Fetching the red underwear

Yesterday afternoon just as I stopped at my mom’s house to pick up my eldest son, I got a phone call from my husband. My son’s underwear, which he needed to get dressed for his first ever school awards evening, was left in the car.

Now, I know that that is not supposed to be a big deal. I mean, you just get back in your car and drive the 2 odd kilometres to the swimming school where he is with the other two boys, get the red undies from your husband, drive back to your mom’s house, give it to your son, and then you are back on track again.

But no, at that moment it was just too much to handle. My “resilience metre” was pushed too far. (Ashamedly) I completely freaked out. Luckily there were no kids with me otherwise their vocabulary would have been extended to very colourful language.

As I got back in the car and drove, well maybe not “drove”, it was more “raced like a deranged fool”, I thought to myself that this is the “resilience moment” that I always talk to clients about. Then I realised that it took so little to completely throw me into freak-out mode. As I stopped (read: screeched to a halt) in front of the swimming school my 3 and 6 year olds came running out to greet me. Then it completely hit me. Why am I making such a big deal out of the red undies? Really? Is this what life is about for me now?

But I think that is exactly it. We are so busy rushing through life, doing chores, coping with difficult emotionally loaded situations, and in between we are trying to actually make a difference in life - live our purpose. So when I got the red undies phone call it was just the last thing I had to deal with after dealing with a myriad of emotionally and physically taxing situations in my work day. And then to “be resilient” is not easy. Seeing my kids’ pure joy and happiness to see me and then realising how absolutely ridiculous the situation (and my reaction to it) was, helped me to “bounce back” at that moment.

Resilience is just one of the Self management tools in the Motto Model  that we continually have to work on. All the Motto Model elements help you to live your best life and realise your personal vision. Where you are and the areas that you need to develop at this stage of your life are measured with the Individual Assessment tool on our website.

http://www.motto.za.net/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=34:blog-28-november-2012-construct-d-resilience&catid=10:contributor&Itemid=101

 

 

Finding your voice

 

 

I woke up early today, realising that this is it, I have to do it now. I have to start writing, blogging now.
 

This whole week I have been without a voice. For someone that makes a living through (mostly) talking, or as my husband would say “telling people what to do”, for the rest of us “consulting”, not having a voice is tough.
 

On Monday morning in the yoga class I realised why I have been losing my voice every now and then this year. The yoga teacher spoke about the blue chakra, the vocal cords one. When I spoke to her after the class she asked: “What is it you are not saying? Or what do you want to say?”

The reality is that I have had all the excuses possible not to speak out – not wanting to judge, or not wanting to insult, just being too busy. When you know what you have to do, know what your purpose is, and you are scared, there are loads of excuses you can have.
 

My voice has been so desperate to come out, my purpose so keen to be realised, that in my case my body has forced me to finally start doing it. The fact that the rest of my family is sleeping and that I was forced to get up because I have been coughing so badly that my husband and sick baby could not sleep either, was just a bi-product of my resistance.
 

This blogging journey is about helping others finding and then living their purpose - realising your personal vision. It is about moving through the fear, eliminating the obstacles in your way, and equipping yourself to live your best life.
 

The individual assessment tool on our website shows you which areas in your personal development is currently holding you back in doing all of this. I do this test often and am always amazed at what I was not seeing, and what the results confirm. I look forward to walking this path with you on your journey of self development.


http://www.motto.za.net/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=9:latest-news-1&catid=10:contributor&Itemid=101

Changing the way we do business

“There are
things known
and there are
things
unknown, and
in between are
the doors of
perception”
- Aldous Huxley -

The SEARS Model of the Employee Customer Profit Chain is well known in most organisations. This

valuable way of looking at the direct influence of the employee’s behaviour on the revenue growth of the organisation does not generally get the attention it requires. The model explains how the employee’s attitude towards the job as well as the attitude towards the company worked for, directly influence behaviour. This subsequently influences employee retention as well as service delivery and the quality of the products they produce. The service level of staff and the product quality directly influence customers’ impressions and customer retention and recommendation. This subsequently drives the revenue growth of the company. I believe that if you can influence the attitude of an individual you can influence your business growth/ profits. For many decades academics have searched for ways to motivate and influence people. Most organisations disregard their control or direct influence on employees’ attitudes. This disempowering behaviour results in desperate measures such as dominating or forcing staff into action. If you can change an individual’s way of thinking you can change his/her emotions. The way individuals
think is often a result of  the perceptions created in their environment. This could be perceptions created while growing up, at home, a work environment, or the influence of a current or previous boss. Managing these perceptions is critical to influencing their thinking and subsequently their emotions and their attitudes. Being proactive as an organisation means that you have more control over the perceptions created. If an organisation can decide prior to acting what perceptions they  want to create with staff it empowers them to influence staff attitudes. Perceptions are formed through expectations, frame of reference, stereo types and previous exposure. If you want to influence the perceptions of a group, all of these “perception creators” have to be managed. For example: If you want to create the perception that you are a people driven organisation you have to create the perceptions in the individuals minds that they can expect participation and involvement in decision making. A way of creating these expectations would be to communicate those expectations formally and informally choosing the appropriate ways of conveying the message consistently. At a meeting a manager would typically say: “We have an important decision to make as a company which has a direct influence on all of us. You need to contribute your thoughts and feelings when we talk about this at our next meeting. The decision involves…” If leadership and management in an organisation can realise the power of managing perceptions and the impact it has on staff attitude it is a good start to changing the way they do business.

SEARS Model: Employee-
Customer Profit Chain