Tag Archives: improvement

Three questions for helpful feedback

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It can be daunting, intimidating and downright scary to ask people to give you feedback on your performance. You know you need it, but it seems both time-consuming and full of potential emotional land mines. After all, there are going to be things that are difficult to hear.

Seek regular feedback by asking people three simple questions:

What should I keep doing?

What should I start doing?

What should I stop doing?

While you can ask these in any order, we like starting with what you should keep doing. This reinforces the point that everyone has strengths – and those strengths will be the foundation for building new capabilities and eliminating bad habits.

Make it easier for people to do by giving them the questions in advance, then schedule 20 minutes of their time. Don’t feel like you have to react to what they say real time. You will want to process the feedback. Make sure to thank people for their time, preparation and input.

Once you have received the feedback, use MindTool’s guide to help you interpret what you hear. You’ll not only understand the feedback better, you’ll be able to act on it to improve your performance.

We say feedback is a gift. These three simple questions can yield a treasure of insight you’ll really appreciate.

 

Want to make a step change in your performance? Contact Humanergy.

Photo from iStockphoto.


Are you a Tough Mudder?

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Phil, a fellow Humanergist, just returned from the Tough Mudder challenge held in South Amherst, Ohio. This is billed as “probably the toughest event on the planet.” The Tough Mudder is a 10 to 12 mile obstacle course designed by British Special Forces. Typical obstacles include navigating electric wires dangled above mud pits, swimming through ice water and running over every type of terrain you could imagine (and some you can’t).

It was difficult for me to understand the enthusiasm – even euphoria – that Tough Mudder participants exhibit. Phil summed it up by saying, “It was the best thing I’ve ever done. I overcame fears and erased perceived limitations that I’ve carried for years.”

As a leader, how would your outcomes be impacted if you took your continuous improvement to the extreme? How can you purposefully create situations that confront the fears or self-imposed limitations that are barriers to your full potential?

There are ways to stretch yourself and change profoundly – and these don’t involve mixing water and electricity.

Know yourself on a deeper level. Ask yourself, Am I really living the life I want? What fears hold me back? What self-imposed limitations do I operate within? With this fuller self-awareness, you can design your “Tough Muddler-like” change process. If your job is in sales but your passion is writing, you will only succeed if you link your challenge to what you really love.

Embrace pain. If you haven’t done something difficult in a while, seek out an opportunity to stretch in a way that is uncomfortable. Life-changing evolution involves moving out of your comfort zone. If it doesn’t hurt a little, you’re just tweaking. Learn Spanish in six months to set yourself up for an international assignment. Take leadership of that huge project at work and deliver value in the face of massive uncertainty.

Take yourself off autopilot. Even if you aren’t interested in a mind-blowing, life-changing experience, examine your daily routine and make a change. Either stop doing something that is counterproductive or start a behavior that will get you closer to your goals. Choose something tangible and go after it with a renewed ferocity. If you’ve always thought, “I should be a better communicator,” stop thinking and start doing. Commit to a new behavioral change, tell others and track your progress.

Being a Tough Mudder means approaching every day with zest and tenacity, with a commitment to push past fear and redefine “your best effort.” Sure, you may fail spectacularly. This new bold approach may also enable you to reach heights you’d never dreamed possible.

“Your best is whatever you can do comfortably without having a breakdown” J.R. Moehringer, The Tender Bar

Need help reaching your Tough Mudder potential? contact us

Photo courtesy of istockphoto

 


It really IS all about you

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My mantra for 2012 is “me first.” Self-care is something I struggle with, since I usually define myself as the person who takes care of others. In fact, somewhere deep down, I believe that doing something for myself is selfish.

As difficult as this may be, you do need to prioritize yourself. Otherwise, you will not be as effective in any of your roles in life. If you need some excuses to put you first, here are a few:

You will live longer. Research shows that regular exercise, not smoking, drinking in moderation and eating at least 5 servings of vegetables and fruits a day will add 14 years to your life. (Think you don’t have time to exercise? Hey, you’ve just added 122,640 more hours to your life. You can squeeze it in.)

You won’t be as cranky. Exercise improves your mood. Need I say more?

Your brain will work better. An article in the New York Times promotes physical exercise over “brain exercises” like computer games or sudoku to boost our brains as we age.  In humans, exercise improves what scientists call “executive function,” the set of abilities that allows you to select behavior that’s appropriate to the situation, inhibit inappropriate behavior and focus on the job at hand in spite of distractions. Take a break for a noon workout or come in later, so you can hit the gym. You don’t need a better reason than enhancing that all-important executive function!

You will do more in less time. Corporate fitness programs have been shown to improve productivity. Ironically, the very executives who institute these programs are often the least healthy of the bunch. The excuse? They’re too busy. Your productivity as a leader matters as much as that of your employees. Don’t shirk your responsibility to bring your best self to work each day.

Exercise, eat right and get enough sleep. It sounds simple, yet is profoundly hard for many of us….myself included.

I’m following the Mayo Clinic’s guidelines for fitness, which means at least 150 minutes of moderate aerobic activity — or 75 minutes of vigorous aerobic activity — a week, plus strength training at least twice a week. I’m tracking my food intake, and I’m pausing at the end of each and every day to be thankful. What really makes a difference for me is public accountability. I am connected with a group of dear friends (and friends of friends) on Facebook who are mutually committed to support and kick each other in the behind as needed.

Take the plunge and put you first. Self-care isn’t selfish. It is a wonderful gift to yourself and others.

 

Have needs that Humanergy could fill? Contact us

Photo courtesy of stock.xchng


Coaching: Four essential elements

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cornfieldWhat is coaching? A clear definition is a necessary foundation for success – whether you’re coaching a group of 8-year-old soccer players or a business executive.

Humanergy views coaching as a dialogue that promotes success and development. Coaching is a dialogue because it relies upon the interplay between the coach and coachee. Sorry, no super hero coaches flying in to save the day. But a skilled coach does guide others to produce fantastic results – new/better thinking and behavior and outstanding performance.

What are the essential elements of successful coaching?

Feed. Feed the person with authentic respect and value of their perspective. Feed the strengths by:

  • recognizing successes
  • understanding the mechanics of success (the specific thinking and behaviors that produce it)
  • reinforcing desired practices

Need. Identify the need for improved impact, results and performance. What’s the gap between current impact, results and performance and what is desired or required?

Seed. Seed performance with improved practices. Work with the coachee to grow new thinking and behavior.

Weed. Weed out limiting practices when they are resistant or dangerous. Some thinking and behavior are counter-productive. Develop a plan to eliminate practices that hinder progress and replace them with newly-seeded best practices.

Together, these 4 essential elements are a winning combination for coaching success. If you’re being coached, make sure that all 4 aspects are being covered. If you’re the coach, don’t leave out any of these critical components. After all, coaching is a partnership with mutual responsibility to ensure that feed, need, seed and weed all happen. Agreed?

Have a question or want some input from Humanergy about this topic? Contact us and we’ll get right back to you!


Coaching for great performance

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whistleWith every business feeling the effects of this tough economic climate, effective coaching of your people is critical to give you the edge on the competition. This is true for both helping employees acquire new skills and dealing with performance issues. So, how do you ensure coaching success?

Effective coaching includes alignment, learning and performance.

Ensure Alignment

1) Are you and the performer completely clear about what is expected?

2) Does the performer know how this skill will benefit him/her on the job, as well as in reaching the company goals?

3) Can the performer first observe someone doing this skill well?

Create Learning

4) Has the performer been given “practice” time where mistakes are encouraged to promote learning?

5) Has the performer been given clear and specific feedback about what they are doing well and what needs improvement?

Insist on Performance

6) Once time has been given to learn the skill, is there an evaluation completed by the coach of the performer’s current skill compared to the performance standard?

7) Based on this evaluation, have progressive and targeted next steps been identified that will provide the right oversight by the coach and optimum growth for the performer? Are there clear and specific timelines for when the skill must be acquired?

It is often said that “while you may not find time to do it right, you’ll always find time to do it over.”  If you use these questions as your coaching guide, you’ll get the satisfaction of doing it right the first time. You’ll also save time, money and frustration as you build a competent team.

Have a question or want some input from Humanergy about this topic? Contact us and we’ll get right back to you!