I thought it was a good idea to to start a business blog to supplement the journal articles I write on change management.
(PDF Articles) I trust that some of the issues raised here may be of interest to you to pursue away from this blog of ideas and thoughts. The blogs run in date order with the most recent at the top of this page.
There is never enough time to do anything. If we had to wait till there was enough time and the resources available, we would never do anything. We all know that change cannot happen over the summer months because people are on vacation. We know that from 1st December onwards in any year we will be troubled by the festivities of Christmas - so that is not a good time to start things. From February through to April is a bad time because of year-end and the budgetary round that takes up people's time. The last week in any month is also bad, because the IS and the Finance people have to process end of month stats to go towards quarterly returns which are required earlier every quarter.
It is a good thing that we do not need to change, because if something critical happened to our business, where would we find the time to fix, improve and change things?
'Change takes as long as the management group wants it to take' is a provocative statement. It states that the management group creates the agenda and devotes the resources to leverage change. Change can be driven faster. We can do everything faster. In order to do this we need a methodology and there are plenty around. Search the web for the phases 'Change Acceleration' or 'Rapid Improvement'. You will find that some leading businesses live by this mantra: General Electric, Motorola, Royal Bank of Scotland, Toyota, Microsoft and many others.
There is a way forward and that is realising that any change has to encapsulate three factors and merge them into a powerful process. The three factors are: technical, systems and technology; people, processes and culture; and politics, strategy and decision-making.
This is actually a quote attributed to Field Marshal Herman Goering, but was voiced not that long ago by a senior member of staff within a large financial services business. It dawned on me that culture is still not a very 'trendy' thing to talk about, because it appears to reflect the negative, rather the positive side of what we should be focusing on.
This negative view is supported when politicians talk about the 'yob culture', the 'gun culture', or the 'drink culture' or the 'culture of the black economy'. It seems that the word 'culture' is indeed a collective noun for a whole series of bad behaviours.
I would much rather look at culture as the 'way we do things around here.' The things we do around here include our positive behaviours, demanding but equitable standards by which we will work, and the norms that will guide us together to share in achieving those goals.
Culture is easy to Define and Measure
Culture usually refers to the codes of conduct, behaviours and rituals that most accept as the norm for behaving in a particular organisation. It's just a matter of deciphering what these rituals, norms and behaviours are in some detail. After doing this, it is relatively easy to define the set of actions that will take us away from the undesired current state, to the future conditions which will enable us to achieve our goals.
You see, culture is ultimately shaped by the values which are prized and rewarded daily by the organisation, and those who execute policy into practice. This is simple to understand, until we realise that the values, which the organisation holds dear as central to its functioning, are not shared by all.
Confusion in Living the Values
Further, we find that there are pockets of the organisation where values portrayed and rewarded are in sharp contrast to the values that are shared and rewarded in other parts of the organisation! What confuses matters is where there are several silos, departments or functions where having a disparity of values and behaviours, but which are geographically sited next door to each other. This creates real confusion in the minds of those who operate in the different functions. After all, it is reasonable to expect that the same organisation, whatever the functions, will broadly reflect the same core values.
So what is the way out? Clarify the core and peripheral values. Focus your direction. Set and develop manager to live the values. Reward only those behaviours that take you forwards to achieve these standards and make the values breathe.
Yesterday, we talked about the speed of change and how that may guide organisations in reviewing their progress. Today, I focus on defining with some clarity what it is we are trying to change. Later in the week, I will return to speed again - but this in terms of instigating rapid improvement. Nevertheless, before we move onto rapid improvement, let us spend some time trying to define what it is we are trying to change.
I keep getting told that the pace of change is accelerating, and soon we will be surrounded by so many change initiatives we will not know what to do. The news, is that happened a long time ago for many organisations that is why the pitiful success of change initiatives implemented is so pitifully low.
Culture Change is only 20% Successful
Research tells us that the success of implementing culture change can be as low as 20%. This means that only 20% is ever implemented. My question that arises from this is, if its only 20% is it the right and the most powerful 20% which will influence overall results for the business?
Measuring Culture Change
A recipe for disaster that so many fall into is that so many organisations fail to define their current culture. Further they also fail to identify the precise nature of the desired culture. To compound issues, the steps taken to bridge the gap between 'current' and 'desired' is never mapped or measured.
A key to making culture change work is defining what we mean by 'culture' in tangible terms, and then measuring the impact of our actions on the results.
Nothing Changes Until Behaviour Changes
Key to this process is actually refining the approach to identify the behaviours and actions that will move us from the current to the desired condition. Then it's simply a matter of monitoring, evaluating the changes, measuring, further calibrating and making fine distinctions in our actions. That's the secret and yet many organisations still fail to use this prescription.
We think the reason for this is that culture is not defined in any sense in terms of behaviours and actions. When organisations start to adopt a more scientific approach, then they will find the relative ease in shifting the organisation from a poor state of operation to superior effectiveness.
Most of us find the concept of speed exhilarating. We love fast sports whether they be Formula One, Down-Hill Skiing, Bobsleigh, fast moving Rugby Union and League, and the Olympic 400, 200 and 100 metres final. They are all fascinating, exciting and transfix our senses.
Many of us value the concept of speed in our private lives. None of us want to wait in the Doctor's surgery, we are impatient for speedy bar and restaurant service, require responsiveness from trades people and retailers and generally expect people to deliver on time, every time.
Customer Unresponsiveness
However, how much are these scenarios the norm? How frequently do we experience unresponsive customer service, indifference to our requests for speedy delivery, time lags in completing business, and generally lacklustre performance that forces us to look for alternative service providers?
How Responsive is your Business?
A good friend of mine, the CEO in an Automotive Financial Services business, decided that he would test the responsiveness of his competitors. He focused his attention on making enquiries through their competitor's websites. These were all 'teasers' that indicated that he was looking for sources of finance for £30,000 for a new company car. This was potentially new business for all these companies. He found that fewer than 10% of his sample responded within 24 hours. The average response rate was 72 hours and two providers never returned the email request at all!
It is obvious from the example above that whatever the intentions of these competitors, their actions were less than speedy. Yet, I find this a curious ambiguity because most of the organisations claim to be customer focused, but in reality have failed to remove the bureaucracy that counters their customer response and holds back their growth and ultimately their profitability.
What would you do?
Speed is the key competitive differentiator. Let us look at a personal example of how important speed is in our decision making. For instance, imagine it is Christmas Day, you are expecting guests for Lunch and discover a major leak of water in your kitchen.
You have to take action. You have access to a number of plumbing businesses in your area that will do the work. Okay, it may cost you more than usual. However, what criteria would you use to request the services of a plumber?
I suggest you would not focus on their technical expertise (this is taken for granted) nor would you focus on a competitive quote for the work. I doubt it. You would focus on speed. Who could get to your house and fix the leak faster?
Speed & Life Cycle Compression
We live in a fast moving society. Product life cycles in products and service are short and decreasing further. Traditional loyalty to service providers is declining faster than ever. We require authenticity and one to one relationships with suppliers. People who are hungry to do business with us constantly coax us with new angles and deliverables. Our own personal preferences shout, deliver faster, close the loop, treat me special, respond to my uniqueness, and maybe then I will return to transact business again - and if you're lucky I may become loyal to you!
Speed and responsiveness is the major cultural component driving consumer and customer loyalty. As consumers, we are impatient for success. Those organisations who still respond in the same old ways with the same weary, time consuming, non -value added bureaucratic and orthodox and unimaginative way of dealing with their customers will have many new challenges.
The Challenges
How can they improve customer retention?
How can they replace disillusioned customers who are seeking more responsive service providers?
How can they create new business expansion to replace the annual fall-out of customers?
As part of the discussion of components of corporate culture, we will stick with the concept of 'Speed' for the next few days. Many fail to understand that when we focus on 'change management' the speed at which we can implement accelerated change correlates with significant positive results.
In reality, change be rapidly implemented and speed of implementation can itself be a competitive differentiator for any business. More on that later.
"If you don't have a destination clear in your mind, no roadmap is going to help you get there".
A life or a business without purpose goes nowhere and achieves little. Yet it's true that many businesses fail to create a strong strategic direction or purpose which will guide them to success. I believe strongly that two factors are important in any business: purpose to what you will be, do and have, energy to pursue the goal tenaciously. It's good to see that others have the same belief.
Success has been defined as "2% inspiration and 98% perspiration". This seems to knock on the head the idea that innovation and idea generation is our salvation. I know many people with good ideas but who have a poor record in seeing them become reality.
The trouble is that business media put too much emphasis on innovation to the detriment of other key factors in terms of driving improvement. They peddle the idea that all we need, as individuals and organisations, is a focus on innovation and creativity.
Working solely with 'good ideas' does not add value to a business unless you have the means of putting them into action. Too many change strategies in organisations fall into the category of "great theory, lousy implementation." Too much change is just too theoretic. It often does not work in practice in real organisations. This is best illustrated by Robert Quinn in
"Building the bridge as you walk on it: A Guide for Leading Change" and "Deep Change: Bringing out the Leader within"
Sometimes when I am conducting a review of past change initiatives, I wonder how and why people invested so much time in the process. Reading through the results of interviews, focus groups and questionnaires displays the same sad story: that change was never designed to work in the first place! In no circumstances would the change affect the culture, because the conditions under which success would happen had not been prepared or built in advance.
The focus on any change, personal or organisational, is to ensure that it is 100% implemented. If people are satisfied with only achieving 75%, then they were never serious about the change in the first place. They were also unrealistic or over ambitious in setting the agenda in the first place!
Over the next few days, the Blog will focus on the factors that lead to successful change such as:
How important is MOMENTUM?
What about SPEED as a key factor in driving change?
How can we leverage the RESISTANCE to change which is endemic in the process?
I received this from Andrew Adamson just after he returned from his adventure
Hi Phil, got back in one piece, working from home not feeling to well but proud that I made it!
Last week was my biggest test ever and a true test of resolve and character. One missed meal, one poor night's sleep - you are in catch up mode for the next day. Any signs of weakness and we were under threat of being sent down! This was about getting the most out of body and mind.
We experienced the worse weather conditions in ten years, four guides turned back, and two other teams did not attempt on that day. We had one of our team taken down from the summit in a stretcher and one other assisted down by the guides. Four other team mates did not attempt the climb, no one blamed them as we expected temperatures of -10 at the summit, they turned out to be -25!
The attempt on the summit and was nothing short of horrific. We left the final camp just after midnight, which gave us just six hours rest from our previous trek of 13 hours. No one slept as the tents were battered by strong winds. We climbed in small steps, each step a precious energy unit. The path was narrow and very steep, as we climbed the ice started to form on my outer shell, then eye lashes froze in fact anything exposed simply froze.
Breathing was getting more difficult because of the altitude when we broke the 5,300 meters barrier things started to get difficult. It took me several minutes to realise that the flashing red lights under the snow were not real, I had started hallucinating! For the time being I decided to keep this to myself, I had not come this far to be over come by hallucinations. Confident in my preparation and remaining strong after my previous "day's sickness I was pleased with myself that I didn't panic as I knew this was the start of Acute Mountain Sickness.
We reached the crater rim (Stella Point) in record time, just as the sun was rising 5.30am. We had few stops as it was thought to be too cold! We had a short round of hand shaking then started the final push for the summit. At this stage I was so elated nothing was going to stop me over the final 300 meters or so, but some were really suffering and took almost an hour to do the last meters. We did not talk as that took up air and energy, as we approached the summit the clouds started to break up and the snow cleared. It was just a wonderful sight above the clouds and standing on the roof of Africa!"
Andy has raised more than £13,000.00 and if you would like to contribute to his find please go to his website and leave a message for him www.climbkilimanjaro.co.uk
We all get so tied up with working that we can sometimes forget about others, but its heartening to see that some people still contribute to the benefits of others. I have mentioned Andrew Adamson some time ago in the October Blog. He is founder and MD of Webadvertising based in Leith. He has taken his business to some very powerful clients since he started up ten years ago.
We were talking one day about fitness and I remarked that he had slimmed down from the six foot six 18 Stone second row when he played for Edinburgh Accies. He told me that he had been training for a special event that would take place in early November. He was "attempting to climb the highest freestanding mountain in the world for Whizz Kidz charity. Mount Kilimanjaro and it's snow-capped summit rises 5,895 metres 19,340 feet above the dusty African plains; huge permanent glaciers flow down from the summit, ice formations and acute altitude sickness are some of the challenges he faced apart from pushing their limits both physically and mentally."
I know Andy has put in a great deal of training including running 30 miles per week and daily workouts at the David Lloyd club.
I know the climb is extremely dangerous. Two old friends did a similar walk on a gentler part of Kilimanjaro some time and ago and some of their party actually died on the mountain! It's probably tougher on the body than competing in an Ironman Triathlon - at least most Triathlon's take place at sea level. The climb and the height put untold stress on the body and the mind, and anyone thinking of taking part in such a venture has to seriously commit to get to the optimum level of fitness. Training the body is one thing, it also requires a fierce belief in self.
Tomorrow I'll share with you his story of the climb.
A friend asked is I would talk with his son who had graduated from University last year. Knowing I used psychometrics in my work I was first to volunteer to use some profiles to best focus on capitalising on his strengths.
In discussion I was shocked and I was amazed to find that no guidance had been given at all during the degree course regarding potential careers or futures for him.
After four years of study this chap was left rudderless to find his own feet in the world of commerce. Through using profiles it was possible to highlight 'no go' areas and areas for greatest opportunities which he could exploit.
Up till this time he had applied for every job he could find. Clearly, many of these posts he would have been unsuited to perform. His character, personality and strengths would not have matched many of these jobs. In essence, he would find out by trial or error which areas of work he was suited to pursue. Is this any way to prepare the next generation for a lifetime of work? I find it amazing that no guidance is given at all. Huge amounts of money are invested in providing education. Most students match this investment and when they leave University they do so with a debt of between £12,000 and £16,000. Even with this investment in their future these students have not been provided with little guidance of how best to apply their talents. No wonder we have a skills shortage or a shortfall in demand and supply in many occupations. Does any planning and preparation go on at all?
What a huge opportunity there is here for Educational Institutions and Government to make a difference. We all need a road map - isn't it about time that we had some guidance when first starting out on a career?
In the absence of institutions providing the support I am designing a one day Workshop specifically for young graduates where they will be able to undertake various profiles, including verbal and mathematical aptitudes, personality profiles together with some rehearsal and practice of CV writing and interviewing. This will mean that they are prepared for the world of work, they will understand their relative strengths and limitations by using advacned profiling techniques and will be best prepared to deal with the trauma and anxiety of the selection process.
All this talk about language makes me want to stage a programme to talk common sense and give people the opportunity to demonstrate not just their social skills, but also their integrity. This means helping folk improve their ability to communicate not by modelling the skills of an expert communicator, but relying on their own skills and strengths and building from the inside out. That means starting with the foundation of confidence. Confidence is the key to presentation skills and is the core of our work programmes.
I believe that confidence is an emotional state that people can create and build. It is not a mysterious process. It can be created very quickly through a variety of techniques. We are running a Workshop on the 15th December in Edinburgh with the title 'Presenting with Confidence' - if you know anyone who is new to management and would like to participate, click here'Presenting with Confidence'.
I always think it's good to listen at three levels. Level 1 is listening to the actual words and phrases that others express. Level 2 is listening to what they don't say. Level 3 is listening to what others are trying to say but need help fully articulate. This is relevant when others don't portray a firm view on things, or have difficulty reflecting their thoughts. I have difficulty with the phrase above because it is used all the time to indicate that "although things have gone wrong actions are being taken to redress the problems."
Increasingly, I am hearing the phrase "Lessons will be learned". Although I listen very hard, there is little else that accompanies this phase. Try as I may, I cannot find an indication of "the precise actions that will be taken to rectify a matter, whether it is a Politician, a Public, Sporting or Business figure. The utterance of this phrase is usually accompanied by a 'knowing look', a bit of silence, a stern frown and then an apology to whoever is the disadvantaged group or individual.
The phrase has been used to 'excuse' poor performance of our Public bodies and Industry or Business organisations who have failed. But nowhere do we actually hear of the precise lessons that have been learned and the actions taken to ensure that these lessons don't have to "learned" again and again!
This has replaced my all time favourite, "Joined up Government" which has to be the most atypical of the way Government and its many satellites actually work. It's a misnomer! It's a theoretical construct that has no basis in reality. So why do we keep on hearing about it, when the chances of it happening are zero.
Have you heard this new phrase that has crept into the chattering classes? "We are having conversations….." Again we have a solemn individual, usually beamed onto our TV screen who utters this phrase when talking about negotiating or working with other groups. "Having conversations" is something I do everyday but these conversations have a point, an intention and have outcomes. So, what is the mystery? Is there a hidden meaning in the phrase?
Language determines how we see reality. Try this exercise with someone else. Get them to look around the room and spot all the items which are blue. As they look around the room, say "blue, blue, blue" and then tell them to close their eyes. While their eyes are closed, ask them to list everything in the room which is brown. Now tell them to open their eyes. They will see a different reality. The use of language has changed what they pay attention towards.
The language we use has a huge impact on our emotional state. If we don't have a word to describe something, we cannot feel or experience it.
Our ability to influence is determined by our ability to use language patterns. Language describes how we are thinking. Our language is a direct result of our thinking. Language presupposes how people think, which brings me to the use of one word - "because". We now know that the use of this word can impact people enormously. Research findings suggest that the use of the word is very powerful. In this research a number of people were standing in a queue to use a photocopier.
The research required someone to request that they queue jump. Up strolls the 'queue jumper' and simply asks people in the queue this question "Is it okay if I jump to the head of the queue?" The response is usually a resounding and a definite no. However, if the queue jumper has a reason and precedes his request with the word 'because' then the chances of being allowed to queue jump increase massively to 62%.
For this to work, the queue jumper has to have a reason to "jump the queue.". But, what is important here is that the reason does not have to make sense - as long as the reason is plausible, the majority of people will comply.
So this is what the queue jumper can do. Sidling up to the front of the queue he interjects, "Because, I am busy/late/overworked/tired/stressed etc would it be okay if I jumped to the head of the queue?" Research tells us that the use of the word "because" with a barely plausible reason or excuse, is enough to win people over. Think how you can use this in your work and let me know if it works, BECAUSE that's important feedback for me.
Using Tonality to convert gentle Questions into instructional Commands
Continuing the theme of language patterns….the use of tonality in sentence structure can have a huge impact on the meaning of the sentence. We know, for instance, that when we consider the actual Words we choose to use, the tonality of how we express the words and any emotional gestures, such as the use of our physiology when delivering our communication, all contribute to the effectiveness of what is received by the listener. Did you know that it does not matter very much what words we use, as of structuring sentences they only contribute approximately 10% to the effectiveness experienced by the listener?
If we adjust our tonality in terms of the timbre, volume, pace of delivery, emphasis, enthusiasm, rhythm and intonation of what we convey, the effectiveness of our communication can leap substantially by an additional 40%.
Further, if the communication we give off with our body language is congruent with the message we convey, the effectiveness of the communication leaps up further by 50%.
So to recap, most verbally transmitted communication between two people can be accounted for by focusing on the three elements of an effective communication. The research to support this work indicates that these percentages are general trends rather than precise figures that apply to everyone - but, generally speaking, the ratios bear out.
Words 10%
Tonality 40%
Physiology & Body Language 50%.
By emphasising the importance of the message through tonality and body language, we can impact its effect on an audience by a huge 90%. Moving words around the sentence and delivering them in a steady monotone will do little to capture the listener's attention or enthusiasm.
This tells us that, no matter how important the words appear to be, it's the emotion that we attach to them, with how they are delivered, that is important in assessing whether the message is effective or not. It's true to say that it's the emotion we pick up on every time.
For instance, if our manager walks through the door and says, "You have all done really well this year" but delivers it in a monotone and with little enthusiasm- we may not believe her or him.
However, If our manager revisits us and throws open the door, looks us in the eye and delivers the same words with gusto, joy, smiling, emphasising words such as "you" and "really well" and sending positive emotions through the eyes, maybe while shaking our hands - we will be more inclined to believe him or her.
It is true to say that enthusiasm is presented by how we emphasise the use and the delivery of words.
Consider this sentence "John owes me £10".
If I emphasise "John owes me £10" it's "John" you focus on…
If I emphasise "John owes me £10" it's "owes" you focus on...
If I emphasise "John owes me £10" it's "me" you focus on….
If I emphasise "John owes me £10" it's the "£10" you focus on..
Now consider this sentence………………
"Will you be going to the training session?"
Initially, this appears to be a question and will remain so if you say it out loud and then as you say the last few words you go up in intonation. People who speak sentences that 'go up' at the end are generally questioning. Now forget the question mark. How can we give the impression that we are not just asking a question but rather giving an instruction rather than giving choice? Although, it still is a question we use our delivery and intonation to make it sound more commanding and thereby replace the simple question with an implied instruction. We can use our tonality to focus our attention at the end of the sentence. By slowing down our delivery and dropping our voice the question can be received as an instruction that we would like to be obeyed. Although the sentence retains its format as a question people will respond differently as if we are implying little choice.
So the emphasis turning the question into an apparent instruction will be emphasised in the last few words……………
"Will you be going to the training session?"
You can change the tone of this statement or sentence straight away by implying that the same sentence is a command to do something rather than a question. Try it. This time you speak drop down at the end of the sentence so that your voice is deeper. Your voice intonation is lowered. Try it. When you say the sentence but slower and drop down a few octaves at the end of the sentence you instantly give the implication that a question is turning into a request or command that you expect to be obeyed.
Imagine how useful this can be for getting people to do things in your business. There are sentences that follow. Rehearse and speak out loud firstly in 'questioning mode' with the intonation going up at the end of the sentence. Now try it again, slow down towards the end and put your emphasis on speaking the last few words with deeper intonation. Your use of tonality will change the intention of your apparent question moving to become a request or instruction to do something.. Go on, give it a go and better still, share it with others to practise some new language patterns that help you achieve more through your ability to influence others. Note, in the examples below, the BOLD portions of the sentences are the areas where you slow down the pace and emphasise your intention.
Would you turn that noise down?
After we finish the meeting would you like to give the presentation?
Are you ready to take on the additional responsibilities?
Would you like to come in earlier tomorrow?
Will you be finishing the project this week?
It's easy to turn a gentle enquiring question into an instruction or command. Imagine what else you could achieve with the many other language patterns!
It is a Monday and some thinking time is focused on notes for new programmes on interpersonal influence. I have just read that "the average human being has 60,000 thoughts a day, but the surprising thing is, 99% are the same thoughts repeated time and time again."
We seem to run and re-run the same thoughts and 'self chatter' day after day repeating the same pattern of thinking. If we focus on the same thoughts, self limiting beliefs, limiting decisions, negative memories and scenarios each day, no wonder we can experience problems breaking away from our old self!
By breaking free of these thoughts and language patterns we can significantly impact our potential in all areas of our life. This can be, and often is, life changing.
Listen for possibilities
Working as a coach with Clients helping them to remove or change their limited thinking by examing their individual language patterns can make the difference between 'ticking over' and making ends meet, to breaking free to living your wildest dreams. If you care to think it and then voice it and live it you can manifest almost anything!
Change starts with listening
I have been a enthusiastic student of NLP for many years. I am still as fascinated in learning more about self as I was when I started my business. It is key to understanding one's motivations and how we can improve our interaction and how we communicate with others. It's my quest for self improvement. The purpose of doing so is to add value to my clients and ease the process of change for them. This is especially important when I spend most days standing up speaking and presenting and helping them ease change through their businesses. As change makers, we can all learn more about ourselves and how we influence others just by listening to our own language patterns and catching our unconscious processes before we open our mouths.
I am designing several new modules for a workshop on Excellence in Communication. It's part of a new influencing strategy that fits into consulting skills, sales and maketing and negotiation workshops. With the Scottish elections coming in Spring 2007 - its just the sort of thing that Politicians may find of value! I wanted to start right at stage one rather than wandering off into the stratosphere of 'Neuro linguistics'. I want to make it simple for those who have not been involved in any communication skills training before. These are some of my musings…………..
Our Beliefs & Values shape our thinking
For instance, it's well known that much of the language we utter is pretty much conditioned by our belief systems. We only express things which reflect our identity and the beliefs we have about self, and our experiences and memories that support them. So, who we are or who we believe we are, and our beliefs are a filter on our world of possibilities. As Henry Ford stated "Whether we believe we can or we believe we cannot, we are right".
Ideas become our Words
The words we use reflect the inner workings of our minds and our thought processes. The words that flow from our mouths are but resonant ideas which seconds earlier were just thoughts that raced through our mind. We may fail to realise that the words and phrases we use most of the time are often expressed without any censor to monitor their intent and meaning.
Pay Attention to our Thinking
If we are above average in terms of extroversion - we may virtually use our mouth for thinking - often in an undisciplined and unthinking fashion, expressing the words and sentences and only reflecting on what we actually said later. If we are more introverted, we may run the words through our head before expressing them. But whether introvert or extrovert, most of us do not pay attention to the words, phrases and sentences in an overly conscious way.
Listen to the intent of our 'self talk'
Most of our speech patterns are pretty much programmed by our beliefs and values. What is important if we want to learn about ourselves is to listen to our 'self talk'. By doing so, we can radically improve our communication skills and our effectiveness as well as positively controlling our emotional states.
Our words and phrases reflect our inner emotional states
It is worth considering the words and sentences we use, because they reflect the inner self. As part of an exercise in monitoring my 'self talk' I attempted for two days (when I could remember) to make notes on my major thoughts. It was not easy but I was trying to capture even a small number of the thoughts that pass through ones head. The purpose of this exercise was focused on highlighting negative self talk. By capturing and thinking through our thoughts we can dismiss the idle chatter and reshape thoughts to be much more positive. In particular, it's pretty powerful to pay attention to when some of the following 'examples' flow through our heads……….."I can't do that…………" or phrases that indicate a negation in one's belief system….."No, that is not the way I should do that"………..or .."That never works……….." or "……….. everyone knows that it is pointless to…….."........."and I was never any good with figures etc……….........."
Keeping a record of these undisclosed thoughts can be a real eye opener and a sure fire way of improving our verbal skills with influencing others. Let's face it, if you cannot influence yourself and gee yourself up - it's unlikely that you can do that with others!
What are they really thinking? Do their words match their intentions?
So over the next few days I am paying attention to self and others. I am a keen political spectator and focus on the media the News and listen to the language patterns of key players in shaping our political future.
A famous politician says……...."We are trying to do……..X.......... in Afghanistan". I immediately think what does "trying" actually mean? What does it look like when someone is "trying?" Does it indicate strong decisive actions, or is it hoodwinking us into thinking that the intent is positive, when if fact they have no intention of doing X at all! It's the same as we are "hoping" that Iraq...etc. What does "hoping" look like? Does hoping have a pattern of actions that actually lead to a tangible result?
Likewise, what does the industrialist mean when he agrees that "the merger will lead to benefits for all parties" and then adds, "BUT we cannot guarantee jobs in the long term". Does he not realise that the word BUT negates all the intent of the words that preceded it? Does he think he is portraying congruence in his communications?
And what about the refomer who says, "Please DON'T think I am NOT being sincere ........etc.... in my bid for.....and I'm NOT suggesting for one moment that...". The intent of his motivation is disception and is "leaking" into his patterns of language. He is trying to deceive with language but is failing.
Language patterns are fascinating and I will focus on these all this week.
Focsuing attention using negative phrases
One of the best patterns is forcing others to think of a subject - even if they resist it. Let's demonstrate. Don't think of a blue tree. In order not to think of a blue tree you have to picture it in your mind first, before you try to negate the thought. The conscious mind cannot process a negative - it has to picture or process the positive before it can negate it! Consider now how useful this could this be in commercial life. Consider these examples below of using a negative such as NOT or DON'T to artfully distract people to focus on key actions, and think positively on our intentions. Because most people process words 'unconscioulsy' we can often slip our intentions past their 'critical evaluation' or 'monitor' to create the right positive intention.
"DON'T think that we'll always agree on everything."
"It's NOT always the right time now to make the decision."
"I DON'T want you now to commit totally to this approach. I'm NOT trying to win your support to the new project."
"You DON'T have to agree right now that its the right thing to do."
"It's NOT that there is any pressure, but a decision isn't probably something you DON'T want to hold back on right now."
"I DON'T want you to think immediately that my involvement with the team just now is always going to be a strength for the business."
"I am NOT suggesting that our working together is critical in shaping a strong future for us in creating the results we desire".
"You DON'T have to agree just now to letting me manage the new accounts."
"I'm NOT suggesting that this strategy will work immediately".
Sometimes telling people what we are NOT doing or DON'T want to do can have huge impacts on their view of us and our credibility. I know one thing - I am going to have some fun with language patterns over the next few days with shaping several new programmes.
Stretch & Achieve in 2007: Personal Effectiveness & Goal Setting
How much time do we spend running about working, rather than shaping our life the way we want to live it? The weekend I am planning for 2007 - including launching a new business with others, (Woburn Consulting Group), and planning presentations to members of the Chartered Institute of Marketers and the Chartered Institute of Bankers. But this year I am not just running sessions and working with clients on organisational change, but also focusing upon life and career planning.
Winning with Rapport: Personality & Objection Handling
After a long journey from the south on Thursday I had only a few meetings programmed for today. In the afternoon I met with Carl, one of the most refreshing, creative and spontaneous marketers I have met for a long time. We talked about an event we are staging in early December in the Royal Scots Club, Edinburgh. We wanted to stage the event that would focus on improving personal and business success rates using personality theory and what I call 'conversational psychometrics'. So the context could be handling sales objections, presentations to difficult clients, influencing others in a variety of contexts , negotiating with the 'tough guy', winning new business with a new client to converting those who have interest in what we do into new business partners or customers.
This event is only 90 minutes in duration, but focuses upon using 'personality profiling' conversationally to best assess how to influence others with whom we do business. My training in the use of BPS psychometric recognised instruments started over 20 years ago when I was senior lecturer at a local business school. Thankfully, the years and the experience of using the instruments in team development, selection and coaching has helped me so much, that much of the skill for assessing others has been internalised and is now possible to use the best approaches conversationally. We have developed a simple technique that can help how best to read the preferences of others and then appeal to address any objections that may arise and deal with them before they surface. It is a powerful process and promises to be an interesting event. It's true, the short events take more effort to make them work - there's only so much time and so much material. So I had better 'start with the end in mind'.
It's the second day of a leadership programme for a major conservation organisation in the third sector. Last night everyone completed a Myers Briggs personality profile and we have ran them through the OPP Expert System and assessed the results. Today, we explore the variety and diversity of personality types within the group with the purpose of winning their support to working with each member to coach them to best effect in their work. We find that this is a superb way to drive change throughout the organisation which has regional offices and reserves throughout the UK and also internationally. Focus on individual skills, provide the training input and then work with these people to introduce change within their immediate work area.
I love working with this business because it is a business - it's not just a charity. It significantly impacts the environment in many ways. They are probably the best organised and most focused organisation in the Third Sector (as most of us now refer to the charity sector) and I can be proud to say I have worked with them for nearly four years with all Directors, Regional Directors, all senior and middle management, technical experts etc to support them in their efforts. Over 350 people of their 1500 staff have been through our programme.
This leadership programme is the foundation upon which their carefully designed workshops on Cross Society Working, Coaching and Performance Management have been built, all of which supports them in shaping their culture. They have strong values and a committed subscription membership of over 1,000,000 members.
Best of all for me, is working with David, who is their training manager. We jointly present 'our jointly designed and tailored' Leadership programme and have a great deal of fun on the way. But don't get me wrong - Team Training can be a nightmare if the two or more Trainers do not gel. Thankfully David and I have worked so hard that we are now so well matched in delivery. It is rehearsal, hard work , effort, partnership and a healthy challenge as well as 'give and take' that has been invested so that no one can see the "seamless join" between us. The benefits of matching external with internal change agents are enormous.
The effort to work together is soon seen in the rewards of reviewing progress and audience reaction. That's one of the best feelings you can experience when working and trading with others to deliver a development experience that others can value and use to improve how people work together. There is nothing better than that warm good feeling that flows from the workshop sessions. Thanks David, and I'm looking forward to striving ahead with you in 2007, breaking new ground and delivering cracking new experiences to take the organisation to the next level.
Today, the theme of our first day on Leadership training is 'take a good look in the mirror.' What's it like to receive your behaviour? On a good day most agree they try their best - but on bad days the weaknesses of managers can let them down and cause them long term problems. This is why we spend a great deal of time using the metaphor of mirror gazing - seeing our reflection as others receive our behaviour. It's a great personal tool for transforming management style. We are working on developing a strong leadership culture with a leading conservation charity. Over 350 managers have gone through our programme over a three year period. I have to admit they were a leading business this intervention has supported their push to change their culture, and taken them to the next level of performance.
We use several tools to enhance and improve the ability to lead change including Myers Briggs Type Indicator (MBTI) - a Personality profile. There are so many benefits from using this and our other tools that we wonder why more businesses in the commercial sector do not commit to the same level of inquiry and development as this organisation in the third sector.
Developing and working on developing the manager's interpersonal competence is central to the success of any business. Participants in our two day programme report that they have a much better grasp of how they currently impact on people and have identified their 'cold buttons' - things they should stop doing, and their 'hot buttons' things they need to apply daily to improve their influencing ability. Just consider the impact of knowing with confidence that the managers in your business knew the best tools to employ to influence, persuade and negotiate with others. Just consider what effect this would have on the performance of your business.
I suppose people think that setting up a new business is relatively easy. Complete nonsense. I have just spent an exhausting nine hours working with my co-founders and directors of a very exciting venture into corporate consulting focusing on post acquisition integration and business expansion into Europe. I'll share with you the names of the partners at a future date - nearer to the launch of the business - but they are all highly prestigious names who are coming together to form Woburn Consulting Group. To me this is the most exciting element of getting started. We have to focus on vision, strategy and identity all at the same time. This is where integrity is built into the business. We have spent many hours differentiating what we do well and focus on those areas as our USP's.
It is clear from our research that 54% of acquisitions fail and 70% never achieve the synergies for which they were originally matched. This is a major area of opportunity for us as well as those businesses who want to expand their business operations into Europe. What we required was clarity of direction and swiftness of purpose with a heavy commitment to crank up the engine and rejuvenate the energies when required.
Okay - without Vision we go nowhere - here, a global vision with specificity is required. Is it possible to have detail and big picture all at the same time? Yes, the trick is moving quickly from the strategic big picture to specificity in a heart beat.
So did I enjoy the process? Of course, it was magnificent. The energy in the room was buzzing and the ideas came flooding out into the forum - breaking through old and tired business models. So what did I learn today? I had a great deal of fun with people who I like and respect, and knowing with certainty that the future will reap many rewards in new business with new challenges that, on occasion may be a little scary but satisfying.
Now, I'm off to Cambridge after dinner with three colleagues for a two day Leadership workshop which I know is going to be a hit. We are working with a major conservation organisation in the Third Sector, and their top 340 people have already been through our tailored programme which is shortly to appear in the interventions area of our website.
Focus on Learning & Development in High Value Added Activities for the Business
It was Stephen Covey with his groundbreaking book, '
The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People, who turned many people on to the concept of a commitment to life-long development. His efforts through the Covey Leadership Institute also helped companies in particular to rethink their business philosophy on L&D. According to the 7th habit we should keep the 'saw sharp' so that we can deal with radical change as it happens in the world. That's true for people as it is for any business.
But how many take the concept and responsibility seriously for their own self development? Any Economist will tell you one of the biggest factors that leads to successful economic development for any country investment in its Education and Development. There is much research that indicates that this is just as true on an organisational basis?
But where should be invest in T&D or Training, Learning and Development. I remember being asked by a Training Manager what development activity did I consider being the best for her staff as she had limited resources. The response was simply that she reviewed all those areas where currently performance was low but were value added to the customer was highest. Then, identify the skills and behaviours which are missing but which if delivered 100% effectively would most impact this deficiency. The advice was simple. Forget the 'nice to have' training and development and invest in those areas that have the most impact on the future of the business and the people. Never deviate from this route and T&D investment will always flow to the areas where it has most value for the longevity of the organisation.
Be Ambitious in your goal setting: Bob Geldof and Live Aid
Bob Geldof was being interviewed on TV on his fantastic and monumental impact on Live Aid and the recent concerts that surrounded the Gleneagles G8 summit. Never has anyone from the music business influenced the lives of others thousands of miles away by organizing such an enormous event. When he was asked how he'd set the goals and whether this was an outrageous vision, he said that any setting of specific goals would have done him and his team a disservice. By setting broad goals he allowed himself to be surprised by what could be achieved when others joined his crusade to save Africa. So the act of deliberately setting a high level goal, but leaving it sufficiently ill-defined would not constrain what would be possible as other people add their energy and their thoughts to the same vision.
What can Roger Bannister teach us about Goal Setting?
I like the idea of setting slightly unrealistic goals, in the faith that I may slip beyond my zone of comfort and actually go further than I thought possible. Why not? On 6th may 1954 Roger Bannister broke the world speed record for the mile. Everyone had said that this was the physical and psychological barrier that could never be broken. Athletes came very close to the sub four minute mile, but clearly had some self limits on believing that sort of performance was possible. Yet when Bannister dipped to 3.59.4 minutes, sixteen other athletes broke through the same barrier within 3 years after his fantastic performance and two within the same year. You see the 'psychological limits' had been removed through Bannister's run. I wonder what else we could achieve by stretching just what we may consider too far.
Goal Setting: Everything you are and have today was once just a simple idea
Without a strong focus on our personal goals, our dreams will never become a reality. We know this but how easy is it to procrastinate and refrain from throwing ourselves into goal setting with enthusiasm? How disappointing is it to review one's goals set out the start of the year and recognize we have achieved very little. The real reason we may not achieve our wishes is that we did not want them enough. Without getting into SMART objectives, the real key to goal setting is actually wanting it hard enough. There was a simple test that university tutor talked me through. He said if you cannot generate at least 8-10 compelling reasons why you should want the goal, then you probably are setting the wrong goal or there is confusion about what you really want.
He also said "If we cannot emotionally bond with the goal, then it's probably not a priority for us". But how can we use this information in achieving some of our objectives that are necessary for us to achieve in order to a higher order goal.
We have to programme ourselves for success. We have to develop our own balance sheets of positive things that will accrue for us, and those things that will not happen if we don't take action. We really have to leverage ourselves to literally define 10 specific benefits that we will tangibly enjoy when we achieve what we desire. This fuels our actions and keeps procrastination at bay. So develop deep, compelling, over-riding benefits of achieving whatever you want and visit your goals several times a day. That will be sufficient to start out on hitting really big success.
The 'Networking' seminar at the 2nd day of the Business Scotland event at the Corn Exchange in Edinburgh was a luke warm introduction to the concept that left me disappointed and uninspired. It was enough though to spark some very serious discussions with three other people about what we thought should have been the spirit and content of the workshop - so that was a real personal benefit. I actually believe that two out these contacts could generate some 'active interest' and help me achieve my 100 new 'active and enthusiastic' interests in my business which could lead to partnering work. We'll meet up again. 54 days to Christmas to go and I believe I am on stream to hit the target.
What may interest readers is looking first at the negative elements of 'traditional 'flash in the pan' - one quick hit Networking and then comparing it with the ideal process.
Talking with a wide variety of people and demonstrating a confident assertive style is natural to me. I have always believed people would describe me as a confident presenter who on occasion can be very assertive and passionate - especially when an issue touches what is of value to me. Although confident, I do not enjoy the perceived popular approach to Networking. It makes my toes curl with embarrassment. Lavishly distributing and sharing business cards and addresses of likely 'prospects' with a multitude of 'unknown' other Networkers goes against my values of respecting the privacy of my colleagues and friends.
When people tell me that they have "worked a room" I shudder with embarrassment for them. Never ask me to do it - I will not have anything to do with giving out names as referrals to people whose reputation and standards of delivery are not known to me. Yet, this is the spirit of Networking that is still pushed even though the ethics are in question.
I know I have problems with this approach and the various internet variations of 'Networking'. My experience of becoming a member of a well known networking directory, was that I was harassed for months by people I did not know who were trying to sell me mobile phones, insurance, time share, car loans and, to top it all, membership of Networking and Lunch Groups.
However, I do love sharing my network with others when we have the attitude and the culture right to do business.
Networking can work if it is based on Mutual Trust
I often pass on the names of trusted colleagues to others who are looking for specialised services and often the names of people who would fill top vacancies - but this is only through my trusted network. I did not do it deliberately, but I have created a checklist of factors that work for me in Networking.
Here are the top five characteristics that work for me
Mutual Trust - I have the belief that for Networking to work, it has to be voluntary and be based on mutual trust. Mutual trust can be a slow burning process based on the experience of working and interacting with others.
Emotional Engagement - I believe that both parties must have a positive emotional engagement about each other and the services that each provides.
Win - Win - It's critical that any relationship with others should have an emotional bond where the outcome is win-win for both parties.
Selfless & Empathetic - Sometimes contacts and projects take time to mature. It's best to adopt a selfless attitude and commit to the 'what goes around comes around' belief. An attitude that focuses on giving rather than taking develops the network in a positive sense.
Facilitate Introductions - No one should be left cold with just a phone number and name to contact. Real Networking is about facilitation. Facilitation means 'make easy' for others. So, real Networking also includes setting the frame for discussion.
There are lots of behaviours, skills and strategies that can support effective Networking. I believe the only starting point is focusing on creating the climate and culture under which referrals can be cheerfully given to others.
Active Learning with the Institute of Bankers and the Institute of Marketing
What a great day. It's crisp with a blue sky. It's not as bitterly cold as yesterday, as the wind has died down. The strong smell of fireworks has how dissipated from last night's Halloween parties. Luckily I am early onto the M9 to Linlithgow and arrive in time to attend an event at Sun Microsystems. It's a joint Masterclass for senior managers run by the Chartered Institute of Bankers and the Chartered Institute of Marketing. I have a feeling it may not work - who thought you could mix 'marketing types' with 'finance guys.' Could I have been more wrong?
Wow! What a great event. The Masterclass was led by Gerald Michaluk who is a Director of Marketing Management Services International on Strategic Management.
The event focused on key trends that would significantly impact on our organisations. Through the use of teams, we tackled the assumptions we were making re a selection of trends in the following areas:
Relative changes in Wealth; age and youth as consumers and employees
The forthcoming elections and change in Prime Minister
Peace about to break out - but where, when and for whom!
Echoes of Enron, corporate governance, reliability, credibility, believability spin and integrity
Consumer attitudes - "we want it free, perfect and now"
The environmental movement
Risk Management
In two hours we had used the format to challenge every assumption we could make about our markets and our organisations. The great benefit of attending was meeting a group of people with real enthusiasm.
My afternoon was taken up by attending the Business Scotland event at the Corn Market in Edinburgh. The lectures were good and displays and exhibits of a high standard. What let me down was the promise 'to attend and 'Meet the Buyer' of four organisations. My early request had been declined despite my being in the first tranche to respond to the organisers. I was told, "Buyers aren't interested in intangible services" - My response, "Is that right, really, someone should tell them it's the 'sizzle in marketing that sells sausages' not the machine that makes them".
I was reminded by a colleague that this was reminiscent of the Global Scot event. Some common issues on event management I think!
Never mind, let's refrain from "whinging" and put even more effort into doing business. My '100 active interest group (see Blog 31st October) to bagged before 25th December is going to take some revision.
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