Monthly Archives: January 2017

Random thoughts – keeping you on your toes

Getting Better All the Time

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One aspect of leadership I have not specifically posted about in the past is the continual strive for improvement.  Strong leaders continously pay attention to the results of their behaviour.

Like the optimistically titled song from the Beatles Sargent Pepper Lonley Hearts Club album, leaders need to make sure- “It’s getting better” all the time.

Why Bother?

Ongoing improvement starts with identification of opportunities to do so.  The key underpinning and base quality of an exceptional leader is acceptance that there is always a way to make things better.

Champion athletes are a shining example of this.  Winning first place, setting a record, beating the toughest opponent findable is only the start for star competitors.

For them another challenge, a peak to conquer, a record to break is their lifeblood.  As for great athletes, or great anything, continuosly striving for the best is a critical underlying attribute.

How is it done?

It all starts with awareness.  That is self awareness.  As a leader you need to be able to accurately assess the answer to the simple question, how am I doing?

Not just once in a while but continuously.  Improvment, striving to be the best, can never stop if you truly desire to achieve greatness.  This is not about being the best at any moment, but more uniquely being the best all the time.

Coupled with your ongoing assessment of how you are doing comes ongoing behaviour changes.  This changes cause the results of your leadership (i.e., the results of your behaviours) to be better than the last assessment.

Random thoughts – keeping you on your toes

Does anybody really know what time it is?

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Live in the present . Whether a good time, bad time, snack time, bed time or TV time, live in the moment.  Embrace the present, visualize the future, revere the past but don’t live there.

This sentiment resonates intuitively with most people and seems to makes sense.  Time moves forward and a moment lived is a moment gone.  It is unrecoverable.

But what time is it?

Can we define a moment in time?  If we do give it a label does that impart meaning to that moment.  Or is the meaning of the moment defined by the actions we take within that moment?

Humans have developed inumerable descriptors for time, just a few are mentioned in the first paragraph.  Generically many would say they are seeking a good time.

Defining a good time is very subjective and can include many sub-categorizations for example things like snack time, party time and so on.

What about free time?

Free time is an interesting favorite of mine.  Does this refer to time you are not paid for ( i.e, when not working) or time when you are not paying (e.g., when time taking a lesson you pay the teacher for) or both these things.  That is if you are not making or paying money the time is free.

I am probably over thinking this, but I am almost always either being paid or paying for something ( property tax to live in my home, fuel to drive my car , purchase of alcohol when drinking.)so I guess I don’t have free time by this definition.

Alternately, some say free time is just the time when you decide what to do.  Given there always seem to be some external factors driving what, admitedly some are small influences, this definition leads me to believe I never have free time.

And finally, until next post, time to say goodbye. (Hope you thought reading this post was time well spent).

Random thoughts – keeping you on your toes

Where did that come from?

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You casually greet a collegue or acquaintance with “Hi,how’s it going?”,   The snappy come back in a snarly tone “What’s it to you?” leads to one of those “where did that come from ” moments.

It’s impossible to answer that question without cllimbing into the mind of the other person and checking out the baggage they are carrying around. And even at that you cannot be sure of the trigger.

What’s the Cause?

I heard a great analogy at a seminar I attended years ago that explains one possible root cause of this type of behaviour.   Understanding the cause might not hep you avoid these sudden outbursts from others, but it can help you manage yourself.

As we move through our day from waking up until we go to sleep each encounter we have with others either we recieve a bag and a stamp or we pass a bag and stamp or both pass and recieve a bag and stamp.

The bags represent the content of the exchange and we may keep our bags or pass them on as we wend through our day.  In this analogy the stamps are the emotions passed with the bag.  These we keep through the day and they build up.

An example may be colleague passing you a folder full of tasks for you to do with a statement requesting the actions be completed by the end of the day.  The folder is the baggage and the comment is the stamp.

The emotions you associate with the stamp could be anger, frustration, fear or excitement about the tasks and so on. It all depends on your circumstances and how you view the situation.

Good stamps and Bad Stamps

Obviously as you move through your day you will collect good stamps and bad stamps.  If you cannot drop the bad stamps, or maybe slip them to someone else,they build up.

When the tipping point is recieved it would not be unusual for you to snarl a sudden outburst.  That is where it comes from.  You are releasing the bad stamps on someone else.

The Solution

Avoid getting more bad stamps then you can handle during the day and make sure you get a good nights sleep in order to purge what you do have.

This purging ensures you have a clean slate for collecting bad stamps the next day and thus can keep the daily accumulation at livable levels.  Explosions avoided.

If you can’t avoid collecting a bunch of negative emotions, before you get to the tipping point,  find other ways to purge  like forcing some happy thoughts into your mind or just getting away and meditating in peace.

 

Random thoughts – keeping you on your toes

Making the Wrong Choice

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Not choosing for fear of making the wrong choice can actually be more harmful then choosing incorrectly.  This is commonly known in bureaucratic  circles as analysis paralysis.

Choosing incorrectly can have catastrophic potentially irreversable results but within reasonable risk limits, not choosing can lead to different but still painful negative results, possibly over a longer term.

Mistakes are Necessary

The value equation associated with decision is a balance between the potential negative outcomes versus positive outcomes  weighed against the time factor.

In many cases the longer it takes to make the decision (usually the cautious approach) can diminish the likelyhood of positive outcomes.

On the other hand, deciding without enough factual information increases the risk of negative results.  Taking too long though could result in the decision seeming sound but in fact due to changes over time it has become flawed.

Don’t Focus on the Mistake

Lack of action most frequently leads to lack of results.  This is an argument for making a decision and acting even if there is a potential for error.

However, this needs to be a balanced approach based on the decision value equation.  Ultimately, there is never a certainty of a positive result but with reasoned analysis the likelyhood of success can be estimated.

Fear of being wrong should not be a factor in whatever action is selected but rather likelyhood of a positive versus a negative result.

The message of this post, don’t let fear rule, no worries being acting and being wrong is far better than not acting at all.

Random thoughts – keeping you on your toes

The power of people

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Often a quote will get me thinking.  Todays subject is about the power of working together, triggered by a quote from Helen Keller.

“Alone we can do so little, together we can do so much.”

About Helen Keller

Many will have heard of Helen Keller, she accomplished much in her life time.  Helen was the first deaf and blind person to receive a bachelor of arts degree.

Her life is a shining example of individual achievement.  I can’t image graduating from University without the sense of hearing let alone without sight.  Of course without hearing, learning to talk alone is pretty tricky.

What is so illuminating about this quote is not the content, probably a bit intuitive, but rather the source.  That such a pillar of individual strength and achievement would highlight the benefit of a team.

Without Others

Setting her goal, understanding/ creating personal motivation and perservering are all key hallmarks of Helen Kellers life.  Yet even Helen realized, and clearly voiced it, she might not have been able to do it alone.

People collaberating, joining forces, supporting each other every step of the way create a powerful and effective force.  Where an individual might struggle a team will often forge ahead and succeed

Step One

There are many books and tools around effective teamwork practices.  The ideas and  techniques are of great value but the first step is recognition and understanding of the power of a group over an idividual.

That is the first step to unleashing the power of teams.

 

Random thoughts – keeping you on your toes

Who is at fault?

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Had a very interesting hypothetical discussion today about imperial aggression.  The conversants different perspectives highlighted how your personal values and beliefs – formed from your cultural upbringing,  strongly inflence your interpretation of the facts.

Who is Right?

Was America the agressor in Iraq or just reasonably defending themselves from weapons of mass destruction.  Given they are still present in Iraq, and the “WMD” myth has long been settled, this is a fair question?

How about the Syrian rebels, is their unknown source of funding (weapons, food and fuel) justified in supporting them.  There was even a suggestion this source of funding was from Israel in support of the empire building objectives ( destabilize, then attack).

And of course the Russians are supporting Assad, is this right, is it fair or is it just in support of Russia’s hidden empire building objectives.

So Many Questions/So Many Answers

For me, the  most interesting observation was the multiple good but very different answers to these questions, each with powerful fact based supporting rationale.

So again, who is right?

If a thief broke into your home and was clearly identified on camera, which alternative actions are justified:

  • you break into the thiefs home and steal everything back.
  • you report to the police and they arrest the thief.
    •  In court the thief the thief is convicted and goes to jail
    • In court the thief is cleared on a technicality
  • You beat the thief up in anger and he reports you to the police for attacking him, you go to jail or maybe get off.
  • the thief sends his cousins to retaliate, they beat you up

Unfortunately all of these are viable outcomes of the theft and I have learned from experience there will be a variety of views as to which action is best, fairest and justifiable.

And so it is with world affairs, not so easy to figure out right and wrong, although your own cultural background, upbringing and geographic loyalties will probably influence your decision.

Random thoughts – keeping you on your toes

Outside Influences

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Regular readers will know that I am a strong believer in the philosophy of personal accountablity.  Your behaviour, how  you feel, in essence your life style, only has one owner – you.

Even if you are a beliver and practitioner of your own absolute control over your destiny,  the influence your day to day environment has can be very powerful.

What we do each day matters

Whether your daily routine is working for someone, for yourself, taking care of others or any of the numerous ways we keep ourselves occupied day in and day out, regardless of how strongly you believe in your ability to fully control how you feel and act, the daily routine has a powerfull impact on your ability to do so.

(That last sentence is a doozy so you may want to read it again slowly.)

If you need a change, make it so

When you recognize the power of the environmental influences is impacting your ability to maintain control, that is continuing to feel good about yourself is a chore it might be time to seek a change in your main daily activities (e.g., your job or business)

Typically is this a difficult decision and a hard one to arrive at.  Some are fortunate that their employer makes it for them, or there business goes down the tubes.  While others suffer internally for years.

 

 

Random thoughts – keeping you on your toes

Constructive Criticism

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Yesterdays post was about my thoughts on critisicm.  A number of readers let me know what they thought about my comments and this led to some robust discussions.

Not surprising, the result is a follow on post by me with some additional opinions (yes they are my subjective opinions on the topic).  The focus today is on constructive criticism and praise.

Praise then Criticize, Is it really Constructive

My personal experience has been praise is a much more powerful tool for influencing behaviour change.  This is the underlying principle behind the well known phrase ” use the carrot instead of the stick”

Whether a human or a donkey we respond better to the reward then to the punishment.  Praise is like a reward (it makes you feel good)  and criticism a punishment ( it hurts).

Constructive critisicm is nothing more than a reward (praise) to fool you into being receptive, thinking something good is coming and then whack, negative feedback.

Does anyone really believe that people fall for this approach.  It is so obvious and in reality the praise is fully diluted by the put down which follows, and so ultimately has no effect.

Positive Criticism

Of course if constructive criticism does not work for you there is always my favorite oxymoron to fall back on, i.e., positive criticism. Criticism is by definition about something wrong.

When telling someone their mistakes the topic is negative in nature.  It just is.  So in essence positive criticism is basically combining “positive/negative “comments. Oh joy, I bet that works.

If you want to influence behaviour my suggestion is to try positive reinforcement and just positive reinforcement. It works.

Random thoughts – keeping you on your toes

Criticism

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I am not a appreciative of the expression of disapproval by someone  based on my perceived faults or mistakes (i.e., criticism).  After all, I can figure out and correct my own faults and mistakes.

The well known basketball player Lebron James said “I like criticism, it makes you strong.”. Really, how so?  For me, criticism makes me angry, not strong and I don’t like it.

The Value Equation

What gives more value, identifying, understanding and self correcting your own faults or being made to feel inadequate by some one else for whom your faults probably provide enjoyment.

Self awareness is a much more powerful tool.  Effective and sustainable change first requires personal accountability, that is acceptance of the need to change.

Think of an addict.  It is well known the first step to recovery is accepting the fact recovery is needed.  Telling the addict they are an addict (a form of criticism) seldom works.

Constructive Criticism

To be fair, maybe Lebron is thinking of constructive criticism.  What a croc.  This is the classic case of abusing the English language to make something bad sound good.

Just the fact that someone felt the need to invent the term to sugar coat the value of criticism is proof enough to me that in and of itself, regardless of the kind, criticism is a bad thing and really most people don’t get stronger, they just dislike you.

To Lebron, I say, stick to basketball.  When you next run into me, remember, I see no value in criticism so do me a favour and keep it to yourself.

 

Random thoughts – keeping you on your toes

Recharging

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Typically the holiday season includes a lot of social interactions.  For those that lean toward introversion as a underlying personality trait this can lead to a need for solitary time to recharge.

This is the case for me and although spending time with our children and grandchildren at various times and locations during the recent holiday celebrations was terrific, I do need time to recharge.

Even Immediate Family Interractions

My older brother called me on New Years Eve.  I really enjoyed the chat but it came on the tail end of a very socially interactive couple of weeks and I was ready to hibernate.

Fortunately, New Years day and the following Monday (statutory holiday replacement) afforded me this opportunity and I returned to work fully recharged and ready to dive in.

Don’t be Miserly with your Recharge Time

While not everyone needs time alone to reflect,relax and re-energize, typically introverts do.  This is a common trait for those of introverted personalities.

It is important not to be miserly with yourself when it comes to solitary reflective time.  The results, when you do not allow yourself enough time to recharge, can be quite negative.

A key outcome of not spending enough time re-energizing is reduced ability to handle criticism, percieved slights or even just  inability to participate in normal social interractions.

You can become sharp, grumpy or on occassion disassociated and non responsive.  So when you need time to recover, take it.  This time of year that very likely could be the case if you are not an extrovert by nature.

Don’t ignore your personal needs, to do so could be at the peril of your percieved friendly and outgoing nature.