Drip. Drip. Drip. The sound of a tap needing fixing. Or the sound of drops filling a bucket. What if you had drops filling your bucket? Consistently, one drip at a time. Today, allow drops of joy to enter your system. Doesn’t matter where they come from. Let them enter. Consistently, predictably. Drip. Drip. Drip.
Have you ever set a goal you DIDN’T achieve? Well, haven’t we all. Now compare to the goals you DID achieve – what was different? I know the key to achieving goals. And it’s not what you expect. All the goals I gave and got in corporate were a combination of numbers and deadlines. Done as SMART goals: Specific, Measurable, Attainable (they claimed as they added another stretch), Relevant, and Time-bound. That is smart, compared to vague and non-descript goals leading us nowhere. But were they motivating? No. Did we continue repeating that process anyway? Yes. Most goals have a number and a deadline in them. But what they miss, is the ONE thing that will make them happen: an emotional state. I’m not going all woo-woo and fluffy on you here, we’re talking goal setting that delivers the results we want – in business and in life. We are simply using research-based knowledge of how our brains work and we get our subconscious doing a lot of the heavy lifting for us, while we’re busy doing other things. That’s working smarter, not harder, isn’t it?? From the SMART goals, Relevant could have filled that spot – if it had … More Why repeat what’s not working? »
I wrote a leadership paper 3 years ago. Sharing how 99% of leaders fail. In being the best leaders they possibly can. In creating the best business results they possibly can. Because we’re too one-dimensional in how we do business and in how we lead others to create results. This is like choosing one scoop of ice cream every time we’re at the ice cream booth. And probably sticking with chocolate every time, too (insert your favourite variant here). Great leadership and running great businesses are not one-kind-of-scoop-endeavours. We need to bring variety, we need all our abilities in play instead of just sticking to that one, preferred skill or focus. This is now more relevant than ever. We are not managing hands – we are leading minds and hearts. And now even remotely in many cases. Last year proved that we as business owners and leaders can’t get results through being one-dimensional. We can’t navigate success with hard skills or chocolate only. Our teams, our clients, our leads, our suppliers, our family and friends – everyone in our eco-system of people is impacted by their state. Their mindset. Their capability to make great decisions, stay focused and on task … More One or two scoops? »
When did you last carve out time to thank someone, tell them they’re doing a great job or how they’re helping you? Strangely enough, as human beings, business owners and leaders we prioritise follow-up calls, reviews and meetings to tell the mistakes being made, things that are not yet working as it should, policing or notifying suppliers, staff and clients of shortcomings. How weird is that? Here’s a crazy idea: prioritise your to-do list and meetings differently the next week! Put first the actions of appreciation, a short thank you call or message, praise of a staff member for how what they did impacts you and the business – thank one of your clients for being an awesome client?!! Give time and focus to what you want more of. I did it earlier this week without thinking and realised how different it sets up your day. Puts a smile on someone else’s face – and get you focused on helping create more of that good stuff. Do you want to join me in this experiment? Let’s get really curious about when we ourselves think it’s much more important to be bossy and correcting – and what it would mean if … More Prioritising the good stuff?? »
Beautiful weather today. Taking the time to enjoy it. Allowing smooth sailing. How often do we miss that opportunity? The better educated, the smarter you are, the bigger the risk that you can ALWAYS find something that could be done better. Something that could be improved. Something that you or others are not doing to the optimal level yet. It’s great to have a drive and in most instances, a laser-sharp perception that notices everything, is a gift to have. Then the only thing we need to teach ourselves or remind ourselves is to let go now and then. Smell the roses, enjoy what it. Take a day out, not ticking things off lists, not improving anything. Just being. We could have considerably more smoother sailing in our lives and businesses than we allow ourselves. Basic mindset techniques are brilliant to learn and apply, and one of the core ones is that what you focus on, you get more of. And because we’re so ABLE to fix problems, we focus on them and get a kick out of solving them. While simultaneously, a lot of smooth sailing was available to us in that same moment. But we didn’t look that … More Smooth sailing »
When we pick a flower from our garden and put it in a vase, it seems like a great idea at the time, but it may be short-lived compared to leaving it growing in its habitat: with roots and stems and its foundation intact, it can blossom for weeks or months in some cases. This reminded me of how we give feedback. Ideally, it should be more feedforward than feedback. Sharing an observation that brings value to the receiver going forward. In their habitat. Just like giving flowers should be choosing the bouquet that the receiver likes. But just like the flower taken from its habitat, our well-intended feedback can be given out of context. We may think it’s giving a rose, a flower, a gift of insight from us to them. But, that short-lived, picked flower from us needs to make sense and fit into the receiver’s habitat, their roots, their stems, their foundation. Do you recognise how we sometimes throw a comment or “feedback” to someone else as we race into the next meeting? As it leaves our mind and mouth, we’re normally done, then “that’s out of the way”, maybe it even felt good and powerful to … More Didn’t you like the flowers??!! »
Months ago, in (yet another) thunderstorm we lost our electricity (again!) – and the electrical curtains we have up high started beeping, telling us they had lost connection. Well, that noise would stop a normal night’s good sleep, so we pulled out our noise-reduction headphones. They worked a treat for a good night’s sleep – just like they help with their main purpose of easing long-haul-double-flights to Denmark. Having been totally cut off from the surroundings (audibly), made me fascinated the next morning: try noticing what we actually HEAR versus what is a reaction to impact. For example, if you tip-toe up the stairs, I wouldn’t hear it through my blocking-out-sound-equipment. But if you stomped with power and thumping heels, even I still couldn’t HEAR you, I would sense the vibration in the floor and the possible agitation. It made me wonder: what else are we actually only HEARING – vs taking it in via a combination of our senses and emotions? And how does this relate to your business, sales, and leadership?? We’re all cogs in a wheel – it’s all connected. Even if one department put on their mental noise-reduction-headphones and get on with things, their actions and … More Leading with noise-reduction-headphones?? »
Spoken like a 3-year-old. Not wanting help. I can do this on my own. I WANT to do it on my own. I don’t need anybody to help me. Isn’t it fascinating how that’s still our behaviour decades later, as leaders, parents, friends and human beings? Some of us want to prove we can do it ourselves. Others feel embarrassed to ask for help. No matter what, here’s the thing: we CAN do it all ourselves. But letting go of that old pattern and allowing others to add their part might just be worth a try. Personally, I’ll give myself the challenge: to swap “jeg kan selv” with “let’s do it together”. Do you want to join?
Do you know this game? Where you create stone stacks of a minimum of 7 stones. I did a few on my bush jog last weekend and it reminded me of how we can become too daring, try stacking too much. Now link it to today being Mother’s Day. Where we give and expect to receive gifts and attention. How is this related, you ask? Well, as I turned to find stones for the third stack, the first one tumbled. Sometimes the stone stacks tumble because of wind. Sometimes because a bird lands on them. It’s very seldom because we push them over ourselves. And here is the thing: you were the one that stacked it. The one that chose the stones to be used. Went back a few steps if you weren’t sure you had made the right decision. And gave full throttle when you were on a roll and it was moving easily and effortlessly. What you’re experiencing right now, whether you’re the observing or receiving part, be it Mother’s Day or your business results: you are the one who stacked the stones to what it looks like right now. Enjoy and accept the choices you’ve made. Be … More Stacking stones »
In times of crisis, we get the opportunity to step up. To focus on the most important things, to share overview and direction, to be even calmer and to support others in doing the same. The opposite is initiating, fuelling or being part of creating confusion, story, more worry or drama. Around the world, we have the chance to evaluate ourselves and our businesses in this light at the moment. The point is not that there IS a global event happening. The point is how we tackle it the best way possible, not only caring for ourselves but for those around us and where we can, help to impact others to lead themselves and others even more resourcefully. We all have a certain ‘setting’, a certain balance of certainty vs variety that we prefer. There is no right or wrong, some people are thrill-seekers and others prefer predictability. No matter your usual setting, there is probably a bit more uncertainty at the moment than what you prefer. Therefore, the best we can do for each other, our teams and our businesses is to give certainty. Make clear decisions and deliver clear communication. Accept the things we can’t do or change … More Shine that torch! »
