FREE RESOURCES

1. We like ourselves. Our self-esteem is healthy and high.
2. We have positive attitudes.
3. We put a lid on destructive self-criticism.
4. We work on increasing our self-awareness in order to bust our self-limiting beliefs and behaviors.
5. What we dwell upon in our mind grows in our experience. We monitor the content and quality of our thoughts.
6. When we start to worry, we get into systematic (not random) action.
7. We focus with confidence on where we want to go and expect to create what we want.
8. We have an intensity of purpose. We know our compelling goals clearly, specifically and precisely. We write them in the first person singular present tense as though we have achieved them.
9. Not only do we know where we want to go but how to get there and how to set up our environment to ensure follow through.
10. We accept total responsibility for our lives, what happens to us, and the consequences of our actions.
11. We let go. We relax.
12. We associate with other high performers.
13. We use mental programming to our benefit, understanding the truth behind conditioning of beliefs and behaviors. We become what we think about.
14. We don’t play it safe. We continually move forward into the risk zone knowing that success is never assured.
15. We strive to feel good at what we do, knowing the impact on stress, health, happiness, etc.  We establish balanced goals for a balanced life.
16. We plan continuously and continuously review and rewrite their plans.
17. We are determined and persistent. We expect to suffer setbacks, disappointment and failure, pick ourselves up, carry on and look for the learning in the setback.
18. We focus on the most valuable use of our time versus the trivial many “to dos”. There is never enough time to do everything but always enough time to do the most important things.

"Desire is the key to motivation, but it's the determination and commitment to an unrelenting pursuit of your goal -- a commitment to excellence -- that will enable you to attain the success you seek."
 

-- Mario Andretti
Emigrated to US at 15, became winning race car driver

One of my clients recently lent me Brian Tracy’s CD collection on “The Psychology of Achievement.” (For more information, go to www.briantracy.com) While what he explores relative to achievement ranges from the origins of our individual self-concepts, to marriage, to parenting, to goal setting and more, the focus of this letter is on his blueprint for “activating your success mechanism”.

The Importance of Goals

An intense goal orientation (setting goals and related plans) is the most important attribute for peak performance. A study done at Yale demonstrated that the 3% of graduates included who in fact set goals were worth more in dollar terms 20 years later than the 97% who didn’t. Intense goal setting marks the winners, always.

How to Set Goals

Lack of clarity is probably more responsible for frustration and underachievement than any other single factor:

• Identify goals you intensely desire.
  
• Try not to diffuse your efforts by seeking to accomplish too much. Often accomplishing the most important things will lead to attainment of other goals.
  
• If you want a balanced life, identify balanced goals.
  
• They fear change – the natural tendency to play it safe and stay in our comfort zones.

The following is based on 20 years of research into mental programming and is used by top athletes, among others:

• Articulate goals that you find compelling.
  
• Repeat your first person, present tense goals as personal affirmations, either out loud or in writing, every day. What we expect with confidence becomes our own self-fulfilling prophecy.
  
• Form a vivid mental picture of what perfect performance looks like and hold it clearly in your mind on a continuous basis through visualization. This will imprint the required behaviours and reactions in your brain. Whatever the conscious mind believes and accepts the subconscious rallies around to manifest. “First I throw my mind over the bar and then my body follows” – Dick Fosbury, High Jumper.
  
• Accept total responsibility for everything that happens. Don’t make excuses for mistakes and failures.
  
• You become what you think about. Positive attitudes come from positive expectations about outcomes. Be optimistic.
  
• Goals should not contradict each other.
  
• Make the goal believable, challenging, measurable, and time bound.
  
• Articulate your goals clearly, specifically and in vivid, precise detail exactly as you wish the outcomes to be.
  
• Write them in the first person singular present tense as though you have achieved them.

Why People Don’t Set Goals

Apparently less than 3% of people have clearly articulated goals and plans in writing that they work on every day. Here are some of the reasons why:

• They don’t understand their importance.
  
• They don’t know to set high performing goals.
  
• They fear rejection – if I set this goal, my friends and family will think I’m nuts, be jealous, etc.
  
• They don’t understand the importance of failure in achievement, and thus fear rather than welcome it. You can’t realize your full potential unless you fall on your face enough times that you learn the lessons needed to move forward.
  
• They fear success – how hard will I have to work, how will my life change and can I handle it?
  
• Learn to talk to yourself in a way that sustains your spirit and commitment when the going gets tough. This facilitates your ability to recover from setbacks.
  
• Exercise disciplined action toward the achievement of your goal. Determine the price you have to pay, and resolve to pay it.
  
• Associate with other winners and/or people who will unconditionally support you in your goals.
  
• Undertake thorough tactical planning. Focus your time and attention on what’s most important.
  
• Back your plan with determination and resolve never to give up. The best plan in the world won’t work unless you do.
  
• Do something every day that moves you toward the attainment of one or more of your important goals.
  
• Relax. Self-conditioning is more effective if you do.

Food for Thought

• Based on exactly how you spend your time and physical and mental energy, what implicitly are your most important goals?
  
• What goals do you say are most important but aren’t in alignment with the above?
  
• What one goal, if you were to accomplish it, would make the greatest positive impact on your life? Use the process described above and see what happens!
  
• What’s keeping you from being who you want to be? Become an Irresistible Leader, and remember, Coaching Works!
  

 Sincerely,

 Sharon Miller, B.Comm, CPCC

CoachingWorks

sharonamiller@rogers.com

(416) 484-8018 

“The world turns aside to let any man pass who knows where he is going.”

- Epictetus, Roman Slave who, once freed, devoted himself to philosophy

CoachingWorks 2004. All rights reserved.

  A White Paper on the Beliefs Behaviors Results Chain.

  "Knowing others is wisdom, knowing yourself is enlightenment."
 -- Lao-Tzu

 A boss believes in focusing on the bottom line. A coach believes in focusing on the process that creates the bottom line result. Coaching is about change, and changeinvolves learning. One accepted definition of learning is that “learning is a relatively persistent change in an individual’s possible behavior due to experience.”

  the Beliefs Behaviors Results Chain.

Beliefs are the conclusions we draw over a lifetime about our experiences. Our belief systems either limit our thinking and action or empower them. What you believe determines how you behave towards others and towards tasks.

Cognitive-behavioral research has shown that it is our beliefs that influence how we feel and behave. Events themselves are essentially neutral. How we appraise events, then, is critical in terms of our response and may be a barrier to change or success. 

Beliefs are the masters of our thoughts. When we believe something is true, we literally go into the state of its being true.

What is the Business Risk?

It is a challenge to build a sustainable organization unless the leader sees his/her behavior drives in part what’s happening and not happening. The way they choose to behave has an enormous influence on how people within their sphere of influence behave and therefore on business results.

For example, a leader may believe “I have to beat people up to get them to do what I want”. His intentions may be positive and he may actually appreciate his people, however, he behaves like a bully. The result he sees is that people jump. However, his people believe that here is somebody I need to be afraid of. Their behavior is to tiptoe around the guy, stay within the box, avoid providing honest feedback, etc. Guess what the true results are…

People tend to resist any idea or behavior that threatens their existing beliefs. The first step is to work with the leader to help him see not only the impact of his behavior but also the root cause of this behavior. If he still believes that he needs to beat people up, he won’t behave civilly for very long. Other typical beliefs include:

• What others think is more important that what I think.
  
  
• Powerful people don’t need support to achieve success.
  
  
• If I ask someone for help, it makes me look weak.
  
  
• I don’t have time.
  
  
• It’s the way things are done around here.
  
  
• It’s “their” fault.
  
  
• I’ll be happy once I’m out of here.
  
  
• It’s not important.
  
  
• I can’t be true to myself at work.
  
  
• There is no other way. I have no choice.
  
  
• Everybody knows what he or she is supposed to do. Why don't they just get on with it?
  
  
• Work is not about emotions. Park your emotions at the door.

Then, reverse the chain and start with the business results you want to achieve. What behaviors will the leader need to express in order to create these specific results? What team behaviors do you need? What empowering beliefs need to replace any existing limiting beliefs? (Note that the beliefs part of the chain reversal does not necessarily have to be addressed. It may simply be a case of behavior clarification.) Typical behaviors that need to be reframed are often around such issues as decision making, honouring commitments, thinking beyond silos, managing relationships constructively (within, up, down, across and out), and transparency.

Companies regularly use compensation plans to drive certain behaviors generally measured in terms of results like customer service, revenue generation, etc. But how do you ensure that the “right” behaviors are creating the desired results? Start with the people in key leadership roles because the potential ripple effect is enormous.

Self-aware leaders are attuned to their inner drivers. They recognize, for instance, how their feelings affect themselves and their job performance. Instead of letting emotion build, they see it, what’s causing it, and how to do something constructive about it. Leaders, who lack this emotional self-awareness, might lose their temper, for example, but have no understanding of why their emotions take over. If a person is perpetually oblivious to his own feelings, he will also be tuned out to how others feel. By being attuned to how others feel, a leader can say and do what’s appropriate.

EI-based competencies play an increasingly critical role at higher levels of organizations, where differences in technical skills are of negligible importance. When one study matched star performers against average ones in senior leadership positions, about 85 percent of the difference in their profiles was attributable to emotional intelligence factors, which include self-awareness and self-management. (Note other EI factors are social awareness and relationship management.)

How Should an Organization Respond?

The organization must of course define preferred behaviors and then adhere to them and not tolerate less. It then must create and support practices that reinforce these behaviors. Too often companies define the “right” behaviors but then allow leaders either to do their own thing or provide inadequate or no support beyond classroom training on how to understand and change their approach.  

In their book Primal Leadership, researchers Daniel Goleman and Richard Boyatzis explore the role of emotional intelligence in leadership. Their words on this subject are more convincing than mine. They suggest it’s possible for leaders to improve if they do three things: “Bring bad habits into awareness, consciously practice a better way, and rehearse that new behavior at every opportunity until it becomes automatic… Improving…takes months, rather than days, because the emotional centers of the brain are involved…they need repetition and practice. The more often a behavioral sequence repeats, the stronger the underlying brain circuits become. People thereby literally rewire their brains. That’s why it’s hard to learn leadership abilities effectively in a classroom. A teacher can’t instruct your brain circuits that carry old habits of leadership to relearn new habits.” (Page 156)

“This suggests a learning strategy that at first focuses a bit more on overcoming the impulsive leadership habits you are trying to undo – before giving full attention to the new habits with which you want to replace the old.” (Page 158)

It is suggested that the organization create “a safety zone within which to more freely explore the painful realities of a politicized work setting or to question things that don’t make sense but are imprudent to raise with your boss. Experimenting and practicing new habits require finding safe places and relationships. “ (Page 162)

• Do you have leaders/managers whose performance is less than you want it to be?
  
  
• Do you know specifically what causes them to deliver less than what your want?
  
  
• Do you know specifically what to do to change that?
  
  
• How much of it is “behavior” based? What is your plan to deal with that?
  
  
• How does your organization provide a safe and courageous space for leaders to explore their vulnerabilities and behaviors and receive bold and honest feedback in order to move to a higher level of a performance?
  
  
• List 10 empowering and 10 limiting beliefs you hold to be true? How have they facilitated or held you back from success? What are you going to do to alter your approach?
  
  

Sharon Miller, B.Comm, CPCC

CoachingWorks

sharonamiller@rogers.com

(416) 484-8018