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Welcome to 2003! One of the best ways to combat apathy or fear is by initiating action. I am taking action and fulfilling some dreams that have shadowed my life. For instance, I have always been interested in doing comedy, so I am setting up time with a few trusted friends to “try” out material. I am also auditioning as a narrator for Books On Tape, here at the Smithsonian. Our lives are gifts. Are you still waiting to bring your dreams to life? I want to bring readers up to date with my two Florida clients, Darlene Jones, CEO of GM Mortgage and Karen Solomon, President of Precise Title. Darlene is reporting that after a couple of months of fits and starts, she is regularly doing the practices I outlined four months ago --with great results! By resolving several large business decisions, Darlene is more purposeful in her direct and retention marketing programs. Her outreach efforts are producing more real estate inventory that she can lease, sell, or fix-up. By removing some of the obstacles in her path, Darlene is moving with greater speed and ease towards fulfilling her 2003 revenue goals. One of her employees enrolled and successfully passed the Florida Real Estate course; with two strong real estate employees, Darlene has shifted her energy to marketing, strategic planning and “ doing the deals”. GM Mortgage and Real Estate associates are functioning as a winning team. Karen Solomon initiated several office systems that have transformed the company morale. First, Karen implemented a phone system that alleviated the stress of constant ringing phones. Karen’s employees are working smarter, and her customers are more satisfied with the overall services they are receiving. Employees who rely on others to complete the title insurance process have moved their worksites closer together. The employees are taking greater control of what needs to be done so that the work gets done! Two reliable employees, using the conflict resolution practices I instituted, have resolved a long- standing conflict that was adversely affecting the others. If you’re tired of being stuck and ready to fix whatever needs fixing and get on with business, then you’re ready for Guerilla Coaching! Don’t just sit there. Clean up your Act. DO SOMETHING! You’re the boss. Call me, The Guerilla Coach at 202-484-4747 for a free consultation!
Happy Trails, |
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Leaders at all levels of an organization are responsible for setting the tone or the mood of the organization. The mood will always determine how much work is done, how well or poorly employees feel about coming to work and doing work, as well as how well or poorly customers are treated. As a business coach, I can quickly tell if the mood of the group or the individual is open or closed. The mood or climate of an individual or organization is readily accessible. Why is this important? People who are open to conversation and learning exhibit particular traits including trust, honesty, openness, caring, respect, and kindness. A roomful of people who are closed exhibit opposite traits ranging from hostility to resentment, frustration to indifference. How can you tell what the mood is? Sniff the air! While at first blush, this may sound silly--we are animals after all. Our sensory perceptions are based upon these “old brain” fight or flight responses. Check your five senses to see what you are experiencing. I know the room is closed when I am trying too hard to penetrate impenetrable faces. Oftentimes, I will corroborate my feelings by checking in with the group. First, I define mood, what open and closed moods are like, and then, I pop the question: “What mood is present here? Open or closed?” The group of people always tells the truth. And their findings match mine. Just by bringing their attention to the mood, we notice a shift in their reactions from closed to open. Powerful stuff! In an open mood, we can teach and learn. Great Leaders Set the Organizational Mood For Success Mood is a powerful indicator for organizational success or failure. Mood is the climate that pervades a work or home environment. The more open the mood of the organization, the more successful that organization will function. A closed mood impacts negatively on how people interact, work and produce, as well as influences how employees engage with customers, manage change and think outside the box. From a coaching perspective, paying attention to the climate a person or a group inhabits provides the coach with clues about how to design and structure a successful coaching program. The organizational or individual climate in which we live and work is integral to how we view the world and ourselves in that world. There is a direct correlation between the mood in which we live, and the stories we tell. Who we are and how we live is shaped by the mood we inhabit. What is the value for leaders to know the mood of an organization? If you are trying to manage change or shift the corporate culture from one of distrust and failure to one of hope and success, it is crucial that you observe the mood in which your employees work. How they view the organization and the kinds of results they produce is directly related to the overall corporate climate. For example, if we grow up learning that trusting others is fraught with danger, that climate of distrust will be evidenced in our non-verbal communication as well as our verbal. We may think that we are hiding or compartmentalizing our feelings behind intelligent conversation or behind a mask we wear for the world, but in fact, most any person can “sniff” our mood. Our lack of trust has incorporated itself in our very being: mind, body and spirit. The event (s) that caused us to make a decision (consciously or unconsciously) that the world we inhabit is not a safe place is not an emotion we can turn on and off. For most of us, that feeling becomes the way we experience the world. Distrust of others is in our bodies, because it is embedded in our personal history. How often have you walked away from a meeting with an individual or group, and told yourself you had a bad sense about the person or you felt like the meeting was somehow stymied by the overall mood? You couldn’t put your finger on the issue, but you had a sense that the individual or group was saying one thing and doing another. It isn’t so much what the person or group said or didn’t say, rather it was that “gut feeling” that left you cynical or skeptical, holding your opinion or foisting your opinions on others in ways that shut down the communication. The global mood establishes the context for how people relate throughout the organization. Great leadership means attuning oneself to the corporate climate and shifting it as needed to achieve organizational outcomes. Individuals Can Set Their Own Mood For Success On an individual level, we may not be able to articulate what we are feeling as we “sniff” the air, but we can quickly point out whether the mood is open or closed. If the observer senses our closed mood, he too will close the door to engaging fully with us. Imagine a whole department, division or company that has reached the conclusion that trusting others is dangerous; keeping a closed mouth is the best way to survive. How much honesty, respect or trust will be present during employee interactions? What do you think the performance levels will be when employees work in a closed climate? I cannot create a new outcome for my clients until I am familiar with the way they view their current world. If I enter the partnership trying to change how the individual thinks or feels, he/she will balk, but if I make it my job to help the client reframe an issue so that he/she can take effective action, then both coach and client will be satisfied. Sometimes we have to get our clients into emotional or physical condition to resolve recurring conflicts, or else we have to teach them how to strengthen specific communication or leadership muscles so that they produce the outcomes they desire. Whatever practices I provide, the end result is that the client is more competent and confident to go out and play to win. As frequent readers of my column know, I am including bodywork and body awareness in my practice. Clients can more easily distinguish what they are doing “structurally” that is producing the outcomes they keep getting. As I work with clients’ stories, and their prevailing mood, they become more adept adjusting their mood to fit the stories they want to tell. As they transform their relationship to their history, clients begin to tell new versions of their history resulting in greater openness, trust and respect, for themselves and for others. Over the next few months I will explore how effective leaders utilize the services of coaches to support the organization’s strategic human capital and production goals, while maintaining an open organizational mood. If you are tired of suffering and want to make immediate changes in how you live and work, call me at 202-484-4747 for a free consultation. |
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Copyright © 2002-2003 Rhona Post, Post and Associates, 292 M St. SW, DC 20024
