A few weeks ago I told you about The Top 5 Traits of Toxic Teams and since then I’ve had quite a few people email me about the Get Out of Jail Strategies that I promised so here they are. And watch out for my offer of more info on Toxic Trait no 2 – Snakes in Suits.
In last weeks blog I posted a short video clip. Remember the mouse and cheese?
If you didn’t see it be sure to watch it because its less than 1 minute and 30 seconds and it’s what I’m talking about in this post.
That blog post was about turning a weakness into a strength or a problem/shortcoming to a positive. I challenged you to give it a go and also promised I’d share one of mine.
So, here it is. Quite some time ago I missed out on a speaking gig that I was in the running for. And to stick with the mouse analogy this gig was my Havarti (my favourite cheese). Man, let me tell you, I could smell it and taste it. I really, really wanted this gig and my name was all over it.
BUT, I didn’t get it and I was shattered to say the least.
What's your cheese (weakness)?
Continue reading ‘Flip A Weakness Into A Strength with 4 Simple Steps’
Whilst this is a clever little advertisement it’s also a great analogy. Check it out… and bear with it, the middle isn’t as tragic as it first appears.
So, consider for a minute a weakness/problem/shortcoming (like the cheese) you have in your career, business, relationships or life and see if there isn’t something about it that you can turn to a positive or make a strength.
Of course there’s no use just considering and seeing it. You have to do something…
C’mon do it!
Just pick one small thing and do it today. And then share it with us.
I’ll do mine as well and share it in my next blog.
Success and nothing less,
Dave Lourdes
At one time or another we’ve all worked in one; a Toxic Team! You know what I’m talking about don’t you? One of those teams where the week feels like this:
MOANday,
TEARSday,
WASTEday,
THIRSTday,
FIGHTday.
Seriously though, there are some common traits that are alive and well to some degree in all Toxic Teams and the reason I’m giving them to you is because sometimes you’re in a Toxic Team and you don’t even know it! As human beings we are very good at adapting to our environment so what this means is, we can sometimes not only endure highly stressful or demoralising situations BUT actually trick ourselves into thinking what’s happening is ‘okay’ or ‘normal’.
So here are The Top 5 traits of Toxic Teams you need to know about:
Continue reading ‘The Top 5 Traits of Toxic Teams’
You’re on the phone – ‘DING!’,
Someone’s at your desk discussing a project – ‘DING!’
You’re having a coffee – ‘DING!’
DING! DING! DING!
If it’s not a DING then it’s a different sound or alert letting you know that another email has been delivered to your Inbox. And as if it’s not enough to be getting them on your computer, now there’s the trusty Blackberry, iPhone and so on.
Here’s something interesting – 70% of email alerts get a reaction within 6 seconds. And it takes 64 seconds to recover your train of thought after an interruption by email. So, let’s do the math. If you check your emails every 5 minutes that means in a week you can waste 8.5hrs trying to get back to where you were before the email interruption. You may not think you check your emails that often, but just for the next 48hrs take notice or keep score in your head and I bet you’ll be surprised with how often you do this… and leave a comment on the blog and let me know if it was more than you thought.
About 5 years ago I had Chronic Fatigue Syndrome and keeping up with email was a major issue because I couldn’t work for long periods of time. At its peak I had 690 emails in my Inbox awaiting action… I was freaking out big time!
I had to do something fast… something out of the ordinary, something from left field and even a little provocative.
For 3 weeks I implemented the following strategy which got me back on top of my emails, reduced my stress and had a positive effect on my health – an awesome BONUS!
When you implement these steps make sure you you let people know, maybe you could include a note at the bottom of your emails or use an auto-response message to educate your peers, direct reports, boss, other colleagues, suppliers, and clients to understand your intention and help them be more effective when communicating with you. Also let them know if there is an urgent matter they need to call you.
Here’s a sample auto-response message:
Hi X,
Thanks for your email.
To keep focussed on my workload I am only checking email at 11:30am and 4pm.
If you have anything urgent that can’t wait please call me on xxx so that I can address the matter quickly.
Thank you and have a great day!
If your Management isn’t in favour of your strategy put forward the idea of a 2 week trial to alleviate any of their concerns.
Like I said, I used this for 3 weeks and it worked. You may only need to do it for a few days. Some people use it every single day… that’s right, it’s their permanent way of handling emails and they swear by it.
If you have any doubt that this would work for you – just try it! You have to discipline yourself to follow your own rules.
Success and nothing less,
PS – It doesn’t stop there, if you want more advanced strategies and knowledge that I share with my clients and you want to become a Productivity Powerhouse you have to understand your Thinking Preferences.
This post is inspired by a switched on corporate graduate named Fiona Looker. Before I tell you how Fiona is making her GOALS REAL, it’s important you read this short context.
Do you set real and meaningful goals for yourself?
As a professional speaker and executive coach I always get to ask people if they set goals, and if I had a dollar for every answer like this, “oh yeah, of course I do”, I’d have enough cash to start my own airline. But here’s the thing, if I had a dollar for every person I know that actually followed through and took action, I wouldn’t have enough to catch a bus to the airport.
Now I know you’ve been to a seminar, read a motivational book, seen something on television (maybe a reality where people are losing weight or launching businesses) or met someone who has motivated you to set yourself a goal AND you tell yourself, “this time I’m serious!”. But then life happens and you re-schedule and decide to re-launch your quest to achieve your goals …the most common one I hear is, “I’m going to start again on MONDAY” – which is code for, I’ll just cut myself some slack AGAIN. So what stops YOU from following through?
Do you attract people to you like a magnet? If not, how can you do it? First I’m going to reveal the secret to you and then I’m going to give you some context to think about.
The secret – Be The MOST POSITIVE Person YOU KNOW
THINK ABOUT THIS - Have you ever noticed how you are just drawn to some people? When they walk in the room, you just can’t stop staring at them. You want to be around them, you hope they will notice you and just give you some little sign, no matter how small, that they notice you…you may even seek their approval. WHY? What is it they possess that makes them so intriguing, inspiring, attractive or appealing? The truth is, you have the EXACT same qualities as them. If YOU spot it, YOU’VE got it! You can only admire a quality in another person if you also have that quality – so that’s the good news.
Now the not so good news, most people have no clue that they have qualities, talents and gifts that others find attractive. Most of us like playing things down, you know, keeping a lid on it would rather shrink instead of SHINE. After coaching people for many years, here’s one thing I’ve noticed; there are so many of us that would never ever even dream of admitting to ourselves, let alone others, that we are incredible, awesome, amazing, intelligent, inspirational and the list goes on. In fact, I find it so crazy that so many people actually feel like publicly acknowledging their strengths is a negative quality. For whatever reason, we can tell ourselves that letting people know what we’re great at is equivalent to bragging, showing off or being cocky. I’ve met people where I couldn’t find their strengths with a search warrant. They are so hell bent on PLAYING SMALL, that finding their strengths is an exhaustive hunt that feels like trying to find the Da Vinci Code!
NEWSFLASH – There are things you can do that no one else in the world can do. There is something that you are THE BEST in the world at!
Continue reading ‘Revealed – How To Attract People To YOU Like A MAGNET’
If you want to be a player, you’ve got to get on the ground, and without rapport you’re just a spectator sitting in the stands. We often hear the term ‘rapport building’ but what does it mean and how do we build it? I love this explanation on Wiki:
Rapport is one of the most important features or characteristics of unconscious human interaction. It is commonality of perspective: being “in sync” with, or being “on the same wavelength” as the person with whom you are talking.
My personal definition is, “any conscious or unconscious action that builds a connection with another person”. You can have the best ideas, the greatest passion, be an elite leader or own the most mind blowing, value adding product or service on the planet BUT if you cannot build rapport with people, it counts for NOTHING! People buy and invest in PEOPLE…not products. By the way, you do not have to be face-to-face with another person to build rapport.
ASK YOURSELF – How do you feel walking into a party, a seminar or even a meeting when you do not know anyone there? Do you feel self conscious, awkward, dread, nervous, annoyed that you have to be there, expect that it will be tough or have you already spent some time crafting an intricate and water tight reason (escape plan) about why you have to leave early? If you have any of these feelings, I have to tell you…
Continue reading ‘Rapport…your ticket to PLAY’
Anyone who knows me knows, I AM a massive believer in choosing to have a CHAMPION MINDSET. If you want to be the best, you have to think the best. When you have a strong, positive and optimistic mindset you are IN CONTROL. You become Teflon to any adverse conditions around you and it’s so easy to automatically see the good in things instead of defaulting to seeing the bad. One of my old school friends, Paul Kolanowicz, just sent me this story about the recession and I just had share it with you. Choose good over bad, choose awesome over awful and choose STEP UP over step back.
What is Recession?
This story is about a man who once upon a time was selling Hot dogs by the roadside. He was illiterate, so he never read newspapers. He was hard of hearing, so he never listened to the radio. His eyes were weak, so he never watched television. But enthusiastically, he sold lots of hot dogs. He was smart enough to offer some attractive schemes to increase his sales. His sales and profit went up. He ordered more a more raw material and buns and sold more. He recruited more supporting staff to serve more customers. He started offering home deliveries. Eventually he got himself a bigger and better stove. As his business was growing, the son, who had recently graduated from college, joined his father. Then something strange happened. The son asked, “Dad, aren’t you aware of the great recession that is coming our way?” The father replied, “No, but tell me about it.” The son said, “The international situation is terrible. The domestic situation is even worse. We should be prepared for the coming bad times.” The man thought that since his son had been to college, read the papers, listened to the radio and watched TV. He ought to know and his advice should not be taken lightly. So the next day onwards, the father cut down the his raw material order and buns, took down the colorful signboard, removed all the special schemes he was offering to the customers and was no longer as enthusiastic. He reduced his staff strength by giving layoffs. Very soon, fewer and fewer people bothered to stop at his Hot dog stand. And his sales started coming down rapidly and so did the profit. The father said to his son, “Son, you were right”. “We are in the middle of a recession and crisis. I am glad you warned me ahead of time.”
Moral of the Story: It’s all in your MIND! And we actually FUEL this recession much more than we think.
Source: Unknown (if you know the source please let me know so I can give credit to the rightful person).
