As some friends and colleagues know, I'm something of an aviation 'enthusiast'.
Er, to the point where on a trip to Zimbabwe last summer I flew a Boeing 747 on my laptop flight simulator into Johannesburg while the real Boeing 747 I was in flew into Johannesburg (arousing slight alarm in a fellow passenger sat nearby)...
Anyway, ask me sometime and I'll bore you with industry trends, technological advances and simply why flying is so amazing.
The point of this post, to kick off 2011, is to sound an aviation-inspired cautionary note: don't let your pride get in the way of your judgement.
I was saddened to read of the accident on 28 July last year in which a C-17 Globemaster III cargo plane of the US Air Force crashed during a practice flight for an air show.
A report published in December concluded that the pilot pushed the boundaries of safe flying just too far - apparently disregarding the safety of the three crew flying with him.
The following video shows the flight from take off until a few moments before impact.
The plane ascends very steeply, much slower than the USAF's stated minimum speed. It levels off at only half the required altitude. It banks to the left at 60 degrees (the USAF's maximum is 45) and then to the right at the same angle.
During this final manoeuvre the speed had dropped significantly below the stall speed (when the wings can no longer keep the plane in the air), triggering audible warnings in the cockpit. The pilot routinely ignored these warnings and told others to do the same, saying they were inaccurate. But this stall was serious and the co-pilot warned him three times about the loss of control.
For some reason he left it too late to try to correct the mistake.
It was not even as if this was without precedent. This video shows a B-52 bomber crashing in 1994 in a similar way while practicing for an air show. The pilot broke similar safety regulations and he also died with three crew members.
So what are the lessons for you?
First, put yourself in the place of the pilots. Pushing boundaries is very important in any field if you are to outperform your competitors. But not listening to your own judgement - or the judgement of others - on when to stop is foolish.
Was it pride that led to these crashes? Maybe. "I'm not going to listen to them; what do they know? I'll show them..."
The lesson is clear.
But now put yourself in the place of these pilots' leaders. In both crashes the blame was placed equally on pilot error and on the USAF culture that allowed such disregard for regulations, just because the pilots in question were outstanding.
There is surely some echo here of what happened in the risk-taking culture of the financial markets pre-recession.
The lesson is less obvious here but one practical example comes to mind because I dealt with this just before Christmas. If you manage a team, do you take responsibility for ensuring that everyone with laptops has passwords enabled? No? What would happen, therefore, if one of them lost their laptop and the data on it was stolen?
If you're the pilot
The strongest lesson, however, must be for each of us in our own roles.
I am ultimately responsible for performing the job I have been given. How aware am I of my pride? How well do I listen to my own judgement or that of others?
As we head into an even more challenging economic environment in the UK, with austerity measures beginning to bite, can you balance prudence with ambition? Especially if - as in our case - you have bucked the trend of previous years?
Showing posts with label Performance. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Performance. Show all posts
Monday, 3 January 2011
Friday, 19 February 2010
Self awareness
Phew!
I was beginning to wonder if I would ever blog again.
Job: new, very stretching growth targets, new strategy to develop.
House: sold old house, found and bought new one, moving end March.
Baby: due, well, about now. In fact, was that my phone?
Anyway
Given time contraints, I would like to introduce a new style of blog here: the video blog.
Episode 1: self awareness. You may have heard me mention this, and I may even have picked you up on it if I've seen you not being self-aware.
It is perhaps the most important character trait to develop, in enabling you to reach your full potential.
Watch the video, smile, and please add comments below.
By the way, the blog post I refer to in the video is here.
Further posts are brewing so as baby, job and house settle down a little, I shall return!
I was beginning to wonder if I would ever blog again.
Job: new, very stretching growth targets, new strategy to develop.
House: sold old house, found and bought new one, moving end March.
Baby: due, well, about now. In fact, was that my phone?
Anyway
Given time contraints, I would like to introduce a new style of blog here: the video blog.
Episode 1: self awareness. You may have heard me mention this, and I may even have picked you up on it if I've seen you not being self-aware.
It is perhaps the most important character trait to develop, in enabling you to reach your full potential.
Watch the video, smile, and please add comments below.
By the way, the blog post I refer to in the video is here.
Further posts are brewing so as baby, job and house settle down a little, I shall return!
Wednesday, 20 May 2009
Direct marketing vs. community fundraising
Chocolate.
The oldest trick in the book.
There were thirty people in each session, and it worked each time.
“Under six chairs, there are plates with big bars of chocolate on,” I began.
“Could those six people please unwrap the bars and pass the plate to their neighbour.”
Pupils began to dilate as the fresh aroma of quality fairtrade cocoa burst out.
“Could the next person break the bar in half, and half again, and pass the plate on,” I continued.
Pulses quickened as everyone saw and handled the rich texture.
I repeated my commands until each plate was heaped with broken pieces of chocolate.
Breathing was slightly quicker as I made my final request, saying, “now would the last person please pass the plates to me.”
Slowly, to emphasise the decadence that was heaped before me, I emptied each plate to form a single mound of chocolate. The scene must have resembled an ancient fertility rite.
Silence.
I looked up.
“Thanks very much,” I said, picked up a handful of chunks and stuffed them into my mouth. I chewed, and shovelled more chunks down the hatch.
Colour drained from faces. Small gasps escaped tightening lips. And something akin to the Rage virus from 28 Days Later flashed into hard, betrayed eyes.
I swallowed.
Deathly silence.
But my smile brought warmth back into the room, and people laughed, more because of the relief in realising that they had been tricked, than at any humour.
“Feels awful, huh?” I said. “You do all the work and then I get all the fruits of your labour.”
And in one fell swoop, I acknowledged their feelings, and showed that I understood their frustration.
My conference session on ‘direct marketing and the regional fundraising teams’ was off to a good start. I handed the plate round for a well-earned cocoa fix.
Integration! Inte-what?
ChildLine, not unlike many charities around the world, faced a dilemma. Fundraising had grown from a regional, community fundraising model, and eventually incorporated a centralised, direct marketing function.
I was head of the latter and was, therefore, evil personified.
‘Silo culture’ is a term that pretty well sums up the mess we were in. The regional teams mistrusted the head office teams, and vice versa.
After all, it was the regional (and by ‘regional’ I mean ‘regional and national’, for readers in Wales, Northern Ireland and Scotland) teams who worked at the coalface. They worked evenings and weekends, organised events and built relationships with supporters … only for DM (read ‘unnecessary evil’) to send out a mailing to the furthest reaches of the land, and bleed all the money back to the centre.
It made you sick just thinking about them, in their swanky London office, with their ‘segmentation’ and ‘marketing agency’ talk.
And it was in these stark tones that I painted a picture of how dysfunctional our interdepartmental relationships were.
Satiated, but slightly uneasy, silence.
Someone licked the crumbs from a plate in the back row.
Distrust
With blood sugar rising, however, I knew I had them on side, and I began to tackle some more tricky issues. Like the fact that many of them held their own databases of supporters, and even mailed their own appeals in an attempt to boost local income.
The problems we faced can be summarised as follows:
If the regions vs. head office dynamic was bad, the community fundraising vs. direct marketing effect was terrible.
I illustrated this dynamic with the following diagram:
Does this resonate with your own experience?
Do add a comment if it does.
The thing I firmly believed, and still do, is that it does not have to be this way.
And the primary reason it can, and must, work differently is that the donor does not see the internal silos that get in the way of integration and collaboration.
Silos
If you have children, and if you have read the books about farms, you will know that silos are not military bunkers; the word was only used in that context from 1958 in fact. Silos are tall steel containers (originally pits underground) where forage – grass and other plants from fields – is stored as a winter feed for animals.
Over time, forage in a silo slowly ferments and becomes sour.
And doesn’t that depict just what happens when departments stop talking to each other and retreat into their own small world?
For our part, I’m pleased to say that in ChildLine we did break down the silos.
We found ways of working together, and our fundraising grew.
It began with dialogue. Surprising how hard that can be to sit down to talk. But we did, and we agreed to be open.
Two examples of the successes we achieved stick in my mind.
We agreed that the regional teams could send an invitation for local events, e.g. carol concerts, to a selection of the central database from their local area.
Uptake was good, and just being invited seemed to have an impact – analysis showed an uplift in subsequent giving from those who had been invited.
The second example is from the low profile worlds of payroll giving and legacies. The Direct Marketing team worked with the teams in Scotland and Northern Ireland as they used local influence to join consortia of charities that promoted each type of fundraising.
In the old world, this would have been inconceivable, as the question “but where would the money go?” would have torpedoed any attempt even to discuss it.
However, we did reach agreement on how the income would be reported.
And income ballooned.
Pitfalls should not be obstacles
Things can go wrong, when an attempt at integration is made. For example, if access to the database is unrestricted, supporters’ needs are often forgotten. I think of one organisation we work with, who were alerted to a problem when a donor contacted the chief exec to ask why he had received more than 50 pieces of mail and email, without counting telephone calls, just because he was a direct-giving donor, community fundraising volunteer and campaigner.
But the reason for my conviction that this is the way forward is that in my experience, an organisation’s fundraising benefits. At ChildLine, now part of the NSPCC by the way, the income curve became steeper as this collaboration took effect.
What silos do you need to take down? And how can you replicate this integration, so that you too see the following vision that I set out in those conference sessions become reality?
The oldest trick in the book.
There were thirty people in each session, and it worked each time.
“Under six chairs, there are plates with big bars of chocolate on,” I began.
“Could those six people please unwrap the bars and pass the plate to their neighbour.”
Pupils began to dilate as the fresh aroma of quality fairtrade cocoa burst out.
“Could the next person break the bar in half, and half again, and pass the plate on,” I continued.Pulses quickened as everyone saw and handled the rich texture.
I repeated my commands until each plate was heaped with broken pieces of chocolate.
Breathing was slightly quicker as I made my final request, saying, “now would the last person please pass the plates to me.”
Slowly, to emphasise the decadence that was heaped before me, I emptied each plate to form a single mound of chocolate. The scene must have resembled an ancient fertility rite.
Silence.
I looked up.
“Thanks very much,” I said, picked up a handful of chunks and stuffed them into my mouth. I chewed, and shovelled more chunks down the hatch.
Colour drained from faces. Small gasps escaped tightening lips. And something akin to the Rage virus from 28 Days Later flashed into hard, betrayed eyes.
I swallowed.
Deathly silence.
But my smile brought warmth back into the room, and people laughed, more because of the relief in realising that they had been tricked, than at any humour.
“Feels awful, huh?” I said. “You do all the work and then I get all the fruits of your labour.”
And in one fell swoop, I acknowledged their feelings, and showed that I understood their frustration.
My conference session on ‘direct marketing and the regional fundraising teams’ was off to a good start. I handed the plate round for a well-earned cocoa fix.
Integration! Inte-what?
ChildLine, not unlike many charities around the world, faced a dilemma. Fundraising had grown from a regional, community fundraising model, and eventually incorporated a centralised, direct marketing function.
I was head of the latter and was, therefore, evil personified.
‘Silo culture’ is a term that pretty well sums up the mess we were in. The regional teams mistrusted the head office teams, and vice versa.
After all, it was the regional (and by ‘regional’ I mean ‘regional and national’, for readers in Wales, Northern Ireland and Scotland) teams who worked at the coalface. They worked evenings and weekends, organised events and built relationships with supporters … only for DM (read ‘unnecessary evil’) to send out a mailing to the furthest reaches of the land, and bleed all the money back to the centre.
It made you sick just thinking about them, in their swanky London office, with their ‘segmentation’ and ‘marketing agency’ talk.
And it was in these stark tones that I painted a picture of how dysfunctional our interdepartmental relationships were.
Satiated, but slightly uneasy, silence.
Someone licked the crumbs from a plate in the back row.
Distrust
With blood sugar rising, however, I knew I had them on side, and I began to tackle some more tricky issues. Like the fact that many of them held their own databases of supporters, and even mailed their own appeals in an attempt to boost local income.
The problems we faced can be summarised as follows:
- Community Fundraising mistrusted Direct Marketing because they refused to allow them access to their database, refused to discuss collaboration and sent appeals into their regions with no consultation on timing.
- Direct Marketing mistrusted Community Fundraising because they just wanted access to the database, tried to fill donor communications with news of local events and sent their own mailings to separately held but poorly managed databases of supporters.
If the regions vs. head office dynamic was bad, the community fundraising vs. direct marketing effect was terrible.
I illustrated this dynamic with the following diagram:
Does this resonate with your own experience?
Do add a comment if it does.
The thing I firmly believed, and still do, is that it does not have to be this way.
And the primary reason it can, and must, work differently is that the donor does not see the internal silos that get in the way of integration and collaboration.
Silos
If you have children, and if you have read the books about farms, you will know that silos are not military bunkers; the word was only used in that context from 1958 in fact. Silos are tall steel containers (originally pits underground) where forage – grass and other plants from fields – is stored as a winter feed for animals.
Over time, forage in a silo slowly ferments and becomes sour.
And doesn’t that depict just what happens when departments stop talking to each other and retreat into their own small world?
For our part, I’m pleased to say that in ChildLine we did break down the silos.
We found ways of working together, and our fundraising grew.
It began with dialogue. Surprising how hard that can be to sit down to talk. But we did, and we agreed to be open.
Two examples of the successes we achieved stick in my mind.
We agreed that the regional teams could send an invitation for local events, e.g. carol concerts, to a selection of the central database from their local area.
Uptake was good, and just being invited seemed to have an impact – analysis showed an uplift in subsequent giving from those who had been invited.
The second example is from the low profile worlds of payroll giving and legacies. The Direct Marketing team worked with the teams in Scotland and Northern Ireland as they used local influence to join consortia of charities that promoted each type of fundraising.
In the old world, this would have been inconceivable, as the question “but where would the money go?” would have torpedoed any attempt even to discuss it.
However, we did reach agreement on how the income would be reported.
And income ballooned.
Pitfalls should not be obstacles
Things can go wrong, when an attempt at integration is made. For example, if access to the database is unrestricted, supporters’ needs are often forgotten. I think of one organisation we work with, who were alerted to a problem when a donor contacted the chief exec to ask why he had received more than 50 pieces of mail and email, without counting telephone calls, just because he was a direct-giving donor, community fundraising volunteer and campaigner.
But the reason for my conviction that this is the way forward is that in my experience, an organisation’s fundraising benefits. At ChildLine, now part of the NSPCC by the way, the income curve became steeper as this collaboration took effect.
What silos do you need to take down? And how can you replicate this integration, so that you too see the following vision that I set out in those conference sessions become reality?
Friday, 3 April 2009
Bent out of shape
How well do you take feedback?
For many, getting feedback on areas they need to improve can be crushing.
But if you want to go far, you must see it positively.
Feedback is your number one opportunity to develop.
Over the years, there have been [many] occasions when I have not met expectations, when I’ve dropped plates, when I’ve let people down. And in each case, I have endured embarrassing meetings with bosses – and not every boss has communicated constructively. (Although my current boss, with whom I had to endure one such meeting a year ago, handled it very well.)
However, in each case I have managed to coach myself through, and to take the feedback onboard. And I have grown.
The F word
Why do people avoid or deflect feedback? Clearly, factors such as poor self-esteem, low confidence and being unable to deal with conflict have a powerful effect.
But perhaps the biggest single force in getting those defensive barriers up is fear.
Fear you’ll be exposed as a fake. Fear you’ll be cornered. Fear you’ll be rejected.
In Tribes, Seth Godin argues that people are afraid of blame and criticism. He asserts that when people are not remarkable it is because they are afraid of criticism first and foremost.
If you’ve seen a colleague criticised by your boss, the fear sets in. Fear of criticism is a powerful deterrent and it doesn’t even have to happen for its effects to set in.
Now if you are in a position of leadership, you need to take this to heart: criticism stifles creativity.
There is criticism and there is feedback
A nagging, grinding negative voice puts a damper on anything. Mood hoovers can bring a team down … but leaders can be mood hoovers too, and they need to recognise that to be really good they must develop good feedback techniques.
Feedback, in contrast to criticism, can be the thing that turns someone’s whole career around.
Ten or fifteen years ago I worked with an analyst who needed to improve in some areas. Very bright, he was held back by certain weaknesses. Luckily for him, we had a great boss who gave honest and direct feedback (sometimes humorous too, like the time he got a flannel he'd bought specially for such an occasion out of his desk drawer and handed it to me, when I was dodging a question). The clincher for this analyst, however, was that he took the feedback onboard.
He is now Chief Marketing Officer for a global consumer brand.
To paraphrase Godin again, the only thing holding you back is your own fear. In every organisation, people rise to the level at which they become paralysed by fear.
The essence of leadership, he says, is being aware of your fear … and seeing it in the people you wish to lead. No, it won’t go away, but awareness is the key to making progress.
Self-awareness. Now there’s a big topic.
I liken it to sitting on your own shoulder, the whole day, watching yourself in each interaction, checking your reactions, gauging how you’re coming across to others.
Perhaps self-awareness goes hand in hand with being able to take feedback on board.
Without it, you react defensively. You even react aggressively, doing anything to deflect the comments. I saw this not long ago and it distressed me to see great talent wasted because the individual couldn’t take the feedback and admit they’d made a mistake.
How about you? Do you take feedback onboard … or do you get bent out of shape?
For many, getting feedback on areas they need to improve can be crushing.
But if you want to go far, you must see it positively.
Feedback is your number one opportunity to develop.
Over the years, there have been [many] occasions when I have not met expectations, when I’ve dropped plates, when I’ve let people down. And in each case, I have endured embarrassing meetings with bosses – and not every boss has communicated constructively. (Although my current boss, with whom I had to endure one such meeting a year ago, handled it very well.)
However, in each case I have managed to coach myself through, and to take the feedback onboard. And I have grown.
The F word
Why do people avoid or deflect feedback? Clearly, factors such as poor self-esteem, low confidence and being unable to deal with conflict have a powerful effect.
But perhaps the biggest single force in getting those defensive barriers up is fear.
Fear you’ll be exposed as a fake. Fear you’ll be cornered. Fear you’ll be rejected.
In Tribes, Seth Godin argues that people are afraid of blame and criticism. He asserts that when people are not remarkable it is because they are afraid of criticism first and foremost.
If you’ve seen a colleague criticised by your boss, the fear sets in. Fear of criticism is a powerful deterrent and it doesn’t even have to happen for its effects to set in.
Now if you are in a position of leadership, you need to take this to heart: criticism stifles creativity.
There is criticism and there is feedback
A nagging, grinding negative voice puts a damper on anything. Mood hoovers can bring a team down … but leaders can be mood hoovers too, and they need to recognise that to be really good they must develop good feedback techniques.
Feedback, in contrast to criticism, can be the thing that turns someone’s whole career around.
Ten or fifteen years ago I worked with an analyst who needed to improve in some areas. Very bright, he was held back by certain weaknesses. Luckily for him, we had a great boss who gave honest and direct feedback (sometimes humorous too, like the time he got a flannel he'd bought specially for such an occasion out of his desk drawer and handed it to me, when I was dodging a question). The clincher for this analyst, however, was that he took the feedback onboard.
He is now Chief Marketing Officer for a global consumer brand.
To paraphrase Godin again, the only thing holding you back is your own fear. In every organisation, people rise to the level at which they become paralysed by fear.
The essence of leadership, he says, is being aware of your fear … and seeing it in the people you wish to lead. No, it won’t go away, but awareness is the key to making progress.
Self-awareness. Now there’s a big topic.
I liken it to sitting on your own shoulder, the whole day, watching yourself in each interaction, checking your reactions, gauging how you’re coming across to others.
Perhaps self-awareness goes hand in hand with being able to take feedback on board.
Without it, you react defensively. You even react aggressively, doing anything to deflect the comments. I saw this not long ago and it distressed me to see great talent wasted because the individual couldn’t take the feedback and admit they’d made a mistake.
How about you? Do you take feedback onboard … or do you get bent out of shape?
Thursday, 5 March 2009
Negative waves
Ever worked with a mood hoover?
Hell, they make life miserable, don't they?
Are you a mood hoover?
If you are, you need to dig into the pit of yourself and find a way to become solution-focused, rather than objection-focused.
If you have serious cause to be angry or miserable, you need to deal with it. You will become the cause of your own downfall if you don't, and you will see yourself managed out of your team or organisation.
No one likes working with a mood hoover, even if they laugh along with their negativity. Generally, people like to be around positive, successful, future-focused people.
And if you manage a mood hoover, you need to be brave and sit down with them to explain the impact they are having ... and set clear boundaries that give them no choice but to change.
Kelly's Heroes - to which I attribute around 65% of my personality, values and character - contains several moments of genius.
But the following scene (up to 4m 25s) is the best snapshot of the importance of positive waves I have ever seen.
Hell, they make life miserable, don't they?
Are you a mood hoover?
If you are, you need to dig into the pit of yourself and find a way to become solution-focused, rather than objection-focused.
If you have serious cause to be angry or miserable, you need to deal with it. You will become the cause of your own downfall if you don't, and you will see yourself managed out of your team or organisation.
No one likes working with a mood hoover, even if they laugh along with their negativity. Generally, people like to be around positive, successful, future-focused people.
And if you manage a mood hoover, you need to be brave and sit down with them to explain the impact they are having ... and set clear boundaries that give them no choice but to change.
Kelly's Heroes - to which I attribute around 65% of my personality, values and character - contains several moments of genius.
But the following scene (up to 4m 25s) is the best snapshot of the importance of positive waves I have ever seen.
Friday, 27 February 2009
Past > Present > Future
What will have the biggest impact on the way you perform today? Your past, your present or your future?
Similarly, what will have the biggest impact on the way your team performs today?
Clue: it is not the past.
If you’ll forgive a generalisation, it is not the trauma in a person’s past, or the emptiness of their present, that makes them decide to jump off a bridge; it is the bleakness of their future.
Psychologists, in their complex and difficult therapy with victims of torture, understand that the most powerful aspect of this abuse is that the person’s future is unpredictable and beyond their control. They do not know what will happen next.
Thankfully, you and your team are not enduring something as horrific as that – however stressful things are – but exactly the same principle applies.
If things are uncertain, especially during times of change – and most especially in this climate of general uncertainty – people experience incredible stress and their performance usually dips. So you need to pay particular attention to their future.
As performance coach Struan Robertson explained to me once, you need to map out where things are going, as far as possible, to minimise the insecurity that comes from not knowing.
But even when you simply do not know or cannot say, you must go out of your way to make even the next few steps as clear as they can be.
Then you and your people will be better able to perform well.
Vision
But to turn this completely on its head, the principle of the future being the most powerful driver for performance can be harnessed positively.
Like the sails of a yacht bulging and creaking as they catch a strong wind, bringing a surge in acceleration as the prow cuts through the waves and the hull leans over under the force, so too the future can be something that adds momentum to your performance.
And it happens when you are clear about your vision and strategy. And when you successfully get all hands on deck, as you excite people into playing a part.
Go on! Lead your teams forward.
Similarly, what will have the biggest impact on the way your team performs today?
Clue: it is not the past.
If you’ll forgive a generalisation, it is not the trauma in a person’s past, or the emptiness of their present, that makes them decide to jump off a bridge; it is the bleakness of their future.
Psychologists, in their complex and difficult therapy with victims of torture, understand that the most powerful aspect of this abuse is that the person’s future is unpredictable and beyond their control. They do not know what will happen next.
Thankfully, you and your team are not enduring something as horrific as that – however stressful things are – but exactly the same principle applies.
If things are uncertain, especially during times of change – and most especially in this climate of general uncertainty – people experience incredible stress and their performance usually dips. So you need to pay particular attention to their future.
As performance coach Struan Robertson explained to me once, you need to map out where things are going, as far as possible, to minimise the insecurity that comes from not knowing.
But even when you simply do not know or cannot say, you must go out of your way to make even the next few steps as clear as they can be.
Then you and your people will be better able to perform well.
Vision
But to turn this completely on its head, the principle of the future being the most powerful driver for performance can be harnessed positively.Like the sails of a yacht bulging and creaking as they catch a strong wind, bringing a surge in acceleration as the prow cuts through the waves and the hull leans over under the force, so too the future can be something that adds momentum to your performance.
And it happens when you are clear about your vision and strategy. And when you successfully get all hands on deck, as you excite people into playing a part.
Go on! Lead your teams forward.
Tuesday, 27 January 2009
Keep on your toes
My wife says that unless you can teach a group about a subject in three bullet points, you don’t understand it.
Her logic (and temperament) become inconsistent when I suggest that I understand her but couldn’t possibly sum her up in three bullet points.
Still, her assertion often comes to mind when I think about the fast pace of change in the worlds of fundraising and marketing.
Some might argue I need to get out more, but from time to time I challenge myself and glance through the IDM’s syllabus for the Diploma in Direct and Interactive Marketing or conference outlines, such as the IoF’s Strategic Fundraising Management conference.
I ask myself whether I could stand up and speak on all of those topics if called on at short notice. And I set about plugging any gaps in my knowledge.
Try it.
Her logic (and temperament) become inconsistent when I suggest that I understand her but couldn’t possibly sum her up in three bullet points.
Still, her assertion often comes to mind when I think about the fast pace of change in the worlds of fundraising and marketing.
Some might argue I need to get out more, but from time to time I challenge myself and glance through the IDM’s syllabus for the Diploma in Direct and Interactive Marketing or conference outlines, such as the IoF’s Strategic Fundraising Management conference.
I ask myself whether I could stand up and speak on all of those topics if called on at short notice. And I set about plugging any gaps in my knowledge.
Try it.
Sunday, 11 January 2009
Interference
Performance = Potential – internal interference – external interference
…or so the management theory goes.
This one works well if you’re mind-gyming yourself, i.e. when you’re talking yourself through a challenging situation, such as working to a deadline or when you’re working through conflict.
Mental self-control is critical if you’re aiming to perform to a high standard. And when you train yourself, you begin to notice the external interference, e.g. the negativity of others or the unexpected meeting that puts you under more pressure.
You also learn to notice the internal interference, such as your own doubts, tiredness or stress. And that’s the very moment in which you need to draw on your strength to put that interference aside.
Listen, you’re good. You know you can get through whatever situation you’re facing. Left to get on with it, you’ll ace it.
Understanding interference is also helpful when your team fades on you occasionally.
Building on see > do > get, if you discipline yourself to see that each individual has high potential, you can end up wondering why they under perform sometimes – which, let’s be honest, no amount of positive thinking can conceal.
So what are you to do? Well, given that we’ve seen how coaching yourself through challenges can help, it is nearly as simple as applying it to the people you’re leading.
But only ‘nearly’ as simple. You’re not a rugby coach, and your team may react unfavourably to a pep talk. Rather, you can employ one of a range of techniques that help them to mind-gym themselves.
First, listen, and make sure you understand what’s interfering with their potential – is it internal or external? Chances are, it’s some internal interference, fuelled by external interference such as change, job insecurity or poor management in your organisation. Tell them how you see the situation, or how you dealt with something similar. In time, you can even talk them through the concept of the mind gym.
Finally, get involved and be seen to be working as hard they are, conveying a drive towards a common purpose, and leading your whole team towards high performance and strong motivation.
…or so the management theory goes.
This one works well if you’re mind-gyming yourself, i.e. when you’re talking yourself through a challenging situation, such as working to a deadline or when you’re working through conflict.
Mental self-control is critical if you’re aiming to perform to a high standard. And when you train yourself, you begin to notice the external interference, e.g. the negativity of others or the unexpected meeting that puts you under more pressure.
You also learn to notice the internal interference, such as your own doubts, tiredness or stress. And that’s the very moment in which you need to draw on your strength to put that interference aside.
Listen, you’re good. You know you can get through whatever situation you’re facing. Left to get on with it, you’ll ace it.
Understanding interference is also helpful when your team fades on you occasionally.
Building on see > do > get, if you discipline yourself to see that each individual has high potential, you can end up wondering why they under perform sometimes – which, let’s be honest, no amount of positive thinking can conceal.
So what are you to do? Well, given that we’ve seen how coaching yourself through challenges can help, it is nearly as simple as applying it to the people you’re leading.
But only ‘nearly’ as simple. You’re not a rugby coach, and your team may react unfavourably to a pep talk. Rather, you can employ one of a range of techniques that help them to mind-gym themselves.
First, listen, and make sure you understand what’s interfering with their potential – is it internal or external? Chances are, it’s some internal interference, fuelled by external interference such as change, job insecurity or poor management in your organisation. Tell them how you see the situation, or how you dealt with something similar. In time, you can even talk them through the concept of the mind gym.
Finally, get involved and be seen to be working as hard they are, conveying a drive towards a common purpose, and leading your whole team towards high performance and strong motivation.
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