Creativity calls for doing things differently. But organisations have a love-hate relationship with people who are different. So how can you survive - and even thrive - by doing things your own way?

“If you are going to be a deviant, you have to deliver,” is the rule. Otherwise you will live dangerously. Sometimes this is exciting, but failing to deliver the goods will invite strong repercussions. Great organisations are built on ‘similarity of spirit and diversity of strengths’. They want people who have similar values but a variety of talents. Yet there is also a limit to what ‘differences’ can be allowed within an organisation. It is important to be real, however, and follow your own ‘rules within the rules’. How to achieve this goal? Be positive, be professional and be a peak performer. Let’s explore these points.

1) You can be positive.

Encourage other people and help them to succeed. Sounds obvious - but some individuals flaunt their ‘individuality’ by dismissing other people’s opinions. “Be nice to people on your way up because you meet them on your way down,” said Jimmy Durante. Today’s equivalent in fast moving organisations is: “Be friendly towards everybody - whatever their role - because one day you may be applying to them for a job.” If you ever find yourself in conflict, try to go for a ‘win-win’. Being an encourager increases the chances of ‘getting away’ with being different. Being negative makes life an uphill struggle. Try completing the following sentence.

The specific things I can do to be positive are:

*

*

*

2) You can be professional.

Several years ago I was approached by a brilliant marketer, let’s call him Dave, who had been twice been passed over for promotion. Getting a reality check from his boss, he found his colleagues considered him unprofessional. They said:

“He is great with clients, but rude to colleagues. He promises clients a proposal in 2 days, but doesn’t check whether we can get the data by then. During meetings he does email, rather than listen to what people are saying. He shows impatience by interrupting the speaker or going out to make phone calls. He has a brilliant strategic brain, but shows little respect for colleagues in the team.”

He had previously been in denial. Dave now saw that his behaviour was preventing promotion to a more strategic role. Of course, he had options. Dave could: a) ignore the feedback; b) say everybody else was wrong; c) attach himself to bosses who would hire him for his strategic brain, rather than interpersonal skills; d) take the messages on board and try to get another result. Dave opted for the latter option–to become more professional with both colleagues and clients. The approach we explored together was:

‘Imagine you are a freelancer running your own business and supplying services to this company. How would you behave? You would always be on stage. So you would probably behave professionally towards everybody in the business - the receptionist, managing director, PA and potential future clients you met in the corridor. People would make judgements about you every moment. You certainly have these skills - because you demonstrate them superbly with clients. The question is: Do you want to take the time to behave professionally towards everybody in the business? If so, how can you do so in the next week, month and year?”

Dave chose to make the effort. For example, if somebody stopped him to ask for a chat as he was rushing to a meeting, he no longer brushed them off. He gave them 100% attention and said: “Be good to catch up. Right now I am on my way to a meeting - but immediately after it has finished I will get back to you with a time when we can meet.” And he did. Being super-professional gives you a license to be different in other ways. Try completing the following sentence.

The specific things I can do to be professional are:

*

*

*

3) You can be a peak performer.

Geniuses get away with being ‘odd’—providing they deliver the goods. Some people adopt the ‘genius mannerisms’, but fail to produce great work. Choose a specific ‘project’ that will contribute to the business. Get the sign-off from the key sponsors. Be positive and professional towards your colleagues. Then be super creative. Providing you do great work, you will maintain your licence to be a deviant who delivers. Try completing the following sentence.

The specific things I can do to be a peak performer are:

*

*

*

“My career seems to be successful, but something strange is happening,” said one person. “The higher I climb the corporate ladder, the less control I seem to have. Previously I spent my time with customers, shaped teams and got great satisfaction from hitting targets. The closer I get to the ‘centre’, however, the less control I seem to have over my diary. My days consist of answering emails, sitting in meetings and fulfilling other people’s agendas.”

This is a challenge facing many people in organisations. They work hard to be successful – but suddenly find they no longer feel in control. Imagine you are in such a situation. Let’s explore three things you can do to shape your future.

1) You can take charge of your feelings.

This involves doing three things. First, you can accept that your feelings are authentic. Second, decide on the feelings you want in the future. Third, do your best to generate those feelings. Let’s consider each of these stages.

First, accept that your feelings are authentic. What does this mean? When running communities for troubled teenagers, for example, we gave them the message: “Whatever you feel is real - even though to others it may appear illogical. Accept the feeling - but then move-on to how you can change it in the future.” Why adopt this approach? Consider somebody who has been abused and now feels guilty. The abuser often imprisons the victim by inferring that nobody will believe their story. Helping an abused person to recognise that their feelings are real can be the first step to recovery. One abused young person said: “Previously I felt crazy, but nobody would believe me. Talking with others who had suffered abuse showed I was not alone. Suddenly I felt liberated.” Whatever your situation, accept your feelings - then move onto the next stage.

Second, decide what feelings you want in the future. Is that possible? The approach we used with the young people was: “You know that doing certain things will produce certain feelings. Everybody knows exactly how to make themselves feel bad. They can refuse to take responsibility, drink too much or spend time with negative people. They also know what is more likely to make them feel good. They can responsibility, be kind, get healthy or spend time with positive people. People choose their behaviour - the things they do - and in this way choose their feelings.” Decide what feelings you want in the future, then move onto the next step.

Third, make an action plan for increasing the likelihood of generating those feelings. People are creatures of habit – so develop your daily disciplines. Do something early in the day to get a quick success. Spend time with encouragers, rather than stoppers. Follow your disciplines and generate the feelings you want. Bearing in mind the ideas mentioned in this section, try completing the following sentence.

The things I can do to take charge of my feelings are:

*

*

*

2) You can take charge of your finances.

People who get divorced – or those who suffer redundancy –quickly aim to take control of their finances because they want money to shape their futures. Others take a similar step without suffering a crisis. One person said. “My income kept increasing, but so did my outgoings. The garage was full of unwanted items and we had lost track of our expenditure - so we did a financial reality check. The result was shocking. Bank statements showed a monthly direct debit for unnecessary personal insurance and there were many other opportunities for saving. Starting again from scratch, we stuck to buying what we needed - rather than what we wanted - and revolutionised our finances within a year. Feeling in charge of our money enabled us to feel more in charge of our lives.” Bearing in mind the ideas mentioned in this section, try completing the following sentence.

The things I can do to take charge of my finances are:

*

*

*

3) You can take charge of your future.

Take charge of your short, medium and long-term future. “The key step was to re-take control of my diary,” said one manager. “Even though I scheduled free time between meetings, my PA filled these with one-to-ones. We now have a planning session where I give clear messages about how I want to spend the next month.” Time is life. So, as far as possible, decide how you want to spend your days. Looking longer-term, clarify your picture of success. Imagine you are 80-years-old. Describe the things you will have done that for you will mean you have had a successful life. Bearing in mind your life-goals, do something each day towards achieving the picture.

People like to feel in control. Laurens van der Post, the author, describes when, as a prisoner of war, he was told he would be executed the next morning. Deciding he had nothing to lose, he asked to be shot, rather than beheaded. The camp commander agreed. Laurence says that, quite irrationally, he felt a sudden rush of freedom. The sentence was never carried out - but he remembers that feeling of being in charge. Different people have different ways of reclaiming their lives. The abused person reclaims their feelings - knowing they were right all the time. The bored manager reclaims fulfilment by returning to their first love - visiting customers. The newly-divorced person reclaims joy by living their life without asking for ‘permission’. Bearing in mind the ideas mentioned in this section, try completing the following sentence.

The things I can do to take charge of my future are:

*

*

*

Belief is the foundation for producing great results - but this must be an authentic belief. It must be based on reality and something you feel in your gut. So let’s explore how you can clarify your beliefs, translate these into behaviour and deliver brilliant results.

1) You can focus on beliefs.

Belief is the starting point – it is the motor for what we can and can’t achieve. One college educator said, for example:

“I believe I can: encourage young people; pass-on my knowledge; help students to find satisfying work; teach them how to make decisions; write books and create a fine web site. I can’t change the education system; fire bad teachers in my college or persuade everybody in the world to do things my way.”

Paradoxically, clarifying what you can’t do can increase your sense of strength. You can then: a) build on what you can do; b) set specific goals; c) work hard and reach your goals. Success breeds self-confidence, which then expands your beliefs about what you can achieve in the future. There are also ways to expand your sense of belief.

Everybody has heard the expression: ‘Where there’s a will, there’s a way.’ In other words, if a person has a strong enough will, they will find a way. But you can also change the words around to say: ‘Where there’s a way, there’s a will.’ If a person can see a new way of doing things, they are more likely to develop the ‘will’ to succeed. This can increase their belief about what it is possible to achieve. How to discover new ‘ways’? Here are three approaches: a) Sometimes you put on your ‘creative thinking hat’ and find new ways of doing things; b) Sometimes you seek knowledge from other people who offer tools, models and wisdom; c) Sometimes you throw yourself in the deep-end and learn by doing. Expanding your repertoire can increase your view of what it is possible to achieve.

So let’s take a reality check. Bearing in mind the points we have explored, what do you believe you can do in your life and work? Try completing the following sentence – then move onto the next step.

The things I believe I can do in my life and work are:

*

*

*

2) You can focus on behaviour.

Be selective to be effective. Looking at your beliefs, choose one that you want to concentrate on pursuing. Translate this into specific behaviour you can practice every day. One person said, for example:

“I chose to concentrate on being kinder. Giving to people is really fulfilling. Whether it is offering a cup of tea, helping them to find a solution or simply telling them they have done something well. So I made a list of specific things I could do to be kind every day. It even stretched to picking up litter that I would have passed before - though not cleaning the entire street! Being kinder is something I want to do during the rest of my life. There will be relapses, of course, but hopefully I can continue to encourage other people.”

Try completing the following sentences - then move onto the next step.

The specific thing I believe I can
achieve – and want to achieve - is:

*

The specific things I must do to translate this
belief in behaviour in order to achieve my goal are:

*

*

*

3) You can focus on results.

Peak performers often demonstrate three characteristics. First, they have an incredible ‘feeling’ for the field in which they operate. Second, they translate this into crystal-clear goals. Third, they are extremely disciplined - which gets them to 8/10 - then produce a touch of magic that gets them to 10/10. This third aspect is crucial. So how can you make happen?

“Every day after training I stay behind for two hours practicing free kicks,” said one footballer. “Sometimes it is with a goalkeeper. Other times just me and a ‘wall’ of wooden players to bend the ball around into the goal. Taking a free kick in a match is simple. No matter what the score, I go into my ‘bubble’ and follow my routine. I take three deep breaths, focus on the goal - not the goalkeeper - and hit the ball towards my selected part of the net. I have done it a million times in my head; hundreds of times on the practice ground; and tens of times in matches.”

How can you follow this path in your own way? How can you keep working hard to reach your goals – then produce that touch of magic? How can you follow your beliefs, translate their into behaviour and deliver brilliant results? Try completing the following sentence.

The specific things I can do to
produce brilliant results are:

*

*

*

Great workers focus on desire, discipline and delivery. They begin by having a strong desire to reach a specific goal. They then follow daily disciplines and continue until they deliver. Looking back on your life, can you think of a time when you followed these principles? You may have been learning a skill, writing a book, launching a product or whatever. What did you do right then? How can you follow similar principles in the future? Let’s explore these steps to doing fine work.

1) You can focus on your desire.

Looking to the future, think of a goal you want to achieve. You may want to take care of your health, start a business, lead a team or whatever. Start by describing your goal, then consider your desire on several levels. First, be crystal-clear on what you really ‘desire’. Make sure you know the real results you want to achieve. Second, be clear on the benefits. You can keep focusing on these when times get tough. First, be clear on your level of motivation for reaching the goal. Make sure it is at least 8/10. Try completing the following sentences, then move onto the next step.

Desire. The specific goal I want to achieve is:

*

The real results I want to
achieve by reaching the goal are:

*

*

*

The benefits of reaching the goal will be:

*

*

*

The desire I have to reach the goal
– on a scale 0-10 - is: ____ / 10

2) You can focus on your discipline

Great workers develop good habits. Tiger Woods, JK Rowling and Steven Spielberg, for example, follow their daily disciplines. So do people who want to change their life-styles. Sophie, for example, wanted to retake control of her life. She wanted to be healthier, happier and feel successful. That meant developing fresh habits. First, she began eating healthier food. Being an inveterate ‘nibbler’, she chose to eat fruit, rather than bags of crisps. Second, she returned to attending dancing classes on the weekend, rather than sit waiting for her husband to return from his golf. Third, she developed the habit of getting an early success at work each morning and this helped to set the agenda for the day. How can you follow this path in your own way? Bearing in mind the result you want to achieve, try completing the following sentence.

Disciplines. The disciplines I can follow
to work towards reaching the goal are:

*

*

*

3) You can focus on your delivery.

Great workers are good finishers. They keep going until they deliver the goods. Professional writers, for example, break-down their assignment into chunks, establish a daily rhythm, encourage themselves on the journey and so on. “That’s the way I do it,” said one author. “Writing a book takes at least a year. So I set the goal of completing at least 3 pages a day. Reaching this target produces a sense of success.” What is your successful pattern for finishing? How can you follow it to reach your goal? Try completing the following sentence.

Delivery. The specific things I can
do to do my best to deliver are:

*

*

*

“Delivery is crucial in my business,” said one MD. “So I also use this three step model when leading teams. First, I establish that the team really has the desire to reach a specific goal. I ask: ‘Bearing in mind both the pluses and minuses involved, are we prepared to do the hard work?’ Second, I encourage people to pursue the required disciplines. Third, I do everything possible to ensure that people deliver the goods. Previously I made mistakes by assuming people were motivated, but not checking this out properly. Now I go through all three stages.”

You will follow these steps in your own way. Whether you are working as an individual or leading a team, you will focus on desire, discipline and delivery. This will give you the greatest chance of success.

Your vocation is your calling. It is what you are here to do. Your vocation remains constant in life - but you may express it through many different vehicles on the way towards doing valuable work. Let’s explore these three steps.

1) You can follow your vocation.

When do you feel you are following your vocation? When do you feel in your element – you feel at ease yet excel? When do you feel: “This is what I was meant to do”? You can also find clues to your vocation by looking back at the most satisfying ‘projects’ in your life - then see if there is a recurring theme. The ‘red thread’ in these projects could be, for example, encouraging people, inventing products, leading pioneering teams, solving problems, creating beauty, making the world a better place or whatever. (You can find a tool for exploring your theme in The Strengths Toolbox piece called 3 tips for following your successful style.) While your theme will remain constant, the way you express it will change over the years. This brings us to the next step.

2) You can find the right vehicles.

You may employ different vehicles for expressing your vocation during different stages of your life. How to choose the right vehicle? Bear in mind two factors. First, choose a ‘Field’ of work that you find fascinating. You may feel ‘at home’ working with technology, business, science, sport, the arts, people management or whatever. Second, choose a ‘Form’ of work that fits your personality. You may prefer to work as an individual, as a team member, as a leader or whatever. Choose the right vehicle, then move onto the next step.

3) You can do valuable work.

How to do valuable work that is an expression of your vocation? Peak performers often focus on the 3 P’s: project, people and place. They do a stimulating ‘project’; work with - or for - stimulating people; and do it in a stimulating ‘place’. (You can find tools for taking these steps in the piece called 3 tips for clarifying your perfect role.) Try tackling the exercise that invites you to do three things. First, describe your vocation. (Do not worry if you are not absolutely certain of this yet. For example, you may still be in the stage of seeing multiple themes. Choose one theme that you feel attracted to and then move onto the next step. Second, describe the vehicles you can use to express your vocation. Third, describe how you can do valuable work. Taking these steps can benefit both you and future generations.

Vocation. Looking at the recurring themes in
my life & work, I believe my vocation could be:

*

Vehicles. The different vehicles I
can use to express this vocation are:

*

*

*

Valuable work. Bearing in mind the kind of ‘project’,
people & ‘place’ I find stimulating, the specific piece
of valuable work I would like to focus on doing is:

*

One person who really follows his vocation is Steve Clayton. Though he calls himself a ‘Geek in disguise’, which is the title of his blog, he is a generous and gifted educator. He has the ability to make complicated technical things simple - which is a rare talent. You can find out more about him and his work at:

http://blogs.msdn.com/stevecla01/default.aspx

How many times during a week must you be on top of your game? Five times, ten times, twenty times? In the old days of repetitive work many people went through the week on ‘cruise control’. Nowadays people are often asked to manage complexity, make decisions and find creative solutions to challenges. They are also frequently ‘on stage’ with others – such as colleagues, customers and managers – judging their contribution. People therefore need to manage their energy so that: a) They can continue to be healthy; b) They can do good work; c) They can rise to the occasion when necessary and deliver great work. Let’s explore how you can make this happen.

1) You can plot the times when you need to deliver peak performance.

Start by choose a time period over which you want to deliver top class work. This can be over the duration of a project, a day, a week, a month, a year or whatever. A world class athlete, for example, will start by drawing a road map that ends with competing in the Olympic Final. They then break this down into years, months, weeks and days for competitions. The competitive days are broken down into hours, minutes and, in some cases, seconds. Going back to their overall map, the athlete enters when they must ‘peak’: such as at specific times in competitions. They then plot their training, resting and competitive schedule. Injuries and other events can cause disruptions. If these occur, they go back to the drawing board to create a new road map. Talent, temperament and technique provide the bedrock: but managing energy plays a role in winning gold medals. You may not be an athlete, but it is useful to plot when you must deliver the goods. Start by choosing a time period that fits your particular profession.

Looking at my own work, I plan around the working week. This week, for example, there are several key events when I must be fully alert. These include: a super teams workshop in the North on Tuesday; four mentoring sessions near London on Wednesday, plus a half-hour introductory mentoring telephone call to Italy; two half-day workshops in London on ‘managing by outcomes’ on Thursday, followed by a mentoring session in the evening; and two mentoring sessions near London on Friday. There will also, of course, be quite a lot of travelling. Looking at these events, it is possible to plot the periods of time when I must be fully alert.

You will have your own approach to clarifying such times, so try tackling the exercise on this theme. First, identify the time period you wish to cover. Second, describe the times when you will need to deliver peak performances. Try completing the following sentences.

The time period I want to consider – such as a week, month
or whatever – when I need to deliver peak performances is:

*

The specific times when I need to deliver
peak performances during this period are:

*

*

*

2) You can chart the times when you can re-energise, reflect and rehearse.

Take another look at your schedule. So far you have marked when it is important to hit the heights. These key times may be, for example, when presenting to customers, participating in certain meetings, running performance management sessions or whatever. You will then aim to achieve 10/10. Most of the rest of the time you must perform at 8+/10; something you probably do by employing your professionalism. You must gather energy before setting-out to scale the heights, however, so you will build in time to do three things.

a) Re-energise.

You can regain physical energy by eating the right food and taking time for rest and recover.

b) Reflect.

You can reflect on the situation, take a helicopter view and consider the various options going forward.

c) Rehearse.

You can rehearse the next step – the next moment, minute, hour or whatever – when you must deliver peak performance.

Try tackling the exercise on this theme. Looking at your overall schedule, do two things. First, chart the times when you may be able to recharge your batteries. Second, describe the specific things you can do then to re-energise, reflect or rehearse. Try completing the following sentences.

The specific times when I
can recharge my batteries are:

*

*

*

The specific things I can do then to
re-energise, reflect or rehearse are:

*

*

*

3) You can manage your energy properly to achieve peak performance.

So how do athletes manage their energy? Elizabeth Quinn passes on some tips in her piece called Peaking Requires Planning. Explaining the background, she says:

“Athletes use the term “peaking” to describe being in the absolute best condition (physical, emotional and mental) at a specific time for an event or race. Peaking is not easy to do, and it requires a lot of experience and planning, but there are things that can make peaking much more likely. Start your planning by getting out a calendar and writing down your one or two goal events and work backward to today.”

Elizabeth then suggests going through four stages. The first three are building a fitness base, building aerobic capacity and building speed. She then advises ‘Tapering before the event’, which she explains as:

“The final phase of race preparation is the taper…The final three days before the event can include some light, aerobic exercise, but remember the goal is to rest so you will have peak potential on race day. Training three days before the race never helps you performance. These last few days are also a good time to focus on the mental aspects of performance and visualising a perfect event…You can only stay at this peak fitness level for a short period of time, and you must rest and recover again before a second event. Trying to hold on to such a peak often leads to injury, burn out and over-training syndrome.”

How can you apply this approach in your work? So far you have outlined your schedule: charting when to peak and when to re-energise. You can now pull everything together into, for example, your plan for a week. If necessary, redraw your whole schedule. Describe how to prepare for each day, rehearse – which is the equivalent of ‘tapering’, even if it is only for 10 minutes! – and then deliver great work. Elizabeth believes there are only so many times you can hit such a high level. So make sure you re-energise before launching into the next week of peak performances.

Try tackling the exercise on this theme. Looking back over the topics we have covered, describe how you can manage your energy to do exceptional work. Try completing the following sentence.

The specific things I can do to manage my energy
properly so that I can deliver peak performances are:

*

*

*

During the last decade many organisations have talked about enabling people to become ‘corporate athletes’. Some have taken it seriously. They are judging people by their results, rather than by hours spent on pointless internal meetings or travelling. Such organisations are reaping the benefits. They recognise that managing energy is one of the keys to delivering great performances.

How can you live your values? How can you be true to yourself? How can you live in what the existentialists call ‘good faith’? One approach is to clarify your values, translate these into a clear vision and deliver visible results. Sounds simple in theory, but it can be harder in practice. Let’s explore how you can make this happen.

1) You can clarify your values.

Start by tackling the exercise on this theme. Brainstorm the values you believe-in, then put these in order of priority. One person wrote: “The values I believe in are: a) To encourage people; b) To care for the environment; c) To make beautiful things.” Certainly they realised this sounded like standing for ‘motherhood and apple pie’, but the real test was how to follow these ethics in their daily life. So start by completing the following exercise. The tough part comes later.

The values I believe in are:

*

*

*

2) You can translate your values into a clear vision.

Take each of the values in turn and convert each one into a tangible vision. Ask yourself: “How can I express this value in my life and work? What might it look like in practice? What is the vision?” The person said:

“The toughest value to follow was ‘caring for the environment’. Starting with my daily habits, I switched the electricity account to a renewable energy provider; invested in solar panelling; bought local produce; stopped buying fruit flown from long distances and travelled more by train, rather than by car. There is much more to do, but I feel more in tune with my values.”

Try tackling the following exercise. Focus on one of your values and translate it into a clear vision. If you wish, you can then follow a similar process with each of your values.

The specific value I want to focus on is:

*

The specific things I can do to translate
this value into a clear vision are:

*

*

*

3) You can deliver visible results.

“A value is not a value until it is lived.” we are told. So how can you ‘live in good faith’? The true test comes from what people do, not what they say. Samuel and Pearl Oliner studied people who followed their altruistic values to rescue Jews during the Second World War. Having a strong base of ethics and empathy, the ‘rescuers’ saw it as natural for them to help other human beings. They said things like:

“I was always filled with love for everyone, for every creature, for things. I am fused into every object. For me everything is alive … I sensed I had in front of me human beings that were hunted down like wild animals. This aroused a feeling of brotherhood and a desire to help … We had to help these people in order to save them, not because they were Jews, but because they were persecuted human beings who needed help.”

Few of us will be tested to that degree: so how can you follow your beliefs in the future? Looking at the value you chose to convert into a clear vision, try completing the final exercise.

The specific things I can do to translate
this vision into visible results are:

*

*

*

Some people are true to their values. Some try to justify what they are doing, even though it is against their values. Every day is an opportunity for each of us to live in good faith.

What kind of person are you? Are you positive, negative or a mixture of both? What do other people feel after meeting you? What do they say about you? Do you have a positive attitude? Despite any current challenges, do you have ‘reasons to be cheerful’? Looking at your personal and professional life, what are your assets? You may have your health, relationships, talents, some money or whatever. How can you use these assets to encourage yourself and other people? Let’s explore how you can maintain positive energy in your life and work.

1) You can maintain positive energy as a person.

“Several months ago I felt extremely tired,” said one person. “Normally people say that I am energetic, but I had lost my spark. Looking back, I can see the reasons why, such as work becoming tiresome. I allowed this to affect me and it took time to get back on course. Starting with my body, I began to eat better food – plus limited alcohol to the weekends. My wife and I restarted walking in the countryside and working together on our garden. The oxygen fed my brain and helped me to see things in perspective. Feeling ‘healthily tired’, it was easier to sleep at nights – rather than suffering the fitful sleep which dominated previous months. People began to notice and said things like: ‘It’s good to see you are back on form’. The next step is to do a more fulfilling job.”

Try tackling the exercise on this theme. On a scale 0 – 10, to what extent do you have positive energy as a person? What are the reasons for this score? How can you maintain – or improve – this rating? You may want to change your diet, get more sleep, do exercise, spend time with encouraging people, play your favourite music, pursue stimulating activities or whatever. Try completing the following sentences.

The extent to which I have positive
energy has a person is: ___ / 10

The specific things I can do to maintain or improve this rating are:

*

*

*

2) You can maintain positive energy as a professional.

What percentage of your time do you spend doing – or preparing to do – the activities you find stimulating? What impact do you have on other people? What are the actual words they would say about you? What would be said by those who are kindred spirits – the people who share similar values? How can you spend more time with such energising people? How can do more of the stimulating work? What would be the benefits – for yourself, your employers and your customers?

“Looking at my work, I decided to shift strategy,” said the person mentioned earlier. “My organisation had recently expanded into Europe, taking over several smaller companies. My brief was to roll-out the corporate principles, whilst also retaining the special nature of each business. Such ventures often result in crushing the characteristics of those businesses – but we actually bought them because they displayed those qualities. The European companies were resistant, however, whilst my boss pressed for results. Life had become grim. So I changed tack. Instead of urging everybody to change at once, I concentrated on 3 countries that wanted to model ‘the best of both worlds’. Working together, we then built successful pilots. Certainly there have been challenging times, but now people across the business are making the model work. This has brought benefits – for them and for the organisation. Life has become enjoyable and I look forward to going to work.”

Try tackling the exercise on this theme. On a scale 0 – 10, to what extent do you have positive energy as a professional? What are the reasons for this score? How can you maintain – or improve – this rating? Try completing the following sentences.

The extent to which I have positive
energy has a professional is: ___ / 10

The specific things I can do to maintain or improve this rating are:

*

*

*

3) You can maintain positive energy as a planetarian.

Looking at your life and work, to what extent do you feel you are following your vocation – what you are meant to do on Earth? Certainly you can only do so much - you can’t tackle every issue facing humanity. But to what extent do you feel you are making a good contribution? For example, do you feel on the right road – even if you are only pursuing it to a limited extent? How can you follow this road in the forthcoming years? How can you encourage future generations?

“Maybe it’s my age, but I have been thinking more about that recently,” said one person. “During the ‘middle years’ - 30 to 50 - I made hay while the sun shined. Working hard proved fruitful, even though I over-borrowed at times. Nowadays I have become more selective, concentrating on the work I find fulfilling. Strangely, I seem to have more in common with young people today, particularly those in high tech. ‘Legacy’ is probably an over-used word, but I now feel better about what I am passing-on to other people.”

Try tackling the exercise on this theme. On a scale 0 – 10, to what extent do you have positive energy as a planetarian? What are the reasons for this score? How can you maintain – or improve – this rating? Try completing the following sentences.

The extent to which I have positive
energy has a planetarian is: ___ / 10

The specific things I can do to maintain or improve this rating are:

*

*

*

There are many ways to plant seeds of hope. Frequently there will be challenges, however, followed by the need to encourage ourselves and other people. This calls for maintaining our positive energy as people, professionals and planetarians.

“Why can’t you run a business without having problems?” somebody may ask. “There always seem to be difficulties – either with the products or the people. Do they ever go away?”

Paul Hawken, author of Growing a Business, has one answer. He studied many books by gurus, believing that one day he would find business nirvana and the problems would disappear. But the truth hit him one sunny afternoon: “I had my nirvana, all right, but it was the opposite of what I had been seeking. On that pretty afternoon the actual truth finally struck me: I would always have problems. In fact, problems signify that the business is in a rapid learning phase. The revelation was liberating. I couldn’t understand why other people hadn’t told me this earlier.” Let’s explore three steps towards dealing with problems.

1) You can set-up things to succeed.

Peak performers do their best to make things work. They build on their strengths, set specific goals, clarify the key strategies, do superb work and do everything possible to achieve success. Before going into a situation, they rehearse: a) The specific things that can go wrong - how I can prevent them happening; how I can manage them if they do happen; b) The specific things that can go right - how to build-on these successes. They then ‘go into the arena’ and do their best to make things work. You will, of course, take these steps in your own way.

Try tackling the exercise on this theme. First, describe a specific situation or project you may face in the future. Second, describe how you can do everything possible to set-up things to succeed.

The specific situation or project I may face in the future is:

*

The specific things I can do to do everything
possible to set-up things to succeed are:

*

*

*

2) You can recognise there will always be problems.

“People is a key area where there will always be challenges,” said one MD. “We aim: a) To clarify the values we want people to demonstrate; b) To recruit people who demonstrate these values; c) To provide an inspiring induction programme; d) To make sure their first role is with an encouraging manager; e) To get them to build on their strengths and make their best contribution to the business; f) To enable them to get quick successes; g) To offer tools they can use for shaping their career. But there will still be problems. People may find they don’t ‘fit’ the company. They may suffer personal setbacks – such as illness, divorce, bereavement or family difficulties. There may be personality clashes at work, poor coaching, lack of guidance or whatever. Certainly we must set things up to succeed, but stuff happens.”

Let’s return to the specific situation or project you may face. Despite your best efforts, difficulties may still happen. Try completing the following sentence.

The specific kinds of problems that could occur are:

*

*

*

3) You can find positive solutions to the problems.

“My problem-solving style varies,” said one MD. “I am actually more composed when tackling ‘big problems’, rather than ‘small problems’. Theoretically I know it is vital to keep my cool in all situations, but sometimes I get angry about small things. I get upset about not finding a space in the car park, email going down for 10 minutes or whatever. Paradoxically, I am calm during big crises –such as the company facing financial difficulties, an employee encountering personal problems or making tough business decisions. It’s relatively easy for me to see the choices, consequences and creative solutions. Maybe one day I will learn how to use the same techniques with minor problems!”

Let’s return to the potential issues you may face – then focus on one specific problem. Looking at that situation, how can you stay calm? How can you see things in perspective? How can you establish clarity – the real results you want to achieve? How can you explore the options? How can you – as far as possible - find a positive solution? How can you get concrete results? Try completing the following sentences.

The specific problem I want to focus on is:

*

The specific things I can do to stay calm and
find a positive solution to the problem are:

*

*

*

“Get used to problems, because they are an inevitable part of business life,” says Paul Hawken. The steps to take are: a) To do everything possible to prevent problems; b) To find positive solutions when they do happen; c) To learn from the experience and set-up things to succeed in the future. You can then keep growing through solving the problems.

Clear communication plays a key role in creating healthy cultures. Virginia Satir, a pioneering family therapist, found that the quality of the communication directly affected the quality of life in families, organisations and societies. She identified that people may gave each other three different kinds of messages. These were ‘clear messages’, ‘conflicting messages’ and ‘confusing messages’. Each type of message had consequences. Let’s explore how you can recognise when people communicate in these different ways.

1) Clear messages.

Good communicators give crystal-clear messages and people know where they stand. A leader or an organisation may say, for example:

“People are expected to take responsibility and perform good work. Those who do so will find there are positive consequences. Those who don’t will find there are negative consequences.”

Clear messages can be either encouraging or tough – but people know the ‘rules of the game’. Twenty years ago I worked as the youth development officer for a football club. Everybody in the club was aware of ‘the way we do things around here’. The Dos were: Do be positive; do encourage your team mates; do try your best; do be on time for training; do be respectful to referees; do keep yourself fit and healthy; do strive to keep improving. The Don’ts were: Don’t be negative; don’t be late; don’t argue with referees; don’t do things that harm your fitness or health. The players appreciated the framework and felt able to express themselves within the guidelines. Any player who transgressed – such as arguing with referees – was immediately dropped.

Clear messages are acted upon in both words and actions. Johnson & Johnson, for example, had a written credo that said its first duty was to the patients who bought its products. When Tylenol, one of its medicines, was injected with cyanide by a blackmailer, J & J immediately withdrew every batch from the shelves. The company followed its credo in times of adversity and acted decisively. There was no messing around.

Clear messages play a key part in building healthy relationships. People then operate from a level of ‘certainty’. They understand that if somebody says they will do something, for example, that deed will actually get done. People may or may not always agree with the message – but at least they know the consequences. Let’s move onto a different kind of communication.

2) Conflicting messages.

Sick cultures often involve lots of conflicting messages. A person, an organisation or a society may say, for example:

“People are expected to take responsibility and perform good work. Those who do so will not necessarily be rewarded. Those who don’t take responsibility will find there is no negative reaction and they may in fact be rewarded.”

Conflicting messages lead to confusion, pain and anger. Here are some examples.

* A newly installed government says it aims to be ethical. Soon after coming into office, however, one of the key ministers – or staff members - behaves unethically. The government allows the person to remain in their role.

* An engineering company says it believes in total quality control. One of the engineers ‘blows the whistle’ on a key problem that could endanger the lives of customers. The company chooses to ‘walk past the quality problem’, punishes the whistle-blower and presses on with production.

* A parent urges their 20 year old drug addict son to take responsibility for their life. At the same time, however, the parent continues to supply them with money which the son spends on drugs.

Let’s move onto another kind of communication.

3) Confusing messages.

Poor communicators often give confusing messages. A person, an organisation or a society may say, for example:

“People are asked to take responsibility and perform good work. We are not quite sure what this looks like in action – nor can we outline what will be the consequences. If people do not perform good work, we will try to explore the reasons why this is so.”

People do not know where they stand and spend time trying to untangle what has been said. Here are some examples of this kind of communication.

* A government says: “We are totally committed to reducing carbon emissions. What people must understand, however, is that this is a complicated process. We must begin by getting consensus on the procedure for making it happen. There is no point in acting on our own, so we are embarking on a process of research and consultation that will, hopefully, lead to voluntary agreements. As a government, however, we are committed to reducing carbon emissions.”

* A company says: “We want to encourage people to work well in teams. When grading people at the end of each year, however, we will only look at their individual contributions – not how they have helped others in the team to succeed. We will also force leaders to ‘distribute’ their team members along a ‘bell-curve’. There must be 20% top performers, 60% average performers and 20% poor performers. We know this is not actually the case in super teams, but we will still ask leaders to distribute people along the curve. At the same time, we believe in teamwork.”

Confusing messages force people: a) to spend time trying to understand what has been said; b) to then act on these guidelines and keep checking to see whether the situation have changed. It’s much simpler to give and receive clear messages.

Let’s explore an exercise on this theme. First, describe a specific situation in your life or work where you want to give a clear message. Then describe the clear message you want to give to people. Try to be as specific as possible. If appropriate, write the actual words you want to use. Second, describe the potential pluses and minuses of communicating in this way. Third, describe your action plan for giving the clear message.

The specific situation in which I want to give a clear message is:

*

The specific clear message I want to give is:

*

The potential pluses of giving this clear message are:

*

The potential minuses of giving this clear message are:

*

The specific things I can do to give this clear message are:

*

*

*

Clear communication can take time, energy and, in some cases, courage. Poor communication takes its own toll. It often results in confusion, pain and worry. Giving clear messages is one of the keys to creating a healthy family, team or society.