Do you, your team or organization need to overcome obstacles and deliver results?

Perhaps, you are having issues motivating your team or even yourself?

Do  you need to know how to find those elusive “hot buttons” that ignite people into action?

Until a few years ago I would have answered, “Yes” to all of these. Then one day I had an epiphany.

You cannot motivate anyone!

Yep. You heard me. You cannot motivate anyone…except yourself. Think about it.

Motivation is very personal and comes from within us.  Let’s look at the definition.

Motivation n: the reason or reasons behind one’s actions or behaviour (Oxford Dictionary)

Whether it is the primal drivers of the need for food and perpetuation of the species as in migrating salmon or it is because you have been made redundant thanks to the recent recession and you are motivated to provide for your family, the reason motivates you. There may be external factors but the driver comes from within.

Now what you can do is inspire others. Inspiration is initiated externally. At its root, inspire relates to “breathing in”. Oxford Dictionary defines inspiration as:

The process or quality of being inspired; a person or thing that inspires.

That is we must breathe it into ourselves first. Breathe in the inspiration and then use it, as the body uses oxygen, to help us to live and wilfully act upon our surroundings.

Inspiration precedes motivation.  You need to be inspired and motivated to inspire others to become motivated.

No matter the audience, when I have asked for a show of hands those who could tell me exactly what motivates the people around them at work, rest or play, there has been very few or no hands up. A sad testimony don’t you think. No wonder there is such a chronic need today for effective leadership development?

Now think of Dr Martin Luther King’s “I have a dream” speech. He inspired a movement that was motivated to bring about cultural change.  That inspiration came about because Dr King connected with his audience. He connected with them at an emotional and spiritual level. He was giving them the vision that inspired them. The intention was to pass them the baton to make it happen.  As leaders know, or most of them anyway, they cannot deliver the vision on their own. They need help.

Share the Dream

So for you to motivate anyone you must first share the dream. Communicate it clearly, consistently, constantly and creatively.

Next help your motivatees to understand their purpose as it relates to achieving the dream, goal or target. Help them to connect with it so they understand their part and how meaningful their part is in the achievement. Help them T.E.A.M U.P. – Together Everyone Achieves More Understanding Purpose.

Using a football analogy, every player has a position and with that position comes role to play (their purpose) in the game plan especially when they understand the importance of working as a team.  No game plan. No awareness of their role. Out of position. Bad result.

Key Questions

Here is a question worthy of some significant consideration. Ask yourself. Ask your team.

If we do this in sport, why do we not tend to do it in business or even in at home?

Your role is to understand your purpose and, where relevant, help your motivatees to identify theirs and how it fits into the inspiring bigger picture. Do that and motivation is beginning to take form.

As the late Jim Rohn said, “When the why gets strong the how becomes easy.”

Inspire the team. Power comes when you align the individual’s purpose with the team’s purpose. The individual becomes aware, perhaps for the first time, how key they are to the success of the team or the organization. After all, teams win championships not individuals because they work as a team playing off each other’s skills, knowledge, experience and responsibilities.

Now you might be asking how do you help your motivatees to discover their purpose?

Well, one simple way to gain insight into what may motivate someone is to ask them the following question:

If you had unlimited resource in your life, what would you do?

Everyone is born with a purpose. It is hard-wired into their DNA. Everyone has strengths and gifts that will support that purpose. Regrettably, most people never discover what their purpose, gifts or strengths are. This is a way to draw it out.

Another couple of simple clarifying questions to ask them are:

What comes easy to you?

What’s your dream?

These answers will begin to enlighten you (and hopefully them) as to what those “hot buttons” might be.

Now that we have some lights coming on, what value would it be to you, your team and your organization etc if you had a simple and effective method or tool that enabled you (and everyone else for that matter) to really know what those “hot buttons” really are in about 7 minutes over a cup of coffee?

The Hot Box

Enter the “Hot Box”

Continue Reading

Could you do with managing your time better?

Would you like to be more productive and set and lead a great example based on how you are managing your time?

Would you like the people around you to respect your time and make better use of theirs?

If you answered yes to any or all of these questions, then, the solution is:

7 minutes.

The true value of those 7 minutes manifests when you use them effectively and efficiently in all the relationships you have in your life – at work, rest or play.

Time Flies

Time is a funny thing. It can seem to fly by and as such you do not truly catch the value of it. It is something that must be seen as a true investment. Therefore, you must expect a return. If 2

you are not getting a return then you are likely either viewing it as an expendable resource or something that you cannot control.

Many people talk about how they “spend” their time – working, sleeping, watching TV etc. Their perception is therefore that it is a commodity used in a transaction. Psychologically, they do not perceive it as the asset and investment it is. Effectively, they are not expecting a return. You end up spending your time like you spend your money.

Is this you?

Do you ever say to yourself, “I wish I had more time?”

Or

Do you ever say to your “boss, “I need more time?”

Or

Do you ever say to your family, “I wish I could spend more time with you?” And then tell them about all your commitments.

If you are like me, then you answered, “Yes” to all those. If so, your perspective of time is likely skewed in the wrong direction.

Here’s why. You cannot control or manage time!

There is a plethora of time management courses out there. Most of them are helpful. I would suggest they change their name to self-management courses. You cannot manage time (in case you missed it the first time!).

Let me illustrate. If I were to give you my watch and said, “Please manage my time”, could you do it? No. Time passes whether we like it or not. It is what we do with it and how that is important. This derives from our self-management and the decisions we make and the actions we take with respect to our time.

So how do you manage yourself and therefore get a return on the time you are investing (not spending)?

Time Soars

This is where the 7 minutes comes in. In truth it is actually not just 7 minutes. It is the first 7 minutes in 3

every engagement that will predominantly determine your outcome.

Regardless if it is a task, a meeting or when you first return home to your family, the first 7 minutes are crucial.

Tasks

Before you begin your day, before you begin a task, give the first 7 minutes as if they are the most important. Use them to prioritize and identify the outcomes you desire for tasks and for the day. This aligns very nicely to ending your day with 7 minutes to plan what you will do the next day giving your mind space to clear out some noise and process subconsciously so it is prepared for the work ahead the next day. You will be surprised at the clarity this provides.

Same thing at the beginning of the day – commit those first 7 minutes to refining your plan for the day and the outcomes you desire. Do this and things wonderfully begin to flow better and you approach things in a more centred way.

Self

As with Tasks, invest the first 7 minutes of your day or work day, depending on what works best, find a quiet place or create a quiet space and just invest that time meditating on your life, your goals, your dreams, your vision.

To give yourself that extra boost, do it at the end of your day too – just 7 minutes.

Team

At team or 1-2-1 meetings give them your best, at least, for the first 7 minutes. That is, be focused and interested in them first. Listen. Ask questions relative to what they are saying. As a cardinal rule for networking states, ‘Be interested before being interesting’. People will value you for it. You will be adding significant deposits into their Emotional Bank Accounts. That way, when you need to ask something of them, you are working from a healthy balance rather than one that is overdrawn.

Friends & Family

This is where the “First 7 minute Rule” really rocks.

Like me, you may bring your work home with you. Like me, you may often be so consumed with your issues that you neglect to consider that your family may have their own.4

Well I should say, I used to. Now when my kids wake up and when my wife wakes up (I am an early riser – a legacy of 23 years as a competitive swimmer), when I first greet them I do so with a warm smile, open arms and a focus on making their day right from the first moment. The smiles, hugs and kisses are worth it!

Perhaps, most importantly, at day’s end, on the way back home, I ask myself about 7 minutes from home, “How would the best husband and father, act when he comes through the door at home and greets his family?” (Please adapt this to whatever role(s) you are fulfilling).

Not only does this exercise prepare you, it ensures you are in the right relaxed state of mind to maximise that first 7 minutes where you are totally focused on them. Your children can fill you with their excited stories that they are bursting to tell you. Your spouse or partner can off-load their cares and concerns. Remember, they don’t necessarily want solutions (a note particularly to those other guys reading this); they just want you to listen.

Do that and you are filling your Emotional Bank Account.

Do that and you will generate massive returns!

Do that and you can far more simply, effectively and consistently then ask them if you can make a phone call or do some work.

Just do it!

Do all of the above and your time will no longer fly; it will soar! Do this and you will create time! Do this and you will have a new lease on life because time is life. So use your 7 minutes wisely and to effect!

Time heals all wounds

Which has been your experience? Time flies or time soars? So which do you owe yourself, your team and your family? What changes are you prepared to make so that time works for you rather irks you?

How many of us started out in life hearing the words from peers, parents, coaches and professionals that failure is bad? Schools around the world predominantly are run on pass / fail systems.  Is not failure a judgement placed on us by others? If so, then what judgement they pass on us is, in truth, none of our business! It all comes down to how we interpret the result. 

My Oxford dictionary defines failure as a “lack of success in the attainment of”. Says who?

So long as progress is being made is it failure?

Just ask Thomas Edison. After conducting thousands of experiments to invent the light-bulb with “no success” someone remarked to him that why did he not give up as he had failed so many times. Edison was reported to reply, “I haven’t failed. I have learned a thousand ways of how not to invent the lightbulb.” It all comes down to how you look at it.

Or ask any player or athlete who has given everything they have and, perhaps not won the day, the game or the medal. So long as they can say, with conviction, they have given their best and identify what they have learned then they have grown in skill, knowledge and experience.

There is only one failure – when you quit; when you fail to ‘show up’. Always aim to give 100%. Doing so ensures that you will maximise the learning along the way to your goal, target or dream. Ask any Olympic medallist or professional athlete. Showing up requires you to apply yourself physically, mentally, emotionally and, yes, spiritually. That way you will hard wire your nervous system and deepen the learning faster and more effectively. 

I recall a conversation I had with a client when the topic of failure came up. Immediately he became argumentative. He did not believe in “failure”. To him failure implied being a loser. When I asked him if he had ever failed at anything he admitted he had. The next question I asked was if he had learned from the failure. He grudgingly admitted that he had. Had it helped him progress and to move toward success? As I asked this question he had a revelation – so long as one can apply the learning to move forward then it is a success.

No matter what the situation is, if you give your all and learn something then you have succeeded. That means you always win! You are a winner! 

Just in case there are some reading this who still have yet to grasp this message. I will ask again, ‘What is failure?’  Now it is time for my definition. Failure is:

F ocussed

A nd

I nsightful

L earning

U sing

R eal

E xperience.

“Failure” then is an opportunity to focus on what has happened, gain insight from the actual experience. Now ask yourself what must happen for you to feel success? Your team? Your family? Your organization? Focus on that! Repeatedly. When you do not get the result you intended how can you focus on the experience objectively? Be persistent in discovering every bit of insight you can. Apply that insight in the future. When you do that how much more of a success will you be? You will have then learned to fail to succeed.

In a tough economy now is the time to develop your people. So …

What is your people development strategy?

Notice it is not professional development but people development.

Professional development sees a person in only one dimension – their job (sport or otherwise). People development looks at that same person as a whole – a sum of specific roles e.g. athlete, partner, business owner and school governor. Ignoring the other roles jeopardizes individual, team and organizational performance and adversely impacts staff retention, costs, profits etc.

People come to work with all their roles. For some, those roles bring with them issues, challenges and distractions. These can adversely affect performance not only for the individual but also across the organization.

To develop your people to their fullest potential and thereby enhance their performance and maximize your ROI, your strategy must be holistic with a role-specific approach. It must encompass the 4 Concepts of People Development™:

The Big Picture

Raise the importance of having a role-specific Big Picture and how it is applied in terms of individual, team and company development.

Peak Performance

Identify what peak performance looks like, thinks like, feels like and behaves like. Establish what Competence, Commitment and the ability to Communicate is required and how that is orchestrated by what and how we think.

The Path to Peak Performance

Establish where your organization is on your path. Determine what is holding you back and what needs to be done to overcome those hindrances. Only then can the Peak Performance concept be fully applied.

The 4 Phases of Role-Specific Development

Establish an awareness of the phases you develop through – Hope to Belief to Knowing to Mystery, where you are as an organization right now and where you need to develop your people in order to enhance performance and attract and achieve growth and results.

Investing in and implementing these 4 Concepts through your people development strategy will always enhance performance and attract the best people – after all people like to know they are valued.  Additionally, these can also be applied across each person’s life roles so you also create sustainable synergy across all roles. A further key benefit is that you also gain market share over your competition because you value your greatest asset – your people -  who are to be protected and invested in to ensure the greatest return.

So create your people development strategy. Your future depends on it!