Joy@Work Podcast

Beyond Blended Learning, today's leading organisations are flipping the corporate classroom. Are you going to be sidelined? Let's throw up some startling statistics. [caption id="attachment_38738" align="alignright" width="300"] Preferred format for learning in the Henley Business School 2016 Survey[/caption] The Henley Business School Corporate Learning Survey in 2016 shows that: Desire for online only executive development remains very low at less than 12% Desire for project-based l&D stays steady at 33%, similar to experiential programmes at 29% Blended learning is gaining in popularity up to 43% whilst in-classroom workshops are also gaining up to 45%. With coaching showing the strongest popularity at 66%. So why are so many corporate adding more online only programmes in a bid to save money at the expense that learners will continue to dislike it as a method? 62% corporates plan to offer online learning in 2017. Meantime, of technology assisted learning that is used, 67% are accessing via a mobile device! According to LinkedIn's 2017 Workplace Learning Report. Worldhub Learning looked at trends in 2015 showing that Australian companies at least were balancing face to face, online and on the job training noting that at least 70% of l&d involved some face to face development. Corporate Learning Strategy Trends in 2015 - World Learning Hub The CIPD in 2015 noted the trend towards more in-house programmes with significant growth in the use of in-house coaching, eLearning and on the job training. Organisations see that coaching (in-house) mentoring and buddy schemes together with on the job training and increased use of mobile learning in particular, in a blended format with face to face training will dominate as the most effective methods. So the demand for blended learning continues to increase, but will this be developed entirely in-house? If you are in the business of delivering face to face training and are neglecting the use of technology you are soon going to find yourself hunting for ever smaller scraps of work. Even the lucrative speaking business is taking a major hit with a major drop in demand for external conferences and events. So why the hype and massive investment in something that appears to be less than popular? It helps to consider a brief history of how we got here. [caption id="attachment_38744" align="aligncenter" width="800"] Technology that supports learning is evolving at an ever increasing rate and organisations are quick to adopt new tech as it becomes available. Nowadays, the choice of tech is massive and confusing and not always what learners want to use.[/caption] Back in the late 80’s and early 1990’s, the very early days of computer-based training  (CBT) as it was known then, perhaps it was the novelty that made people excited to use and complete CBT courses. CBT had been around since the 60’s but very few people had their own computer and CBT was taken in classes or computer rooms with a technology teacher around who would help out when needed. Meantime, The Open University in the UK teamed up with the BBC and started broadcasting courses on TV and radio in 1971 and distance learning took off enabling students from anywhere in the world to study for a degree at home. The 80’s saw the dawn of the first Mac and the IBM PC. People began to buy and use a PC at work and at home first with Visicalc then Lotus 123. Finally, non-technically minded people could use and benefit from this technology. Everyone got very excited about how books would be replaced by computer books and the universities began to take Arpanet (the forerunner to the Internet) seriously for collaborative research. Then in August 1991 the real opportunity for what we now know as eLearning, began. Yes, Bryan Adams was top of the Billboard charts but perhaps, more importantly, the World Wide Web was open to the public. Email began to take off and CBT became eLearning in 1999. The first course delivered over the Web came from Penn

My mum would often tell me “all will be well in the morning.” For her, it was just experience and age-old wisdom. All will be well in the morning And things always were better in the morning. Somehow, all the clutter and stress and worry, while, not gone altogether, was, at least more manageable. As I slept, my brain was free to sort through the problem, process it entirely and put it in a suitable place close to a similar experience in memory. I had learned how to resolve whatever the issue was. More often than not, it didn’t even need addressing anyway. How taking a break improves future learning It’s akin to my mum’s advice to “sleep on the problem” so that your memories can be reprocessed, consolidate and shaped for better (faster) retrieval. Taking a learning break gives your brain time and space to reprocess. And now there’s compelling new evidence from the University of Texas at Austin, recently published in the National Academy of Sciences that supports the idea that study breaks improve later learning (or as I prefer to say: not completing learning 100%) But how much is the right amount for studying and how long for a break? I’ve been researching this for some time now and unsurprisingly; the results are inconclusive. However, there does appear to be a general reduction in the active learning time for younger people. Typically, I have found that Baby Boomers study well and learn well over a 25 minute period of almost continuous study. That is; they needed a learning consolidation break at 25 minutes. Needing a 15-minute break. Gen X’ers around 20 minutes. Needing an average 13-minute break) Gen Y drops to about 12 minutes with a 6-minute break and then: Gen iY (the iPad generation) around 4 minutes (yeap, just four minutes) with a 2-minute break. All of this in non-academic learning situations, by the way. Tested for learning retention 24 hours after the learning event and 21 days later. But within every group there was a range, and it would change for an individual dependent on the mode of learning. That is, was the learning in a form that they preferred (reading, video, audio, kinesthetic, etc.). Sadly (from an academic point of view) even so-called learning preferences wasn’t a statistically significant factor. Our brain needs a break Keeping your heart beating, lungs filling, bowels emptying, brain working, feet moving, eyes open… it’s exhausting. And then you want me to do something else? When we take a break from learning, our brain can process all the information. When we are learning anything, our pre-frontal cortex (PFC) is burning a lot of energy as we evaluate the information, process it and check it against working memory. Then the new information is processed, consolidated, and linked to appropriate other memories and emotions… but for this to be held in longer term memory, it appears that the PFC needs to be less active. Perhaps because the PFC is such an energy hog, and we simply need to switch our energy resources to consolidate memories (learn). So can’t we just take a pill and learn better and faster? To a certain extent, we can! Glucose and oxygen – the fuel we need to burn to learn. (Caffeine can assist as well if recent research is correct.) So taking a moment, munching on candy, taking deep breaths and sipping that cup of coffee all help us learn… oh, I’ve just described a break And it’s not just about learning All this stuff about taking a break to improve learning is tremendously interesting, John, but I have a job to do that isn’t learning. And that’s where we need to realise that our wonderful brains are continuously working hard and burning energy. For such a small part of our body, the brain weighing about 1.5kg, consumes 20-25% of our energy. I wish I could get my gut to burn that much and consume its own fat resources, but my brain is doing this just because I am awake. A 10 minute break will make your next half an hour more productive. (Coffee optional) In fact, your brain, when you

Ch-ch-ch-ch-changes (Turn and face the strange) Ch-ch-changes Don't want to be a richer man Ch-ch-ch-ch-changes (Turn and face the strange) Ch-ch-changes Just gonna have to be a different man Time may change me But I can't trace timeDavid Bowie What do you do when you want to change? Whether you want to change yourself or bring about change in others or your organisation. Change is difficult and sustaining change more so. To do so, we want to leverage the awesome power that is in every one of us, and that is the power of habit. Nobody likes to change Asking someone to change is fraught with difficulties. Oftentimes, we forget that as leaders and influencers we are encouraging people to change. If everything was meant to remain in the status quo, there would be no need for leadership or influence! And our brains prefer the status quo. It is known and your brain has done a fantastic job of keeping everything in this environment in the right balance to keep you alive and thriving. Change disrupts that status quo, however small that change may appear to you, to someone else it will be uncomfortable and may even be frightening. Turn and face the strange Change is uncomfortable and strange. Even the smallest change in the status quo is uncomfortable. We've gotten used to a certain way of doing things. A couple of weeks ago I was enjoying the delights of Positano, Italy. It is a truly beautiful town clinging onto the mountainside that plunges into the azure Mediterranean Sea. Positano from the Path of the Gods view Our apartment was perched high above the town and the view was truly spectacular. We had a simple choice in the morning to get into Positano town. The narrow road into town wound around the mountain with hairpin twists and turns for several miles or we could walk down the steps and be on the Grande Spagio within 700 metres. We went fully aware and ready for the steps. We had even been certain to get in "step" shape by forgoing elevators and escalators in Singapore. Even finding our very few hills and crazily to onlookers, climbing straight up and down. When we reached the beach area, thigh muscles began a little protest as we supped a welcome macchiato. At least they know how to make good coffee in this country! It hadn't been especially difficult to climb down those steps. Probably a little more effortful than the 87 floors as measured by my watch but it was uncomfortable. The 700m "walk" down to the Grand Spagio My body simply is not used to climbing up or down so many steps. Not when you live in an almost hill less island. Could I get used to it? Sure. But it would take time. How long before it becomes comfortable? Well, after a week of much walking and many more steps I was finding it to feel "normal". Had I not persevered, it would have taken much longer. And the same is true for any change in anything that we do. From a simple thing like crossing your arms in the opposite way to usual to re-organising your company: the change causes discomfort. Until it becomes the new way of doing things around here. That's the way we do things around here The biggest issue in making change happen inside organisations is: "That's not the way we do things around her." The entrenched Mr or Ms Jobsworth who feel threatened by change either because it might undermine their position, or show them up in some way. For a lot of "obstacles" whom I have had the pleasure of working with, the underlying concern about change was that they would get found out (for being less than capable in their current role, let alone any new role!) Many more people than you can imagine harbour a secret and limiting belief that they are not good enough. For a very few, it may be true, but for most, it's just humility taken too far (and usually initiated by bad parenting or poor teachers in the past.) Whatever the cause of the fear to change, if you want to sustain a change, accept that most people are not just uncomfortable with change, they genuinely

Before we delve into the myths I want to remind you of Law #2 in the 21 Irrefutable Laws of Leadership.

Leadership is influence, nothing more, nothing less.

You can influence anyone at any time in any situation. Your level of influence with that individual will determine how ‘easily’ you influence them (or not).

Through my own research and having assessed some 45,000 leaders across the globe. One thing I can assure you of. The higher your level of influence in an organization and in life with the people that you work with, play with, worship with, sell to, or buy from… the FEWER SKILLS of influencING you NEED to use.

Conversely. The lower your level of influence with someone, the more influencING skills you need to use.

This is critical for people in the middle to understand.

WHATEVER your position in relation to another person in the organization… your LEVEL of Influence and your ability to use influencING skills (Motivating, persuading, cajoling, negotiating and so on) determines your total influence on that person.

Just because you are not the top person in the organization does not mean that you cannot influence (i.e. lead) If anything, it’s a cop out to suggest that you cannot lead until you are at the top. It’s an excuse. But that is the POSITION MYTH that many leaders in the middle hold.

Leadership (how you influence another) is a choice you make, not a place you sit.

Myth 2

“When I get to the top, then I’ll learn to lead”

“When opportunity comes, it’s too late to prepare.” John Wooden

Remind yourself about Law#3 in the 21 Irrefutable Laws of Leadership is “Leadership develops daily, not in a day.”

I’ve met more leaders who hold onto this myth than the others. Or at least it seems that way. In fact, 80% of my work as a leadership coach comes to me because of this… In particular, I have found that the stronghold of this myth lies in HR. “We’ll invest in their leadership development…. When they have the position of leader”

TOO LATE!

You’ve just gone and promoted someone into a senior leadership role who hasn’t yet bothered to learn how to lead! Now we’re playing catch up.

Develop your leadership deliberately daily and soon you will have the job title to go along with it. And guess what? You’ll be better prepared and ready to actually do the leadership they’re paying you to do.

The INFLUENCE Myth is where someone thinks “If I were on top, then people would follow me.”

I know several leaders in the middle like this. Are you one of them?

In quite a few cases I’ve met them because they’ve been given the position and now find that, well, no-one is following them. This is the person that says “It’s lonely at the top”. Well if it’s lonely at the top, you ain’t leading – you’re taking a walk alone.

Are you sure people will follow when you’re on top? Just by being given a leadership title enables you to do that does it?

To accomplish anything as a leader you need to remember the Law of Buy-in 14th from the 21 Irrefutable Laws of Leadership.

People buy into the leader, then the vision.

A position doesn’t make a leader, but a leader can make the position

You may be able to grant someone a position, but you cannot grant them real leadership. Influence must be earned.

“When I get to the top, then I’ll be in control”

You know someone who thinks this. They’re the person who’s usually complaining about the current leadership, often cynical, perhaps scoffing. And they say something like this “If I were in charge, then I would get everyone to…”

OK, fantastic. For the rest of today, I hereby give you the title “President of the United States of America”. Now you have the title. What have you done about the enormous debt burden? When are you going to reduce taxes? When are you going to withdraw the troops? When are you going to sort out the banks? When are you going to… and the list goes on. Very swiftly you will realise that the leadership title means nothing.

What you find is that a leader has to give up to go up. The leader has to remember the Law of Sacrifice.

More FREEDOM as you climb?

Well I’ve never seen it to be true.

In many organizations, as you move up the ladder, you may even find that the amount of responsibility you take on increase faster than the amount of authority you receive.

I remember when I took my first area management position to run firstly 3 pub hotels in central London, which swiftly increased to 6, then 12 and all without any further increase in my authority or any increase in my support team. I had the title, and I had the power. But the weight of the additional responsibilities meant that something had to give. No way would I get more supporting resources… more authority.

The solution. GIVE POWER AWAY!

Seriously. It’s called the Law of Empowerment.

It’s like playing golf. At some point you need to learn that the club is there to do a job. When you let the club do it’s job… great shots are almost effortless… and they go further… and with better direction. The tighter you grip the shaft the worse it is.

The same is true if you hold a dogs leash too tight.

Pull back on the horse’s reins and the horse will go faster? No, it will slow down.

Empower your people. They will take a load off you… if you give them your power.

Reality: Most People will never be the top leader in an organization.

If everyone who genuinely believes that they will make it to the top of their organization did so… who is going to do the work?

Only when leaders in the middle reach their potential, will leaders at the top reach their potential.

When we make ourselves better, we then make the leader better. And when the leader is better, they bring the people who made them better up higher. Maybe one day they move on and maybe then you get their position at the top. But don’t you want a team full of people who are at the top of their game. And that’s what we should all strive for. To be at the top of our game, not the top of our organization.

A Leader’s potential is determined by those around him or her.

Individuals can become better leaders wherever they are in the organization. Improve your leadership and you can impact the organization. You can change people’s lives. You can be someone who adds value. You can learn to influence people at every level in the organization – even if you never get to the top. By helping others, you help yourself.

Goldilocks is fast asleep when the bears return home. She found her perfect bed, not too big and not too soft. After eating her fill of the perfect porridge that wasnt too hot and wasn't too sweet. Goldilocks had tested the beds upstairs and fell into a deep sleep. The three bears were none too pleased with this breach of neighbourly etiquette and devour Goldilocks. Or, the Goldilocks jumps out of a window and is never seen again. Or Goldilocks explains how hungry and tired she was and befriend the forgiving bears and they all live happily ever after. Which version of the story do you believe for your life? The version usually shared with your kids probably has Mama, Papa and Baby Bear and Goldilocks escapes, is rescued from the woods by her mother and vows never to dare go in the woods again. It's the expectation that if you ever dare to find that sweet spot in your life, someone will come and immediately take it away from you for being undeserving and you can never go back to find it. And so you allow stress to build in your life. You work way too many hours and spend far longer than anyone should in pointless meetings. And then someone tells you that you must find your life/work balance as you chuckle inwardly that anyone still believing that myth is deluded. The life work balance myth I meet few people who have found their work and life balance. To most it remains a myth or a mirage in the dessert of a stressful life. We've bills to pay and children to feed. A demanding boss and impossible deadlines to meet. Who has time to exercise, eat healthy and well, play with the kids, have quality time with your partner, spend time with the family, enjoy fulfilling friendships outside work, participate in sports and be active in the community, let alone give back to society. And we all know that our time here is limited. That we are here for but a breath. There simply isnt time to have our cake and eat it. Most people I meet through my work are way out of balance. Work has taken over and become the focus of all energies. Everything else is put to one side in a pretense that one day you'll come back to it. And then something snaps. There has to be more to life than this! Work, like the big bear's bed can become too hard and like his porridge, too lumpy. It's tempting to escape out of the window and run away and become a Corporate Refugee, seeking the solace and comfort of entrepreneurship. Or you might compromise and choose to make a radical shift to do something you love and enjoy, but still pays a reasonable salary. The world used to refer to this as a 'mid-life crisis'. Only it is no longer the exclusive domain of men in their early 50's who trade the wife for a younger model and suddenly have a desire to drive a red sports car. Now it's a crisis that can hit at any age, and several times. What matters most at this point is that you choose to be at cause for your life and less at the effect of your boss. Corporate refugees Fleeing the corporate world is a desire of many. Continue doing what you do well but without the craziness of fat cat shareholders, demanding bosses and all those meetings. Instead, the lure of ëntrepreneurship tolls its bell and many set up shop. Only now there's no salary and the demanding boss is replaced by an even more demanding client (if you are fortunate enough to secure one of those!) and there's not enough money to pay people to do the drudge work. So are you an entrepreneur - building a business that employs others, or are you a freelancer? I get to meet an increasing number of young entrepreneurs who have followed their passion and desire to set up in business as a means of avoiding the corporate rat race, only to find that daddy's generosity does have an end point and suddenly the overheads and burn rate are too much to bear. Sadly, many realise too late that the skill set for running a business is not their strength and even though they are the founder, it is not always essential to be the CEO. Wit

Stress! Do you suffer? Of course you do. How much is caused by others and how much do you cause yourself? When you really think on this, you uncover some rather painful truths about stress. Most of it is caused by yourself. Like you. I like to place demands on my performance. Far greater demands than I would ever allow anybody else. Well perhaps my wife would debate that, but I don't demand so much from other people. Like you, I have a desire to leave something of a legacy. I want to achieve something bigger than myself. Something important. Even though we all know, that, whatever you achieve in this life, you only get one sentence when you die. Lying in a high-ceilinged waiting space, strapped to a bed with wires attached to my chest, head and arms. A drip in my vein. a pressure cuff around my arm. The room was painted white and reminded me of a clean warehouse or a big garage. My mind whirs into action and I continue my dive deep into the abyss of panic. Not about death and the hereafter. No. I know for sure that I am heaven bound and not just because the bible tells me so. But because just one year prior to this, I had spent an all too brief 4 minutes and 33 seconds in the valley of the shadow of death. This time, I tell myself, If I go, I'm staying. But hang on a moment. What about the workshop participants? I'd finished day 1 of a three-day workshop and they don't even know that I might not be there in the morning. They'll all face that awful Bangkok traffic to get in and have wasted their time to come and find no-one to lead them. I have never, ever not run a workshop. Never taken a sick day. Not in 28 years have I failed to deliver. Not once. And what about the workshop next week. I'd spent 12 years fighting for a chance to serve this particular company and next week was my first chance. Seal this and I'll be set for the next 5 or 10 years. My colleague and business partner who could take over this current workshop was in the US on holiday. In the Rockie Mountains, on a walking holiday. Not even sure he'll be in cellular range let alone wifi. Oh Lord. I have no Wifi!!!! I have no roaming, and I have no Wifi. "Nurse! Nurse! Please I need wifi!" If only I can get wifi I can take control again. Inform people, get in front of this. I have just been told that I have Congestive Heart Failure. I was struggling to breathe with all the water trapped in my lungs, and I was fretting about letting my workshop participants down. Letting my new client down. Letting my business colleague down. Letting my wife down for not leaving her with a regular income stream. And there was going to be no chance of leaving a legacy if I leave this earth tonight. I had allowed myself to get overwhelmed by all these things going on. In striving to leave a legacy and do something important and the one thing that mattered right now was I had no wifi!!!! Now that's when Solomon's wisdom came to mind. Talk about chasing after the wind. I'm chasing after wifi. I got a message to my holidaying business colleague. I got a message to the HR coordinator for the workshop. I got a message to another trainer who was going to be assisting me on the workshop next week to arrange for him to take over. And, at 7.15 am my wife received a stream of whatsapp messages through the varying stages of my panic. Cheerfully reassuring her that I was alive still at that point. I fretted and worried to make sure as much as possible was covered and I wouldn't let anyone down anymore than I was being forced to do. And why? When was I going to realize that I am simply not smart enough to run my own life, let alone build this business and ministry into something that, in all humility, is a worthwhile legacy? By 8am I had given up trying to sort anything else out. I was exhausted. The blood tests confirmed that I had enjoyed another heart attack. Thankfully milder than my first one a year prior, or at least having quit smoking and become a little fitter, I was more likely to recover

In this episode we are exploring how you can influence and motivate anyone or everyone. We're even going to learn some lessons from the President of the United States and just how he won the election. Jeff sat on a bar stool at the front of the room. He had no slides, no props, just sat and talked. Within minutes, he had everybody in the room on the edge of their seats eagerly nodding and ready to follow him wherever he went. None of us in the room had met Jeff before. In fact, none of us had a clue who he was. This quiet, unassuming man simply walked to the front and sitting on the bar stool began to speak and captivated everyone. Jeff shared why some adverts worked, and some fell flat. How some adverts tapped universal appeal, and others neglected to do so. The good news is that you don’t need to spend millions of dollars on creating a fantastic TV advert to influence people. The great news is that you can easily tap into the four universal appeals. And I'll come to those four universal appeals in a moment. You'll remember in the triangle of influence that the motivation to change is the result of the evaluation of the personal benefits gained and the personal cost in the resources required to achieve a specific outcome. Whether that outcome is buying a new toothpaste or a new car, giving our time to serve in a soup kitchen or sharing our wisdom with a stranger. We weigh up what we get from the action and what it costs us. We will then be motivated to act when our perceived benefits outweigh our perceived cost.   Influence is maths. When the perceived value is greater than the perceived cost, we are motivated to act on the change. If you know what I am likely to perceive as beneficial and what I perceive as costly, then you should find it easier to influence me. Influencing someone you know well When we know someone very well, we can influence them more easily. For example, if I want to go to a particular holiday destination with my wife, and she wants to go elsewhere, I might emphasise all the aspects of the type of holiday she desires (honestly) regarding my preferred destination. I might lay on some evidence to add credence to my interpretation such as photos, TripAdvisor recommendations and so on. If I want to buy a particular car model, and she would prefer another, I might focus on specific qualities of my chosen car that I know will appeal to her. It's not manipulation; it's just a conversation. It's something we all do, every day. We will sway or steer others towards our preference. We are in a position of influence every time someone allows us to communicate with them. Most of the time, we are unconsciously influencing entirely based on our personal bias. But that's selfish! Yes, you’re right. I am. So are you. So is the person beside you. I am, and you are. Even when someone is apparently altruistic, the reality is that they get something valuable personally from being so. What if I don’t know the other person well, how do I influence them? One of the key things to understand about influence and persuasion is that the idea that everyone is rational is a little misleading. OK, it is totally misleading. Because motivation - the desire to act on change in thinking and behaviour is not just maths. It's chemistry! Now you wish that you had paid more attention in science class, don't you. It's OK, I recorded an earlier PodCast on Hacking Motivation - and in it I share all about the Chemistry of Motivation and how you can hack it to be happier. Motivation, which is the FRUIT of influence is created in large part by the neuro-chemical, Dopamine. Known as the "Happy chemical" - dopamine is the chemical you have flowing in your brain and bloodstream when you feel motivated. In part, there is a rational, conscious process - essentially the maths I outlined earlier. But PRECEDING the maths, BEFORE the rational, conscious thinking, the chemistry is already underway. Some refer to this as the Lizard response, but it's be

The 15 inch blade flew perilously close to my left ear and the Chef's knife thumped into the door behind me. I was told, in no uncertain terms, that my days in his pastry kitchen were over. I couldn't possibly repeat the actual words, but if you think that Gordon Ramsey cusses, I can assure you that even he has a comparatively mild turn of phrase. Chef was right of course. I was useless in the pastry kitchen. I still am. My croissants could be used to break rocks in a quarry. My shortcrust could substitute for dumbell weights. It's simple biology. My hands are too warm. Heck, I didn't even want to be a pastry chef, but I had to master every part of cooking and I wanted to learn from this Chef. I had huge respect for his talent and would take almost anything for the chance to learn. But he wasn't very likeable. He was a conqueror style and a competent jerk. In the last Leadership AdvantEdge podcast I asked what your influencing style was - and if you missed that, you really ought to pop back and listen and do the influencing style inventory. This will identify your dominant influencing style and your least dominant style. Conqueror style influencers can be seen as aggressive, power hungry and controlling. It's not easy working for a conqueror, and their positive influence can be eradicated by the fear they can induce. So what do you do, if your style isn't working well with some, or even all of the people you need to influence? You need to leverage your style and gain agility. But first and foremost, you want to make it as easy as possible for others to trust you and respect you. In this episode, I shall share how you can leverage your style and more easily influence others and motivate them to do things that matter. Let me introduce you to the Trust Respect Matrix. On the vertical scale is how much you trust me and the horizontal represents how much you respect my competence. Someone with low trust and little respect for me would consider me to be a foolish jerk. And you're not likely to be easily swayed by someone you think is a foolish jerk. So, let's say that you still don't respect my competence, but you do trust me. I have proven myself to be trustworthy to you. Something of a loveable eejit. You would find it easier to accept my influence if you trusted me, even though you have little regard for my competence. How about you actually do respect me greatly, but you don;t find me trustworthy, heck perhaps you don't even like me. My Chef was here, I had huge respect for his talent but didn't trust him to care for me, certainly not after that knife incident. If that were me, I;d be a jerk, a competent one, but still a jerk. Then there's the situation where you respect my talents and find me utterly trustworthy. That would make me a loveable star. Someone who could readily and easily influence you. Where are you in your relationships with your people? And what matters here is not how genuinely trustworthy you are, or even how competent you truly are. It is how you are perceived to be. The question is, do they trust you and do they respect you? The more they both trust and respect you, the easier it is to influence them. So how do you win trust and gain respect? It's important to remember that both of these are perceptions. It's no use saying "well they should respect me.". Maybe they should, but if they don't that's not actually a failure of your competence, it's a judgement of it. And it's no use saying, "well they shouldn't judge" either. They do and they will. Just as you judge them and me. How do you feel, for example, when you meet someone to have a chat and they just talk about me, me, me, what about me? The entire conversation is them seeking affirmation from you. They don't ask after you. And if you do voice an opinion, you are swiftly cut off mid-sentence as they bring the dialogue back to the most important person in the room, i.e. them. As you heard that description I'm sure that someone came to mind and you have a 

What's Your Influencing Style? (And Why it Matters!)   The Captain's voice bing bonged into the silence and calmly informed us to assume the brace position. The stewardess asked us to sit down and brace. Forty seconds later everyone began scrambling to their feet. An old man blocked the aisle as he opened the overhead locker seeking his carry on. The stewardess asked him nicely, to forget his bag and move to the front of the plane. Minutes later more than half the passengers who were still on board were informed that they had just died in a fireball as the fuel tanks exploded. I resumed my seat for another round of this evacuation simulation to assess and train flight crew and emergency response to a forced landing at Manchester Airport. Officially, I was already dead, having been one of the unfortunates stuck in the aircraft behind that belligerent old man.   In times of emergency, a straightforward command approach to influencing and leading is, perhaps, the only sensible choice.   In the next round, the lead stewardess was petite and sweetly asked everyone to sit and relax. This time, they served us a typical airline meal and halfway through, alarms sounded and out of the shocked chaos, a shrill authoritative voice penetrated with absolute clarity of no-nonsense follow these instructions. If I mention Bernadette from the Big Bang Theory you'll likely get an instant understanding of just how commanding this member of flight crew was. The belligerent old man had to retrieve his carry-on of course, but this time, he swiftly moved forward. There just was no way anyone wanted to get on the wrong side of this lady. This time I got to enjoy jumping down the door slide and walking onto the rain soaked tarmac. This time, all passengers "survived" the fireball.     When there is no time for engaging people or asking politely, you can get a swifter response to a clear command. But would you want your boss to use that approach every day? I've had bosses who struggled to influence me well. And I've quit more than one job where the boss barked commands and lambasted us with insults as a means of influence. Influence, like leadership, is situational. There is no one correct style. No one way that works for all people. Flexibility in style is key to being able to influence those you will need to during your life. But because we are better at influencing people who are more like us, we tend to surround ourselves with people we can more easily influence, and those people, well they tend to be pretty well much like ourselves. And we miss the benefits of diversity and innovation when our organisations are filled with people who are, essentially, very much like each other. In this episode, I'm sharing how we tend to surround ourselves with like-minded and similar people, and why that is not in our own best interest. Then I'm going to share about the two main approaches to influence and lastly, the five main influencing styles and how you can take my Influencing Style Inventory and get your free profile report. In future episodes, I'll be sharing how you can leverage your Influencing Style and develop greater flexibility. So, let us begin by examining our inner circle...   As a leader, I attract who I am, not who I want and often not who I need

It's more than 40 years later, and businesses and homes are awash with computing devices. There's more computing power in my watch than on that entire top floor of equipment back in the early 70's. Much has changed... except it seems there remains a divide between the techies behind that glass wall and the business desk on the outside.   At the end of 2016, Barbara Dossetter of CIO Connect and I undertook a research project to better understand the current frustrations and challenges faced by both tech and business leaders. It's something I've been doing every 3 years or so that we can continue to pragmatically address the real issues faced in the workplace and not just spout empty Ivory Tower theories.   What is particularly shocking is that those essential glass walls from the 70's are metaphorically still in place today. It seems that Business Leaders are frustrated that the techies are still not aligning the systems to the needs of the business. In the meantime, Tech Leaders tell us that they are frustrated with stakeholders (business leaders) changing their minds throughout the projects!   Could it be that these two major frustrations that cost massive time delays, significant reduction in ROI from projects and inordinate stress to both parties have the same root cause?   Isn't it time we smashed down those glass walls and Tech leaders learn to speak business unto business?   And before my fellow Techies get up in arms about this and suggest that it should be the business folk who should learn to speak tech unto tech... let me share a little secret with you. Business language hasn't changed in over a century. Tech changed yesterday. We cannot expect business people to learn the language of Tech. Respect and recognise the vast contributions and acknowledge all the excellent work, yes. But if we wait for Business leaders to learn how to communicate to tech, we'll miss this opportunity to address the challenges.   And the great news is that it will be possible to achieve the holy trinity for tech projects once we learn how to bring all stakeholders on board and keep them partnering together. On time, within budget and delivered to business needs and expectations.    But it's not solely the responsibility of the tech team. As one of my clients mentioned after reading the draft report: There isn't a single project in the business that doesn't now involve IT in some way. We need to Invest time up front on tech and business programmes to ensure that all stakeholders completely understand and that the programme is aligned with what the business wants and needs is likely to save swathes of wasted time and effort and money later.   You can download the report in the form of a PDF White Paper now.    Discover all the frustrations and issues from both the Tech and Business perspectives and what it is costing your business.   Barb and I are putting together some exciting development and consulting solutions to overcome these issues and we'll be sharing the Power Continuum Dashboard in the coming weeks as one way you can quickly and accurately assess where your organisation sits in it's maturity for the 21st century. Contact us and find out how we can help guide you, with no obligation, to break that glass because there is an emergency.