The Right Questions Podcast

The SWOT analysis is one of the best-known situational and self-awareness tools. 

SWOT is an acronym that stands for: Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities and Threats.

The SWOT analysis was originally developed by researchers at Stanford University and designed for organisations but it can equally be used by individuals. 

The podcast looks at the 4 steps needed to complete a personal SWOT analysis.

For more information, you can access the accompanying article using this link:
https://therightquestions.co/how-to-do-a-swot-analysis/

How would you describe your personality? What makes up your character?

When it comes to the psychology of personality people often talk about either types or traits. The difference between traits and types reflects the distinction between analogue and digital. 

Personality type theory is more digital, saying that something either is or isn’t of a certain sort. For example, a test using the ‘type’ approach will say you are either extroverted or introverted. It does not illustrate to what degree you are either introverted, or extroverted, and the same with other traits. In other words, it is less nuanced. The Myers-Briggs test uses this more binary approach of typology. 

Traits are analogue as they measure aspects of character on a spectrum. For example, we might be more or less of a team player. The Big 5 model uses this approach to understanding personality and is the preferred tool of most psychologists when it comes to personality tests.

The Big 5, which stands for five personality traits (also known by the acronym OCEAN) was developed by a series of researchers but is most closely associated with the work of Paul Costa and Robert McCrae. The 5 traits of the OCEAN model are:

O - Openness

C – Conscientiousness 

E – Extroversion 

A - Agreeableness

N – Neuroticism 

The traits are generally measured by the use of psychometric questionnaires that indicate preferences and create scores expressed on a scale. 

This podcast episode includes an explanation of each of the five traits. You can find out more information in the accompanying article using this link:
https://therightquestions.co/how-to-work-out-your-personality-type-with-the-big-5-ocean-model/

If you would like to do a personality test then one free resource I often use and can recommend is https://openpsychometrics.org where you can find a variety of tests including the Big 5 model.

Nancy Kline, author of Time to Think, has spent years researching and developing better listening skills to help people think. The principles that she has identified come together to make what she calls the ‘Thinking Environment’.

The Thinking Environment is made up of ten components. These are:

• Attention
• Equality
• Ease
• Appreciation
• Encouragement
• Information
• Feelings
• Diversity
• Incisive Questions
• Place

The podcast episode includes a fuller explanation of each aspect.

If you would like to find out more, you can find the accompanying article at:
https://therightquestions.co/how-do-you-create-the-best-thinking-environment/

Burnout is brought on by mental and physical exhaustion. This can be brought on by living or working in a stressful situation. This can result in feeling drained of energy, mentally trapped and physically ill. 

Ignoring such signs can make things even worse, and the best course of action is to create a balance in life to avoid getting burnt out in the first place. 

We can think about our mental and physical health as being like driving a car. 

When we drive a vehicle, we know we can accelerate hard or go fast for a time, but we cannot run that way for long. We must manage the strain on the engine. It is also essential to frequently refuel, and frequently check the oil and water levels. Vehicles also require servicing after a specific duration or mileage. 

If we then equate this to life, we can create a dashboard that helps us monitor our health and avoid burnout. The dials on this dashboard come under the headings of heart, body, mind and soul. Under each section, there are further dials we can monitor. 

This podcast explores these areas in more detail.

If you would like further information on this subject then please check out the accompanying article:
https://therightquestions.co/how-to-prevent-burnout-the-essentials-to-monitor/

One of the biggest challenges of decision-making is generating, assessing, and then choosing from among the different solutions there are to any given challenge. 

That might be buying a car, choosing a property or changing jobs but if the choice has a large impact on time and money then we are likely to spend longer considering our options and working out the best course of action. 

To help make the best choice we want to:

1. Brainstorm multiple options
2. Develop several courses of action
3. Assess the courses of action
4. Make the decision 

This podcast explores these 4 steps in more detail.

If you would like to know even more on this topic then check out the accompanying article:
https://therightquestions.co/which-is-the-best-course-of-action/

Research has shown that a group must progress through certain development stages to become a high-performing team. A leader is responsible for managing this process, but it is one that affects us all, no matter our role, and we can all assist in improving our teams. 

The Drexler-Sibbet model of Team Performance helps us as it identifies the questions that a team needs to work through to progress through each level of performance. In this model, there are seven questions and stages of progression. These are:

1. Orientation: Why am I here?
2. Trust Building: Who are you?
3. Goal Clarification: What are we doing?
4. Commitment: How will we do it?
5. Implementation: Who does what, when, where?
6. High Performance: Wow!
7. Renewal: Why continue?

This podcast explores each of the stages in more detail.

If you would like to find out even more then check out the accompanying article:
https://therightquestions.co/how-to-develop-a-group-of-individuals-into-an-effective-team/

Have you ever been a member of a dysfunctional team? 

If you have then you know how frustrating, depressing, and stressful it can be. 

Stephen Covey, author of The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People, identified The 7 chronic problems of dysfunctional teams. The 7 issues are :

1. No shared vision or values

2. No strategic path

3. Poor alignment

4. Wrong style

5. Poor skills

6. Low trust

7. No self-integrity

They are called chronic because, as with chronic diseases, dysfunctional team problems are persistent and cause continual pain. If these chronic issues are not treated then the organisation will continue to deteriorate and could even die.

The podcast includes a  further explanation of each one. 

If you would like to find out more then please look at the accompanying article:
https://therightquestions.co/the-7-chronic-problems-of-dysfunctional-teams/

Have you ever set yourself a goal that you have been unable to achieve? I certainly have. Choosing to do something is generally easier than the practice of actually carrying out our decision. That is because goal setting is not a one-off decision, it is just the first of a series of decisions. Decision-making itself is a cyclical process. 

As a professional coach, who has worked with hundreds of clients, I can attest to the fact that most common life goals succeed or fail around the issues of habits.  We might choose to get fitter or eat healthier, but the challenge is that every time we are faced with a doughnut, or the chance to veg out on the sofa them we face another choice, and our early decision (and future goal) are threatened. So, what do we do?

The answer is creating good habits. In neurological terms, a habit works as a short circuit in the brain that makes choices easier. But first, we must construct the required decision-making routine.  To make effective decisions and to build good habits you should understand the psychology of the process.

Charles Duhigg, in his book The Power of Habit (2013), shows that we need to identify the habit loop of any given behaviour. We need to know the cue (the stimulus), the routine (or action) and the reward (the payoff).  Once we understand the cues to behaviours, we can experiment with rewards to instil new routines.

This podcast explains how to apply each step with examples.

If you would like to find out more then do check out the accompanying article:
https://therightquestions.co/how-to-build-supreme-habits-and-compound-good-decisions/

The Skill-Will Matrix is a situational leadership model, made popular by Max Landsberg in his book The Tao of Coaching (2003).

The Skill-Will method is popular because it is easy to remember and apply. It provides a simple way to assess the right leadership style according to an individual or team’s level of motivation and competence.

It is easily visualised as a two-by-two table with one axis being will (low and high) and the other axis being skill (low and high). 

The matrix then proposes the best leadership style for a person, depending on where the subject falls in the four quadrants:

• Low-will/low-skill: Direct
• High-will/low-skill: Guide
• Low-will/high-skill: Excite
• High-will/high-skill: Delegate

The podcast includes a further explanation of each of the four quadrants.

If you would like to find out more then the accompanying article can be found here:
https://therightquestions.co/how-to-use-the-skill-will-matrix-to-pick-the-right-leadership-style/

What do you most want to achieve in life? What is your biggest personal goal? Do you know what you need to do to succeed? 

Don’t worry, help is here! In the time it takes to drink a cup of coffee, you can work through the coaching questions in this podcast and have a much better plan for achieving your life goals.

As a coach, I spend a lot of time helping people think through their life goals and how to achieve them. I ask questions to help them through their decision-making process and then outline an action plan that they can follow. 

You cannot beat going through this process with a professional coach but there is a lot you can achieve on your own. I have produced this list of questions so that you can coach yourself through setting and achieving your goals.

The idea of the question process is to capture those big life dreams and break them down until you know exactly what the first step towards success is. 

To do this the questions are used in order, to explore your desires, delve into the motivations, look at options for achieving your goals and then develop a plan for succeeding in that aim. 

By the end of the process, the questions lead to working out exactly what needs to be done, when, and who can help with your plan.

If you like you can even answer the questions as you listen to the podcast right now. Just pause after each question to give yourself time to write your ideas down. So go on, grab a notepad or open a document now to make the most of the episode!

If you would like to see all the 20 questions then here is the accompanying article:
https://therightquestions.co/20-powerful-coaching-questions-to-help-you-set-and-achieve-your-goals/

And if you would like to know about the GROW coaching model you can find out more here:
https://therightquestions.co/how-to-use-the-grow-model/