Create Greater Confidence, Momentum and Focus – Right Now

Vannoy and Ross

My five-year-old daughter recently announced, “I know how to spell my friend’s name. We call him RJ.”

“How do you spell that, honey?”

With a big smile she lifted her chin and said, “R – J.”

You have to admire that sort of mastery. And we did! With cheers we celebrated her achievement. And do you know what happened next? She spent the rest of the day attempting to spell nearly every word she encountered.

Which provides us with an important reminder: Somewhere along the way most people begin expecting success – and therefore, they quit celebrating the wins. Thus, quite subtly, confidence begins to wane. Momentum begins to erode. And focus shifts more consistently to what’s not working, which ultimately results in one thing: fewer wins.

What would it be worth to you if, right now – today – you could build more confidence, forward momentum and stronger focus around you?

If this appeals, we challenge you to conduct the following experiment. Today, conduct three separate celebrations:

1. Identify one area where you are excelling. What is something you’ve been doing well lately, especially under trying circumstances? Give yourself some credit – and celebrate in your own way.
2. What is something the team around you is doing well? Shock your teammates and enhance the next meeting by pointing out something about the team that amazes or excites you. And then ask others what they believe is contributing to the successes that are evident.
3. Perhaps most importantly, on your drive home, identify one important quality you’re going to highlight with your family tonight – and then enjoy the difference this focus makes.

Life will throw my daughter tougher words to spell than R-J, but her strategy for success should never change.

 

What’s in Your Tool Belt…That Will Move Your Team Forward?

A leader once told us: “Before the Pathways to Leadership process, the only leadership tools I had in my belt for working with others was a hammer and a screwdriver.” This resonates with many people – and recently a man named Charlie added, “You missed the third tool a lot of leaders have in their leadership tool belt.”

What is that?

“Duct tape. With all the re-structuring, leaders need tape to keep teams together.”

We laughed – and the point was made: When it comes to ensuring teams are aligned and operating with trust, most organizations use “wish management.” A few teams get to play on ropes, and thus feel inspired for a couple of weeks; but painfully, not many teams acquire tools they can use to ensure a fusion, a strength of bond, that grows tighter each business day.

What tools are you using today to ensure your team becomes stronger as it works? Your competition may just be applying a screwdriver and “screwing” things up by focusing on all the ways the team is not performing well. Consequently, this inappropriate use of focus only ensures the team has its weaknesses reinforced and its confidence diminished.

By studying your failures you become an expert at failure – not success. Accordingly, this approach means the team will require duct tape in the days ahead.

The 3 Mind Factors (page 139 in Stomp the Elephant in the Office) is a powerful tool many readers know that, appropriately applied, can have a profound effect at ensuring teams perform at higher levels. The Mind Factors are: 1) You can only focus on one thought at a time. 2) You can’t avoid a ‘don’t.’ And 3) You go toward your focus.

Apply this tool today with your team by focusing on and acknowledging where your team is doing well, where it is performing with excellence. And, as proven by thousands of teams around the world, you will guarantee that your team improves even more in those areas.

What’s in your tool belt?

Halloween is Over, Right? Beware the Lingering Leadership Ghosts

In the U.S., Halloween has come and gone. The masks and witch brooms are back in storage. Fright-night is over, right?

 

Not so fast. There are ghosts still floating wild and haunting teams across the land. Does your business require a ghost buster?

Spend casual time with the average employee…and listen closely…and you may just hear ghost stories. These chilling tales take various forms:

• In some companies, make a mistake, and you’re a villain forever. Like demon spirit, your reputation floats far in front of you and lingers after you’ve left the room. You could have the potential to be the most effective leader in the land…but people will never know it. Your ghost lives on, and your company pays the price: How ironic: We want people to improve, but we tie them to the past.
• Additionally, too many teams routinely tell ghost stories about events of the past. They sound like this: “Do you remember how bad that leader was…” And “One of the worst decisions we ever made was…” And “We never seem to have the time to do things right the first time, but we always have the time to do things twice…” Unwittingly, by retelling (and retelling, and retelling) the same scary stories people ensure that past mistakes continue to cost them countless more dollars far into the future.

Understanding the horrific moments in our past is not a mistake, but allowing leadership ghosts to linger, is costly. Conduct a ghost-busting exercise today by asking these questions:

1. What are the most important lessons we can gain from this experience?
2. How can we further leverage this moment as a resource?
3. If we continue to re-tell this story, how would it hurt progress?
4. Why is it important that we put this experience behind us?

The haunted house is closed. It’s time to move forward.

The Most Important Contribution You Can Make to Your Team

Vannoy and Ross

How can you best contribute to your team’s success? The answer may surprise you.

Our last leadership post received an abundance of attention – and created some confusion. “Shame on you for putting forth an example that voting against ourselves (with the implication we’re voting for others) guarantees a loss,” shared one reader. We love this reader’s passion to do whatever it takes to ensure her team wins!

So let’s clarify: “Voting for yourself” in this context does not mean voting against someone else. It is not designed to imply that you must win…so someone else can lose. And unquestionably, as we review the metaphor imbedded in the last post, we can see how such assumptions can be made. So yes, shame on us for a poor metaphor.

Let’s kick out the metaphor – and leverage the idea.

It’s shocking – staggering, really – how many people want, wish and hope their team will perform better, yet they severely limit their own contributions to others and the team. How does this happen? Ask yourself,

• Am I my own worst critic? Does my self-criticism build my confidence – or destroy it?On a regular basis, am I showing up “off a roll” just hoping to slog through another day – or am I doing my best…so I can be my best…and give my best to others?
• Am I retelling old stories about who’s a jerk and what’s making my life difficult, thus sabotaging any chances of a productive mindset – or am I using every day to create a new script, a new, more productive story?

How can you give anything to someone else if you can’t hold it yourself? Those who lack the awareness demonstrated in the questions above move through their day “voting against themselves.” (Rats! There we go again with the metaphor!) As a result, these people have little to give others and their organization.

How can you best contribute to your team’s success? Take regular steps to be the best you. That’s what your teammates are asking for.

You’re Not Crazy – Right? Cast the Vote that Counts

With November just around the corner, local elections are starting to heat up in the USA. Can you imagine this scenario: You’ve decided to run for election to public office. You campaign tirelessly to win. And then on election day, you step into the booth…and vote against yourself!

That’s crazy, isn’t it? Yet, consider the possibility that countless people are working tirelessly to get ahead – yet, they ultimately vote against themselves! Here’s an example:

At a recent session the simulated “competition” was intense. A participant, Mary, was deciding who amongst her peers had best delivered on the criteria – that would determine who would receive her vote. After much consideration she raised both hands and triumphantly announced her decision: “I vote for myself!”

While the room erupted in laughter, no one missed the important message: Mary was right. She should vote for herself – because she, like the rest of us, is in a world that encourages us to vote against ourselves. And when we do that, we guarantee we lose.

Focus

Due to a detrimental focus, the vast majority of people around you – including entire work teams – spend their day “voting against themselves” with such thoughts as,

• “I’m never going to get this all done.”
• “This is too difficult.”
• “We don’t stand a chance…”
• “Why can’t I get this right?”
• “What are we doing wrong?”

Of course, because we all go towards our focus, our thoughts – our votes – become an incredible predictor of the future.

 

Challenge

Have you been “voting for yourself”? For the rest of this week take this challenge: Whenever it is election time – whenever you find yourself casting judgment on you or the circumstances in your life – choose to vote for yourself. Choose to believe that you have what it takes to succeed and shift to focusing forward.

And then observe what happens at the end of the day when the results of the election come in.

Three Actions to Guarantee Immunity from the Flu

Vannoy and Ross

Are you looking forward to getting the flu this season – or not? There are measures to significantly decreasing your chances of getting the “swine” flu. But what about the other flu that’s spreading through the work place?

Team’s everywhere are suffering high temperatures, congestion, lethargy, and loss of strength due to an illness few people are diagnosing: The Elephant Flu.

Symptoms of the Elephant Flu:

This flu is not unlike its brethren, the swine flu, in that it is infectious; the poor focus, attitudes and behaviors characterized by ‘the elephant in the office’ travel quickly and result in the poor health of an entire organization.

Washing your hands, sneezing into your elbow, taking your vitamins – all of these measures decrease the chances you’ll fall victim to the nasty swine flu. Consider that similar hygienic actions can ensure your team remains immune to the destructive forces of the elephant flu:

1. Wash your hands…ensure your team is focused on what they do want vs. what they don’t want. Nasty germs and viruses thrive in a backward focused culture.
2. Sneeze into your elbow…it’s impossible not to sneeze, so the key is containing the sneeze. Instead of avoiding “tough” issues go after them. AND address those issues in ways that make the people around you, relationships and results stronger.
3. Take your vitamins…focus on what is working, acknowledge those who are leading with the strength and character you admire, and celebrate the successes in the steps you’re making. This sort of consistent, healthy focus builds your team’s immunity, ensuring that the elephant flu won’t find a suitable host where it can begin its destructive ways.

Preventative medicine is the key. Today, host a “cultural health” conversation with your team, and ask, “What focus, attitudes and behaviors can we demonstrate more to further enhance our immunity from the elephant flu?”

Tell the Truth: Are You Bringing the Fireworks Show into the Office?

 Want to see some excitement in the office this week?

Fireworks exploded all across the U.S. this past weekend as the country celebrated its birthday. But fireworks don’t have to be a “weekend” activity! In too many offices, fireworks can be a daily occurrence. And it’s done simply by telling…the truth.

It’s a huge “elephant in the office” for many organizations: The truth is unacceptable. And the reason why is because a system – a culture – has been established that when the truth is stated it means someone is wrong. And being wrong is not cool. So when the truth is told it ignites explosions and tirades that – in this case – are not at all entertaining, but are severely destructive.

Because people are trained to “not play with fire,” truth-telling is not an exercise that is often experienced by most teams. Like a stockpile of fireworks just waiting for a match, here is a list of the most common lies being told in offices today:

• “If we work harder, we’ll succeed.” (That’s a lie! It’s HOW we’re doing our work that must evolve.)
• “My leadership behavior is not what needs to change; it’s others who need to change.” (You’re kidding, right? All significant change begins by altering the approach taken by the only person you can control: you).
• “I can’t take time from my schedule to work on our culture.” (Huh? This statement reveals the missed paradigm – and why the culture is probably toxic: Your culture is always under construction; right now you are either creating or dismantling it.)
• “We don’t have an accountable workforce because we don’t have responsible employees.” (Give me a break. Accountability is not legislated. Lack of accountability in an organization is a greater testament to poor leadership and culture than it is a statement about mankind.)

The speed at which your organization moves forward is equal to your ability to tell the truth. If you’re not telling the truth, you’re conducting faux meetings and having artificial conversations. And incremental progress is all you’ll ever know.

This week ask your team, “Can we do a better job of telling the truth?” And let people tell their truth.

Telling the truth does not have to ignite fireworks. The key is HOW you tell the truth. In next week’s blog we’ll explore steps on how to do that.

 

We’ve had a special request to share our blog from February 2008 that talks about the importance of focus because it is relevant to the current business climate. So here goes.

 

 

The marathon is beginning. You’re at the starting line. Suddenly, you look at the contestants around you – and are shocked! One person has a piano strapped to their back. Another is pulling a bath tub. And there’s someone carrying an elephant!

 

 

 

As crazy as this sounds, consider that many people bring similar burdens to their day– and it destroys their chances for success.

 

Backward Focus Thinking:

 

• “This project is going to be tough,” says a colleague as she starts a meeting.
• “We’re going to take a hit in employee morale,” laments a teammate as an initiative is launched.
• “Productivity is going to dive when word spreads about this,” shares a well-intentioned employee – who is not adequately skilled.

 

Do you see the burdens these competitors are carrying as they enter the race? Yet, what they’re concerned about is real. So how do they best compete?

 

Forward Focus Approach:

 

A team led by a woman named Natasha knows the key: “It’s all about focus,” she says. “Because we go towards our focus, as we enter any change initiative, we’re going to create more of whatever we focus on.”

 

Natasha and her team take it further. They ensure greater results by addressing concerns directly – and in a way that creates greater results. Here’s how they turned the above concerns (burdens) around:

• “How do we simplify this project?”
• “What can we do to build employee morale through this?”
• “What steps can we take to increase productivity during this change?”

 

What subtle backward-focused attitudes are you carrying around? Unload those burdens by changing your focus.

 

Do you feel the Big Mo – Momentum – in your business and life right now? If you don’t, the leaders we’ve been speaking with would say you should be.

 

The response to our latest webinar has been invigorating. We received emails from all over – five continents to be exact – with everyone sharing how they are immediately shaking off fear and moving forward with momentum. (The free webinar is available at www.pathwaystoleadership.com)

 

It is crazy how many office elephants are roaming today: Many companies are actually creating fear – and anger, anxiety, and apathy – just by how they are managing today’s “bad news.”

 

It doesn’t have to be that way.

 

Dan, a top leader within Kellogg’s, shares, “The idea of being ‘on a roll’ is a simple concept, but today it sunk in deeper. Last night I left work feeling really good about how things were going with our team.  When I woke up this morning, that feeling was still there.

 

“While getting ready to go to work I was pondering, ‘Why do I feel so good about things?’  Then a single word hit me: momentum.  Instead of standing still (or moving backward), our team is moving toward clearly defined objectives. 

 

“I do a little cycling and I know that if you stand still with your feet locked in the pedals you fall down. With just a little bit of effort you can get a bike on a roll.  Once you get a bike rolling you gain momentum. And the great thing about momentum is that when you approach a hill (a difficulty in bicycling) your momentum can take you right over small hills and half-way up the big ones.”

 

Momentum is a priceless resource – and it can be generated on demand. Today, when someone hits the brakes by focusing on problems - what’s not working, or who is to blame (all of which kills momentum) - you can respond with leadership: Ask a question that leads focus, energy, people – and results – forward.

 

Where will you lead – where will you stomp elephants – today?

 

 

 

This is a true story, but the names have been changed.  I went hiking with my friend Dale this morning.  He is a mid level manager in a medium sized firm.  He mentioned that their long term Chief Operations Officer had recently left the organization.  After a few more steps up the trail, I asked him what difference that had made.  He considered his answer carefully and with a little grin said, “Productivity has gone up in every department by 20% or more.”

 

There is a huge elephant that is limiting productivity in many organizations, and it’s called Frank… or Jim… or Mary… or Cynthia… or whoever it is in your organization that fits the description of Frank below.

 

I asked Dale what happened after Frank left the organization.  Again, he considered his answer carefully.  “It wasn’t what happened after Frank left.  It was mostly what didn’t happen while he was there.”  

 

We stopped hiking and I pulled out my 3×5 card and pen.  

 

“With Frank, we lost interest.  We just did what we had to do to get our paychecks.” 

 

“But why?”

 

Dale frowned and proceeded slowly.  “I got to the point where I didn’t really care anymore.   I was never good enough for him… and it always felt like he was either scolding me or telling me what to do.  In fact, now that I think about it, I didn’t really feel like I was a human being.  I just felt like I was a cog in a machine that he was using to get HIS job done.”

 

“So who has taken his place?”

 

“Well that’s the funny thing.  We don’t have a permanent replacement yet, but I guess we have to credit Jean.   The CEO brought her out of retirement until we hire a new COO.”   Dale started to shake his head.   “No, it’s more than Jean.  It’s really us. It’s like we’re all new again, like we all have a new job.  We no longer have Frank breathing down our back and we’re free to do a good job.”

 

“But surely you still need a boss, someone to direct you.”

 

“Well that’s just it.  Jean doesn’t direct us.   She sort of lets us direct ourselves.”  

 

“Dale, I’d really appreciate it if you’d be specific here.  This might be helpful for us to share with other leaders.”

 

“Ok. You know, the first thing she did really surprised me.  She didn’t seem to need to impress us.  She didn’t pretend that she knew how to do our jobs.   In fact, the first thing she did was ask each of us to tell her about our departments and what is working well.”  A big smile spread across Dale’s face.   “And then she listened – I mean really listened.   Then later she asked us for our vision and how we wanted to upgrade our departments and how we planned on getting that done.”   

 

Dale started to ascend the trail, but then he stopped.  “Here’s the thing.  Jean treated me like I was remarkable, and I don’t know what it is, but when she treats me that way, I’m going to be that way.”

 

It’s true: The people around you are just like you and me.  They simply want to contribute and do a good job.  They truly want to be great. 

 

What will  you do today to allow and help the people around you be great?  Are there any Frank’s that you need to re-assign or re-train today?