The Way You Practise Is The Way You Perform (WT770)

The Way You Practise Is The Way You Perform (WT770)

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WT 770 How you practice is how you perform

I confess, up until recently I haven’t been someone who placed a great deal of importance on practise.

I’d put a bit of effort into something and then “wing” the rest of it, often with less than optimal results.

More recently I’ve gained a huge appreciation for practise and the reason for that is because I am understanding more about how our brains work.

Practising increases the traffic in our neural networks. The more traffic, the quicker we act and the quicker we learn.

I’ve been working with clients lately helping them to create new neural pathways, in other words, to rewire their brains.

At first, it is challenging when the neural pathway doesn’t exist. It’s like being asked to create a path in a jungle that is totally overgrown and all you have is a machete.

And bit by bit, you clear the trees and undergrowth until you forge a path and as many more people travel on the path, the path becomes much easier to use and eventually could become a highway.

So too with our brains. We need to create the neural pathways to be able to take action towards the things we want.

When we practise we are creating the path.

And, the way we practise is the way we perform.

For example, if I’m practising giving a presentation and I keep stopping and starting to change my words or because I forgot a sentence or decide to change a powerpoint slide, then that’s the way I will perform.

When you practise, practise the complete thing, not parts of it. Practise in smaller time frames and then increase the time.

As you practise the whole thing, you learn. You hear the words you say and they will get stored in your cellular memory.

This week I’m practising for a one hour presentation I’m giving next week called “The 5 Pillars To Become an Effective Leader”.

What are you practising for?

Regards Shirley

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What Is The Missing Link To Team Efficiency? (WT769)

What Is The Missing Link To Team Efficiency? (WT769)

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WT 769 What's the missing link to Team Efficiency

This week I was working onsite with clients looking at their systems.

Like many business owners, they were frustrated because their people were not being efficient.

“How can we improve our efficiency? they asked.

That’s a great question.

What do you think the answer is?

What do you think is the missing link?

If you said “Role Clarity”, you are correct.

“Role Clarity?” “How does that improve efficiency?”

If you think about it, your people come to work to do a good job and feel good about themselves and the contribution they make.

In order to do that, they need to know what they have to do, to what standard.

This is Role Clarity.

You and your people are clear on what they are meant to be doing.

When all team members know where they fit in the organisation and what they are responsible for, you’ll find your business becomes much more efficient.

We can also look at this from another angle.

So many businesses I’ve consulted with do not have a clear organisation chart nor do they have clear job descriptions. (Our preferred method for documenting roles and standards is Key Performance Indicators and Key Behaviour Indicators.)
Without these, people flounder and when they flounder, they become inefficient.

They often end up doing bits and pieces of other roles, which can be quite frustrating for the other and in one business I worked with, the owner was extremely frustrated because she said every job seemed to be done by two people instead of one, hence costing her double for the work.

Whilst having good systems and processes in place, along with well documented procedures and good training and the use of technology goes a long way to improving efficiency, they do not influence efficiency as much as role clarity.

Your assignment this week is to analyse your business or section. Do you have a current organisation structure and if so, is it documented?  Do your people know what they have to do to what standard to succeed in the role?

Reach out if you need some help.

I can promise you, once you are clear and your people understand you’ll find that the chaos, frustration and fighting drastically reduces in favour of a productive harmonious workplace.

And in case you are wondering what the other influencers are, you can check out my Blueprint for Business Freedom, which includes the 3 major areas to focus on:

  1. High Performance People
  2. High Performance Processes
  3. High Performance Potential.

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He’s Not Getting The Job (WT768)

He’s Not Getting The Job (WT768)

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WT 768 He's not getting the job

Recently we had some storm damage, nothing like Cyclone Alfred up north, but enough to have to get the bay windows resealed and fixed.

We used Hipages to request quotes from qualified tradespeople.

One man called straight away on the Friday. We’ll call him Jack. Jack quoted $850 to come and do the work the next day, (Saturday) which was forecast to be raining.

We were a little surprised that:

  1. He quoted without looking at the job
  2. He could get there the next day.

What thoughts would you have about a tradesperson who isn’t booked out weeks or months in advance?

Anyway, Ross told him another person was coming to look at the job on Monday and that he would let him know.

Jack called again on the Saturday to see if he could come and do the job.

Ross reminded him that he had organised another quote for Monday.

Jack called again Monday morning.

He either didn’t hear or didn’t listen.

When Ross told me about Jack, I responded with, “Well he’s not getting the job.”

Jack might have been a good tradesperson.

Jack’s quote might have been fair and reasonable. It was actually half of what we ended up paying.

Jack didn’t get the job because he didn’t listen.

Ross also had a similar experience with another supplier.

Frustrated at the end of a phone call, he said, “I still haven’t finished a sentence”.

Listening is different to hearing.

You use your ears to hear. You use all of you to listen and best of all, your relationships will improve out of sight if you learn to Actively Listen.

Active Listening is a skill and a skill I wish everyone would learn.

When you Active Listen to others you are demonstrating that you heard and understood what they said. This means you repeat back to them what you think they said.
It doesn’t mean you are agreeing with what they say.

When people know that you heard and understood them they can move on and share more with you. They also trust that you did in fact hear them, listen to them and take in what they were telling you.

Your mission this week is to check yourself.

Are you behaving like Jack or the other supplier and not letting your clients, colleagues or family members finish their sentences?

Are you waiting to speak rather than listening?

Are you talking over them?

I sincerely hope not, because you may find that you too are frustrating others and therefore don’t get the job.

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I Only Remember The Three (WT767)

I Only Remember The Three (WT767)

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WT 767 I only remember the three

Last week I presented two x 2 hour webinars, “Reset Your Mindset: 4 Steps to Change Your Thoughts and Change Your Life”.

It was the first time I had presented these webinars and I was quite nervous.

In the month leading up to the presentations I had to learn new software.

I practised and practised to give myself the best chance of success. As we discussed in the webinar, the more we do something the more myelin we produce around our neurons and the more myelin, the quicker the response & habit formation. (In fact, it can be the difference between your neuron firing 100 times faster or slower.)

After the second presentation was over I shared with Ross what I thought I could have done to improve.

Even though the feedback from attendees was very positive, I was critical of myself.

As I spoke, Ross listened and then when I finished he shared that he had heard an interview with Tom Brady, arguably the best NFL quarterback ever. Ross continued, “Brady has been in 10 Superbowl competitions, of which he was on the winning team for 7. When asked about his successes, Brady replied that he didn’t remember the 7 (wins), only the 3 (losses).”

I find this interesting that we often focus on what we don’t do or don’t achieve rather than what we do.

In our Leading Yourself and Leading Others experience participants have to keep a diary of compliments and criticisms (for want of more politically correct words) that they and others give to them over a 7 day period.

Overwhelmingly the feedback from participants is how often they are the ones who are doing the criticising and how often they do receive compliments and yet they don’t seem to take these on board.

So my point this week, and I’m listening too, is to focus on the 7, not the 3.

Try it for yourself this week.

Take a piece of paper or whatever electronic gadget you use and rule up two columns. Write two headings:

  1. Compliments/Appreciation
  2. Criticisms/Negative Thoughts

Be alert to comments that you get from others and also your thoughts.  Every time you identify a compliment or positive thought make a note in that column. Similarly, every time you receive criticism or have a negative thought about yourself, enter a point in that column.

At the end of week take a look at the number of comments and/or thoughts you have received.

 

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Go to https://shirleydalton.com/Weekly-Thoughts.

They Should … (WT766)

They Should … (WT766)

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WT 766 They should

This week I was teaching the concept of Values Collisions, from Thomas Gordon’s Leader Effectiveness Training.

I thought I’d share it with you too.

values collision is a conflict in which the values of two parties clash, but there is no tangible effect.

There are many many opportunities for Values Collisions in the workplace and at home.

For example, say you vape and I don’t.

Unless I’m in the room with you, you vaping doesn’t affect me.

When it comes to values, we won’t generally change our values just because someone says we should.

For example, if I was to say, “Vaping is really harmful to your body and you should stop”, it would most likely be met with resistance.

So how do we identify Values Collisions and more importantly what can we do to resolve them?

It’s easy to identify them.

If you hear yourself say, “They Should” or “They shouldn’t”, it’s an indication of a judgement and if it is a judgement, first look to see if there really is a tangible effect on you, if not, it’s a Values Collision.

In order to deal with the Values Collision, you can choose from 9 options, however they all come with varying degrees of risk to the relationship.

Here are the 9, from highest risk to lowest risk:

  1. Power (using your power to make the other person change)
  2. False Acceptance (pretending you accept their value)
  3. Problem Solving the behaviour associated with the value (e.g. not vaping when I am around)
  4. Consulting (sharing information and leaving the decision to change with the other)
  5. Disclosing and listening (truly listening for understanding of the other’s value)
  6. Preventative Teaching (explaining policies at induction)
  7. Modelling (walking your talk)
  8. Changing Self (to align with the other’s value)
  9. True Acceptance (of the other’s value)

Your choice of option may depend on the value, the other person or the situation.

Remember, if you find yourself judging, it’s a good litmus test for a potential Values Collision.

If so, ask yourself:

  1. What is my value?
  2. Where did it come from?
  3. Why do I want to keep it?

And if all else fails, revert to the Serenity poem.

P.S. Invite your friends to get the Weekly Thought delivered directly to their inbox.

Go to https://shirleydalton.com/Weekly-Thoughts.

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