Monday Mindset: Are you a Multiplier or a Diminisher?

Posted on 02 April 2012 by

Multipliers: How The Best Leaders Make Everyone Smarter I’ve just finished reading a GREAT book: Multipliers: How The Best Leaders Make Everyone Smarter by Liz Wiseman and Greg McKeown.

The book is written primarily for leaders in corporate organizations – but the messages and lessons are equally applicable for you as a coach, if you have any kind of team. (And if you’re a Mum with any number of kids, as I’m finding out in my own household!)

The main premise of the book is that managers who work with people by being Multipliers get 2.1 times MORE from their people than people who think and behave as Diminishers.

Now don’t get me wrong – I know I need to work on many of these myself so I’m not sharing this with you from a place of ‘this is what I do’ but I’m certainly determined to progress along this path from this point forward. In fact I’m even a little nervous of my team reading this post as I know they’ll recognize many of the Diminisher traits in me right now – but that’s great – I’m up for being challenged on them as I grow into  Multiplier.

My hope is that you get this book and decide to join me on this journey.

Are you up for it?

So with that said – here are the main beliefs and assumptions of a Diminisher – (the other end of the spectrum of the Multiplier) – see if you recognize yourself in any of these…

  1. “Really intelligent people are a rare breed and I am one of the few really smart people.”
  2. “Other people will never figure things out without me.”
  3. “People who don’t ‘get it’ now never will therefore I’ll have to keep doing the thinking for everybody.”
  4. “I need to tell people what to do, make all the important decisions and jump in and take over when someone appears to be failing”

And the results of these assumptions? You will almost always be right because your assumptions cause you to manage in a way that produces subordination and dependency.

Contrast this with the mindset and behaviours of the Multiplier:

  1. “People are smart and they will figure it out and get even smarter in the process.”
  2. “People get smarter by being challenged.”
  3. “If I can find someone’s genius I can put them to work.”
  4. “I give full ownership of the task to this person AND allow them to experience the natural consequences of their actions, whether good or bad – I don’t step in and ‘rescue’ them”

Phew! A pretty tough challenge eh? Especially if you’re a bit of a ‘recovering lone ranger’ like me! The authors have a great 30 Day Challenge to help you move along the continuum to become more of a Multiplier – go check out the book.

There’s also a test you can take right here to see if you’re an Accidental Diminisher – love to know what you find out! http://multipliersbook.com/accidental-diminisher/

Monday Mindset: What to do if you’re having a shit day

Posted on 19 March 2012 by

It's Shit! Or is it?OK let’s be blunt here – some days, running your business is quite simply, shit.

Oh, for the perks of a real job, where people say ‘thank you’ and ‘great job’ and you get paid just as much whether you’re at work or on holiday and they have a canteen so you don’t have to make your own lunch and people just hand you work so you don’t have to go find your own and you get a nice steady cheque every month and you get to hang out with actual real in-the-flesh people rather than just over skype or facebook.

Phew!

Sometimes you just have to get this off your chest!

I remember thinking when I first started out in my business that once I ‘had got this business thing cracked’, I wouldn’t have days like that any more.

Well I’m sorry to break it to you but you do.

It’s true, you get a better class of problem to deal with: How do I manage my team better? Should I fly economy or business? Why won’t paypal give me back the thousands I made on my launch 15 months ago? How can I arrange my schedule so my evenings aren’t taken up with all those Joint Venture partners who really want to help me promote JigsawBox? LOL! When I look it like that, it ain’t so bad!

There are LOTS of things you can do when you’re having a shit day.

One of the fastest ways I know to get myself out of that negative spiral of thinking and into a state where I’m capable of making inspired decisions again (hint: NEVER EVER EVER make a decision about anything when you’re in the negative sprial), is to have a belly laugh.

This video did exactly that for me last week – really, is this what our lives have become?

Monday Mindset – An Inspirational Message from Simon Sinek

Posted on 06 February 2012 by

This week’s Monday Mindset is courtesy of Simon Sinek, one of the most inspirational speakers I’ve heard in a long time.

Take 10 minutes to watch this video – it will transform the way you do business, I promise you.

And do please leave us a comment below to share what you think:

Conquering the Obstacles of Coaching in 2012

Posted on 25 January 2012 by

Obliterate the Obstacles!If you are like me, every single year from just after Christmas to just before February I work through my list of resolutions. Some I keep. Some I drop. Some I tuck away until I have more time or inclination to deal with them, and I repeat this pattern year after year after..you get the picture.

I promised myself, however, that this year would be different and regardless of what the issues were – there would be no obstacle so insurmountable that it could not be dealt with and demolished. This got me thinking about all the coaches I have met and worked with over the course of 2011 and some of the struggles that they go through. Their obstacles are no different than anyone else’s, but what sets them apart is the way they deal with them.

The most successful of coaches are able to expose that sheer determination that is the common thread amongst them. Here are some of the most common obstacles, ways to fight through them, and come ways to fight through your obstacles and come out stronger and better than ever!

1. Reflection

2011 – Was it a good year? Was it the worst year in your coaching life? Reflection is a touchstone to being the best coach because we can look back and say to ourselves, “I didn’t learn enough skills to understand how to teach this person.” Or “I should have gotten my social media strategy in line more because I can see how it might increase my revenue.” Reflecting on 2011 means that you can identify the issues that you might have had and use the solutions to those problems in 2012.

Make a list of all of your “woulda”, “coulda”, “shoulda” and start to determine how you can use those this year, turning them into your “done”.

2. Education

So you reflected – fantastic…but what about your skills? Have you stopped learning because you think you have everything you need and know all the methods of coaching in existence? If you had to think about this, I can give you a million reasons for why you should never stop learning, but the one that counts is: Learning is forever.

Understanding the latest techniques and coaching tips (like the ones you find here at JigsawBox) only helps to improve your coaching abilities and gives a solid foundation for growing your techniques.

3. Vision Board

Some people laugh at this, others take it seriously. All I can say is.. before you start falling over with laughter, try it out.

The vision board is the visual representation of your goals and dreams – why not apply that to your coaching programs? Visualize what you want out of 2012. If you want an active subscriber list of 5000 or 50000 tack that number to the board and then beneath it, a list of the ways you are going to get there. Use this board to give yourself the incentive to succeed and the rewards that are at the end of that success. I use vision boards to work out what mistakes I’ve made with my small business and then identify the patterns that led to those choices. The vision board is the physical manifestation of a path to “guide” me out of repetition.

After reading this blog I would love to know how you work out your obstacles! Can’t wait to see the responses!