Interesting Lessons From The Week

I’ve spent all of this week on planes, trains and automobiles… (currently writing this blog on a train).  I’ve had a blend of speaking events, workshops and 1 to 1 coaching and it’s been very intense but very enjoyable.  Here’s some of the top topics clients have learned during the week:

1. If you’re not managing interruptions during your day, you’re inviting them.

2. If you can add 1 hour into your day focusing on the important stuff, you’ll add an extra 30 days of worthwhile work to your year.

3.If you don’t have a strategy to manage your mindset/mood, you’ll never have sustained high performance in business, sport or life.

4. Most people look after their phone’s charge more than their own charge… (fitness, mind, spirit)

5. If you get more work done out of the office, then why are you in the office?

6. When I work better, everything around me works better.

7. Business is a marathon.  So why am I treating it like a sprint?

8. When I think bigger, amazing stuff can happen…

Have a great June weekend.

Walt Disney

With the release of the new movie Snow White & The Huntsman, there are plenty
of reviews going around. One of the more interesting gives some focus on the original animation
movie created by Walt Disney & his team.

What I never knew was how important that movie was to the creation of the
Disney empire. It laid the foundation for everything that was to come.

Yet despite that it very nearly didn’t happen.

Disney’s quest for perfection meant that they had gone way over budget as they
broke new ground with the animation technology of the day.

It got so bad that both his wife & his brother tried to convince him to ditch the
project in order to save his fledgling studio company.

But he ignored them & went to his bank for support. He showed them some of the
scenes from the movie and explained why this project was so different.

They backed him and Snow White & The Seven Dwarves
went on to become the biggest movie of 1938.

But more than that, it provided the cash for his bigger plans.

Sometimes you just have to stick with your vision. And isn’t it lucky for the world
that he did.

Ireland’s happiness

I see Ireland’s first national happiness experiment is about to kick off. Similar projects have been run internationally with interesting results.

It runs over 6 weeks it’ll be interesting to see what it tells us about the national mood…

Then again I only care about my own mood/mindset…

If you want to take part in the experiment all you need to do is free text MOOD to 50123.

One Of The Most Powerful Business Questions I Know

One of the things I collect are great questions.  I discovered in my late twenties that if I forced myself to answer great questions really honestly, I’d get a great answer that would help me improve my career, life or even sport performance.  And being honest…:)  sometimes it’s hard to answer certain questions honestly, because we all have blind spots and often our habits are unconscious, so while we think we’re being truthful, the actual reality may be very different.

That’s why it’s always useful to have people around you (friends, colleagues or professionals) who you encourage to ask questions of you, and importantly, really challenge you on ‘the truth.’

One of the most challenging areas for a leader in business is in letting people go.  

Ask anybody who has done well in business and they’ll always tell you that one of the key foundational pieces is getting the ‘right people’ around you.  When you have the right people, problems disappear and more importantly get solved without your input.

Yet because most companies don’t have well thought out hiring processes, often the ‘wrong people’ end up in the company.  And rather than help them move on, the company usually tries to ‘change’ the person by training, coaching or a plain old ‘kick in the ass’.  (Often the kick works better at turning people around…)

I believe this is because the leader/company may not want to admit that they made a mistake, or they’re not prepared to eject a person before they find the right replacement.  I believe this is a mistake as the ‘wrong person’ can do untold damage.

Often it’s the simplest thing that has the biggest impact.  Here’s a phenomenally simple approach to take when looking at the people in your team.

1. Look at the people in your organisation and ask this question:

‘Knowing What I Know Now, Would I Hire This Person Again?’

The key here is to really go for your immediate gut answer and to log it, before your mind jumps in and tries to justify why they’re there.

If the answer is No, then consider these points:

  – Why is the answer No?  In my experience it’s usually because of an attitude that doesn’t fit with the values and culture of your business.  But it could be because of other factors (for example: lack of training, or they could be in the wrong slot – these are possible fixes).

If it’s a NO after considering the Why, then in my opinion you have to help the person ‘off the bus’.  You have to for the sake of the business.  Too many leaders waste time and money trying to fix people that can’t or don’t want to be improved, when really they should just do the difficult but best thing for the business and let them go.

That one question above has solved many problems for my clients – once they’re not let off the hook and the answer it with brutal honesty…

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Simple Ways To Change Your Mindset

Over the past month I’ve spoken at three different events on How To Use Your Mind For Better Results in business and sport.  One was for business people and 2 were for golfers.  It’s amazing how similar the approach is for golf and business despite the different contexts.

There’s lots of different things I could focus on here but one key area is Mindset.  A simple way to understand what mindset is, is to think about how you’re looking at your day right now.  You could say that your mindset is like your state of mind or on a basic level your mood.

So what’s your mood like right now?  And do you think that your mood has much of an effect on your performance?  Of course it does.  Yet most people don’t believe they have any control over their mood/mindset.

Here’s a useful slide I use with my clients – I call it the Mindset Performance Loop:

When performance is off, most people and organisations look at the ‘behaviour’ level.  That is, they’ll get training for themselves or their team.  Yet, if the mindset isn’t right to begin with, you can see that the training will be a waste of time and money.

I’ll be writing more about this over the coming weeks but for now, one simple question to consider is ‘How do I change my mindset?’  Because if you can…then the effects ripple all the way down to results and performance.

I’ve had many business leaders come to me looking for ‘coaching’ to regain their mojo.  What they really needed of course was help to change their mindset.  When that happened, then their natural talent and instinct came out and they started to change their behaviour which changed their results.

There are plenty of ‘techniques’ to help change your mindset but here are some of the simplest that I shared at those recent talks:

1. Exercise:  If the boardroom or office is doing your head in, don’t make it any worse.  Get to the gym or whatever floats your boat re exercise.  Your mind is usually very different after a great work-out.  I train in eduocgym 3 times a week and I do it more for my mind than for my body.

2. Music: I defy anyone to listen to the ‘Rocky’ theme and not be affected in a positive way by it.  I recently met a high level sales director who told me he listens to that exact theme every time he needs to be ‘in the zone’.  Music works.  So when your mindset is ‘off’ turn off the news, and turn on some inspiring sounds.

3. People: A problem shared is a problem halved…only if you share it with the right person!  i.e. not the type who will revel in your misery.  Get around inspiring positive energy people.  Their vibes will rub off on you.

4. Take a Break:  With so much change going on these days, it’s vital to get proper down time i.e. no email, no phone, no work.  Stepping away from everything in a 24/7 connected world is hugely important and can work wonder on your mindset.

5. Practice Relaxation: Mindfulness seems to be the new buzz word.  I’ve been rattling on about the benefits of relaxation and a mindful approach for years.  There are many ways of practicing relaxation (meditation, audios, mindfulness etc.) but to have a real benefit on your mindset you need to practice something daily.  Our minds can get so busy with work and life that it’s vital to have your own personal strategy to clear it on request daily.

Nothing earth shattering I hear you say?  And they’re not.  But if you don’t really value your mindset then you’re probably not doing the above.

How is your mindset right now?  Score it out of 10.  If it’s less than an 8 what can you do now to move it up the scale.  Maybe you could do one of the above…