NR Engage

Blog Move

2010-11-08T15:14:00.002Z

This blog will now be hosted at my main website www.nickrobinson.org which is itself currently being rebuilt.

Hopefully see you there in the near future,

regards,

Nick

Book Review: Awakened Wisdom

2010-09-24T08:39:00.004+01:00

This is a quick review of a new book by my friend and mentor Patrick Ryan: 'Awakened Wisdom'.

Bottom-line, I don't think this book is for everyone right now, but, if you're ready or hungry to make more sense of who you are and to create mindful choices around how you live your life, then don't miss it!

Patrick is an ex-Buddhist monk, a lifelong entrepreneur and a senior leader in the coaching world. And perhaps more importantly for this book, he is someone who I know from personal experience daily lives by his own code. What he preaches, he practises.

I really enjoyed many parts of this book, especially the 'Notes from the Future' sections, a kind of enlightened vision showing how inspiring things will be when our wisdom is fully awake.

Other real highlights for me include the story of how when Patrick first became a monk he experienced a deep separation anxiety when he thought he had lost his one remaining possession - a begging bowl. Being separated from his bowl overnight and then not knowing which was his from a stack of hundreds brought home in a crashing way for Patrick the absurdity of identifying ourselves with possessions. As someone who can experience a great deal of fear and anxiety about the condition of the 'stuff' in my life, I found this tremendously useful.
As he says:

"It is okay to own stuff as long as the stuff doesn't own you"

Leading on Ice

2010-09-14T09:05:00.020+01:00

How the Best Leaders Achieve the Traction to Drive Big Scary Changes

Are you responsible for leading big changes at the moment? Perhaps changes which are scary and potentially disadvantageous to the people whose jobs might be at risk?

And perhaps you've noticed that it's difficult to get momentum going. People are resistant to the change, they don't seem to grasp the scale of the threat to the organisation, nobody wants to face just how much needs to be done in so short a time.

For leaders who have previously implemented big changes by virtue of their drive, organising skills and can-do attitude, this kind of situation can blindside them. The old way of doing things by trying even harder and persuading others to do the same just doesn't seem to work anymore.

In a way, trying to lead this kind of change is a lot like driving on ice. The rules of how you manage the car have changed. The wheels are spinning, you might be revving the engine, but you're either going sideways or going nowhere. By itself, just trying harder is no longer going to get it done.

Here's some tips from the BBC website about how to drive on snow and ice, in italics, with my leadership comments below:

If your tyres are making virtually no noise this could be a sign you're driving on ice

If the feedback you're getting from people about their progress goes quiet, you've hit a slippery patch;

If your vehicle skids, depress the clutch and turn the steering wheel into the direction of the skid. When the vehicle straightens steer along the road

When it suddenly becomes difficult to make progress, you need to turn your attention to that, not stay blindly focussed on your objectives. Switch back only when you have traction;

If your vehicle skids, don't brake - it will just lock up your wheels and you'll skid further

If it suddenly seems difficult to make progress at work, don't be tempted to call a halt to everything in order to fix it, just give it your attention - see above;

Gentle manoeuvres are the key to safe driving.

...and to leading people who are worried about their jobs;

Reduce your risk of skidding by reducing your speed, too much power is often the source of problems in snow and ice

Perhaps the single most important point. If you're trying to lead change and it isn't happening, take your foot off the gas a little until the wheels can bite. DO NOT try even harder. When it looks like things are moving again, gently apply the power;

Try to maintain a constant speed, choosing the most suitable gear in advance to avoid having to change down while climbing a hill

OK, you've got this analogy by now, right?

If you do get stuck, straighten the steering and clear the snow from the wheels. Put a sack or old rug in front of the driving wheels to give the tyres some grip

If the momentum for change has gone, re-affirm the vision. Know which part of the organisation the driving force comes from and therefore which part needs to make contact with the road surface. Clear away stuff that blocks them, and see if you can change the nature of the landscape so they can get a grip.

Summer Holiday 2010

2010-08-09T11:00:00.001+01:00

We're on holiday for the next few weeks, so this blog will be even quieter than usual for a while.

In the meantime, here's a couple of old favourites you might like:

Leadership issues

Having more ease and gracefulness in life and work

Contador Makes His Own Rules

2010-07-21T08:54:00.023+01:00

Why the Best Leaders Pay Attention to the Way that People Regard Rules

If you're a Tour de France fan you probably won't have missed the controversy this week around Alberto Contador's decision to break one of the strongly held (but unwritten) rules of cycling and take advantage of a rival's misfortune. By breaking that rule he won the 15th stage, took the yellow jersey and looks set to win Le Tour. (read more about that here)

Alberto's attitude to the rules of cycling has a useful lesson for leaders of all kinds, because it shows very clearly that different people can have very different ways of regarding rules. For leaders, this means that you simply cannot rely on the 'rules' of the organisation, unwritten or even very clearly laid out on posters all around the place, to guide what people do and how they do it.

The best leaders pay attention to the way that individuals around them regard rules. Fortunately, there are some useful guides and shortcuts that help us understand what is going on.

The Dutch cross-cultural communications expert Fons Trompenaars has shown that there is a cultural influence on the way that we regard 'rules'. Put really simply, people from Universalistic cultures focus more on rules and are more precise when defining rules and standards, whereas people from more Particularistic cultures expect rules to be adapted according to different situations. Trompenaars found some evidence that countries with Latin roots took a Particularistic view, although I don't think he specifically mentions Spain where Sr. Contador hails from. Another Dutch expert, Geert Hofstede, is also really worth reading on different cultural attitudes to rules.

In an everyday setting the work of Roger Bailey and Shelle Rose Charvet is pretty useful to help understand how members of your team are likely to respond to written and unwritten rules. They found that people tend to have one of four types of responses to rules in organisations:

1.) The majority of people follow a My/My pattern, believing that the same rules apply to everybody. They tend to be generally good for managing subordinates, stating clearly what they expect from others and abiding by the expected rues of behaviour themselves. My/My pattern people can sometimes fail to appreciate that what works for them will not always work for others and you'll need to lead them through this startling revelation!;

2.) A very small proportion of people follow a My/Blank pattern towards rules, with pretty structured behaviour themselves but giving almost no consideration to the impact of what they do on others. If you're leading one of these people, you need to understand that this is not a malicious thing and you may need to minimise or isolate any negative impacts of their 'eccentricity';

3.) A slightly bigger minority of people follow a No/My pattern about rules, struggling to follow guidelines themselves but being quite willing to pass on rules to others. If any of your team operate this pattern, they'll need some clear direction and perhaps some coaching from you around the lack of credibility that their apparent failure to 'walk the talk' can have;

4.) An appreciable minority of people operate a My/Your pattern towards rules, knowing the policies and guidelines to follow at work, but being reluctant to pass them on to others, which they would regard as arrogant or presumptive. This can create anxiety around them and stress for the person themselves. It's my belief that this pattern contributes to a lot of the problems that arise when a My/Your pattern person is promoted from being a first-line supervisor in a structured environment with very clearly laid out rules for all staff to follow, to a leadership position where the rules of behaviour are no longer provided by the organisational structure, but need to come from the team leader. You'll need to carefully coach these people into understanding that providing structure and direction for others is actually a very respectful and helpful act which most people (with the exceptions above) will appreciate.

Get Your Hands Dirty

2010-07-16T09:09:00.013+01:00

Why Leaders Need to be Actively Involved at the Point of Delivery

I watched 'The Undercover Boss' on UK's Channel 4 TV yesterday evening.

It underlined for me the importance of leaders being actively involved at the point of delivery of your business, as the programme really showed how this gives revelatory insights that no amount of performance data ever will.

Yesterday's programme followed the UK boss of Best Western Hotels as he worked, undercover, as part of the kitchen, grounds and cleaning staff in several hotels. What he found was absentee-owners failing to invest, dedicated and overworked staff making up for half-thought-through expansion plans and blatant attempts to by-pass the quality control measures. As a an ex-Best Western fan, I'm sure even more would have been found if there'd been time!

I don't think the "undercover" part is necessary for anything other than sensationalising it for TV. And actually might work against you long-term, unless you want to become known as the kind of boss who sneaks around lying about your name and background. It worked out OK on the programme and it was genuinely touching to see during the 'reveal' the emotional impact that even a tiny bit of acknowledgment of their efforts had on the staff involved.

Key points for leaders who really do want to know and grow their business and to value the people who actually deliver it:

get out there and get your hands dirty
acknowledge people when they are trying to do a good job
use quality measurement as a tool to direct support, not sanctions.

Click on the link below or the picture above to see the programme. Please note there are adverts at the beginning:
http://www.channel4.com/programmes/undercover-boss/4od#3105089

The Business of Agriculture: Event Review

2010-07-09T08:37:00.023+01:00

My team at the Institute of Directors put on another fantastic event last night, around the business of agriculture. It was something that we'd wanted to do for some time, based here in the green rolling pastures of dairy-farming Cheshire, but not personally knowing much about the practical business issues of this sector. I'm sure it's something we'll want to follow-up on too.

Most of the work on the event was handled by IoD stalwart Ian Walton, thanks again Ian.

We were hosted by Nunsmere Hall, always a friendly and beautiful venue and because the weather was good, could take our pre-meeting food and drink on the terrace.

Unfortunately, something in the local pollen caused a reaction in my throat and instead of doing my usual Chairman's welcoming speech I had to ask my colleague Andy Duxbury to step in; what a star he is!

First we heard from Julie Richards, an accountant from agricultural specialists Howard Worth, who confessed herself a 'farm-daughter'. Julie took us through the business of agriculture with some excellent insights into the types of financial and business issues this important sector faces. Highlights for me included:

2008 saw the first net imports to the UK of raw milk (how and why did we allow that?!)
as a farmer, you'll get a premium from Tesco if you use their accounting software/tool - but that means they know your profit margins to the penny; ouch!
in 2004 the number of farms in the UK was around 65k, just six years later that figure has reduced by 10k
the gap between the most financially successful and the struggling farms continues and will continue to widen
strategically, the middle-of-the-road is a dangerous place to be positioned in this sector, probably meaning you need to be really big, or really cheap, or very specialised (or probably all three!) to compete long-term
well-managed diversification is a possible route to boost profitability (& Julie did a great analysis of the different routes to diversification, which I won't reproduce here).

Next, we heard from Liz Sutton. With her husband Roger, Liz founded well-known Cheshire-based Delamere Dairy 25 years ago. With a long-held dream to become farmers and an awareness that, starting from scratch, they would need to do something different, these two entrepreneurs decided to get into farming goats' milk. 25 years later and they have the largest market share in most of the key UK goats' milk products, a thriving own-brand range, including many award-winning cheeses and a turnover of £15m. Their story is inspirational in many ways, a classic case of starting with a dream, working like crazy to turn it into a business and then being flexible and determined to make that business successful. Some great highlights for me included:

buying a copy of the 'Grocer's Directory' early in the business' development, in order to telephone potential buyers for their goats' milk, and starting at A for Asda. They got the deal!
deciding to outsource much of the work, particularly packaging. Although this narrows profit margins, it seems to have allowed them to focus on a real depth of understanding about the product and to successfully exploit that
planning at the right stage to bring in management support and a sensible exit strategy for the founders.

After Liz' presentation we got to sample some of the tangy goats' milk itself and equally delicious cheeses and butter.

For me, this was a great example of what we should focus on with IoD events - the chance to hear it straight from local businesses now successful in national and international arenas, about the issues they have faced and dealt with, in a way you probably don't get anywhere else, and in great surroundings with the company of 30 or so other like-minded business-people. Excellent!

Pictured, from left to right:
Richard Barnett (Howard Worth), Roger Sutton (Delamere Dairy), Ian Walton (IoD), Liz Sutton (Delamere Dairy), Julie Richards (Howard Worth)

English Football, Beer & Smart Leadership

2010-06-24T12:39:00.009+01:00

How Fabio Capello Shows that Passionate Leaders Need to Mellow & Build Relationships Before they Get Good Performance

England managed to qualify for the second round of the 2010 football World Cup yesterday, helped it seems by having a beer together on the evening before the match, and I reckon there's some useful leadership lessons in that.

If you're a passionate, driven and experienced manager like Fabio Capello, it can be pretty frustrating when the team you've assembled doesn't perform in the way that you know they can. You've designed this team to fit together just-so; so why don't they just slot into place, do what they are capable of and deliver your vision!?

The kind of leaders I work with often hit this problem. Because they are people of vision, who intuitively know how the sum of the parts can be so much greater than the whole, and because their passion and drive wants to move things along as quickly as possible. And because of that, they sometimes forget that even the star performers on their team are only human.

Generally, people need to get along together BEFORE they can deliver. As any kind of team leader or England manager, your brilliantly-crafted formation just will not be implemented if you haven't also helped people build the relationships, trust and understanding of each other first.

Whether it's a beer or a change of venue or a change in your style of briefing that does the job, will depend on the people involved and your own experience and preferences.

And the second lesson is, as Capello says in his inteview with the Guardian Newspaper: "They were allowed to drink beer before the game, you can ask them. It's true. I changed something and used my imagination."

"I changed something and used my imagination"... I love that, self-awareness and flexibility always wins.

He didn't change the formation in the end, it was still essentially 4-4-2, but he had the sense to change his approach, take them out of that dreary lecture-theatre/briefing room and let them bond in a familiar way in a non-threatening environment.

Germany in the second round...

Vuvuzales & World Cup Leadership

2010-06-14T14:53:00.005+01:00

If you were the World Cup organiser, would you ban Vuvuzales?

(image courtesy of http://www.vocfm.co.za)

The metre-long honking plastic horn is part of South African football-supporting tradition, but the noise has been compared to the drone of a thousand bees, or the sound of a goat being dragged to slaughter. Players have complained they make it hard to concentrate on the pitch and TV viewers are having to rapidly adjust to the background sound.

One of the biggest leadership lessons for me personally has been learning when to go with the flow and when to resist and force it in my direction as strongly as I can. What I've learnt is that if you want to go against the flow, you'd better be strong enough and stubborn enough to turn back the tide!

It's often better, in my opinion, to be more like an Aikido martial artist and if you don't like where the flow is going, to do what you can to re-direct a force rather than resist it.

Seeing as so many South Africans and other supporters seem to be really enjoying honking away on their Vuvuzales, rather than banning them I'd be giving prizes for the best tune, or showcasing existing national talent.

And wouldn't it be great BBC, to see Gary Lineker having a go at honking a decent tune out of one?!

How about you? What do you do as a leader when the flow is going somewhere unexpected?

Choose Who You Want to Be - Latin Mottoes

2010-02-18T09:53:00.007Z

We've been playing around with whether or not we want to have a family motto. And when I mentioned this to colleagues, the same thing happened - we felt it was a little bit cheesy but were attracted to the notion of a motto that would define us in some way.

A quick google brought us to this website of mottoes:
http://www.shipbrook.com/jeff/mottoes.html and I've shamelessly reproduced my favourites below.

I've bagsied Aude aliquid dignum "Dare something worthy", so you can't have that, but which other motto might be right for you, your family or your business?

I didn't learn Latin at school but I'm told that for speakers of English, which takes many roots from Latin, it's not far off what you might naturally pronounce. If you want to know more, here's a useful YouTube lesson on vowels, with some related links:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eR1njaC3rkw

Selected Mottoes:

Aequabit nigras candida una dies.
One single bright day will equal the black ones.

Aliena pericula, cautiones nostrae.
Others' dangers are our warnings.

Alterutra clarescere fama. Sive bonum, sive malum, fama est.
To become famous in one way or the other, whether it be good or bad, it is fame.

Amarus vitiorum fructus.
The fruit of sin is bitter.

Amicitia fucata vitanda.
Feigned friendship to be avoided.

Amicitia, etiam post mortem durans.
Friendship enduring even after death.

Animis illabere nostris.
You will steal into our hearts.

Animus, non res.
Mind, not property.

Arbitrii mihi iura mei.
My laws are my will.

Audaces fortuna iuvat.
Fortune favours the brave.

Aude aliquid dignum.
Dare something worthy.

Autor ego audendi.
I am the author of my daring.

Bene agendo nunquam defessus.
Never weary of doing good.

Bilingues cavendi.
One should beware of the double-tongued.

Bis dat qui cito dat.
He gives twice who gives quickly.

Cacus amor prolis.
Love of one's offspring is blind.

Calumniam contra calumniatorem virtus repellit.
Virtue throws back false accusations against the accuser.

Candor illesus.
Purity unharmed.

Cedo nulli.
I yield to no one.

Certanti et resistenti victoria cedit.
Victory yields to the one who struggles and resists.

Charitas non quaerit quae sua sunt.
Love does not seek things for itself.

Colligavit nemo.
No one has bound me.

Concussus surgo.
When struck I rise.

Consequitur quodcumque petit.
She obtains whatever she desires.

Constantia comes victoriae.
Perseverance a companion of victory.

Cum larvis non luctandum.
One must not struggle with ghosts.

Cum pudore laeta foecunditas.
Happy fecundity accompanied by modesty.

Cum tempore mutamur.
We change with time.

Cuncta complecti velle, stultum.
It is foolish to wish to encompass all things.

Curis tabescimus omnes.
We are all consumed by cares.

Cursum intendimus alis.
We wing our way.

De parvis grandis a cervus erit.
Small things will make a large pile.

Desidiam abiiciendam.
Sloth to be rejected.

Dia de mas valer.
A day of more worth.

Ditat servata fides.
Loyalty preserved enriches.

Diversa ab illis virtute valemus.
We are strong because our skill differs from theirs.

Dum aetatis ver agitur: consule brumae.
Provide for the winter of your life while its spring is still here.

Dum potes vive.
Live, while you can.

Dum spiro spero.
As long as I breathe, I hope.

Dum vivo, prosum.
While I live, I do good.

Dura usu molliora.
Difficult things become easier with practice.

Durum telum necessitas.
Necessity is a hard weapon.

Est mihi sorte datum.
It is given to me by chance.

Experientia docet.
Experience teaches.

Expetendae opes ut dignis largiamur.
We should seek riches so that we may give to the deserving.

Fal con tempo.
Do it in time.

Fatuis levia committito.
Entrust trifles to fools.

Feriunt summis fulmina montes.
Lightning strikes the mountain tops.

Festina lente.
Hasten slowly.

Fidem fati virtute sequemur.
With my own virtue I shall strive to achieve the promise given to me by destiny.

Flectimur non frangimur undis.
We are bent but not broken by waves.

Flectimur obsequio non viribus.
We bend out of compliance and not because of force.

Fortissima minimis interdum cedunt.
The strongest sometimes yield to the smallest.

Fugientes afflictio sequitur.
Suffering follows those who flee.

Hinc aliquando eluctabor.
Sometime I shall struggle out of here.

Hoc opus.
This is my work.

Hosti etiam servanda fides.
Faith must be kept even to the enemy.

Hypocritae progenies viperarum.
Hypocrites are the offspring of vipers.

Ignis gladio non fodiendus.
The fire should not be stirred by the sword.

Il me plait le trouble.
Trouble pleases me.

Improbus a nullo flectitur obsequio.
The wicked are not swayed by obsequiousness.

In dies meliora.
Better day by day.

Inclinata resurgit.
When pressed down, it raises itself again.

Infortunia nostra, alienis collata, leviora.
Our misfortunes, compared with those of others, become lighter.

Ingenium superat vires.
Genius overcomes strength.

Ingentia marmora findet caprificus.
The fig-tree splits huge blocks of marble.

Ingratis servire nefas.
It is wrong to serve the ungrateful.

Inimicorum dona, infausta.
Gifts of enemies are unlucky.

Interdum requiescendum.
Sometimes we must rest.

Interiora vide.
Look within.

Interminabilis humanae vitae labor.
The unending labour of human life.

Invitum fortuna fovet.
Fortune helps a man even against his will.

Ita et virtus.
Thus also virtue.

Loco et tempore.
In place and time.

Longo splendescit in usu.
With long use it shines.

Los llenos de dolor y, Los vazios de speranza.
Those that are full contain sorrow; those that are empty, hope.

Me pompae provexit apex.
The crown of triumph inspired me.

Mediocribus utere partis.
Accept moderate possessions.

Mens immota manet.
The mind unmoved remains.

Mirandum naturae opus.
Amazing is the work of nature.

Monstrant regibus astra viam.
The stars show the way to kings.

Mors sceptra ligonibus aequans.
Death makes sceptres equal with hoes.

Natura dictante feror.
I fly where nature bids me.

Ne discedas a statione.
Do not desert your post.

Nemo potest duobus dominis servire.
No one can serve two masters.

Nimium rebus ne fide secundis.
Do not trust prosperity too much.

Nodos Virtute resolvo.
Through Virtue I untie knots.

Noli tuba canere Eleemosynam.
Do not trumpet your charity.

Non cedit umbra soli.
Shade does not yield to the sun.

Non deest generoso in pectore virtus.
There is no lack of courage in a noble heart.

Non inferiora secutus.
Following not the inferior.

Nous scavons bien le temps.
We know well the time.

Otiosi semper egentes.
The idle are always needy.

Pacis et armorum vigiles.
Vigilant in peace and arms.

Perculsus elevor.
Though struck I am raised.

Rerum Sapientia custos.
Wisdom is the guardian of all things.

Semper.
Forever.

Servari et servare meum est.
My duty is to guard myself and others.

Sol non occidat super iracundiam vestram.
Let the sun not set on your anger.

Spiritus durissima coquit.
A noble mind digests even the most painful injuries.

Strenuorum immortale nomen.
The fame of men of action is immortal.

Studiis invigilandum.
One must pay attention to studies.

Translata proficit arbos.
A tree makes progress when transplanted.

Tutum te littore sistam.
I shall set you safe upon the shore.

Ulterius ne tende odiis.
Do not go forward in your hatred.

Usus libri, non lectio prudentes facit.
The use, not the reading, of a book makes men wise.

Varii hominum sensus.
Various are the opinions of men.

Verbum emissum non est revocabile.
A word once spoken cannot be recalled.

Veritas magna est et praevalet.
Truth is great and prevails.

Virescit vulnere virtus.
Virtue grows in strength from wounds.

Vivit ad extremum.
It lives to the end.

Votis subscribunt fata secundis.
Destiny makes wishes come true.

The 5 C's of Leading Social Change

2010-01-29T10:08:00.003Z

What does it take to lead the kind of change that effects lots of other people?

I've had the privilege to be with two leaders doing just that this month.

The first is my colleague Mike Perls head of one of the North West's leading marketing & communications agencies, MC2, and fellow member of the Institute of Director's Regional Board. So fired-up was Mike by the UK's dire economic situation that he created RAW2010, to kick-start a new wave of entrepreneurial activity. Take look here for more information www.mcmc.co.uk

The second is Chris Pratt currently a fellow board member at Trafford Healthcare and soon to become Director of Children's Services in Doncaster. Chris has transformed the services provided for children and young people in Trafford and is well-placed to do the same for Doncaster, currently one of the 11 worst-performing councils in the country.

Here's what I think it takes to lead this kind of change that has a huge impact on other people's lives:

1. Conscience
To be open, aware and compassionate enough to feel the needs of "the greater good".
In my coaching experience it's actually very rare for someone to not have this type of conscience. But it's easy to get overwhelmed by the needs of the world around us and a natural strategy is to start tuning-out those needs, otherwise we'd find it hard to get though the day looking after ourselves, let alone others. What people like Mike and Chris have managed to do though is to unlearn the habit of tuning-out that conscience - and to combine that with...

2. Commitment
The will to take sustained action in service of your beliefs.
I've noticed a lot of variety in the way that commitment shows up for people and the kind of underlying thought-structures and behaviours that sustain it. But I've no doubt that, in whatever way works for the individual, it can be learned, sustained and developed.

3. Connection
To be emotionally grounded enough to connect easily and meaningfully with others.
For a lucky few, this happens naturally but for most of us it takes work to stay healthy, grounded and balanced enough ourselves to deal with the swings and roundabouts of life without losing connection with others.

4. Capability
The skills and attributes that boost your chances of success
Mike and Chris are both people with fantastic skill sets and the ability to choose their behaviours to suit their situation. I've always believed that this kind of capability comes from BOTH an innate set of natural intelligences AND a willingness to develop. Recent research in the field of Emotional Intelligence supports this - although our capabilities will at some stage be limited by the cards that nature dealt us, most of us have a long, long way to go before we reach that limit.

5. Circumstances
Choosing in to be in the right place, at the right time, with the right people around us
Circumstances are important because they shape the range of successful options and ways of doing things. However, it seems to me that people who are able to lead change are not limited by their circumstances. They operate choice about where, when and with who they expend their efforts. And when they get it wrong, they try again, often changing the where, when or with who to create a different set of circumstances.

Vroom, Vroom, Motivation

2010-01-02T12:31:00.002Z

Re-posting from 2006

Over the last four or five months I’ve noticed that my motivation about a few things has been really up and down and all over the place. I had some business opportunities that I really didn’t pursue with anything like the vigour they deserved, other things I’ve been pointlessly chasing like mad and a whole lot of stuff I’ve just been plain avoiding!

And I had an email from a friend yesterday that reminded me that our last face-to-face conversation had included a throw-away comment about one of the more useful motivation theories – the “Expectancy Theory”. I thought I’d take a look at this again and see if it confirmed some of the suspicions and instincts I had about why my own motivation had been so up and (mostly) down just recently.

Incidentally, if you ever needed an extra reason to examine motivation, the Expectancy Theory was first developed by a guy called Victor Vroom; I can’t think about it without my right foot pressing an imaginary gas pedal, “vroom, vroom”.

This is all summarised, bowdlerised and plagiarised by me, so don’t rely on it to pass your exams or anything, but here goes:

Motivation is the force that directs your behaviour; initiates it, determines some of your behavioural choices and influences the persistence (or otherwise) of that behaviour.

According to Expectancy Theory, your motivational force is derived from three related pairs of perceptions, where you might ask yourself:

Effort/Performance – to what extent do I believe that the effort I put into something will lead to a good performance at it?
Performance/Outcome – to what extent do I believe that a good performance at something will lead to the outcome I want?
Outcome/Value – to what extent do I believe that the successful outcome is of value to me?

And as I went through trying to make sense of this theory, at least one thing became clear for me about the business opportunity I so half-heartedly followed. I never believed that this would come-off, regardless of how well my end of things went. The link between performance and outcome just wasn’t there for me.

And actually, I’d have been much better served by recognising this upfront and either taking steps to increase the linkage between good performance and outcome or, and I really believe this was the case here, just passing it by altogether, putting no further effort in and finding something better instead.

How about you?

What are you working on (or avoiding) right now, where one or more of these linkages is not in place

And, bigger question, what end of the chain do you start at when deciding what to do – “effort/performance” is the “I do it because I’m good at it” end, whilst “outcome/value” is the “I do it because it’s important to me” end?

Men, Maps & Sir Vivian Fuchs

2009-11-24T09:00:00.009Z

What is it about maps that is so enticing?

We haven't yet moved the big world map into my son’s new bedroom, but in the meantime we’ve been playing all sorts of games with it, imagining what people’s lives are like in different countries, figuring out how to get by boat from one country to another, talking about the animals and the weather.

From reading this blog entry, you won’t get that wonderful smell of the printer’s ink on a new map, or the clapping sound a large map makes as you shake it out.

With a map, you can go anywhere - if you have sun or stars you don’t even need a compass, just a good map.

With a map, you can see what a big, diverse world we live in. Everywhere are people who have hopes and fears just like us.

What about you - what do maps evoke for you?

Often when I think of maps, I remember a guy called Sir Vivian Fuchs, a polar explorer, who died ten years ago this month. I read his obituary just because I was so struck by his face.

Looking at that face I think I see a man who is so ready to go find out what land the map actually represents - or even to go where there are no maps, to create them for others. And he had an interesting life, that wasn’t always easy and had a fair number of costly mistakes. He wrote a frank autobiography, ” A Time to Speak” which is now out of print. [click here for link to his obituary]

Other links you might be interested in if maps light your candle:

[Ordnance Survey - mapping Great Britain]

[Stanfords - maps and travel books to die for]

[Strange Maps - a blog about, well, strange maps!]

14 Things Top Coaches Say to "I Can't Do It"

2009-11-23T16:15:00.003Z

1. Will you NEVER be able to do it?

2. Not tackling the difficult and dangerous things is sometimes a sensible approach.

3. What is much more important than worrying about whether you can or can't do it?

4. Whether you think you can or whether you think you can't, you're right! (Henry Ford)

5. A lot of people through time must have found themselves feeling that they can't do it.

6. Which part, specifically, can you not do?

7. What is the cost of not doing it?

8. How do you know for sure that you can't do it?

9. Difficult things often look easier only after you've done them.

10. Overcoming difficulties and obstacles can take time.

11. Have you or has anyone you can think of ever done something like this before?

12. A journey of a thousand miles begins with a single step (Confucius).

13. You can't - or you don't want to?

14. It's not whether you can or can't, it's more about learning from experience.

The Three Types Of Tweeters

2009-11-12T11:42:00.015Z

How does the way you Tweet show your preferences for relating to other people?

Thinking about how I use Twitter the other day brought up a connection to one of my favourite books of the moment "Words that Change Minds" by Shelle Rose Charvet. I took her course last year and really enjoyed it. More about the book at the end of this post.

Anyway, I use Twitter a bit like the casual conversations I used to have in the office (back when I had to work in one...). Swapping information, finding out what's going on, taking a break from serious stuff to connect about something trivial, and so on.

In her book, Shelle describes the different preferences we operate to do with whether we like to have other people around us or not. There are three patterns:

1. Independent - Likes to work alone with sole responsibility;

2. Proximity - Prefers to have their own territory with others around; &

3. Co-operative - Is at their most productive when sharing responsibility with others.

I definitely operate a Proximity preference most of the time. And I think this is reflected in the way I use Twitter - connecting with others when I want to and in the way I want, but not having to be always connected. According to Shelle, this is the most common trait, exhibited by about 60% of people at work.

But I wonder how someone with an Independent preference would use Twitter?
If they use it at all, I imagine they'd be more of a 'broadcaster' - sending out their own individual tweets without any need to involve others along the way.

And what about a person with a Co-operative preference?
Perhaps they might tweet only when others had been deeply involved in what they have to say.

How about you...
What does the way you tweet - if at all - say about your own preferences for when you are at your best at work, working alone, with others around, or sharing responsibility?

Or look at it the other way. When you're happiest, is it on your own, with others around or in a shared experience - or possibly some mix of those? And is that reflected in the way that you tweet?

My proximity preference would really like you to leave a comment, so if you share that or the co-operative trait why not click the COMMENTS or 'Post a Comment' link below and let us know what you think.

The book "Words that Change Minds" is a great read on its own but may also turbo-charge your ability to have fruitful connections with people. Based on the Language and Behaviour Profile (LAB) tool, it helps explain why some people's behaviour is different from yours and how to use language to understand that and have better communications. Be warned though, there's a strong element of being able to sell to and trigger other people - read it with your own morals and motives intact.

You Are Not Who You Think You Are

2009-10-21T08:46:00.007+01:00

I watched a fascinating episode in the BBC's 'Horizon' strand yesterday evening, attempting to answer the question "How do we know who we are?".

This was a good summary of the various strands of thinking that have been gathering force around this topic over the last decade as research into it starts to become mainstream science.

The BBC's Horizon page is currently here:
www.bbc.co.uk/horizon

Another good overview (and actually quite detailed) examination of this topic of identity and what makes 'me' think that I am 'me' is in Tor Norretranders' book "The User Illusion"

Both Horizon and Tors share the view that this person we call "I" is probably a synthesis of the several biological brain processes working as a kind of 'network'. And that many of these processes operate out of necessity on an unconscious level.

Tors maintains that because our brains are able to receive and process many millions of bits of information (far more than we could handle consciously) and because memory gives us an evolutionary advantage, then 'consciousness' (the person we think of as 'I') only exists as a kind of librarian in what is actually an almost totally automated library. The librarian is there as a kind of organising principal and comfort factor.

Both Horizon and Tors point to recent research showing that apparently conscious decisions - for example to reach for a glass of water because I'm thirsty - actually take place unconsciously first.

Horizon repeated experiments which show that this actually unconscious decision-making process happens up to SIX seconds before the conscious part of the brain builds the illusion that it made the decision. The presenter was astounded to discover that the scientists watching him inside a magnetic resonance imager were able to know whether he had decided to press a left or right button before he was consciously aware of his decision!

Horizon also showed how the brain could be fooled into thinking that it was observing itself (and its body, of course) sitting in one place when it was actually a few feet away.

I'm fascinated by all of this because of its profound implications for change work, personal development and emotional intelligence.

It seems that science is able to prove what some philosophers and therapists have been attempting to work with for some time, things like:

1) If I change the inputs to my mind, for example, the kind of tv I watch, or I change my biological processes, for example by sleeping better or exercising more, then the "I" will also be changed

2) I can use my mind to imagine observing myself and introduce the information of my behaviour as part of my unconscious library. I can create a feedback loop that introduces more awareness of the whole me, not just the illusory conscious part, and add more choices about how the whole of that behaves

3) I can be aware that a lot of my reaction to and understanding of other people arises from this amalgam of unconscious processes. Then, I can (a) deliberately use my unconscious to help build better understanding of others and (b) give my internal librarian a little more choice in what reactions I actually let myself express

4) The best change work will balance working at a conscious level with the knowledge that most of what determines a person's sense of self is actually happening at an unconscious level. Working with the whole physiological system, for example reminding somebody how their posture affects their internal confidence and their external ability to relate to others becomes very important. As does working directly at a subconscious level, for example using metaphor and imagery to describe a person's experience, hopes and fears rather than talking more (illusory) directly about them.

I'm also reminded of the Buddhist concept of Anatta, meaning 'no self', in which the mind is nothing but a complex compound of fleeting mental states. Descartes and Bertrand Russell had related things to say - nice to see science catching-up!

How are you doing with your own sense of who you are?

And what does it mean for you if who you think you are is more fluid and unconsciously-determined then we thought?

Please leave a comment because it helps people to express their thoughts too.

Don't Pay the Price for Being Sad

2009-10-05T12:11:00.011+01:00

Do you always take time to get yourself into the right emotional frame of mind before you take an important purchasing, hiring or product decision? Or before you respond to an unpleasant stimulus, like an annoying email or a challenging blog comment?

I've written before about the ways you can use to change your emotional state - see in particular: 39 Simple Ways to Change Your Day.

And I just came across research by Lerner, Small and Loewenstein into what an impact emotions can have on important decisions. They got one group of people into a sad state of mind by getting them to watch a sad movie and then imagine how they'd feel in that situation. Then they looked at how that sadness influenced the groups' purchasing and selling decisions compared to a control group.

On the whole, the people who were sad either paid 30% more for an item as purchasers, or were willing to sell an item for 30% less as sellers - a big margin!

Even more significant, they were unaware that their emotions had had this impact.

[Click here to download a pdf of their research report]

For me, this highlights even more reasons, and in this case very practical ones, to take care of your emotional state at work.

Top Ten Ways to Survive Working Really Hard

2009-09-24T10:45:00.008+01:00

1. Prioritise
Just because you've got a lot of stuff to do doesn't mean it's the right stuff to do. Stay rigorous in your choices, say "no" when you need to, and continue to refresh your assessment of your 'top three' priorities. If you could only do three things before you were forced to take a break, what would they be?

2. Stay Connected
Don't out-distance your colleagues, friends and family, to the point where you're so far out in front you're really on your own. This is not sustainable. Instead, make sure you have the balance of your effort right: senior people need to work hard at connecting with other people as much (if not more) as driving the task-achievement. Who do you need to connect with today?

3. Keep Part Of Your Pain Monitor Switched On
Like an athlete who knows how to get through the pain barrier, you can switch off a lot of the signals about how much it's hurting. But you need to keep part of your mind monitoring this. What's showing up on your pain monitor that you need to deal with?

4. Make Coming Down Routine
Working hard can be such a rush. I love feeling really alive with the pressure and buzz of it all. I don't like the come-down so much, especially when I let it crash into me all at once. Music, movement, letting your eyes focus on the distance and anything which healthily engages your senses of touch and smell will really help. What might be in your come-down routine?

5. Keep It Light
Isn't it a bit funny really, putting all this effort into stuff which probably won't even exist 200 years from now? You've probably already seen something funny in it anyway? And I often feel like I'm Charlie Chaplin in that scene from Modern Times where he's desperately trying to keep up with the ever-accelerating cogs and gears of the machine. Maybe I should grow a comic moustache – how about you?

6. Keep The End In Mind
There is some point to all this effort right? Even if it's just to keep the wolf from the door? I only ask, because sometimes people have got the act of working really hard confused with the reason for working really hard. And that can lead to sub-optimal choices about the strategies you can use. Find your reason for working so hard, don't be embarrassed by it, champion it, and keep it close by.

7. Use The 80:20 Rule
The first 20% of effort you put in gets 80% of the result. And conversely, the last 20% of the result takes the remaining 80% of your effort. Learn when 80%+ is a good enough result. Sony used this to devastating effect when first grabbing their huge share of the personal electronics market, and Apple may now be doing the same. Getting many 80% right results out there gives you more feedback, more time in the limelight and more opportunities to improve than getting out just a few 99% right results.

8. Go With The Flow
Do I take the rough overgrown path everytime, or the smooth downhill one? Should I push at the open door or try to knock down that closed one instead? I probably am strong enough to paddle my canoe upstream (for a while) but might it be more sensible to go with the current downstream and save my strength for paddling round those dangerous rocks and pulling out of the water at that nice sandy bank? Hmm – what do you think?

9. Get A Life
This was a hard one for me, because there isn't much that comes close to the personal reward I get from my work. And I'm better at my work (and probably a better person all round) when that isn't the only thing in my life. Don't try too hard to choose the 'right' other stuff to have in your life; best to just pick-up what's (metaphorically) right in front of you and go with that. Got boots and hills? – go for a hike. Got kids? – go to the zoo. Got pots, basil and tomatoes? – cook Italian. Get it?

10. Don't Take The Bait
People working really hard sometimes mistakenly bite at two different kinds of bait out of unconscious emotional reactions. The two types of bait to avoid are: (1) tempting possibilities that look at first like they will get you closer to your goal, but really end up wasting your time; & (2) painful prods or comments connected to some flaw in yourself or your work and which lead to unproductive outbursts or withdrawals. To avoid both of these, be an observant fish and swim around the bait a few times before deciding if it's a genuine juicy morsel or a hook waiting to catch you.

Abundance Conkers All

2009-09-15T08:51:00.007+01:00

At the weekend I received my friend Patrick Ryan's occasional newsletter. He always writes about something consciousness-raising, and this one was no exception, with a moving and elegant article on abundance.

If you believe that there is enough of what you need around in the world then it becomes easier to have what you need - and in a way that creates abundance for others too.
But Patrick's an old hippy so I read it and moved on. Click here for his website.

In the meantime, we have a family trip to the movies and on the way home are surprised to find a group of people, heads down, milling around in our front garden. Our huge Horse-chestnut tree is really loaded with conkers, a week or so early this year we think, and a stiff breeze has delivered a carpet of spiky green casings and yummy brown conkers.

Our drive is open to the road and the windfall has attracted a number of passers-by; some casual browsers and a family of serious conker-collectors, all busy harvesting the fall.

As usual, I'm quite peeved that all these strangers should make themselves so at home on my driveway and I begin to figure out just how rude I can be to them without seeming like a total madman. My son, aged seven becomes very worried that there will not be enough conkers for him to play with and runs inside to write a sign telling people to leave the conkers alone.

But my wife is a little better at seeing the bigger picture, even without having read Patrick's newsletter, and she remembers that one of the groups on our driveway is the family from up the road that our son wanted to make friends with. She fetches some bags and buckets and pretty soon we're all collecting and swapping hints on soaking conkers in vinegar, baking and the best kind of shoelaces. It's a street party before we even know it. And our son gets an invite to go play with his new friends.

The tree meanwhile doesn't care about any of this. It's just being a Horse-chestnut tree and getting on with making conkers in abundance. In the photo is this morning's collection.

Ongoing Review: Paul McKenna's 'I Can Make You Thin'

2009-09-07T11:35:00.013+01:00

I discovered on our recent summer breaks that I can't really go on denying how much weight I've put on over the last couple of years. A decent hike had my knees hurting on the climbs and when I got my wetsuit on to dip in the North Sea there was an unfamiliar tummy-shaped bulge.

Already being aware that my unconscious eating habits were the cause, Paul McKenna's book ' I Can Make You Thin' was an obvious choice for something to help me change those habits, in preference to a diet or gym routine.
Click here for the book on Amazon

I'm going to introduce that book and system here, and then update my progress below as I work through it.

Now I know that some people say Paul McKenna can seem cheesy, oily and sometimes a bit creepy, but I'm not bothered about letting that get in the way of me benefiting from what he does. And what he does very well is to deconstruct a desirable skill or behaviour that an 'expert' has (in this case, thin people) into:

the full unconscious set of behaviours that perform the skill
the coding of such behaviours into a teachable / learnable format.

Most of the very simple (lightweight, even) book is dedicated to setting out the four golden rules of the system:

When you are hungry, EAT
Eat what you really want, not what you think you should
Eat CONSCIOUSLY and enjoy every mouthful
When you think you are full, STOP eating.

(but you should note that in the '90 Day Success Journal' also discussed below, these rules subsequently seem to also include: drinking water before meals and moving your body)

Other chapters also usefully cover ways to bust craving and overcome emotional eating.
The newest edition of the book also includes a 'Mind-Programming' CD, which is about 25 minutes of hypnosis.

Day 0, Initial Check-in
I discover I weigh about 12% more than I want to weigh.

I read through the book, the principals seem to align with what I'm looking for - something which will help me change bad habits in a way that aligns with my life and goals and does not impose some ridiculous regime on me.

I decide that as this process is about changing habits, it'd help to also have the very simple '90 Day Success Journal', which I like although am aware is really just an expensive, structured notebook for logging my progress and keeping me on track.

I promise, no more photos till the end!

Day 15, First Weigh-in
I've been following the process without too much effort, completed the journal on 11 days out of the 15.
Key lessons include:

I'm letting myself get way too hungry before I eat - 1 or 2 on the 'Hunger Scale', rather than 3 or 4 where it should be, and I over-eat as a result;
I'm eating a few 'health food' items that I really hate - olive oil spread especially! I switch to butter about a week into the programme, which feels like a really silly thing to do, but let's see;
I'm eating in front of the TV and often pay absolutely no attention to my food. When I remember, I start to sniff mouthfuls before eating and then to try and see how many flavours I can spot as I chew - makes me look like I have special needs and my wife gets slightly embarrassed in restaurants;
I almost always clear my plate completely, as if I was still 14 years old, poor and permanently hungry.

I'm not expecting any weight loss, I just want to get control over my habits.
At weigh-in, I've already lost 3% of what I want to eventually lose - not a lot, but I'm pleasantly surprised that it's going in the right direction.
Next check-in at the 30 day mark.

Day 30, Second Weigh-In
I think I'm already noticing some changes; my energy levels have gone up and I'm having less bloated tummy feelings. I'm getting clearer signals from my body about what foods it needs and have upped my vegetable and roughage intake as a result. I also went as far as to cook a few vegetarian meals, which I used to really love doing; they were great!
I've been pretty good with the programme, at least giving it my attention for 13 out of the last 15 days.
However, I am still missing some key components of it, in particular I have NOT been:

moving my body - my lifestyle has become very sedentary as I've got busier and busier this year, and I really do need to do something about this - haven't even been for a decent hike apart from on holiday;
listening to the accompanying CD - the thought of listening to Paul McKenna's voice is putting me off and I don't want that to carry on getting in the way of what he has to offer - I load it onto the iPod and resolve to have a listen at least once;
doing the "mirror exercise", which is supposed to involve standing in front of the mirror and remembering a time when someone I trust or respect paid me a compliment. This is good stuff, I know and it would help if I did it, but I'm resisting. I suppose, if I'm really honest, I don't want to get into this kind of exercise because I would then have to admit that I'm not feeling totally good about myself.

Other challenges include:

drinking more water - I buy myself a 'Glogg' water bottle and keep it with me. I'm going to look a prat, but I'll be a lighter-feeling prat;
leaving something on my plate in order to practice noticing when I'm full. Years of conditioning to empty my plate are obviously going to take some changing, so I revisit Paul's guidance on eating s-l-o-w-e-r.

And one lesson that seems really important to highlight since I can't see myself suddenly getting less busy:

when I've not had a chance to eat when I need and I arrive home feeling really really hungry, instead of piling my plate-up and scoffing, I've learnt to eat one thing first, then wait and then see if I need more. The total amount I actually need to feel happily satisfied is much less then my starving self would initially estimate.

At weigh-in, I am down by a further 12% of the amount I want to lose, which is a very surprisingly positive result.

Further update to come at day 45.

Aug 09 Camping Holiday

2009-09-03T10:00:00.000+01:00

Catching up on iPhoto after holidays.

Here's the view from our tent at the Cae Du campsite in Snowdonia

(Click the image for larger pic - big file size)

Cae Du is a fantastic campsite, right on the coast in a beautiful part of Snowdonia. On the first night we saw dolphins swimming about in the sea and later in the same week a family of seals.

More reviews and info on the campsite by clicking here.

And click here for the map location.

Book Review: The Consolations of Philosophy

2009-09-02T12:31:00.006+01:00

I thought I might do some quick book reviews of my holiday reading.

First up is The Consolations of Philosophy by Alain de Botton, which I really loved.
Reading this felt like a conversation with that kind of interesting acquaintance who manages to leave you feeling calm, refreshed and inspired. The writing is masterly; deceptively simple and well-crafted yet clearly well planned and researched.

Just a few of my favourite bits:

On 'Consolation for Frustration':

"Not everything which happens to us occurs with reference to something about us"
de Botton interpreting Seneca

"I do not allow [Fortune] to pass sentence upon myself"
quoting Seneca to mean that there is no moral universe in which external circumstances are a reflection of internal qualities.

Shit happens, get over it (that's me, not de Botton)

On 'Consolation for Difficulties':

"We should not feel embarrassed by our difficulties, only by our failure to grow anything beautiful from them"
de Botton interpreting Nietzsche

and again here:

"Fulfilment is reached by responding wisely to difficulties that could tear one apart".

I could go on, but here's the book on Amazon

And his Twitter feed is here.

Writing 20 Tweets in 40 Minutes, Can it be Done?

2009-08-03T06:00:00.003+01:00

As usual, we're off on holiday for pretty much the whole of August. This year, I've just managed to get into the habit of tweeting pretty regularly - can I write 20 tweets before I go on holiday (1 for each weekday of my absence) and set them up to tweet in the space of 40 minutes?

Clock starts at 10:10am

Resources:

http://pinglater.fm/
- a free service that lets you set-up a tweet and ping it at a pre-determined date and time to all your social networking sites (I use facebook and LinkedIn as well as Twitter) - currently experiencing some reliability problems

http://www.postlater.com/
- similar service to pinglater, but a paid-for service and hopefully a little more reliable!

Quotations
- I have a great collection myself that I cut'n'paste whenever I read a quote that I like. If you haven't got your own collection already, I recommend the Times Book of Quotations
I'll use up to 10 quotes (half of my target tweets) to make life easy for myself

My website
I've already written a whole load of useful (well, I think so) questions and stuff on my website - why not recycle some of this now. Risk is that people will feel my tweets are too linked to my site and that they're 'adverts' - hopefully that's a relatively low issue.

That's it.
Just found out that pinglater will be down until after I go, so will use postlater instead.
Total time taken including time to write this blog entry = 80 minutes, or 4 minutes per tweet. I'm happy with that. Now, let's see if the technology holds out for a month...

See you in September!

And yes, I know I should get a life, but as you're reading this, I'm on beach or up a mountain!

Top Five Ways to Receive More

2009-07-30T10:56:00.005+01:00

I'm receiving lots of things at the moment that I haven't actively been seeking: "Thank you's", acknowledgments, gifts, people checking I'm OK, and loads of offers of work! It actually has me more than a little surprised.

I'm someone who has always been proud of being a "go getter"; very good at getting what I need, at making things happen, at driving not being a passenger. So it's been a very interesting experience to learn more about how to receive. And my thinking about it is maybe still a little fuzzy :-)

Here's some of the components I think I've spotted about being a good receiver:

1. Waiting
I've learnt that I don't always have to be pro-active. So perhaps waiting makes it easier for other people to take the lead, and for them to be in a position to offer me things?

2. Stillness
The partner of waiting, I don't always need to be chasing around. Perhaps being still in one place allows other people to find me for a change?

3. Going with the flow
I could paddle my canoe upstream, I'm strong enough to do that - for a while. Or I can see where the current takes me, enjoying the feeling of the water supporting my boat, and taking time to look out for the occasional sandy bank for sunbathing. Maybe other people find it easier to approach someone floating downstream rather than paddling furiously upstream?

4. Vulnerability
I've been taking time this year to look out for the things that I'm concerned or worried about, and then just acknowledging those concerns. This is very different to my usual "I'm superman and therefore have no fear" approach and although I'm not actually 'doing' anything all that different about them, perhaps I'm just somehow easier to offer help to - after all, how do you offer to help superman?

5. Show the Gaps
Also it occurs to me that I've been doing a lot more of telling people about what I'm doing and what I'm finding difficult. Again, this is different for me, as in my head I think I'm such a positive person, who always knows how to do what he wants to do. I feel like I'm showing people where the gaps are in my plans. Maybe that makes it easier for others to see where they might slot something helpful in?

I'd appreciate your views on how to receive more.
What else do you do, even if it's something small, that makes it easier for other people to give, help or offer you support?

Being a Dragon with Theo Paphitis

2009-07-02T21:31:00.005+01:00

I had the privilege this week to be at the final reception of the Many Hands Campaign, which has been raising funds for the new Royal Manchester Children's Hospital Appeal over the last twelve months by encouraging smaller businesses to get involved.

This part of the appeal drew to a close on Tuesday at a Dragon's Den-style reception with celebrity businessman Theo Paphitis, where we learned that the campaign has raised £100,000.

I think I spent the evening feeling a little star-struck on the Dragon's panel next to Theo and with well-known director of Manchester United football club, Maurice Watkins at the other end!

My small part of the campaign was to be offered as a prize to the team that showed the most innovative approach to fundraising - as well as a dinner with Theo, the winners get a day's coaching from me - whether they need it or not...
The prizes went to Sheldon Bean from Beanstalk Telecom and Nigel Woolfstein from Wood and Woolfstein Dental Surgery who raised nearly £18,000 with their 24 hour tennis tournament and I'm looking forward to working with you both Sheldon and Nigel.

Congratulations also to the other 3 shortlisted finalists for all presenting fantastic pitches at the event.

Theo was really clear that charitable giving by business makes very good business sense, because it engages and inspires staff so much. He also had a passionate stab at denying the existence of any recession beyond the media hype and resultant worrying - and stressed the importance of being the best you can in order to survive, in his words "be the tallest midget left standing".

Although this part of the campaign has now finished, the appeal as a whole continues and you can find ideas for fundraising, other ways to get involved or spread the word and even make a donation if you click here - even a small amount will make a difference.

The Difference that Makes the Difference

2009-06-29T09:45:00.006+01:00

If you've ever wondered how some people can do things that apparently similar people struggle with, then you'd have enjoyed being me yesterday!

I had a fantastic time witnessing friends present final projects from their Master Practitioner qualification at the Northern School of NLP.

Each of the projects was a 'modeling' exercise to fully replicate a desirable skill or behaviour that an 'expert' has into:

the full unconscious set of behaviours that perform the skill
the coding of such behaviours into a teachable / learnable format.

It's an approach which looks at the "know-how", as opposed to "know-what" or "know-why" that sets these experts apart from their peers.

I loved (nearly) all of the projects and some particular highlights for me included:

Richard Youell from People & Performance
Richard's hobby is bee-keeping and he had studied how some bee-keepers are able to find the all-important queen bee every time in a matter of seconds when others can spend a lifetime never being able to find one. Excellent example of coding and transferring know-how and if the military find out they could learn a thing or two about interpreting highly detailed satellite photos!

Sarah Rhodes of the Appleton Practice
Sarah is an inspiringly bubbly person and working mum and she modeled the ability to have a positive experience when giving birth. This was such an elegant and practical model and already has interest from a number of organisations, including the NHS. Watch out for her best-seller sometime!

Derek King
I don't know Derek personally - if any reader does, please post a link in the comments section - and I loved his model of how to perform gracefully in the face of setbacks.
What Derek's work added in a big way to my own understanding is the importance of being open to the positive elements in the unexpected. If I can find the exhilirating and uplifting parts in whatever happens to come my way, that will really add to my ability to perform gracefully in the face of setbacks. I don't know who the source experts were for Derek's project, but I suspect that this would be something we'd find successful entrepreneurs doing very well.

More people are presenting today and I will miss them - good luck all!

Lessons from the Top

2009-06-24T09:27:00.010+01:00

I was a guest at the Ernst & Young Entrepreneur of the Year awards ceremony last night.
Apart from having a good meal and gossip with business peeps, several things are really worth mentioning here:

1. The overall winner - Dean Hoyle of Sportswift Limited (T/a Card Factory)
Told a great story during his acceptance speech of how a rival firm had visited his first shop, perhaps with a view to a deal of some kind. They'd left very unimpressed and had remarked on the way out "This is nothing special". Dean didn't say it, but you could feel the sense of "I'll show 'em". Now his company is the most profitable high street specialist card retailer in the UK and (& he didn't tell us this) they recently gave £1 million to the MacMillan cancer charity!

Never underestimate the benefit of being told you can't do it or aren't good enough

2. The event MC, David Mellor
Gave us a great definition of an entrepreneur:

"Someone who works 80 hours a week for themselves instead of 40 hours a week for somebody else."

It's not for everybody, but who would you rather work for...?

3. The guest speaker, Martin Anscough
From a family scrap metal business to the £255m sale of his crane business via staunch work for The Princes Trust. If Martin mentioned the need for patience in business once, he must have mentioned it a dozen times: "You do your job well and then you've got to be patient and wait for the rewards" or "Be better than your competitors, be patient, stick in there for the long term".

Be the best you can and then be patient

What are your lessons from the top? - please share them by clicking on the COMMENTS or Post a Comment link below. Even a little something can be really useful to mention.

Life Update 14 June 09

2009-06-14T11:09:00.004+01:00

Just had a nice Sunday morning stroll into Altrincham town centre, with Alex riding his bike there for the first time. Bribed him with a comic and the little angel rode all the way home again too!

Bumped into our local MP, the very friendly and excellent constituency MP, Graham Brady, who invited me down to the House of Commons to tell him about my coaching business when I first started. Gave me a tour and a whole hour listening to my business plans.

Triggers for Unconscious Behaviour

2009-05-21T11:25:00.011+01:00

Recently I've been helping a few clients who wanted more choice, control and freedom over their behaviours.

To help raise awareness of the triggers for so much of our unconscious behaviour we've been using Hungry, Angry, Lonely, Tired (H.A.L.T.). Each of these emotions and bodily states can have a huge impact on your behaviour, if you're not aware of and managing them.

And one client came back this week with an even better mnemonic of theirs, which I have permission to share here: S.H.I.T!

This so inspired me, I thought it might be fun to explain S.H.I.T. and come up with a few more expletive mnemonics as reminders of the triggers which can lead to unconscious behaviours.

The original HALT comes from Alcoholics Anonymous, where it is used to help manage the triggers which can lead to alcoholic sessions - a prime example of potentially undesirable unconscious behaviour.

Most of the people reading this will be more concerned about the kind of unconscious behaviours that mean they don't influence effectively in a meeting, or fail to deliver on something that's important to them, or don't manage their time effectively, or react badly with colleagues or family. But it's the same important issue - unless we are aware of what 'triggers' us and are actively managing it, unconscious behaviours which we don't really want will continue to occasionally run the show.

I hope nobody from AA minds me having some fun with this as a way of helping people:

H.A.L.T. = Hungry (and/or thirsty), Angry, Lonely, Tired

S.H.I.T. = Sad, Hurt, Irritated, Tired

B.O.L.L.O.C.K.S. = Bored, Overwhelmed, Lonely, Lovelorn, Outraged, Craving, Knackered, Suffering

C.R.A.P. = Cranky, Randy, Anxious, Peckish (this one is most typical of me)

Would you care to share some of the emotions or bodily states that can trigger your unconscious behaviours - and maybe fit them into some other expletives...? Please click on the comments link below.

Competition: The Final Frontier

2009-05-19T17:32:00.005+01:00

A free 15-minute break (worth its weight in gold) to everybody who successfully identifies the source of this quote:

"You've always had a hard time finding your place in this world, haven't you? Never knowing your true worth. You can settle for less in ordinary life, or do you feel like you were meant for something better? Something special?"

I love this quote sooo much!
It feels like I have a new edge to my mission in life.

To claim your prize of a free 15-minute break, simply post a comment below correctly identifying the source of the quote and don't forget to include your name. Prizes may be collected at a time of your convenience by stopping whatever you are doing for a maximum of 15 minutes. No cash alternatives are offered, but you may claim more than one prize.

39 Simple Ways to Change Your Day

2009-05-18T07:00:00.003+01:00

Recent advances in cognitive science have started to prove that what we think we experience in our daily life and work is really the product of layer upon layer of interpretation by our unconscious minds.

X happens and even before it has happened, your mind is at work, ready to interpret and ascribe meaning to it, pretty much without any conscious intervention from you at all.

This is a sobering discovery.
But in one way good news, because it means that we can change what we are experiencing at work and in our lives, without having to change what is actually happening, but simply by adjusting what our minds are up to.

Here's my list of 39 simple (and nearly free) ways to change your experience of your day:

Dance around to loud music from your youth
Say a personal "thank you" instead of just filing that email
Have a 5 minute tidy-up session
Call a friend
Go for a hike
Take a nap
Stand at the window (NB for extra oomph, you can wave at a colleague or passerby)
Cook something tasty
Be a courteous driver
Go fly a kite
Lie on the floor and notice everything you haven't seen before
Give someone a hug
Sing in the car
Walk around the block
Have lunch with someone dear
Raise your head and have a pointless think
Go ride a bike
Read a book in the middle of the day
Light a candle
Send someone a postcard
What snippet do you know that a colleague might find useful? - Go tell them
Visit a bookshop coffee bar
Drill/sand/bash some wood
Go commando, you know you want to
Watch/listen to some comedy
Rip up a newspaper and recycle bad news for something better
Smile
Wear Sunscreen
See if you can get a boomerang to come back
Make a cup of tea as a surprise for a colleague
Look at the stars/moon/clouds
Do the crossword
Stick a Post-It on your forehead labeled "remember to change my mind sometimes"
Rent a movie
Pray
Touch a tree
Splash through a puddle
Prune a bush
Sit in a different place/chair with a cuppa

Will you please add your own to this list by clicking on the COMMENTS link below?

I Got Those LDV Blues

2009-05-06T11:37:00.005+01:00

I see LDV are in the news.

My wife and I used to own a business doing design strategy work in the automotive sector. We traveled all around the world, to wherever there was a car or truck company design studio. Because we were small and doing something that nobody else had thought of doing we got successful quite fast.

And back then we sometimes turned down work from other larger consultancies and peripheral suppliers, preferring to work directly with the automotive manufacturers themselves wherever we could. However, LDV was the only manufacturer that we ever turned down an offer of work from, even though they are probably one of the closest clients (geographically-speaking) we could have found.

But we just felt they wouldn't be able to make any use of the consultancy support they wanted to commission from us. We didn't think LDV would get the funding from their then-parent company to pursue our recommendations, because they couldn't make a commitment to a direction themselves. And we didn't think they'd understand the results however smart we got at presenting complex ideas simply, because it sounded like 'understanding' was a difficult thing that LDV management just didn't like to do.

You couldn't help thinking that they were symptomatic of the standard of management in British automotive manufacturing in the 80s & 90s...

I don't know the current management, who must have taken on a difficult task in a difficult time and I hope a deal can be found that makes the most of what they do have and helps out all the people who work directly at LDV, in the dealerships and in the supplier companies.

Everything's Coming Up Roses (you have to sing it...)

2009-04-24T15:37:00.010+01:00

I've had a lot of fun and learning these last two months getting some great voice and performance coaching.

It was something I'd had on my to-do list from years ago, as I'd always felt that 'voice' and the associated performance is really important in coaching and something that should be included in our professional development. But I gave-up looking for training at never quite being able to find the right tutor.

Then some feedback from a couple of mates on my latest attempt to publish an audio book prompted me to get moving - and reminded me that, on a completely different training course, I'd since made friends with the musical theatre performer David Kent.

I remembered just over a year ago sitting in a room with David during a group discussion. It was a large group, the discussion was animated and some of us weren't getting heard. David was making an observation but got interrupted once or twice when all of a sudden, without shouting or sounding at all different from when he spoke normally, the volume of David's voice suddenly went from a '2' to an '8'!

It was amazing; heads swiveled, the hubbub died down and David made his point, speaking now at about '5' or '6' without any effort or distortion. It was clear that here was a man who knew how to use his voice. Not just around controlling volume, but giving authority (or whatever quality he wanted) into his speech and his performance.

So when friends prompted me to rekindle my search for training, I immediately thought of David and tricked him into interrupting his composing and rehearsals long enough to coach me through some of the basics.

You can catch David performing on 8th May at the Angel Hotel, Market Harborough. 01858 462702 for reservations Or click here to email David for more information.

Feeling Alive

2009-04-21T11:33:00.010+01:00

Playing football with my lad on the beach at Formby last week I don't think I've felt quite so totally, gloriously alive in ages.

The sun was shining enough to gently warm us and make the sea sparkle. In the distance, we could see the occasional fantastic silhouettes of container ships heading in to Crosby. Little clusters of families were brightly coloured oases in miles of duney sand, and you could just about hear the kids laughing and shouting over the crashing of waves.

But I think the best part for me was the feel of the sand beneath my bare feet. We were playing on the not-quite-dry, not-soggy-wet part, where the sand ripples were still intact. While I was running, the beach was doing reflexology.

How about you?

How's your aliveness doing now and what experiences have had you feeling totally, gloriously, joyously alive?

Top Five Ways to Get More Stuff Finished

2009-04-09T15:18:00.010+01:00

I'm not a natural completer/finisher.
I get very excited at possibilities and am great at starting things with a passion but then something else exciting catches my attention and...

So imagine my surprise and joy during a visit to the Leonardo da Vinci drawings at Manchester Art Gallery upon reading this about old Leo:

"Though Leonardo was famous as an artist, few of his contemporaries were aware of his scientific researches. He wrote copious notes and intended to publish several treatises, but, like many of his artistic projects, these were never finished."

There it is - Leonardo da Vinci was not a completer/finisher either!

Perhaps Leonardo - also known for writing with both hands at the same time and for trying to sleep for only two hours a day - was really excited about all he found to learn and experiment and create about. So that, once he'd understood something to his own satisfaction, finishing the article so that others could read it as well simply became a distraction.

I was inspired to be a little Leornado-like and to experiment around this issue and so here are my top 5 ways to get more stuff finished:

1. In order to get something finished, don't actually bother to finish it
Who says finishing is important anyway? From one point of view, most things, especially scientific answers, are never actually definitively 'finished'. Do as much as you feel like doing and then publish that as it is. When you're ready, write the sequel that continues the story.
Do you really believe they know how 'Lost' will end?

2. Start Less
Get really, really choosy about what you actually do start. Since I began this experiment about two months ago, I've kept a list of all the things I could have started. I look at that long list now and half the things on it are just complete gibberish - I don't even know what they mean. And most of the rest now seem quite boring. One or two however could be really good ideas...

3. Go Slower
I must be a natural Hare not a Tortoise and it's been difficult to slow down. But now the filing is done. And my writing is up to date. And my committees are running well. And my coaching clients have more space. And when I've finished something, I take breaks and sit looking out of the window. Drink tea slowly enough to taste it. Use. More. Full. Stops.

4. Work Sequentially, Not in Parallel
True multi-tasking is a myth, but having the freedom to work from start to finish on just one thing at a time is also highly unlikely these days.
The trick is to be more conscious of when you switch from activity A to B.
Imagine holding an artist's palette, loaded with sweet-smelling oil paints: "Now I'm painting with cobalt blue. Now it's time to switch colours. Now I'm cleaning my brush. Now I can paint with cadmium red. Now I'm standing back to check perspective." If you don't do this, you'll just end up with brown everyhere.

5. Ask for Help
Maybe Leonardo employed a team of research assistants (if you're reading this and you know or want to find out if he did or not - please write a comment); my guess is he found it distracting and annoying to ask others for help. He probably thought it slowed you down or made the process more mundane or less easy to control. If you can bring yourself around to asking for help, you might eventually be pleasantly surprised at how willing other people can be (for a price) to help you get things finished!

The Leonardo exhibition at Manchester Art Gallery runs until 4 May but even better than the Leonardo are the huge wall paintings by Paul Morrison, on until 31 May - go see!

How Not to be a Local Influencer

2009-04-02T09:37:00.006+01:00

In these uncertain times, it's important not to get too involved with things like local business groups or to play a part in running them, perhaps on the organising committee or something like that.

If you've had a weak moment and been tempted to get involved with things like being on the committee of your local branch of a well-known business organisation, either to boost your networking or to help have a positive influence on the local economy, here are some steps you could take to pull back from that and ensure that it doesn't actually happen:

DO email the chairperson out of the blue without calling anybody in the admin office first.
This makes sure that they don't get a chance to give you some guidance on what information might be useful to the chair

DON'T actually go along to any of their events beforehand.
As well as being a waste of your time, this can be extremely inconvenient

DO make sure your email asks for more information from them, especially about the members of the current committee.
After all, you wouldn't want to fall in with a bunch of idiots

DON'T give any hint that you might think it'd be useful for your own business.
This would of course smack of desperation because no other business person apart from you has to be concerned about where their next piece of work is coming from

DO avoid giving away any suggestions, ideas or resources that might help the business group even before you've arrived - "take first, and then maybe seek to give"

DON'T include any information about you or your business.
The less they know, the harder it is for them to be concerned about balancing the current team

DO avoid following-up the chairperson's reply with any of their suggested actions or requests for information.

DON"T mention to anybody you already know that you are thinking of doing this.
They may inconveniently know somebody who could help you make a personal connection and that is always much messier than a simple email

DO skip over the trivial step of joining the organisation first.
This is unneccesary and expensive and will simply burden you with information about the aims of the organisation and the way it operates

That ought to do it - if you still end-up becoming involved after that then you might want to remember the words of Groucho Marx

"I wouldn't want to belong to any club that would have me as a member."

Yippee! I Passed

2009-03-09T08:55:00.006Z

I just heard that I successfully passed my NLP Master Practitioner, the course of study I've been taking for the last couple of years. I'm pretty pleased about this, even though it feels like I was already benefiting from the learning itself, it's always nice to get the certificate as well!

This was a great course, with a nice balance of theoretical understanding and practical application. I especially enjoyed the project part and am eagerly looking forward to the work I want to do now to make something of my project results.

Real mastery is something else entirely - maybe a journey rather than a destination?
George Leonard has some really useful things to say on that subject.

Oh, and this was one of my top 3 priorities for 2009 - so only two more to go!

21st Century Masculinity

2009-03-04T08:00:00.000Z

Writing in Radio Times last week, Alison Graham describes Monty Hall, the presenter of TV's 'Monty Hall's Great Escape' as a modern, caring man. Here's what she says:

"Forget your 1960s suit-wearing, cold, brutal, sexually aggressive...types, or the creepy metrosexuals... Monty is a product of the 21st century: he can build a shelter... but he's also kind and caring."

So is that what 21stC men need to be then - practically-tough and kind but without a hint of the warlike?

I haven't seen the programme, so this is a comment on that view of C21 masculinity, not a comment on Monty Hall, but it seems to me that it's a good one, but incomplete. Alison's view is missing a couple of somethings. And the missing somethings are important to us men.

A more rounded idea of what a useful C21 masculinity could be is set out in "King, Warrior, Magician, Lover' by Moore and Gillette.
Each of the primal forces of King, Warrior, Magician and Lover play a part in guiding the others:

King is the force that brings creative order where otherwise there would be chaos;
Warrior is the stance towards life that rouses, energises and motivates;
Magician is the master of hidden knowledge who guides the process of transformation - for the man himself and for others
Lover is that part of us that healthily embodies play and 'display', of sensual pleasure and being in your own body without shame.

If you're interested in what it might really mean to be a fully-rounded man in the C21, rather than a Sunday night TV version, this book is really useful.

Values are Busting Out

2009-03-03T08:00:00.002Z

I came across this Barack Obama campaign video recently, the one they describe as the "Buster" ad.

What struck me was that in describing his upbringing, President Obama lays out a half-dozen values that could be a really great description of his personal code.

Here are the values he lays out:

Hard work
Honesty
Self-reliance
Respect for other people
Kindness
Faith

Whatever you might think of Obama, what do you think of those particular values as a code to live your life by?

And what about this idea that you can have a set of values that you decide to live by?

One of the things that got me into coaching was feeling that I would like to have a code to live by, something that would guide me in my daily life, help me keep on track, inform my decisions when things where going well and support my resilience when things were tough.

What I quickly discovered was that I already had in me a set of values that had been guiding my actions and they way I felt about things for almost all my life! They're not the same as Obama's, but they are mine and when I consciously choose to live by them my life lights up. Now I love coaching with other people to help them uncover their own values and then to use them as a code for their own life and work.

Research seems to suggest that your values are formed by childhood experiences (just as President Obama describes in his video) and then shaped and evolved by your adult choices. This means that you can 'choose' to adopt a particular value, but that it's better to discover what's already there first.

How about you? What might some of your values be?

What If It Was All OK?

2009-02-27T08:00:00.002Z

Every now and then, especially in the middle of the dark winter months, I find myself feeling nervous, anxious and slightly panicky about stuff. Sometimes it's work I'm nervous about; sometimes I'm anxious for the people around me; and sometimes I'm just plain worried about my place in the world and a big bunch of other things at once.

Often my reaction to this is to try 'more' of something - to try working harder, to see more of someone I care about, to plan more, live more, play more - just more, really.

Only very occasionally am I wise enough to wonder if actually, I might be doing everything right and the whole show is working out just the way it needs to.

For someone who likes to be active, to seize the day and to make myself make the most of things, this perspective can be a tricky one. I have to take a deep breath. I have to relax into whatever is happening and not try to second-guess everything. I have to say to myself that it's not bad that I haven't heard back from that prospective client, they'll call if and when it's right. I have to see that whatever is happening to my friends and the people I care for will work out right for them too. I have to feel that the best way for me to take my place in and contribute to the world is to BE right here, right now, just the way I am.

When I am able to get into this perspective, the effects are dramatic for me. Anxiety disappears (and sometimes I notice that my anxiety has been clouding out something I can actually deal with - like a toothache I just hadn't been aware of before). My ability to relate to other people goes up by a huge amount; suddenly I'm deft and sensitive and relaxed in a very winning and connective way. And I become efficient, doing with ease things that had me stumped and struggling before.

Try it out yourself if you want to now by answering these two "what if..." questions for yourself:

What if I am actually doing it right?

What if this is how things are meant to be?

And click here for my main website if you'd like to read a little more on this subject.

Performance & Reward

2009-02-25T12:00:00.005Z

One of my son's friends in infant school, in a different class to my lad, was telling us about the performance framework his new teacher had introduced. In essence, it seems that the teacher is trying to settle-down some less well-behaved kids by rewarding changes in their behaviour with badges and sticker. Kids of course are already keen observers of 'equity' in social situations, probably way before they even get to infants school, and the little boy had spotted the flaw in this approach straight away.

Here's how the lad himself put it (and he's only 5 going-on 6 years old):

"I have to stop being good, be naughty for a while and then after that I'd get a prize".

... out of the mouths of babes indeed!

Even though this is an obvious example, I frequently come across similar examples in large organisations struggling to find ways to influence employees' behaviour, for example where bonus schemes etc still tend to reward ad-hoc initiatives and ignore day-to-day effort. And the lack of perceived equity often means that the scheme has a negative overall impact.
Better approaches help people to relate their behaviours to their personal performance and goals, and their personal performance and goals to the rewards of being part of the group/organisation. I don't think that's too much of a challenge, for organisations or kids, but it does require more thinking through, more one-to-one interventions and some skilled coaching.

Raising the Roof

2009-02-16T08:00:00.001Z

The Economist carried a great article last week about how maintenance outsourcers are actually doing well out of the recession, as companies squeeze out their in-house costs - a trend you'd think a business like the Mitie Group plc would be well-placed to exploit. Perhaps they are?

However, a mailshot arrives this morning from Mitie, addressed to "The Director of Facilities" at my old coaching business. Most of the time I was the only person in that business and I closed it about 5 years ago. The mailshot was concerned about my industrial and commercial roofing maintenance requirements even though I work from home.

I'm nearly tempted to call them and offer my condolences at such a tremendously poorly-targeted piece of marketing. I only hope thay paid really low-dollar for the mailing list. I reckon every business must be concerned at the moment about where the next bit of work is coming from, but surely that's a really good argument for getting smart about marketing - not desparate!

Wonder if they need a great business coach...

Mac Attack

2009-02-13T08:30:00.001Z

Aaarrggh, my beautiful 6-month old MacBook has had to go to the workshop; its charging mechanism suddenly refusing to re-charge the battery.

I'm beginning to wonder if using a Mac is going to be like owning an Italian car - great to look at and nothing beats the driving experience, but expect to get to know your local garage owner!

I suppose one small condolence is that even when the Mac is not working, so long as it's in the workshop not here, I'm still living in line with William Morris' famous maxim: "Have nothing in your house that you do not know to be useful or believe to be beautiful".

Inspiring Leaders

2009-02-12T09:35:00.005Z

I'm just back from an executive coaching event, and was lucky enough to sit next to our guest speaker, Dr Jane Collins, during dinner one evening. Jane is chief executive of the Great Ormond Street Hospital in London and gave us an entertaining and honest report of what it's like to be one of the longest-serving chief executives in the health service, running an institution as well-known and as unique as Great Ormond Street.

Because our dinners operate the Chatham House rule, I can't report the content here, but I do want to say, in chatting to her later, what a fantastic person I found Jane to be - a real lead-from-the-front leader committed to making things better for people. I love my work for many reasons, not least how many opportunities it creates to be around such inspirational people.

Digital Natives

2009-02-10T08:41:00.004Z

I blogged last month about our recent IoD event at communications specialists McCann Erickson.

The subject of the talk we eagerly showed up for was about managing a business reputation online in this age of social media.

The McCann people had some really interesting stuff to say about blogs and Twitter - and some of the key messages for me personally were about the shift from business 'telling' people what the business wanted them to hear, to newer, wiser companies using social media as a way to listen and engage with people. Talk with, not at.
I realised that my old blog and newsletter were not engaging people in the way that I had hoped for - and I was actually doing too much 'talking at' instead of with. So amongst other things, I finally got around now to setting-up this new blog, hosted at Blogger.com on the advice of the McCan techies, and will phase-out my newsletter over the next few weeks.
I'm not sure about Twitter, I don't think I'm online enough to use it properly, but please let me know if you think it is good?
Click here to read what the Telegraph had to say very recently.

Incidentally, I have handouts from the session at McCann's, but they're too big too host here. Head on over to my website and get in touch if you'd like me to email you a copy.

And the title of this post is a quote from Rupert Murdoch that they used at the presentation - never thought I'd type that name anywhere!

I would rather die a meaningful death than to live a meaningless life

2009-02-09T08:21:00.004Z

Occasionally I'm coaching with clients who want to get more of a vision about their true place in the world or are fed-up with feeling that this can't be all there is to life. And I sometimes ask them to write their own obituary, as if they had died way into the future after their life and work had really sorted itself out.

A great resource to support this exercise is the obituaries published in The Economist, now available as a truly fantastic book: The Economist Book of Obituaries; honestly I can't recommend this enough, either as a resource for that kind of coaching exercise, or just as a really great read about interesting and surprising people from all walks of life - good and bad.

Snow News Is Not Good News?

2009-02-06T12:54:00.006Z

We've only had one day of decent snow here in Altrincham, luckily on the day I was taking the lad to school. It was great getting pelted ALL the way there.

Watching the TV news though, it seems as if the rest of the country has been really suffering, with the usual transport chaos headlines being shouted even before the first snow fell. Working mostly from home and trying not to travel if I can help it sometimes means I'm not aware that bad transport stuff can be going on elsewhere. This week however, clients who would normally have been travelling up from London have been opting for telephone sessions instead, so I couldn't help but notice.
Now, don't take this wrong, I've doing my bit to help out neighbours stuck indoors by the weather - but seriously, it only seems to be really bad in a few areas and I wonder if we are a little too negatively influenced by tv news? Why don't they broadcast a slot entitled 'places not disrupted by the snow'?

Carpe Diem (Again!)

2009-02-05T15:14:00.009Z

I watched the Terry Pratchett programme about Alzheimers last night. It's a terrible disease and what Sir Terry has done to publicise and raise funds for research is terrific.

Without wanting to feel sorry for myself, what really got to me from the programme was the thought that if you're unlucky enough to have Alzheimers, you never know for how much longer you're actually going to be you!
Seeing as I'm totally healthy, I reckon that I ought to regard Sir Terry's example as another good reason for not sitting around moping about things but to actually get on with my life while I can.

Unaccustomed as I am...

2009-01-23T11:14:00.001Z

I had a fantastic time at two events this week.

One at the launch of the new integrated childrens’ and young peoples’ service in Trafford and the other at our latest IoD event at McCann Erickson in Prestbury.

I’d like to write more about both of those in a later post, and for now I want to comment on the contrast between my experience of the IoD event at McCann’s, which I got to chair, and one of the very first networking events I attended.

I still find it quite nerve-wracking to stand up in front of a room full of people, especially when you’re being listened to by the communications wizards at somewhere like McCanns. But I believe that it’s possible to make a real difference for business and business-people in my region, simply by getting people together in this way, creating something inspirational and helping them feel comfortable there. If I can remember that, then it’s usually enough now to banish any nerves I have as I step on the stage with a mic in my hands.

Compare that with how I remember feeling at one of the very first networking events I went to when I started coaching around 10 years ago. We met in the oak-panelled boardroom of a large company for coffee, pastries, chat and the usual powerpoint from the host company. Obviously I’d been to meetings like this before - but never because I was trying to get my own business going completely from scratch, and that just had me feeling as nervous as a bag of cats.

About halfway through the mingle, my nerves and the coffee sent me off to the toilet and, on the way back, I took a wrong turn. Somehow, instead of being back in the boardroom, I ended up in the atrium right next to the carpark. I was so nervous and embarrassed about getting lost that instead of finding my way back and finishing my danish I went out the fire exit, jumped in the car and drove home!

Prioritisation

2009-01-12T11:18:00.003Z

In the 1950s the psychologist George A Miller published research into peoples’ memory-span capacity - that is, how many ‘things’ can your working memory recognise at any one time?

Miller’s research showed the answer to be seven, plus or minus two; meaning that most of us will only succesfully be able to remember somewhere between 5 and nine things at the same time. Subsequent research puts the answer even lower - somewhere around four!

I like to use this information about how our minds work when I’m setting my priorities for the year ahead.

What I do each year is to set 3-5 key priorities for the year, the top one becoming my theme for the year. I’ve evolved this method over the last decade until it actually functions pretty well for me. It’s so much better to have a small working number of broad priorities, plus a defining theme, than to have a whole bunch of New Year’s Resolutions that you’ll never keep.

I started this year by planning to have 5 priorities, including my overall theme. I wrote them down initially in early-December and kicked them around for a while to see if they looked right. But when I went to tell my wife what they were after a week or so, I couldn’t remember one of them! What I’ve done now is to reduce that down to three priorities for 2009, including my overall theme. Here they are, then I’ll say a little about how I use them:

Nick’s Priorities for 2009:

Healthy Body, Healthy Mind (=theme for the year)
Complete my NLP Master Practitioner
Publish my first book

I know some of those might not mean much to you, and I’ll probably write about them in later messages; the important thing is that they mean something to me. I actually have ‘SMART’ goals for each of them as well, but for now I just want to get over to you the idea of having a small number of priorities which you can easily carry around IN YOUR HEAD.

Here’s how I use them. Whenever I come to a decision point during my day, for example:

“What should I do first?”
“Do I go to that networking event this evening or not?”
“I’ve got more/less money than I’d planned, what do I spend/cut-back on?”

…I then use my priorities and theme for the year to help decide.

I run them like a kind of ‘cascade’ - can the first thing I do be something towards my overall theme? If not, can it be towards my second priority? If I have to choose between one thing and another, which choice will most benefit my theme or one of my other priorities? When I’m managing my resources, how do I best marshal them towards my theme and other priorities?

Also, if you’re anything like me, you’ll have a number of baseline and unconscious priorities to factor in as well - things like not getting fired (unless you want to), taking care of your family. I find it helps to let those priorities take care of themselves, as the drive is usually strong enough to assert itself!

So how about you?

If you had around four priorities for 2009, and maybe an overall theme, what might they be?