Your Power Point - And I Don't Mean the Slides

Focus: Professional Success, Management Success

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YOUR POWER POINT
Transcript - print now

Wc: 532 

Welcome to the audio lesson Your PowerPoint. That’s right, did you know that you have a PowerPoint! And I’m not talking about a slide. What I am talking about is how you live your life. 

Day in and day out, believe it or not, we have power points. Here’s what I mean. If you have a sheet of paper in front of you, I’d like for you to write out this equation: E=R=O. If you don’t have a sheet of paper, just write it out in your mind. Again, E=R=O. 

Here’s what they stand for: E is the event, R is our response or reaction to the event, and O is the outcome that is a result of our response or reaction to the event, E=R=O. You know, that’s a formula for how we live our life. 

Life happens, stuff happens. And consciously or unconsciously, we are responding and reacting, on a regular basis, to things that go on around us. And they result in outcomes. Some of those outcomes we like and some of those outcomes we don’t like. That formula is so important to be conscious of because if you want to have different outcomes, you’ll have to consciously determine different responses and reactions to various events. 

What’s also interesting, those people who are empowered, those people who are very effective are more conscious and more purposeful in choosing their reactions and their responses because they are taking responsibility for the outcomes. Those who are less mature, those who have a victim mentality, you will find will typically blame the event for the outcome versus taking ownership for their response and reaction to the outcome. 

Here’s an example. I recently heard a story about a manager in a staff meeting. The staff meeting was designed to get input and ideas for how to make a good year even great. As the staff members began to share feedback about how the year had gone, the manager began to take a lot of the feedback personally and became very, very defensive to the point where it was embarrassing.

Now you can only imagine what the outcome of that particular experience was. She responded so negatively and so defensively to the feedback that was given by some of her staff members that she, in fact, alienated the staff. And the very thing she wanted from them, ideas and feedback, were the very things she wasn’t going to get any more because she had set the stage for not having a safety net and people being able to give feedback and ideas.

That sometimes is what happens to us. We react in ways that we get outcomes that we really don’t want. In order for that not to happen, we’ve got to take one hundred percent responsibility for our reactions and our responses so that we get the outcomes that we want and stop blaming the events. That is critical to personal power and personal effectiveness. 

Remember, your power point in that equation is your response or reaction to the event. You know events, in most cases, we can’t control. What we have one hundred percent, absolute control over is our reactions and responses. That’s your PowerPoint.

The content of this post is related to a very popular topic in the workplace today and that is Emotional  Intelligence. You haven't had an EQ seminar brought to your organization -- you should -- learn more here!

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It All Begins With You - You are the Messenger

Focus: Effective management is from the inside-out

Audio duration: 5 mins. 52 secs.

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 “We are not only the messengers, WE are the message...”

Soulprints, Mark Gafni

IT ALL BEGINS WITH YOU - YOU ARE THE MESSENGER

Wc: 727

As you rolled out of bed this morning, I bet your mind began to swirl with all the coming activities of the day.   If you are a parent, your thought flow probably began with, “ok..gotta get the kids up.” If you are a manager, it might have been, “I really need to work with “so and so” today.”

Whatever the many roles you play in your life; brother, mother, teacher, fireman, each of them demands of you a certain performance, if you will, a certain way of being and doing that will determine whether you will be deemed successful in that role by you and the others involved.

What’s so important to notice, to get in tune with is that amidst all the daily “role playing,” there is a YOU!...the person playing all those roles – you; the one and only - you…the YOU that exists as a unique individual with a heart, mind, spirit and body. It’s the you that has a myriad of feelings and thoughts throughout the day, some good and perhaps some not so good.

Why is this so important to notice? I think for three key reasons:

1. Sometimes the roles become more important than the YOU.
2. We start to live those roles so unconsciously that we lose track of what we really want in life and what role those roles play in that.
3. In that unconscious living, we subtly disconnect from our power and choice to fulfill that role in a pre-determined, on purpose kind of way.

For now, let’s think about reason number three in the context of your role as a manager or supervisor. I know this sounds odd, but before you became a manager you were a unique individual and when you’re finished being a manager, the same will hold true. So I have to ask the question where is the unique you in your role as a manager?

I ask that because I’ve seen many examples of people who seemingly become different people when they take on this responsibility. I seen some folks who were really fun as a co-worker lose all their fun at promotion day; a colleague who is known to be even keeled now turns into a slave driver. What happened?

You know, no matter what your specific job description is as a manager, the words on that paper do not replace or begin to reflect the YOU that you will bring to the role to execute what’s required. In the end, YOU are what will make that role come to life and create the outcomes that you and everyone else will experience.

That’s why is so important to believe that ultimately it all begins with you…the YOU that existed before you became a manager. What were you like, what kind of values did you hold, what was your personality like and ultimately what kind of character did you possess?

I believe that one of the first tasks every new manager or supervisor needs to tackle is that of self assessment. You can do this practically by asking yourself these questions:

1. Who am I as a person?

2. What kind of qualities will I bring to the table to be the best manager I can be?

3. What areas might there be some challenges for me? (e.g am I patient?..am I intolerant…am I controlling, do I avoid conflict, do I get overwhelmed easily?)

4. What management skills do I need to learn?

5. What management skills do I naturally possess?

6. What values do I bring to the kind of manager I will want to be?

The answers to all those questions (and certainly there could be more) ends up being the summary of YOU. The you that will fulfill this role. Remember, NOTHING can replace the YOU. Judy Garland was once quoted as saying, “It’s better to be a first rate version of yourself, than a second rate version of someone else.”

As you fulfill your role as a manager, you will be delivering many messages. You’ll be saying, “yes, I can meet a deadline,” “yes, I can hire a competent employee,” “yes I can admit I was wrong,” “yes, I can motivate my team members.”

Ultimately and the most important point is that NOTHING can replace the YOU in those messages or outcomes. The way in which you fulfill that roles or deliver those messages, the qualities that you use to inspire, direct, teach, coach and let an underperformer go will be communicating a lot as well.

You will be communicating YOU. The essential question?...what will you be saying???

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The Power of Beliefs - Part 1

Focus: Personal Success, Mind Development

Audio Lesson - Duration: 4 mins. 25 sec.
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The Power of Beliefs - Part 1
Wc:560 - Read time: appx 2 mins.
Transcript - print now

Today’s’ bite-size audio lesson is about understanding the concept of beliefs and the impact and role they play in our lives! It’s very important to understand that beliefs are critical, essential, to having the life that you want.

Belief, as defined in Webster’s, goes as follows: a state or habit of mind in which trust or confidence is placed in some person or thing. So let’s go back to the beginning of that definition, a state or habit of mind. You know, it’s funny; we use phrases that really define that definition. We might use the phrase ‘mindset’ or we might say something like this, “You know, I keep thinking.”

That phrase, I keep thinking, defines a habit of mind. What’s important is this, our habit of mind, what we think, our beliefs, actually impact our reactions, how we respond, how we create, what we do or don’t do, how we behave in our present that impacts our future.

It’s essential that we become conscious of the beliefs that are influencing our life. And whether those beliefs are serving us in the ways we want to, to get and have the life that we want. So I invite you to do this exercise. I’m going to set out four areas in which I would like for you to identify the beliefs you hold in these areas.

So, I’m recommending get out a sheet of paper if you’re able to and I’d like for you to write down this phrase, “What do I believe about?” and then, I’m going to give you four areas for your consideration.

Here goes, what do I believe about my performance at work? Number two, what do I believe about the quality of my relationship with my significant other? Number three, what do I believe about my ability to manage change? And finally, what do I believe about my financial future?

The bottom line is this, what you believe will dictate the action you will take. For example, if you see a job posting and you read the description of the job and you say you have a mindset or habit of thinking that goes, “Wow, you know, I think I can do that job.” If you believe and think that you can do that job, what’s the likelihood that you may apply for that job? I suggest, pretty high.

However, if you read that job posting and your belief is, “You know, I’m not sure I can really do that job.” If you believe that, if you hold that belief, what’s the likelihood you’ll actually apply for the job? Well, probably very slim. That’s just a simple example of how a belief impacts the behavior.

You know what the sad thing is? The sad thing is that just because you believe it, doesn’t mean it’s true. In fact, you can read that job posting, believe you can’t do the job when, in essence, you can do the job. But no matter, the belief seems true to you, whether it’s true or not. And that’s why it’s so important to have the beliefs that get us to the kind of life that we want.

In a follow-up, part 2 of Beliefs, I’m going to be talking about three other kinds of beliefs, sabotaging, empowering, and limiting. Let me invite you to listen to those as well. Part 2


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Behind Every Great Team is a Great Coach

Focus: Coaching is essential to management success

Audio Lesson - Duration: 3 mins. 21 secs.  

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Behind Every Great Team is a Great Coach -The You Factor 

Word count: 397

Read time: appx. 1-2 min.
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Ever heard that phrase? Well, in the world of being a supervisor or manager (or even a corporate trainer for that matter) the same principle applies. You will go a long way in being the kind of manager or supervisor you want to be, if you understand this - YOU make the team!

What do I mean by that? The kind of person you are directly impacts the kind of team you will have. Have you ever observed or been a part of team or department in which the leader was dysfunctional?...not giving clear direction, ignoring employees not getting along, not doing what they say they’ll do, disrespecting team members.

These behaviors and many others impact the outcomes and performance of a team. The team’s lack of performance can be traced back to the kind of person/leader the manager was. The personality, the style in which they related to people, their ability to take charge and give clear direction all eventually impacted the team. Those qualities either help the team get results or impaired getting results.

The sad part?....in many cases the manager ends up blaming the team or specific members of the team for the lack of performance and it seems to be beyond them why things aren’t happening the way they think they should.

It's Not About You

Focus: Management Success, Professional Success

Audio Lesson – 3 mins. 17 secs.

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IT’S NOT ABOUT YOU!

Read time: 1-2 mins.

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WC: 341

Many managers come into situations where they inherit a team or a new team is formed due to their promotion.

Want a very important survival mind-set? It’s not about you! When you begin to interact with your new team, you’re going to get some reactions and those reactions many not be all good. In many cases, initially, the team member is not necessarily reacting to you, BUT to their former conditioning….even as far back as their childhood! 

Think about it; how could they be reacting to you when they don’t even know you! What they are reacting to is the behavior that is a trigger to a similar behavior from their past experiences. They are reacting to what that behavior triggered in them...NOT YOU!

Now, after many months of managing them, where a relationship pattern has been established, it may then be about you. But initially - more than likely – it’s not!

You may want to put a post-it note on your computer that says exactly that, “It’s not about me!”

Related to this concept is that of newness and fear…

This is also important to consider when working with new team members:  understanding the role that fear plays in the context of new. It’s all very subtle you know, but in many cases when a relationship is new, particularly when there is power involved, there is an unconscious fear of the unknown.   The level of fear, by the way, depends a lot on the maturity and self esteem of the person involved.

What are they afraid of?...what kind of manager you will be, how you will use your power, will they be able to work with and get along with you...etc. Knowing this is very useful, acting on it is even more so!

Coaching tip: I would encourage you to actively develop a rapport of trust as quickly as possible so that the fear does not become an issue. By the way, the absence of “active development” can actually feed the fear, because the unknown persists.

The Management Dilemma - Do You Really Want to Be One?

Focus: Management Success, Professional Success, Career Planning

Audio Lesson - Duration: 4 mins. 41 secs.

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The Management Dilemma - Do You Really Want to Be One?

Wc: 648

I recently ran across a staggering statistic the other day. According to the U.S. Department of Labor, there are 6,000,000 plus employees in the country who hold the title of manager (and that does not include those who hold the title of supervisor).

I’m going to guess that of those, very few laid in bed at night as little tikes saying, “Yes, when I grow up some day, I want to be a manager!” 

So, I’m going to make a bold proclamation right here, right now and say that there are millions of people slaving away in cubicles or in the lucky office with the window that REALLY don’t want to do what they’re doing.  But, they have to – they have no choice…really.

No choice? Well they do and they don’t. With the typical (and I believe antiquated) career path design present in most companies today… “have to” is real if a career is to be built and more money is to be made.

The inevitable need in the structure of any business is to manage it. Every component of a business needs to be attended to so the outcomes can be attained.

As business has evolved over the years, various components have come and gone. There use to be the need of managing a typing pool (some of your reading this article probably have no idea what that is)…boy, those days are long gone! Now there’s a need to manage the networks that connect the computers that replaced the typewriters.

One element of managing a business that has never gone away is that of managing the people who function in the context of the many business components. Managing the people is a needed role that I call the “default role” in business.

Why default? It’s my belief that many managers do not really want to be a manager per sae. They are managers by default. They were good at executing key functions and that qualified them to oversee other people who were doing those functions….whether they could actually oversee them effectively or not.

In many cases this has presented some challenges. Many of the skills necessary for effective oversight are outside the scope of what they were good at before. And, many were asked to move into this role without:

-identifying key skills necessary to be competent in the role

-determining their own level of competency of those skills

-and then acquiring training to fill the gaps.

Sound familiar? Well over the past several years, I’ve discovered this very fact as I’ve traveled across North America conducting management and leadership workshops.    I learned that only a small percentage of that six million have adequately been trained to be competent in this essential business function.

The irony?....this role impacts EVERYTHING!!!...yet it doesn’t get the attention it deserves.

In truth, this role is so essential, that the way it’s viewed and treated needs to be elevated to that of a profession. Ok...think about that last statement….a profession…not a pseudo profession, not a default role, but a REAL profession.

Now I know there are people out there that do, even if unconsciously. But I believe that the vast majority of employees in the work place today do not consider the role of management a profession and for some not even an admirable one. I know there are plenty of reasons for that.

Let’s collectively as a management community elevate the game so to speak. Even if you are a “manager by default”, professionalism can still be your mantra. This lesson is all about making a conscious decision..."yes I want to be a manager..not I have to...but I WANT to." 

Honestly, if at some point you really can't say that with heart....then it's time to start lookin' for another job.

S.M.A.R.T.I. Goal Setting

Focus: Personal Productivity, Performance Success

A tool for accelerated performance enhancement

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Despite the fact that goal setting is a powerful tool, it’s also true that many people have never been taught the most effective way to go about it. The SMARTI technique is a useful tool in helping you become skilled at goal setting to ultimately achieve more and more of your desired outcomes.

Why set goals:

1. provides an intended road map
2. provides focus
3. implies to the brain what I can and want to do
4. creates motivation energy – great tool for self management  

The S.M.A.R.T.I. Approach to Goal Setting
SPECIFIC:

Tip: You can use numbers or if in the case of behavior development, it’s got to be an actual behavior that can be developed.  We want to work in conjunction with how the mind works. To stop a behavior the mind doesn’t necessarily stop, but it works in creating new behaviors by mapping new neuropathways. So in essence, the way to change something is to create an overriding behavior in its place.

We’re usually using them regarding actions to complete. I also recommend behaviors you want to develop. This is an essential tool in coaching employees and creating effective performance management.

In some cases, you’ll be developing behaviors that don’t currently exist but are necessary to desired performance.

Example of behavior goal:

Overriding Goal – to become a better listener

More specific – I will listen 80-90% of the time in my conversations 

MEASURABLE:

A key consideration under this section is to begin with the end in mind; get a “picture” of what it’s going to look like when the goal is achieved. (In fact a great additional exercise is to write out in as much detail what that picture looks like). When the picture is created, it creates a crisp focus which supplies additional motivation and prepares the mind for targeted action.  

ACHIEVABLE:    

This criterion embodies several requirements. You need to ensure that the crafted goal statement is a combination of realistic and practical and marked by sufficient stretch. Remember, one key purpose of a goal is to create motivational energy. In order to do that, it must be realistically achievable, neither too easy to hit nor impossible to hit and within your own control and sphere of influence.

The stretch nature of goals has received a good deal of attention in recent years. Jack Welch, for one, was a tireless supporter of aggressive stretch goals. And, then, there’s a rather influential book by two Stanford Business-school faculty, Built to Last — Successful Habits of Visionary Companies (by Collins and Porras, HarperBusiness, 1994). This book also extols the benefits of stretch goals, which it terms BHAGs — Big Hairy Audacious Goals! Fun… and some very compelling research behind it, too.

RESULTS-ORIENTED:

While pretty self-evident, it’s still important to stress that you’re going to want to establish goals that will lead to end results that matter, are meaningful, and will have a substantive impact — ideally, both for yourself and for your organization. Again, it goes without saying, but if a goal is truly results-oriented, then it must also be action-oriented; real stuff’s got to happen. “Just Do It” captures this sentiment well.

TIME-BASED:    

To be complete, the goal statement must be framed by a time-based expectation. It could be a time-frame, a deadline, or a series of time governed steps. This self-imposed pressure further augments the motivational energy that flows from the goal statement. The time-based benchmarks must also satisfy the achievable criteria — realistic, practical, and stretch.

INTEGRATED:    

Most all goal-crafting techniques overlook this sixth and final criterion. To be optimally tuned, you must do whatever possible to ensure that a given goal statement harmonizes with the larger business strategy — of your team, your business unit, and/or your corporation. It fuels motivation when the goal-setter is keenly aware that the outcome really matters – has meaningful impact in the bigger picture. When done successfully, harmonizing the personal goals with the business need/strategy delivers more bang for the buck and only heightens the potential impact and, thus, also the benefits/rewards.

This document was produced to compliment other lessons in the series Developing a Productivity Mindset

Other topics:

Efficient Execution

Going Beyond Execution

How to Conduct a Goal Setting Meeting 

Self-Imposed Stress

Focus: Personal Productivity, Managing Stress, Personal Success   

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Self-imposed Stress

Wc: 510

Read time: 1-2 mins.

Transcript - print now 

Our bite-size audio lesson is introducing the concept of “ self-imposed stress.” As I’ve been speaking with people about this topic, it’s become very clear to me that the majority of our stress is self-imposed.

           

Well, what do I mean by that? More specifically, much of our stress comes from what goes on in our mind. In fact, how we interpret an event and the meaning that we attach to the event can actually cause us negative stress by the way, whether that interpretation or that meaning is true.

           

Here’s an example. I have a friend who’s recently divorced and decided to throw herself out there into the dating scene. She’d come back from a date one night and we were having a conversation around the fact that the person that she’d gone out with did not ask her for her number. Now, she didn’t ask him for his either but that’s not the point here. 

           

So as we were having the conversation about it, I asked her, “So, what do you think it was?” And she went down a list of the following, “Well, maybe I didn’t have the right hair color. Or, you know, I do need to lose a few pounds.” By the way, she looks awesome, but in her mind, she needed to lose a few pounds.

           

“I don’t know, maybe I have kind of an aggressive personality cause I’m in business.” And I’m thinking to myself, the bottom line is, she has no idea of why he didn’t ask for her number. In fact, it could have been nothing about her. 

           

He could have been having a bad night.  He could have been sick. He could have decided that he wasn’t ready to move forward with dating at all. There could have been a variety of reasons that had nothing to do with her.

           

But, she did choose to add some negativity, to interpret that event negatively. What did that cause? Her to feel bad, it caused some self-imposed stress. So, number one, she did that and, number two, she attached meaning to it.

           

Here’s what the meaning was, “I don’t know, maybe I’m not dateable. Maybe, I don’t know, maybe I’m not going to be able to find someone. You know, maybe I’m getting too old to date.” She began to apply meaning to the one act of someone not asking her for her phone number.

           

Boy, that can have significant consequences because that could cause her not to initiate going out and finding the great guy or having a great time on another date. And, she could continually be running that self-talk and continually causing more and more pain days and weeks and months after the event. That’s self-inflicted pain.

           

I would encourage you to be aware of how you interpret events, how you attach meaning to circumstances. Remember, just because you think it, doesn’t mean it’s true. You know, if we’re going to acquire more levels of happiness, this is something we need to be aware of and master.

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A Useful Career Success Strategy - Are You Adding Value?

Focus: Professional Success, Career Management

Audio lesson: 2 mins. 44 sec.    

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A USEFUL CAREER STRATEGY - HOW ARE YOU ADDING VALUE?

Transcript word count: 346

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In reality when you read a job description, I’m gonna guess that in some cases it was conceived a while back in different circumstances.  This may not be true for everyone. But I wonder if you now are doing things beyond what is contains. 

Whether you are or not, I want to encourage you to step back for a moment, put aside the formal job description in your mind and do the following:

1. First ask yourself this question:

What are the overall needs of my company, team, and department right now or for the first quarter of 2009? 

2. Make a list without any judgment or editing. 

3. Now look at the list and see how you can incorporate any of those needs within reason into your daily work experience. 

Remember one important component of managing a career is really managing the perception of how you’re doing.  You are in charge of that and the value that you give.   

Make sure you keep track. What you’re doing may not be immediately obvious, so you’ll want to use for discussion during a review. 

To me, this attitude is essential in perhaps reducing the possibility of lay off should they occur in your organization. 

As your self appointed coach, I’d love to hear someone say about you, “Hey, we’ve got to find a way to keep her.”  Rather than, “Yeah…won’t be a loss if we have to let her go.”

Bonus Tip: Coaching your team to value – developing potential

As a manager, one way of adding value is doing so through the collective group.  How do you do that?  Take the exercise suggested above.  Ask each of your team members to do the same.  Meet one on one and see what they come up with.  Boy this could be valuable exercise in lots of ways. 

How can you as a manager add even MORE value?  Do the same exercise as a collective team…asking the question, “How can we as a group add value in this quarter?

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Amatuer vs. Professional - Which One Are You?

Focus: Professional Success, Management Success

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Amateur vs. Professional
Transcript - print now

Wc: 501

What do you think the difference is between a professional and an amateur? I remember when Tiger Woods started to gain National attention as a junior amateur player. His talent and skill was evident, but at that time what had not yet come to light was his back story.

What’s a back story? The back story is the story behind the story. It’s the story of what makes the obvious story what it is.

So what was Tiger’s back story? The story of what he did to develop his talent (because we know that you can have plenty of talent, but that does not mean it automatically translates into success).

Here are a few things I read over the years that make up his back story. Tiger got up early, at 6:00 and in that developed amazing discipline around getting to the practice range early. Apparently, over the years, starting at a young age, he watched hours and hours of film of the masters who’d gone before him studying all the nuances of their individual mastery. He also, due to his mother’s influence, included meditation in his training regime; a not so conventional element in typical western golf training.

What’s true about Tiger is that before he became an official professional, he was an extraordinary amateur. That, I believe is due to the critical elements of his back story.

I think in order to be a highly competent manager; you have to see it as a profession. So the question is, are you an amateur or a professional? Here are the definitions of both, taken from Webster’s:

Profession: a calling requiring specialized knowledge and often long and intensive academic preparation: a principal calling, vocation, or employment: the whole body of persons engaged in a calling

Amateur: one who engages in a pursuit, study, science, or sport as a pastime rather than as a profession : one lacking in experience and competence in an art or science

So, where do you fit?...where do you want to fit? One thing for sure, those definitions set apart one from the other and I bet in your work environment, you can tell who has taken on the role of professional and who has decided to remain an amateur. 

I don’t believe many managers set out consciously to be amateurs, but exhibit that by not consciously taking responsibility for their own learning and development. I call that “purposed incompetency.”

Final question: if you were to poll members of your team or even your direct report in terms of how they see you in this regard, what do you think they would say?

But more importantly….what do you say, how do you feel and see yourself in the position in which you’ve chosen to work? And if you happen to be in the amateur status, what will you do to change that?

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