The Value of the Pause

As Spring breaks, the days get longer and daffodils begin to blossom I am reminded of the first time I learnt about the concept of expansion and contraction from Chris Attwood at the Masters Gathering in San Diego in June 2009.  In essence what Chris said is that at every point in life there are expansion and contraction points. Just think of the seasons. Spring and Summer are the seasons of expansion (growth and development) whilst Autumn and Winter are seasons of contraction (of slowing down and resting).  Just like the Ying Yang one can’t exist without the other and so it is in business. 

There are times when your business flourishes and grows and times when it stagnates (to recuperate and rest).  The challenge for most of us is when the contraction happens we give up, but this is just one of nature’s cycles. Roger Hamilton summarises this analogy in his book “Wink”.  There is a season for planting and a season for reaping.  Furthermore, he goes on to discuss the Law of Gestation. The seeds you plant must be given time to develop and mature before you can harvest them. How often in business do we get impatient and reap too early? I know I do. So as we move into Spring consider your business life cycle and make sure you don’t pull up your seeds before they are ready.

Recently I have been rather busy and not paying my lovely ponies Bracken and Thistle the attention they deserve. I’m been rushing, never stopping – acting in an expansive state.  The one sure thing that Thistle has been teaching me is to slow down and wait.  What I cause the pause.  She does this by stopping when I lead her to the field.  She just plants her feet and refuses to move until I slow down.  The more I try to encourage her forward the more stubborn she becomes.  I now realise if I pause (take a breath) and wait she will then move forward. So leading her has become a game – like the ebb and flow of the sea.

All too often in life out of desire for instantaneous results and goal orientation means that we fail to pause. To survey what is around us and reflect on what is happening. Thistle has been teaching me the value of this because it is in the pause that great magic can occur. How and when will you pause today?

The Challenges of Corporate Integration

Life lessons come in many forms and this week has been no exception.  All week we have been introducing the three horses in our herd to two new friends.  They have been meeting daily over the fence like getting to know each other before we eventually put all five horses in the field together.  Watching their behaviour over the past few days has been amazing.  My older horse, Toby, who is currently the leader of his group, has been over-dominant with the new horses. Snorting and really establishing himself as the head honcho in charge of everything.  He has actively been stopping his best friend, Charlie, engage in any way with the other horses.  It has been so tiring watching him all day preventing Charlie from going near the other horses.  He has to be aware all the time where Charlie is and then move him in the other direction.  Charlie, I sense, is really bord of this but quietly acquiesces as he is not the type of horse to engage in confrontation.

There antics remind me strongly of the challenges that come about when two companies integrate.  One group often wants to dominate and acts in an assertive fashion whilst the other group complies, not having the strength for the battle right now.  Like Charlie they decide to go with the flow until things settle down.  What to me is interesting is that Toby’s dominant behaviour is not his natural state and in fact I would go so far as to say that the only way he is behaving this way is because he is scared. Scared of losing his friends and his position in the herd.  And I bet that is what happens when companies merge.  Fear drives behaviour as we want to maintain security and keep things just the way they are. Yet we all know that without change no organisation or individual will develop and grow.

My own experiences of being part of a corporate merger comes from when Andersen UK (formerly Arthur Andersen) was acquired by Deloitte UK following the Enron fiasco.  Whilst with hindsight the merger went relatively smoothly there were power plays occurring all over the organisation as each company vied to maintain their system and solution because it was better than what the other party had. What was interesting was the way that some people ran scared. Afraid of what might happen they sought to surround themselves with allies who could ensure that they would be protected – in much the same way that Toby is protecting himself by controlling Charlie’s loyalty to him. However, in the end was this strategy effective.  Possibly in the short-term, but in the long-term I would suggest not as people (just like Charlie) do not want to be manipulated.  I’ll be really interested to see what develops over the next few weeks and to see whether Toby’s strategy pays off or if it will come back to haunt him.

Have you ever been involved in a corporate merger/take over and if so how did it go. Love to read your comments below.

Energy is the currency of success, positive attitudes pay off

If you want to know the importance of energy to America’s work force, look no further than the lines at Starbucks. Clearly people are searching for more energy to fuel their busy, demanding work schedules and lives. After all, if you don’t have energy, you can’t lead, sell, inspire, serve or advance in your career.

Unfortunately, however, double lattes are not the kind of energy that will enhance our performance and success. Real, sustained energy cannot be found in a can or bottle, but rather in the currency of physical, mental, emotional and spiritual energy that recharges, renews, refocuses and repurposes us daily.

In today’s energy-strapped, time-constrained business climate, those who want to take their career to the next level must be physically energized, mentally positive, emotionally contagious and purpose-driven.

Life is no longer a sprint. It’s not a marathon, either. Rather it’s a sprint and a boxing match combined where you are not only running as hard as you can, but you are getting hit along the way. Exercising, eating high-energy foods with protein and fiber as part of five small meals throughout the day will help you sustain your physical and mental energy and manage your stress.

Just as athletes must train for enhanced success, you must train to build your energy and strength. But training doesn’t stop at the physical level. To be at the top of your game, you’ll want to cultivate the positive energy necessary to overcome adversity, challenges and obstacles that often derail and sabotage so many careers. What most people don’t realize is that the latest research in neuroscience shows we can cultivate more positive energy, build mental muscle and mold our brains to be more positive and resilient to stress.

One proven way to do this is meditation, which research shows is like gasoline for the mind and body. It’s not just for Buddhist monks, but for athletes and business people who want to enhance their focus, energy, creativity and performance. Anyone who has ever worked for a very positive and uplifting boss or a negative energy vampire also knows the importance of the emotional energy we share with others.

Walt Whitman said we convince by our presence, and emotional energy is what does the convincing. Research from the Institute of HeartMath demonstrates that when we have a feeling it starts in our heart, goes to every cell in the body and outward, and can be detected up to five to 10 feet away. We are broadcasting our emotional heartfelt energy to our co-workers, employees and company every moment of every day.

Positive emotions enhance personal energy, team interactions and career success while negative emotions decrease energy and sabotage productivity and performance. That’s why Jack Welch said that great leaders have tons and tons of positive energy and they are contagious. It’s also why Pete Carroll, the two-time national champion coach of University of South Carolina football, has built a culture around positive energy. Those who want to succeed today must learn to manage their emotions under pressure, to stay positive and focused and develop a currency of positive emotional energy.

Cultivating a state of gratitude especially during challenging times is one way to enhance your energy currency and become more contagious. Gratitude floods your brain and body with positive thoughts and emotions that improve the way you think and feel. This brings us to the final and most powerful energy currency we can tap into: purpose. The fact is, we can eat all the avocado, drink all the water and do all the push-ups we want, but if we don’t have purpose, passion and enthusiasm for what we do each day, we’ll never feel as energized as we could.

Purpose is the ultimate fuel for our life and careers and it is essential for lasting success. When you are purpose-driven, you tap into an unlimited amount of energy currency. So instead of just going to work, find something within your work that contributes to a bigger purpose — something bigger than you, something that makes a difference — and let this purpose energize your success.

Source: Jacksonville Business Journal by Jon Gordon

The Impact of a One Degree Change

For the last few days it has been snowing and my horses – Toby and Charlie – have loved this.  They have been out frolicking and rolling in the soft powdery snow making some pretty good disguises for themselves.  Their playfulness has been inspiring and heart-warming for me as I’ve dug my car out of snow drifts and cleared pathways to lead them to the field.  Today, the snow has finally began to melt and where there was once white, fluffy snow we now have large lumps of solid ice.  The landscape has changed beyond recognition.

Given the better weather (of course it’s all relative) today I decided to take Charlie for a short ride and something amazing happened.  The piles of snow-ice, that only a few days ago were his best friend, and now his worst enemy.  He is terrified of them and keeps darting to the far side of the road to avoid them.  I find this all really amusing, that such a simple change in something can cause such a dramatic effect.

I’m reminded of something that one of my mentors once told me.  “It only takes slight shift to alter the course of your life”.  Just think about the fact that it only takes a one degree change in temperature to convert water to steam or indeed water to ice. This is such a tiny change and yet most of us ignore making these types of minor changes in our lives as we think that the effect won’t be significant enough.  We live in an instant gratification society and want results now, when in fact a number of small changes done day in day out will make a massive difference to our lives.

Jeff Olson explains this concept beautifully in “The Slight Edge”.  In this book he describes a water-lily on a pond.  On day one the water-lily covers just tiny portion of the pond, but on day two the waterlily doubles and then on day three doubles again, and again and again. Eventually after 30 days the entire pond is covered by water lilies.  At the outset you would never have thought that was possible and yet repetition of this tiny change magnifies itself disproportionately resulting in amazing results.

So what small change will make in your life today that will magnify itself into a massive change tomorrow?.  I’d love to hear what you choose.