Kate's Blog

Festive cheer and holding your nerve.......

2011-12-22T11:02:00.000-08:00

At this time of year one can't but help observe, and get wrapped up in (excuse the pun), the flurry of excitement and momentum building up to Christmas.
There is also an uplift in humility and genuine goodwill to all men and women, which is never a bad thing.
But for businesses it can often be a lean period. The economy is undoubtedly experiencing a downturn and many individuals and businesses are finding it a very difficult time indeed – resulting in what seems to be a slight panic in the air (which is nothing to do with the hypothetical Aunt Bessie or having to face sprouts on Christmas day).
There's no question it's tough out there, but it is what it is, and if ever there was a time for resilience and grit, it’s now. These are the qualities that so often see us through the troubled times.
I heard a song this morning on my way into London and one of the lines was 'don't look back, have faith in what you choose'. I like that - and how true. Keeping faith in our choices, especially when the stakes are high, can be particularly challenging. Yet always looking back will leave us rooted in the past, and perhaps not equipped to deal with the present. Things move quickly and we need to move with them.
Not wanting to let go (be it personally or in a business environment) can sometimes mean doing things that just don’t make sense anymore. The secret is about being bold, making tough decisions and then backing yourself.
Don’t let setbacks knock you off your stride.
Earlier this month, I had the fortune of going to the launch of DakarGB; the Dakar rally which, to my mind anyway, is very possibly one of the most gruelling races on the planet. There are not only extremes of temperature and unimaginable dust, but also an almost certain likelihood of chronic sleep deprivation and genuine personal risk of injury if not worse.
It requires supreme levels of fitness and stamina, and incredible reserves of mental strength to hold one's nerve and keep faith in your ability.
As some of you know, I learnt how to ride a motorbike this year in order to take an off road trip for charity across the Pyrenees and I'm not ashamed to say that it was one of the hardest things I have ever done.
But during the dark days, and the euphoric highs, it made me realise that the rules are essentially the same if you’re riding a motorbike, running a business or building a career. The barriers stopping us from progressing are as much about self-belief, perception and inspiring confidence in others as they are about aptitude or capability.

So if the going gets tough in the coming months keep remembering that one simple thing - hold your nerve.
As the song I was listening to earlier also says, ‘life can sense your attitude’!
Positivity and optimism can go such a long way.
Wishing you a magical festive season filled with joy, fun and inspiration.

The art of effective leadership

2011-06-14T04:13:00.000-07:00

Did you ever see an engineer rushing? No, I haven’t either, from the pits in a Formula one race to the construction of an astonishing multi level skyscraper.

Someone recalled a well-worn statement, yet nevertheless true, to a colleague earlier in the week. You can choose how you behave or what thoughts will define your day, if you really want to. He went on to say, it’s a bit like choosing what to wear in the morning. It’s a cognitive choice, wallowing in whatever current upset or perceived disaster that may or may not be around the corner or just taking the day in hand, what comes with it and with an open heart.

Uh oh - I realize, I may have just left a few readers cold. With an open heart, at work, in my professional environment, at a tough board meeting, in a challenging sales negotiation, on an oil rig, in the desert under fire. Yes, is the short answer. Having had the privilege to work with individuals that run oil rigs, race teams, engineers, those the boards of Fortune 100, FTSE 250 companies and decorated servicemen amongst others, I’ve observed first hand that the most effective leaders are very aware of their people ( and of course themselves) and have an ‘open heart’ and an ‘open mind’.

So, what do I mean by this: -

Anyone who gets to a leadership position has not made it (yet!). It is only the beginning. Being a leader doesn’t make you one, however by doing the things that great leaders do and influencing and encouraging your teams behaviour you’ll be 9/10’s of the way there.

Effective leaders establish values, model behaviour, encourage, nurture and support, reward, are firm when necessary and give feedback. Great leaders will foster self-leadership in individuals, teams and the wider organization.

One very good way of measuring a leader’s success is by measuring the success of his or her people. A strong leader will facilitate the self-leadership in others. After all, the first step is self-leadership and if there’s none of that, the leadership of others is going to be mighty difficult.

Set the vision:-

· Face reality - how are your thoughts going to command today

· Focus on the future

· See change as an opportunity

Be who you are:-

· Live & breathe your values, lead by example

· Create a positive self-image and believe in it

· Display integrity and openness to learning and discovery

Build capability:-

· Build infrastructure

· Leverage diversity

· Leverage skills

· Build teams

· Enable change to happen

· Allow people to think, challenge and experiment

Enable individuals:-

· Believe in people especially when you don’t agree

· Allow emotions and listen in the moment

· Manage attention, pay attention

· Share power and authority

· Build collaborative relationships

And ……..enjoy!

And as for the rushing……we all have to sometimes, even engineers I’m reliably informed(but it’s rare?!)

'Caught or Taught'

2011-03-15T12:49:00.000-07:00

Caught or taught?

I was at my daughter’s school this week for parents’ evening and one of her teacher’s stands out as being exceptionally good at what he does. Undoubtedly a very good teacher i.e. the ‘taught’ bit however it also occurred to me that the way he speaks and behaves is ‘caught’ perhaps by the kids too.

He has a certain way about him when the children are getting a bit wayward shall we say (some might say challenging) however I don’t think I have once heard him raise his voice or shout at the children. This hasn’t been reported back either and it often does – stories about the ‘shouty’ teachers as they’re affectionately dubbed! There is certainly a sort of ‘inspiring mood’ in the room when he is teaching.

It got me thinking about a group I worked with last year who have a rather challenging boss, abrasive, somewhat insensitive and inconsistent to boot. Whilst this boss is remote, it occurred to me that some of these behaviours were being ‘caught’ even though the team in question, were focusing on ‘upping their game’ and behaving much more effectively as a team. Some of the behaviours we came across were around territories, responsibility and accountability, blame games – a number of which I believe were being ‘caught’ from on high.

Their development as a team and as individuals came from unpicking some of these less successful behaviours and finding a mechanism both as a group and as individuals that would help them stay true to their purpose. They have also identified the ‘taught’ and the ‘caught’ - not that we identified it as such at the time.

As a leader what are you teaching and what are people catching from you? It will be your brilliance as well as those little behaviours or habits that don’t serve us so well?

Question:-

As a leader what did you teach someone today?

As a leader what did your people ‘catch’ from you? Inspiration, eloquence, calm under pressure or something altogether different?

Your game, your turf, your rules.....

2011-02-16T07:48:00.000-08:00

A few clients have been talking about public speaking over the last couple of days. The BAFTA’s and the fabulous awards and celebrations of the King’s Speech got me thinking……

There is a line in the movie, “my game, my turf, my rules” where Lionel, the speech therapist, is gently pushing at the boundaries of protocol when Albert comes to him for assistance with a speech impediment that has blighted him since childhood or perhaps because of his childhood.

An observation, as an executive coach, is that when we speak from the heart, our words, opinions and ideas are very often not only heard but also understood. When we say what we think we ought to say or should say, the sincerity and passion is somewhat diminished and therefore we may invariably give a mixed message or indeed the message won’t be heard at all. Why - when we speak from the heart about things we believe in – it may be the annual strategic plan or succession planning and growing talent - people will hear our voice because there will a real connection with the audience - be it 2 or 200 people. Speaking with ‘your game, your turf and your rules’ in mind will lead to that all important authenticity.

Tips:-

- Use your words, if you have a speech-writer - make sure you attune it to your language - the words that ‘you’ would use

- Boost your confidence a few moments prior to speaking by thinking about a time when you were at your most confident

- -Practice – if you don’t have a willing listener, practicing and going through it in your head is just as useful

- Be succinct - know your main points to address – the forthcoming nominated potential Oscar winners have been told that if they win - they have 45 seconds speech time!

- Answer questions directly, know your elevator pitch or company message or values that you can reinforce if need be

- Remember ‘your game, your turf, your rules’ and if need be King Albert if that will help!

When the going gets tough.........

2010-08-11T13:18:00.000-07:00

A well functioning team can be a powerful force for your company's success. A team in disarray, on the other hand, can be a distraction, causing missed opportunities and creating liabilities for the organisation.
‘When the going gets tough; the tough get going’ – as those of us, of a certain age, will remember Billy Ocean singing out. It was a favourite of my first real business mentor, a senior exec at M&S, at the annual bash…….it’s stayed with me!

Never more so than in a challenging market is ‘the tough getting going’ important. But what does tough actually mean - for us as individuals, as teams, as boards? Tough can have negative connotations such as insensitivity or even aggression however to have mental rigour and be tough in action can surely only be a good thing?

In my role as an executive coach in the current climate, the attitude to risk, perhaps ‘fear of’ is a common theme in conversations. Making ‘tough’ decisions that impact on both business and the people within can have some difficult consequences. Not insurmountable but certainly requires some mental ‘toughness’.

Lately, I’ve been observing various teams and boards behaviour - working with some who are operating very effectively and successfully together and others, shall we say, on the journey towards. The teams that have found their level, have animated, heated debates and discussion and I observe many things going on around the board table that could be described as ‘tough’, amongst many other descriptors! However, where it works is when there is a sort of unwritten code of conduct/ ethics if you will, which is all about ‘how we behave towards each other’; respect, trust, candour to name a few and it doesn’t get personal. Thereby keeping the agenda for the board or team (and company) on track and therefore being much more likely to succeed.

At the end of last year, one of my clients recently said to me’ I’ve sanctioned something that maybe I shouldn’t have - it instinctively feels right and I believe in my team but I think I may have burnt my bridges with the board’. This was my clients’, first board appointment. ‘What have you sanctioned?’ I asked, intrigued…..

‘One of my team has proposed a new product that she thinks will enhance the company's sales and profitability. It’s really interesting, doesn’t appear to be anything quite like it out there on the market and she’s great at what she does. If she says she can do it, I believe her. However, the first reaction I got from the board was quite dismissive. The CEO told me that not only would it never work but would also take four years of man-hours to even bring it to the testing stage. Then, it most likely won’t pass that phase.’
‘Not the most positive or open-minded response then.’ I replied.
‘Undeterred, I pleaded with the board to give us six months to prove the point. The board reluctantly went along and allowed me to give her a leave of absence from her regular job and devote her time solely to this new idea.’
Now fast forward a few months. The upshot of all of this is that he came back to the board within four months with a software project that was unique, exciting and eminently doable.
This lady on his team had succeeded well beyond the board's expectations. The product is now being sold - and sold profitably. Additionally, it has made quite a positive difference in the company's bottom line.
There’s a mental toughness! This guy risked losing his credibility and senior position (not to mention first board appointment) within the company; he got out of his comfort zone and intentionally put himself at risk; but most importantly, he thought differently, dared to be different, utterly believed in a member of his team and took a risk despite the consequences ‘if’ it failed.
Equally, the board, as a group, demonstrated some toughness, took a risk, backed him and the software developer and supported the decision. A tough call for those who weren’t sure and indeed those that were!
All boards and teams need at least one member who is some sort of a maverick. He or she should be an independent thinker and be willing to risk derision when introducing new ideas to the board. A person of this type is indispensable during these extremely competitive and trying times.
Strategic thinking, trust and collectively agreeing to something is not always an easy task. I know for sure that two members of the board patently disagreed with supporting this new idea however they collectively agreed and therefore as a board, they supported and encouraged the decision (outwardly anyway!). When the going gets tough for boards and teams, fresh thinking is essential. A team usually has nothing to lose when adding a new ‘mind’ to their members. The addition of a fresh vitality and robustness is rarely a bad thing.

For thought:-

Are you agreeing collectively and then standing by that decision even if you personally don’t agree?

What are your behaviours displaying to the rest of the organization? Do you collaborate, trust and commit as a group?

Do you trust your instincts?

Do you build consensus - finding the balance between active listening and active participation.

Can you cut to the core issue and identify how to move forward, how to bring discussions back to action?

Do you actively pursue outside relationships with board or team members?

Have you a mentor?

Treat team and board meetings as seriously as your job in terms of preparation, participation, and follow-through: do your homework, show up and contribute. The team meeting and/ or boardroom is the place for collaboration, not competition.

Competitive skills may very well have enabled you to get to your position of leadership, they’re less helpful when bringing a team or board together to achieve great things.

Are you getting going?

Have a great summer.

Kate Tojeiro works with boards and teams across a variety of businesses from FTSE 250 and Fortune 500 to small venture backed businesses. She is an Executive Coach and MD of X fusion.

Something in reserve.....

2010-04-22T12:58:00.000-07:00

Some of you may be aware that I have just embarked upon a challenge on an endurance motorbike across the Pyrenees to raise money for KidsCo and Great Ormond Street Hospital. I haven’t ridden a motorbike for 14 years!

As some of you will know, my current challenge is that when I stall (a rather regular occurrence) I find it an almighty effort to kick start the bike again – partly due to the height of an enduro bike (high – due to the suspension required for rough terrain) and my lack of technique, welly, strength, something or other……

So, when after umpteenth attempt to start the bike again late yesterday I was on the verge of thinking perhaps I’d over-challenged myself - it was pointed out to me that perhaps I was out of fuel and needed to switch to the reserve tank! Switched to reserve tank, slighted exhausted attempt at kick-start and voila! Big roar, two stroke fumes and off we go……. A lesson learnt even if I did feel somewhat daft (one word to describe it anyway?)…….

It got me thinking about the challenges that individuals and companies face on a regular basis and sometimes the blindly doing what went before even though we don’t get the results - that is until metaphorically or truly speaking some-one points out that we need to switch to reserve or change something!

In a difficult trading period, economic climate, time of low morale et al, as leaders it is so important to listen and harness observations from others. There is a little story, if you will, of taking a group of people out to a garden with a statue in the middle and asking each to describe the statue. Each individual will of course have a slightly different view and standpoint – however the important thing is that their view is nonetheless valid and real.

So, how do we ensure that as leaders we capture the imagination and perhaps hearts of our teams and people. If we have a way of being that enables others to offer feedback and share views of our product, sales process, what competitors are doing, what we could do better – this will give a business the competitive edge.

It is being regularly researched and we so commonly hear that if a business combines its technical prowess and its emotional intelligence - it will stand stronger and very oft be much more successful.

Combining commercial pragmatism and passion can be a challenge, for some effortless and for others a step that they’ll think about but won’t actually make.

One of my clients, the CEO of a software company, oft says; ‘People can only be productive when they have balance in their life!’

By this he isn’t talking of the over –used work/life term but his team having a balance between their technical capabilities and their individuality, their personality - what they as unique people bring to the team, the company. He is particularly good at harnessing the creativity , innovation and passion in his people and runs a very successful business.

As business leaders, how can one harness the commercial pragmatism and the passion. I did a quick internet definition of the two:- ‘pragmatism - originally developed by Peirce and James / - a practical , matter-of-fact way of approaching or assessing situations or of solving problems’ and ‘passion – any powerful or compelling emotion or feeling, as love or hate’.

So, a few ideas on how to bring pragmatism and passion together:-

Listen - truly listen (it doesn’t mean you have to agree all the time!)

Establish a culture where people are ‘genuinely’ able to fail or just mess up, brush themselves off and onto the next thing

Have regular meetings that have no agenda - the amount of creativity and innovation that comes from these is quite extraordinary

Know your people , know your business – when was the last time you ’walked the floor’ …

Passionate and creative individuals are vats of innovation – seeking better and often fixated on better solutions to problems. It might be something technical or something more personal but either way it evokes an emotion that the person really needs to feel.

Like it or not, our best judgements and decisions are most often anchored in how we truly feel about something - even in the most clinical of us!

As for reserve tanks, I started writing this on a train to Newcastle and spotted a horse trotting along the fence of its field. Horses always leave a bit in reserve – they are flight animals - so whatever eventuality may transpire they will always have a little energy in reserve, a means to escape, make a change whichever – even highly tuned racehorses. If horses don’t epitomise the practical with the passion I don’t know what does!

Is your business bringing together the pragmatism and the passion……………?

'Bee' aware.......

2010-03-30T03:11:00.000-07:00

Whilst my office is in a small busy town, this morning a huge bumblebee has been bumping on the window with tenacity. There is a large vase of startlingly yellow daffodils on the windowsill and they have all just come out. I think that must be what he (or she) is after!

I’ve been thinking about bees this week following a fascinating program that documented why bees ‘CAN’ fly. Their body shape, lack of aerodynamics and little wings have been baffling scientists for years because at face value - it appears an impossibility that they be able to fly at all! With the recent rapid development in sophisticated photographic technology it is now possible to ‘see’ that bees in fact flap their wings forwards and backwards, as opposed to up and down, which means that by a clever little manouevre of their wings the bee thereby creates lift on both strokes. Hence, it’s ability to fly.

And that I’m afraid is about the limit of my apiology, so why the observation?

I observed to one of my clients recently that people see, hear or sense what we put out there for them to see, hear or sense. “That’s nonsense” he confidently commented back. “People observe us but what they observe might be different to the ‘real’ us”, he said. “True”, I ventured sensing an interesting conversation in the making. “Mostly, though people see what we put out for them to see”.

Generally speaking if we are to achieve what we set out to and be successful in whatever that is - sometimes we need to ensure that our body language or non-verbal communication is in check. I.e. if we project confidence - others will identify with it, if we are unhappy and hunched people will identify with it, if we are anxious or nervous - there’s a pattern forming……...

“OK – give me an example” he said.

“A client who runs a very successful PR agency was having a somewhat ‘thin’ period a few years back.

She had a pitch meeting to go to - knew that she was one of four agencies participating in the beauty parade; two were large global agencies, one a medium sized UK based agency and her small boutique consultancy.

She decided that if she had any chance at getting this contract - she was going to have to use everything she had. Best outfit, hair & nails looking good – and of course her pitch! She knew that she had the talent, credentials and ability to do the project however felt very much like the minnow against the whales. She believed that if she was self-assured, confident and demonstrated the pride she has in what she does in the meeting she’d be in with a chance. So, how does self-assured, confident and a sense of pride ‘look’ and ‘feel’ for you, I asked. Well……..she responded, shoulders back for a start, breathing deeply, not fidgeting and being myself. She is erudite, capable, funny and charming. When did you last feel like that I ventured. When I delivered a talk at an Industry Conference two years ago (two years ago! I exclaimed – that’s another story) – we talked some more about this, the talk, the audience participation, the questions – the pleasant ones and the difficult. My client now had a reference point and through discussing it had also had a mini-rehearsal. (Little piece of neuro-science - when we recall an event and think it through, good or bad, we reinforce the neural pathways in our brains which therefore make it more likely for us to repeat the behaviour again – a bit like practicing a golf swing or a tennis serve).

After the meeting, she returned to her office and her PA was the first person she saw when she walked in. “How did it go?” she said. “I got it!” she replied. “Wow - did they tell you today”. “No, I just know I got it!”

A week later, the call came to say she had got it! She did get the business, a huge global contract and it was the first of many, many more after that lean period.

When I asked her about the meeting, I could see the confidence, self-assuredness and relaxed demeanour shining through.

So, when inwardly we are thinking that something is an impossibility what are the little ‘wing manoeuvre’s that we have to employ to make a difference?

Can you think of a time when the characteristics that you want to display were shining through to complement your skills and talents. Whilst many people profess not to care what others think – said client above included - we are, like it or not, creatures who want and need to fit into a social universe. Humans are psychologically suited to interdependence.

The ability to intuit how people see us is what enables us to truly and authentically connect to others and experience the deep satisfaction that comes with those ties. With that comes the ability to understand others better be a better leader.

The bottom line: It comes down to what you think about yourself

Your ideas about what others think of you hinge on your self-concept—your own beliefs about who you are. We filter the cues that we get from other people through our own self-concept. As a baby scans his mother's face he absorbs clues to who he is; as adults we continue to search for our reflections in others' eyes. People rely on others' impressions to nurture their views about themselves, says William Swann, professor of psychology at the University of Texas, Austin. His research reveals that people with negative self-concepts goad others to evaluate them harshly, especially if they suspect the person likes them—they would rather be right than be admired.

So, you get what you give?

The top line: You probably do know what people think of you

You can choose whether this is working for you or not or more importantly whether you want to do something about it or not.

There is another benefit to doing this and taking pride in what we do and demonstrating it or to put it another way: demonstrating excellence in all we do. There is something infectious and contagious about excellence and confidence. The more one produces it, the more others want to produce. You may have heard the Biblical reference, "As iron sharpens iron, so one man sharpens another."

It is true. Often the more we observe some one we admire, the more motivated we become - not always but more often that not.

So, for the next few days try being mindful of what you are projecting with regards to how others see you. Are you confident, self-assured, calm, anxious, worried, uninterested. If you’re not sure – ask around, trusted colleagues, friends, family or your executive coach/ mentor.

How did I come across? – ask for x 3 characteristics.

Then ask yourself - was that how you wished to come across? If so, fantastic! If not, what could you do to change that.

‘Have a springy week!’ was the sign off in an email I received earlier this week which made me smile and I speculated if it was a typo.

Either way it did put a spring in my step and a client later in the day commented that I seemed bright and breezy? What came first I wondered?

Have a great spring and should you be interested in working with an executive coach/ mentor to identify your ‘wing manoeuvres’ – you know where I am!

My warmest regards,

Kate

Keep Calm in a Crisis

2009-05-18T07:01:00.000-07:00

I was recently fortunate to be invited sailing with a friend. He is an experienced sailor and raced as crew in the Fastnet amongst other events. For those of you that don’t sail, the Fastnet is a race of about 600 nautical miles offshore to the Fastnet rock and back, which is off the Southern tip of Ireland and not for the feint-hearted, yachts have gone down and people have lost their lives. It was in fact during the Fastnet that Simon Le Bon of Duran Duran lost a vessel in 1985. So, we had an experienced Skipper (captain of the yacht – person whom buck stops with!) though he did reveal that whilst he had crewed a lot, he had rarely skippered. To this day he’s the best person I know at sail trimming (making the sails most efficient at getting the maximum boat speed from the wind).

The weather was lovely; we had sailed around the Solent – nice breeze, not too lively. Skipper suggested that we had supper in Cowes and moored overnight there. Great idea, we all thought, so that’s what we did. Before one comes into a harbour or marina, it is courteous to radio the harbour-master in advance to request a berth (parking spot). Cowes was busy, being Saturday night, however as luck would have it we could raft-up alongside a yacht near the middle of the harbour. The harbour-master requested that we moor up stern (the blunt end) to wind, which is the less easy of the two options. So, we got ready for mooring; bow lines, stern lines - basically ropes to tie us to the other yacht, and fenders at the ready. I had the bow lines and my friend the stern lines, the other person on board was to fend off (from damaging either our or any other yacht) and Skipper was at the helm.

Now the tide was quite strong and the wind had picked up and neither were favourable for our manoevre, but such is life!

We were approaching the yacht with which we were to raft up at some speed and my friend and I exchanged one of ‘those’ looks which essentially says ‘ this is going to be interesting -might learn something, never done it like this before’! Moments later, Skipper said to my friend ‘Err, I’m not confident about this, can you takeover?’ Now, at this stage not only were we hurtling towards said yacht at speed, with the wind not helping but also, much like Meer cats - the heads of the family onboard said yacht were popping up looking somewhat horrified (we later learnt that they were on their second outing in newly purchased yacht – he’d been made redundant and they’d sold their house to fund a family trip - that’s another tale!). Also, a small audience had appeared! This occurred utterly at the last minute, in fact to be precise, I think about 45 seconds prior to us probably ‘T-boning’ said other vessel!

My friend is one of those people who is always calm and phenomenally so in a crisis. He took the helm, slapped the yacht into reverse, I grabbed the mooring lines and he seemingly effortlessly re-grouped us, gave one or two instructions and we moored up.

Despite the heart in mouth moment, all was well, no damage sustained - apart from perhaps mild panic attacks on the part of the family on board the other boat and momentarily our Skipper’s pride! Now, you may well be thinking what was this guy doing, however, in a moment of imminent crisis and believe me it would have been; he delegated to the best person for the job and averted a disaster.

The person he delegated to was calm, collected and acted with uncluttered thought and without panic. The situation in question was dealt with and the insurers didn’t need to be called! Now, how often does this happen in business and in life generally – particularly in the current climate? The businesses that ride the storm will be the ones that are nimble, can be flexible and change in the face of a challenge, be it a product failure, bad debt, loss of a major customer and so the list goes on. If you know your team’s (and it goes without saying your own) strengths and weaknesses then you will be able react most effectively.

As the posters from 1939, that are springing up all over the place keep informing us’ Keep calm and carry on’, if we can do this in the face of adversity - be it in a business crisis or on the verge of doing many thousands of pounds worth of damage in a harbour then fabulous!

Most people react positively when their leadership is calm, demonstrates confidence and a way ahead (most psychologists will back this up) even if underneath you know that you’re doing that elegant swan thing; calm and poised above the water line and paddling like crazy beneath and out of sight! Teams and the individuals within them, need that consistent direction, vision and honesty.

Just yesterday I was delivering a workshop on ‘ Change management’ and one of the delegates shared with the group a recent change. She had a new boss. - the sixth Senior VP !!! in as many months!! However, what she shared was that unlike previous bosses, this one was always transparent and honest. That’s not to say the other’s weren’t honest per se however in the current climate this new boss gives direction and vision and when asked a question to which he doesn’t have the answer –he says ‘I don’t know!’. He seeks to find out and looks to others in the team to find the answers too and off they go. In the current climate where uncertainty abounds and the papers seem full of allsorts of conflicting articles that all somehow or other claim to be the voice of authority – how refreshing is that!

So, if calm, collected and transparent is the way ahead, how?

Some tips;

Start with yourself – identify one thing that, if you do it now, you know will make you feel better

When your mind is turbulent, there is nothing quite like positive action. Pick one thing that you know will give you quick lift and do it. This will set you up to be in a more resourceful mood for the more challenging issues that you have to tackle. It may be a call to a mentor or good customer, or re-reading some recent good feedback.

Check your expectations

When you expect things to be a certain way, it can become a self-fulfilling a prophecy i.e. very often if you expect something to be a disaster, chances are it will be. This doesn't mean to say that you shouldn't wish and plan for things to turn out a certain way, but be aware that the more set in your mind you are - the less flexibility you are likely to adopt when a swift or even non-swift change is required.

Experiments are part of every successful businessman or woman’s life

When you step out of your comfort zone to create something different, it will often ultimately be more satisfying even if the journey there is a tad bumpy. Enjoy the journey! Do something different and experiment and delegate to others to do the same.

Think about and list the times when you have been calm in a crisis - this may be a business or personal situation...

If need be, do this daily, it will give you a mental boost that tells you that you’ve don’t it before and you can do it again.

List as many as you can think of.

People aren’t daft, say it like it is. “I don’t know” is okay!

The most successful negotiators are those who can keep a quiet mind, the most able problem solvers can keep a peaceful, unruffled and calm train of thought. The best communicators are calm and unflustered in mind and pose.

Within whatever confusion or crisis that may have occured, remain like the centre of the hurricane as it were, at peace and in control while the panic, whirling and frenetiscm of the things around have no power to affect you, without your permission! And of course if you don’t know the answer or solution, that’s okay! Some one else will! Try it today and tomorrow and see what transpires. …

Have great week,

Kate

What are you truly capable of?

2009-03-13T02:56:00.000-07:00

On a recent skiing trip I inadvertently ended up on a rather steep red run with my daughter who is six. She has skied many blue runs and nursery slopes but not a red run. For those that don’t ski; a green run is a nursery slope for novices and beginners; a blue run is described as easy; a red run, medium and a black run considered difficult. Now, not only did I end up on a red run (steep) with said six year old but I also didn’t have a piste map. For one whose youth was spent with the Girl Guides where the motto is ‘be prepared’, my predicament was rather less than clever to say the least!

Whilst on the slope, having been somewhat abandoned by my party, I of course had no idea which run I was on, never mind the ability level. So, whilst my daughter was cautiously but ably descending the slope I had noticed that the skiers and boarders that we were accompanied by were undoubtedly experienced – no novices to be seen. Hmm, I thought, that leads me to believe that this is either a red or a black run – which of course would have been no problem other than the fact that my keen and inexperienced daughter was with me. At this point I began to-ing and fro-ing between being cross at my party and thinking how am I going to get my six year old safely down the mountain?

At about this moment of cogitation, the words of Henry Ford passed through my mind, “whether you believe you can or you can’t, you’re right”.

So, armed with that thought and knowing that my bold little girl was progressing well, procrastination on my part was going to get us nowhere!

As in life, it is often impossible to retrace our steps so going forward is the only option.

At this moment, my daughter shouted out ‘this looks very steep Mummy, I’ve never skied anything like this before.’ To which I responded, ‘it’s okay, it’s just like slope we did this morning with more trees.’ If ever I was to be magically turned into Pinocchio this was it!

About an hour later, we arrived at the bottom of the slope; it was a very long run and steep in places, compounded by a bit of ice. My daughter said ‘Mummy, the snow sounds funny?’, I responded ‘that’s okay, snow sounds like that sometimes’ - cue yet another Pinocchio moment!!

Once safely on the chairlift back up to the top and having orientated myself, I revealed to my daughter that not only had she skied her first red run, she had also negotiated the ice (and a wee moment off-piste but that’s another tale) and we lived to tell the tale over lunch!

Much like the fabulous technology we all use; laptops, pda’s, mobile phones, Bluetooth, wifi, Cloud – the list goes on - we rarely if ever, use their full capability and often as individuals it’s the same scenario.

We do have the resources and ability to achieve and overcome a very great deal, if we put our minds to it.

One of my clients woke up on the morning of a prestigious trade conference where he was to make the opening address – something he felt was a very great honour and privilege not to mention the corporate exposure he would get.

He called me and said’ Morning Kate, I can’t do it!’

‘Can’t do what?’ I asked.

‘The opening address!’

‘Of course you can’.

I then said’ Okay, you have 3 minutes to tell me everything that you ‘can’ do from when you executed that very nice £18m deal for the founder and investors some 8 years ago to today…..

‘But…’

‘No buts’

He proceed to tell me about the promotions, the products he’d launched in the market with no budget, the organisational change programmes, the company he’d engineered the great sale for, having turned it round from loss-making!, his two kids now at university …….. he finished with; I can play the piano ……very well as it happens.

‘Okay’, I said, ‘Fantastic’.

‘So, how about this opening address?’

‘Hmm - well it’s much easier than most of those things I just told you about – I can do it.’

‘Fabulous – best you get going then’ I said. (He did a great opening address, some said it was the best he had ever done.)

Sometimes we have to reframe our thoughts, the inner language that we use to ourselves in order to change our perspective, in turn change our behaviour which ultimately leads us to give that opening address, deal effectively with a team members poor performance, be innovative and creative in this challenging economic climate, ask for that new funding, help a six year old novice skier to get down a red run or whatever it is that is challenging you.

For a moment, think about those people that always appear to have the world on their shoulders, are perhaps depressed or glass half-full, lacking in ‘can –do’ attitude. What do you see? Shoulders hunched, little eye contact, mumbling, head bowed… How would you respond to that sort of stance?

Next time you’re feeling a little like you can’t do something or that everything is tumbling down (I appreciate this may be relatively often in the current market);

Lift your chin,
Look to the horizon,
Stand tall
Shoulders back
And smile

At the very least you’ll feel a little more able to tackle the world.
Then either write down or list in your head all the things that you ‘can’ do. Give you self 3 minutes or a target list of 10 things, when you’ve done 10 - find another 10 and so on and so forth…

In our journeys through life, self-belief will get you a long way – bolstering that self-belief by regularly remembering what you ‘can’ do is a very good place to start.

As that lovely old expression goes ‘people are like teabags, you never know how strong they are until you put them in hot water’. In the current climate, never a truer word I think!!

Challenge yourself a little everyday, if there’s a tiny thought or perhaps a very big thought that you can’t - see if you can? Make that difference today.

Have a great week.

My warmest regards,
Kate

How far ahead is your focus?

2008-07-23T07:45:00.000-07:00

A friend of mine is learning to fly a glider and last week he did a perfect landing! I overheard him telling a friend about it.

The instructor said, decide where you are going to land and then utterly keep focus on that spot BUT when you are about 10ft from the ground, your focus MUST be at the far, far end of the runway. That way you get a smooth ride and a great (and safe) landing. Hmm….

In an equally nosy manner, I heard some-one speaking on a packed commuter train to London from Cambridge the other day about the doom and gloom (Chicken Licken eat your heart out!) in the market, the desperate situation in the financial sector and that there really was no option but to hope for the best and sit tight! Now, it is a fact that there is uncertainty in the market, the economic outlook is less than rosy, points are dropping of the NASDAQ and the FTSE, left, right and centre; however if we believe that we are in a difficult spot with no means of navigating out, that there is no way of, or that we can’t take action to make a difference, well that’s exactly where we are – in a tight spot without any means of getting out! That’s right for sure!

A great friend reminded me of the oft quoted Henry Ford’s ‘Obstacles are those frightful things you see when you take your eyes off your goal." How true – in which case – for the man on the train in the pit of doom and gloom and the people fuelling his woes - better get sight of that goal again PDQ!!

Recently, I heard Richard Branson speak and he argued that business is not about “balance sheets, money, profits and loss” but “to create something that you’re really proud of, something that the people who work for you can be really proud of”. OK, so in this market (any market in fact) it would be rather foolish to not care for the financials, cash flow (is king!) and P&L however, having that truly motivated and therefore creative and innovative workforce, can make the most powerful of differences in terms of market share, reputation, and ultimately profits.

I was very privileged to work with the most fantastic group of people (you know who you are!) last week who achieved and set plans afoot which were extraordinary and more importantly, I’ve no doubt will be successful. With the right focus, strategy, and dare I say passion and enthusiasm, anything and everything is possible.

So, to recall Henry Ford, don’t lose sight of that goal, the obstacle of recession, trouble in the markets and economy have been with us before and will be again.

And whilst we can’t help you land a glider perfectly (though I know a man who can) if you or your organisation would like some assistance with the landing spot and a smoother ride ahead, we would be delighted to hear from you.

Enjoy the summer!

Warmest,
Kate

New Year - what does 2008 hold for you?

2008-01-04T00:46:00.000-08:00

Making the right choices;

A few little words stood out last week, ‘being constantly concerned about other people’s perception of you will never make you happy’! That was the sentiment anyway - I was reading Russell Brand’s autobiography, half-way up a hill in Tuscany – so that may not be word-perfect!

At this time of year, a time for reflection, review and looking to and planning for the year ahead - as individuals, managers, chief executives - it is sometimes easy to be swayed by others views and doing the same thing. Not rocking the proverbial boat! I work with many clients to make choices that are for them, truly for them and not what they believe others desire from them. How they should behave, what they should drive, how they should live etc……. be true to you and the rest will follow.

I was party to a conversation just before Christmas about ‘choices’. One individual in the debate was of the belief that some things we just ‘have’ to do, and he believed that there was no choice in certain situations; his example was the following; a friend supporting a large family and large house with correspondingly large mortgage, and commuting to London from the home counties, and working for a boss that he dislikes….. One of my colleagues rather artfully assisted him in changing his thinking… having a large family – a choice, a large house with a large mortgage – a choice, commuting to London - a choice, working for a boss you dislike – a choice……all of the above can be changed if you truly want to.

Of course these are all choices, each and every one and whatever it is that we are doing in life, there is always a choice…

People will always give you differing opinions on which choice you should make.
You will never know if you made the right choice.
Someone will always feel you made the wrong choice.
Not all choices have a “right” or “wrong” answer.
Any choice can be “right” or “wrong” depending how you treat them.
What you choose is not as important as how you choose and what you do with your choice.
You can live with any choice you make.
You can take responsibility for any choice you make.
Only you can make your choices.
Making a choice is an act of will that shapes your life to your dimensions.
Everyone inevitably makes “wrong” choices sometimes but that’s okay.
You are the choices you make in life and your future will be determined by them.

So, because you know what happens if you put off thinking about the important stuff i.e. you then put off making things happen.

A few thoughts to help you on your way;

How do you decide what you really want? Try considering your options at each of the five stages that go into every decision.

Usually, we choose so fast that we don't realize just how detailed the process is. But when you think about it, there really are five parts to every decision:

Identify the issue
Think through possible solutions or alternatives
Evaluate the ideas
Take Action act out the plan
Learn for the future

For example, during a rather smart meal at Christmas I was confronted with some oysters – which I really don’t like.

Identify the issue (how to not eat the oysters and not offend the host), Think through (feed to the dog, slip into handbag, give to some-one else, be honest), Evaluate the ideas (dogs outside! don’t want oysters in new handbag, paper napkin!), Take Action (honesty won - apologized elegantly – then gave to nephew!), Learn (find out before hand what’s for dinner to take pre-emptive action or carefully position dogs).

So, have a wonderful New Year – filled with all the success, prosperity and excitement that you deserve. For an executive coach to assist you along the path and avoid whatever your own ‘oysters’ maybe, call or email me and I’d be delighted to speak with you. http://www.the-x-fusion.co.uk/, or 01763 853 924.

Do you boost your team into the New Year with renewed vigour!

2007-11-28T08:37:00.000-08:00

Will you really celebrate the end of the year with your team to propel them ahead into 2008? And will it truly reflect your values?

During the festive season, even if you don’t have a specific religion, ‘’goodwill towards man’’ is, I think, a fine sentiment in its own right. And after all it is the end of the year, the calendar one at any rate. Therefore if that gives us an opportunity for a little review – what did you do well, what did your team do well, what did you do in spite of the odds rather than because of them– then let’s use it! Let’s spread a little goodwill - there’s a new year ahead!

In your business, is the festive season a time for celebration - the successes of the year, the highlights, the lowlights ………. or just an excuse for a good knees up and a drink or six and the potential opportunity to give some-one a quick peck on the cheek that you couldn’t possibly do at any other time of the year!! Whatever it is, it could be that if you apply a little thought and application – you may get as much as you give.

Last week, I worked with a fabulous team and in the afternoon of day one of the workshop - we did an exercise on alignment. What I mean by that is that we worked out how well the team was on plan, on target and more importantly, as a group were their beliefs, values and vision in sync. Despite all of us having got up very early and been rowing (great team-building exercise!) in temperatures of c4degrees – the exercise revealed some business actions that needed to be acted upon immediately and more importantly issues that could make a difference to the bottom line PDQ! This was a high performing team performing well and for them we discovered how they can be even better. For teams that are less cohesive the results of this sort of intervention can be revolutionary - galvanising them into much, much greater achievements or changes that make the difference! One of the most common reasons for difficulty in organisations and within teams is that values and beliefs are different and therefore having and sharing a vision or mission becomes almost impossible.

At this time of year, for whatever reason, there is a nice warmth and positivity hanging about the place and therefore why not use this perfect opportunity to not only thank your teams and employees for this year’s efforts but more importantly get a little clarity to get them focused on the right things for next year – which reflect your values - as leader, manager or CEO.

Despite the financial wobbles that are occurring on the other side of the pond and despite the continued - how to put? - incidents that our new government seem hell bent on producing each and every week - keeping your team and company focused and not put off by economic fluctuations, competition, or anything else that may distract them...... would very possibly be a great thing to do this side of 2008.

So,

When did you last thank your team - and specific individuals within it - not just a wee comment by the water-cooler or an after presentation comment, a short note of thanks in a card or email if you really must. It goes an awful long way to motivating people and is free to boot ( apart from a little of your time perhaps)!

When did you last gather as a team, group or company to discuss your company vision, your values & beliefs - what is it that makes you tick as a team, as a company - what do you collectively believe in and therefore what do you need to achieve it (I hear echoes of ‘what is she talking about’ – this sort of discussion - even for the most cynical of you out there - could make the difference to you hitting target or not!).

When will you sit down with your team to discuss the learning and outcomes of 2007 and what that means for 2008?

What went less well and have you learned not to do it again?

What went well and how can you repeat that performance?

What should you start doing?

And finally, those same questions for you, the leader, what are your values, what did you do well, what did you do less well and what shall you not do again, continue to do and start doing?

Tis the season to be jolly and as I sit here at my desk, there seems to be more than the odd bit of festive clutter gathering. Christmas is but a pantomime and an organic turkey away, so with all that flurry of anticipation – thank your teams, establish what your values really are - ensure that everyone is in alignment and start the New Year with a flourish!

Goodwill towards all men and have a highly successful 2008!

Kate Tojeiro is an Executive Performance Coach & MD of X fusion; www.the-x-fusion.co.uk

'And the difference is ? '

2007-07-16T06:00:00.000-07:00

A lawyer friend of mine was invited on a ‘jolly’ as he described it, in Cambridge, a marquee on the riverbank, champagne on tap, canapés, strawberries and cream on a balmy afternoon. That was the perception or expectation in my friend’s head at any rate!

It transpired to be a few people crammed onto a punt - no champagne – a few beers and several punnets of warm strawberries which my rather dapper, affable friend was left holding, squeezed in between two giggly young girls. Nothing against the giggly young girls - just not perhaps the Henley-esque experience that he was expecting or maybe hoping for!

Perception, misperception is a common occurrence and where coaching is concerned it happens often. So, may I offer you some clarification?

I reflect on three meetings;

The first was a client, a very capable CEO. He joined the organisation less than 18 months ago and it was significantly loss making, he took this ailing company to becoming very saleable organisation and a deal concluded early this week (a multi-million pound deal, I will add). Did I see a confident, ballsy, excited individual, proud of his recent achievement? I did not! Admittedly, as many of you will testify taking a company through an exit is no mean feat - exhausting, exhilarating, frustrating, exciting, tedious and any other descriptive you care to mention (some of which are best left unwritten!) however the exit and perhaps the anticlimax hailed the start of a new era.

Do you ever have that feeling when you have heaps to do or even one specific thing to do and hard as you try you can’t seem to make the first step to tackling it, head-on or even from the sidelines in stealth mode? This is where we started.

The session enabled the client to articulate the real issues that were going on and therefore reveal the path ahead. Some-one else really probing, asking challenging questions and making one accountable for ones actions - that makes a huge difference to how one moves ahead and progresses. More importantly having an impartial and unbiased supporter that will be metaphorically speaking ‘on your side’ through the ups and downs, and also providing a softer cushion of support when it’s required.

An email later arrived from the client saying ’I've come back determined, energized and focused on my great achievement and on the positives, and to milk both for all they are worth!‘

That was coaching. My client shall remain nameless and I was the coach.

Meeting number two, is with a highly regarded entrepreneur, hugely successful businessman, published author, public speaker and generally great bloke.

The two meet at a disceet location in London, they discuss business, aspirations future strategy, global poverty…..

This man is charismatic, steely sharp and incredibly generous with his time and advice. He asks the most incisive of questions and really gets to the heart of an issue – evoking one to really explore all avenues and most importantly really hone in and focus on where one is headed.

From a position of great experience and knowledge, the entrepreneur imparts advice, encouragement and methodologies as to how the other might significantly grow their business in a supportive yet challenging way.

Specific, measurable suggestions that not only enable but also inspire! Topics covered are wide and varied; people, motivation, target market, USPs, finance, legal, marketing and the myriad of other issues facing companies and executives today.

I walked out onto the Strand positively bouncing with excitement and renewed vigour and drive (I still am in fact!).

That was mentoring and I was the privileged mentee and it was a gift.

Meeting number three;

An individual that I know well has been hugely successful in business (and continues to be) and has great friends and family.

Some 20 years ago, my friend grew up with alcoholic parents and lost his mother when he was eighteen in a tragic accident (doubtless caused by the alcohol abuse). At certain times in life this causes him to not only find a given situation very challenging but also he finds it extremely difficult in knowing how to handle it.

He sees a psychotherapist regularly and is slowly overcoming and being able put aside some of the pain.

This is counselling (or therapy), the friend shall remain nameless and the psychotherapist is a member of the British Association of Psychotherapists. Occasionally coaching will stray into areas of our psyche that require the services of a specialist counsellor or therapist – a good coach would always point out that they were not best placed to assist and refer on in such situations.

There is often some confusion defining coaching, mentoring and counselling. There is a time and place for each and the results and outcomes from each intervention can be extraordinary and potentially life-changing. However, they are each very different and it is essential that the boundaries of each aren’t blurred as this is when the wrong intervention can cause entirely the wrong outcome!

My lawyer friend was subsequently invited to the British Grand Prix by a generous corporate organisation; this reality super-ceded his expectation! Use coaching, mentoring or counselling at the right time in the right place and you will find that your expectations are more than likely surpassed too.

Kate Tojeiro is an Executive Performance Coach. Contact her at www.the-x-fusion.co.uk

'Do you have a conflict management strategy? '

2007-07-16T05:59:00.000-07:00

Conflict sadly seems to be around us most of the time in the world at large and in our day to day business.

The most successful teams and companies have spontaneous and varied outlets for new ideas, innovations and approaches, however, it is also however these creative ideas, innovations and approaches that can be the very ingredients to conflict!

Therefore it is probable that the two greatest skillsets that will directly affect the success and longevity of your business are not only strategic planning but also conflict management! Having been inadvertently on the sidelines of a major conflict between two parties at the week-end and in my work as an Executive Performance Coach – seeing the stress and behavioural barriers to success that ensue, I know this to be true.

You´ve probably heard the saying "the bone is strongest where the break heals" (that is actually medically true!), the same applies to relationships (business or otherwise!), and this may, actually, give organizations a competitive edge. Unresolved conflicts are harmful and put a business at risk. Companies are often comprised of emotional hot houses and systems that are likely to have conflicts at some point or another. Several studies on M&A deals suggest that the largest number fail because of lack of conflict regulation processes. I have observed that those who do well are those who have found ways to regulate and appreciate differences of opinion even and especially if they are potentially explosive. These companies enjoy a competitive advantage, as they are better able to work together, trust each other, and react faster to the changing economic environment. The resulting outcome also leads to better, wiser decisions.

So if you have a conflict management process, fabulous! If not a few pointers which may assist;

• Conflict is normal; differences of opinion are healthy
• Managed conflicts are beneficial
• Build self confidence in emerging leaders
• Strengthen bonds
• Create rich diversity, more options
• Must be dealt with quickly and fairly
• Process is as important as outcome
• Hard bargaining is a poor second to interest based negotiations

Best practices to prevent conflicts:

• Clear strong leadership that is meritocracy based.
• Good employment policies: compensation, employment, exit and entry, reviews.
• Formalized meetings.
• Strong, effective governance with a truly independent board.
• Formalized meetings for sharing and understanding the collective and individual beliefs and values.
• Open and direct communication.
• Dealing with issues and conflicts as they arise in a direct, timely and open-minded way.

When conflict arises;

Remember any human system is also an emotional system with a long, complicated history, working in real-time. In any emotional system that is subject to many and varied opinions and views, a fair and timely process will offer safety and predictability and more importantly a swift solution.
• Establish a fair process
• Build in safety and predictability so individuals will know what to expect
• Get buy-in from parties
• Use it!

Notes on a good, fair process;

Here are steps to follow in managing any conflict:
Ground rules
• Who are the critical decision makers?
• How will we make this decision?
• How long will we give to this?
• What are the rules of engagement?
Initial Positions
• Statement of problem
• Statement of each parties position
Interests
• What does each party really care about?
• What is their motivation?
• This answers the question ´why´?
Create solutions
• "Out of the box" thinking
• Invent options
• Brainstorm
Get objective criteria for each option
• Reality check
• What is the industry standard?
• What are the requirements for that position?
• How do we review that strategy?
Reaching an agreement
• Open discussion of the choices
• Weigh the options
• Make the decision.

My basic premise is that to counter conflict, you need a rational approach of patience & calm. You have to work out what is happening that is contributing to the problem and change it. Easier said than done, maybe! However, by getting to the root causes of the conflict, you not only relieve current conflicts but you are also more likely to prevent recurrences. For example, if you keep having conflict in your management team, it is possible that you might discover that the cause of your upset is not their behavior but your unrealistic expectations. By modifying your standards, you might find that the conflict in the team no longer bothers you or even better, those conflicts result in the more successful outcomes that you could ever have imagined. .

Until next week…

Kate Tojeiro is an Executive Performance Coach at www.the-x-fusion.co.uk

Can't stop change...

2007-07-16T05:07:00.000-07:00

Being an Activist!
Be really honest, are there a few days in your life when you want to hide in your office and ignore the world? Hope that no-one will come and find you, or ask you for anything, be it an opinion, a signature, a decision, an agreement to get a new photocopier? Whatever – it is called being human and happens to us all.

Being the leader of an organisation, regardless of its size, does take a huge amount of energy, and responsibility and requires you to be active – either physically or mentally - whether you like it or not.

Now here’s the thing. That is why you are in the position of leadership right now. That is why you are in the top 2% of the population. That is why people want to follow you and be guided by you. You have already shown your tenacity and energy in order to have got into the position that you are in. So feel good about that! A very few percentage of the population are willing to be brave enough, active enough or maybe responsible enough to take on a leadership role – to set up and drive a company, to head up a group of people, to turn an idea into a business.

Here’s the catch.
Unfortunately you are only as good as your last action. What I mean by that is that now that you have made it to the ‘top’ or somewhere close, you cannot revert to a passive way of life and stay being successful. It just doesn’t work. I am sure that we have all known those managers of the past who have got to the position that they think they deserve(!) and then sit back on their laurels using power and status alone to remain in position. Do they add value to the business? Probably little. They might do enough to keep the status quo, but not a lot more. They know how to work the system, and stay out of the firing line. In the end, neither the company or they feel good about the situation. It doesn’t work for anyone.

As a successful leader you find that you have to remain ACTIVE in all that you do. Talk passionately, question the status quo, find out what the competition is doing, employ another great asset, think beyond tomorrow. The list is literally endless, which is inspiring but can be quite scary too. However, how do you feel at the end of the day when you have been active throughout? I would hope that words spring to mind such as achievement, higher self esteem and satisfaction. It must be worth it as you will go back and do it all over again tomorrow. Won’t you?

Please do recognise that there are some days you need to re-group, we just don’t have all that energy required – that is normal! The trick is to recognise this – and allow yourself to have a day of ‘re-grouping’. Just don’t make the big decisions on this day!

So – how do you find ways to continue to be an Activist, without completely wearing yourselves out? Here are some thoughts.

Firstly, enjoy what you do. I am sure that we can think about something you have been hugely involved in, whether it is mending a motorbike, working out a puzzle, painting a picture or a house, and the time has just disappeared. It is wonderful to be so involved that you give it your all without stopping, or even feeling tired (until afterwards at least!). Does work still do that for you?

Secondly, you don’t have to go it alone. Employing some people who are like minded and can be just as active as you, enables you to pass on the gauntlet without doing it all by yourself. Having used your passion to bring them on board will pass on that energy and away they go.

It does get easier too. Luckily, we humans do learn as we go along, so that the tremendous amount of energy we employ in doing something for the first time, requires slight less each time that we do it. So being active actually increases our comfort zone. That’s a relief isn’t it?

Don’t waste your energy on valueless things. So many of us sit through meetings where there is so much potential talent sitting around the table, and none of it gets used. Look in your diary and highlight the events where your passion and your energy are required and make them a priority, minimising the energy-sapping appointments.

Look at yourself at times – and make sure that you are not doing the ‘power – status’ thing – you may feel good for a day, but not sure that it adds value to you or your company!

Finally – a thought, in the words of Carmel McConnell, an inspiring activist and author – ‘You have loads of talent. Let’s face it, most days it just sits waiting inside you.’ So what are you waiting for?

Until next week

Kate Tojeiro is an Executive Performance Coach at www.the-x-fusion.co.uk

‘CEO with multiple personalities – please apply’

2007-07-16T05:05:00.000-07:00

“I have a dream….” Heard that before? The most quoted speeches about leadership around the globe are those that have provided inspiration and significant change– inspiring groups of people, workers even nations in some cases. Whether it be Martin Luther King, Churchill, or Mandela, they are all recognised for outstanding leadership. Many of us aspire to being half as talented at articulating, mesmerising and leading I am sure! However, for you CEOs and equivalents out there, you realise being a leader is not just about make fantastic speeches, in fact a significant part of your role and day requires a completely different form of leadership.

Myles Downey, a coaching guru of our time, neatly articulates that in order to be a successful CEO, you need to be a leader, a manager AND a coach, regardless of your business being 2 or 2000 employees.

Stop for a moment and cast your mind across your diary. Think through your day and the different, varied facets of your role. Typically it may include speaking at a conference or team event (Leader), a one-to-one with your Marketing Director (Coach) and then checking on progress of your latest product (Manager). Are you beginning to recognise the need for the split personality now?! I am not encouraging you all to be schizophrenic, but I do want you to recognise that it does not take just one type of behaviour to succeed at the top. This is what we have to work on (unless you are naturally schizophrenic that is). In my experience working with CEOs, you will naturally have one of the three personalities as a natural strength. The knack is being aware of the need for the other two when certain situations occur. Do not expect to shine in all three, but ensure that you do have the skills to vary your style to create the best outcome for all events.

Those most successful in the role of CEOs tend to be those that are sensitive to recognising the different roles needed at different times in the organisation.

Let us look at the three styles required:
Leader – This is the person that inspires the team, the troops, by articulating a clear message for everyone to get behind. They will be continuously and tirelessly talking about their vision, how to get to success and driving people to do so. Behaviours will include clarity of thought and communication, together with ability to make tough decisions.

Manager – Here is the person that makes things happen. They ensure that the vision becomes reality through getting teams set up and working with them to continually progress. They will be creative in getting people to move from ‘what’ to ‘how’, in making dreams reality They will be able to prioritise and keeping the momentum going, removing obstacles as they go. They will also be a good team player.

Coach – Here is the person that listens and creates a culture where everyone takes responsibility for the success and progress of the organisation. They will continually create situations for people to express their thoughts, enthusiasms and even worries in order to get responsibility spread throughout the organisation. They will listen and watch and encourage others to move forward and will be continually positive in outlook, having put status to one side.

So – firstly, identify which is your forte? Which of the three do you instantly recognise is your natural behaviour? Incidentally, many of you may instantly think it is Leader, although this is often not the case. You may HAVE to frequently take on this role based on your responsibilities, but that does not mean you are not a natural coach underneath that.

Secondly – recognise when the other two personalities would be better at different events, such as a one-to-one, or a review meeting. What is important to identify what different behaviours are best at these events in order to get the greatest outcome.

Thirdly – practise all three in order for you to seamlessly move from one to another as the need arises. A suggestion for you - Write down two or three words that clarify for you what Leader, Manager and Coach is. For example
Leader – inspiring, consistent, tough
Manager – team player, obstacle remover
Coach – even playing field, listener
And carry this with you in your diary/PDA.

Before you go to an event, pick which ever of the styles you see as appropriate and consciously try to take on that persona – give yourself feedback after the event, so that you continually improve as you go. The greater diversity you have as a CEO, you create greater opportunity for success.

I would like to leave you with a quote that may inspire you to try these techniques out, from one of the great leaders of our time:

“Personally, I’m always ready to learn, though I do not always like being taught.” - Winston Churchill

Until next week,

Kate Tojeiro is an Executive Performance Coach at www.the-x-fusion.co.uk

The choices we make....

2007-07-16T05:03:00.000-07:00

This week maybe I (or more appropriately my friends) have got to that ‘certain age’.

Two of my close friends have just decided to pack in their very highly skilled, senior professional jobs; one to go travelling, the other to do something different, not knowing what that is quite yet! One was a Partner in a law firm, the other on the Board of an international pharmaceutical company. Both of them had been very focused about climbing the corporate ladder and had achieved much during their 15 or so years at work. However, they both said independently, that the decision to pack it all in without knowing where they would go next was amazingly easy. Considering both the individuals had always taken any decisions to date very seriously and analytically, I was amazed that they both were comfortable to ‘abandon ship’ and just see what happens.

To dramatically change their life and lifestyle at this stage takes considerable courage, and some of you may say that they are bonkers in doing so. Maybe so in some eyes! However, it does highlight that however important you may be in business, however deep your responsibilities are (which are likely to be considerable as a Leader), you DO have a choice in terms of your life. Yes – you really do, as these two have shown me at least!

Now, I am not encouraging all of you out there to abandon your careers, companies and even families just for the hell of it! However, there are some interesting things that are worth considering, as a result of their decisions.

What assumptions are you making?
Both friends said that they never really gave themselves the chance to stop and think about what they really wanted when caught up in corporate life. What was interesting was that they often thought that they did – when on holiday, or talking to their Coach or family. But in reality, this was always within the confines of certain given parameters; incidentally parameters that they had given themselves, sometimes unconsciously. Things like mortgage, children’s education, business dependency are the obvious ones that burst forth initially. Can you think what assumptions, or parameters that you have set yourself in business and at home? Are they real, relevant, or are they just there from habit? For example, Nick (one of the friends) always assumed that he ‘had’ to work to pay for his life, house, family etc. An obvious one I know! However, when he did sit down with pen, paper and a smart Accountant, he realised that he could manage a year of considerably smaller income without doing real damage to his pension, or lifestyle. The same goes for business – are there some assumptions that you are making about your competition, your costs, your revenues that actually could be challenged, without being detrimental to the business? Try to list all those assumptions you are making – you may be surprised at how extensive the list is, when you dig beyond the obvious ones.
Take Courage
The amazing Karren Brady says in her book ‘Playing to win’ that “Courage stems from confidence but stands alone as a tremendous asset”. She is so right. Courage is so often driven by a very strong goal or ambition, and easily taken away from us by our very own actions. Sometimes, it seems easier to hide behind some self-authored parameters that encourage us to say ‘Well I would love to do that, but I just can’t’. There is no such thing as ‘can’t’ when driven by your desire to do something – so look for that ambition that you really, really want. What is getting in the way? Is that your choice – really?
Look into the Future
When you are 80 and sitting in your chair, looking back over your life to date – what will you like to have said that you have achieved? Is it too late now to change your life to do it? Probably not! Every week, we all read amazing stories of octogenarians running Marathons, Pensioners setting up Charities in India, retired folk returning to business to set up a multi million pound Vodka business – so never think it is too late if you have the desire! So as not to be ‘age-ist’, you may think you are too young in some areas, but then consider the 18 year old American Girl who has just completed her final ascent up Everest, and is now the Youngest Human to have completed the Seven Summits – what next!
Do it for the right reasons
A word of caution. Being stuck on the M25 on a rainy, dark Friday night is probably not the most sensible time to consider changing your life! Going back to my two friends, they had both made the decision to change when things were going WELL for them. Doing so enables you to think through various options in a much more objective frame of mind. Again, from a business perspective, when you lose out to a competitor, it is probably not sensible to completely throw out your product or service that night, or sack the team for that matter. Look for when times are good to review where you are.

Lastly – if you are happy doing what you are doing – that is GREAT! Every now and then, it is worth giving yourself time to reflect on your choices in how you live life and do business. It may just help you realise how lucky you are – or is it luck, given the choices that you have made?!

Until next week…
Kate Tojeiro is an Executive Performance Coach at www.the-x-fusion.co.uk

Start with yourself............

2007-07-16T05:00:00.000-07:00

‘Hello – is that me in there?’
Recently, I received a frantic call from a guy that had been a client for many years, Mark. “Look – I have read all the books that are on the shelf about being Creative and Entrepreneurial, and done all the things that it said – but see – I am still just ME’ My temptation was to ask “So what is the problem?”, but restrained myself, to listen further. Mark was so frustrated, based on the assumption that by reading several books, anyone can change – and it just was not happening for him. Well, was it really a problem?

As we all know, there is so much information out there in the world of communication and media, to encourage us to be something that we are not, nor will ever be. (This is probably because we don’t really want to be, but daren’t admit it!). Books that attempt to motivate us to be better business people, thinkers, entrepreneurs, even dressers; DVDs to make us into athletes, or Mr Universe. You could miss your plane by two hours just by looking at the possibilities in any airport shop! Just pick up the book/video etc. and away we go to change…. Or your money back?!

Well not quite! One of the key factors that is often forgotten in the furore of transforming ourselves and/or lives is the starting point. ‘Who am I to start with?’

If you are a woman, I am pretty sure that you can relate to the ‘Model’ look. You cram yourself into a new dress in Kate Moss’s new collection in Top Shop, and then feel desperate, as you just don’t look like anything like her, even though you have all her stuff on from top to toe! Let’s be honest, unless you happen to be size 6 (UK) already – you are never going to look like her – sorry! However, you can improve and enhance your natural look by buying some clothes that maybe make you more slim lined, with a long tunic etc., if that is what you are really hoping for. Now that will work!

That goes for the same message in business. If you are an introvert, you are not going to become extrovert by reading one book. However, that book can help you to discover what it is about extroverts that you admire, and what behaviours could you enhance of your own, to move towards that feeling? Now that is worthwhile!

As I did with Mark, my client, ask yourself a simple but critically important question,. Simply, ‘What makes me Me?’ For the answer, get some feedback from a variety of sources, not just your latest discussion in the board room. Personalities have been developing since birth, so even your school reports will unlock some interesting features. Feedback from colleagues, family, different friends. Get a feeling and picture of who you are and feel comfortable with that, as a starting point.

Then think about the specific attributes you admire from reading the articles, books etc. Which of those really resonate with you? When you read or watch, your body will let you know the important factors. You should feel something in your stomach or maybe neck, some form of internal light will go on. For example, when reading about Mountain climbers, it is their ability to focus, or to be patient to wait for the right moment to climb, or to be able to work on their own? Focus in on that one thing, and recognise that this is the key factor you are interested in.

Going back to Mark – his feedback had highlighted that he was excellent at making things happen, and working with others. Even at school, he was often Form Captain and headed up the Debate Society, recognising his ability to take actions forward. He had already realised that he was not a natural at coming up with ideas. Did he really want to do this? After a little soul searching, he admitted that it wasn’t that which inspired him. It was more about being courageous in taking ideas and making them happen. This is something that he really could see himself doing. So, his plan was to go and find people in the organisation that had some great ideas, listen more intently to them and work with them to make things happen. This REALLY fired him up and gave him the courage to change. However, this change was enhancing his skills and behaviours and not making him into something that he was not.

Please recognise that these books, dresses, DVDs are excellent at inspiring us and motivating us to make changes, which is a good thing! However, be realistic with your starting point. Don’t set yourself up to fail – set yourself up to be a winner, by working out who you really are on the starting blocks.

Until next week,

Kate Tojeiro is an Executive Performance Coach at www.the-x-fusion.co.uk

‘Practise makes perfect’

2007-07-16T04:58:00.000-07:00

I don’t know about you, but I was thrown that phrase endlessly as a child, as I attempted (rather badly) to play the piano. I clearly was not a natural, but nevertheless enjoyed the gradual improvement over the (many) years. My Grandmother had been a professional in the musical world and was so keen for one of her family to follow suit. It was not to be. However, in the many patient hours that she spent with me I am left with a vivid and important lesson in life, rather than just music. She made me realise that however good you are at something, you still need to practise continually in order to improve. I was fascinated by the hours and hours that she would dedicate to sitting in front of her beloved Bechstein, playing again and again a phrase of music until she was happy with it. She would head off to the recording studios just in order to record, hear and re-record tunes in order to continually improve. Her dedication was awesome from a child’s point of view!

Everyday we see this with current musicians, elite sports people, actors and comedians. I have recently been working with a national rugby team and again that ‘awesome’ amount of time into practising their skills is admirable – and what is more – they know it will make the difference between them and their competition. We all know that there are many other things that going into the hat when excelling at any skill, such as natural talent, technique etc., but there is still masses of room for practise. Why do you think Johnny Wilkinson spends many hours every day kicking for goal? Why do you think Helen Mirren spent hours practicing her vocal range as the Queen? Why do you think international rowers get up in the dark and cold to skiff up and down the Thames? All for the same reason – to continually improve towards their goal.

So, let’s equate this to the business world. As a leader in any size organisation, you have surely got to your position due to dedication as well as talent and skill. Everyday I have the joy of working with many very successful people and realise the hours that they put into their jobs in order to for the company and/or themselves to be more successful. BUT – how much do you actually practise your skills?

Working with both leaders in sports and business, there is one difference that continues to intrigue and amaze me. In simple terms, sports people practise their moves, techniques etc., before they let themselves lose on their competition. Do we do the same in business?

Let’s just think about an important meeting coming up – it may be with a key customer, supplier, an appraisal, a board meeting, the AGM. What do you practise before the event and how? In many cases, particularly if it is a conference, you may have written out and practised your speech. However, have you practised your technique in answering? What about practising your rapport building with your clients? When did you last practise running a board meeting? Have you practised ‘passing’ between your colleagues?

Last year, I was working with an interesting guy who has wanted to improve his relationship with fellow board members. He did not have a real business issue with them, but wanted to feel more natural with them, and build greater rapport. I therefore observed him conduct several meetings of different styles and then, upon his request, gave him feedback on specific areas that he had highlighted. Over the next two weeks he literally practised the techniques, with the help of his colleagues. Much to their surprise, he asked them for very specific feedback, and acted upon it through the following meetings. He admitted that it felt very strange to begin with, but was delighted with the results of a dramatically different and closer team. ‘Practising’ is a now a way of live in their board room, as they continue to reap the benefits.

So, if you want to continually improve, can you think of a specific area that you can practise? This may be you, the team, or you as an individual. If you know that you have a difficult meeting with a client coming up, don’t just talk about it, actually re-enact the meeting and practice all the techniques that you will need to get a positive outcome. Give each other very specific feedback and go through it again, until you feel that you have improved your technique. Practise building rapport with different people and see what impact it has. Practise motivating your kids at the weekend, just like you will practise your skills in golf or tennis. Give your brain a good workout, as it will respond as positively as a body workout!

One of the great learnings that we can take from the elite sports world is their ability to scrutinise everything that they do, learn from it, and practise it again, and again. In business, we tend to analyse our outcomes (revenues, costs, profit, processes etc), but we seem to shy away from scrutinising our behaviours and actions, in the same way. There is a business culture which often does not allow practise, as this almost admitting that things will go wrong. Let’s get real – things DO go wrong all the time! That is how we learn. The important lesson is to let things to go wrong when it is not critical to the business. So get practising, try things out, learn and try again. As Clive Woodward said during England’s glory days at Rugby, “Winning doesn’t happen in a straight line”.

Enjoy the art of practising and the game of winning!

Until next week,

Claire Norman is an Executive Performance Coach at www.the-x-fusion.co.uk

Balanced Decisions

2007-07-16T04:57:00.000-07:00

As you start to read this article, just quickly think about how many other bits of paper, articles, emails, spreadsheets you have seen or been thrust at you today? Given the position that you are in, probably hundreds if not thousands. As a leader and someone in a senior position, you are likely to have to digest literally thousands of bits of data and information every day, in order to disseminate and make decisions; some of which may be critical to your business, job or life, or even someone’s else’s.

So – given the importance of some of this information, how do you ensure that it is accurate, or high quality and/or even useful for your purpose? In short, how do you sort the ‘wheat from the chaff’ in terms of information?

Due to the way our brain handles information, we can glean very different results from the same information – quite scary really! Let me give you an example. Many years ago, I used to work with a delightful but ruthlessly straight-talking Australian. When something ‘displeased’ her, however, rather than use her usual plain speaking she would generally say something like ‘oh how wonderful’ or ‘that’s fantastic’ with not a trace of sarcasm! Therefore the odd situation that she found herself in would be confused to say the least - especially as we were also seconded abroad at the time! Now, although some of the individuals she conversed with were given the same information – the opinions and decisions that people were making were literally poles apart! Often, we really don’t know whether or not we have been given complete, sufficient or indeed accurate information! But just like at work, we can choose to make a decision without the complete facts in front of us; in fact that is one of your great assets, as a Leader in all probability. We all use our values, experience, intuition and assumptions about people, about situations, about the countries we are seconded to and anything else we may deem relevant, to cast an opinion. In your working situation, it would be highly unusual to say that you have never made a decision, without the full facts in front of you, wouldn’t it? However, we all do it – sometimes successfully and sometimes not so. Be that as it may, the important lesson is to be AWARE of that judgement call. Ensure that you are fully cogniscent of how you arrived at your decision.

There are several pointers that can help;

Ask for the right information in the first place
Sounds very obvious, but as CEO or similar you are often the one that creates the need for information. This may be to back up some initiative, find out about new products, suppliers or competition, information about internal processes, systems or people etc. and often something to support a change somewhere. However, more often than not, your request will be taken literally as you are the boss. So, ask yourself – “have I asked for some balanced and open information, or data that will support my hunch/argument?”. As we know in politics seen in the daily papers, any amount of information can be produced to support a point of view! However, there are times when we genuinely want to understand different view points or information, so ensure that the question that you ask is sufficiently open enough to be valuable to your decision making.
Trust – how much do you trust the information source?
This is not meant to sound dark and sinister! However, it is likely that whoever you have asked to produce some information will have a certain viewpoint. It is extremely hard for them not to be biased towards their point of view when producing information. For example, asking both the Marketing Director and the Finance Director, what percentage increase will be needed next year in the Marketing Budget, will provide you with significantly different ‘data’ I would suggest! For balanced information, maybe pick them both.
Presentation of data and information
When you are given information to look at or listen to – really do tune in your senses in doing so. What I mean by that is look beyond the words, the information, to understand it further, as this is also where some clues are hidden. There are some phrases that you can spot that identify the difference between facts and viewpoints. Phrases such as ‘I believe’, and ‘it is obvious’, or ‘I think’ are all indications that you are getting more than just straight data. To practise, listen or watch the news today and see how much information you are given is straight fact in comparison to points of view – you may be surprised! Body language will also indicate their emotional involvement in their presentation, so watch and listen for these clues also.

Your own thinking process
As we have discussed before, your subconscious brain does a great job at filtering information in a way that it thinks it is going to be useful for you. Before you know it consciously, masses on information is deleted, distorted or generalised before you make a conscious note of it. However, as this is your brain, it is possible to ‘tee-up’ your subconscious and check that your filters are doing a good job! For example, you may well be presented with the monthly revenue figures on a regular basis and you will skim to the data that is of most interest to you. Your brain will be noting this and spot a trend – a path of least resistance to make it easier for you next time. However, this may mean you miss something very obvious! So – practise looking somewhere different each month to keep you attuned and able to notice anomalies more easily.

In summary, just like any mechanical part, our brain’s filtering system can always do with a service! There may not be a need to change anything, but taking it apart, giving it a shake up and oiling it so that it is fully operable can only help it be more effective and efficient. It also may also last longer too, which can only be a good thing!

Until next week

Kate Tojeiro is an Executive Performance Coach at www.the-x-fusion.co.uk

It’s child’s play!

2007-07-16T04:54:00.000-07:00

Just how many times have we been embarrassed by our children, when they say something really inappropriate at the wrong time? It usually happens somewhere very public, like the Supermarket queue and you are caught unawares. For example, “Daddy – why is that woman wearing THAT red hat?” The entire supermarket queue then looks at you, the woman with the red hat and your child. Whilst you are desperately trying to think of a suitable answer, you can feel yourself going the colour to match the hat, and your tongue sticks to the roof of your mouth. Your ability to give a witty or sensible response has long since disappeared. The rest of the queue are of course giggling thinking “thank goodness that is not me!” Been there? Most of us have in some way, many times!

However, there is something fantastic about children’s ability to observe and comment on some wonderful things that we as adults, no longer see or experience, or no longer allow ourselves to do so. How much are we missing out, both in terms of fun, but more importantly, missing some critical information for running our businesses?

Let’s start with the fun bit! Please answer the following questions very honestly:
• When did you last giggle in the back of some meeting or forum?
• When did you allow yourself to dream about the most ridiculous things?
• When was the last time that you had a big public tantrum?
• Have you had an urge to give someone a sweet or hug just because you liked them?
• When did you let yourself abandon what you were doing, as you suddenly want to go and do something else, leaving the last thing strewn across the floor or desk?

So – how did you do on the ‘Child behaviour’ scale?
Umm – depressing isn’t it? Although this may seem a little trite, answering such questions made me realise just how serious and ‘correct’ a way of life we choose to live and work. Not for a moment am I suggesting that you have a tantrum in the next meeting, (unless you really want to!) but I am suggesting that it may be worth reviewing how much we take fun out of what we do – and that may not be necessary all the time. There is plenty of research that tell us that enjoying our work and having fun makes us much more effective – we have just forgotten how! We all work such long hours these days, why not enjoy your morning’s commute tomorrow thinking up ways to make your day more fun. What would you do if you were still 10? – that may help!

The other ‘child’ factor to think about is filtering. As we age, our brains very cleverly learn to filter information that no longer seems be necessary to acknowledge in our conscious brain. For example, it would be hard work to still have to think consciously about how to tie our shoelaces, get dressed, drive, spell etc., all of which we just do without thinking (well – unless it was a very late night?!). This frees up room in our head to do much more complicated thinking – such as run our business, answer emails, texts and play with our blackberry simultaneously. But have we filtered out too much in some circumstances? Are there some things that we no longer see or acknowledge?

I have a dear friend, who is a correspondent for a world wide media company. One of the things that I treasure about him, and probably makes him excel in his profession, is his ability to look at the world in an almost naive manner. His ability to ask questions which sound almost child-like, enable him to get to the bottom of many issues much more quickly than others. He has not hesitation in asking ‘So – why are you doing that?’ – when it would seem obvious why. Let me give you a small example. He was in my house, when I was answering some emails from clients a couple of weeks back. He came over and said that exact question “Why are you doing that?” – to which I must have looked slightly irritated and said “Well – they sent me an email and so I am responding and want to get back to them immediately”. He then said “But I thought your business was about building rapport – so why are you answering them on email?” He meant it completely innocently, and smiled and walked away. I then sat and thought for a moment – I had made a whole mass of assumptions that they would want me to reply on email, although it is so true that a phone call would be much better choice of medium. I duly picked up the phone and had a much more fruitful and rewarding conversation with my client, which we both acknowledged.

How much of our daily behaviour is driven subconsciously, and enable us to miss out on some really obvious opportunities?

So – Can I recommend you take five minutes out of your day, and think:
• How many of my repeated actions I could do differently?
• When was the last time I stopped and asked myself ‘Why do I do things this way?’
• What assumptions am I making about my meetings today?
• How do I know that they are real assumptions?
• What ‘rules’ do we have in the organisation, that are there for history sake rather than logic?
• Who is the newest member of the team? Have I asked them for their observations of how we do business?
• If I had a ten year old in my office, what would they notice?

So enjoy looking for the obvious, pretending to be young and naïve again – you may get some surprising results!

Until next week!

Kate Tojeiro is and Executive Performance Coach at www.the-x-fusion.co.uk

Letting go -

2007-07-16T03:09:00.000-07:00

Some-one said to me recently; it’s not about how fast you run, or how high you climb, but how well you bounce! Like that..
Last week for one reason or another was all about ‘letting go’, whether it’s letting a company go, a responsibility or accountability, a job, perhaps even a friend - it’s not easy!
One of my clients is the MD/ CEO of a successful packaging company and is contemplating selling it, last week he received a £150million valuation for his family-owned business. Instead of being overjoyed, my client, in his late forties, has been “really struggling and hesitating to just make the decision’’ While his father and various family members who co-own the business are fully onboard the with idea of selling, this man, whose children are still young, told me “I don’t want my children to grow up seeing me not going to work.”

“What a nice problem to have, I pondered, however this really gets at the heart of some difficult, serious issues.” A would-be seller inevitably bumps into big, hairy questions like, “Who am I without my business? Am I too young? What do I want to do with my life?’’. I have observed recently owners and shareholders wrestle with succession planning and have come to an almost heretical conclusion: I wonder if with business transitions, the social and emotional issues are the whole story and the finances almost a footnote?

The early bird…
Like a jolly good book, selling one’s business is often rife with tension and drama. The process can pit the interests of the business directly against the person who gave it life and breath, as it were. This is because human beings and companies rarely mature at the same speed. After the startup phase, eventually either the opportunities for the business mature, or the ownership matures and this certainly creates an interesting conflict.

The process is even trickier when a management team that has not yet reached maturity sees all sorts of opportunities to exploit and comes up against an owner who’s ready to retire. The activities that go with planning an exit—liquifying holdings, taking out capital, selling—are completely opposed to reinvesting capital to build on growth opportunities.

So how does a focused, pragmatic business owner navigate this charged minefield?
Start early, the thought process can take years and therefore I believe that it’s almost never too soon to begin thinking about possible exit strategies. Now, whilst this decision is largely personal, outside forces also come into play. From a financial perspective, the best time to sell is when business momentum is moving up. However, considering the right time is affected by the availability of capital, industry consolidation, and the overall health of the economy—all of which will have a bearing on your company’s valuation.
As I have observed first hand this last week, there would appear to be nearly as many methods for valuation as there are companies themselves. Though every deal is different, one thing is certain, the best way to arrive at an informed valuation is to prepare and get as many reference points as you can. Comparable business valuations can offer a very good starting point, as well as external advice from lawyers, accountants, bankers, brokers, friends and associates who have been through the experience before. Ensuring that you have the best financial reporting that you could possibly have in place is essential. People have got to know what they’re buying, which leads to some other questions; What creates value in your business? You may think your business is valuable, but is it valuable to anyone else? Is there management depth sufficient to run this company?

Value of course, can also be in the eye of the beholder, so the kind of exit strategy you choose will also influence a business’s worth. Privately-held companies in general have at least four choices: sell to a competitor or a financial buyer; sell to management; sell to the owner’s family; or recapitalization. Each of these options comes with its own special set of issues/ challenges! Would-be sellers to their children, for example, should remember that business acumen is not necessarily genetic, and that if you’re counting on your children to pay for your retirement, you may be in for a few ‘hairy’ Christmas dinners – or not! Have an honest, open discussion with them and find out if they’re equipped and even interested in taking over the business?
If you’re selling to management, one of my associates recalled the following tale which seemed to work well. This particular owner “test drove” his management team by taking an entire summer off to go sailing in the Med! When the team performed well, he set up a structure where they gradually bought him out over time. As it is oft said - management teams are like tea-bags - you never know how strong they are until you put them in hot water.
In all of these situations you will have to delegate and share some of the decision-making with your colleagues, so;
X Identify the resistance. Developing an awareness of why you are resistant to delegate is key. Are you just not used to delegating? Are you afraid of giving up control? Are you afraid that no one can carry out the task as well as you? Are you afraid that if you delegate the work, then you will not get the recognition and your job security might be threatened? Write down your fears.
X Notice the impact. Once you have identified the cause of your resistance, consider the impact that not delegating authority is having on you and others. This might include an increase in your workload and stress level, a decrease in your job satisfaction, and a negative impact on your relationships, both at work and personally.
X Consider the benefits of delegating authority. It could mean more freedom and time for yourself, less stress, improved work and personal relationships and the ability to focus on big-picture and higher priority issues.
X Make a commitment. Tell your boss and your colleagues (or your coach) that you are committing yourself to start delegating more tasks and authority. Write it down and post it somewhere. Ask trusted colleagues to remind you if you start to wander off from your commitment (this also means not biting their heads off – if they do!).
X Begin the process. Start with delegating tasks that will not give you heart palpitations, then work your way up to larger tasks as you become more comfortable with the process. Keep an open mind. Once you have mastered or feel more comfortable with delegating tasks on an individual basis, consider doing this for projects. Ask your colleagues what more they can do. You will be surprised what they will be willing to take on for you.
X Follow-up and celebrate the successes. When delegating make sure that you set a time to follow up with colleagues to see how they are progressing with a given task. Remember to encourage, acknowledge and champion them. Let them know that you have full confidence that they can do it. Praise them when they complete the task. Even more important is to see what the impact of delegating has on you. Write down all the positive aspects of delegating you have noticed. Ask your colleagues about how they have found the process and how they think you are doing.
Remember: the more you delegate the easier it becomes. It is like developing a new habit – in fact it is!
Letting go can be a great and liberating experience, I know that from ‘letting go’ my first company. Whether you are letting go of a business or a friend –or in my case last week a big hairy horse, there is always a time for departure even when there is no certain place to go… so, all the best!
Until next week…
Kate Tojeiro is an Executive Performance Coach at www.the-x-fusion.co.uk

‘Is there a Gorilla on your table?’

2007-07-16T03:02:00.000-07:00

That might sound a strange way to start an article on improving your performance, I admit! However, I have lost count as to how many Gorillas I have encountered on board tables. Let me explain, if I may.

As successful organisations, you have essentially got into a way that works for you. You and the other members of the executive have written and unwritten rules of working together – some probably work better than others. However, during the months of setting these up, there were one or two really, really difficult areas that none of you knew how to resolve. Or worse – between you, you may have decided that in fact they were too hard to resolve, so you learn to work around them. After a while, you have all become so expert at working around the issue that you no longer notice that it is there! For someone new coming into your environment, they may appear huge, as big as a Gorilla, and are amazed at how you just no longer notice it – but this really does happen in most companies somewhere. Now it is commendable to say the least, to be able to work around such a large ‘issue’, but my question to you is ‘How much more would you all be able to achieve if the Gorilla was removed?’

As an extreme example, I have spent some time living and working in Central America, where many Companies have ‘Gorillas’, which are usually in the shape of a distant family member of the owner (not literally you understand!). They are often totally inappropriately positioned in the company, but it is deemed too politically sensitive to even mention this to the owner, so the Board learn to work with (or more often, around) the individual. However, it is not effective for either the individual nor the company in the long run. This type of issue is seemed to be too difficult to resolve, but can be with diplomacy, thought and discretion, for the good of all in the longer term.

So – ask yourself the questions
• If I brought in an ‘Outsider’ into our board meetings, such as a new member of the team, or a Graduate on work experience, what Gorilla would they spot?
• Is the ‘Gorilla’ a person, a rule, or a process perhaps?
• If it was not there, what would we be able to achieve?
• How does this weigh up with the process of removing it?

For many of us, the short term hassle of resolving it may put us off. However, just listen to your subconscious thinking when asking the questions. It will soon let you know if you are putting off the inevitable and actually reducing your chances of succeeding in the long run.

Don’t forget that the Gorilla may also be very obvious to the rest of the organisation, and are confused as to why it has not been removed. They many not understand the nuances of the political balance of keeping the person, or the process in place – but does that matter? They may have a point, and just think of what positive impact you will have on their morale too, if the Gorilla issue is resolved.

For many years, I worked in a large retail organisation, which had its headquarters in a typical 70’s style office block. The time came to give it a ‘revamp’ and I was on the project for designing and implementing. When asking the office staff for their ideas for change, by far the greatest feedback was for more informal break-out and meeting space. Now, there was a huge atrium in this building, which has remained empty since we moved in. We all walked through it everyday and had got completely used to the cathedral style entrance. It suddenly dawned on us that the Atrium would be a fantastic place for informal meetings etc., by putting in a variety of sofas, chairs and tables etc. However, on asking the Safety Officer his views, he immediate answer was; “Can’t do that – we asked the Fire Department years ago and they said it was a fire risk”. So years, literally, had gone by with this empty space that we had got used to. I cheekily asked “Have we asked them recently?” .. well no we hadn’t – not for fifteen years! Sure enough, the Fire department were duly invited up and asked the question “How could we make this space usable?”. Within 2 hours, we had some fantastic ideas, combined with extra fire doors etc., that could completely transform the atrium, with no increase in safety risk. Once implemented, the transformation of the entire atmosphere of the building was phenomenal – and all because we challenged one Gorilla.

So why not go ‘Office Gorilla Hunting’ today and see what transformations you can make!

Until next week!

Kate Tojeiro is an Executive Performance Coach at www.the-x-fusion.co.uk

HAVE YOU EXERCISED YOUR INTUITION?

2007-07-16T03:00:00.000-07:00

The World Bank President did not have a good week last week. He was quoted as saying “In hindsight, I wish I had trusted my original instincts.” Now – just how many times have we said the same to ourselves?

Our instinct, gut feel, intuition; (call it what you will), is a phenomenal gift given to us all when born, but as we grow up, we increasingly question its use, particularly in business. Partly through education and our obsession with measuring everything, intuition is often not referred to as a useful business tool, but a risk. However, when you read books and articles on, or written by successful Entrepreneurs and business tycoons, there is a continual reference to their use of intuition as part of their success.

Let me give you an example. Can you remember the last time that you bought a house? I have recently been working with a colleague who has just done that and the conversation went along the lines of “ Well – we spent ages writing down our top 10 ‘Must-haves’ for the house. You know, 4 bedrooms, adequate garage space etc.. We shared this with the Estate Agent and asked her to ensure that these were taken into consideration with every house we see.” Weekend before last, I bumped into her and she was so elated. “We have found the most fabulous house – it just feels so right for us – we decided that we could probably live there for ever”. After hearing about the style, I did ask if it ticked all 10 ‘Must-Haves’. “Oh no – about 4 actually, but we will manage, as we just love it!” Now, they may well have bought a house with all 10 buttons ticked, but would have ‘felt’ right, and therefore would they have been happy and satisfied in it? The same can be said about decisions at work, of course.

Just think back through last week, in particular decisions made and meetings attended:
X How many decisions did you make that just ‘felt right’ and took little deep thought?
X Are there any decisions that you made logically, but keep coming back into your mind?
X How often do you allow yourself to use ‘change your mind’ based on a feeling?

It is a difficult one as intuition is, by its nature, difficult to measure and also difficult to explain and articulate to others. If you are spending a significant amount of money on behalf of other Partners, by just saying “it just feels right” is probably not going to tick their box!

However, allowing ourselves to at least be aware of our gut feel may make all the difference to our decisions. Neurologically, we still have much to learn, but we are beginning to understand why intuition is more than just a whim or risk. Intuition is something that comes from within, from our subconscious mind. What our subconscious mind does is spot congruences and ‘mis-matches’ in communication and thinking that our conscious mind does not. For example, a Supplier may be saying something about their product to you, but your subconscious is busy matching what is being said to the non-verbal communication. If there is a mis-match, (for example, eye direction and movement, gestures, posture etc) it will pick it up and you will get that ‘gut-feel’ even though you don’t know why. Alternatively, in buying the house, my colleague will have had tremendous congruence between their emotional feelings about living in a dream house and the house that they were experiencing, which is why it ‘just felt right’.

So, as a Leader in your organisation, how much lee way do you give to allowing ‘gut-feel’ to play a part in your decisions, and events? There is clearly a balance so that your decisions are based on sound judgement and reason. However, checking the extra ‘gut-feel ’button just may make the difference between a right decision and a phenomenal one!

As a start, you can easily practise becoming more aware of the link between your thoughts and your own body (which creates that gut feel) by trying these simple exercises:

X Watching your football/rugby/sports team at the weekend. Think about the physical effects on your body every time there is a score. What hurts, what feels good?

X Getting up on Monday morning – how do you feel in your head, and how is the body in comparison?

X Holding a meeting with colleagues you respect – how is your posture, your gestures, your energy levels?

All of these will give you great insight to how your body responds to events and decisions going on in your business. Enjoy using it to your advantage!

Until next week

Kate Tojeiro is an Executive Performance Coach at www.the-x-fusion.co.uk

The path of least resistance!

2007-07-16T02:58:00.001-07:00

This week having worked at one end of the spectrum with one of the greatest technology companies of our current time and at the other a niche, creative and curious SME - a question emerged. How often do we as individuals or organizations choose the path of least resistance at risk of limiting our ambitions, options and dreams?
As the CEO of any business, one of the most important aspects of being a leader is being a person that others want to follow. Every action you take daily, weekly, monthly during your career will determine whether people will one day want to follow you. Successful leaders are honest about the potential risks inherent in the chosen path. They communicate, not just the overall direction, but any information followers need to successfully and skillfully carry out their responsibilities.
Sometimes the tackling of a new direction, launch of next generation product, expansion to another continent or maybe confronting the fact that something just isn’t working and needs to be addressed can be difficult. All of these things will have a number of challenges and tactical strategies to address.
Whatever it is that you as an individual or an organization are pursuing, it really has to be compelling enough for you to keep up all the energies and resources to drive through the change.
I worked with client (also a CEO) recently who after a significant personal crisis in his life, had decided that a holiday / a few weeks off would be a good plan.
Now, the Caribbean, white beaches, a pleasant hotel, beautiful countryside, some sunshine, briefly came to mind and I then (knowing who I was dealing with?!) ventured the question ‘where’?
Despite the huge desire to do the ‘usual’ thing; Spain to play a bit of golf, Nevis even - nice golf course there - great sailing too - he said that these things were not inspiring him and what he really wanted to do was something really different to be true to himself.
After lots of debate, discussion and perhaps uncomfortable questioning, this CEO is going to Somalia!
Just about all of his mates and family said ‘Why can't you just find somewhere you can sit by the water with a drink with a paper umbrella in it?" Let’s face it - if you're looking for easy, Somalia probably isn’t the first destination on your list.

In spite of that occasional voice of dissent, he is delighted about this trip. Really excited and energized. The challenges are a part of the landscape – he knows that he’s going to encounter them in some fashion - but they're not defining the whole thing – which is the most important point. He is confident that, even if he doesn’t feel comfortable in a given circumstance, he can work his way through most of the problems that may arise. The key thing here is that if he wasn’t willing to risk those challenges, he would be cheating himself out of some amazing experiences.

No prizes for the parallel coming here!

Going to Somalia, establishing your company overseas, making that leap to global player - require jumping in and immersing yourself in something that will energize you ( and possibly terrify you at certain junctures) if you truly believe in it. Along the way, bumps in the road will be encountered (both literally and figuratively). Finding a path that lights you up in your career or personal life is energizing, but I can almost guarantee that it won't be trouble-free. There will be bumps in the road.

So the question is;
• What do you do with that knowledge?
• How does knowing that you're going to encounter obstacles shape your future?
• Can you be true to yourself and your company? live the values; growth, innovation, integrity - whatever they may be,
• Do you spend all your energy avoiding the bumps?
• Or do you commit to a fully enriched life with the knowledge that - even if it's occasionally uncomfortable along the way - you can ultimately sort out whatever challenges you encounter?
The world of opportunity is mind-bogglingly vast. But if you insist on getting to your destination by the path of least resistance, your options are limited.
Ps. since writing this piece - I have news from Somalia and all is well, it’s great in fact!
Until next week..
Kate Tojeiro is an Executive Performance Coach at www.the-x-fusion.co.uk

‘Live in the present!’

2007-07-16T02:55:00.000-07:00

How often have you been sitting in a meeting and not really being there? How often have you been playing with the kids and not really giving them your attention? How often have you been ‘listening’ to your partner but missing most of the conversation? It is not good to be on the receiving end of this ‘missing person’ is it? However, our busy minds tend to encourage us to often attend an event, without taking our full brain with us.

Much research has been undertaken in recent years, particularly by eminent people such as Daniel Goleman, which has helped us to understand the ‘busy mind’ phenomenon and the impact that it has on us, others and the organisation. Bottom line? – it is not good! However, the good news is that we can train the busy minds to be calm and to work more effectively!

In a nutshell, an overactive, busy mind creates much internal noise and clutter. This then interferes with our thought processing, our hearing, creativity and our intuition. The result is not being able to make decisions effectively and rationally, which can result in poor performance. Now you probably knew that already if you thought about it. The research has now provided us with the evidence that ‘Busy Mind syndrome’ really is critical in preventing our greatest performance.

So – how do you create a calm and effective mind that will let you live ‘in the present’? Here are some tried and trusted suggestions.

Find a place to put your busy thoughts
Now knowing that a busy mind is not always effective, you owe it to yourself to find times to create a calm and quiet brain. Being a successful leader will inevitably mean that you have a million things going on at one time – or at least it may feel like that. We are not suggesting that you forget all these things when you step into a one-to-one with someone, for example. However, you could put these ‘things’ somewhere safe, for you to pick up after the meeting, and try to be completely present at that meeting.

One colleague I work with has a virtual filing cabinet in his mind, and imagines putting all his things in there, locking it for safety, before he attends a meeting. He then focuses completely on the meeting, knowing that he can open up the cabinet the moment the meeting finishes. His dedication to the meetings produces much greater results, and his team have complemented him on this new style, stating how much more valued they feel.

Sue Knight (an excellent writer on successful work practices), talks about one client who had a ‘worry tree’. Before he entered the house at night, he would hang up all his work worries in the big tree in his front garden, before seeing his family. He could then focus on just them and the enjoyment of home. What was interesting is that in the mornings, as he goes to pick up the worries on his way to work, they are often much less than the night before!

See if you can find someway to park your thoughts, concerns and worries before embarking in an important event with others.

Use your perspective
When you are in an anxious state of mind, why does everything else seems to get worse? You start looking for the awful things going on, and your sub-conscious mind fills your brain with messages such as “ Wow, I am too busy; I am too stressed” etc, creating more unnecessary noise in your head. Have you got a quick way to get your perspective back, and see that life really is quite good? Maybe this is a photo of your partner, or family or favourite pet, a wonderful piece of music, a ‘happy’ memory. Practice finding some quick way to reframe your thinking and perspective in life – which will inevitably calm your brain and enable you to think more effectively.

Assume innocence in others
Some idiot has just pushed in front of you and made you miss the lights, on your drive home – and you are now seething and can think of nothing else! When you get home, how many of us have blurted out the inadequacies of the rest of the drivers on the road and vented your anger on an innocent family who have been longing to see you? That thought process is stopping us take in anything pleasant around us, filling your mind with unhelpful emotions, let alone affecting our blood pressure and health! So – ask yourself “does it really matter? Maybe they did not see me, maybe they have a sick partner at home; there maybe many reasons that they did what they did”. You will never know what was reality; you are just ASSUMING that they are evil and pushy! It will make absolutely no difference to them what you think, so why not let it go, assume innocence and enjoy your evening instead. This one takes practise but worth it in the end!

Practise, practise, practise – all these tactics require practising many times before they become automatic. Have fun experimenting with ways to enable you to live ‘in the present’ at times, creating a calm brain. Enjoy the results!

Until next week,

Kate Tojeiro is an Executive Performance Coach at www.the-x-fusion.co.uk

‘Develop your strengths – the results will follow!’

2007-07-16T02:54:00.000-07:00

Recently, I was walking along a corridor in the British HQ of a relatively large and successful software manufacturer. As I walked past the glass bowl of their large meeting room, I could see an intense meeting was taking place between 15 of their most senior staff. Masses of PowerPoint slides, a mass of A2 sized paper stuck across all walls with bullet points, scribbles and arrows on, animated debates and huddles happening and curled up sandwiches on the table. ‘So – what is going on there?’ I asked the CEO, as we walked swiftly by. ‘Oh – that is the all day meeting to understand why we did not win the latest bid to a potentially important client.’ Clearly a lot of blood sweat and tears was emanating from such a meeting. ‘So what do you do when you win a bid?’ I asked. The CEO stopped and thought for a while, then looked sheepish and said ‘Uhm, good question. I guess we just go to the pub and celebrate!’

Very interesting I thought, and probably not that unusual in many organisations. The focus here was quite rightly, to understand why we did not do something, and to bring it up to scratch. However, how much effort do we put into building on our strengths, in comparison to correcting our mistakes? How often is this reflected in our society and not just work? Your business probably started up based on an idea, a strength, a niche that you did/made better than anyone else. But once established, we tend to focus on the weaknesses rather than the strengths on a day to day basis. What opportunities are we missing out as a consequence?

Have a quick check and ask yourself:

X How often have you complained about a meal that was not up to par, in comparison to calling the chef to say how brilliant a meal was?
X How much time have you spent with your children to get them up to an acceptable level on a subject, in comparison to making them shine at their best topic?
X How much time do you focus on below standard products, or people, and bring them up to an acceptable level? How does this compare to increasing your best people or products?
X How many meetings are about correcting things, as opposed to making something good even better?
X Your performance system in your organisation – is this based on exceeding at strengths, or bringing everyone up to an acceptable level?
X What is your biggest plus point of your company? – how much time do you spend on using this to be even more successful?

In our society, there is a deep seated behavioural trait to correct things, to make weaknesses acceptable, to spot people’s mistakes. It is important not to ignore clearly unacceptable behaviour etc., but my question is how much effort goes into this, in comparison to improving what is already a winning strength?

Indulge yourself for a moment and think about something that you are really good at and enjoy doing. It maybe anything from playing golf, to speaking to the team, to cooking or driving – whatever. Imagine that you are doing it right now…. How does it feel? Are you smiling, are the hairs on the back of your neck standing up, are your shoulders relaxed? – does it feel good? People are at the best when they like to do something, when they know they are doing it well, when they use their strengths to achieve greater things. So can you use this knowledge and maximise people’s opportunity to feel like this? – the results will follow!

So – some questions for you to consider and act upon;
X What are the business’s top three strengths?
X What can I do differently that will use the strengths of our company to win more business?
X What are my top strengths – how can I use these actively on a daily basis?
X In developing our people, what is the balance between encouragement of strengths, and correcting weaknesses?

Try this too: As you walk into to your office, or a café, restaurant or home, focus on just the strengths of that environment and not the irritations – what do you notice that perhaps you have not allowed yourself to do in the past? How can these be adapted for use elsewhere?
In people, what are the best things about the people around you, at home and at work? Do you make the most of these?

If you look at elite and successful people, from Lance Armstrong, to Mozart, to Richard Branson, their success has been on identifying a unique strength on honing it to an excellent level. That is not to say that they don’t focus on correcting some inefficiencies or bad habits – but their emphasis will have been on the positive – to become even greater. It takes courage.

So – be courageous and start with yourself. What is your greatest strength and how are you going to maximise its use today?

Until next week,

Kate Tojeiro is an Executive Performance Coach at Xfusion; www.the-x-fusion.co.uk

‘Patience - is it a virtue?!’

2007-07-16T02:53:00.001-07:00

As a successful Leader and Entrepreneur, there is a vast amount of written material about your quickness to spot opportunities, your ability to make snap decisions, and your response to acting upon ‘gut feelings’ (as we have discussed previously). All of these are a critical part of your strengths in leading a corporation, a team and an idea.

Within your toolbox of skills and attributes there is also an extremely valuable tool called ‘patience’ which may not always be brought out to maximise its value. This is the balance to your quickness, and plays an equally important part of your success. Let’s focus on the importance of patience in your role as a Leader, particularly in relation to people.

Some quick questions to ascertain your patience in a normal environment
X How often do you give your undivided attention to someone?
X How understanding are you if someone does not ‘get the point’?
X If someone is not doing what you had intended, what is your normal course of action?
X How long will you wait for the right customer?
X How often do you change your goals?

Based on the answers, you can probably feel whether your approach life and work as a tortoise or hare! However, if you are more ‘hare’ like, have a think about why you are impatient with some people, (and/or yourself).

How much of it is about confidence? Are you confident in the person, are you confident in the right answer, and are you confident in your own ability? Or are you being impatient because you are not quite sure that it is the right person, goal or direction? We often choose a quick course of action to hide a real issue or decision, which may fix it once, but does not solve the real issue.

It is fascinating to note the link between confidence and patience. Being patient requires greater confidence in knowing what you want, in knowing your goals and ideas are right. If you know deep down that they are right, you know that you can wait until the time is right to implement them.

Having recently worked with a very successful Elite Tennis Coach, he was very clear about the critical importance of patience. He consistently works with his clients to develop a strategy that was process-focused rather than results-focused. He said that if they worked patiently on the process, the results always followed. Conversely, if they focused just on results, they would try to find a quick way to get to the result, and never have a good foundation of style, method or tactics to enable them to be sustainable champions. He stated that you win games by the opponent’s mistakes. A champion will be patient in their approach and being confident and consistent in their method. Just watch Roger Federer to see an excellent example of this approach!

This view of patience and confidence can be successfully adopted in business too. Stop for a moment and think about your potential clients you are hoping to win in the coming months.

X How confident are you in that they are the right match for your service/product?
X What makes you sure?
X What methods are you using to win them as clients?
X Are these results-focused or process-focused methods?
X How confident are you that these will build a forging relationship?
X How much of your approach is a quick fix to your competition?
X How long will you wait for the right clients?

By considering the answers to these questions will make you more aware about your confidence to deliver. If you are completely confident in winning them, then you know that you can afford to be patient. If you are finding that you are impatient to win them over, are you cutting corners, or covering up cracks, that may damage your relationship longer term.

So, when you are out there today, try to spot when you are being impatient. At that time, ask yourself ‘what is causing the impatience?’ – you may find that the metaphorical tortoise may be a wiser choice!

Until next week,

Kate Tojeiro is an Executive Performance Coach at X fusion.
www.the-x-fusion.co.uk

There is always the need for creative thinking..

2007-07-16T02:51:00.000-07:00

As a CEO it is essential that the innovative ideas and creative ability of the talent within your business is harnessed. Much like the disappointment when one goes to a favourite café or restaurant and the coffee, the service, whatever you like the place for, is no longer as it was. Or is it? Is it perhaps just that you’ve been to the same place for so long, doing the same things and it’s time for a change. To move on.

Of ten I think the same can be said for meetings, essential to business, essential to the forward propulsion of a company, and essential for new ideas. Meetings are wonderful tools for generating ideas, expanding on thoughts and managing group activity. But this face-to-face contact with team members and colleagues can easily fail without adequate preparation and leadership.

Business challenges require lateral and creative thought to make sense of, or impact on a situation and therefore really facilitate a change. Sadly, many meetings all to often are ‘flat’ and a bit ‘same old, same old’? Or worse, there is a danger that there are so many meetings and therefore no time for actions.

So, to ensure that you get the most out your meetings;

Do you regularly ask the following questions;

X Is the agenda always formatted in the same way?
X Do people invariably take the same seat?
X Who chairs the meeting?
X Is it relevant ? Is it currently relevant?

X Are the right people attending? Stop for a minute to consider the hourly cost to your company of the people attending your meeting. You'll realise that calling a meeting is expensive, so it's important to ensure that every person attending and every minute of your meeting adds value.
X Are you inviting people who won't participate but will simply report back to you or their team (sending a copy of the minutes will be a more effective way of achieving this).
X Are you using meetings to tell people things that could be communicated just as effectively by email or memo.
X Is anything different going to happen? i.e. 10 minutes for ideas, start by asking a question?
X Are there one or two people there with different responsibilities that will challenge and ask questions?

X Finally, embracing creative thinking, allowing ourselves to think of many, many different possible solutions to a situation and therefore not
impoverish our ability to find a solution or idea is the way forward.

And remember;

X Challenge is never a criticism……..
X Set out to be provocative to encourage creative thought……….
X Treat all possibilities seriously ……..

Companies such as Gore, Apple and Saatchi are well-known for embracing creative thinking and it is in these companies where brilliance and success happens……….often.

As the great creative thinker himself said;

‘There is always the need for creative thinking – it is essential and not a luxury’ ,
Edward de Bono

Until next week..

Kate Tojeiro is an Executive Performance Coach at X fusion; www.the-x-fusion.co.uk

Procrastination in the thief of time.

2007-07-16T02:49:00.000-07:00

Have a quick look in your diary or your PDA, and see what tasks you have set yourself this week. Now – being completely honest, is there a task in there that you just keep putting off, or dreading? Will you find every excuse not to do it? (E.g – it is not THAT important, he will be difficult, it may take me too long, I am not sure how to do it etc.) You are also aware that leaving it later and later will make it more difficult and/or traumatic in achieving. Or are you hoping that by ignoring it, it will simply go away?! Ask yourself if using your energy in worrying and procrastinating over this task is better than spending that energy elsewhere! As a leader, you will, quite likely, be pushed to the limits in terms of time, and should ensure your energy is effective and efficiently spent – lingering issues are not helpful!

So – take 5 minutes and sit quietly, with a cuppa or a coffee and ask yourselves these questions, to try to get to the bottom of your procrastination:

• What is stopping you?
• Who or what would it impact if I did not do this?
• What is my biggest fear in relation to the task?
• What is the worst thing that could happen if I did this task?

Write the answers down and look at them. Is there a pattern emerging?
Firstly, it may be the Fear Factor. It has been proven that over 80% of the worries people have, never actually happen. How much of the above is exactly that? If it is, ask yourself

• if you knew that you could not fail, what would you do now?
• How will I feel when I have achieved it?

Clearly we are not encouraging you to take inconsiderate risks, but often is just getting started that makes the worries disappear (or get easier to deal with!).

The thought of failure may also encourage you to look for things that always go wrong. Let’s turn that on its head. Consider a task that you can do that is always successful. How do you achieve that task? What pattern of behaviour or action that you do makes it successful? Could this pattern of success be used to help you achieve other tasks? Right now, I would like to you consider a specific task that you do well everyday. It could be getting to the bottom of issues, inspiring people at work, or even getting up in the morning! Think carefully of what you do, say and think to achieve this. It is important to consider your thinking patterns as you do it, and not just the output. Can you map any part of this thinking onto the task that you are struggling with? These thoughts, sayings or actions are the very patterns that have made you successful so far, so be very aware of them and use them in every opportunity.

Learning from others is also a useful strategy. Consider someone else tackling your task who you think would be good at it. How would they do it? What is different about their pattern? What could you learn from them? Try and see the task through their eyes and have a go.

Lastly, is it your mind-set? You may have already put in your mind that this is going to be difficult, boring, long, expensive, or unpopular. Do you really know that? You can change how you feel about that picture right now, as it is in your head at this stage and not yet reality. So - practise thinking the opposite to that negativity. For example, it is going to be interesting, challenging, or a good experience to learn. You can practise this ‘change of mind-set’ on more simple things. For example, if you are really tired in the morning, try thinking ‘WOW – another day already!’ rather than ‘I am really tired’ – You will be amazed at how your day is that much more agreeable, as well as helping you to practise mind-set changes.

In summary, these questions and exercises above are all designed to help you increase the options that you have to help tackle procrastination and to save your energy for positive and valuable tasks.

Go and make yourself have a great day!

Kate Tojeiro is an Executive Performance Coach at www.the-x-fusion.co.uk.

The Focus Phenomenon

2007-07-16T02:48:00.000-07:00

So – it is that time when you decide you need to replace the car. You look at various brochures, adverts on TV and in magazines, and probably cut the list down to two or three. Then, amazingly enough, as you drive around to and from work, the gym, picking children up – you start to notice a huge amount of THAT type of car. It suddenly seems that everyone has the same taste as yourself – even the colour. Don’t worry, you are saved from becoming ‘just like everyone else’ – it is in fact the Focus Phenomenon. Our brains have to take in millions of bits of information continuously, and simply can not process all of it; it has to find a way to filter some information out and focus on the key things. Our subconscious mind is brilliant at alerting it to the things that it believes you need to focus on – without us consciously knowing, in many instances. The Focus Phenomenon is not only brilliant, but can be utilised to make you even more successful at being a leader. However, it can also limit your thinking if not kept in check – so let’s focus on making it useful.

Our subconscious mind acts as an excellent filter so that you can sift through huge amounts of data to focus on the key information, which is something that you will do, as a Leader everyday. Even if you have not physically said ‘OK subconscious mind – let’s focus on overheads, or the HR department, or this marketing programme’ the subconscious mind will assume to focus on things that have been processing in your brain recently, and your assumptions or learnt behaviours. Think back to the last time you poured over data. How quickly could you pick out what you needed? What had you told your brain to focus on, and was this consciously or subconsciously? Therefore what we THINK or ASSUME becomes the trigger for filtering, and you can train your brain easily and effortlessly. Make conscious your thoughts or questions – and really experience them so that the brain knows what they feel like. You may even want to write them down to cement them clearly in your brain. Then leave the rest to the Focus Phenomenon. Try it with your next challenge.

Before you think that this is too easy, you also need to consider what do you MISS as a consequence of that filtering process?

Think about the next team meeting coming up, or one-to-one with one of your colleagues. What assumptions have you made about that person, or the content of the meeting? What are you looking for? The answers to these will probably help you get to the information that you are looking for quickly. However, you are also in danger of missing much more, by the assumptions that you make.

A client of mine recently was ‘exasperated’ with one of their team members, as they would always take forever to come to the point. When he would start to talk in the meeting, you could almost feel the sighs from around the table. His subconscious mind immediately said that this is going to take forever so do something else, rather than listen. As a result, the whole team missed some great points, by making a huge assumption about the quality of this person’s contribution. How often do you do that? Make an assumption about someone, before they have had a chance? And of course, the subconscious mind looks for CONFIRMATION of your assumptions and focuses on those – ‘I told you so’ – so they never have a chance unless, of course, you choose to change your thought process.

In a meeting coming up, see if you can instruct your mind to make no assumptions, and try to really listen to this person as if you did not know them – and find out something that you may well have missed by your Focus Phenomenon.

If you stepped into the next meeting with colleagues, and said ‘please don’t go to sleep in the next hour’ – just wait to see how many of them will yawn through that meeting! Unfortunately, the brain does not detect negatives, so will focus on SLEEP, rather than ‘don’t’. This is the same reason that you miss that goal in football, if the coach has been yelling ‘Don’t miss the goal posts’! How many of your ‘Focus Phenomena’ thoughts are negative? – ‘I must not miss this deadline’, ‘I will not eat that extra bag of crisps’,’ I am really tired today’. Your brain will do an excellent job of reminding you continually of all these negative things. Go out there today and be positive in your thinking – it will soon happen without you thinking!

Use your Focus Phenomenon to your advantage – train your brain to focus on the important things, the positive things and surprise yourself by changing the focus on occasions – you may suddenly see something that has been staring you in the face!

Until next week

Kate Tojeiro is an Executive Performance Coach at Xfusion, www.the-x-fusion.co.uk

Communication to succeed

2007-07-16T02:47:00.000-07:00

As discussed last week, it is impossible not to communicate – if that is the case, do we treat it with the respect and trepidation that it deserves?! As a CEO, effective communication is one of your finest tools in your armoury – so how can you use it to your very best advantage?

When was the last time that you looked/read your own communications or announcements, as if you were the recipient?

Have a quick look at a sample of your last week’s output , and what does it ‘say ‘ to you – does the style reflect your personality, what did it say about your mood that day, what assumptions had you made when writing it? Do there seem to be any hidden agendas in there? What message are you conveying? Is it written by you, or your PA?

Writing is such a powerful medium, it is invaluable to not only think about the content, but the style, format, length, and choice of media that is appropriate for the communication. When people receive your communication, their brain will be full of literally millions of transactions. Give them the best chance to get the message as you want. Firstly, give them the simple facts to be able to understand the message clearly. Make sure that your assumptions about their knowledge on the topics is correct.- spell it out if you are not sure. If you want their attention, appeal to their senses (remember last week?). Use appropriate language and style in order to demonstrate your passion or feelings around the message. If it is a message from you, use words, and phrases that are clearly yours.
How often do you send an email or text, rather than picking up the phone, or actually visiting someone?

CEO’s always have the need for 26 or more hours a day, so emailing is often a very efficient means of working. However, do you ask yourself if this is the right medium for that communication? How would it come across if you used voice, or eye to eye contact to enhance your communication? In the long run, we can often save hours of debate and nip issues in the bud, by simply meeting with someone, eye to eye, or picking up the phone.
Additionally, be honest, how much of your choice of medium is due to wanting to convey a message and not listen to a response? Be careful that you are not hiding an issue that will just get bigger in time.

What are they telling you – without telling you?!
Humans are amazing creatures in that we communicate with many parts of our body other than our voice. Eye movement, eye contact, body posture, gestures, body movement – all of these are ways to communicate without even opening your mouth. Just sitting in a pub, watching other people, you can quickly see whom is interested in whom, without overhearing the conversation – all through body language. In meetings, how often have your heard ‘Yes’ but you know that means ‘Maybe’ or ‘No’? Our subconscious mind will pick up those unheard communications – and it is up to you to do something with that information. Act on that knowledge, your intuition; it can be invaluable in telling you something that has not been ‘said’.
Communication is two-way
Being the CEO means that you are a Leader. However, that does not mean that you have to come up with all the answers. Listening to those around you; Clients, Suppliers, Colleagues, and Competitors provides you with a wealth of useful information. Why not give yourself permission to sit and listen at various times of the day, rather than doing the talking,– and you will be rewarded by a mass of hidden communication and information.

‘When to start and when…’
Mozart communicated his passion of life through music, but was clearly aware of the importance of all forms of communications. A quote from the master himself ‘To talk well and eloquently is a very great art, but an equally great one is to know the right moment to stop.’,

Until next week.

Kate Tojeiro is an Executive Performance Coach at www.the-x-fusion.co.uk

2 small questions, 1 BIG difference ...

2007-07-16T02:43:00.000-07:00

Two simple words can lead to a wealth of information about your leadership style and those around you. Two little questions that you are asked as a leader, on a daily basis – probably hundreds of times. By simply noticing who within your organisation answers these questions, will enrich you with some very useful information.

Let’s start with WHAT?

‘What direction are we going?’ ‘What is the key aim of the organisation?’ ‘What is the most important priority?’ Using the WHAT word, is a cry for clarity and direction. Those that answer the WHAT questions will be tend to be the one(s) driving the direction, clarifying the position of the organisation, communicating the goals and priorities of the organisation – the leader(s), in simple terms. The answers will come from people who have clearly got the picture, who know what is to happen, to be expected and have thought through the purpose of the organisation. The more clarity and consistency that there is in the answer to this question, the greater the vision will be in the minds of those around you.

As an graphic example, Let me remind you of the beginning of the Epic Film, Gladiator, in which General Maximus shouts ‘Unleash Hell’ (there is the WHAT) – there is no question as to what is to happen next, and who is taking command and leading!

So within your organisation, who answers most of the WHAT questions in the top team? Is it you? Is it a combination of people? How does this analysis compare with their responsibilities – ie: who is leading the organisation?

Second question – HOW?

‘How do we get there?’ ‘How do we do this?’ ‘How long will it take?’ ‘How can we tell them?’ Here lies a completely different style of question, and different knowledge base in answering it. In answering the HOW question, people start to think through the challenge, to own it, and take on some personal involvement.

It is quite normal to expect considerable debate around HOW, as there are often several ways of doing things to get to the same point. As they say, there are several ways to skin a cat. The more debate – the more ownership, in its simplest form. Conversely, if this question is answered for them, people will simply ‘do the task’, and not feel the need to take responsibility for it. It can disable creativity and the drive to accomplish, if they have simply been given the answer to HOW.

So – as a leader, how often do you answer the HOW? And how often do you leave it to your team? Being passionate about a goal makes it extraordinarily difficult not to answer the HOW questions, but is it really your role as a leader to do so? Are you giving the teams the opportunity to tackle, own and enjoy a challenge – to ensure success of the ‘WHAT’, or are you supplying too much of the HOW?

Many Senior Leaders of the British Armed Forces have recently been through an education process to move away from ‘Command and Control’ style of leadership, as they recognised that often the troops on the ground had a much great idea of ‘HOW’ to do something. It was more important as Leaders to ensure that they had painted a clear vision of ‘WHAT’ was to be achieved, rather than answer ‘HOW’. Easier said than done for many, as that element of losing control was deemed a risk. But it was richly rewarded in innovation and personal ownership – ie the job got done quickly and more successfully in many cases.

Set yourself a goal at the next opportunity, to actively seek out when you answered HOW? and WHAT? Is this a normal pattern, is this appropriate in terms of your role, and aspiration of you and your teams? What about the other members of the team? What would happen if you did not supply an answer to either one? – try it out and see who takes on the gauntlet!

Until next week

Kate Tojeiro is an Executive Performance Coach at www.x-fusion.co.uk

FT REPORT - UNDERSTANDING THE CULTURE OF COLLABORATION: Organisational behaviour

2007-07-14T01:19:00.000-07:00

By Rod Newing, Financial Times
Published: Jun 29, 2007

Companies collaborate to achieve better results by exploiting skills and knowledge. But to make sure it works, companies need to recognise the different cultures of each organisation, writes Rod Newing

One of the reasons that organisations collaborate is that they are trying to benefit from their different skills, geographies, industries and resources. These are the very factors that drive corporate cultures, which will inevitably be different. For instance, one may be expert at people-based activities of product development or marketing, whilst the other might be highly-skilled in the resourcesbased activity of manufacturing or distribution. If a collaboration is to be effective, each party must recognise and respect the different culture of the other. It must be seen as a source of value and no attempts should be made to dominate or compromise the other party because it could damage the value of the partnership. "Different cultures are a good thing, because diversity drives innovation," says Roland Harwood, head of Connect at the National Endowment for Science, Technology & the Arts (Nesta). "If managed well, exposure to new ideas, new organisations and new disciplines stimulates more and better innovations. It should be encouraged, but you have to engineer and successfully manage the clash of cultures and the creative sparks that result from it." However, the benefits of collaboration are not reflected in traditional management development, which is based on giving potential managers a team of people and a set of resources to control and success is rewarded with more people and more resources to control. By contrast, collaboration requires managers to achieve success through people and resources outside their control and for this they have had no preparation.

"People's natural instinct is to work as individuals, so you have to create a culture of collaboration," says Angela Barron, adviser on organisation and resourcing at the Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development (CIPD). "Reward, career and talent management systems tend to recognise individual talents, rather than the capacity of the individual to share knowledge and collaborate." Ms Barron advises organisations to make sure that their HR systems and processes recognise the need for collaboration. That way they will send out the right messages about the behaviour that is to be rewarded. In a recent survey on political skills by the Chartered Management Institute, 58 per cent of respondents said that it is about building and managing alliances (only 31 per cent say it is about "protecting their turf") and 39 per cent said that reconciling differences was a critical skill. "There is recognition that building alliances is a really important skill and we need to be better," says Jo Causon, the Institute's director of marketing and corporate affairs. "Making partnerships work" is a Mori research report published in February 2007 on behalf of Socia, a partnership consultancy. Nearly nine out of ten respondents said that collaborative partnerships are either very important or essential to the success of their organisation. When managers were asked to identify the most important factors in building successful partnerships, 59 per cent said having a common purpose and shared objectives, 49 per cent cited good personal relationships, trust, openness and honesty and 29 per cent identified a good understanding and acceptance of each other's culture. "We do not train and develop our leaders to be able to collaborate," says Alex Cameron, director of Socia. "They have to share control and share power, which requires such key skills as influence, relationship-building and empathy. Consistently, respondents identified mutual understanding and cultural fit as being important to success in partnership, yet these are precisely the areas in which they would like more capability." Mr Cameron suggests putting young managers in situations during their development where their success depends on working with other parts of the organisation or with other organisations. He also suggests more coaching and mentoring.

Clearly, collaboration is all about identifying, communicating and achieving a common shared objective. "You have to have an open mind, but be very clear what your agenda is, what you want to achieve and why," says Ms Causon. "You must also understand what the potential partner wants and why. Then you can find areas where you might be able to work together with a common goal to your mutual benefit." When asked for their advice to others involved in partnering, 59 per cent of the Socia research respondents said the cornerstone of successful partnering is the development of a good understanding between partners. However, Lucy McGee, head of marketing at OPP, a business psychology consultancy, warns that the problems arise when the two organisations agree on the objective, but differ on how to get there. "Very often, conflict will come less from what you are trying to achieve and more from the way people approach the issue," she says. "Senior managers are sometimes the worst offenders, because they are the ones whose own style most impacts the culture." She points out that it is very important that they understand their own style, so they can recognise the differences and be willing to negotiate. They must approach collaborative ventures with a degree of openness and honesty and be prepared to trade.

"They have to accept that they have something to learn from each other and must do things in different ways," she says. "They must be more appreciative, less intolerant and strip away some of the personality 'noise' that gets in the way. Real innovation and creative spark comes from the managed friction of the two different approaches, from which they derive their competitive strengths." As part of this process, managers will want to split the risk and reward more or less equally. However, Mr Harwood points out that the parties may have different views on what constitutes risk or reward. A business might want to harness innovation from a university, for example, in order to minimise costs and maximise profits, whereas the university may be more interested in generating peer review articles.

Outsourcing is a collaborative relationship that has been largely successful for many years. Nigel Roxborough, research director of the National Outsourcing Association, advises rigorously adhering to a governance process. "It ensures that the key parts of the teams come together regularly and establish their objectives, discuss how they are doing in achieving them and take corrective action together," he says, "rather than dividing along party lines." Mr Cameron warns that many governance procedures measure lagging indicators, which means that they know when things have already gone wrong. He recommends measuring collaboration with forward-looking indicators of conflict and dysfunction that will warn that objectives will not be met. Some simple examples are reasons for missed deadlines, non-attendance at meetings and decisions overturned. "They are not hard to do and they get to the heart of the matter pretty quickly," he says. There are many organisational issues to be faced in creating a collaborative culture. However, David Price-Stephens, director in the human capital consulting practice at Deloitte, the professional services firm, warns that culture is very difficult to replicate and incredibly hard to change. "It is not just a matter of publishing a set of espoused values," he says.

"Desired collaborative behaviours must be properly defined, communicated effectively to people, demonstrated consistently by leaders and role models and reinforced and embedded by performance management arrangements." Kate Tojeiro, founder of Xfusion, an executive performance coaching firm, says that typical barriers to collaboration are turf battles, blame and finger pointing, inconsistent approaches to change, a lack of trust, resistance to change, a lack of accountability and even fatigue. "It is not enough for an employee just to read or hear about the change," she says, "they need to feel it. They must understand the importance of change and how it will be deeply rewarding for them." There is much to do to create a collaborative culture, but it starts at the top. "The development of our managers is lagging behind the need," concludes Mr Cameron. "The business schools haven't woken up enough to the need for collaborative leadership."

Business Performance Coaches

2007-07-06T03:47:00.000-07:00

Steve Driver is MD of Spirit Circuits, a Hampshire-based manufacturer of printed circuit boards. Three years ago the company was in trouble. ‘There was no real harmony among the board of directors. They were going in different ways because there was no overall direction,’ he admits.

The situation was especially bleak as Driver had spearheaded a management buy-out of a division of his former company that he had, in turn, put into liquidation. Seven months later, ‘the new company had the old behaviour’ and was ‘haemorrhaging cash’.

It was Driver’s accountant who suggested he contact a business coaching organisation. He attended a presentation by Shirlaws and liked what he heard. He says: ‘When I put it to the board that I wanted to use a coach, it was deemed an unnecessary expense at a time when we were losing money. But I absolutely believed it was the way forward for the company. I am the MD and the major shareholder, so when I told the board what I wanted the answer had to be “yes”.

‘Two people objected, so they were removed before the company could go forward or else it would have been a dead programme.’

Mike Wheatley, CEO at Envisional, a Cambridge-based internet security specialist, also experienced a lukewarm response when announcing he wanted to introduce a performance consultant. ‘People are very cynical. They like to joke that bringing in a mentor is pink and fluffy,’ he says, noting that the mentor he used soon illuminated faults in the team. ‘We have got rid of people. That is not the object of this, it is a side effect.’

Leadership Styles

Kate Tojeiro established and runs the business coaching outfit Xfusion. Working with organisations of all sizes, she focuses on areas such as leadership styles and building effective communication techniques.

In practice, she says, this may mean going into an office one day a month to facilitate group and individual coaching sessions – perhaps using a business tool like psychometric testing or organising day trips – to understand whether the leaders in an organisation are geared towards the same goals.

For an MD or chief executive, the objectivity provided by a good consultant can be invaluable. Spirit Circuits’ Driver says that after bringing in a mentor, the board were forced to ask questions like:

Who’s leading this company?

Who’s giving direction?

Who’s looking after finance?

Who’s generating sales?

Eventually, the company shifted its business model from concentrating purely on production to providing a good service.

According to Driver, there has been a 25 per cent growth in turnover and a 35 per cent uplift in profit. ‘We’ve gone from being a loss-making business to a very profitable one in the space of 18 months to two years,’ he says.

As for the length of time you use a mentor, Driver notes that after about a year of coaching he recently put a stop to it. ‘We were using it too much as a sounding board as opposed to a coach. It was turning into a management meeting and we weren’t yielding anything from it.’

That, however, isn’t the end of the sessions. ‘It’s more of a sabbatical,’ says Driver. ‘We’ll revisit it in six months and take it to another level.’

By Marc Barber