Tag Archives: energy

Carrots & Sticks: Motivating Yourself & Others

Since our economic downturn began in in early 2009,  I have been giving many workshops on the challenges of staying motivated and engaged when everything is changing around you.  Bringing out the best in others (and in ourselves) has always been a favorite topic of mine but it has taken on more urgency in these tough times. 

Motivation Isn’t That Complicated!

When people say “You can’t motivate someone else” I disagree.  I think it’s actually quite easy.  One just needs to understand a bit about human nature and what innately drives most of us.  Pick up Daniel Pink’s book “Drive: The Surprising Truth About What Motivates Us” 2009.  I think you will be pleasantly surprised that you do know what motivates us and it’s not just a crunchy carrot. 

For years, business has used the “carrots and sticks” style of motivating others.  Reward behavior you want and punish behavior you don’t want.  These extrinsic motivators can work well for routine, non-creative work that just needs to be churned out.  But our 21st century world now is far more complex and challenging.  And we desperately need the best and the brightest ideas and solutions.  Luckily, that’s what most of us also want.  We yearn to be doing interesting, creative work that makes a difference. 

So here’s the challenge.  Look at your work schedule for this coming week.  What responsibilities, projects and tasks are coming up for you?  Now, think about what excites you, what gets your energy going, what do you think is well-worth your time.  You are very likely most motivated when doing those activities because they satisfy our deeply human needs of autonomy, mastery and purpose.  These intrinsic motivators are:

  1. To direct our own lives (autonomy)
  2. To learn & create new things (mastery)
  3. To do better by ourselves & our world (purpose)

Now ask yourself, “How could I bring more of what really motivates me into my work week?”  Start by making small shifts.  Keep up the momentum by acknowledging your progress each night.  When you hop into bed ask yourself “Was I better today than yesterday?”  Try it.  It works!

 

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Coaching Takes Off Internationally!

What a whirlwind!  I just returned from the wonderful annual international coaching conference (ICF) held this year in Las Vegas, NV.  This is my sixth conference – Quebec, Saint Louis, Oakland, San Jose & Montreal – and each have been a great experience well worth the money and time.

Here in Nevada, we had approximately 1,000 coaches from 42 countries attending bringing a wealth of experience and expertise to this four day conference.  My head was spinning from first attending our own state-wide NV coaching conference to hearing from the incredibly inspirational key-note speakers (Michael Gelb & Steve Farber) to soaking in the rich content offered by renowned coaching professionals in the many breakout sessions. The evening wine & hors d’oeuvres events in the exhibit hall finished off each day beautifully.

Coaching is Growing World-Wide

But the very best for me is always meeting coaches from all over the United States and the world.  During the opening session, it is truly a thrill to see the world map up on the big screens and then as each country is called the country’s coaches stand to thunderous applause. This year there were more coaches from Africa, the Middle East and the Eastern European bloc than I remember in past years.  The UK, Canada, China, Australia and South America have hundreds of coaches attending as well.

The International Coach Federation (ICF) is the industry recognized professional association for coaching. Currently, there are 8,000 credential ICF coaches and 125 chapters in 109 countries.   It is relatively young for a professional association – just 16 years old – but then again our profession is young as well with its formal beginnings in the early 1990’s.  At the conference, I saw a significant trend toward corporate internal coaching, business development and leadership coach specialties.

Individual Conversations with Coaches

And what a delight to have great conversations with Anne-Marie Sevenster, South Africa; Vedat Erol, Turkey; Alexander Vreede, Netherlands; Gilles Gambade,Greece and Angela Kontgen & Victoria Stikeman from Toronto, Canada.  I also had a chance to work in small groups with coaches from Mexico, Brazil, Sweden and Romania –   even got an invitation to meet with the coaches in Greece!  There is such a positive energy, an incredibility strong entrepreneur spirit and a willingness to think BIG – all in the service of others world-wide.

Ideas, resources and business cards were flying back and forth.  Some of my training materials are going to South Africa and others are going north to Canada.  What fun to share our expertise, our experiences and our support for each other and for the emerging profession of professional coaching.  These individual conversations are truly what I treasure after each conference. I feel connected and honored to have several more friends and colleagues around the world . . . and I think I just might followup on that invitation to visit the coaches from Greece!

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5 Ways to Minimize Multi-Tasking

The summer is winding down, kids are back in school and the fall work projects are ramping up. It’s so tempting to get over over committed this time of year. Doesn’t that sound familiar! But we quickly regret saying yes to so many requests – our plates are overfilled and tipping over. So we just work harder and “multi-task” even faster. But is that really effective? Many times it is not.

Downsize of Multi-Tasking

The research (and our own observation) confirm that we simply can’t do several things at once and do them well. Do you know that it takes between 9-15 minutes to refocus when you have been interruped from a task. So while you’re trying to get back to where you were you are losing valuable time and energy. We can feel our stress level going up because we’re not getting anything done well – and we’re making mistakes – silly, stupid mistakes that take even more time to fix. And it leaves us with a feeling at the end of the day “I didn’t get anything important done today.”

Beach ChairReduce Your Multi-Tasking

Resist the temptation to multi-task by practicing on concentrating on one thing at a time. Select what is most important (to your business, to your job, to your boss) and make a personal commitment to be the best that you can be by being present in the moment. Stay focused until you get the job done. Sounds simple but it’s actually takes practice, practice and more practice. Especially when you’re getting pressured to do several things at once – being pulled into other people’s urgent requests. But by managing your time and energy effectively you are doing what you’ve been hired to do. But it’s tough to resist the temptation to start juggling tasks. But this has several things that have worked for me . . .

  1. “Chuck” your time by setting aside a block of time to concentrate on one task at a time.
  2. Resist reading your email early in the morning because it pulls you away into multiple directions – many relatively unimportant.
  3. Be more realistic about how much time a task will really take and build in some extra time as well.
  4. Close your eyes when talking on the phone so that you can really concentrate.
  5. Take at least three things off your list today to minimize feeling fragmented.

So think about it . . . are you ready to resist the popular notion that multi-tasking is the way to go? If so, try these tips to see how they work for you. You will be pleasantly surprised!

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Kayaking in Maine: Lesson in Patience

It’s beautiful up here on a quiet pond in Maine.  My twin sister and I have organized a wonderful week for family and friends at a lakeside cabin on North Lake in Norway, Maine.  Each summer we enjoy getting everyone together to laugh and play by the water either on the West or East coast.  This time we are in western Maine filled with endless waterways and kayaks.  So as Diane and I carefully step into the bright orange kayaks early this morning it occurred to me that I’m not sure I’ve ever taken a single kayak out myself.  “Have you ever done this before?” I ask my twin. “No, I don’t think so” she responds – but we figure it can’t be hard and it wasn’t.

Practicing Patience

We paddle slowly but sometimes bump into each other kayaks because we’re still getting the rhythm of the stroking down.  I practice doing slow donuts so I can go backwards and forward as needed.  So with a bit of effort, we get going down the shoreline toward the distant mountains.   I ask her, as a family psychotherapist, what would be the personal or professional lesson that we could learn from this quiet experience of kayaking in Maine.  Diane doesn’t hesitate “Patience” she says . . .  “you’re not going anywhere too fast and that feels wonderful”.

We don’t get many times to practice patience in this way.  Smooth and steady and we’ll get there just fine.  I loved seeing the lily pads with flowers in the “secret cove”.  And then a slow donut turn and we’re headed back to our cabin, breakfast and sleeping teenagers.  How else can we practice patience?  Here’s one more way . . . being the last person to watch the bonfire die down at the end of the evening.  Just chatting and watching the flames become embers and the ash.  Now that takes patience.

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Multi-Tasking & Multiple Mistakes

Mistakes happen.  Sometimes it’s unavoidable but I’m stuck by how often we make mistakes simply because we are distracted by thinking of several things at once.  Somehow, the idea of “multi-tasking” became the buzz word a few years ago for being a superior performer.  “Ability to multi-task” became a common job interview question and key criteria for hire.  If we were able to master running from task to task we were suppose to be better than our colleagues.  An interesting skill but is it really effective or even efficient?

Nine Minutes to Refocus

Step back and watch yourself on a typical busy day.  What happens when phones are ringing, people are coming by your office, your computer screen is flashing and the cell phone is beeping at you.  Yes, you can jump back and forth but your ability to concentrate is greatly reduced.  The research (and our own observations) show clearly that it actually takes between 9 – 15 minutes to refocus to your original place when you have been interrupted.  Sometimes, that’s perfectly fine for simple tasks but for anything that needs concentration, creativity and focus that’s a lot of time trying to get back to where you left off.  The ripple effect is significant . . . we make more mistakes; feel more stressed because we’re not getting anything done well and the sense of enjoyment on a job well-done is often gone.

Five Ways to Avoid Multi-Tasking

Resist the temptation to multi-task by practicing concentrating on one thing at a time – especially anything that is important to your work and your employer.  Be truly present in the moment by doing these five things:

Bodie Gold Town

Know when you are at your best during the day (morning, afternoon, evening, late night).
“Chuck” your time by setting aside blocks of time to concentrate on certain tasks.
Don’t read your email early in the morning (it will distract you!).
Be more realistic about how much time a task will actually take.Close your eyes when talking on the phone (you will naturally be much more present).
And finally (my favorite) take at least 3 things off your “to-do” list today.  You can’t do it all and that’s okay!
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