From Armchair to Action

Which Hierarchy of Success?

I was reading Seth Godin's blog posting about the hierarchy of success where he talks about the levels that he believes matter:

1. Attitude
2. Approach
3. Goals
4. Strategy
5. Tactics
6. Execution

He poses some interesting questions in relation to these levels.  On reading this it struck me that the hierarchy is much like the NLP Logical Levels of Change where the higher up the levels you look, the greater the focus is on what's really inside a human being and what's driving them.

• Purpose
• Identity
• Values and Beliefs
• Skills and Capabiities
• Behaviours
• Environment

Mission Possible is holding an event next week on the issue of Success - so I wonder what the speakers at this event will have to say on the subject? 

Having reflected on the adventures I have undertaken over the years - it does not matter whether the challenge is to get to the North Pole, escape from a helicopter submerged underwater or running for Scotland, I have learnt that you have to look inside first before you can improve on the outside. The more you understand what drives you, how your beliefs help or hinder and how you bounce back from disappointment, the more you can get better at what you do and achieve the success you desire.

Rocks, sponges and teacups

It's been another week of learning and sharing whilst I attended the HR Forum onboard the Oriana.  800 executives put together for two days of learning and networking with little time for rest and relaxation and organised in a slick process to ensure maximum benefit is gained from the time available.

The keynote speaker was Sir Clive Woodward, coach of the Rugby World Cup Winning Rugby side in 2003 and he had plenty to tell us about rocks, sponges and teacups.

He said great teams are made up of great individuals and they have to be willing to continually learn i.e. be a "sponge".  Those who don't want to learn he categorised as "rocks" and suggested that you encourage them to become a sponge or throw them in the pond - or at least get them to move on!

His philosophy about t-cups is the acronym, Thinking Clearly Under Pressure, and cited examples of how the team would come together in the war room and discuss situations that they might find themselves in and put players on the spot to find out how they would deal  with it.  This ability to think clearly in pressure situations is partly what helped them to win during the final, Sir Clive believes.

This got the entire event off to a flying start and it was jam packed for two days.  I now have a mountain of business cards to follow up. Note to self.....have a break from conferences for a couple of weeks!

Rugby clubs are similar to small businesses

This week I have been busy attending the launch events for the RFU Leadership Academy for leaders within Community Rugby Clubs.  It's a programme designed to develop both today's and tomorrow's leaders because, similar to small business, we all know that the quality of an organisation is highly linked to the quality of its leadership.

Even though clubs are run by volunteers they face similar issues to those of small business owner; how to create a vision and strategy for the long term, motivating people and managing change.  Sir Clive Woodward had some twelve useful leadership lessons for rugby teams and it also applies to leaders of clubs and small businesses:

(Adapted from The Sunday Times June 19, 2005)

1. Good leadership is transferable across disciplines. If you have proved that you can successfully manage a team or an organisation in one industry, the chances are that you would fare equally well in another
2. Passion is all. No manager will succeed without it.If you’re ambitious, don’t stay in a job just for the money or status. You will never excel unless you do what you want to do rather than what you feel you ought to do
3. Enjoyment is a business term. While strategy, planning and organisation are all necessary, don’t lose sight of the fact that there are human beings who volunteer with you who won’t perform unless they enjoy their task. Always challenge your people with new ways of doing things, new ideas. Always make them feel that they are progressing as individuals
4. Only hire those who pass the ‘24-hour plane journey’ test. To maintain your level of enjoyment, you need the right people around you. When you recruit, don’t just look at the CV. Would you want that person with you day in, day out, for years?
5. Achieve success through setbacks, and build on success. Work hard to learn the lessons of victory and success. Don’t dwell on failure. Focus on the positive.
6. Remove all ‘energy sappers. Too much nonsense is written about motivation. You need to get the right people, all of them committed to achieve. If there are those who don’t share that commitment, move swiftly to turn them round. If their attitude doesn’t improve, get them out before the entire working atmosphere is tainted irreparably
7. Establish ‘teamship’ rules at the outset. When you start managing any team of people, sit down with them and thrash out a set of standards and rules by which everyone has to abide. Once you get this buy-in, everyone can concentrate on moving the business forward without fear of disruption
8. Make use of the creativity of everyone in your organisation. Intelligence and fresh thinking are not the preserve of senior executives and MBA graduates. If you neglect to consult the grass roots, you might lose out on ideas which could change your business
9. For a fresh view, go outside your industry. People who work in the same industry tend to end up thinking the same. If you genuinely want new ideas, don’t forget to consult people you respect who have never worked in your industry
10. Never follow tradition for its own sake. ‘That’s the way we do things here.’ You’re not ever going to beat the competition with that sort of complacency. Look at absolutely everything your team or club does and then ask yourself honestly, ‘Should we really still do it this way?’
11. Don’t neglect any detail. It could make all the difference. Competition can be fierce. What then differentiates the best from the also-rans? It’s those one per cents, the ‘critical non-essentials’
12. Understand your team, but don’t get too close. Your relationship with your team should be a delicate balancing act. Get to know something about their lives outside work so that you can understand them better and so that they feel part of a team where people care. But never get too close. That might compromise you. 

Appreciative Intelligence

I was in touch with a business colleague this week who uses appreciative enquiry in her coaching (you start by looking at what's good and how you can make it better) and she mentioned to me her latest research is in the area of Appreciative Intelligence.  This got my attention as I had not heard of it before, but I do know about emotional intelligence, spiritual intellligence etc.  

When I did some research myself I learned that Appreciative Intelligence is defined as “the ability to perceive the positive inherent generative potential within the present.” More simply, it is “the ability to see the mighty oak in the acorn or to reframe a given situation (or person), to appreciate its positive aspects, and to see how the future unfolds from the generative aspects of the current situation.”

There are three components:

1. Reframing - which is about shifting reality by choosing what feedback we will ignore and what feedback we will pay attention to. 
2. Appreciating the positive - is the ability to see the positive aspects of any given situation. Appreciative intelligence is the mindset that allows you to step back and access the situation and move forward instead of being thwarted by circumstances.
3. Seeing how the future unfolds from the present - is about seeing what can be done instead of what can't be done.

Appreciative intelligence can be developed by consciously thinking about your responses to situations as they occur. For example, if you did not win the contract you were bidding for - your response could be "that's great" instead of "oh, what a pity"  which forces you to question your assumptions (what you know to be right) and look for the positive and different meaning in the situation. 

Learn to become a first-class noticer, which will help to improve your appreciative intelligence   Add into the mix qualities of persistence, conviction that what you do matters and plenty of resilience and you will be able to find the positive in most situations!

Examples of Appreciative Intelligence

One example is Silicon Valley. What makes that place so enticing and effective for entrepreneurs and venture capitalists?  According to Tojo Thatchenkery, it was the venture capitalists that created an environment of "how can I make this work?" rather than "what the chances that this business idea will fail?" encouraged an more positive outlook on what could be achieved, which drew people to this place.

I also think that there was a great example of this closer to home when the Faringdon Enterprise Gateway existed. This was a business hatchery set up by government funding and provided service office space, on-site business support advice and workshops for early stage businesses.  The key to it was the Gateway Director, who lived and breathed the principles of Appreciative Intelligence.  As a result people with a similar "can-do" attitude were attracted to be involved and it was very successful. Sadly due to changes in policy it was closed last year.  (Now I am meant to think "that's great" and look for the positives in this.....note to self - "improve appreciative intelligence!")

5 Things you Need to Know as a Leader

Last night I was speaking at an event on Leadership so I thought I would share with you the 5 things I believe you need to know as a leader:

1. Know what you stand for - be clear about your values because they drive your behaviour and its your behaviour that encourages people to "follow you" as a leader.
2. Know your strengths - if you are clear about what you are great at, it is easier to let go and accept that others may have different strengths to you.  The next step is to delegate and then focus on improving the things you are already good at.
3. Know that you don't have to have all the answers - how tiring it is when you feel you have to be responsible for everything.  Learn the art of asking great questions rather than showing how knowledgeable you are with an answer.  Its really empowering for your team when they feel valued and are able to get on with what they are good at
4. Know how to create an improvement culture - you need to to let go of the past, focus on getting input and ideas from others in areas outside your own sector or environment.
5. Know what to stop doing - sometimes its hard to give up what you think has made you successful, but it always good to keep getting feedback from others and review if its still working!

What's a weekend?

It's now Sunday evening and I have been working flat out for the last two days - so I am glad the weather has been not so good.... We have the launch of our first Mission Growth group next week, plus another networking event we are running for the University of Bath featuring three fascinating business women - who I get the pleasure of interviewing!!  This all means loads of prep to make sure everything runs smoothly....

Last week I delivered an event on maximising your strengths for business success which was really well received.  It's always lovely to get great feedback, but what is even more satisfying to know is that people left with a clear plan of action.   I used Marshall Goldsmith's feedforward process within the session to encourage everyone to seek ideas on how to improve a strength and there was such a buzz around the room it was wonderful.   Afterwards, everyone got a commitment card from me and I invited them to write down one action they would take - and everyone had one!  If you have not tried feedforward then take a look at Marshall's video explanation and give it a go - it's very energising.

We have also managed to get Lynne Copp, who delivered one of the best sessions at our network recently, to  deliver a 1 day workshop on work/life balance which will take some of the ideas she shared to the next level.  Can't wait and I bet it will be oversubscribed.   Obviously having had no time to myself this weeked, I need to take on board some of Lynne's useful tips!

Innovation: Malcolm Gladwell's comparison of Picasso and Cezanne

It's day one of the Women President's Organisation annual conference and its off to a great start.  The keynote presentation was delivered by Malcolm Gladwell, author of The Tipping Point and Blink which are two books that recently have changed people's thinking on big concepts.

Today he was in fine form tackling the topic of innovation by providing a comparison between the approaches of Picasso and Cezanne.  What he was really referring to was the issue of big bold ideas that make short term impact versus constant experimentation and small improvements over time.  It was fascinating and gave credence to all those in the audience who perhaps were thinking "should I give up or keep going?" with any innovation that they are working on that is not yet yielding results.

He referred to several other examples where the same principles apply.....It took Fleetwood Mac over 10 years and 15 albums until they created their 16th hit album Rumours which was one of the top five biggest selling albums of all time.  Compare this to the drive by the music industry these days for artistes to deliver instant results. 

Orson Wells directed Citizen Kane when he was aged 24 compared to Alfred Hitchcock who was in his late fifties by the time he directed Vertigo and had been experimenting and honing his craft for years.  Both films were hugely successful and yet were created using very different innovative approaches.

What Gladwell was really saying was that there are two approaches to innovation - one the short term bold concept that can be easily described in advance and will make a major impact, and the other is those in it for the long term, and who cannot easily describe what the end outcome will be, as its only through constantly experimenting and making small improvements that they realise the innovation in the end.  Both can yield great financial results, but one requires patience which seems to be in short supply these days in the business world.

I came away thinking that since Mission Possible has been going for 10 years and we are constantly experimenting and improving what we do that we are probably in the Cezanne camp - which means that Mission Achieved will be at some future time .....

How to keep focused on your goals

If you want to get better at keeping focused on your goals then here is a useful method that Marshall Goldsmith told me about which is quick, easy and yet challenging.  Team up with a close friend or colleague and share with them the key goals that you want to achieve in your life or work this year. e.g. spend more time with my family each day, win 5 new clients each month, put "me time" in my diary weekly.  You also ask them for their goals and make a note of them.

Then at regular intervals you make contact and ask each other to report on progress by giving each goal a rating from 1 - 10.  So all you need to do is remind them of their goals and then they say 5, 8, 3 etc. and they record their ratings.  They do the same for you.  Its quick, easy, no judgements are made and you get a sense of how you are doing against your stated goals. Over time you will get a sense of whether things are changing. You are both in it together and making a commitment to help one another. Try it and see what happens!