Links I love March 2018

It’s time to make yourself some lemon tea, put your feet up and do a quick scan of some interesting online reads for March.  Here’s three I think you’ll like.

Photo by rawpixel.com on Unsplash

Links I love February 2018

Grab a cuppa and have a browse through these links for some interesting updates.

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What to do when things are going well? Here’s 10 hints to keep you smiling….

What to do when things are going WELL ? Yep, you read that right.  No crisis or hostilities to manage. Just an outbreak of cooperation. Does such a state really exist?  And how do you get things to go well in the first place ?

The power of a good morning…

A friend recently commented on the disappointing habit that her managers and colleagues have of arriving for work without so much as a “hi” or a “good morning” to those around them.  So why the silence ?  And does it really matter ?

If we accept the principle that the mood of the leader is contagious, then yes, it really does matter.  Acknowledging the presence of others is basic Communication 101.  And because every interaction counts, then it follows that starting the day with a dose of common courtesy is a good thing.  There are no budget cuts on communication, courtesy and feedback.  They are, and always have been, FREE.

‘Courtesy and feedback  between colleagues, especially leaders and their direct reports, are  massively under utilised in the work place.

Those who master the art of setting the scene for a great day from the moment they enter a shared work space are making a terrific contribution to the prevailing culture.

Try it – I challenge you to set a positive tone in your workspace.  Having a good day is a choice, and it can start with a simple ‘good morning’.

For a good discussion on the topic of mood, leadership and contagion see:

http://www.forbes.com/sites/joefolkman/2014/04/02/mood-and-engagement-are-contagious/#5c85e44a7239 

 

 

Hello January my old friend

It’s been a while since I first observed the tribe of January people and longingly gazed at their disciplined approach to their health. Two years have passed since I wrote that blog post. Here’s the update on how life has changed, and which approaches are – finally – delivering the results I’ve craved.

How Football and International Women’s Day spoilt my breakfast…

Faced with the  usual array of invitations for breakfasts and forums to celebrate International Women’s Day, I decided to quietly JUST.NOT.BOTHER this year. Here’s why…

Early morning at the horse yards

sharing this Photo post by @faransilverton.  When you’re passionate about something, really immersed in it, then there is even beauty in a frosty start to the day.  Just gorgeous @faransilverton

Source: Early morning at the horse yards

Career wise, is it time to move along ?

But how best to decide “where to next ?” How many people can declare that they do paid work that they truly love ? You may have options, but they’re not always clearly signposted.

When I see a bumper sticker declaring “I’d rather be sailing”, I die a little bit inside.

Get a system, then use the system, or How to earn your Master of Personal Administration.

When you work in business, it’s tempting to think of the way processes and systems from the corporate world could be applied to your own needs – to make things more efficient, cost effective and just plain easier.

Systems thinking can be applied to your personal life.  You just need to be motivated to consider your requirements, then design a system that will deliver the outcomes you want.  But it doesn’t sound like much fun to issue a purchase order before you authorise yourself to make an online purchase.  It also probably isn’t warranted – because it’s what we’d call an over engineered system in the business arena.

But where the application of systems thinking can pay dividends in our personal lives is in the development of strategies and processes to help  goal achievement.

Because one of my goals is healthier eating, then I need a process to ensure I do some Sunday night food preparation for lunches to take to work.  Of course, the Sunday night prep task has a pre-requisite  – there needs to be enough good food in the fridge and pantry to make those lunches.  So now I have a work flow – which is basically a couple of inter-dependent tasks which will support my goal of healthier eating.  Perform these tasks every Sunday night and you’ve got a process that will soon become a good habit.

Have a goal to change jobs this year ? Then you need to develop the habit of regularly updating your resume. Of course, there’s no point having an updated resume if you can’t find it – so you need a process that ensures you name, date and save your resume documents.  It would be a break down in your process if you submitted an out of date or poorly targeted version.  And all those lovely, professional resumes will serve no purpose if you don’t cultivate the habit of checking on newly advertised jobs.

Now is a good time to apply some systems thinking, (March 31 being the end of the first quarter of 2016) and check how you’re tracking against your goals.  If you don’t have your goals written down, look up at your mood board or visualise your end game and consider – what are the processes that you can regularly perform that will advance you towards your goal ?

There’s another bonus to systems thinking  – because sometimes focusing on the process will create some improvements that make it easier to achieve your goal. Start applying that thinking style often enough and you’re utilising another business concept – continuous improvement.

Before you know it, that much lauded academic credential the MBA might transform into a Master of Personal Administration.  And wouldn’t that be a fabulous honorific to put after our names ?

Interested in taking on your challenges and personal change ? Follow me on Twitter @carlienc

Building a leader’s spine, or why you need to be a self-directed learner

The best leaders I’ve worked with have all been avid readers. Reading is one of the best ways to direct your own learning and advance your career whether you’re a leader, staff member or business owner.

Not all these leaders lined their offices with book shelves, but all of them read widely and – just as importantly – encouraged others to do so.  Some maintained their reading habit in order to stay up to date on new industry trends. All of them satisfied their curiosity and appetite for novelty by reading about topics outside of their core area of expertise. Their self directed learning developed their individual leadership style and they know what they stand for – in other words they have a leadership spine.

So why should you become a self-directed learner ?  Isn’t sitting around reading more for the leisure classes than busy people ?

Let’s look at the benefits of self-directed learning. SDL requires initiative, and it’s beneficial to demonstrate that you’re a self-starter who can achieve their learning goals with negligible costs to the organisation.

Reading saves time – it’s a fast way to acquire new information, especially when compared to attending an off site course. You can read online or buy a book. Better still, use both soft and hard copies of text.  Skimming an online newsletter or book review can be a really efficient way of seeing whether you want to delve more deeply into the content. Try HBR newsletters –  you can get daily or weekly updates and five free articles a month.

As well as this blog there are others that will keep fresh content in front of you on a regular basis – see Womens Agenda for more business blog suggestions.

Still too twitchy to sit and read ?  You can listen to content while driving, walking or commuting to work.  Check out this Forbes Leadership article recommending 5 Podcasts That Will Change the Way You Think 

No budget for the course you want to do next ?  Another benefit is that SDL can be implemented with minimal expense. You can complete top shelf courses for free using Coursera , an education platform that partners with universities to offer courses online for anyone to take. The only time you need to pay is if you want to get the certificate, but that’s optional and based on the courses I’ve done it’s still a very modest fee in any case.

Remember to keep a log of the reading and learning activities you’ve completed, and notes about how you’ve applied the learning to your role, team or project. Setting some learning goals, planning how to achieve them and keeping a journal are also key tools for your SDL endeavours and achievements.

Your personal learning plan might even invigorate your work or open your eyes to a new business opportunity.  Because self-directed learners take complete responsibility and accountability for their learning experience, the homework doesn’t generate any complaints. 

(Or if it does, let me know how you resolve them 🙂 ).

Post a photo of the spines of the leadership tomes you’re currently reading. How would self directed learning enhance your learning outcomes ?  Comments and reading suggestions welcome !

ps…Interested in taking on your challenges and personal change ? Follow me on Twitter @carlienc

ps…ps…..All the resources recommended in this post have been researched by me, and I receive no payment from any of the sources cited.

Failure is just a data point

Can you remember the last time you read something and it really made you stop and think ?   I can.  It was about 10 seconds ago, and it was about failure.

I don’t mean skim reading something and thinking ‘yep, I get that…….’ but rather a big  WHAM, that makes you RE-THINK a concept ?!

Failure is a very relevant topic when dealing with change.  I started off in January with some clear cut goals about adopting healthier eating habits.  And then I headed into Fresh Start February.  All the while anticipating self sabotage, set backs and set ups.  I had my talisman (aka water bottle) to ward off temptation.  So what was the big aha moment ?

To set the scene, I’m a big consumer of information from the social sciences – lots of articles, books and blogs catch my eye.  I see a lot of content with similar themes, sources and back stories.  To come across something that really strikes a chord is less likely when you’re immersed in an area where you already have considerable depth and breadth of knowledge.

But when I read James Clear’s recent email newsletter, his point that……

‘failure is just a data point’ made me do a double take.

We’ve all read that failing is a part of learning and growing, and in business it helps if we can fail fast, and fail forward.  But reducing failure to JUST a data point takes the personal sting out it, and I think it will make it a whole lot easier to take failure ‘professionally’. By professionally, I mean as data about an action. Data that reveals what’s needed from us so that we can achieve our goals.

This approach invites us to think exactly like a scientist or a data analyst, and in doing so then goal achievement is possible – in spite of our human failings.  Isn’t that a relief ?!

Check out James’ article on this topic http://jamesclear.com/failure-scientist

Interested in taking on your challenges and personal change ? Follow me on Twitter @carlienc