Deliberate and Purposeful Practice

I love this quote

"the fight is won or lost far away from the witnesses, behind the lines, in the gym and out there on the road; long before I dance under those lights"

Muhammad Ali

One of the keys to effectiveness and improved performance is to purposefully practice what you want to get better at.  Many people believe they will naturally get better but rapid improvement requires attention and intention.  Think about how hard it would be to learn a language or improve your golf score if you tackled either in an informal way.  So to improve you need to break down the key elements of the skill and focus on practicing  those elements.  One of my clients has wanted to get better at having difficult conversations - We broke the skills into different parts and the area for improvement was managing emotions and scripting the conversations.  I then asked her to think of 10 difficult conversation she has had over the past 12 months and to spend time scripting those conversations.  We went through each script to identify any area for improvements.  The coachee now completes a script prior to every difficult conversation and now we are working on managing her emotions.  Improvement has been made!

So if you want to get better - allocate formal time and practice!!

Creating time for reflection

Late last week I had the pleasure of having a couple of wisdom teeth out and was in recovery for 4 - 5 days over the long weekend. One of the advantages that this time out gave me was to reflect on the first 6 months of the year.  What had been the highlights, the learning experiences, workshops I was proud of, areas for improvement and coaching breakthroughs.  The time to reflect can often seem a luxury but it enabled me to create some space for learning and ideas.  It is often easy when we are busy both personally and professionally to not create the time but it is incredibly beneficial.  Without reflection and attention it is hard to make the mindful, changes we often aspire to.  So how often do you create time for genuine reflection

Multiplier v Diminisher

One of the books I read recently was called multipliers by Liz Wiseman.  The premise of this book is that managers can "multiply" capability and engagement in an organisation or they can do the opposite and therefore known as a diminisher. 

Today I met with a colleague to discuss the book and how it might be implemented into organisations.  In many technically based organisations we often see individuals promoted and operate as a Super Individual Contributor - Rather than just doing their own job they end up trying to do everyone's role within their team often resulting in squashing the engagement, passion and capability of the people who report to them.  Why do they do that?  Again, like an earlier blog it can often be about control - the more I control the more I can cope.  So what are the steps to become a multiplier?  Wiseman talks about 5 key discplines that Multipliers exhibit.

They include:

• Attract & Optimise talent - Do you attract good people or are you losing them.  The best people want to work for the best bosses
• Create intensity that requires best thinking - They create a motivating environment where people are free to think, debate and find the space to do their best work.  They liberate.
• Extend Challenges - They challenge people, groups and generate the belief that it can be done.
• Debate decisions - Drive sound decisions through rigorous debate,
• Instil ownership and accountability - They hold people accountable for their commitments and create an environment where individuals hold themselves accountable.

I liked the model and can see it working well in a technical based organisation as long as work was done in a  coaching sense around helping managers let go of control to enable them to become multipliers.

The Importance of Feedback

As we work with our clients we find many of examples where people struggle to provide feedback.

How will the other person react?  What if they get upset?  I have already told them many times before.

We know that feedback delivered in a constructive way is the cheapest, most powerful, yet, most under used  tool that we have at our disposal. It is is a great way people get on track and it enbales people to build greater self awareness.

Feedback can also be very motivating and energising. It has strong links to employee satisfaction and productivity.

So what stops you from delivering constructive feedback and who is missing out on feedback from you today.  Remember every time you don't give someone feedback you deny them a learning opportunity.  So go on, go and give someone some feedback that you may have been putting off.

andrew@agilityconsulting.com.au