly do better work, for longer, and deeper when we get to apply our strengths

What else? What are the other benefits of a strengths focus?
There are five fundamentals of the strengths approach:

It focuses us on what works, and what is strong and strengthening (energising).
Strengths are part of our basic human nature; every person has strengths, qualities and capabilities, and deserves respect for them
Our greatest potential lies in the areas of our greatest strengths
Applying our strengths is the smallest thing we can do that makes the biggest difference.
We succeed by fixing our weaknesses only when we are also making the most of our strengths

This last point is important and probably counter-intuitive. Our incline is to focus on our weaknesses, to ‘fix them’. But, you may recall, we move in the direction of where we focus our attention, so focus on weaknesses and… we get more of them.

Fixing weaknesses is also hard yards – it takes three times as much time, effort and money to move a weakness to mediocre as it does to hone a strength from good to excellent

Peter Drucker places strengths squarely within the responsibility of leadership: “The task of leadership is to create an alignment of strengths in ways that make weaknesses irrelevant”.

This therefore suggests that a leader really knows their team members and their strengths; and a strength is what they’re good at, right?

Wrong!

Our strengths are NOT what we are good at!

Consider this scenario.

There was once a dog trainer who decided to grow his business so selected public speaking as his means to do this. Public speaking did not come naturally to him as he was a more of an introvert but he practiced and practiced and eventually became skilled, even though it drained him. His business grew as a result.

This chap was good at public speaking, on the face of it – a strength, but it was draining; it was not an area he was drawn to and would happily volunteer his time to spend more time doing.

Public speaking was a Learned Behaviour – something he was good at and did often – and thus easy to confuse with a strength but it was not energising.

We all have many skills that full into this category of Learned Behaviours – good at but not energised by.

‘Play to Your Strengths’ – yeah right!

The usual mantra in this area is ‘play to your strengths’. Sounds simple but it’s not. Strengths can become weaknesses.

As an example, one of my known (or realised) strengths is planning. I’m structured and ordered and highly planful which has served me well… up to a point. However, when I over-emphasize this strength, I over-prepare, feel awkward when a plan is not adhered to, can get stuck in a rut.

Over-use of a strength can work against us and become a weakness.

So tapping our potential does not powerfully lie in our realised (known) strengths. Because we know and already use them, they can easily get overused and therefore become counter-productive.

Our potential actually lies elsewhere; but more on that in a few days

So, the Strengths distinctions identified so far:

Realised Strengths are those attributes that are energising, you have crafted and you use frequently.

Learned Behaviours are those attributes that you have learned to do well, but are not energising. Learned behaviour patterns often become engrained over time, and it’s easy to confuse them with strengths because you are good at them – but they’re not energising!

There are two further distinctions to go, and we will cover these in De-mystifying Strengths Part II, coming out as a Blog update in a few days time

Source: De-Mystifying Strengths (Part I)

Motivating Difficult People

Wed, 19 Oct 2011 20:27:00 +1300

I was caught by a question Chrissie Lightfoot (the Entrepreneur Lawyer) asked the audience at a legal annual conference we were both speaking at.

She asked the attendees what their PEE-factor was. What rating (out of ten) did they give their own levels of Passion, Energy and Enthusiasm (PEE). Chrissie was outlining essentials for success within the rapidly changing world of law.

It got me thinking. No question that PEE is the fuel for high performance, but how do you lift these levels within your team? This is a key consideration for any leader.

The Motivation Challenge

The challenge is that one size does not fit all. What motivates one person, can leave another coldly unaffected.

A simple understanding here is that there are broadly two sorts of people. There are those who are motivated by achievement and accomplishment and there are those who are fulfilled by making things safe (ensuring security and peace).

Achievement Orientated People

The achievement orientated people look to gain something; they are motivated by a life full of positives (love, admiration and rewards). The classic entrepreneur, they love risk. Richard Branson is a good example here. Success comes as a rush, a real high. Optimism is their default setting. Think of the American Dream.

Security Orientated People

The security orientated people fulfil responsibilities and avoid mistakes. They seek to avoid the threat of loss, they play safe. They seek a life free from negatives (danger, guilt or punishment). They feel deep satisfaction from, say, mitigating a risk, preparing for a calamity or getting their child vaccinated.

These people are detail orientated; accuracy over speed. Obvious professions here are lawyers, engineers or accountants. Pessimistic realism is their default setting; this can easily morph into defensive pessimism however – always focusing on the worst-case scenario. Success for them does not come with a rush, they feel calm and relaxed, the ease that occurs with “I dodged a bullet there”.

You can even see these two dispositions in shopping behaviours. The accomplishment-orientated people like the luxurious and the comfortable. They like new functions and seek the newest technology available.

On the other hand, safety-orientated people seeks... the safe and reliable, the brands that have been established for many years, have been proven by consumer tests, products and supported by long guarantees.

But what has all this got to do with motivation?

As you might gather, these two have vastly different motivation factors.

The accomplishment orientated person gets turned on by what they will get/gain if they go for something; the benefits. These people are quicker to respond and are open to making good, better.

The more conservative, security conscious person is galvanised into action by the imminent painful consequences of inaction; the likely anxiety they will feel if an issue is not addressed. These people are harder to shift because things have to really be dire before they move.

The approach to take here is, when an issue has been highlighted, to ask, “What are the consequences of not addressing this issue?” “What else?” “What else?” “What else?” and keep asking until the list of consequences reaches the tipping point.

The Point

The simple message here, is that the typical approach to summoning (PEE) Passion, Energy and Enthusiasm is to focus on a big hairy audacious goal, the assumption being, that its obvious benefits stimulate action.

For the more conservative, applying a dentist-drill to a pain point could well be more effective alternative to lifting their PEE levels.

Source: Motivating Difficult People

Introducing 'Max UR Mojo'

Sat, 01 Oct 2011 08:58:00 +1300

Download the brochure for this powerful, new 90 min-workshop the flicks the switch on energised workplace performance.

I am co-presenting with Lee-Anne Wann - NZ's most recognised TV fitness specialist (from the top Health & Fitness TV series, ‘Downsize Me’) and author of three health and fitness books. Lee-Anne is an accomplished public speaker and will provide leading-edge insights from a nutritional and physiological standpoint.

This is an ideal co-presentation for annual conferences, leadership retreats or instant impact, morale-boosting team workshops.

For more details, go to the Max UR Mojo page

Source: Introducing 'Max UR Mojo'

Inspirational Insight from Kevin Spacey

Thu, 29 Sep 2011 20:02:00 +1300

I received this 2 min. video in my inbox today and wanted to share it with you.

In it, actor Kevin Spacey shares his insights on success and how to have it.

It’s a vitally important context for you to keep firmly planted in the front of your mind.

As you continue to develop your leadership, think about the success you desire in this context and see how it changes things for you.

Be sure to let me know what you think.

Best regards

Bruce

Source: Inspirational Insight from Kevin Spacey

Understanding the Leadership-Management Challenge

Thu, 08 Sep 2011 06:09:00 +1200

Point 1: Business has two aspects: people and processes.

Point 2: Humans (at one level) have two aspects: Their ‘Being’ (inner self) and their ‘Doing’ (outer performance).

Point 3: Leadership relates to people (their ‘Being’); management relates to processes (their ‘Doings’).

To explain more fully:

We are Human BEINGS. While difficult to define ‘Human Being’ simply, it is helpful to identify the distinctions within this intrinsic (or inner) world:

Emotions and feelings
Instinct and intuition
Beliefs (what we hold to be true)
Values (what is most important)
Meaning, purpose and motivation
Principles and life philosophy

But we’re also Human DO-ers, we do things which occur in the extrinsic (‘outer world’), the world of transaction. The distinctions here are easier to calibrate:

Facts and figures
Actions , performance and metrics
Results and outcomes
Systems and processes
Efficiencies

This gives us an immediate insight into the respective orientations within leadership and management: Lead people, manage things

LEADERSHIP

Push the limits

Courage

Serving

Initiating and originating

Macro, telescope

Connecting

Innovation towards ‘what could be’

MANAGEMENT

Business as usual

Compliance

Directing

Responding and reacting

Micro, microscope

Measuring metrics

Improvement on ‘what is’

The question arises, which is more influential, the inner world or the outer world? The inner. If we’re feeling sick or bad about ourselves, our performance is lower.

This gives an insight into why intrinsic motivators are more effective than extrinsic motivators (e.g. the power of recognition vs that of a bonus); and the comparative impact of strong leadership vs strong management.

It is understood that both leadership and management skills are needed at organisational, team and personal levels. The two cannot operate in isolation. Emergence occurs in the overlap.

Management involves getting the work done, while leadership involves getting people keen to do the work. What’s the point of an enthused, empowered and inspired team without the systems, processes and technologies that enable optimal performance?

The two are dance partners, jointly responding to the rhythm and call of a particular compelling future. Put another way, you need both blades of a pair of scissors to be effective.

“Lead and inspire people. Don’t try to manage and manipulate people. Inventories can be managed but people must be lead” – Ross Perot

Unfortunately, however…

“Most organisations are over-managed and under-led” - John Kotter, Harvard Business School

An effective leader is a ‘people person’ who seeks to get the best from all staff. They connect with, and maintain a high visibility with everyone in their team. They identify the strengths in those around them, and allocate opportunities that challenge people to go beyond what they know how to do.

They engage people in debating key issues upfront then co-create the plans. Their passion and enthusiasm for the team or organisation's vision and purpose is highly contagious. They fire the imaginations, develop the capabilities, and build the confidence of people to "go for it."

They give others the investment and ownership they need to produce results, independent of the leader. They give ownership for the end goal, make the scorecard visible then expect complete work.

So, would you prefer to be lead or managed? Do you prefer to be inspired toward fulfilment or compared into compliance (which carries a sense of manipulation).

The message here is simple, effective leadership needs both leadership and management.

Start first with leadership (connect, enthuse and recognise your most valuable resource – your people). Support this with the measurement, comparison and metrics of management.

Lifting performance is a combination of travelling back and forth between the big picture (the possibilities for the future), and the grunt work (the demands of the here and now), then back to the big picture… and so on.

Source: Understanding the Leadership-Management Challenge

The Curious Leader - The Invitation From The Other Side

Wed, 20 Jul 2011 10:52:00 +1200

What is curiosity? Why is it directly relevant to leadership? Why is curiosity identified as one of the top five strengths most highly associated with life fulfillment? What has it got to do with mastery? How do you improve your curiosity quotient?

“We keep moving forward, opening new doors, and doing new things, because we’re curious and curiosity keeps leading us down new paths” – Walt Disney

Become a little curious about curiosity?

Thinking is a process of asking questions then answering them. It all starts with a question, with curiosity – noticing and being drawn to what you find interesting about other people, places, objects, events or yourself.

Why is curiosity important?

We become interested in something. We pay attention to it. Our hunger to know is greater than the uncertainty of not knowing. We explore, discover and learn. It’s satisfying so we repeat it.

By repeating it, our web of knowledge and skills develop. We integrate our skills and knowledge into our identity – which is mastery.

Children are intensely and broadly curious. A toddler so craves to learn about their world that their parents have to be ever watchful to ensure they don’t come to harm. An adolescent seeks out experiences to establish their own identity. Curiosity is crucial driver for their mental and physical development.

But what happens to curiosity as an adult? It tends to narrow and, hopefully, deepen, become more specific.

In what areas do you have the most questions, have you always had the most questions? Where do your highest levels of natural curiosity and fascination lie? These indicate your greatest sources of meaning and satisfaction: your interests, hobbies and passions.

While being passionate about something naturally pushes us to know as much as we can about it, but it also works the other way around: The more curiosity we can muster for something, the more likely we are to notice and learn about it, and the more interesting and meaningful it becomes.

This is true of people, books, sports, skills and conversations. Often, the more curiosity and energy we invest in exploring and understanding them, the more compelling they become.

Leadership and Curiosity

So therein resides one of the main responsibilities as a leader. To understand, recognise and develop our own sense of curiosity but also to foster an environment where others feel free to be curious.

The mantra for leadership was ‘’Don’t tell, ask’ then it became ‘Don’t tell, inquire’. To develop an ecology of curiosity, it needs to shift again, to ‘Don’t tell, curiously re-inquire’.

The more questions we have, the higher the engagement level. Imagine introducing a topic at a staff meeting then challenging every person to generate at least three questions about that topic before you proceed. Go around the group one by one then work with the most penetrating (or interesting) question.

Or having a short project review meeting made up of only questions around a particular issue.

Or beginning each day with three key questions you want to have answered.

Or when preparing for a meeting (report or whatever), write down at least ten questions about the topic - before you begin.

Curious people remember what they learn longer.

Curious people take more away from new / novel experiences.

Curious people make more informed and robust decisions.

Curious people have a tendency to challenge the accepted norms.

Curious people are more creative and innovative

Only when we have actually developed this lost art in ourselves, and engaged others in the concept of curiosity, can we derive the real benefits of any creative process or initiative.

Applying Curiosity to Problem Solving

Emotionally, we feel negative about problems; they are black holes for our energy. They suck up and pre-occupy our attention, which makes it harder to think of creative solutions. We can even deflect a friend’s helpful advice because we are so fixated on the problem.

To broaden this narrowing effect and get fully engaged, become highly curious about the problem. “Wow, this is a really interesting problem. It won’t be a simple solution; a web of solutions will be needed.”

Getting interested moves you towards a solutions-focus.

Edward de Bono suggests using a dictionary. Turn to any page and pick a word at random. Then ask, “How does this relate to this problem?”

In a team meeting, you could produce a paper bag with various random objects and ask, “How might this be a metaphor for the problem and the solution?” Intrigue and interest resets the team into problem solving mode.

Curiosity is the precursor to creativity and innovation

Curiosity can help us achieve inner fulfillment and so make us happier

Curiosity can improve our and our team’s problem solving skills

Curiosity can lead to improved employee satisfaction and thus productivity

Curiosity is the foundation of discovery and exploration

Curiosity is all about asking Why?

Curious people live longer and have a more active life

Improving your Curiosity Quotient

We all experience some level of resistance while trying something new. The only difference is that curious people break through this barrier more easily by entering the unfamiliar territory often. So regularly push yourself out of your comfort zone.

Observe and Explore: Question with the intense curiosity of a six year old. Tune into a person, actively listen and allow your questions to flow naturally, to intuitively bubble up. Practise asking strings of 8+ questions at a time (without the other person noticing).

Apply Challenging Questions: Here are several I use:

What three (or five) new things are there about ….this person /this situation?

How might I be wrong? How might it be, other than the way I see it?

Experiment: Dabble with different things, talk to different people, go to different places. Explore your creative side, try different crafts. Try different foods or recipes. Read different books.

Teach something new: this ensures your new learning is not simply dismissed but reformed coherently. Have your staff members teach each other.

Have ‘Sherlock Holmes’ attend every meeting – someone whose job is only to identify what was interesting / curious about a particular focus point. Then ensure these points get discussion time.

Curiosity is a powerful stimulant. It invites us to a different place; to the other side of ‘what’s known’ to where discovery and fresh insight reside. Truly an essential trait for any leader.

Source: The Curious Leader - The Invitation From The Other Side

(Self) Leadership During Times of Trauma, Difficulty & Overwhelm

Tue, 15 Mar 2011 10:47:00 +1300

In reports from this month’s earthquake in Christchurch, residents said things like, “We’ve seen things in our community that you’re never meant to see. In a war zone, yes. But not our own community.” There has clearly been trauma, overwhelm and confusion.

An earthquake is an extreme case, but these emotions can occur in business and on an everyday basis – a car accident, redundancy, restructuring.

If leadership is about refocusing, stepping up and taking the initiative, how might it be applied in such stressful situations?

To answer this, we must go on a journey to understand how the brain works.

In previous articles the three general sectors of the brain have been introduced. They continue to be the principle players in this drama.

The first actor, the primitive brain - made up of the amygdala (the source of powerful emotions such as fear, anxiety and anger) plus the hypothalamus (the manager of instinctive drives such as hunger, thirst, and sexual desire).

These two work in unison to alert us to threat by releasing adrenalin into the system. This gives us the ‘adrenalin high’ of fight, flight or freeze, followed by ‘adrenalin low’ of exhaustion.

The second actor, the basal ganglia, or the “habit center,” manages such semi-automatic activities as driving and walking; we tend to revert to this type of processing whenever possible.

Information processed in either the basal ganglia or the primitive brain occurs more at the sub- conscious level. Both are rapid processors requiring little energy to activate.

The third actor, the prefrontal cortex, is associated with deliberate executive functions such as planning, new learning and focusing attention.

New patterns (e.g. learning) start in the pre-frontal cortex. They often feel unfamiliar and painful, because it means consciously overriding deeply comfortable neuronal circuitry (our habitual ways of thinking). If we want to create new permanent patterns of behaviour, we must embed these in the basal ganglia.

Being forced to try something new can trigger fear and anger; this is sometimes called the “amygdale hijack” – the urge to flee or exhaustion disproportionate to the actual provocation. ‘Hijack’ refers to energy being used up before it gets to the frontal cortex – you literally can’t think. It’s called being in a state of shock.

For a leader to effectively help others navigate trauma requires insights that reduce the impact of an inflamed amygdale, this then settles the person, helping them re-engage their higher thinking processes.

Calming an Inflamed Amygdale

“Our good leaders are those who focus on others, give undivided attention, and build trust. Leaders can either give energy to people or drain energy from people.” - Dave Larson, retired executive vice president of Cargill (American agricultural and food products company)

Even in such trying times a skilled leader can continue to give people energy, give them hope. It starts with understanding and empathy without judgment.

A leader could start by talking openly about how they feel, ask others to talk about how they feel, and then assist them take a broader perspective: They are still OK; there are many resources there to help, friends and family are here to stand by them.

The key is to engender an emotional state that is calmer, and one that draws people back to more effective frames of mind and more deliberate thinking.

“It is going to be OK. Let’s not forget the big picture. Don’t forget that we have prepared for situations like this. Let’s stay focused on what’s most important, what really matters.”

At some stage, you could ask, “What needs to happen for you to move on?”

Empathising sends a message of respect and understanding which can calm an inflamed amygdale. Only when the amygdale has disengaged, is it possible to talk with the part of the brain capable of rational and objective thought, the pro-frontal lobe.

Developing Mindfulness – your Impartial Spectator

By understanding that despite the seeming inflexibility of the brain, neural connections are actually highly plastic; even the most entrenched thought patterns can be changed by guidance from your impartial spectator.

Reflection

Two self-directed reflection processes develop your impartial spectator: ‘thinking about what you are thinking’ and ‘moment-by-moment awareness of where your attention is focused’.

Moment-by-moment self-observation activates executive planning areas in the prefrontal cortex and deactivates areas involved in attention-distracting rumination.

Our usual activity draws mostly upon our habitual/default thinking, so little changes. Reflection puts the deliberate ‘you’ back in charge, not your habits.

Some use reflective journaling at the end of the day as their method to regather themselves, to then course-correct.

Relabeling Your Role

When experiencing the horror of an earthquake, there was an immediate rush of anxiety and fear — a classic amygdala hijack.

An alternative approach is to pause and to think differently about what you see. There were many in Christchurch who dashed into buildings save others. They had a different internal message, maybe: “I believe in this community and these people. I have a duty to be of assistance” or a person could deliberately tell themselves “I am an emergency medical technician coming on the scene. I have to be calm and clear in my thinking about this.”

You choose the phrase that fits you best.

The mental act of relabeling makes it easier to maintain a clear, calm perspective. It enhances your ability to override the content of dysfunctional thoughts, decreasing your personal attachment to what you are thinking. Activity shifts rapidly back to the prefrontal cortex.

Speaking Aloud

A simple technique that produces immediate refocus is speaking aloud. Literally describe out loud what is actually going on to you and around you.

In an emergency, we’re in react mode, there is pressing urgency (or it feels that way). We speed up, become tunnel-visioned and miss things. For example some students, at Christchurch’s university, ran down too many stairs and missed the exit.

By describing what is occurring, we have to slow down; we process and take stock of what we see. We become more measured, more likely to make balanced decisions.

Concluding Thoughts

In the life of a leader dealing with earthquake experiences (or 9/11) is the exception. Rallying staff in any situation however is an essential everyday skill.

Amygdala hijacks are part of living. Each of the techniques outlined above are equally as applicable in the “more mundane” settings of parenting, business management or executive leadership.

But like any skill, they will require practice to be ready when needed.

Source: (Self) Leadership During Times of Trauma, Difficulty & Overwhelm

A Leader's Greatest Nemesis (source of ruin)

Tue, 01 Feb 2011 00:00:00 +1300

Leaders swim against the current.

What is the current?

Negativity or more precisely, habitual thinking - which hates being interrupted. And leadership is all about driving new initiatives - a massive interruption to habitual thinking.

As a leader, you need to know all about this current. (You need to know your enemy)

What is the Current?

We move in the direction of where we focus our attention. True or false?

This suggests you are where you are today as a result of where you have focused your attention.

The answer is ‘True’. Common sense (plus 30 years of research) confirms that phrase, so we can consider it a truth.

Given that we do move in the direction of where we focus, where do most people focus their attention – on what works or what doesn’t work?

On what DOESN’T wrk. As humans we are negatively geared. We are hard wired to spot fault – just like you were alerted to the spelling mistake earlier in this paragraph.

You see we have three levels to our brain, which roughly correspond to stages of the brain's development.

First is the primitive brain (sometimes called the reptilian brain or the amygdale). This is the highly impulsive ‘fight / fright / freeze’ part of the brain. Like the operating system of a computer, it takes no energy to run, but if it engages, adrenalin pumps and everything freezes (or fights or frights).
The second level of the brain is the basal ganglia. This is where routine and habit reside. When the new becomes familiar, it moves to the basal ganglia. Again, a low energy usage area – habits are the brain’s way of economising on mental energy.
The third and most ‘recent’ region is the prefrontal cortex. This is used for Executive Function - doing a new task, consciousness, staying on task, problem solving, focusing attention - higher intellectual function. It takes a lot of energy to run.

A key function for the primitive brain is to spot threat. Like radar, it’s constantly scanning for threat. And it translates any problem you're having as a threat.

What this means is that, if I was to ask you to list out all the problems you’re currently having... you’d be able to do it, just like that. No hesitation. The list would be right there in your awareness.

Alternatively, if I asked you list out all the things that are working well for you in your life... you’d go, “Ummm, aaaaahh” and eventually... “Yes, well there is this, and that and this.”

But there is a time delay. The reason for this is, you have to really focus; you have to use the high energy part of your brain (your prefrontal cortex). And that takes real effort.

What does all this mean?

As humans, we are hardwired to fault-find, problem-seek. Jung said, “Humans are pessimistic” – this is what he was referring to. Deficit-focus is our default setting.

Consider this interesting confirmation of this world-wide, human condition:

The research is that 70% of our inner-talk (the internal voice in our head) is negative!
Of the 24 most popular emotions in the English language, only 6 are positive (delighted, ecstatic, excited, confident, great and happy)
In 30 years of psychological research there were 45,000 studies into depression, illness, weakness and only 300 on strengths and happiness (American Psychological Association)

In a business context, what does this mean?

It means that when people get together, they’ll tend to talk about what's wrong. Why? Because it’s so easy to do. It takes no energy. It’s easily accessible.

The first thing to come up when, as a leader, you suggest a new approach will be...? You guessed it. Objections – "It won’t work, can’t work, won’t work for me."

If not voiced, it'll certainly be going on in their heads.

And it gets worse!

When we talk about or think into a problem, it drains our energy.

And when our energy drops, so too does our thinking capacity. We get dumber the more tired we are and the more we discuss problems.

With reduced thinking capacity, we can only think thoughts we’ve thought before (our habitual thinking).

Same thoughts... lead to... same actions... lead to no change. This is why change is soooo hard.

What, as a leader, can you need to do about it?

The key can be found earlier in this article.

We move in the direction of where we focus our attention.

Therefore, become aware of where do you routinely focus your attention? What really pre-occupies your thinking? What do you talk about? What do you talk about with your team? Where do you focus their attention by what you say?

It is so easy to be drawn into the negative, there’s so much to be dark about – global financial crisis, global warming, peak oil, getting old, the latest brutal crime / natural disaster, all the problems at work etc

Just be aware if you go there, you need to rebalance; if you take your team into the negatives, you need to rebalance your team. As a leader you need ensure high energy levels.

What is your nemesis as a leader?

The thoughts in your head.

These may not even be your own. Be suspicious of thoughts, you never know whose head they’ve been in!

Deliberately refocus away from the negative (otherwise you'll get more of that)

Focus on the % progress made, the high points from the day, the improvements made by staff. Be very specific about the destination.

When a problem resurfaces, do the ‘Three simple’ on it. Ask what are three simple things we could do to overcome this?

You must continue to swim against the current by Constant Conscious Recalibration toward the positive.

Source: A Leader's Greatest Nemesis (source of ruin)

The Essence Of Leadership - In One Word

Sun, 30 Jan 2011 10:17:00 +1300

If you condense the thousands of books written on leadership, the hours of analysis, podcasts, ponderings and practices down to one word, what would it be? Influence? Hope? Results? Character? Intention? Competence? All are valid components but there is one essential ingredient and that is...

ENERGY

Napoleon said, “Leaders deal in hope.” Leaders motivate, they uplift, they inspire, they challenge, they change, they overcome, they influence - they deal in energy. Each of these qualities involves a transfer of energy from full (leader) to empty (follower).

Whether you are a team leader, a company director, a parent, leading a large organisation or just yourself, you are actually a CEO – a Chief Energy Officer. Strategy is what you have energy for. Your energy level is the governor upon your team’s energy levels/performance.

By extension, your ability to lead is in direct proportion to your level of energy. To explain: those with high levels of energy are more resilient, creative, clear and effective. Alternatively, low energy makes people less productive, and unable to handle change because thinking capability reduces. Our intelligence actually decreases the more tired we are (and increases the more energised).

Here are two simple questions to indicate your leadership ability:

What is your energy level (out of ten) right now, as you read this?
What is your energy rating generally?

Take a moment and write them down. What are they? Now look at the behaviours that go with each level on the grid below

You will notice that levels 5/10 and below get progressively darker. This is the graduated sludge factor. We may enter the 5/10 and below for short times, but to remain there for a length of time becomes toxic, that is, self-polluting and dangerously debilitating.

So, leadership is about having or learning the skills of intentional buoyancy (high energy) despite inevitable push back. And leadership, by definition, is about going to places that have not been chartered before and so will be fraught with uncertainty, self-doubt and challenge.

And there is a compounding factor. We, as humans, are negatively geared. Jung said, “Humans are pessimists” and there is truth in this. We are deficit-focused. Our default setting is to focus on problems and what’s wrong... but more about this in upcoming editions.

So, how do we use this information?

The first place to start is to confirm (or not) the above points. Observe your fellow workers – their energy levels and their levels of productivity. Observe yourself.

Give energy ratings to, say, staff or management meetings. Measure related productivity levels

Measure your own energy levels at different times of the day, after meeting with different people.

Recognise your own tricky thought patterns that thwart your good intentions and leave you flat.

Next, consider what could be used to effectively lift mental and emotional energy levels? What words, points of focus or perspectives re-energise. It’s a fascinating journey.

In the series of articles that follow, we will help you build a catalogue of tools, processes and understandings that will do just that. These are the insights needed to demystify the black box of authentic leadership.

Source: The Essence Of Leadership - In One Word