Posts Tagged ‘PlaytoYourStrengths’
How to sail the the 7Cs & #ThriveNotJustSurvive, using #MartialArtsPrinciples.
Here are seven big challenges – the 7Cs.
And some ideas on what to do about them, including #MartialArtsPrinciples.
BEHAVIOUR – FOCUS
Competition
Competition will intensify across sectors with what Schumpter called creative destruction.
Is Uber a platform or a taxi firm?
Is Facebook a publisher or an IT company?
What are your strengths?
Is there a market for them?
How will YOU #PlayToYourStrengths?
Commoditisation
My fridge magnet says “Born free. Now I’m expensive.”
It’s difficult to compete on price, unless you are McDonalds or Lidl.
Automation & artificial intelligence will start to turn some services into commodities.
How will you stand out? Are you #Looking4Leverage?
#DistinctOrExtinct.
FOCUS – ACTION
Communications
People are busy, stressed & multiple messages compete for attention.
The average attention span is about eight seconds, less than a goldfish.
Are your messages short, simple & compelling?
Look for #Simplicity
Learn from Cheryl Cole’s communication.
Competence
Are you learning as if you will live forever?
Sharpening your hard & your soft skills?
And you #PractisingProperly?
Will you keep getting better?
What small regular steps could you take that could lead to BIG improvements or transformation?
Contribution
Are you creating meaningful results?
Have you found a path & taken the first step?
Do you #KnowTheScore?
Have you got the right degree of pace?
Are you measuring progress as you go along, or waiting until the end?
Think #PulseBeatsNotPostMortems.
More matching of words & deeds.
Living the brand values.
MINDSET
Commitment
Are you #Mindful or mind FULL?
Compare the two below.
Are you positive & looking to improve, or just worrying about others?
Are you being S.I.L.L.Y.? Self Imposed Limitations Lessen You.
Have you got a #PositiveAttitude?
Codes
Who said “
I have a set of the highest possible codes of behaviour.
But if you don’t like them I have another set?”
Authenticity, integrity & transparency will come to the fore.
Think of recent failures like #Carillion, #TSB, #rail timetables.
How are you doing?
Finally.
Are you ready to sail the 7Cs?
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#TheRainMan: why #difference matters
Kim Peek (right): savant & genius
Kim Peek died on 19 December 2009.
Who was he? He was the inspiration and role model for the film “Rain Man.”
Starring Dustin Hoffman, it won four Oscars.
At one level, Kim was a savant.
He could not walk until he was four.
He was looked after by his father until he died, at the age of 58.
BUT, at another level, he began reading newspapers and books when he was two.
He had a photographic memory.
He memorised 12, 000 books.
He could recite the entire bible at the age of six.
He was rated a genius by several universities, in some fifteen subjects.
So, what does his story tell us?
1.Be careful how you judge people & look for #DignityInDifference
We often jump to conclusions, based on appearances.
Kim and his father toured several colleges and prisons. They handed out a card. It said:
“Learning to recognise and to respect differences in others, and treating them like you want them to treat you, will bring the joy we all hope for.”
2.Recognise the importance of both Left AND right brain
Peek had a brain condition which did not filter information between the left and right hemispheres of the brain.
The left brain is the facts bit; the right brain is the softer people side.
Essentially his brain was a human database, able to hold masses of information in his head.
You need both left and right brain approaches to succeed in a scary world.
3.Marketing & impact of social media
Peek only became recognised after the film “Rain Man” in 1988.
But he did not receive any money from its success.
Perhaps his father didn’t want too much publicity.
Perhaps he was not newsworthy.
BUT Peek was unique.
These days with the power of social media, I image that Kim Peek would have become a celebrity.
#DignityinDifference #LiveKindly #PlayToYourStrengths
Picture by rust.bucket, showing Kim Peek on stage with his father
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Is your organisation #Fit4Purpose? Watch out for SSSHARKKSS.
Is your organisation fit for purpose?
Or are you #SurvivingNotThriving or perhaps Diving?
Think about these nine elements of being fit for purpose.
Are you on top of them? Think SSSHARKSS.
Strategy. The #MartialArtsPrinciple is #Simplify
Why do you exist?
What’s the endgame?
What are the priorities?
Strengths. The MartialArtsPrinciple is, #Look4Leverage
Are you #PlayingToYourStrengths?
And maintaining our future edge?
Structure.
Is it fit for purpose?
Do we have the right skills and roles?
Happen. The #MartialArtsPrinciple is, Do you #KnowTheScore?
What’s your performance like?
Are your measures meaningful?
Actions. The #MartialArtsPrinciple is, Are you #PractisingProperly?
Do we combine engagement and discipline?
Resilience. The #MartialArtsPrinciple is, Are you managing by
#PulsebeatsNotPostmortems?
Are your risks understood and actively managed?
Ki. #MindsetAndBehaviour
Do we comply with spirit and letter of good practice and integrity?
Sustainability.
Are you replacing your capital, be it human, intellectual or other?
Stakeholders.
Are you balancing the interests of our wider stakeholders?
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Acknowledgements: The last two questions suggested by Calum Byers in a comment on the earlier version of this post. The second question by John A Gelmini in a comment.
Shark image by TheHikingArtist.
Finding energy & creating #pathways with #MartialArts
UPDATES 23072018.
1. I spoke with a guy at a business conference recently.
He said that martial arts (krav maga) had changed his life, in terms of confidence.
He had stopped a potential attack by standing tall and warning off the aggressor.
And he had been sufficiently aware of an attack by an animal to push it away before it had jumped on him.
2. Brendan Ingle died recently
Martial arts & purpose
Martial arts can provide a sense of purpose.
It can also provide personal development and a pathway out of crime or bad habits.
Signage
The sign at Brendan Ingle’s well known boxing gym in Sheffield is:
” Boxing can seriously damage your health, but teaches you self-discipline and gets you fit. Smoking, drinking and drugs just damage your health.”
Actor Mickey Rourke
Mickey Rourke is aged 62 and has been associated in the past with drugs and alcohol abuse.
He recently fought an exhibition boxing match against a 29 year old in Moscow and said:
“Boxing is a serious part of my life. It taught me respect and determination, patience and concentration.”
Benefits
For him, some of the benefits are similar to mindfulness and are also about #Looking4Balance.
By the way, boxing is also a metaphor for the #MartialArtsPrinciple – #PlayingToYourStrengths
Image of Mickey Rourke
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Lessons from #CherylCole on Communication & Direction
UPDATE: 12 November 2018. An interview (in The Sunday Times, Style, 11 November 2018) reports that she is single and “has the man of her dreams” – her son, Bear.
Communication
I previously pondered whether Cheryl Cole was a good or bad role model for effective communication.
Her farewell message to footballer Ashley Cole followed the ABC (accuracy, brevity, clarity) of good communication.
The #MartialArtsPrinciple is #Simplify.
On the other hand she also had a tattoo “Mrs Cole” on her neck, somewhat redundant after the divorce.
But now she appears to have renewed herself.
How?
She remarried and became “Cheryl Fernandez- Versini.”
Her more complex name didn’t appear to have affected her brand.
But now she is with Liam Payne and has become a mother.
They have subsequently split up.
She has an enormous and expensive flower tattoo on her behind and lower back.
I am not sure what to conclude from this.
(Is it – I am prepared to suffer for my art? I’m coming up roses?)
Perhaps it shows passion and dynamism. It certainly showcases body art.
She has just become the first British female solo artist to have five No 1 singles.
Her latest is called “I don’t care.”
After I wrote this post, I came across a post by Christina Meyer called Marketing lessons from Kim Kardashian’s curves.
This describes her recent attempt to create an online buzz, with an image of her behind, accompanied by the tagline Break The Internet.
Perhaps Cheryl is signalling “My past is behind me“; whilst Kim is signalling “My future is my behind.”
Image from article called “Rear-ly!?” in My Daily August 25 2013
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Why you should #Look4Leverage & #PlayToYourStrengths & #NeverBoxABoxer
Imagine…
You are suddenly confronted by a person threatening you.
Their hands are in a boxing stance.
What SHOULDN’T you do?
You shouldn’t box them.
Why?
If they are in a proper boxing stance they are likely to be a boxer.
Boxing has only four basic strikes: jabs, crosses, hooks and uppercuts.
And boxers practice them a lot!
So if you aren’t a boxer, you won’t have much chance at boxing a boxer.
Hence the martial arts adage, #NeverBoxABoxer.
Because if you do so, you are not following the #MartialArtsPrinciple of #PlayingToYourStrengths.
Instead you need to apply a related #MartialArtsPrinciple – #Look4Leverage.
Better to fight at distance, with low kicks.
The boxer is in white; I am in black.
Or to be close up and grapple.
Business applications
It’s a bit like using your competitive edge in business.
You need to identify it and to use it. #PlayToYourStrengths.
You can’t compete on price, against a Lidl or a McDonalds.
You do need to identify your strengths and to compete on something else that adds value, like:
- Quality;
- Service;
- Experience; or
- Innovation.
I once asked a long term client what he liked about my consultancy services. He replied:
“What I like about you Mike is that you always give me your advice, even when I don’t request it. But you never mind when I ignore it.”
#Simplify
And once you have established your strengths, you need to explain them simply.
And then, hopefully you will be distinct, not extinct.
Image one is from Wikipedia, of the October 30 1974 fight – The Rumble In The Jungle. Mohammed Ali “Float like a butterfly, sting like a bee” – was fast and powerful.
Image two is the Author kicking,Joe Macquire a boxer, taken by Tony Laliashvili.
Jamie Douglass, my previous krav maga instructor, suggested the boxing analogy.
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Why Mae West was a pioneer & my three favourite quotes
I recently blogged on “strong women”.
Mae West came into that category.
She was a pioneering actress on diversity, sexuality, a playwright and a rebel.
She wrote a play called Sex in 1926 and one called The Drag which dealt with homosexuality.
She seems to have followed some of my favourite #MartialArtsPrinciples – #PositiveAttitude & #PlayToYourStrengths.
Here are my three favourite quotes from her:
When choosing between two evils, I always pick the one I never tried before.
When I’m good I am very good, but when I’m bad I’m better.
Good sex is like good bridge, if you don’t have a good partner it’s better to have a good hand.
And here is a clip of some other quotes.
https://www.facebook.com/SargasticMammaB/videos/925569524147854/
Source of image: Los Angeles Times, unknown journalist photographer
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Is your #brand, bland or #SPPICCCED up?
The Spice Market at Istanbul
A brand can be a symbol, sign, slogan and many things.
The problem is that many brands are bland.
They should be SPPICCCED up; here are the ingredients.
1.Strategic aspects
Simplify
#Simplify is an important #MartialArtsPrinciple
Do you present your brand in a way that people can grasp?
Here are two examples of failure to do this:
- After reviewing a specialist hospital’s branding, I still didn’t understand what they did.
- A wellness company had a general name that didn’t reflect it’s focus on senior clients. It’s new name “Super Seniors Fitness” was a lot clearer.
Two useful tips are:
- A past editor of the Economist advised young journalists to “simplify, then exaggerate”.
- Remember that “Facts tell but stories sell.”
Purpose & Passion
Does your purpose and your #Why? come across?
How do you behave?
Do you offer fun?
Think:
- Meerkats,
- The humour at Innocent Drinks; and
- The “antidote to the panel show” that is “I’m sorry I haven’t a Clue.”
I don’t like “your call is important to us”.
Integrity
Do you observe the letter and spirit of law?
Think about:
- Criminality at Madoff and Enron; and
- Mis-selling of mortgage protection services.
Competition
How are you different? Do you #PlayToYourStrengths?
Many services and products are “me-too” or commodities.
Difference are usually about price, quality, experience or customisation.
I like “The Dyson Airblade: The fastest, most hygienic hand dryer.”
I like the Investec branding with an image of a zebra and a caption:
“Different, not indifferent.”
Culture & values
Humour works well for Innocent or Ben & Jerry’s.
But not for an organisation dealing with mental health.
2.Tactical aspects
Consistency
Is your image & identity consistently reflected in your name, visuals, tag lines & social media presence?
Metro Bank emphasis speed of decision making, informality and approachability.
Their large banking halls, also used for business events, emphasise that.
Does your brand work in different countries & cultures?
(As a school boy, I drank a lot of a drink called Pschitt. Purely because I liked asking for it by name..)
Execution
What’s it like for your customers, clients and stakeholders?
Do you deliver on your promises? Think #TSBMigration
Word spreads quickly these days through comparison & ranking sites & social media.
Dynamism
Can you respond quickly when you make mistakes?
Toyota mishandled the brakes problems on their Prius cars.
David Cameron corrected his (previous) Royal Wedding dress code error quickly.
Brexit referendum is more difficult..
Picture by Alaskan Dude of the “fragrant and colorful” Spice market at Istanbul Turkey & of the writer speaking at Metro Bank on #PlayToYourStrengths
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Are you a self aware #leader? Two #MartialArtsPrinciples to help.
At your peak or draining away?
Are you self aware?
Self awareness is, in my view, one of the four most common challenges facing leaders.
There’s the famous quote from Robbie Burns.
Here are two #MartialArtsPrinciples relating to self awareness
1. #PlayToYourStrengths – be aware of your energy levels
Leaders need to be aware of their own strengths and weaknesses.
And to take action accordingly.
Many are not.
Here’s one example, relating to energy levels.
Are you aware of your energy levels?
And how they vary over time?
It matters a lot.
It’s an important element of time management and personal effectiveness.
For some people, their peak energy is in the morning – I call them larks.
For others, it is later in the day – I call them owls.
There’s now a lot of research on this, called Chronotyping.
I spoke with an experienced Chair recently on this subject.
He knew that he was a morning person.
So he aimed to do his thinking and writing work early in the day.
And to do his people and meetings work afterwards.
He described this as “a.m. for IQ work and p.m. for EQ work.”
Watch out for ego
There is also a close link between self awareness and ego.
Humility helps with hubris.
2. #PracticeProperly
In the spirit of self awareness also, remember to practice and to test things out.
Even the greatest speaker should do at least one real rehearsal.
I have also received a comment from a leader in the armed forces.
Apparently, self awareness is now a major part of leadership training in the Military in the UK and psychometric testing is used to support this activity in a number of programmes.
Picture by Fits Ahlefeldt-Lauvig
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How to avoid the 4 most frequent #WarningSigns of organisation failure
The rocky road to survival
UPDATE: The Brexit turmoil adds a further dimension of uncertainty currently.
22102018 The idea of #warningsigns also applies to life and sport. Jamie Carragher writes in the telegraph of 20 October 2018, that footballer Alexis Sanchez could be the next Torres – a big buy who is past his peak. This is based on a comparison of goals and assists over time of the two players.
A book, ‘The upside of turbulence’, by business writer Professor Donald Sull, lists warning signs that a company is about to fail.
It includes:
- The chief executive appearing on the cover of a business magazine;
- A guru saying the company is outstanding.
- (What about a grand new Head Office?)
He argues that these and other factors create
an “active inertia that accelerates activities that succeeded in the past.”
I would add:
- Repeated profit warnings;
- A culture which shoots the messenger with and news; and
- Delays in paying suppliers #Carillion.
My slogan is:
‘Revenue is vanity; profit is sanity, but only customers and cash really count.‘
It’s not a complete explanation because it doesn’t take into account:
- Compliance with regulations (some banks),
- Sustainability; and
- Criminality (think Enron).
But it’s not a bad start.
Here are examples from my past assignments:
Not realising that cash is king (and queen) – a training company
A small training company was busy and they had a client list to die for. But they were in danger of running out of cash and making losses.
I found that nearly all their assignments overran and that their corporate clients were delaying payments. This came as a surprise to them.
The remedy was tactical.
- Better project management,
- Clearer payment terms,
- More assertive billing practices; and
- Better debt collection.
The #MartialArtsPrinciples is Manage by #PulsebeatsNotPostmortems
Failing to keep good customers – IT company
An internet company was losing clients.
The parent company was concerned about service quality and client retention. I informally interviewed 20 of their clients.
Roughly half thought the company was fantastic; the other half thought they were appalling.
Why? The company was based in the City of London, but had taken on clients throughout the country. They could get to local clients on the same day as service problems were reported. But they had insufficient staff to travel to client sites that were further away.
The remedy was strategic.
- Reducing overload;
- Concentrating on local clients; and
- Identifying additional sales within their existing local client base.
The #MartialArtsPrinciple is #Look4Leverage
Being unrealistic about revenues – management consultancy firm
A consultancy partnership tried to position itself as a premium brand.
But it then tried to gain work by responding to open public sector tenders. Such tenders will always be very price sensitive and attract many competitors. They also need a lot of administrative overhead to write proposals and complete forms.
The remedy was strategic.
- Stopping competing in open tenders; and
- Developing new sources of business.
The #MartialArtsPrinciple is #KnowTheScore
Profit – not understanding costs and strengths – business centre
A housing association had started a small business centre.
I visited and we reviewed their costs and revenues.
Their pricing did not reflect the very different costs of acting either, as an accommodation address, or actually supplying business accommodation.
They had also not explained to potential customers how their offering was distinctive.
We took action to:
- Agree some simple price changes; and
- Improve promotional activities.
Within two months they were full and profitable.
The #MartialArtsPrinciples are #Simplify & #PlayToYourStrengths
Picture by jadakatt
Do you recognise these warning signs. Do you have a story to tell? If so, please feel free to comment or to contact me. You can contact me here:
#Leaders: Why they should #FlowLikeWater to overcome 4 challenges
Follow my leader?
An article in the Economist newspaper, by Schumpeter, argued that
“Too many chief executives are instantly forgettable. It’s the flamboyant, visionary bosses who change the world.”
I am not convinced.
It’s rather a false distinction, based on extremes.
It’s based on anecdote, rather than evidence.
The mantra “be bold, not bland” certainly appealed to Tony Blair.
And Tina Brown mentioned “authentic bullshit” from Donald Trump on the Andrew Marr programme.
But when applied to a business, like Northern Rock, at what point does boldness become recklessness?
Here are the four most common challenges (SAIL) I have found when mentoring and working with Chief Executives and other leaders.
1.Situational understanding
Most leaders have developed their own style of leadership as they have progressed.
That’s great, but leaders need to be able to change their style to reflect changes in circumstances and context.
For example.
A participative style can be great.
But not if we need to know where the fire exit is in an emergency.
It’s like a golfer needing to be able to use all the clubs in the golf bag.
2. Awareness of self
Awareness
Leaders need to be aware of their own strengths and weaknesses.
Case study
I recently spoke with a leader setting up a new charity.
He knew he was strong on strategy and communication, but he also knew that he was weak on the practical operations.
So he surrounded himself with strong implementers.
Like him, you need to #PlayToYourStrengths.
Actions
Leaders also need to practice what they preach.
I still remember the boss who preached the virtues of open plan offices.
He convinced me.
Until he made it clear that he would be having his own office.
#ActionsSpeakLouderthanWords.
3. Informal networks
The solo hero leader is out dated.
New leaders build leadership teams and wide connections.
Often key players don’t even appear on organisation charts.
Case study
I helped a blue collar work force bid for their own jobs, against leading security companies.
At first they refused to co-operate with my team.
Then I identified Dave.
He was the real leader, even though he was a junior security guard and wasn’t any part of the official hierarchy.
Once I started working with Dave, we were able to agree the changes in working practices and culture that resulted in a winning bid.
4. Lateral leadership
Leaders have to get things done.
Sometimes they have little real power.
Certainly they cannot know all the answers.
Jim Collins, in his book ‘Great to Good’, describes a combination of personal drive and humility, as level 5, the highest level of leadership. (As distinct from ego.)
I call this ‘lateral leadership’.
It is about getting things done by persuasion, rather than by only relying on power.
Finally
Effective leaders deal with the challenges of SAIL; they need to follow the #MartialArtsPrinciple of #FlowLikeWater.
Picture by pedrosimoes7
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Mike Barnato 