Executive Wisdom Times: The Newsletter No.53
February 2009
A monthly newsletter about business, strategy, people, purpose and processes based on the popular articles, interviews and workshops conducted by Ric Willmot, FAIM MIMC.
© 2009 Ric Willmot. All Rights Reserved. You are encouraged to share the contents with others with appropriate attribution. Recommend your colleagues subscribe.
The Executive Wisdom Times is in four sections this month:
- Ponderances - Communication?
- The human condition - How to overcome resistance to change
- Developmental Opportunities
- Ric's Rant - Don't read this unless you are willing to be ticked-off
Ponderances - Communication?
If you don't think face-to-face communication, complete with all of its non-verbal behaviour is critical in influencing others; think about why people who use mobile phones are usually screaming into them, far above normal conversation levels - and making utterly irrelevant gestures with their hands!
At the turn of the 20th Century, the average life span was somewhere in the 40s. Today, it's in the 70s. Think of how much more time you've been granted to contribute to, and enjoy life. Are you making use of it? Have you taken some of that time to have a discussion with your partner, your children, your parents, your friends?
If you're hit with a tough question and you go blank (as if your mind is out to lunch), reply with: "Before I answer, what prompted you to ask that question?" That should buy enough time to reignite your brain.
If you want to increase your intellectual firepower, mix with people who think differently to you, who are smarter than you, and who will challenge your beliefs and opinions. State your case, be controversial, then defend your position with insightful remarks, not all-encompassing generalisations.
Apply reason not ego. If someone says something to which you are opposed, before you commence arguing ask, "Why do you feel that way?" Some people speak to converse, but a few speak to be heard.
(Check out Ric's Rant this month for an example.)
The human condition - How to overcome resistance to change
I recently completed a consulting project involving change management for a small privately owned firm. Enjoyable work with a wonderful outcome. I giggle when I hear consultants tell me they are a "change agent".
They're not! They don't change a thing. People change in and of their own volition based upon decisions that are in their own best interests. What good consultants do, is help establish an environment that makes change conducive, easy and appropriate for the people within the organisation. Here is what I believe are smart strategies in creating an environment for change:
- Involve the appropriate people: involve employees in planning, implementation and evaluation. If the people actively participate they will be more likely to feel ownership of the change and will be less likely to resist.
- Gain support from respected peers: people tend to follow the lead of respected peers within an organisation. If you gain the support of these people, you will become more likely to have the others follow.
- Concentrate on the adventurous: by focussing on people who are adventurous and less fearful, you will be able to build a group of employees who will support your efforts at innovation. Concentrate on the doers, not the doubters.
- Avoid deeply entrenched traditions: know when to change and when not to. Don't get involved in anything that has too high a likelihood of failure.
- Reduce the threat: meet with selected employees to determine the most threatening aspects of the change. Then enhance the favourable elements and reduce the elements that are risky or uncomfortable for the employees. If needed, implement a pilot program first, to allay fears.
- Identify and prevent obstacles: employees will be more likely to embrace the change if they know that you have taken the time to predict where failure could happen and develop mechanisms for reducing the possibility and seriousness of failure.
- Highlight the benefits: minimise the risks and emphasise the benefits. Always focus on how the change will benefit the employees.
- Present enthusiastically: maintain good public relations with the affectedgroups and be enthusiastic about the change. If you are not enthusiastic; why should your people be?
- Build a trcak record: concentrate on one project at a time and make it successful. Success more than any other factor will show your people that there is nothing to fear from change.
Developmental Opportunities
Because of various requests, I'm considering running the Executive Wisdom Business College in late April or May in either Brisbane, Melbourne or Sydney. I have some ideas about it (2 or 3 days, focus on strategy, leadership, management, change, metrics & diagnostics, marketing, sales, dealing with clients, etc) but before I go much farther, I figured hey, why not ask the people who might attend?!
I'm confident I can design a dynamic program for you.
******
I have been thinking quite a deal about my clients and others, and how I may be able to help. Here's what I've done:
Using a team of specialist trainers around Australia, I have expanded Executive Wisdom Consulting Group to now include "In-House Training Seminars" for the budget-conscious businesses. All organisations need help to survive these times ... we can give them that help ... and at investment levels that make the decision to run in-house training for staff easy.
Go and review what we have done so far ... and there is more to come! Click here.
Ric's Rant - Don't read this unless you are willing to be ticked-off
At a dinner party, a few of us became enthralled by our common interest in the Law & Order television series. As we bantered back and forth over favourite episodes, characters, etc. a nearby individual, not directly involved in our conversation, loudly proclaimed his distaste for televison and took immense pride in letting us all know that he never turns his set on; prefering to read for intellectual stimulation.
He lombasted that television was eroding our IQ, lowering our ability to communicate sensibly, and afforded viewers the potential to degenerate our thinking skills to a primary school level. During the next three minutes I engaged him in conversation about Buffet-economics, the Obama Presidency, and the Storm Financial Planning debacle in Townsville.
I sprinkled into the discussion three words that sound impressive but do not actually exist in the English language. Not only did he not identify the fictitious use, but he actually repeated one of the words back to me while making a statement of his own.
There are over 75 channels on my television for me to watch and, with any kind of discrimination, a wonderful learning opportunity sits in the lounge room. Last week I learned about submarines, the papacy of the Roman Catholic Church, and Bobby Jones (the greatest amateur golfer and the only person to win the Grand Slam of Golf). And yes, I also have an unrequited love affair with Mariska Hargitay from "Law & Order SVU".
It behooves me to tell you that two of my life ambitions are to shake hands with Sir Anthony Hopkins (Silence of the Lambs) and kiss Mariska Hargitay. My wife has promised to help me fulfill my dreams; only I suspect she will get the two confused.
© 2009 Ric Willmot. All Rights Reserved.
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