The Winds of Change
What is your one, meaningful change?
The election of Barack Obama as the next US president symbolises
how potent change can be. Yet we often fear change, as it moves
us out of the familiar and closer to the unexpected.
However, change is the one constant aspect in our lives, a force that
can improve our lives if we are willing to work creatively with it
rather than running from it. The possibilities we hold are enormous.
When we have the courage to seize on one specific, meaningful
change that can infuse our lives with a sense of purpose, passion and
zest, then transformation occurs.
Globally, we are poised at a moment of change. The world economy
is grappling with the dire need to move away from policies and
processes that jeopardise economies, natural resources and
employees in the pursuit of short-term profits. A sustainable,
holistic and long-term solution is urgently required. Breakthroughs
rise from the ashes of breakdowns.
At times such large-scale change can touch our lives deeply and at
other moments it can seem quite remote. As human beings,
connected into a global system, the present situation offers us a
moment to consider how we can create changes in our working lives
– and in our private lives – that are holistic and sustainable.
(Continued below)
Free E-Course: Bringing Out Your Best Self
Are you living up to your full potential?
At Lamont, our passion is bringing out the best in business and
supporting it to become a force for good in the world. We know that
extraordinary business success is built on extraordinary employees.
We want you to succeed, to be the very best you can be. So, we are
offering you a one-month e-coaching programme to tap into your
creativity and unleash your potential. You will receive an
introductory email and a short, e-coaching email once a week
throughout December.
Email us by November 30th and we will enrol you on our free course.
The Winds of Change (Continued from above)
Hasty, knee-jerk remedies often make the situation worse. What
is required is a wider perspective, one that taps into our deeper
sense of creativity, of knowing and of connection to our families,
our colleagues and our communities.
We often begin the New Year with a series of resolutions, of
changes we want to make – many of them predictable reactions to
the excesses of Christmas! – that are short lived. To support you
making one meaningful, passionate change, we are inviting our
readers to take part in a free, one month e-coaching programme
Bringing Out Your Best Self. (See above for more details.)
Thriving in Tough Times
Breakfast Seminar
Full of fun, our breakfast seminar on October 30th dealt with the
serious question of how to thrive in the current climate.
Participants from multinationals, SMEs and local government
bodies braved the ice and snow to arrive at 7.30am at the Hilton
Bracknell for a very lively two-hour programme.
The credit crunch is the opportunity to start doing things
differently. The temptation for many companies at present is to
react in a hasty manner, cutting salaries, increasing workloads and
creating unsustainable pressures to ‘work harder’. All this
dampens motivation, generates fear and results in mundane
performance and lack of engagement. The so-called remedies
actually make the situation worse as research shows that costcutting
measures are not sustainable.
Our purpose was to demonstrate some practical tools for upping
performance and engagement. The participants learnt how to use
three of the Tools — Celebration (April 2008 newsletter), Listening
(January 2008 newsletter) and Stillness (Dec 2007 newsletter) — to
develop high-performing, highly engaged teams.
When a company knows how to bring out the best in its people,
tap into their inner strengths and release those resources into the
business, performance goes up dramatically. Creativity,
innovation, solutions and enthusiasm emerge from people and
translate into increased turnover, increased profit, increased
productivity and increased engagement.
The next Breakfast Seminar is: Jan 27th at the Hilton Bracknell.
Book by Dec 20th and get £15 off the £65 fee.
Three-Stage Visioning
Featured before and well worth revisiting, this activity is invaluable for
helping us achieve any goal and for becoming aware of the progress we are
making to achieve that goal.
- Write down your vision of what it is that you want; write it with no holds barred. At the end, write down how you will be feeling when you achieve your vision. For example:
“My Vision: We have a healthy cashflow with increased sales. I’m feeling confident and happy”
- Write down your present reality; write it honestly. At the end, write down what you are feeling.
“Present Reality: Our cashflow is very tight. I’m feeling anxious and irritable”
- Repeat this activity each day, writing your vision and your reality and each morning write down ‘What is better today’. So, for example:
“What is better today: Have a clear strategy. I understand the current figures. Contingency plans in place.”
Repeat the 3-part activity each day. Remember to include your feelings
when describing your vision and your reality because it is your feelings
that drive your actions to achieve your vision. Each day note and
appreciate what is getting better.
Of course, vision doesn’t equate to cash, but we always have a default
vision. If it’s a negative one, it negatively colours not only our feelings
but also our actions. A clear, positive vision energises our feelings and
actions, and moves us towards our desired outcome.
Story: Try Something Different
Are you thinking creatively enough?
I'm sitting in a quiet room at the Milcroft Inn, and I'm listening to the desperate
sounds of a life-or-death struggle going on a few feet away. There's a small fly
burning out the last of its short life's energies in a futile attempt to fly through
the glass of the windowpane. The whining wings tell the poignant story of the
fly's strategy: Try harder. But it's not working.
The frenzied effort offers no hope for survival. Ironically, the struggle is part of
the trap. It is impossible for the fly to try hard enough to succeed at breaking
through the glass. Nevertheless, this little insect has staked its life on reaching
its goal through raw effort and determination. This fly is doomed.
Across the room, ten steps away, the door is open. Ten seconds of flying time
and this small creature could reach the outside world it seeks. With only a
fraction of the effort, it could be free of this self-imposed trap. The
breakthrough possibility is there. It would be so easy.
Why doesn't the fly try another approach, something dramatically different?
What logic is there in continuing until death to seek a breakthrough with more
of the same?
Trying harder isn't necessarily the solution to achieving more. It may not offer
any real promise for getting what you want out of life. Sometimes, in fact, it's
a big part of the problem. If you stake your hopes for a breakthrough on trying
harder than ever, you may kill your chances for success.
Price Pritchett, Chicken Soup For The Soul, 1993
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