Aha!

Does giving presentations make you mildly uncomfortable, very uncomfortable or worse still? You’re not alone.

One or two these anecdotes might strike a cord too: “I get all blotchy”, “I can’t catch my breath”, “I stumble and forget my words”, “I rush through it”, “my legs and my arms shake”, “sweat pours off me”, “My heart beats, as if it going come out of my chest”, “I want to fake an illness or simply run away”, “my inner voice is chatting loudly to me, saying things like ‘I’m no good’”, “I feel like I might faint” and so on.

The good news is whatever your symptoms, they can all be improved and so can your overall performance. There are many ways in which a person can be helped but I’d like to focus on what’s happening in the mind.

Here’s an example of a how a tweek to a person’s thinking can have amazing results. I’ve been working with a client recently who wanted to have greater presence in senior client meetings and give more authoritative and polished presentations.

In everyday meetings he was fine. He was relaxed and performed with confidence. However when in meetings with senior clients there was a significant change. He’d become anxious, less confident and tended to withdraw from conversation fearing that he would make mistakes and look foolish if he put himself forward.

With presentations, although he gave them frequently, he found that his performance would diminish if faced with senior clients. Feeling incredibly uncomfortable he would rush through his presentation knowing full well that he was not doing a good job.

In psychology we know its the beliefs that we hold and thoughts that we have that give rise to our emotions and lead on to how we act and behave. So the approach we decided to take was to find out what was going on in his mind during those moments. It took a while but eventually we discovered that he had an overriding thought that caused his negative emotions and impaired his performance – “I need to be right all the time so that I prove myself”. We analysed the thought for a while in terms of how it was serving and not serving him and it dawned on him that the negatives seriously out weighed the positives that it gave him. He was itching to change it to “I need to be right most of the time”. Bang! The lightbulb came on his eyes were shining. Immediately he realised that he had been operating with an unrealistic expectation of himself  and when the pressure to perform in senior client meetings arose, he was being kept hostage by his own mind. He could now see how his new mindset of being ‘right most of the time so that I prove myself’ was more realistic and freed him up to perform as he wanted to. He has reported that his confidence and presence in ‘big’ meetings has significantly improved.

We turned our attention to his issue of rushing through presentations. Again he realised that he had been operating with his old thought pattern of “I need to be right all the time so that I prove myself”. He understood that this thought was causing him to rush through his presentation in the hope that he couldn’t be challenged and would therefore be ‘right’ –  a self-fulfilling prophecy. Of course this wasn’t working for him. Again he realised by changing his mindset to being ‘right most of the time’ that he released the pressure on himself. He could now view his presentation as ‘the start of a conversation’ rather than him preaching (very quickly). He felt much more relaxed about taking questions. In fact part of his strategy to help him slow down was to actively invite questions. He now feels a significantly more confident and authoritative presenter.

Like a chiropractor might manipulated a back to free a trapped nerve, a good coach can help us to make small alterations to the way we think that can have a profound knock effect to the way we feel, act and perform.

We all recognise how crucial energy, passion and inspiration are, as leadership qualities. I don’t think there is a leader out there who wouldn’t like to be more inspirational in their world! Indeed ‘being more inspirational’ is often an area that many of my clients want to develop.

Considering the pressures put upon us, these days; constantly sapping our energy, passion, drive and determination perhaps it’s no surprise that inspiration is such a hot topic. Wouldn’t it be fantastic if there was a medicine labelled ‘Instant Inspiration’ and with just one spoonful you become more creative, passionate, excited, energetic, driven and determined; in short, inspired and inspirational.

Unfortunately, and to the best of my knowledge, ‘Instant Inspiration’ isn’t available in bottle format. However, it is available in a package called “The Heart of Leadership”. And rather than a spoon, The Heart of Leadership is delivered as a one day course. It might not be as quick but the The Heart of Leadership will give leaders a huge hit of long-lasting inspiration so that they can make a real difference in their world.

To find out more about this unique course please take a look at this clip http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MyyAqlXxBi8&feature=player_detailpage

I was in a workshop recently with some senior executives and we were discussing leaders and role models in their organisation. It became apparent that they were somewhat disappointed and uninspired by the ’so called’ leaders in their organisation. What dawned upon the group was that many of their senior people didn’t ‘walk the talk’ – they weren’t Authentic Leaders.

I was intrigued to find out more about what Authentic Leadership is. Bob Taylor, a well know author in the field, defines it as this:

“Authenticity is knowing, and acting on, what is true and real inside yourself, your team and your organization AND knowing and acting on what is true and real in the world. It is not enough to walk one’s talk if one is headed off, or leading one’s organization, community or nation, off a cliff!”

On further research I found an article by Andrew Cohen, in which he says in order for us to be come Authentic Leaders, we must be willing to:

• Stan alone
• Live fearlessly
• Act heroically
• Want to be free and true more than anything else
• Take unconditional responsibility for oneself
• Face everything and avoid nothing
• At all time see things impersonally
• Live for a higher purpose

Now I don’t know about you but to me that’s a pretty intimidating list. It strikes me that to become a truly Authentic Leader (measuring up to all the criteria in that list) is, quite literally, extraordinary. I almost get the impression that it’s the search for ‘perfection’, in a leadership context. So if those executives in the workshop were thinking of their bosses, along these lines, then it’s not surprising that they came up short.

The way I see it, becoming a Authentic Leader is a continuous journey of learning and development without an end. For me, seeing it this way is motivating without be intimidating – I draw comfort from the subtext that “no one’s perfect, we all make mistakes”.

Things change in our 30s!

Generally, people in their 20s are satisfied with gaining promotions and pay rises; working unquestioningly long hours completing whatever is requested of them and all to get ahead in their jobs.

And then it happens! It doesn’t happen overnight but it can appear that way. We start asking ourselves searching questions about our work and life, in general; Why am I doing this? Who’s benefiting? Am I enjoying this? What do I want? and so on. This change in perspective might occur because of a major event (such as the death of someone close, the birth of a children, marriage, divorce etc) or it might be the perceived increase in responsibilities that occur in this phase of life – the sum of which cause us to reflect.

Whatever it is, it is a threat to organisations and the retention of their talent. These ‘30 somethings’ are the next generation of leaders and in many cases are leaders already. But satisfying this group in not easy. Their needs have changed and they are more demanding.  They want to work  in organisations that they believe in. That want visions and values that they buy into and can contribute to. Organisations that have a culture that they feel comfortable in and that gives them a sense of belonging. They want flexibility in the hours they work to fall in line with their lives overall. And they want a role that challenges them and is suited to their strengths.

Quite a list. So how can organisations hold on to the ‘30 somethings’ rather than loose them to ‘pastures new’? I think the key is agility. Organisations have to be versatile. They have to remove the barriers of hierachy so that companies are no longer run from the top down. Responsibility has to be shared throughout the company. The ‘30 somethings’ need to be a part of shaping how the company is run. They need to be able to make changes that are going to enhance the organisations’ offering through a happy and motivated team.

Perhaps a way of discovering how agile your organisation is, is find out whether it operates a Transactional or Transformational leadership culture.

Transactional leadership involves a relationship between leader and the follower in a series of transactions. If one party agrees to do one thing, the other party agrees to do another. The exchange is based on a contingent, usually extrinsic, material rewards such as bonuses or promotion and management by exception. This style of leadership works up to a level but there is evidence to suggest that it does not motivate people beyond their basic job requirements and is not suitable for achieving long-term objectives. Transactional leadership does not take into account personal values that motivate individuals to perform well and to achieve great things. The power lies in the hand of the leaders. I can see this style being satisfactory for the ‘20 somethings’ but not for the more demanding ‘30 somethings’ and beyond.

The ‘30 somethings’ need organisations that operate a Transformational style of leadership. A style that works on a much more emotional level taking into account people goals, needs and values.A transformational leader focuses on “transforming” others to help each other, to look out for each other, to be encouraging and harmonious, and to look out for the organisation as a whole. With this leadership, the leader enhances the motivation, morale and performance of his followers through a variety of mechanisms. These include connecting the follower’s sense of identity and self to the mission and the collective identity of the organisation; being a role model for followers that inspires them; challenging followers to take greater ownership for their work, and understanding the strengths and weaknesses of followers, so the leader can align followers with tasks that optimises their performance.

If your organsation needs to become a more transformational, I can help you. Please drop me a line on alastair@ahaltd.co.uk

Most of us are aware that if we overuse a strength it can become a weaknesses. Again, continuing my recent theme, it is all about ‘balance’. Not ‘too much’, not ‘too little’ but ‘just right’ is what we are aiming for.

So how does this apply to our leadership styles. Daniel Goldman, a well known researcher and author about leadership and Emotional Intelligence, identified 6 key leadership style: Commanding, Visionary, Affiliative, Democratic, Pacesetting and Coaching.

Commanding is a “do as I tell you” style that demand immediate compliance. It’s great in a crisis or in a period of change but if overused can have negative impact on people and the climate.

Visionary is a”come with me” style that moblises people towards a vision. Great for engaging people behind a clear vision such as a change in direction. Not so good if overused in a team of experts or experience colleagues where the direction is already clearly defined.

Affiliative is a “people come first” style that create harmony and builds emotional bonds. It’s great for healing rifts or motivating people but if used in isolating can lack direction and purpose.

Democratic is a “what do you think?” style that forges consensus through harmony. It’s great for getting buy-in or consensus but it overused can be a long and frustrating process that can feel leaderless.

Pacesetting is “do as I do, now” style that is good for setting high standards of performance. Great for getting quick results from a highly motivated team but can be overwhelming and oppressive if used over long-periods of time

Coaching is a ‘try this” style for developing people for the future. Great for helping employees to improve performance and developing strengths. It’s not appropriate in time-pressured situations or with people who don’t want to be developed.

As leaders, we naturally have a leaning to one or two of these styles and it is clear that our leadership strengths can become weaknesses if we overuse them or use them on the wrong occasions (I’m assuming that we are unlikely to underuse our strengths). Goldman asserts that leaders who have mastery of four or more of the styles, especially Visionary, Affiliative, Democratic and Coaching, develop the best working climate and achieve the highest levels of business performance.

What are your strongest leadership styles? And are you overusing them?

In my last blog, I spoke about how having ‘balance’ in all areas of our  life is important for us to find fulfillment and happiness.

Continuing on the ‘balance’ theme, I went to a forum on Psychometric testing, recently, and the Speaker there Robert Kaiser from Kaplan Devries Inc was taking about how 5-point scales (“Never” through to “Always” or “Ineffective through “Extremely Effective”) can give the wrong impression in 360 Appraisals.

Take the example question “Pays attention to detail – has a finger on the pulse of day-to-day activity”. If the response to this on a 5 point scale is “Always” then we could assume that this is a good score. However, what would you score someone, on this question, if they were a ‘micro-manager’ of situations; not let their people develop or grow because they controlled how they did things?  On the 5-point scale you would have still score them as ‘Always’, which, i think you’ll agree, is misleading. Kaplan Devries solution is to change the 5-point scale to 9-point scale moving from “Too Little” to “Just Right” and onto “Too Much” (-4,-3,-2,-1,0,+1, +2, +3, +4). In the example question above, you might score the Micro-manager as a “+3″ or “+4″, giving more realistic and actionable feedback to that person.

Should you make changes to your appraisal system, so that development areas are not mistaken for strengths?

I’ve been rather fascinated by the concept of ‘balance’, recently. It struck me that life is just one big balancing act and if we get it just right we feel happy and fulfilled. Take the fundamentals in life such as eating, working, sleeping, exercising, money, relationships, self-esteem, hobbies/interests and so on; too much or too little, in terms of quality and/or quantity, in any of these areas of our lives, can have detrimental consequences on our mental, physical and emotional selves and of others around us.

Metaphorically, we are all spinning a number of plates all at the same time. Each of these plates represent an area of our lives that we need to keep spinning at just the right speed so they stay on the top of their sticks. However, because we’re human sometimes we over spin a plate causing it to spin off its stick and on another occasion we might not spin it enough causing it drops to the ground. The strange thing is because we are so close to the situation it can sometimes be hard to see which plate is wobbling or has fallen off. All we know is that something is not right.  If we’re very self-aware we might do a ’systems-check’, and then find and fix the issue – getting that plate spinning again. But sometimes we miss the signs all together and just carry on. In cases like this, it can take a real crash of plates for us to stop and take notice of the lessons being taught. Only then can we mend the plates and get them spinning again at just the right speed; giving us back that glow of fulfillment and happiness.

A client of mine provided a great example of what can happen to us if our lives aren’t balanced. He explained that he had a rough couple of months since we last met.  During this time, he had not been enjoying his work, for a number of reasons, and was relying heavily on his partner for support. Then, quite suddenly over the Christmas period, his relationship, with his partner, ended. As he put “my world, quite literally, came crashing down around me”. He went on to explain that after a period of feeling sorry for himself and self-reflection, that he has come out the other side. From my observation of him, there seems to be a new, more positive, ‘can do’ air about him and he appears to be taking much more responsibility for himself and his life. He’s certainty appears to have learnt the lessons that he had to learn and has got his plates spinning again!

If you would like to check how well your plates are spinning drop me an email at alastair@ahaltd.co.uk and i’ll send you a simple tool that will help you carry out a ’systems-check’.

Last week I was asked to facilitate a team session for a well known company that produces many products that you see on supermarket shelves the world over.

The team was made up of 8 people. Even though each member of the team had separate roles, each of these roles was under one brand and this meant that there were grey areas in terms of some of the responsibilities. Unsurprisingly these grey-areas or ‘cross-overs’, as they called them, caused duplications, mis-understandings and all round frustrations (they summed up the situations phrases as ’stepping on toes’). Consequently I was tasked to build the teams understanding of the issue and help them find a solution.

I wasn’t quite sure what i was going to get in this session and I prepared myself for some heated debate and some possible mug-slinging. As it turned out the team were very honest and open. What became clear was that here were a group of talented, ambitious people working in their silos to deliver their own business objectives and further their careers. They were a team in name only.

After discussing the presented ’stepping on toes’ issue and it’s repercussions I tasked the group to think about and come with an objective that they could work towards in solving the issue. What was was really interesting was that they didn’t just come up with a goal that aimed directly at solving the issue but instead opened up the aperture and went for a ‘big picture’ goal of being the ‘No1 Performing Team’ in the company by the middle of next year.

In that moment they were no longer a team,in name only but were a real team united behind a common goal. The energy in the room changed and I knew that the walls of the silos had come down and had been replace with trust.

As for the ’stepping on toes’ issue – working objectives and actions were put in place to solve it. And these objectives and actions joined some others put in place as part of the action plan to reach their common goal.

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We all know that raising your profile is an important part of getting promoted at work, especially for the more senior roles. There are some people who are naturally good at it and there are many who struggle with it.

Perhaps it’s a cultural or values thing. I remember my parents teaching me that “you don’t have to boast to people about how good you are, you just have to show them”. As a parent myself these days, I think this saying has great merits – after all who wants a ‘cocky kid’. However, in the modern world of work, how relevant is it?

Recently, I’ve been coaching two clients, who work at different companies with different cultures, and both have been working on this issue of raising their profiles. As it’s a challenge faced by many, I thought I would share a summary of how they went about it, so that you can apply the strategies that you feel might work for you.

• Find role-models in your organisation who you feel are good at raising their profile and study them – model the bits that you like
• Volunteer yourself to work on projects outside of your role – don’t let ‘not having enough time’ stop you. You’ll be amazed how you’ll be supported, when you put your hand up
• Work-out how your stakeholders like to be communicated with – Do they like detail or just top-line (one thing is of sure you must give them the strong impression that you’re in control)?
• Always have something impactful and positive to say to stakeholders for the impromptu ‘watercooler’ moments – this is an opportunity to impress
• Find opportunities to converse with stakeholders – e.g sit next to them in meetings, at lunch etc. These are opportunities that most people avoid
• Get in the habit of making an impact in every meeting, especially when stakeholders are in attendance – preparation is key
• Share your team’s news and successes with rest of the company – it’s not directly about you but you’re delivering the message

So is the saying “you don’t have to boast to people about how good you are, you just have to show them” relevant at work today? Absolutely. What is clear is that it is all about the subtleties of good communication within the context of the your own values and the culture of the organisation you work for. It seems to me that many people struggle with self-promotion because of an inbuilt, or nurtured, values system that makes them feel uncomfortable and unnatural when talking about themselves. Both my clients had this but found their own ways to successfully raise their profiles and at the same time respect, and occasionally challenge, their own values and beliefs.

So what happens if self-promotion is done too overtly? In my opinion, in most organisations in Britain, if it is done too overtly, you are likely to be seen as the ‘cocky kid’ and damage your career rather than advance it. Arguably, in the US and mainland Europe, where communication is more direct and straight-forward, self-promotion is more overt to suit – causing the British to wince