Energised? Drained? Stuck between?

I have found the personal SWOT quite a hard to exercise to conclude at times.

There was never a problem getting lots of ideas, even if my clients were a little reticent on their strengths and weaknesses. However we would often review the results, take the step back and ask "what does that tell us", and find it hard to draw the conclusions.

This is probably because it is normal for connections between information to take time to percolate and emerge from the slightly clunky creative parts of our brains.  It seems to me an easier process for larger groups and on broader subjects.

A really productive way to work through this is to ask personal energy questions.  This requires a combination of some of the ideas of for validation of personal strengths from Martin Seligman with the SWOT.

Look at the strengths.  Ask which one is the client's real sweet spot strength.  As well as the skill that knocks the ball out of the ground, it is also common to find it is an energy giving skill, so: they lose track of time, it's effortless or energy rises, it feels like the real them, they feel purposeful using it, they get a real buzz etc.

Doing this on a mind map, I usually colour it in green.

Then I ask for the antithesis on the weaknesses side...so this is the weakness that, should it be triggered, is the worst thing that could happen, makes time stand still or drag, drains energy really fast, makes the guts twist and the head spin, and tends to effect everything else.

I call it "the drain" and colour it red.

You may not like my names or colours: feel free to change them!  If you do try this approach I think you will find that the drain blocks the sweet spot in some vital aspect of your clients' business and personal life, and it is a good place to start to unpack unconscious preferences.

Have fun with my souped up SWOT, all due recognition to those that generated the original ideas, even if not usually served up quite like this meal .

Sweet SWOT Strategy "6"

Those of you in the Mindshop (www.mindshop.com) group will know we have been working through "business sweet spots" in our business leader groups over the last month.  We also do a version of SWOT analysis with our clients called strategic SWOT - which uses cross referral between the categories to develop strategy.

Combining sweet spots and strategic SWOT has given a real enhancement to my SWOT reviews with clients this month.  Here's the process:

1. Analyse the business sweet spots
   Sweet spots are strengths - but the metaphor of the "middle of the bat" implied by "sweet spot", encourages clients  really to think about those areas of effortless success inside their businesses, and tends to limit the selection to those aspects that are real strengths.
   
   Useful discussion can be undertaken around how to maintain, use more broadly, learn from or enhance each.  Try mind-mapping these out, and picking a few strategies up as you go.
   
2. Identify growth and profit opportunities
   
   This area is always worth thought, and detail.  Look for the specifics and avoid anything vague; look for things that can actually be done.
   
3. For each opportunity establish, at least, the sustainable competitive advantage needed or held to take it
   
   Focussed like this on an individual market opportunity really makes us think deeply about the specific customer advantages that need to be delivered, and therefore the marketing and operational strategies that could be adopted.
   
   Look for rights over intellectual property, key physical assets and systems that will be used, project leadership, supplier partnerships etc.  Be really clear about the market opportunity; which clients, in which order, why will they buy, where will it lead?
   
4. List the resources required and identify those that are critically limited
   
   Again this is a far more focussed review then just a review of weaknesses.  Encourage the client just to note those resources that are critically limited - these will need increased sufficiently or will prevent growth and profit.  There is no may here - we are looking for the ones that "will" limit action, and for specific strategies to deal with this.
   
5. Check for risks
   
   Rather than look for threats, use a thorough risk analysis tool, like "failure mode effect analysis", and absolutely ensure that there are plans in place for any risks that score above the set index.  A useful approach is to review FMEA against each sweet spot, each limited resource and finally against each growth and profit opportunity.  Thoroughness is an advantage when working the tools at this stage.
   
6. "6" is for Strategy
   
   Now go through all of the detailed work, taking a step back.  Having gone through everything, what comes out for you?  Use the 80:20 rule and select the 20% of listed strategic actions you feel will gain you the most.   Slot these into your one page plan and crack on with implementation.

I have found the enhancements above to the normal strategic SWOT stimulating of creativity and detail, and  very useful in driving out strategic plans with clients.

As an aside, I know many of you will be moving into using tablet devices of one sort or another to work with clients and I am using my iPad very thoroughly these days.  I use "Mindmanager" (enterprise edition) on my pc.  You can download the allied "Mindjet" App from AppStore, which has many of the best features.  Interestingly mind-mapping this works perfectly for the above tool with the first six map elements taking the themes set out above.

I hope you enjoy working this tool with clients and find some benefits in my method.

Pearls or wands?

Hi fellow business coaches

I have recently been thinking about "step change" in my coaching business.  Let me explain: business is going well, I totally love the work, and have more time.  I spoke to a few people about "step change", for those of you who are in Mindshop, Chris has offered to respond and I am looking forward to engaging with him.  Time to use the "magic wand" on doubling sales!

I also raised it with Sian [Hi Sian :-)], my NLP coach and supervisor.

We talked around the subject for about an hour and gradually I got the strangest feeling of travelling back to my centre.

Sian asked finally, "So why is it that you do this, what is it that gives you this energy?"

Like a flash the answer came back, "It's my "pearl days", Sian!"   "What do you mean?".  Says she.

When I am with a client and the subject is serious, after a time as we work we get to a moment of real change: the atmosphere changes, perspective seems to range high or close down - it shifts, and it's suddenly 1000 times more exciting as the client gains new resourcefulness.  I call moments like this "pearl days".

When you are coaching, you are often in a privileged position, hearing otherwise unspoken fears and issues in a place of safety and I was reminded that "my business" is a natural outcome of these amazing "pearl moments", built from a grain of sand, imperfect, but beautifully transforming.

I keep them on a prayer bead necklace and sometimes count back through these moments of human-being, as if speaking out blessings.

Focussing on "step-change"?  Well, its focussing on the wrong thing.  I am focussing on attracting more pearl days and letting the rest look after itself.

Insignificance

Hi Coaches

On the PB Entrepreneurs blog today I posted an article, with the same title as this, about inhibition.

I have been thinking about significant people and what holds back that magic connection you can sometimes get and both this and the Entrepreneurs article are part of the result.  This one is for you and is more about method and structure for bringing out inhibition.

Firstly - why am I writing?

Maybe you won't agree with this.  I have long known about repression and inhibition, and in my own life been aware of problems on the inside.  Although, when I look back on the resolution to these through my own coaching I can see that I then was able to move forwards in life, I had not fully connected the two aspects.

Here is the thought.  When something is not right on the inside, but you haven't realised or admitted it, you can also stop making positive decisions and driving yourself forwards in life.  Recent difficulties in my own business, which are all resolved but during the process in which they played out were painful, led me to decisions to change my role.  I had thought that all these changes were positive, and they were made for good and valid reasons.

However when a colleague was talking to me about it recently (coaching me) I realised also that the painful side of the experience had left me inhibited, and less prepared to lead.  I had withdrawn.  As a consequence I had placed myself on a less significant path.  I was being less connected to others.  I was setting up a more muted state.

The realisation and admission, made with some emotion, was a tremendous thing.   I was left refreshed and ready to dive back in.

This led me to thinking about my clients and of course a higher level of realisation of the damaging effect on their energetic action of hidden problems.  It also gave me an insight into the very high value of the accepting coach/confidante, who can facilitate expression of hidden truths.

This can be done in a simple strategy workshop - the chance to speak about what is really wanted in life. Often it happens at a deeper level in a personal coaching session, where deeper anxieties can be realised and spoken.  The act of speaking is often cathartic, comes with an emotional shift, and although not always fully understood from a rational perspective, it nearly always releases action back on the path of a life of energy and purpose.

Hope that makes sense....here is the structure:

Coaching is a process that allows clients to move through these important stages with their issues:

1. Disempowered state Their energy is suppressed for some reason, and they feel anxious, frustrated, angry and often express a lack of success.   They can be more withdrawn than usual, they don't participate, they offer their opinion less, they can appear to be demotivated about important things or distracted.
   
   This is the state they are often in when they call.  Prior to meeting you they are alone with their problem and either unaware but not effective, or are aware in some way, but not sure of the issue.  Sometimes they are completely unaware of a problem but others are, and a referral may be suggested by a friend, colleague or boss.
   
   Clients begin self-disempowered in some way.  Choosing to see you is a move towards regaining their power.
   
2. The significant things are hidden
   Clients start to work with you but the real issues are hidden.  Clients are aware of something, but it's a mess of feelings and images that they cannot express.  We might say the issue is hidden, or inexpressible.  You may notice they present with trivia.  It is important to notice this and remember that it takes a while for honesty to arise, and often this is because they have not yet brought into their own consciousness what the real problems are.  There is certainly fear of disclosure, and that leads to people saying trivial things in the first place.
   
   Coaching approaches at this stage vary.  It is fundamentally important however to create a "state of safety" for your client.  This includes building rapport and exercising non-judgement (see my earlier posts on this blog).  Non-judgemental, active listening and gentle questioning are vital and a recognition that a state of not-knowing can take a while to work through.  Be patient and know that if you can facilitate some understanding it is worth every penny to your client to be with you.
   
   I might use intuition tools, questions and response, drawing, grovian questions, and metaphor.  I would suggest that working with images (either in imagination or using drawings) with suggestion can be very powerful.  Working on beliefs or life purpose are two great ways to access deeper inhibitions.
   
3. The issue cannot be spoken
   The next stage is realisation but fear of saying the truth out loud; fear of real admission.
   
   As coach it is important to recognise the fear of disclosure that most clients face.  These fears are irrational because we all share them to some degree, and of course we are all human and share our fears.   However, we can also imagine the childish and irrational fears over admitting something that we feel humiliated about.
   
   Part of the issue can be because deeper issues are normally wrapped up in strong feelings.  Most cultures and groups have social rules about not expressing emotion, especially for men.  If there is even a little emotion connected to an issue, there can be fears both of that being seen by another and it being an access to all sorts of pent up stress.  The fear of being overwhelmed by emotion and displaying it publicly are significant.  They are a major cause of inhibition.  Be aware of it and use your words carefully to make sure it is not just acceptable but welcome.  Also allow your client to move past it quickly.
   
4. I can say it to myself
   The next major step forwards toward regaining power is recognition within the client.  As coach you may not be privileged to hear what has been realised in words.  However you will see it happen if you are observant - a shift of colour and of expression betraying deep emotion is often evidence of deep realisation and inner change.
   
   This can be enough for your client.  They know what to do suddenly.  You move onto working out how to do it.   Well formed goals and forcefield can work well here.
   
   As coach if you see something shift like this, don't be inhibited yourself.  You have no right to insist on being told what has been realised but feel free to ask!  If needed be prepared to work in code to get confirmation.   I recently had to suggest to a client that they closed their eyes to say what had been realised to me; out of the eye line and hidden from view I existing slightly less to them, just enough of a shift to allow expression.  These are subtle things; be prepared to break eye contact or use eye contact to redirect their gaze away from you.  It is less intense, more private and may allow the words to come out.
   
5. I can say it to another
   Nearly the final stage on this issue for the coach, your client admits the issue to you and you are now able to facilitate a fuller understanding of the issue and help them reframe their beliefs about it and frankly to think differently; to gain even more perspective.
   
   It is a real privilege to receive disclosure.  It implies a relationship of deeper trust, and there is a consequent obligation to support the next step.
   
   With clients you can quickly get into the "now, where, how" tool, helping them to set up their goals and think about the type of solution they want.  The "Desire x Vision x Planning tool" (DVP) may still be needed to gain sufficient motivation to deal with the issue outside of coaching.  This brings me to the final stage.
   
6. I can say this to whom I need to
   The final stage of each coaching programme is help your client get better action and implementation going.  Fundamentally this means them gaining the energy and momentum to go and deal with their issues, without "losing it".  You will all know how to put together a great plan and know that "how you go about it" is rich with choices for better outcomes.

Stage 1 and 6 are without the coach.   The rest normally occur within the privacy and safety of the coaching circle.

I hope you don't feel this post is trite.  Of course many issues are dealt with naturally all day long without need for serious coaching support.  Coaching is relevant for the ones that are real challenges for our clients, and we all know what it is like to wake at night with deep anxieties about life and what is to come.   I am always surprised to hear clients whom I regard as highly successful people admit they do not feel successful and are filled with self-doubt.

No doubt we can all recall times when we were seriously stuck and needed help.  I hope these ideas about the structure of coaching are helpful to your work in helping others!  

Don't take it too seriously or too lightly ;-), coaching is an enigma, but it is not an insignificant activity.  I wish you more significant weeks.

It's not logical but it works

In Western civilisation, with our scientific approach to life, we focus on reason, logic, facts and understanding.  This focus is essential and helpful.  However I often feel that in doing so we miss some of the key ingredients of the process of finding solutions to problems; the need to understand can get in the way of success.

Spock:  I'm unhappy to find I am
happy, its not logical!

Gaining insight is important, and it is useful if it helps your client decide on a new course of action that works better for them.  However, sometimes insight does not help.  Knowing you are an alcoholic is a step forwards, but is not enough to stop the drinking.

Talking through decision making with a group of clients the other day, it was clear that, while all used rational and logical analysis before making a big decision, two key ingredients were missing:

• Whether they feel motivated or still have inner conflict, and 
• Any information about what would actually happen.

While little decisions can be easy, big decisions appeared to require what we call a "leap of faith" and no one in the room really understood what made this happen, or why it happened.  Not having that information did not stop the movement though, or prevent the success or failure of the decision to act.

A lot of clients come in with decisions to be made, and a lot can be done to help by adding rational analysis, to speed up this review.   That can be enough to help.  However it is not always enough, and this suggests to me that all the rationality is doing is helping an inner intuition towards or away from acting.

For many the logic is of little help.  They will present in a confusing mix of information - some emotion, some fact.   

I find it useful to access their intuitive response, and although it is interesting, I find it rarely useful to understand it.  What is useful is that something has shifted and a change takes place; allowing this to remain a mystery lets you get on with the task in hand on not waste time.

A client asked for help to stop smoking.   Using visualisation, she was able to "see an image" of the the two parts of her, one that wanted to smoke, and one that wanted her to stop.   She was then able to "speak to each part" and listen to the response.  During this imagination and light hypnotic work, the images shifted and she began to feel differently.  She responded with emotion to the work she was doing.  She heard the positive intention of the smoker: to feel more alive!  She heard the positive intention of the non-smoker: to live longer!

So feeling alive and living longer where the motivations in conflict, and this intuition work brought them out.

What happened next defies logic.  In the 30 minutes following this work, the tale of how she had started smoking simply poured out of her.  We completed the session using affirmations - layering a series of positive emotions that made her feel fully alive on a pressure point (using the anchoring techniques in NLP).  She left with a trigger for feeling fully alive, enriched with positive memories, that she could use instead of a cigarette.

Neither of us knew what was going to happen during this session.  All we knew was that part of her was motivated enough to say that she wanted help.  I have not told the full story to protect its privacy, but she did not consciously know that the story she was going to "tell" was strongly linked to smoking.  The intuition work - using dynamic pictures, imagination and self-talk, accessed the resources she needed to make the change she wanted.

No amount of saying "smoking will damage your health", while clearly rational, was of any help at all!

Hey! Our relationship isn't a "thing"

"Our relationship just isn't working, I think we need to break up"

Sounds bleak, eh.  This is a sentence I hear a lot from coaching clients.  It can be about colleagues, family or friends.  Such statements often come with very strong emotion, and are presented as absolutes - as one way out only statements.  And yet this is being said to the coach, not to the other party.  It may therefore be being presented for review, and not be as absolute as it sounds.

As coaches, our role is to help clients.  Specifically it is our role to help them look at their choices and help increase the range and quality of the options they have.  So we need a way into such rigidly placed barriers and this post considers a few:

• Nominalisation
• Complex words, and 
• Literal and inferential style contrasts

Nominalisation

This refers to the natural process of making concepts.  For example, words like faith or religion, words like science or research, even words like universe or garden all refer to concepts.  The process is natural and useful in language to take a series of ideas and put a word around them to create a reference point and short cut we can all share.

One of the short-comings of this is that it is often used to describe activities and in so doing to make them a noun rather than a process or verb.  For example, "a partnership" sounds like a thing.  It will even (in business) have a legal document that looks like a thing.  Clearly it is not a thing, you can't touch it or wheel it around in a barrow!  It is a process, a network, a group of people working together for some common goals and in accordance with some shared reference points for decisions.

Where nominalisation can become a problem is that it suggests something that is fixed.  Our "relationship" can be seen as a "thing" that is "not working".  It has somehow become externalised and fixed in its nature.  Things seem fixed.  Fixed means unchangeable.  Seeing things in this way can reduce your sense freedom of action, and practically restrict the choices you make.

What can the coach do?  Just check in on the client's language.  Remind them that a relationship refers to the way they are relating, and that of course, as a verb, this describes a series of open choices.  They can change their choices about how to relate in a near infinite variety of creative ways that may help.

Complex Words

Well there are a few juicy ones in the preceding section: relationship, partnership, colleague, love, science, religion, agreement.

What do they mean? Yep, you're right.  They mean different things to different people depending on a heap of unknowns - context, experience, state of mind etc etc.

Complex words are forms of nominalisation, and for the sake of argument may be taken to refer to higher level concept collections.  Science, for example.  I am not sure it is a misuse of the word to say something like "What has science to tell us about this?" but I am also not sure it really means anything - its felicity is to allow virtually any meaning which pays us all in to the conversation.

It is useful to say "let's start a partnership", "let's start a company", "I would like you to become a director", "let's get married", "you're a great partner", "I love you!"  

All of these generalise the intention and allow the parties to agree.  However the words are not specific.  Partnership for you means working 1800 hours at £300 per hour on client work.  Partnership for me means managing the business and no client work.  Love for you means flowers and candlelit dinners, love for me means sharing all the chores.  

Complex words hide the specifics, they are great for agreement at high level, but difficulties will reside in the detail.  Beware!

As coaches, it is always to helpful to draw to the surface the specifics.  When a client says "Our relationship is just not working" you help them draw out the detail.  "How are you relating?  What is it that you want - specifically?  What does your partner want, specifically?  Do you  know?  Have you checked?  Tell me about the last time you were unhappy about something specific?"

Of course this can work the other way up.

For example, if a particular choice has caused a row, you can often find that the higher intention was shared.  If the higher level intention is the same (e.g. protecting our firm) we can at least see that we our values seem to be the same and respect each other at this level.  It is just the specific choice we need to discuss.

What to suggest to clients?  Well there is no substitute for talking the issues through and turning over the specifics. Often doing that with a third party present (coach, colleague, counsellor) can help keep the confusion level down.  It is only fear and courage that prevent conversation and a bit of help on how this can work, or better ways to approach it, can often overcome the worry that a conversation will develop into the same old row.

Literal or inferential styles
Complex words!  As a final thought for you, it can be worth thinking through this common style difference.   For example if I say "I am thirsty" the literal mind responds "He is thirsty!"  The inferential goes a step further and infers intention - "He wants me to make him a cup of tea!"  Do I?  Are you sure?
If you find yourself becoming irritated about apparent intentions, it is just worth checking if you are inferring these or if they are real.

As I head off for that cuppa I'll leave you to think just how easy it is to get into misunderstandings over some of these fundamental word confusions.   Even my cup of tea is really a process, and the marketing man in me wants you to think about whether what I am about to get out of the experience is the same as you would?  If not - it must be tough for a cuppa to be a noun, eh?   Thinking of the whole process of "tea" from start to finish (thinking about tea, to the washed-up cup) I wonder which part you enjoy the most.   I hope that is creatively confusing for you all.

Nick

Do you love your work too much?

I have been reflecting on the toughest issues to influence as a business coach.   Common barriers affecting high flyers include; insufficient strategy, fear of action, poor decision making, low self-confidence, beliefs that do not support success.  However, each of these is relatively easy to spot and there are good ways to work on them to get an impact.

Perhaps the hardest to deal with is loving work too much - where positive intentions collide and the appearance of success in every area distracts the executive from realising there is greater potential entirely missing from the picture.  The specific issue is personal success combining with highly positive attitudes to a range of tasks and not seeing what is not achieved but could be with a different approach.

Here is your high flying CEO; Monday morning.  She picks up the weekly priority list; done the night before (good start).

1.  Read final documents and prepare for final meeting for an acquisition by a top client, really me, love the technical detail and cut and thrust of negotiation, big money on it, tick
2. Cashflow nearing overdraft limits, read partner debt lists and do the rounds with the weaker guys, getting their actions going to bring in some cash, helps the firm, uses my courage and persuasion skills to the full, tick
3. Strategic review preparation; need to read Gladwell's book, and review the market research, talk to the board about the key issues and prepare the ground for Thursdays strategy session.  My experience counts, great fun and vital for our future, tick
4. New client presentation, best fun, I'm really good at it, need to show I can still top the new business chart, tick
5. Property issues to be addressed, where will we go next at the fast growing Manchester office, complex negotiations, lots riding on it, I have vital views on how the practice offices should locate and look, tick
6. Our plans are to double with acquisitions, I have no likely firms in the viewer, need to identify partner to help target and start the process, must be me as I have clear views on the ideal target, tick.
7. Senior and capable colleague having a wobble, offers in from competitor, personal persuasion needed!  Tick.

Great at everything, loving all of it; sound familiar?  It's all good for the firm so what's the issue?

I am reminded of the scene in Band of Brothers - the episode was "the Breaking Point", the scene is the attack on the town of Foy, breaking out after the siege of Bastogne.  Colonel Winter's men are led by Lieutenant Dike, who makes mistakes, leading to casualties and a faltering attack.  Winters had risen to lead his company, loved his men, was a great field leader.  Seeing the problems he rushes forward, and is harshly called back by his commander.  "Winters, get back here, your place is on the line, not in the attack!"  Winters replaces Dike with Spiers in the heat of action and the attack goes in successfully.

Of course Winters could have led in the attack.  But his commander knew only Winters had the experience of his men and battle to manage the overall campaign and unfolding situation.  If distracted by close action, or worse taken out by chance or failure, the whole campaign might fail.

The point of experience is constantly to challenge yourself to have the greatest impact and focus.  Who is forcing you to take a step back and stay focussed on a simple list of your greatest strengths?  My own coach is fond of encouraging an annual "garage sale" of tasks.  Half must go - and each year the half on the fire sale are things that are more impactful than the last year's list.

What are the consequences of giving in to all the pleasures of their high performance ability?

What is the practice or firm missing that it could have by now, but for their distraction?

Why is there no succession of tasks that should not be top of their list, but do need high skill?

What growth could have been achieved had they focussed on increasing activity around their top three skills and replacing resources for the remaining tasks?

Wise CEO's and partners seek to surround themselves with people cleverer than they are.

The hardest thing to get people to realise is that when there appears to be nothing wrong, it is their great capability that might be the biggest barrier to their potential.

Do you love your work too much?  Are you too good to benefit from coaching?