Fancy a taster of what you can expect from my recently released book, “The Vital Edge”? Have a look through the attached presentation to see what topics are covered and which sports people feature. If you have already purchased the book, many thanks for doing so. I’d love to hear your thoughts and comments on the subjects raised in “The Vital Edge”, either by leaving a review or rating on the Lulu.com site or here in the comments section of this blog.
My book, “The Vital Edge”, can now be purchased at Lulu.com (it will be available through other distributors at a later date).
Using anecdotes and metaphors from sport, combined with psychology and behavioural models, the book provides guidance and pointers as to how business performance can be improved and how common de-railers can be overcome. It is intended to be an easy to read and entertaining journey through a variety of sports, with an intriguing dive into subject areas as diverse as motivation, optimism, ‘flow’, neuroscience, leadership, teamwork and collaboration. It will include worksheets with ponder questions at the end of each chapter allowing the book to be used individually or as part of team-building, leadership development and coaching programmes.
I recently offered sneak previews to readers.
One reviewer commented: “Being an athlete, an improving coach and a sports policy maker makes your book talk to me in a very personal way. It’s as if you have written this book just for me. I love it so much putting it down is a problem. All the elements that bind sport and business are there.”
I would love to hear what you think of the book. You can of course leave comments and feedback, as well as ratings, on the Lulu.com page, and it would be great if you did. In addition, you can send me comments directly using the Contact Us Page.
Many thanks. I hope you enjoy it.
Louis
Make a note of the date. The week commencing 14 April 2014 will see the release of
“The Vital Edge”……. (Sporting Mindsets for Business Performance)
Using anecdotes and metaphors from sport, combined with psychology and behavioural models, the book provides guidance and pointers as to how business performance can be improved and how common de-railers can be overcome. It is intended to be an easy to read and entertaining journey through a variety of sports, with an intriguing dive into subject areas as diverse as motivation, optimism, ‘flow’, neuroscience, leadership, teamwork and collaboration. It will include worksheets with ponder questions at the end of each chapter allowing the book to be used individually or as part of team-building, leadership development and coaching programmes.
I recently offered sneak previews to readers.
One reviewer commented: “Being an athlete, an improving coach and a sports policy maker makes your book talk to me in a very personal way. Its as if you have written this book just for me. I love it so much putting it down is a problem. All the elements that bind sport and business are there.”
A number of people have requested details of how to get hold of the book on its release. I will make sure you get those details. If you would like to add your name (and contact details) to that list please provide your details using the Contact Us Page and I will get back to you personally.
Louis Collins, Leadership Development Coach
Would you describe what you do as a job, a career or a calling? I guess many might say that… “it’s all about the paycheck!!”, and may go on to say, “….if only I had the luxury to think about what I do as anything other than just a job.” For many people, finding a job, any job, that will pay the bills is all they are after. Some might see what they do as a part of a career. One stage in a long-term plan. For these people, while the paycheck is clearly important, it is not the only motivation for them doing what they do. Promotion, status, power, amongst other expectations, also serve to drive people’s ambitions. So, what is a calling? It is tempting to think about ‘a calling’ in spiritual terms, perhaps conjuring images of people who devote their life to serving God, or perhaps a scientist, who believes passionately in a particular theory, and commits her life to proving its validity.
thehappyproject.com
Experiencing what you do as ‘a calling’ need not be so extreme however. Martin Seligman in his superb book, “Authentic Happiness” (2003), examines the scientific evidence pertaining to this area, and the conditions necessary to create meaningful and fulfilled lives regardless of the type of work one does. One of the key studies discussed in Seligman’s book relates to hospital cleaners. Some within the group describe their ‘job’ simply as ‘cleaning up rooms’, while others defined the work more in terms of a ‘calling’ by making it meaningful. They viewed what they do as “critical in helping patients to heal”, they time their work to be maximally efficient, and try to anticipate the needs of doctors and nurses to allow them to spend more time with the patients. In extreme cases, some even ‘added tasks’ to what was expected of them, for example, by brightening up patients’ rooms with cheerful pictures and prints.
Living a ‘meaningful life’ is one of the core pillars underpinning Positive Psychology and which is closely linked to happiness and mental health. Despite real income in the western world having risen dramatically (at least in the most prosperous nations) in the last 50 years or so, wealth has a low correlation with happiness. So too does job promotion or good job prospects. Physical attractiveness and physical health also fail to pass any positive correlation test. Other ‘seemingly happy’ factors such as age (youth), education level and climate also fail to predict greater happiness or sense of well-being.So, what is the secret? The answer is not simple (if only it were!), but the concept of Flow (I recommend the excellent and seminal work on this topic by Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi) provides an excellent model to help us start to understand the conditions necessary to achieve a meaningful life. When people describe experiencing ‘flow’, they report total absorption in the task at hand, a feeling akin to a suspension of consciousness. It feels like time has stopped. Many of us have experienced this extreme Continue reading
A previous post I wrote around “how emotion shows up for coaches” (click here to read that article) attracted considerable attention, and prompted further questions about how to handle emotions in clients. The first thing to be said is that having clients talk openly and with curiosity about their emotions is precisely where most coaches dream of their coaching sessions being conducted.
source: acutakehealth.com
It is rarely that easy however. We are a kind of “bunged up society” when it comes to discussing emotions. Not everyone of course. Some people are highly attuned to their own and other’s emotions, and are able to use that awareness to understand, manage and influence relationships very effectively. This is not the norm, however, particularly in traditional cultures where expressing emotions has not been encouraged and even frowned upon (this has been true in youth culture, corporates, within families, and even in schools).
Asking someone ‘how they feel’ about something, is often met with a blank expression, as if the question has been asked in a foreign language.
If an answer is provided, it is often expressed in terms of thoughts, rather than feelings (i.e. the answer will often begin with “I think….”).
Even when someone has understood the question and is attempting to get closer to what they do feel, it is not unusual to hear them say something like, “Hmm, let me think about that, yes, what am I feeling?”
In other words, people usually have to intellectualise, through thinking and language, in order to get to what they are feeling. It is as if our emotional layers are hidden away, Continue reading
If you’re in a bad situation, don’t worry it’ll change. If you’re in a good situation, don’t worry it’ll change. ~ John A. Simone, Sr.
At a time when most businesses are seeking ways to emerge from the effects of the recession, and get themselves back on the road to economic growth, one inevitable question their leaders will all face will be, “What things are going to have to change around here to start us moving again?”
Some of these questions can be extremely daunting, and will challenge even the most competent leaders. However, much will depend on how the workforce has been led during the period of recession.
Have people been continuously aware that this day was coming, or will it come as a surprise to them that they are now expected to do things differently, think differently, perhaps adopt new practices. Remember, even unpleasant circumstances become comfortable after a while, and people will resist moving away from the ‘way things are’ even if they are promised a better future.
It’s not enough to simply promise things will get better and hope they will change. One major reason for this, we now know, is because of the way our brains are organised. Regular patterns of thinking and behaviour become ‘wired’ at the neural level. It is certainly not a trivial matter of expecting people to one day waken up and operate as if they had a different wiring pattern. Not even after the most rousing and stirring ‘all-hands’ kick-off event !! Our brains need to have new connections created (and old connections disused and atrophied) over a period of time in order for new patterns of thinking and behaviour to take root. New visions, positive futures, different expectations, alternate rewards, all help generate these new connections, and ultimately, different behaviours.
That’s why the best leaders Continue reading
“You had my curiosity. But now you have my attention.” as spoken by Leonardo DiCaprio’s character (Calvin Candie) in the move ‘Django Unchained’
“Be curious” is a very popular term used widely within the coaching fraternity. It is of course great advice, as it encourages people to ‘simply notice’, without judgement, and with an open questioning mind. Being curious helps raise self-awareness. It also encourages one to consider and reflect on things that may otherwise go unnoticed. However, merely ‘being curious’, in itself, is unlikely to create the sufficient mental conditions for significant learning and change to occur. To achieve this, generalised curiosity needs to be cranked up to a state of sharply focused ‘attention’.
Being curious is the equivalent to being a casual ‘observer’ of the game. Having focused attention requires you become completely ‘immersed’ in the game.
source acknowledgement: crit365.com
I have touched on this subject many times in the past, most notably in Slow Down, you Move too Fast. Before getting to agreements that something needs done about a problem, and long before specific actions are decided upon, it is vital that high levels of attention are shone on the issue. People simply do not agree to take action on situations unless they first of all recognise that it is important enough to do so, and that there are high enough stakes at play to make it worthwhile. Continue reading
“A good half of the art of living is resilience.” ~ Alain de Botton.
As companies embark on another tough year ahead in 2013, and a climate of ongoing uncertainty, they are increasingly placing ‘resilience’ as one of the most important qualities they are looking for in their people. But, how do you recognise resilience in people, and how do you help people develop it further?
GlaxoSmithKline have defined ‘resilience’ as: “the ability to succeed personally and professionally in the midst of a high pressured, fast moving and continuously changing environment”.
Traditional views are reflected in the language often used to describe resilient behaviour:
source: northjersey.com
These expressions are adversarial and have their roots in war-like and conflict-driven situations. It is arguable that a mind-set of resilience, steeped in this language, is likely to generate more friction than collaboration.
Pablo Sarasate (violin virtuoso) stated “A genius! For 37 years I’ve practiced 14 hours a day, and now they call me a genius” (cited in Simonton, 1999) *.
Last week I wrote a post called ‘Stroke of Genius’ and it attracted a pretty high level of interest. Clearly a popular topic. And many comments I received were along similar lines, mentioning that identifying talent in the first place is often the most difficult challenge faced. I figured that I owed it to myself and readers to address this area in today’s post.
source: blog.kennedyviolins.com
Well, right up front, we need to think about recruitment.
Recruiting talent
Do you know what you are looking for in the first place?
This is not as simple a question as it might first appear. For example, if you are a company, can you answer the following questions?
Are the people who are making recruitment decisions and identifying talent sufficiently aware of the future strategic plans for the business? Or are they blindly cultivating talent based on a model of today’s business? Continue reading
I was intrigued by an article I read this week on 5 Reasons Your Top Employee Isn’t Happy. It got me thinking about how we manage talent. And maybe there lies the problem – in that very word ‘manage’. Talent is a precious thing, but should it be given ‘maverick status’ or does it need to be controlled? Well, I guess the answer might well vary depending on the culture of the company, what period in the company’s development you are at, or what sort of leader you are?
source: bbc.co.uk
I immediately thought about the football team analogy. I have played and watched football over more years than I care to remember, and the recurring debate about how teams should accommodate rare talent just never goes away. What I have seen, is that teams who are riding on the crest of a wave, winning everything in sight, and blowing the opposition away, can often afford the ‘luxury’ of the occasional ‘maverick’ or ‘outlier’. Often described as a genius, these players entertain the crowds and keep the sports (and sometimes front-page) writers happy.
But, when the going gets tough, everyone is expected to put in a shift. Sulking on the wings with your hands on hips, complaining about not getting good service, doesn’t go down well – not with the crowd (or shareholders), team mates (or work colleagues) or coach (boss).
It’s a big issue for companies too. When someone is bestowed the title talent (or genius) – what is expected of them and of others? Continue reading
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