Insight and innovation

What’s Next is What’s Now – More on Leading from the Future

leab — Mon, 13 May 2013 15:28:22 +0000

One of my coaching clients recently recommended that I read the 1987 classic Odessey, by John Sculley – who is famous for succeeding Steve Jobs during the first Apple turnaround. Back in 1987 Sculley implemented ideas that we’re still waking up to today.
His pretext for what I call Leading from the Future (I used to have a blog by that title, and it’s also a subtext of Theory U by Otto Scharmer) is that, because the future is increasingly unpredictable, traditional ‘planning’ can turn out to be a crap shoot.
Once again, the ideas on Leading from the Future are resurfacing in a new book by Douglas Rushkoff called Present Shock: When Everything Happens Now published just this year.
The point of it all is (as Rushkoff’s title hints) that focus on the current moment is the best indicator we have for not only predicting the future – more important, focus on the current moment informs us of what’s possible, where we’re heading, and how to create the future we want.

Here’s a place to start NOW
Sculley is hip to the coaching mantra: Solutions are often obvious once you get the questions right.

He details how part of Apple’s strategic planning process was to ‘project ourselves out into the future and then work backwards to the present’. I’ve personally been using this same technique, in a variation called A Walk Through Time – based on NLP, since 1999 to help teams to start with the future they envision and work their way backwards in time to knit together the pieces of a more cohesive present. Since 2005, with my partner Liz Dallas, we’ve used her Visionary A to B Leadership Model to help leaders and teams work from their Now to future possibility to cohesive strategies. The trick is to shift your attention from Planning for the Future to Leading from the Future. This shift creates the opportunity for insight and the new, more relevant actions that spawn from there. Insight into now is key.

And that’s why I’m such a champion of coaching. The inquiry process that seeks to get the right questions is the mother of all inventions. We no longer have time to invest in scenario and strategic planning that looks forward. Instead, let’s invest in what we do know, our NOW, and ask the right questions…maybe even with the help of a coach?

Bridge Over Troubled Waters: Doing More Great Work means Having Great Relationships

leab — Mon, 22 Apr 2013 15:29:04 +0000

Recently I’ve had a spate of coaching clients who are grappling with relationship issues at work. A painful condition, some of the ramifications of which are: suffering a lack of confidence, being unable to get your point across with traction, demotion or lateral transfer between departments, and feeling isolated. However, the true downside of not having satisfactory (not to mention “great”) working relationships is that my clients are unable to do their own Great Work. A common approach to dealing with this condition is looking through the lens and using the tools of Emotional Intelligence (EI): Understanding competing styles and relationship management. Lately, I’m more convinced than ever that using these tools is not enough. We can do better.

Right now, the field of Neuroscience is enlightening us as to how the brain actually works. The brain is like a machine and the more we know about how it works the better we are able to use it. In particular, the field of Social Cognitive Neuroscience (a blend of how the brain functions and psychology) is giving us information about how to have great relationships in terms of that very Emotional Intelligence popularized by Daniel Goleman in the 1990′s. Now, instead of just managing our Social Intelligence we can actually redirect our brain to function from an entirely different place, the place in the brain most suited for what we’re after.

Bridge Over Troubled Waters
Here we come to where East meets West. In my continuing interest in the advances of Cognitive Neuroscience, as well as research in the field of Organizational Development, I find the crossover to my studies in the Eastern studies of Advait Vedant and the Science of Yog Philosophy to be consistent.

Here is an example of how the brain works through each of the three lenses:

Organizational Development From Immunity to Change by Kegan and Lahey
There are three levels of mind which include Socialized mind – concern about alignment of values, beliefs, feelings (outside authority); Self-Authoring mind – able to take others’ values, beliefs and feelings into account and choose how to relate to them vs. just alignment (internal authority); and Self-transforming mind – able to create new values and beliefs (authoring our own present and future).

Neuroscience From Your Brain at Work by David Rock
Conscious information gathering which can be used for problem solving; Sub-conscious awareness – memories, conditioned responses and habits; The Director mind – the awareness to stand outside of your experience and decide where to send your attention (to which part of your brain).

Eastern Philosophy from Walk on Water by Lea Belair
Identified state – You are identified with your feelings/no choice; You can choose how to relate to your feelings/EI; You have a 360 degree view and can create something entirely new.

Do you see the crossovers?

So how does this relate to having great relationships?
Re-direct your brain’s attention and energy to be the Self-authoring Director
1. Quiet the energy (take a deep breath and relax in your body first) – this is the environment that promotes insight
2. Practice watching the action that is taking place (like a Director) – this makes you faster at being able to change your conditioned response
3. Reflect on what you want instead (focus on patterns and connections, metaphors, and visualize vs. problem solving) – using the right side of your brain because having great relationships is not a problem to be solved but rather a conscious creation in the moment
4. Redirect your attention (brain power) to getting more of what you want – whatever question you ask your brain, your brain will answer it, so directing the brain’s attention is crucial!

Lea Belair is the Author of Walk on Water: How to Make Change Easier and a program leader for Box of Crayons programs such as Do More Great Work.

Beyond Courage – Work less and accomplish more

leab — Mon, 25 Mar 2013 18:00:55 +0000

Back in the day, I used to be a partner in a consulting company whose tagline was: Work less and accomplish more!
I’m still a firm believer in that, especially when it comes to courage.

As I say in my book, Walk on Water – How to Make Change Easier
“Conquering fear means you have a battle with fear and you win. You summon up your courage, whistle a happy tune, and you come through to the other side. My daughter once asked me, “If you are courageous does that mean you aren’t afraid?” I answered, “No, you’re afraid and you do it (whatever it is you are afraid of) anyway.” Being courageous is a wonderful trait but it takes a lot of energy to battle with fear.”

If you want to be a winner in the Work less and accomplish more game, you have to play the energy game.
The point of this game is to decide where you want to place your attention, and therefore where you want to spend your energy.

Again, from the title chapter of the book
The Leap
“Walking on water means rising above your fears by not giving them attention and energy. This means you don’t have to act in the face of fear, win a battle, or make the fears go away. The fear can still be there, totally intact, but you do not identify with the fear! As the observer of the fear you are separate from the fear and you can choose to put your attention on something other than the fear. When you take action from here, the action will be more effective because you’re not using up your energy dealing with the fear.
Take the example of the way race car drivers are trained: They fear “hitting the wall” on a treacherous curve. If they focus on the wall, that’s where the race car will wind up. So they are taught to focus on a spot ahead of the curve, ahead of the wall, and that’s where the race car goes. Focus on the future you want, not the fear that is keeping you from getting there.”

Beyond courage is an evolutionary step to your own freedom. You can have more time and more energy, depending on where you decide to put your attention. Put your attention on what you want vs. what you don’t want! Create a new habit for this and you will definitely be working less and accomplishing more.

Which coaching modality is best for me – phone or face-to-face?

leab — Wed, 27 Feb 2013 16:29:01 +0000

phone coaching and the brain

It’s a common question, “Is phone coaching as effective as in-person coaching, email coaching, or texting?”
Often my new coaching clients will specifically request face-to-face, or in-person coaching, preferring it to phone or virtual coaching.
As a professional coach of 13+ years, I have come to value phone coaching as the best option in most cases. And, I also set up an initial face-to-face for our first coaching session if possible (local). The verdict is still out on texting and email, although I do use them in combination with other coaching modalities.

If you have been wondering about the effectiveness of phone coaching as compared to face-to-face coaching, you will be interested in the following research findings…

According to research on cognitive behavior and applied to coaching, ReciproCoach (a peer coaching and mentoring company) reports:
1. Phone coaching can be equally effective as face-to-face coaching.
2. Older clients, and, potentially, more ‘intense’ clients, may do better with face-to-face coaching.
3. Compared to face-to-face coaching, phone coaching can achieve outcomes in fewer and shorter sessions.
4. It might be beneficial to begin the phone coaching relationship with a face-to-face session.
5. It costs less to provide phone coaching, so you can also charge less, making coaching more accessible.
6. Phone coaching could assist clients in adhering to a coaching program, so if they are delaying/putting off sessions, it might be worth suggesting shorter, and perhaps more frequent, phone sessions.

If well trained, your professional coach can consciously hear more on the phone, and both you and your coach will be more present in the moment!

How to do more great work: When will you die?

leab — Tue, 29 Jan 2013 14:42:19 +0000

At the Coaching Center of Vermont we work and play with people who want to Do More Great Work.

Sometimes I hear people tell me they are too busy to find the time to do more, or even any great work.
They say, “Look at all this stuff I have to do today. I don’t have any time left.”

Now that’s a provocative statement: “I don’t have any time left”.
I would say, that depends on how you look at it…
Watch this video to see how much time you really have left and to help decide how you want to use it!
PS It’s already the end of January

Lea Belair and the Coaching Center of Vermont are licensed to deliver Do More Great Work and other Box of Crayons programs.

Wishing you a Happy New Year!

leab — Fri, 28 Dec 2012 15:39:11 +0000

New Year’s Message
A useful distinction for you this year:
Advice - When asked for, can be very helpful to those who value your experience.
Coaching – When asked for, can be the vehicle for making a shift in how we look at the world and ourselves.
Wisdom - Often not asked for explicitly, given as a gift when someone is ready to transcend from the ordinary to the universal.

Thanks for your support and interest this year and we look forward to engaging again in 2013!

How to be an ‘influencer’ – Use the mind as an instrument

leab — Fri, 23 Nov 2012 19:28:03 +0000

One of the tenets I like to point out in coaching is that you are in charge/in control of one thing and one thing only. That one thing is not another person or a situation. It is, quite simply, yourself. In Emotional Intelligence training we like to say that Self Awareness is the precursor to Self Management. Therefore, one of the most powerful skills you can have as the influencer of a situation is the ability to perceive and steer your own mind.

The first awareness lesson is to know that you are not the mind.
“You” are the one who can watch the mind and direct the mind.
This knowledge, in itself, is very liberating. And it is extremely valuable if you want to be able to influence others.
It’s an ongoing study to watch how the mind works, knowing that the mind is only an instrument, and that it will do what you ask it to do.
There’s a lot of neuroscience I’m not going to get into here that plays into the subtleties of how the mind acts and reacts. For today’s post let’s just say that intentionality is a key component to success as an influencer, vs. acting from conditioned thinking or reacting without thinking.

The second awareness lesson is to know how to use the mind.
Here is an experiment you can try:
Since we know that the mind will answer any question put to it, try asking the person you want to influence the question you want their mind to work on. The key to figuring out what question is most worth answering is, “What is the key driver that is behind the presenting opportunity, urgency or challenge?” What does the person you are asking really need to move forward? If someone asks me, “Why were you late?”, they probably don’t want to know all the reasons why I was late. Instead, the better question is, “What helps you to be on time?” or even “What might make it worth it for you to be on time next time?”

Use the mind as the fine instrument it is, with intentionality. Be insightful over being clever. The mind can be used to unfold each moment like a flower, getting to the essence of what’s needed instead of moving past each moment in search of the first visible goal.

To find out more about using Awareness Techniques, read Walk on Water: How to Make Change Easier by Lea Belair, available at Amazon.com

To make change easier – Make it feel safe

leab — Thu, 25 Oct 2012 19:08:27 +0000

What’s the coach approach to this state of the art training tool?

Just getting ready to deliver another ChangeCycle(tm) training, and I’m reminded how important it is to use your change tools early and often if you want to have an organization or team that is resilient in change. People usually nod their head enthusiastically when they hear that the most important part of change is to make it feel safe – but they rarely take action on that knowledge early in the process. Good example: President Obama defaulted to using the word ‘safe’ repeatedly by the time he got to the third presidential debate, and Governor Romney defaulted to playing it safe. But I digress.

The most important thing I learned, when studying to become a facilitator for the ChangeCycle(tm) training is that no matter whether a change is good or bad, the mind reacts the same way…in neuroscience layman’s terms, your lizard (primitive) brain takes over and yells STOP! In order to get to the part where you can use your reasoning skills, you first have to overcome this instinctual response. And the next most important thing I’ve learned about the process is you can’t do it too soon or too often.

So when we work with groups using this training tool, the primary thing we do is to establish rapport = real rapport, meaning trust, no matter how long it takes – maybe even half the training day! Because learning about change and practicing new change tools can be darn irritating. You can’t do it too early or too often. And seeing safety in change modeled is the best training there is to make change easier.

Whats in your change toolbox?

A professional coach is like a pitbull who asks questions (not!)

leab — Thu, 27 Sep 2012 15:00:02 +0000

From “Coaching Soup for the Cartoon Soul”

Yikes! I’m still surprised at how divergent the views are on what a professional coach is, and what you can expect regarding the results from a professional coaching relationship vs. hiring a consultant for a consulting relationship.

Since I have been a certifying agent for both ‘coaching school certification’ and ‘professional coaching credentialing’ as well as a consultant, I can assure you there are clear distinctions between hiring a coach and hiring a consultant – and these distinctions are important considerations if you are thinking of buying coaching for yourself or someone in your organization.

To put it in a nutshell, a coach partners with the client on their (the clients’) agenda for the purpose of unfolding their personal and professional development; a consultant provides expertise and answers, and guides or leads the client to attain a specific result or results as outlined by the consultant/expert or the hiring firm.

Here are the credentialing guidelines for coaching right from the International Coach Federation (ICF) website – well worth reading.

The question to ask yourself in making the distinction on who to hire is: Is your goal to develop or to problem solve? In coaching, we say the result is the byproduct (of the process).

When you hire a professional coach from the Coaching Center of Vermont, rest assured your coach underwent a rigorous training program that upholds the professional standards of the coaching profession.

“Magic Eyes” – A skill that can be learned to make innovation easy

leab — Thu, 16 Aug 2012 11:59:41 +0000

In a recent article, “The Magic Eyes(R) of Innovation: Ontological implications 1″, author Bruce Vojak makes a case for innovation as the discovery of a hidden/underlying reality vs. an imposition of will. As a member of the Chaordic Solutions forum on LinkedIn, I get access to a series of articles like this and the innovators who study change and post. I thought you might enjoy reading my response to Mr. Vojak’s article, which also received some feedback skeptical to his proposition.

On August 16, Lea Belair wrote…
An interesting connection to your excellent essay:
In The Power of Habit, Duhigg writes that in order to cause widespread shifts (read innovate) “Identifying keystone habits [is key to] creating new structures”. He shares several provocative stories of how innovators used their magic eyes (to use your term), to set off a chain of events that led to massive innovation. Example: Paul O’Neill, in taking charge of Alcoa (1987), identified ‘safety’ as a keystone habit around which other habits could change – thus changing the entire culture of Alcoa. The key to innovating and spreading the innovation was: “…leveraging tiny advantages into patterns that convince people that bigger achievements are within reach.”
And yes, of course, the real key to the innovation is having the ‘magic eyes’ to be able to see the pattern/keystone habit.

As someone who has studied meditation and advait vedant for almost 30 years, I know that developing the ability to see through ‘magic eyes’ is a skill that can be learned. There is definitely an underlying reality and one can learn how to discern it.
*******

I have been using the technique that Vojak describes as ‘magic eyes’ in coaching and teaching others how to do it since 1995. Not coincidentally, this skill was identified by Thomas Leonard and labelled Hones in on what’s most important, as well as by Michael Bungay Stanier who refers to it as Blue Card Coaching. The point is, similar to the example in Mr. Vojak’s article – that Michelangelo was able to see the sculpture/form that wanted to emerge from a blank piece of marble/formless. And, also not coincidentally, I specifically remember reading about that in The Agony and the Ecstasy, when it came out in 1961 (before I ever heard of meditation and advait vedant, and before coaching became a profession). You can learn how to do it, and you can learn how to use it to innovate your work and your life.