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EVOLUTION
DIGEST 2010
Website blog
Introduction
Hello! It’s my pleasure to gift you this ebook of my recent blogs
packed with leadership tools, strategies and mindsets. Make it
an amazing 2011!
Kindest Regards ,
Contents
Sun or WInd? Using Positivity to Lead
Proactive Teamwork
Momentum? - No Problem!
The Plug
SUN OR WIND - USING POSITIVITY TO!LEAD
post follow u
The Wind and The Sun were having a disagreement over the effectiveness of their
chosen leadership styles so The Wind challenged the The Sun to a leadership duel....
"See that person with the winter jacket on?" .." I will make them take their jacket off".!
The Wind blew and the person drew their jacket closer to them to stay warm.!
The Wind blew harder and person crossed their arms to hold the jacket tighter
The Wind blew and blew even more and the person simply held the jacket even more
tightly
The Sun shone it's warm rays on the person and they soon took their jacket off.
Well the answer to the Point and Benefit of the situation are variable depending on who
you are wishing to influence. I am writing this to you so I am going to say that...
The Point of this story is that The Sun was able create change easily and effectively
using "positive benefits" whereas the The Wind used "force" and was so ineffective that
The Benefit for you is that artful Humanistic Encouraging leadership styles will create
!
Action
1) With whom are you using Wind and how could you use Sun to positively influence that
person/team's behaviour?
With thanks to "Mrs Chips" from the film "Mr Chips" for the story which she used to
influence the headmaster to change his method of dealing with bullies in the school.
Kind Regards
Adrian
PS The other point and benefit of this story is that using stories to influence is a highly
effective leadership skill and should be used liberally - people love listening to stories!
My next email will show exactly how to use stories effectively and the leadership
Stories enable people to make sense of a situation and allows them to formulate
solutions. Stories allow people to remove themselves from the emotion of their current
What is a story?
Anything that 'represents' the real-life situation. A story can be a narrative (as in a
description of what happened, like the Sun and the Wind* story from my last email- see
end of this email) or an example (as in "the sales system we use is just like a series of
A Narrative!
1) Tell the story - e.g. the Sun and Wind story below
2) Tell them the point of the story! (so the sun was able to influence quick change by
3) Tell them the benefit to them of doing the point (so you could influence your team by
!
An Example
1)! Describe the Current Situation - The sales system we use is just like a series of lakes
connected by rivers and at the moment we are filling up the top lake well but the flow
to the downhill lakes isn't as strong as it should be and the lower lakes are only half full.
2)! Describe the Desired Situation - I'd like to see full lakes and a strong steady flow
3) Actions - either tell them the solution - I'd like to see the rivers dredged to allow
the water to flow well, in other words we need to improve our conversion rate at each
stage of the sales process and here is how we are going to do that……………..
- or ask them for input and solutions! - "I'd like to hear your thoughts on what you
think is causing the problem with! the rivers and how we could overcome that"
When you get used to using stories, make the story come alive more by connecting to
the senses of touch, smell, sight, hearing and taste. For instance, "the top lake is crystal
clear, good enough to drink but the lakes at the bottom are starting to grow mangled
weeds and are getting that swampy smell about them" - this way people get a real
emotional response to the example and understand more about what is happening.
The Wind and The Sun were having a disagreement over the effectiveness of their
chosen leadership styles so The Wind challenged the The Sun to a leadership duel....
"See that person with the winter jacket on?" .." I will make them take their jacket off".!
The Wind blew and the person drew their jacket closer to them to stay warm.!
The Wind blew harder and person crossed their arms to hold the jacket tighter
The Wind blew and blew even more and the person simply held the jacket even more
tightly.
The Sun shone it's warm rays on the person and they soon took their jacket off.
Kind Regards
Adrian
HOW TO PRESENT INFORMATION!EFFECTIVELY
In my last blog I explained the power of using stories to communicate concepts and
If you ever need to present information (that's all of us)! 4-mat will make it much easier
4-mat is a process that requires the following questions to be answered in the following
order
Why?
What?
How?
These are the "virtual questions" that exist in peoples minds and when these questions
are answered in this order people listen, understand and take action.
What if/What else? - Add possibility (very situational) such as additional detail
!
This process can be used in presentations, proposals, coaching and training sessions,
4-mat was created by Bernice Mcarthy and I use it to design all my training sessions and
communications.
Kind Regards
Adrian
SELL THE PANEL VAN - FUTURE FOCUS YOUR!TEAM
post follow up
!
Decisions based on the past repeat the past ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! !
Beliefs
Our perception of what will "happen next" is determined by our beliefs about past
patterns and we use this perception to make decisions about the future.
Being an expert recogniser of patterns is useful in situations that you have no influence
It is not so useful if you wish to create your future because it is a reactive approach.
If you and your team are making decisions based on beliefs about the past you will
merely recreate the past. (By the way, if the past was successful the future may not be,
as things have changed and old methods are no longer relevant, it would be a bit like
Values
If you and your team wish to create a new, more successful future then be pro-active
To be pro-active in your thinking and decision making you need to focus on Values
Values are adjectives (descriptive words) that describe how a team needs to BE if it is to
think and behave in a way that will lead it towards its VIsion.
For instance I recently worked with a team to guide them in defining their future values.
These values are now successfully guiding their decision making and actions as they
The benefit to the team leader is that they will see more pro-active actions from the
team, less dependency, more creative solutions and improved bottom line.
2) The Vision - What the team needs to achieve and look like in the immediate, mid-
3) The Values - What guiding ways of Being does the team need in order to create
4) Change your systems and procedures to support the new desired behaviours - this is
where most teams and businesses fail, they forget to do this bit. How will you
remember?
Kind Regards
Adrian
IF YOU ARE NOT SURE WHAT TO!DO
Kind Regards
Adrian
KEVIN AND PIM - LEADERSHIP!LESSONS
!
So it's been a tumultuous few days in Australian leadership circles. Kevin is now Julia and
Pim is no more.
particularly successful - even if they were, it's all about perception. Pim will be
and Kevin will be remembered for maybe saving us from the worst of the GFC, some
expensive classrooms and trying really hard to make significant social change. It's
frustrating that neither leader was able to successfully implement their vision.
So I wonder what they could have done differently and what lessons are there for all of
Kevin
Media told us that Kevin's staff worked massively long hours and turned over at an
alarming rate. It was also said that he didn't really have a cabinet as his level of
consultation with them was so low. He told them what to do and disowned the result
Solution - Consult then Inspire then Delegate then Coach to a successful result.
Pim
Pim would have been held in high regard had the socceroos qualified for the next round
but his tactics against the German's were flawed in that he appeared to have no plan B.
Plan A (according to a well known team member's perception) was to hold the Germans
until 30 minutes to go then throw on Harry, Mark and Brett and get a goal. The German's
scored early and there was no plan B, Australia lost 4-0 and we went out on goal
difference.!
Lesson - Don't lose control of the outcome by having a plan that can be controlled by
other parties.
Solution - Explain Plan A so it can be executed successfully. Design and explain Plan B! so
it can be switched to easily if need be. Alternatively do the Kevin solution and involve
Teams who are involved in designing Plans A and B implement them with inspiration and
gusto!
Actions
1) !Join the conversation on what these leaders could have done differently to be more
2) !If you'd like to know more about how you can increase your consultative skills and
leadership success please feel free to get in touch for a totally 110% obligation free
Kind Regards
Adrian
HOW TO TURN YOUR GREAT IDEAS INTO!REALITY.
!
Let's say you have had a great idea that will change things for the better in your
workplace.
Let's say you are passionate about the benefits of the great idea but concerned about
1) Have the guts to stand alone and not back down in the face of ridicule, threats or
2) Make your idea easy to follow - Make your idea crystal clear and obviously beneficial
3) "Embrace" your first follower as an equal. In many ways they are being even more
courageous than you are. Congratulations, you have a follower. You have been
4) Support your follower and they will invite other followers to join
5) Ensure that the movement is public and the followers can be seen. New followers will
emulate current followers, not the leader. The tipping point will be reached and you will
have a movement.
6) It will no longer be risky for the others to become followers and your movement will
become complete.!
Note: Also look for opportunities to become the first follower of a good idea, the first
It's outside the corporate sector but illustrates the point !(there is sound)!Credit to
Actions
2) !If you'd like to know more about how you can create a movement and get your great
ideas over the line, get in contact for a totally 110% obligation free conversation. I may
Kind Regards
Adrian
EMPOWER AND GET ON - WHY DON'T THEY DO IT ? IT'S
OBVIOUS.....ISN'T IT!?
!
Have you ever wondered why your team members don't do what you think is obviously
required?
Have you ever said to yourself "Do I have to tell them to do everything?"
Do you ever get tired of having to initiate all the major actions from your team?
If you answered yes to at least one of these questions then you may need a vacuum, a
leadership vacuum.
At the moment your team are at some level 'dependent' on you. They will not show
initiative because either their reticular activating systems (the 'radars' in their minds)
are just not seeing what needs to be done or/and they don't want to take any risks
because they believe they will be 'punished' in some way if it goes wrong.
If you are dominating the leadership space then you are shutting out the contributions of
your team, you need to some extent 'remove' yourself from the leadership space and
1 - Use a coaching process such as the GROW model - question your team members and
2 - Present your team with a question and leave them alone to come up with the
3 - Give them key values to operate within instead of rules e.g. the values of 'creativity'
and 'profitability' will set your teams reticular activating system to notice opportunities
to create profit.
4 - Encourage your team to try new ideas and if they aren't executed perfectly (the
ideas, not your team members!) then coach them to a better result. Don't criticise
them, especially in public, if you want them to have another go ever again. Also, here's
5 - Ultimately, a leader needs to create a team that notices what needs to be done and
gets on with it so the leader can get on. Download my book chapter on how to achieve
this here
Kind Regards
Adrian
SPIRAL YOUR INFLUENCE!SUCCESS!
So after an uneventful election campaign we now have a very interesting situation. Right
now Julia and Tony will be working hard to influence the independent candidates to
come over to their side. I wonder how artfully they are influencing? !
As a leader yourself you need to influence others successfully - your team, your peers,
those you report to and possibly your suppliers and customers. If you'd like to be more
2. Wants - high order 'needs' such as comfort or status (some would say these are fear
based).
3. Values.
Too often leaders focus on 1 and 2 whereas number 3, Values is where a lot of the action
is at. Values are ways of 'being' that are important to people and if, for instance, the
project we would like them to get involved in matches their current key value, then
Dr Clare W.Graves developed a model to understand the key values we have at various
stages of our lives, or indeed the stages of our evolution in a certain situation (such as
our lives, a relationship, a work project).! He believes there are 8 value stages and that
So, when influencing a group, make sure your message influences all four of the these
value types, when influencing an individual then notice what values are valued by them
!Example
!! Build on your current success without jeopardising what you have already achieved
Is this manipulative? Like all communication tools, the answer to this is in the intention
of the user. If the intention is positive for all and the value used is true (e.g. yes, you
will be able to help others with this project) then it is inspirational, not manipulative.
Surprisingly, only a few high level executives I meet are truly excellent at expressing
This makes it hard for their people to deliver if they are all aiming at a different
A business or team with an ambiguous Vision is a bit like riding the dodgems at the fair,
everyone's trying really hard but they are just going round in circles, getting in each
others way
An effective Vision refers to a picture of the future towards which the company shall
strive and, according to John P. Kotter of Harvard University, has six key elements.!
5 Flexible ! ! ! !6 Communicable
Which of the six areas are you strong on, and which do you need to improve? If you are
not sure I recommend you ask your team individually for their understanding of the
vision. You will find out some fascinating information and have some really useful
conversations.
You want the organisation to succeed so you and your team work hard and late to
There is a cost though. Your team's energy is depleted, other tasks don't get done
(usually yours), the stress levels are very high and thats just in the short term.
In the long term, your team doesn't get to complete its own projects, people burn out,
The solution is the shift from reactivity to proactivity. Instead of reacting to the urgent
them so that you know what is occurring now and what each area is aiming to achieve in
the future. That way you can anticipate the demands on your team and plan accordingly,
influence the success of other's projects through your expert knowledge and deliver that
success in a manner that means your team are energised and inspired by the experience.
Metaphor time - It's just like trees growing in the forests, they don't grow independently,
they actually need each other and they!are connected by the Mycelium (fungal strands)
in the soil. Incredibly, the trees use this mycelium network to exchange nutrients and
1) grow the strands between your team and other teams in the organisation at multiple
levels and
2) effectively communicate that you wish to be involved earlier in projects that will
effect your team, that way you will deliver more effectively on their needs and help
You will then experience the nutrient exchange and your own team's projects will
This also applies to you if your team is customer facing, the more embedded and
connected with your customer you are, the more proactive you can be.
If you are curious to know more about mycelium - nature's internet - then make time to
watch "6 ways mushrooms can save the world" 18 minute video here.
Kind Regards
Adrian
CREATIVITY IS THE NEW!INFORMATION
The information age is over. The sun has officially set (at least in the developed world).
Everyone with access to an internet connection can find out anything they need to know
The new age is the creativity age. Those with the ability to take the information, twist it
through the ringer of opportunity and bring something new into the world are this
decade's sunrise.! I recently heard a great quote courtesy of Katherine Allen of The
Writers Studio who defines creativity as the "dance between structure and imagination".
How good is that? With solid structure the imagination can be captured and translated
Successful future businesses, teams and individuals will be those whose can spot the
opportunity fastest and combine their imagination and structure to create wonderfully
effective solutions. So how successful are your team at creating brilliant solutions and
how successful are you at leading your team to create brilliant solutions?
" Ensure your team has a good mix of structural and imaginative people and they
" Train the imaginatives to use structure and the structuralists to use their
imagination
" Use the GROW coaching model and spend solid time on the Options section - ask
for safe ideas, good ideas, cool ideas, wild ideas, effective ideas, cheap ideas...
" Take your team into environments that display creativity as well as the key
better with clients, take your team on a walk across (or over) a great bridge like
the Sydney harbour bridge, finish up in a place where you can still see the bridge
and ask 1) what are the key attributes of the bridge that means the north can
communicate with the south so effectively. 2) Use those attributes to ask how we
!There are infinitesimal ways to grow creativity in yourself and others, just dance
between structure and imagination and you will find the answers for you and your team.
Kind Regards
Adrian
MOMENTUM? NO!PROBLEM!
John C Maxwell says “Managers solve problems. Leaders create momentum”. When we
slow down to solve a problem, more often than not when we solve it, we notice other
problems appear (inevitably smaller and more numerous). When we create momentum,
It’s like driving on a corrugated country dirt road. If you drive too slowly it is noisy,
dusty, uncomfortable and! over time your vehicle will suffer damage. If you drive a little
faster, you will cruise over the corrugations so you will reach your destination in good
time and have a quiet, clean, comfortable journey with a fully functioning vehicle,
" Focus your team on their purpose, vision and values - you will have less problems
arise anyway and if they do, your empowered team will handle it and you can get
on with leading.
" Make a habit of making wise decisions and then implementing swiftly rather than
" If a challenge arises that some may call a problem, coach your team! to use it as
an opportunity. “So whilst this situation may not at first appear ideal, I’d be
" Set and/or co-create exciting and inspirational stretch goals with your team.
" When coaching the goal ask questions that highlight the result of achieving it,
such as! “how will you feel when this is achieved?” or “What will achieving this
adequate ones - remarkably there will be less problems and more momentum.
" Encourage and demonstrate positive language. For example “Notice the
customer’s decision making process” rather than “Watch out for the customer’s
objections”.
" When doing check-ins on projects ask questions like “Whats working?” and “What
Kind Regards
Adrian
GET YOURSELF CONNECTED
I am currently in India combining some conference dates with a family vacation. This
country is changing at a massive rate. Last time I was here a few years ago we took a
train trip and the platform hawkers were selling wooden rolling pins, this time their
wares included usb memory sticks!!Further proof of this exponential shift in India's
development came last week when I was standing listening to a blind beggar singing a
beautiful song on the pavement in Darjeeling market. He was sadly dirty and dishevelled
with a few fingers missing. I loved his singing so much that I put a few notes into his
good hand and pressed record on my portable digital audio recorder so my children
could hear his voice later. The digital recorder attracted much attention from passers by
and soon there was a sizeable crowd listening to the blind beggar. All of a sudden, in mid
song, there was the loud sound of a ringtone to be heard through the blind beggars voice
and to everyone's amusement he reached into the breast pocket of his old jacket, pulled
This unexpected turn of events created much laughter from the crowd and a broad smile
from the blind beggar! One of the key reasons that India is developing so quickly is that
the vast majority of Indians (even the 'poor') can afford a mobile phone. The plans
(domestic and international) are also extraordinarily cheap. This is is very smart of the
India to provide it's population with the Chance To communicate easily - it's one of the
1 - Want To (desire)
2 - How To (skill)
3 - Chance To (opportunity)
So, how well Connected are you and the team you lead? This could be in terms of
technology but also consider the culture you are creating and how this either enables or
restricts the Chance of your team sharing information with each other, with other teams
Kind Regards
Adrian
GRATITUDE IS THE!KEY
Position Vacant?
$3 a day for making 2000 incense sticks in 10 hours. Half a day a week off, sit on the
Any takers? I thought not. I was recently in the city of Mysore in India and watched an
older lady making incense sticks. She was squatting on the floor at the back of an
incense shop, rolling the sticks on a small black stone table. She didn't look up. On
further enquiry I discovered the above information about her work life. $3 in India buys
around 15 decent sized cups of tea, so in Australian terms that is $45 per day, $4.50 per
So my New Years resolution is to be grateful for what I have. That way it is more likely
to stick around. I will also be more grateful for what I ask for before I receive it, that
Have a great 2011 and let's all be more grateful, that way we will all be more successful,
happier and get along even more famously!
Kind Regards
Adrian
THE PLUG
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