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by Rick Baker
On Feb 9, 2012
Thought Tweet #409 Confidence: what you feel when you believe you have what it takes to do well, or excel at Actions in Situations
The Thinking Behind the Tweet
That's a Spirited Leaders' definition. Like Courage, Confidence is one of Spirited Leaders' Values. Courage and Confidence go hand in hand...with Courage taking the lead.
by Rick Baker
On Dec 16, 2011
Business Contains Only 3 Things: People, Process, & Situations.
When People are doing Processes in Situations - when People are doing business - the business culture can be described as:
- as good as it gets
- good
- satisfactory
- bad
- as bad as it gets
A survey of business people, regular 'normal' folks, confirms:
Given a choice of work culture most people would choose 'as good as it gets' or 'good' or, at least, 'satisfactory'.
I would like to feel comfortable when I am working.
I would like to feel positive about my work environment.
I would like to enjoy my work environment.
I would like to be enthusiastic about my work environment.
I would like to be passionate about my work.
People say things like that.
People do not say things like...
I want to feel uncomfortable when I am at work.
I want my blood pressure to hit all-time highs every single workday.
I get a kick out of arguing with co-workers.
I like it when my boss takes a big strip off my hide...that's the way to keep me on track.
Hating the thought of another workday...that's what turns my crank.
Regardless, many business people struggle in a negative work culture every single workday.
Sometimes the work environment becomes so negative people become toxic. People become poisonous. Some people become infectious. And, sometimes work cultures become unhealthy.
When work environments become unhealthy people have choices:
- complain, which feeds spreads the problem
- be silent, ignoring the unhealthy culture and doing nothing to address it
- depart...either quit or fire people in an effort to ablate the unhealthy parts, much like a surgeon does
- make constructive changes
Constructive Change means Constructive People Change, which means Individual People making Constructive Changes by removing Bad Habits and adding Good Habits. And, it means Individual People sharing stories about and celebrating the arrival and spread of new Good Habits.
Carefully planned new Actions are the keys to change...new Actions are the tonic!
by Rick Baker
On Oct 26, 2011
Focus on doing the right things, not doing things right.
That’s now conventional wisdom.
Focus on the important things rather than the urgent things…‘The 80/20 Rule’ wisdom.
Here’s our take…
Combine all 3:
- Do the right things
- Do things right
- Do less things
When you want to improve the performance of your business, start by asking & answering 9 questions…
An exercise of 9 Questions
People
- What does doing the right things to, for, & with People mean to us?
- What does doing things right to, for, & with People mean to us?
- What can each Person in our business stop doing…right now?
Process
- What does doing the right Processes mean…especially, from our Clients’ shoes?
- What does doing Processes right mean…especially, from our Clients’ shoes?
- What are our Clients telling us we can stop doing…right now?
Situations
- What right things do we need to do to create better Situations for our People?
- What things do our People need to do right when they face potentially-challenging [personally challenging] Situations?
- What Situations must we remove in order to allow our People to feel better?
Those 9 questions… a good start.
by Rick Baker
On Oct 25, 2011
We say Business only contains 3 things: People, Process, & Situations.
We need to clarify what we mean by ‘Situations’.
Situation def’n:
a snapshot of an instant in business life…the people, the ‘props’, and the immediate environment
At Spirited Leaders, we teach:
The right People, of course, are the most-important assets of your business
People create Process
People influence Situations…ideally; the majority of the influence is in the positive direction
Let’s spend a bit of time clarifying that last one: People influence Situations
Example #1: Say you or one of your salespeople show up to a meeting and your Client is there as expected. But, not expected, your Client’s boss is sitting beside your Client. You walked in the room expecting one Situation and, instead, you found another. Everything but one was exactly the same as you expected. The one thing that wasn’t expected – actually, not a thing, a person – was the addition of your Client’s boss. So, the Situation changed. As any good sales school would teach…you need to make an adjustment to accommodate the unexpected Situation.
Example #2: Again, you or one of your people is about to visit that same Client. This time when you arrive everything is as expected except for one small change. Your Client’s office is sweltering hot and the humidity feels like 100%. Same people, different environment…different Situation. Again, you need to make an adjustment to accommodate the unexpected Situation.
Example #3: Like above, except no boss and the room is room temperature. This time there is a power failure so you cannot deliver your presentation on the big screen as planned. A ‘prop’ has changed. Again, you need to adjust.
Or…
- you spilled coffee on your shirt on the way to the Client’s office or
- lightning knocked a tree across the road and that made you late for the meeting or
- you forgot those important papers
- or
- or
It only takes a little thing to change a Situation.
But – and this is good news – a little change in Situation can mean everything!
by Rick Baker
On Oct 14, 2011
Some time ago Man became Man.
We say Business Contains Only 3 Things: People, Process, & Situations.
Using that view…some time ago, a long time ago, People became People.
When that happened, People began to face Situations.
We know some of those Situations must have been awe-inspiring…imagine our ancient ancestors looking up and marvelling at the fullness of the moon and all those twinkling stars.
And, no question, our ancient ancestors faced some really unpleasant and dangerous Situations. Picture the snarling jaws of a Saber-Toothed Tiger…or picture an invading marauder trying to steal your ancestor’s cave.
When your ancestors faced those dangers, your ancestors prevailed….at least they prevailed long enough to allow you to get here.
Your ancestors prevailed because People were blessed with an ‘internal system’. It is a complicated self-protection system…involving chemistry, electricity, the brain, and most other body parts.
Here is how it operated in ancient times. When your ancestors faced danger their ‘internal system’ provided them 3 options:
- Fight
- Flight
- Standing Ground
Depending on the nature of the danger, your ancestors either fought or ran or stood fast in an effort to intimidate the cause of the danger. The ‘internal system’ that our ancestors used still exists in People. We see it in action on the streets and in the places where children sort out their differences. In those places and Situations we see fights, and fleeing, and drawing lines in the sand.
However, in business 2 of these 3 natural actions/reactions are unacceptable.
When confronted by danger [or perceived danger], business People cannot resolve things by beating up on one another or by running away from one another.
However, business People can stand their ground, get defensive, and protect their turf.
We see quite a bit of that.
by Rick Baker
On Sep 27, 2011
OK…you might think that’s true…or you may think it isn’t.
AND – you might think - even if it is true…what difference does that make?
Here’s the point:
Many people are struggling with their work.
I suppose people have said that for generations. But, now, struggling at work seems to be a worse problem than it used to be.
If you do not agree then please do not read on.
***
If you are still reading then you are interested in people struggling at work. Maybe you are a life-long student of self-development and you want to expand your knowledge so you can continue to excel at work…sharpening your saw…keeping your leadership tools up to date and in good working condition]
Maybe you are trying to figure out why your work seems to be less successful than it used to be…and you want some solutions.
Maybe you want to learn so you can help other people struggle less as they go about their work.
***
Back to Business contains only 3 things: People, Process, & Situations.
Q: Is that true?
A: Nobody has proven otherwise…until someone can prove there are more than 3 things we will not change our minds. There is no need to over-complicate things. In fact, the opposite is true: there is a need to simplify things. So, we challenge any over-complication of the content of business. Business contains only 3 things.
Q: OK, only business contains only 3 things – what difference does that make?
A: Since you are still reading, you know people are struggling in business. And, probably, you want to do something to relieve that struggling. One way to begin to relieve business struggling is to clarify and simplify things to the extent that is possible and practical. Do your part to clear the fog of business. Defining the components of business in a simple/straightforward way is the best way to start.
So – Business Contains Only 3 Things: People, Process, & Situations.
You can start with these 3 basic elements of business. You can focus on each one. You can focus on how each of the 3 interrelates with the other 2. Then you can increase your ability to understand the sources of the struggling at work that naturally happens when all 3 basic elements are mixed together in your business workplace.
The more you know about the basic elements of business and how they interrelate the more you will understand the keys to reducing work struggles.
Footnote:
We have approached the topic – What is Business All About? – from several perspectives: psychological, social, and business-bottom-line to name a few.
We have read the education provided by numerous authors. For example, here are some thoughts and excerpts provided by Alvin Toffler in his book, ‘Future Shock’.
Related to what we call the basic elements of business, Toffler described 5 relationship experiences people have, ‘outside of themselves’. Toffler taught, people have only 5 relationship experiences, they are:
- Relationships with people
- Relationships with things
- Relationships with places
- Relationships with institutions and organizations
- Relationships with ideas and information
Quote: "These five relationships -plus time- form the fabric of social experience. This is why, as suggested earlier, things, places, people, organizations and ideas are the basic components of all situations."
This quote provides seeds you can use to help you develop a different perspective of people and the huge impact situations have on people. These are the 2 most-important elements of business and knowledge of and skills around these 2 elements are the foundation for great leadership.
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