The Three Elements Of Leadership

What is Leadership? according to Catalyst6.

It’s been said that to define “Leadership” is difficult as it has many and varied definitions. Some would place leadership in the same bucket as art, politics, religion, or relationships in that it can be difficult to reach consensus on an exact definition. This year alone over 1500 books will be written with the word “leadership” in their title, all with some common themes and the writer’s own spin or nuance. 

 What we do know is that there are basic truths about Leadership that help us understand it as a concept.

1. Leadership is a responsibility.   By the very definition of the word, leaders will have followers, so we think good leaders should care about the well-being, growth and direction of their followers.  Having a title does not make you a leader, it is your actions, how you show up, take responsibility and set the right example that makes you a leader.

2. Leadership is about nurturing and maintaining trusting, long term relationships in order to get things done. 

3. Leadership involves goal attainment, setting the right direction, vision or purpose and providing meaningful work for followers. There’s a concept called FLOW which we will elaborate on in future posts which means an individual being happily, consistently motivated and content at work. We think we should aim for whole “organisations” to be in a state of FLOW in order to be at their most productive.

4. Leadership involves making the necessary changes to the organisations operating environment.  This ensures the organisation has the right systems, processes and architecture to match the external changes going on in its ecosystem and to ensure its people can execute their plans.

5.  Lastly, leadership is contextual. It is a dynamic process, for example, the skills required to be a good leader can change with the level of seniority or with the type of market conditions that prevail. For example Winston Churchill was a great war time leader, however he often struggled in more peaceful times.

At Catalyst6 we have attempted to define Leadership in practical termsto help our clients improve their productivity. Firstly as individuals, then in their teams and lastly in the design and management of their supporting environments. To that end we have defined Leadership under 3 core pillars, Leading Self, Leading Others and Leading the Business. 

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Over many years as we continued to deepen our understanding of evidence based approaches to Leadership we were drawn to the work of two of America’s top Leadership experts Dr Jack Zenger and Dr Joseph Folkman. They have developed their leadership competency model based on insights built on hard data, statistical analysis and facts.  Zenger Folkman’s work has helped thousands of businesses to understand the leadership competencies that equate to success. Their empirical research has demonstrated 16 different leadership competencies clustered into the 5 areas of character, personal capability, focus on results, leading change and interpersonal skills. When we consider these areas through the Catalyst6 leadership lens of Leading Self, Others and the Business all of the leadership competencies that make up these areas overlap and relate to our 3 core pillars.

In terms of Leading Self one area identified is “character”. Described as displaying high integrity and honesty. Some consultants refer to this as “authenticity”. There’s little doubt that this competency is a crucial element of leadership and therefore the number one goal within our pillar of Leading Self.   You could call integrity being “consistently honest” the most important word here being consistency. Being true to yourself and consistently turning up as who you really are is seen as being authentic. 

Self-knowledge, self-awareness and self-control all play a role in being an authentic leader. You have to know yourself to stand by your principles, you have to exercise self-control when things don’t go to plan, you have to be selflessa lot of the time and leave your ego at the door. In our work at Catalyst6 we have witnessed leaders make poor decisions based on self-protection either through wanting to win, or wanting to be liked. Authentic leaders with character don’t need to prove themselves to anyone, they are comfortable in their own skin.

We will elaborate more on Leading Self in future blogs covering the development of personal capability as a leader - which involves problem solving, analysing issues and taking Initiative.

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When we describe Leading Others we have indicated it relates to Leading Self, that is, if you don't lead yourself well, then it's also difficult to lead others well. 

Setting an example and being authentic helps in leading others and building relationships.

Leading others is primarily about building trusted relationships with your followers and the various nuances and skills required to build those trusted relationships.  Susan Scott, author of the book Fierce Conversations says, “the conversation is the relationship, and the relationship is the conversation.”  Susan uses the word, “Fierce” not to reflect aggression, more so to talk about the courage needed to have good constructive conversation and debate. 

To have trusted relationships leaders must be able to feel comfortable being vulnerable in front of their people and vice versa. Fear is the killer of trust. When people feel threatened they often retreat or they attack. When fear enters the conversation it generally goes backwards and is counter-productive. The interpersonal skills of the leader come into play here. How good a listener are you? How intuitive are you? Are you a good communicator? Another of the key competencies Zenger and Folkman discuss is the ability to communicate powerfully and prolifically.

So, the quality of our communication, the use of good conversation techniques in the right context will help us in Leading Others as best as we can. In future Catalyst6 blogs we will discuss how to have difficult conversations at work, how to give constructive feedback and to have constructive coaching conversations, and how to improve your persuasive communication skills.

Each will involve the use of simple tools to support you in Leading Others by focusing on results. This can be achieved by building relationships of trust, establishing stretch goals and taking responsibility for your team’s performance/initiatives and outcomes.

Finally let’s now take a glimpse at Leading the Business while again pointing out that Leading the Business hinges on Leading Self and Leading Others.

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There’s no doubt that some leaders are more focused on task orientated work elements (Leading the Business) than relationship orientated elements (Leading Others). Others are better at the people side than the task side of things. The best leaders seem to find balance between relationship and task, either via personal learning, personal growth and discipline or by strategic people management, i.e. deploying additional human capital to fill the competency they lack. Zenger and Folkman’s leading the business competencies includes setting a strategic direction, goals and the measurement of success or failure; championing change and innovation, and connection with the outside world. 

 There are various skills which enable these things to happen, for example to set a strategic vision and direction you have to be good at communicating powerfully and prolifically.

Catalyst6 helps clients develop and then cascade their strategy to their people via many channels using simple yet powerful techniques.

To set the right strategic vision you will most likely need good analytical and problem-solving skills and be able to hold people accountable to run a project. To design new products or systems you may need innovation skills, “creativity with purpose” to be able to make the right changes in ground up design or problem solving.

With its relationships to both Leading Self and to Leading Others the third core pillar of effective leadership is Leading the Business. A word of caution though. We can find many examples of where a company’s board of directors has paid too much attention to the Leading the Business competencies when recruiting a new CEO. They then pay the price of their new recruit, who unable to lead themselves or others effectively, fails to execute the best strategic plan for the business. Remember Character is Zenger and Folkman’s central leadership attribute.

We look forward to bringing you more on our 3 core leadership pillars of Leading Self, Leading Others and Leading the Business in our upcoming BLOGs.

Preparing Leaders to Implement Real Change

As discussed in a previous blog (6 steps to get your people engaged in a process of change), bringing a carefully planned change intervention to a successful conclusion requires having well trained leaders who are totally on board with the process. As a first step, no matter what change is envisaged – a new IT system, a merger or acquisition, a gender balancing strategy - the complete buy-in and active participation of the CEO is vital. Almost no change in a business has happened without the highest echelons of management showing their enthusiasm and commitment to the project, and this is very different from simply having ‘the CEO’s tacit support’. If the CEO is MIA during a change initiative and never refers to the process during addresses to staff, in daily interactions with executives, or in a corporate brochure, an essential ingredient is missing.

Once your top leaders are driving the change process with both their energy and presence, you then need to take time to fully prepare, and enthuse all levels of leadership below the C-suite. 

Why is briefing all leaders so important?

Everyone knows how difficult it is to bring a change management programme to a successful conclusion. The generally accepted figure is that almost 50% of change initiatives fail, but McKinsey and Co have this figure as high as 75%. If you don’t have the commitment and eager participation of the vast majority of your leaders, you’ll contribute directly to these woeful statistics. A side effect is that you’ll also create low morale and cynicism that will probably put you a worse situation than before.

Even when senior management and executives are excited about change - perhaps having spent months with consultants and investing large sums of money to ensure a smooth transition – the crux is translating the process into an everyday, lived reality. Change won’t happen without cascading the passion and knowledge that’s been generated at the top to every layer of the business.

Getting your leaders ready to implement change means being realistic about the time and effort required to prepare them thoroughly. A simple briefing and a belief that they will happily go forth and lead the charge the way you’d like them to is often naïve.  In fact, unconvinced and unhappy leaders may well set out to sabotage your plans if you haven’t spent enough time addressing their fears and explaining the importance of the venture.

With your leaders being such an integral part of successful change management, how should you best prepare them and provide them with the requisite skills? Here are some pointers:

1.     Get alignment

It takes time to make certain that your leaders are well briefed to champion change, but it’s often said that you need to go slowly to go fast later on. You need to ensure that your leaders truly understand the reason for the change, how it will be implemented, what message will be communicated to the employees, what the milestones are, and how their success will be measured and rewarded.

When you spend time explaining the case for change, you’ll often discover that there are many divergent opinions and even resistance from the team. Leaders at different levels can have their own agendas and power bases, and when some actively work against you, this could scupper your plans. Just ask your HR departments and they’ll tell you how frustrating it is when they’ve gone through thorough training with new employees, only to have line managers undo their work when the new staff hit the ground (‘forget what you’ve been told in training – we’ll show you how things really happen around here!’). You have the best shot of truly explaining and persuading leaders to be aligned with your new purpose at the outset, so use this opportunity well.

By spending time on getting everyone pointed in the same direction, your leaders will develop a true understanding of the purpose and process of the change. This could almost serve as a ‘dress rehearsal’, and should give them the knowledge and confidence to handle the questions or objections their own direct reports might raise.

2.     Make certain leaders at all levels are engaged

A mistake that many companies make is that they don’t drive the change management education far enough down the organization. Your frontline people can be ‘make or break’. Once you roll out the change process, you need their full enthusiasm and commitment to avoid becoming a failed statistic. It’s often at the front-lines that companies experience push-back and resistance to change, so find the leaders here and involve and train them fully to ensure a smooth process. You may also include those who don’t have leadership titles but are clearly in a position of influence. In short, you have the best possible chance of success when those with authority and influence are champions of the change process.

3.     Provide deeds not words

Part of the reason for the incredibly high rate of change initiative failure is that the process begins and ends with words. Time is spent with consultants, plans are drawn and re-drawn, and the conversation never seems to end. The less challenging part of change is drawing up guidelines and processes, but the most difficult part is getting people to adapt their behaviours.

Change for most people is disturbing because they have an emotional attachment to ‘the old way of doing things’ and don’t like to give up the status quo.

Consequently, you need to ensure that your leaders know exactly what new behaviours are expected, and how to recognize and reward these. It’s important for the leaders themselves to behave in a new way, thus setting the example. The new pattern of work should be modelled on a daily basis. What’s powerful about this is that employees will see that the change is real and happening.

The reason people are called leaders is that others take their lead from them – when leaders adopt new behaviours and move forward confidently to embrace a change initiative, their followers will start to let go of their old, entrenched patterns.

4.     Make sure there’s constant communication

‘Change fatigue’ is a real thing and an absolute enemy of the change management process. When you’re implementing real change and you know what your desired outcomes are, along with clearly defined milestones, you’ll always be aware of whether or not you’re on-track. Much of the communication that leaders will need - and what they’ll be providing to your employees - should be along the lines of reassurance, praise for good progress made, understanding their discomfort at times, and reinforcing them with confidence if they start to flag.

Many companies launch a change initiative with huge fanfare and then the level of input tails off dramatically. It’s this very energy that needs to be sustained – particularly as so many change processes fall at the last hurdle – and constant communication is what will keep enthusiasm high. Your leaders need to keep rallying the troops so you need to keep rallying them to keep them motivated.

Also, leaders shouldn’t take on the task of running an important change process without it forming part of their KPIs so that they are evaluated and rewarded for their success. This is the reason that we recommend acknowledging and celebrating all successful milestones in a change programme until the initiative is successfully completed. It’s another way of communicating the commitment of the company to the change process and the value of those who are making it happen.

5.     Understand the important role of culture

Although this point is placed last, it’s actually the most important of all. As Lou Gerstner of IBM once said: “Culture is everything”. Peter Drucker is said to have coined the phrase: “Culture eats strategy for breakfast”. Most organisational change requires a modification of culture, which can be a mighty obstacle and one for which your leaders need to be well prepared.

Your leaders need to explain the value and impact of a change to all the employees. As a result, they have to understand what cultural changes will be required and how this will likely affect people. How to carry out successful culture change is so important that it will be dealt with in a separate article, emphasizing what leaders need to know and how they can best assist their employees to embrace the company’s new direction. We’ll also outline a valuable model that will greatly assist leaders in bringing about a successful culture shift. 

Catalyst6 Team

6 Steps To Get Your People Engaged In A Process Of Change

Here’s a case study of a sugar mill that recently had great success in getting its employees to embrace change. The mill, in the heart of an agricultural district, is surrounded by a small town. The prognosis for change wasn’t good — the workers belonged to a union renowned for irrational behavior and outrageous demands; there had been many failed salary negotiations, intermittent strikes that occasionally turned violent, and general intransigence of employees against management. 

With the price of sugar dropping, strikes playing havoc with productivity, and increasing staffing costs, management had run out of options. As a last ‘triage’ resort, management consultants were called in to help. 

The agreed approach was to embark on a communication campaign of absolute frankness and honesty. Nothing would be hidden. Explaining the balance sheet to the workers, many of whom weren’t well educated, was a first step, but along with it came divulging the fact that bonuses hadn’t been paid in years, and that shareholders hadn’t received dividends in a long time. Staff were actively engaged on an on-going basis. They were encouraged to ask questions and to request information, and everything they asked for was provided to them in a totally transparent way.

Bit by bit, management was able to educate the employees as to the true reality of the business. Everything from plans for capital expenditure to possible future retrenchments was on the table for discussion. The style of communication was different from the confrontational, demanding style of the unions – it truly became interactive, respectful, and completely open.

The process was not quick – the discussions took place over a period of 2 – 3 months, but the end results were amazing. The employees suddenly saw that it was in their hands to save this mill by working in tandem with management rather than against them. Their thinking went even further - they themselves announced that if they didn’t change and if the mill shut down, this would literally kill the entire town.

With this realisation, the turnaround in attitude and behaviour was almost immediate. The 1,500 people at the mill started working in unison, with a shared goal. Executives were frankly shocked by the success of their communication, while the unions were extremely put-out that their members were now “talking like management”.

Some of the steps of successful change management are encapsulated in this example, but by far the most important part is getting employees engaged in the process. So how do you pull this off?

6 steps to getting your people engaged in change:

1.     Convince your employees of the value of the change

Drawing up the procedural steps and action plans that will lead to a desired outcome is the ‘easy’ part of change. The difficult part is to get the human element on board. Inspiring employees with a new vision that will allow for a transformation of culture can only be achieved through cooperation.

Getting your staff engaged requires telling a compelling change story – a bit like the one that employees discovered for themselves at the sugar mill. You might have staff who have seen change initiatives fail, or who are deeply suspicious and believe that all change is good for management and bad for the rank and file. Employees really need to understand the current situation and why there’s a problem before they’ll be willing to accept that change is inevitable. There’s nothing like having ‘skin in the game’ so your job is to find the reasons that will motivate your people and convince them that change is necessary.

2.     Get buy-in through ‘what’s in it for me’

Most people are just trying to keep their jobs to provide for their families – they have a very different agenda from the Board of Directors. The staff at the sugar mill weren’t dancing with delight that they were going to have to become more productive and would need to accept lower increases than the union promised, but the information provided to them was convincing. It’s a little like the child’s game of ‘connecting the dots’ – you can’t speak solely about what’s good for the company, you have to provide ‘ah-ha’ moments that make people see why change has to happen, and could be beneficial.

Even when staff accept that change is inevitable, it doesn’t mean that they are necessarily pleased. Their instinctive reaction is to wonder how it’s going to affect them. Addressing these concerns is vital to move people beyond just accepting, to getting involved and engaged in making the change happen. Particularly when a change is going to disappoint many of the staff, feeling listened to and having their anxiety acknowledged will go a long way to ensuring successful change initiatives.

3.     Communicate, communicate, communicate – and make it a two-way process

Communication really is at the heart of any change process. Whether it’s new structures, acquisitions or disposals, different policies or targets, people need explanations as soon as possible. This allows for participation and early involvement. When you impose change on people there are always repercussions, which is why it’s surprising that so many companies still do this, and keep people in the dark ‘so as not to affect morale’.

Change is bound to bring confusion and some degree of disorientation (see a previous blog on why people want to hold onto the status quo). Frank and open communication is key, but there is a caveat – you absolutely have to tell the truth. Unfortunately, in many companies there is often mistrust between workers and management – a feeling that they’re not being told the full story or that the executive team or shareholders are looking to feather their own nests at the expense of the many. This isn’t always an unfounded prejudice. If you’ve decided to be transparent, you have to provide the facts, and not just those that make your case. If you’re found to be withholding information, the chances of a successful change will go down like a lead balloon.

How much is too much communication? There isn’t an answer to that – it depends on how much your staff need, and you keep talking until they’re satisfied. Getting input from the ground up is as important as top-down communication, so keep listening along with talking. Leaders should have an open-door policy during a major change in a company, and meetings should be held to elicit feedback. Just having an employee feedback app or conducting a survey is also a way to keep your ear to the ground. By doing this you’ll help minimise the inevitable complaining behind closed doors that could build up into a wall of resistance that you really don’t need.

4.     Have a clear plan of accountability and follow-up

Many companies ‘make it up’ as they go along, which is why change often causes confusion and panic. Planning should involve proper training sessions, new standard operating procedures, and well thought-out milestones. Those involved should know exactly what their role is, and what deadlines are involved for each stage of the process. Leaders need to check in regularly with those who are accountable for driving the change to ensure that everything is on track.

Really good change management is often displayed in visual form in a place that is accessible to all employees to keep them engaged. They should be able to see exactly how the plan is unfolding – where they’re ahead or behind schedule – and what their responsibilities are at any given time.

5.     Have clear metrics and celebrate when these are met

You’ll probably have a ‘change team’ in place that will be overseeing the process, and they will be driving the meetings and feeding back information about how well (or not) progress is being made according to agreed metrics. When large tasks are broken down into smaller initiatives, it makes it easier for everyone to keep track of what’s happening and to celebrate any positive outcomes. Too often, change management doesn’t run smoothly; there are time delays and cost over-runs, and then there’s pressure on certain staff members for negative performance. When there’s a big goal ahead of you, make certain that the good things are recognised to keep employees engaged and enthusiastic to get across the finish line.

6.     Have well trained leaders to lead the change

While bottom-up communication is extremely important, everyone knows that no change happens in a company unless it’s driven from the top. You must have leaders who are well trained to lead the process. If they don’t ‘walk the talk’ or truly embody the new initiative, your change will likely fail. This is so important that it needs an entire explanation of its own and will be the subject of the next blog.

Catalyst6 Team

Why Do So Many People Say NO To Change

As a leader, you know the only way to keep ahead - or abreast - of competitors on a local or international level is to ensure continuous improvement. Change has always been a part of life, but in this disruptive age the level and pace is speeding up. Standing still is not an option – if you stop moving forward, you’ll inevitably go backwards.

So, armed with research, knowledge, and a clear understanding of your business, you set out to introduce new ways of thinking – perhaps different company structures, new processes, or even a modification of your service or products. You know the benefits, you’ve done your homework, and you’re convinced that the change will be great for the company. All you have to do is to get the change implemented, and you’ll start to see the rewards.

Simple – right?

Not for any manager who’s ever tried to implement successful change management! Even the most resourceful leaders are often frustrated by the ‘push-back’ that can accompany an attempt at change. This could be as minor as foot-dragging or could even become a concerted programme of sabotage, along with threats of resignations, sometimes from key people.

It can be baffling – why do so many people put up such a spirited resistance against changing the status quo?

What makes people tend to say ‘no’ to change?

Understanding the psychology of how change affects people is the crux of learning how to implement successful change management. Human beings have survived throughout the centuries by gathering knowledge; if their information was successful, they stayed alive. Of course, this often meant modifying their behaviours but, nonetheless, patterns were built up over time that created a feeling of safety and certainty.

Also, from the time we are very young, the world bombards us with information – far more than we can absorb. As a result, we start to compartmentalise experiences to try to make sense of everything going on around us. We test situations to see if they work for us, and start to recognize similar circumstances that can be put in the same box. This leads to patterns of thought that firm up into habits; these habits become systems of belief. Our beliefs are crystallised over time as we find more and more evidence to support our perceptions. We naturally develop into creatures of habit, and thus don’t jump at the chance of embracing something unfamiliar.

On a deeply unconscious level, people start to believe that if something has been done a certain way for a period of time, it must be the best way of doing it. This is why so much change management gets the knee-jerk reaction of: “That’s not the way we do things around here”.

The human paradox

Ironically, though, human behaviour is paradoxical, so most people will actually tell you that they really do want change. They’re dissatisfied with their lives or jobs or the way the country’s run (and so on), and they want something different. The thing is that ‘wanting change’ is very different from actually changing oneself, which is why so many people keep the same hairstyle their whole lives, or follow fashion trends that date them by decades. Even some of the adventurous who love travel may find themselves complaining that things aren’t the way they are ‘back home’, and spend their holidays searching menus for familiar food.

Making sure that change is actually real

Another problem occurs when people are prepared to embrace change, having been reassured of the many accompanying benefits, but after much upheaval and discomfort find that things settle back to largely how they were before. Those who’ve been in an organization for some time can become disillusioned and cynical when yet another attempt is made at change management, only to find that the differences are largely cosmetic, and all the effort made brings them back to square one.  It’s the ‘re-arranging the deck chairs on the Titanic’ syndrome.

And that’s if the change is even carried through to fruition. Many companies begin to make a structural or process change, find that it’s too much work, and abandon the project half-way. There’s little wonder, then, that the battle-weary troops are loathe to wave the flag of enthusiasm when the next round of change is proposed. In fact, the worst thing about ‘fake’ change is that it opens old wounds of previous promises, and past resentments are suddenly centre-stage again.

Why even bother with change then?

The one thing that’s certain is that there’s no way to resist change – we’re part of an ever-advancing civilization and those who can’t or won’t adapt will simply be left behind. Learning new skills is essential, as is an ability to change course ever-more rapidly, for decisions to be swift, and for strategies to be implemented quickly and effectively.

Some companies are truly great at change. Facebook, for example, saw that hand-held devices were the future and made a 180 degree shift in a matter of months. There are numerous other examples of companies that have responded timeously and well to changing circumstances. You could say that a company like Facebook has millennials on board – people at the cutting edge of technology who thrive on innovation, and that’s true. Your company may have a greater representation of generations, including those who started their working lives in a very different time of greater predictability and certainty.

There is good news though. Not only is change inevitable, but most people can become good at it, no matter what their age or circumstances. But this requires that leaders become smarter and better at getting people on board with new ideas. A good understanding of the human psyche and people’s natural resistance to change should make leaders better prepared to ensure that they win hearts and minds before implementing a new strategy. Many companies, though, put the cart before the horse – they introduce a change while retrospectively attempting to win approval from those affected.

There are many highly successful ways of implementing change – and once a team understands the reason for the change, sees the advantage, and believes that it’s real change that’s actually going to happen, moving it forward can gather momentum extremely fast. When you manage to convert an automatic ‘no’ into even a tentative ‘yes’, most of the work is done.

How do you do this? We’ll talk about this in a subsequent blog. 

Catalyst6 Team

Don’t Snooze On Life

It’s 6:00am on a Monday morning and your alarm clock is buzzing, reminding you of the promise you made to start getting back to the gym. You stretch an arm out, hit the snooze button, and tell yourself just “five more minutes” before falling back asleep for another two hours.

You’re having trouble to find the motivation to make the little changes, and eventually you have a hard time getting out of bed, even after a nine hour nap.

That scenario happens to the best of us. Even the most persistent and hard-working humans sometimes find themselves in a slump they think they’re stuck in, just as the greatest writers still get writers block. Why this happens is natural and normal, as exhaustion and lack of creativity don’t discriminate from anyone, and can kick in at any point in a strong career.

The question worth asking is not why this pesky phenomenon happens but how to navigate your life once the storm hits. How do you push yourself when you no longer feel the drive to keep doing what you’re doing?

A great life coach and multi-passionate entrepreneur, Marie Forleo, says the best way to motivate yourself is to ask this simple question: “How would you behave if you were the BEST in the world at what you do?”

If you were the best baker in the world, you wouldn’t settle for store bought pie crusts! No, you’d be in your bakery making the most scrumptious desserts for the world to devour.

Or say you had the best idea for a business, would you pursue your vision with a lion’s passion, or stay a sheep for the rest of your life, and take your genius to the grave, unexplored by the rest of the world.  

If you were the best being on Earth at doing what you do, how would you behave every day?

Treasure Your Time 

Knowing you’re the best at one thing in this world liberates your mind. It tells you to invest more of your time doing and developing that thing you love and do best. It tells you to lie low on the other things that are only taking away your valuable time and not letting you be the best at what you do.

You will delegate and automate the things that previously took you away from doing your greatest work. Knowing you’re the best will keep you focused from the temptations of time wasters, like browsing social media or wallowing in self-doubt and mediocrity, which we’ll get to in a bit.

With this insight you will become more productive and choose the top tasks for your time. You will not undersell yourself. You will know and respect your worth and change correspondingly.

Quit Mediocrity

Mediocrity is a time-waster.

If you are the best at something, to reach your maximum potential, you have to limit your time, energy, and focus to work on that one thing. Some people strive to be the jack of all trades and master of none, but not you. You do not settle for being mediocre. Follow your calling to greatness by quitting mediocrity, stop spreading yourself too thin. Instead be wise and discerning in which battles to pursue.

Your Growth, Not Theirs 

Why focus on competing with the second best if you could compete with those on top. You are the best at what you do and the only person worth competing with is yourself. Improve yourself to become the best version of you, not your competitor.

Another benefit of this belief is the ability to change your perspective about the success of other people. You become happier when those around you succeed: when your family and friends do well, you want to celebrate their victories with them. Recognize that everyone brings something unique to the table, therefore eliminating any sense of competition. If the work you’re doing is truly your best, then you will stand out, because your voice is different from anyone else’s, and there will always be room for your unique vision somewhere in the world.

Be Generous to Others  

Being the best in the world and taking pride in your skills doesn’t mean bragging about it. Quite the contrary, the best people in their fields are often the most humble, grateful, and generous with their skills and their success. Being grateful for what you achieve, and greatness in general, means acknowledging that you are not the best solely because of yourself and your own doings but because of the people who taught and supported you along the way.

 Use your position to share your skills and knowledge, be generous with your work and time, and you will learn new things you never expected. The only way to stay hungry in any field is to take on burning challenges through the fuel of curiosity. School is never finished.

Be Generous to Yourself  

If you were the best at something in this world, it would be a great disservice to all if you did not take care of your greatest resource- your body and mind. Physical and mental health are equally important, and if you look at the journals of the world’s greatest minds, you’ll see they made time for both mental and physical stimulation every single day.

So, whenever you are feeling unfocused, undetermined, and with no motivation to do you most meaningful work, or whenever you are working too hard, being a perfectionist and not giving yourself enough rest and nourishment, go back to those 16 words, think you are the best, and it will certainly bring out the best in you. 

Meaningful Dialogue

A major part of successful relational leadership depends on open and honest dialogue. Dialogue is central to good relationships at work, as a leader, as a coach and as a mentor. Dialogue is described as the flow of meaning between human beings as they interact. Leaders who learn to improve the process of open and honest dialogue can develop better leader-follower relationships.

Learning to deeply listen to others view points with respect is something worth practising. Mutual respect in dialogue can help enormously to build shared meaning and improve understanding, tolerance and relationships.

Elizabeth Lesser, in her highly amusing and interesting TEDTalk says to Take “the Other” out to lunch. In her example she talks of going to lunch with a conservative tea party member, someone who, from her perspective, was from “the Other” side. Ground rules for the lunch were – 1. do not attempt to persuade, 2. Do not defend or interrupt.  Elizabeth advises us to become a proud “I don’t know it all” and warns against our growing “Otherising tendencies”.

By going to lunch with “the Other”, and following these ground rules you can start to engage in meaningful dialogue. Your objective is no longer to bring the other person onside, but instead to get to know the person beyond the stereotype you may have of them.

Our takeout from Elizabeth’s example – meaningful dialogue between leaders and followers starts when you actively listen.

Learning and developing your relationship skills with someone who you consider to be “the Other” is a good starting point. However, these same conversation rules and dialogue skills can be used in many other situations with all different kinds of people.

Have a safe and happy festive season and we look forward to more dialogue with you in 2016.

Regards

Paul Taylor

Catalyst6

Successful, Confident Women In Business Today

In my previous post I mentioned the work of Tara Mohr and her insights into the potentially self-limiting power of language often used by women and its capacity to erode the perception of their competence and confidence.

Being confident is a central theme in much that is written about successful women in business today. Backing yourself, finding your voice, being prepared to take chances, asking for support from your networks and not giving up – all of which require confidence to do so.

On a recent flight I was flicking through the Qantas inflight magazine and read a great article written by Catherine Fox, interviewing some successful Australian business women, and thought I would share it with you all. In discussing the challenges they had faced along the way and lessons they had learned, for these inspirational women, confidence once again had played an important part.

Decisions, Decisions - Catherine Fox

Best,

Jude

Jude Allan is a Facilitator and Coach alliance partner @ Catalyst6 Consulting.

How Women Undermine Themselves With Words

I recently read an insightful article by author and expert on Women’s Leadership and Well-being Tara Mohr. Titled ‘How Women Undermine Themselves With Words’ it explains how many women through their choice of language unconsciously undermine themselves, creating the perception that they are less competent and confident.

In her article Mohr offers some suggestions as to why women do this – habit, the influence of other women around them doing the same, and the historical place of women in society are all potential reasons why this occurs. What I find so useful about the article is it gives us a few simple self-limiting language pitfalls to look out for to ensure we are not falling into this trap.

http://goop.com/how-women-undermine-themselves-with-words/

Best,

Jude

Jude Allan is a Facilitator and Coach alliance partner @ Catalyst6 Consulting.

Catalyst6Spark On Julian Treasure

Julian Treasure is founder and chairman of The Sound Agency, a UK-based consultancy that asks and answers the question: “How does your brand sound?”. The Sound Agency helps clients such as Harrods, Nokia, BP, Marks & Spencer, Helm Bank (Colombia), Waldorf Astoria and many major shopping malls across Europe to grow their business by optimising the sounds they make. The agency specialises in creating effective and appropriate organic soundscapes for branded spaces. Julian’s book Sound Business is the seminal work on creating intentional, effective business sound. Making the right noises or sound as a leader is important. Just ask Tony Abbott.  Julian’s latest TED talk, How to speak so that people want to listen …will help you with some simple guidelines to help make people want to listen to you.

It is a brilliant 10 minute top 50 TED talk with some easy to remember tips and a toolkit for warming up the instrument that is …your voice.

We hope you enjoy…

The Cat6Spark team

Have you ever felt like you're talking, but nobody is listening? Here's Julian Treasure to help you fix that. As the sound expert demonstrates some useful vocal exercises and shares tips on how to speak with empathy, he offers his vision for a sonorous world of listening and understanding.

Welcome to the Catalyst6Spark

Welcome to Catalyst6Spark, the blog of Catalyst6 Consulting.

Our reason for being is to provide a catalyst for organisational change. We strive to provide the environments and mechanisms to enable change and develop leadership potential. Our goal is to positively influence the way people think and behave and to help them grow and improve their skills and capabilities.

So via the Catalyst6Spark we want to bring you interesting ideas, thought provoking articles and video clips that spark some action or motivation for you to do something different, or reinforce the continuation of something you know to be right.

Knowledge, awareness and self development are the cornerstones for a leader’s adult development and growth so we will “cherry pick” the best and most interesting and relevant thought leadership from the public domain, the internet, books and magazines.

The material we choose will have an emphasis on leadership and communication though as a customer centric organisation we would love to hear from you to learn what you want more of, or less of.

We hope you enjoy the Catalyst6Spark and can’t wait to hear from you.

Regards,

Paul T

Paul Taylor is a master facilitator, executive coach, trainer and principal @ Catalyst6 Consulting.