How motivated do you feel right now?
Start of a new year, a time to set goals, make commitments, start new things, stop old things.
You’d think that most people are pretty motivated right now.
Well, research suggest otherwise.
A Gallup study conducted in September 2023 revealed that globally only 15% of people are motivated in the workplace.
In Europe that falls to 10% &
» Read more about: Bitesize Leadership No. 35 – Motivation »
2023. It’s been a challenge.
Every year challenges us, some shared, some unique, challenges none the less.
This year though, has been the most challenging for me.
In bitter sweet irony, considering I’m researching for a PhD in Resilience, 2023 has tested my own & exhausted it, but more on that later.
To set context, in March, my Dad Graham, was diagnosed with prostrate cancer, assigned a treatment regime &
You’ll have heard of your comfort zone.
Coined by Alasdair White in 2006, the clues in the name really, it’s when any activity you’re doing is easy, takes little thought or as theorists call it ‘steady state’
You’ll start something, eventually your performance will improve, then it becomes comfortable.
Sounds great eh! Well, maybe not.
Psychologists who specialise in human performance discovered that after that initial uplift in performance,
Well, it been a while since I did one of these. As everyone, I’ve been busy being busy, but I’ve got some space, so here goes.
Stating the obvious, things are tough. Customer expectations, commercial pressure, employee engagement to name a few of the things seeming to be under stress at the moment.
I’m sure you’ve got your methods, your ways of supporting others, but just in case, here’s something to consider.
Someone explained to me that motivation is internal. You can’t motivate someone; you must give them the opportunities to motivate themselves. It made total sense to me, & I even had lots of personal examples spring to mind that backed it up.
But then I discovered that it’s not totally correct.
I listened to a podcast with Dr. Richard Ryan, a clinical psychologist & co-developer of Self Determination Theory,
Many of us, when we break something, tend to see that item as no good anymore and will probably throw it away.
The Japanese though, have a tradition that when a piece of pottery is broken, they repair it using a lacquer mixed with gold. Known as Kintsugi, or Golden Joinery, a 400 year old tradition, people will repair the damage, creating an even stronger and more beautiful piece.
It’s worth remembering that when we break something,
It’s not uncommon for people to say to me, “You do all that soft and fluffy stuff don’t you?” Yep, that’s me.
We then follow that conversation where they tell me that it sounds nice, there’s a time & a place for it, but really we need to get the job done, we just don’t have time for all of that.
So, let’s dig into that.
Sounds nice. Time &
I read an interesting piece this week that said that as humans we have lots of protective mechanisms.
They are the ways that we look at the world around us to make us feel safe, to protect us from harm.
One of them is called Self Serving Bias.
This is when we attribute success to our efforts & our failures to other things.
Imagine an athlete being interviewed after their team has won.
The ancient Greeks used to define courage in a certain way. It was not based on war or endeavour, but on daily life.
They believed courage was needed in greater quantities for each day, even just to get through one.
They thought that courage was needed when your resolve & hopes of sharing new ideas were challenged. When someone disagreed with you, then courage was needed to enter into a battle of ideas.
I’ve been a facilitator 18 years now & at times I’ve been asked by clients, “Why aren’t we seeing changes? Why are they still getting it wrong? Why isn’t the development working?”
For a second there’s a little bit of internal defensiveness which kicks in, followed by a bit of self-doubt, but I quickly remember something;
Development is a journey & patience is a virtue.
Whenever people go on their developmental journey,
We all know that our morals enrich our lives. They are the things that guide us, set our standards & are how we hold ourselves accountable to others.
But have you ever met a Moraliser?
A person who seeks to impose their views on others, telling them how to live & behave. They want you to conform & comply with their preferences. They defend their actions by saying they are trying to defend you from harm.
What do Simone Biles, Adam Peaty, Tom Dumoulin & Ben Stokes have in common?
Many will think sport & you’re right. Gold medal gymnast & swimmer, Grand Tour winning cyclist & World Cup winning cricketer.
They also have in common that they recently took time from their profession to recharge & protect their mental health.
I spent many years in professional & top end amateur sports &
One of the many things that all of the leaders I am fortunate to work with have in common, is that they are really good at their job.
Or so they think.
Now, hold on. You may have just read that and thought, “Ouch, that’s a bit harsh.” But hear me out.
Lots of leaders have done the job of the people they lead. They know what to do in any situation their team finds themselves in,
Lots of companies that I work with know they don’t recognise people often enough.
It’s not because they don’t want to, it’s because they are busy being busy. They achieve & then move onto the next thing.
They realise though that there’s value in pausing, reflecting & recognising the efforts people have put in to go the extra mile, overcoming obstacles. Now it’s more conscious, it happens more often. Yay!
But I’ll often follow this up with reminding them that people doing their job is also worthy of recognition.
It’s not uncommon for me to be asked to coach someone who’s finding it hard to lead a team, whether due to being a new leader, a team that’s not performing or something in between.
The business really wants to help them, give them the tools and techniques to lead so that the results are great.
Often though it’s not tools and techniques they need.
It’s not a skills challenge.
What makes a great leader? Presence? Credibility? Probably all of these things & more. But what are they?
If you read enough books, you’d think being outgoing & openly confident.
But what if this just isn’t you? Does this mean you’ll never get to where you want to be?
Not. At. All.
Presence, Credibility; compared to who?
If you’re a keen cook but compare yourself to a Michelin starred chef,
My kids don’t believe me that there used to be a phone number that you would ring to find out the time.
That’s not the only thing. You could add to that vinyl records, cassette players, pay phones in big box on every street, I could go on.
The pace in which things change is mind blowing. For example, the year 2000 was 21 years ago. Yes, you read that right.
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My Dad’s a straight talking, no nonsense engineer. Doesn’t take a rocket scientist to work out his parenting style.
When I got my first car, a bit of advice, well not so much advice, more instruction, was never let the fuel light come on. If it’s on, means crap in the tank is now being pumped around the system, impacting performance.
That ‘advice’ makes me think about how many times we let our light come on.
I’ve noticed friends on social media who seem to justify what they’re doing at the moment. ‘Met a friend, I was socially distanced!’ ‘Went to see my Mum, I stayed outside!’ It’s got me wondering why & I think I know.
Fear of criticism & a lack of trust.
What’s happened to some of us this past year? Some take great delight in commenting negatively about others. Why?
Well unfortunately,
When things are uncertain, how do you react, what do you do?
You may just accept that it’s unpredictable, need to deal with what’s in front of you. Or you may have a well thought out plan, exactly for this occasion, indeed all occasions.
These tend to be the norm. Well, there’s another way & if you recognise it, you’re known as a Probabilist.
Imagine you’re stood in a square,
