When I first tried out my new approach, it felt weird and I ended up hitting my leg instead of the shuttle! It was here that my coach stepped in and said that because I’d been playing in a particular way for so long that doing anything different will feel weird but the more I keep doing it eventually it will seem natural and I won’t even think of it anymore.

She then proceeded to get me doing what seemed like hundreds of serves and I started to see some amazing results even though it still felt weird, so I will stick with it and work through the weirdness on my quest to be amazing!

It reminds me of how when we are learning a new way of doing something it can often feel weird, awkward or clunky and this feeling can lead us to go back to our old less effective ways. So as trainers, what can we do to encourage our learners to work through the “it feels weird” stage of a learning new approach (associated with Conscious Incompetent phase of learning) so that they can get better results?

Answers on a post card please

In the case of Steve Davis and Nick Clegg they had nothing to lose – granted they gain the prestige of wining and being successful but they have come from a very low starting point. Steve Davis was a 500-1 outsider to win the snooker championship. For Nick Clegg, no one expected anything from him until the first debate.This means that they could just go for it and give it all they had.

And in the Premier League yesterday, why didn’t Chelsea let up after the 3^rd goal against Stoke? Because they knew that Man Utd were not going to give up just yet so the title could be decided on goal difference. And what a victory, a 7-0 thrashing.

So what’s the common element between all three examples -they all have everything to gain!

So it got me thinking about their focus and how determined they are to be a success. It is that FOCUS, on the one thing that’s going to make a difference, that stakes out your success. Focusing on what you have to gain, rather than what you have to lose can make the difference between success or failure. Fear of failure itself is often sited as the most significant reason for holding back.

Here’s my question to YOU – Whats YOUR FOCUS today, tomorrow, next week next month that’s going to get you the outcome YOU are looking for?

To develop a clear focus a quick visit with Anthony Robbins will guide you.

To help your people to develop this focus have a look at this – ‘What do I want?’ is a great place to start.

Have the best week.

We are still in the grips of an incredibly tough trading climate yet one of the positive things to come out of these times is our focus to challenge existing practices and explore better, more cost effective and simpler ways of working. Please share your stories with us and others so that we can all make the difference that will help us steer a stronger, more sustainable course in  the future.

If we reflect on the conversations about Bankers, their part in the recession and indeed in its recovery, what can we learn as managers and family members about decision making and how we can make the most robust and proactive decisions possible.

Here are just a few things I have been thinking about:

1. Go with your gut feel if you sense something is going to happen, take action immediately – read Malcolm Gladwell’s book ‘Blink’. This will help you understand more about how and why intuition is an important part of the decision making process. You can get this on Amazon and also look at the reviews here http://bit.ly/cErAVb
2. Plan for tomorrow and not just today and remember to add a contingency
3. Remember for those of you who are managers, that even though we are clawing our way out of the recession, your staff may still be anxious – communicate widely about any changes that are taking place in the company and help them see how they are valuable to you and the organisation
4. Members of your team may have been deeply effected by the recession – perhaps a partner or family member has lost a job, perhaps their level of debt is too high and perhaps they are begin chased by creditors. You need them to focus whilst at work so do whatever is in your power to help them. The first step is to notice subtle changes in their attitude, energy and focus and to ask gentle questions to determine if this is a problem for them
5. Rather than focusing on stopping using post its and closing down spend start asking a new set of questions that help the business to thrive. E.g. “how can I get £5 value out of every £1 I spend?”

And for you personally, some additional thoughts:

1. Budget, budget, budget! Go to www.moneysavingexpert.com great savings and templates
2. When you buy things go for quality goods that will last.  Buy the best that you can, it’s likely to last longer
3. Save first for what you want rather than buy on credit that may be difficult to pay back later. If you still want it after you have saved for it, it is likely you will enjoy it more and certainly appreciate its value more
4. When buying presents for close family or friends who are under 18 always give a cheque it’s a double whammy they can’t spend it immediately and it encourages them to think about saving. (they might think you are boring but trust me when they are older they will thank you)
5. Always ask for a discount.  I negotiated a 40% discount on an item I really wanted recently. Another item I got a 25% discount. All because I asked. Don’t be afraid to ask – you have nothing to lose

What a great day we had – the safari is something you should really experience if you’re in the area and want to see animals in as much of a natural environment as you can in the UK! My favourite was seeing the lions!

When we arrived back at our hotel there was a family of wild donkeys in the field opposite and again it was lovely to be around nature and see the way these animals lived & interacted with each other and us in their natural environment.

It reminded me how important it is to stop and watch!

Now you know how I love to learn from any situation, so straight away I’m thinking how does this relate to us in business (it’s ok, it was only day 2 of my hols – so fine for me not to have switched off from work yet!!!! J).

To me, just stopping and watching the animals in their natural environment reminded me how important it is for us to take time to stop and watch what’s going on around us – especially if we’re in management roles.

Sometimes we get so hooked into the day to day work life of being busy, busy, busy, that we don’t stop and notice what’s going on around us – for the business, our team and the individuals in our teams.

So my challenge for you all today is conduct a Business Safari!

What to do:

1. Take 15 minutes out today to STOP and watch your operation

2. NOTICE – what’s going on for the business, for your team and for the individuals in your team… notice the conversations and interactions people are having – what impact are they having on the experience your customers receive? (How can you enhance the positive impact?)

3. LOOK for strong/comfortable relationships – what’s making them strong? Are there any relationships that could do with strengthening – how can you help achieve this?

4. ANALYSE your team’s habitat and environment – how is it helping or hindering their ability to perform? What can be done to improve it?

5. ENJOY it! Safari’s are meant to be fun, interesting and enlightening… make sure your business safari is too!

Have fun observing your team’s natural environment – please let us know what interesting sights you see and insights you get!

Carly

Last week I delivered one of our Quick Wins Workshops ‘The Feel Good Fete’ where people create ideas to help them feel great at the end of each working day rather than wanting to slump on the sofa as soon as they walk through the door.

It was a great session full of very creative people so I thought I’d share some of their ideas with you:

1. Vary my routines – breaking your normal routine pattern can stimulate new thoughts and energise you! Why not break a daily routine you have and notice the impact it has!

2. Celebrate my successes more – reward yourself for your great achievements… those of you who know me, will know that my rewards are normally in shoe or chocolate form!!!

3. Yoga Once a Week – Yoga or any exercise will help you raise your energy levels… be sure to choose the right exercise for you though (doing something you enjoy will boost your vitality, pressuring yourself to do something you don’t enjoy will increase your anxiety and stress levels… so think about what you enjoy doing and do it at least once a week.

4. Leave the office at Lunch for 10 minutes – so many of us get chained to our desks for the day and we eat our lunch whilst checking emails or doing some form of work… STOP! This is not good for you… not only do you not enjoy your food, you are also removing an opportunity to refresh those brain cells, so be sure to go out, get some fresh air and have a proper break!

5. Focus on the Positive – try to limit the time you spend thinking about the things you can’t change, and instead focus on the things you can influence. This change in mindset will without doubt make you feel better about things!

6. Desk Exercises – try out some desk exercises to get moving and grooving at your desk http://www.tellmehowto.net/healthandfitness/desk_exercises_194

Have fun giving these a try, and please let us know how they work for you!

Enjoy!

Carly

]]> http://www.leaps-bounds.co.uk/learning/boosting-your-vitality-at-work/feed/ 1 http://www.leaps-bounds.co.uk/leadership/distractions-distractions/ http://www.leaps-bounds.co.uk/leadership/distractions-distractions/#comments Wed, 03 Jun 2009 09:03:39 +0000 dilesh http://blog.leaps-bounds.co.uk/?p=173 Wow what a blissful, well I thought it was, couple of evenings I have had. I had no reception on my TV due to an electrical fault. However for my wife it was a different matter she was most annoyed she couldn’t get her usual dose of Eastenders, Coronation Street and it meant she had to talk to me over dinner.

Its not until you don’t have something do you truly realise what its like good, bad or indifferent. So I said to my wife what do you notice and she replied “we are talking like we were courting”. To which I responded so you think my Blackberry is my mistress!

So we made a pact that from now on when we are having dinner we will not have the tv on and we will use it as an opportunity to talk about our days rather than it being a 5mins activity when one of us walks through the door.

So my point is this, in our workplace we have a number of distractions through the day-the equivalent of the TV-and therefore talking to one of our team always gets put to the bottom of the list and then becomes a 2 minute activity when they are on the way out. The conversation will go something like this

Manager:“Have a great evening, you up to much?”

Team member:“Well as it happens we have a 5 a side quarter final tonight”

Then you suddenly realise for a split second you really don’t know that much about one of your team and now it becomes a rushed conversation and the person you are talking to needs to rush off.

To all you managers out there when you walk in tomorrow morning go around each person in the team ask them how their evening was and what they got up to?

Don’t be satisfied with “watching TV” ask them what did they watch and start to take an interest, like you are on your first date. You know what it was like, ask lots of questions, taking an interest and all that stuff.

Anyway give it a go see the difference it will make, but remember this is not a one off interaction, taking an interest-is what makes a great manager!

Thanks

Dilesh

You know my wife loves it and I could never understand what she was talking about, I am sure for all those married men out there you know what I mean by that!

But I had my real first experience yesterday at the airport, you know what its like when you start to go through security its like the people in the queue have just stopped thinking.

Picture the scene, security staff making the same statement to remind you of what to do

“please place your bag into one of the grey trays, if you have a laptop please take it out and place it in a separate tray, please take off all jackets, belts, keys and coins and place in the tray”.

So I am in the queue and I start to do all this in order to help speed things up, but how many people actually wait til they get to the counter before they start doing what they have been told?

I counted that there were 15 people in front of me and 10 of them waited until they arrived at the counter, without a clue the impact they were having on the people waiting, not that the people waiting were bothered it was like they too had stopped thinking.

The funniest thing was when those same people got through security, they were smiling, laughing, excited about their trip and I could hear things like “ooh I must pick up an adapter before we board or lets grab a coffee”

They started to come alive, was it the thought of going through security that put them in this state of trance, or was it the security poltergeist-who I managed to overcome?

As managers how often do we stop thinking, or just drifting along..

When you are at work, watch what’s going on around you-take 10 minutes out, and watch from a distance-are people engaged or are they going through the motions-what 1 thing can you do that will get them thinking about the great job they are doing for the customer and being more engaged.

Are you shouting instructions or asking questions, that will help your people interact and think about what it is they are doing?

Reactive or proactive-are you waiting till you get to the counter until you do something or are you anticipating whats going to happen and getting ready for it?

Make sure each day, each moment with your team you are helping them bring their brains with them rather than leaving them at the front door and picking it up each time they leave.

Have a great week, most importantly have fun!

Dilesh