Managers and leaders are ultimately responsible for the results that they achieve through people, it is therefore essential that they understand the principles involved in raising the performance of their people and teams.

The formula in the above diagram that brings the essential components into focus and causes us to realise that if; expectations, ability or attitude are at zero then results will be too.

The first key to performance and results is to set expectations and it my experience that this is an area that can usually be improved. Most managers know about SMART goals:

Specific: And clear enough for employees to carry out the task.

Measurable: By quality, quantity, cost or timeliness.

Achievable: Within the influence control, capacity, knowledge, skills and authority of the employees.

Realistic: In terms of ability, the goal must also be relevant to the individual, team and organisation.

Time Bound: Must include specific timeline for achievement.

Even with this knowledge only about 20% of managers set SMART Goals for their direct reports. A common misconception is that goals must be numeric but they can be behavioural and qualitative providing clear expectations are set; for example if you want one of your managers to listen more to internal stakeholders the goal might be:

“Can we agree that you will improve your listening skills in stakeholder meetings (S) and that we would know this has occurred when you are speaking less than 50% of the time and can accurately articulate their needs, wants and drivers to me at the end of the meeting (M). To do this is up to you and you can role model how I have done this at previous meetings (A). Achieving this will not only be of benefit to our relationship with stakeholders but will position you to take on more responsibility in the future (R). Can we agree that you will have achieved this by our next review meeting in two months? (T)”

Setting expectations that stretch the employee coupled with a belief that they can achieve these goals creates a ‘Pygmalion Effect.’ The Pygmalion effect is phenomena in which the greater the expectation that is placed on the individual the better they perform. Most people have experienced this effect when a teacher or lecturer believed in them more than they believed in themselves; the result was that they excelled in that topic (see the graphic).

If an employee lacks the ability to do the task then it shouldn’t have been delegated to them until they have received sufficient on-the-job or classroom training to be able to perform to the required standard.

Attitude can be a more challenging problem to solve as it requires the skills to uncover what the employee really values and align this to the company’s values and vision (to be addressed in a future post). Herzberg listed the common de-motivators (hygiene factor) as poor working conditions, insufficient pay and benefits, boredom or poor relationship with supervisor. Jack Welch said, “People join good companies, but leave bad managers.”

When an employee has a bad attitude we must enquire what is important to them and check that the hygiene factors are addressed. Often we need to look in the mirror because the reason for their poor attitude is there relationship with us.

In summary performance in individuals or teams can usually be increased 20 to 30% by addressing the factors of expectation, ability and attitude. Can you afford not to make the change?

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As part of my study of leadership and business, I recently read a classic— Tom Peters’ 1985 book, A Passion for Excellence: The Leadership Difference.  This book followed his best selling book on great companies, Search for Excellence (1982).  By the time I read over 300 pages, I knew that I was going to use a number of quotes on “coaching.”  Then I turned the page to Chapter 18.  It has a one line title, Coaching.

Now if that doesn’t surprise you as it did me, then let me remind you that Thomas Leonard did not create the field of “Coaching” until 1991.  So this chapter was published 6 years earlier!  And while there’s a few things I’ll mention in a minute that doesn’t fit for Meta-Coaching, mostly it is right on target.  Chapter 18 is addressed to executive leaders and managerial leaders in an organization about how to be a leader coach.  Now is that relevant?  To see for yourself, here are a few key quotations from the book:

“Coaching is face-to-face leadership that pulls together people with diverse backgrounds, talents, experiences and interests, encourages them to step up to responsibility and continued achievement, and treats them as full-scale partners and contributions.  Coaching is not about memorizing techniques or devising the perfect game plan.  It is about really paying attention to people— really believing them, really caring about them, really involving them.

“To coach is largely to facilitate, which literally means ‘to make easy’ —not less demanding, less interesting or less intense, but less discouraging, less bound up with excessive controls and complications.  A coach/facilitator works tirelessly to free the team from needless restrictions on performance, even when they are self-imposed.  In these next few pages we will talk about some of the most vital aspects of coaching: visibility, listening, limit-setting, value-shaping, skill-stretching.” (325-326)

Under the title of “Coaching by Wandering Around,” Tom Peters writes about leaders and managers who use coaching as their methodology for leading:

“Coaching is the process of enabling others to act, of building on their strengths.  It’s counting on people to use their own special skill and competence, and then giving them enough room and enough time to do it.  Coaching at its heart involves caring enough about people to take the time to build a personal relationship with them.” (328)

“Coaching is tough-minded.  It’s nurturing and bring out the best; it’s demanding that the team play as a team.” (329)

“Every coach, at every level, is above all a value-shaper.  The value-shaper not only brings company philosophy to life by paying extraordinary attention to communicating and symbolizing it.” (330)

“The best coaches spend as much time developing the team’s ability to believe in what each member can contribute as they do working with individual players.  It sets the tone for the way people should aim to work together and trust evolves in the process.” (334)

Now for what Tom Peters wrote that does not fit for coaching today as we know it via Meta-Coaching.  This indicates the way coaching has evolved from 1984 to today:

“Five Coaching Roles: In short, sometimes coaching is not coaching, but counseling, or sponsoring, or confronting, or educating.” (337)

“It turns out that successful coaches instinctively vary their approaches to meet the needs of this person at this time, or that group at that time.  They perform five distinctly different roles: they educate, sponsor, coach, counsel, and confront.” (338)

The theme of this chapter on Coaching is that the leader is a coach and the leader who coaches appeals to the best in each person, has an open door, is a problem-solver and cheerleader, thinks of ways to make people more productive, manages by wandering around, is a good listener, etc. (354-357).

“Effective coaching means creating winners, keeping the faith in the thick of turmoil, building momentum, finding tiny glimmers of light (to reinforce) in the midst of darkness…” (357)

“Effective leadership is full-time people development. … In coaching, the name of the game is execution.” (359)

“Coaching includes praise— expressing approval or admiration, applauding, commending and lauding small (and large) victories.” (361)

“Coaching is ongoing leadership. …  Coaches stretch you to your limit, a limit often beyond what you thought possible.” (362)

“The best coaches set in motion a continuing learning process —one that helps people develop a tolerance for their own struggles and accelerates the unfolding of skill and contributions that would not have been possible without the ‘magic’ attention of a dedicated coach.” (377)

“Leading is a hands-on art.  Coaching is the essence of leading– developing those with whom we work.  Coaching is MBWA (management by wandering around.” (384)

As I reflect on these writings some 26 years ago, no wonder coaching has become such a powerful modality in the business world.  And today we stand on the shoulders of such giants as Tom Peters.

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2009 could be associated with many negative emotion; fear, anxiety, uncertainty, regret etc. This is not all bad because emotions have ‘motivational consequences’. If we view our emotions as a feedback system, we can use the information to change our behaviours or make better choices.

Positive Emotions

My opening paragraph is unlikely to be a surprise because there has been copious research into so called ‘negative’ emotions, in fact studies into negative emotions outnumbers those on positive emotions by 25 to 1!

What has been revealed is that negative emotions, narrow our focus and actions but feeling good broadens our interests and helps us build our capablilities. Positive emotions make us more curious and interested and therefore more likely to try new activities and develop new skills. Postive emotions have been shown to make people more creative and better problem solvers and therefore an essential ingredient for innovation.

Benefits of Positive Emotion

A 2005 article by Lyubomirsky, King and Diener in Psychological Bulletin listed the proven benefits of positive emotion. I have summarised them here for you to consider your outlook for 2010.

At Work

Being positive is associate with:

• Higher salaries
• Better supervisor evaluations
• Better customer evaluations
• Less absenteeism
• Less employee turnover
• Better organizational behavior
• Better relationship with colleagues

Health and Social

• Positive people are less likely than negative people to develop a cold, and when they did the symptoms were far less severe.
• Positivity linked to less pain, physical symptoms, fewer hospital visits.
• Good relationships associated with better health and mental health.
• Happiest 10% are more sociable, have stronger friendships, and romantic relationships.
• Positive people volunteer more and are more willing to help others.
• Positive people are more extroverted and are less selfish.

The list speaks for itself and I know having had a few days off at Christmas, spending time with family and exercising has increased my positivity. Speaking to friends and colleagues all have mentioned a more positive and optimistic outlook for 2010 and so I for one will be making ‘being more positive’ a goal for next year – how about you?

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Happy Holidays to all our readers – whether you celebrate this holiday as religious festival or just get caught up in the spirit of goodwill.

Spend your Money like a Wise Man

If you want to be happy this Christmas you may or may not be surprised that research proves that spending money on other people increases happiness.

It Really is the Thought that Counts

Other research shows that giving money does not give a message of ‘intimacy’.

I had an interesting conversation with Alysson an HR director about her team wanting to increase the value of a Kriscringle from $10 to $25 because it was so “hard” to find a gift for $10. Alysson rejected the request saying that it was not about the money but the effort, it cost very little to bake some cookies but it really shows thoughtfulness.

In the past I have found buying presents a chore and usually spent too much at the last minute. This year I have put in a bit of extra effort to buy more thoughtful (and less expensive) gifts for my wife. The effort was pleasurable for me – I hope do hope she likes them

Eat Drink and be Merry

I have no research to back this last statement but experience tells me that eating and good conversation with friends and family will increase happiness and refocus us on the important relationships in our lives. A caveat is that you don’t need to overeat or get a hangover to get maximum satisfaction.

So have a great Christmas and I look forward to sharing more self leadership tips in 2010.

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As Christmas approaches we get time to reflect upon what we have learned from 2009; here are a few things that come to my mind.

It has undoubtedly been a tough year with a global financial meltdown and  H1N1 amongst the challenges we have all faced – so what have we learned?

Most people learn by feedback  or single loop learning; we take action using existing strategies, get a result and if it isn’t what we want we adjust the action and or the strategy in the hope that we get a better result. The events of 2009 need us to question some of the assumptions we have made about the world and business.

Double Loop Learning

Argyris & Schon (1974) proposed double loop learning theory which promotes learning to change underlying values and assumptions. The following diagram explains it.

Personally I had assumed 2009 was going to be pretty much the same as 2008 and that our clients would just keep booking training and coaching – duh!

I soon realised that just because I believed that coaching and training improves engagement, effectiveness and productivity did not mean that my clients would continue to purchase these programs when they were offered the choice, “slash costs or slash head count.”

Now 2009 has not been all bad, as it has caused me to reflect how I can better serve my clients and build programs that deliver more return on investment and more organisational learning. I am happy to report that our earnings this year are equal to last year and we are already have significant bookings for 2010.

“So what!” I hear you cry, “but what about me?” Well here are some Action Learning questions to help you acheive some double loop learning:

• What am I trying to do?
• What is stopping me from doing it?
• What can I do about it
• Who knows what I am trying to do?
• Who else can do anthing to help?

Now if you have a coach or a trusted friend you can get them to ask you:

• How do you feel about what is going on?
• What questions does that raise?
• How would someone you most admire deal with this situation?
• Can you think of three options for action?
• What are the pros and cons of each of these options?
• What first steps are you going to take?

As adults we learn best when we reflect and question what we do and then take action- make sure you spend some time reflecting this holiday season so that you make a difference in 2010.

HAPPY HOLIDAYS!

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In 1990 Peter Senge published a book that has become a classic, a book that most people in leadership and management roles in business, most who consult or coach within organizations, and those who seek to stay on the cutting edge of business have read.  I’m speaking, of course, about the book The Fifth Discipline. The theme and central focus of this book is on learning to think and work systemically.

Senge was convinced that the key to business success rested in five disciplines, which when synergized by leaders and managers, will launch an organization or business into a creative mode and take it to a whole new level of effectiveness.  Like the five critical component technologies that came together in 1935 for the McDonnell Douglas DC-3 and which ushered in the era of commercial air travel— Senge argued that the five components he discovered would create great companies.

What are those five components?  Systems thinking, personal mastery, mental models, building shared vision, and team learning.  Together “each provides a vital dimension in building organizations that can truly ‘learn,’ that can continually enhance their capacity to realize their highest aspirations” (p. 6).  Then unlike most contemporary organizations that are reactive, companies can become responsive or even generative.

Senge focuses on enabling companies to become “learning organizations.”  He writes about organizations going beyond the old traditional hierarchical structures to an enlivening vision, people collaborating and experiencing team learning, a whole new level of openness, and leadership that evolves beyond being politically power oriented.  Now does that sound like self-actualization or the self-actualizing leaders and companies that I describe in Unleashing Leadership? That’s what I also thought!   The Fifth Discipline is about self-actualization in organizations.

Yet because Senge did not use the term self-actualization or frame things in terms of moving beyond Theory X to Theory Y of management, I did not make the connection.  In spite of not using the language, throughout the work the vision and premises of self-actualization psychology informs his argument for the emergence of a whole new kind of organization— self-actualizing organizations.

In fact, for Senge “systems thinking” and “personal mastery” are two of his expressions for self-actualization.  What I suddenly now realize in re-reading The Fifth Discipline is that “personal mastery” in this model is what we call “self-actualization” in Maslow’s model!  Here’s my evidence.

Senge described “personal mastery” as a high level of proficiency in an area that deeply matters to you.  And to develop that level of mastery, you need to do two things: 1) Clarify what’s truly important to you and 2) See current reality more clearly. (p. 141).  Senge says that personal mastery goes beyond competence.

“It goes beyond spiritual unfolding or opening, although it requires spiritual growth.  It means approaching one’s life as a creative work, living life from a creative as opposed to reactive viewpoint.” (p. 141)

In an amazing paragraph where he described people of personal mastery, Senge’s description sounds very, very similar to how Maslow described self-actualizing people.

“People with a high level of personal mastery share several basic characteristics.  They have a special sense of purpose that lies behind their visions and goals.  For such a person, a vision is a calling rather than simply a good idea. They see ‘current reality’ as an ally, not an enemy.  They have learned how to perceive and work with forces of change rather than resist those forces.  They are deeply inquisitive, committed to continuing seeing reality more and more accurately.  They feel connected to others and to life itself.  Yet they sacrifice none of their uniqueness.  They feel as if they are part of a larger creative process, which they can influence but cannot unilaterally control.

“People with a high level of personal mastery live in a continual learning mode.  They never ‘arrive.’ … Personal mastery is not something you possess.  It is a process.  It is a lifelong discipline.  People with a high level of personal mastery are acutely aware of their ignorance, their incompetence, their growth areas.” (p. 142)

“People with high levels of personal mastery are more committed.  They take more initiative.  They have a broader and deeper sense of responsibility in their work.  They learn faster.  For all these reasons, a great many organizations espouse a commitment to fostering personal growth among their employees because they believe it will make the organization stronger.” (p. 143)

And systems thinking?  Senge describes this as “contemplating the whole as a pattern,” being able to see the unity of snapshots of isolated parts and how they work together.  He describes the building blocks of systems thinking as feedback loops and delays in the system and from there the recognition of patterns that arise that indicate specific kinds of systems (archetypes).

When we apply systems thinking to human beings, we recognize that our experiences are made up of multiple systems—our mind-body system, our meaning-making system, our neuro-semantic system.  And within these systems are reinforcing processes, limiting processes, balancing (stabilizing) processes.  And as in a business or political system, we also experience problems at various levels.  Some of our problems are mere symptoms of the system rather than the fundamental causes.  That’s why the symptoms keep resurfacing over time.  That’s why “solutions” which work at one level or for the short-term, never actually takes care of the real problem.

So what do we discover when we “contemplate the whole” and look for patterns in human beings?  We discover that there is within us an inner drive to self-actualize and that this is itself our most fundamental inner dynamic system.  This is our primary system for growing, developing, and actualizing our highest meanings and performances.  And Self-Actualization Psychology is the psychology that describes this whole.

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It is more than a year ago that I walked through the door of the Self Leadership International office for the first time. I was a young graduate of psychology, coming all the way from Romania to learn about training and leadership development in Singapore; with very little idea of what my internship will bring about.

Now, one year later, I can whole heartedly say that it was the greatest learning experience of my life.

Not only did I learn tremendously in the area of leadership development, but even more importantly I developed myself imensely on a personal level. I can’t possibly name all the things I learnt, as it would be a post too long for anyone to read…but I do want to share with you three of the most important ones:

1. The importance of open and honest communication

A lot of companies actually have this somewhere in their guidelines, but in the Self Leadership office this was indeed a ground rule. And it was great to realize how saying things openly and directly can make so much of a difference in my working relationships, in the way I related to my colleagues and in the overall atmosphere in the office.

It also leads to no politics, as everybody knows pretty much everything and there is no need to hide anything. Plus, the most powerful breakthrough for me was to start saying what I thought, even if I was afraid. I especially refer to giving negative feedback or to stating opinions contrary to the others.

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A good resume cannot get you a job, but a bad resume will not get you an interview, and without an interview there is less chance of you getting the job.

A resume is usually the first impression that you make with a prospective employer. It gives you the opportunity to gain their interest and hold their attention by displaying your skills and experience before them.

Being in the recruitment business, we come across all kinds of resumes with fancy presentations, fonts, language, etc. A resume is a professional document and should be treated as such. Your qualifications should speak for you and not your degree of innovation in presentation.  Here are some guidelines on how to create a resume that works for you.

Cover letter

A cover letter is a very important part of your job application. While responding to a specific job advertisement, treat the cover letter as a value addition to your resume and not just any general letter of introduction. The letter should be concise with crisp sentences giving a brief introduction about yourself and your strengths.

Determine the objective of your job search

With a clear idea of what you want to achieve from your resume, the information that you want to include will flow easily. If you don’t have an objective to focus on, your resume will not be structured and easy to read.

Your resume is a marketing tool

Imagine yourself as a product and your prospective employers as customers. Use your resume to highlight your uniqueness.

Aim for an interview, not the job

A good resume should get you an interview. So you don’t need to go into great detail about each accomplishment. Save that for the interview. The objective of a resume is to create enough interest for the prospective employer to want to meet you.

A resume should always be reviewed at regular intervals. Alter the format of your resume if a particular job role demands certain skills to be highlighted. And finally, here are some tips to keep in mind.

Top 10 resume tips

1. Keep your audience in mind when you write your resume.
2. Use simple but effective language to convey your abilities.
3. Highlight achievements by using bulleted points. Avoid long sentences or paragraphs.
4. Use figures and statistics to quantify your achievements, especially if you are applying for a sales related role.
5. Highlight the positives. Don’t be shy about showing off your strengths.
6. Use relevant action buzzwords that will grab the attention of the reader.
7. Be honest about what you convey.  Never lie on your resume.
8. Have someone else review your resume for grammatical or typing errors.
9. Limit your resume’s length to not more than 2 – max 3 pages.

10.In case of emailing your resume, recheck how the file attachment will be received.  Use the most commonly used software programs for example a PDF or Word file.

Good luck in your job search!

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NLP is a model of how humans think, feel, behave and communicate. When NLP was developed in the 1970’s by Bandler and Grinder it was a radical departure from the field of psychology, which at the time was focused more on human dysfunction than peak performance.

Today, with the acceptance of positive psychology, NLP appears less radical can be viewed as an excellent framework for learning to communicate effectively, to model people and systems and to design strategies for peak performance. Learning NLP can improve the performance of athletes, sales people, business people, coaches, trainers, teachers, therapists and parents.

NLP for Consulting, Training and Coaching

I use NLP and NeuroSemantics in my consulting, training and coaching and I enjoy sharing the technology through public programs that I hold in Singapore and other parts of SE Asia. You can get a list of the upcoming programs by clicking here. I highly recommend NLP Communication and  Coaching Essentials which is the first 3-day of a NLP Practitioner program and covers how to communicate and coach effectively plus we are conducting  a full NLP Master Practitioner training in October.

NLP  Association of Singapore Video

If you like watching videos on YouTube then you can watch part of my presentation to the Singapore NLP Association, Click here. A full DVD of  the presentation is available for purchase from our office.

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With self leadership coaching he came to the powerful realisation that it his ‘Mind’ his ‘Choices’ and his ‘Life’.

If, like my client, you are lacking ‘permission’ by taking ownership and responsibility of your mind, your choices an your life puts you in the drivers seat and enables you to create the personal or business success you want.

Confirmation of this power to choose is the theme of the final part of The Matrix movie trilogy. The character Neo is able to triumph over Agent Smith when, after prompting from The Oracle, he re-discovers his power of choice.

Is there an area in your life or career that you have been saying “I have no choice”? I wonder what would happen if you were to take responsibility and say; “My mind, my choice, my life!”

My coaching client did take control and left a low paying, menial job and started traveling; he settled in Vietnam where he started a business and met the love of his life.

If you would like coaching to assist you achieve this positive and powerful choice then connect to a coach or attend one of our self leadership programs.

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