Category: Motivation

SHIFT HAPPENS...JOB CUTS and More...

29/8/2012

SHIFT HAPPENS

“If we don’t shift our intention, direction and action we will end up where we are headed”

SHIFT HAPPENS. So… start accepting it. Let go of trying to stop the change or slow it down. There are likely to be 7 billion other similar stories just like yours, they just have different characters and plots but the same underlying message. Everyone you talk to is sick of change. One approach is to be more effective rather than be affected by it.

Are you working in a stuck or non-stuck environment? If not….get yourself into a Teflon Team. Stop sticking to old habits, old processes, old teams, old whining and shift. There is a lot of bad press around the economy, job cuts, poverty, famine and war. It is serious, so get serious and SHIFT into gear.

Use all the gears to leverage your mindset and workplace to where it needs to shift.

In many facilitation exercises we talk about the current and future state, the important bits are in the middle…”the action state”…or the “shifting state.” The shifting state delivers targeted action, lots of it and regularly. Guess what? SHIFT happens. Most if it starts within the mind then shifts into behaviour.

“SHIFTING” is what I coined some time ago. It’s a deliberate process of shifting thoughts, behaviours, attitudes to develop a more adaptable, resilient and optimistic view in a shifting world. It’s a holistic process that deals with complex systems and aims to understand and respond to them with more agility and sustainability.

STRAINING…..Have you noticed how workplaces over-process, over-engineer, over-produce, over-change and over strain? It’s time to get over it…don’t you think?

UNDERSTANDING YOUR SHIFT

Whenever we change one type of behaviour or situation, we are losing as well as gaining something. In order to sustain real and lasting change in the workplace we need to change ourselves first. Everyone can shift. Shifting is challenging and requires effort but not straining. The juggling act is “knowing,” that is, knowing not to get caught up in everyone’s emergency, urgency or dramas. Of course we must balance what’s important and necessary. How you view or feel about a situation is always your choice.

So…SHIFT YOURSELF to think and do what matters most. Be more effective, be lateral, be creative, be a SHIFTER. Don’t get caught up in the change, we have limited influence and control over what people decide to change in the workplace but we can shift our focus.

Journey well,
Matt Cartwright
Inspiring People, Inspiring Business, Inspiring Results
© Copyright 2008 -12

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4 Irrefutable Facts about Motivation

8/3/2012

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4 Irrefutable Facts about Motivation

I’m having a download but it’s to help you…trust me.. it will motivate you to think differently about work and life….

After consulting with a client I was reminded by the impact of another leader’s motivation. This leader was indoctrinated in a culture of hierarchy and glass ceilings. This hierarchy used power of the stick and carrot.

There have been many occasions where I have been asked to assist managers with a low performing employee. I have in the past reluctantly and sometimes thought it's too far gone but organisations are often keen to assist their staff. That’s a positive!!!

One of the biggest problems is we still have a number of leaders/managers working in the last century paradigm of carrot and stick mentality. It’s rife... have you noticed it?

Let's face it, people are not donkeys... although some might beg to differ, there are some stubborn people out there.....know anyone?

The carrot and stick mentality paradigm exists in organisational culture today both overtly and covertly. Nevertheless after working two years with an organisation I had discussions about recommending a performance framework (ahhh, the one they didn't even have!!!) to a transformational framework and employee engagement framework. This leader just didn't get it. It was about balance sheets.

Guess what I got ????? I got the stick across the backside and that was my last assignment in that organisation. I was glad..... It was no good me transforming people on the ground if the head honcho used last century behaviours in a modern world. That organisation still has ongoing issues with retention and recruitment.

Carrot and stick motivation, you are a donkey if you really believe it works

It's short term and so will be your business. What you sow is what you get, be careful what carrot seeds you sow……So I’m taking you to the new focus.

Your Motivation “Operating System, Donkey 1.0. Needs an Urgent Upgrade to Transform 1.0

So what will Transform 1.0 offer new users? Transform 1.0 is a metaphor…okay… stay with me. Read on….It simply offers new understanding based on research that shows the gap between motivation and business needs. The old version Donkey 1.0 does not work well with new browsers.

Questions for You or other send them to them to the blog...

#1 What drives any of us to perform at our best?
Is it money, fear of punishment, reward or is it something more than that?

The secret to high performance and satisfaction at work and at home is the deeply human need to direct our own lives, to learn and create new things, and to do better by ourselves and our world.

There is mismatch between what science knows and what business does and how that affects every aspect of life. While carrots and sticks worked successfully in the twentieth century, that’s precisely the wrong way to motivate people for today’s challenges. Do you agree or disagree?

Four elements of true motivation
In my research into motivation there are four elements of true motivation

Autonomy
Mastery
Purpose
Meaning

If you are an organisation or small business or an individual reading this and you need to know more about motivation then Inspiring Results can help you. I’ll know if you’re motivated because you may call or email me. Transform your work and how you live.

Old management techniques are like using an old software system for your computer, it's slow, unresponsive, and doesn’t work with new programs. Motivation is the same. We have decades of science that shows the way. This approach has four essential elements:

1. Autonomy, the desire to direct our own lives

2. Mastery, the urge to get better and better at something that matters

3. Purpose, the yearning to do what we do in the service of something larger than ourselves

4. Meaning, Man’s search for meaning is the primary motivation in his life and not a secondary
rationalisation of instinctual drives. (Viktor Frankl, Man's Search for Meaning,1959)

Now…Imagine a workplace environment where leadership mandates that all senior managers or managers must report on their key performance targets ensuring that their staff are increasing their autonomy, mastery, meaning and purpose at work. “Are you serious?”… “You bet that I am.” That would be kind of fun.....it would get us all talking that's for sure.

Imagine if all staff were appraised not only on their technical roles and abilities at work but also on their work key performance indicators such as autonomy, mastery, meaning and purpose.

7 Coaching Challenges... are you motivated yet???

How autonomous are you in your current role in your work environment?
How much meaning do you personally get from your current work environment?
How much purpose do you feel about you current work environment??
How effective are you mastering the key areas of your work or personal life?

If you manage people then answer these questions.

Who in the team could you give more autonomy to?
Who in your team could you ensure are mastering key areas of their work performance?
Who in your team have you had an in-depth discussion about their sense of meaning and purpose in relation to their work?

It's obvious, it will be easier for some businesses to keep their heads in the corporate sand as a way out of the complexities of motivation. In the long run, however, I believe that those businesses that stand by their people will have that goodwill returned many times over.

Keep motivated. It’s not easy sometimes, but it’s harder if you don’t…one day at a time...

Journey well,
Matt Cartwright
Inspiring People, Inspiring Business, Inspiring Results
© Copyright 2008 -12

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It’s not what happens to you that matters, it’s what happens in you

7/3/2012

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"It’s not what happens to you that matters, it’s what happens in you”

The phone call ended like this today. “It’s not what happens to you that matters, it’s what happens in you”

I’m writing this post after a discussion with a personal friend of mine, a teacher, my mentor and my mother. A woman whom has tirelessly given to less fortunate people in many times when she herself was less fortunate. I thank her. She inspires me to keep writing, giving and following my career aspirations. I hope this post benefits you an dothers.

The Cure

Let me reassure you happiness can't be bought, mental peace cannot be injected or swallowed and no market can sell mental peace and happiness.

Overcoming difficulties at work and home has no magic pill, prescribed or non-prescribed. The big Pharmaceuticals will debate this……

The latest research is clear that the key to a happy life, now and in future is to develop a happy healthy mind. However you also need to take action and shift your focus. Many of my past clients have benefited from learning sustainable mind shifting strategies.   Whether this is cognitive behavioural or solution based coaching.

The important point is that happiness in the workplace can be positively changed if you only change the way you think about the situation, how to reframe the situation, and how to take a different course of action.

Have you noticed the negative ripple effect of some people in your organisational environment?

When people in the workplace are negative and criticising, they are uncertain about the future, their roles and responsibilities, there is a lack of praise and recognition. This obviously impacts on workers happiness considerably. Hence, productivity is reduced.

Tolerance

Tolerance is very important. If you have tolerance, you can easily overcome difficulties. If you have little tolerance or none at all, the smallest thing immediately irritates you. One of the keys to success is determination, with an optimistic attitude.

The happiness advice is pretty consistent. If people seek happiness from the outside world, from money or power, then they are in for one heck of a roller coaster ride of ups and downs.

Real peace comes from within oneself.

Unless our work or careers are linked to our values, meaning and purpose and our existence, then we are going to be limited in our ability to feel completely happy.

I know and confess in the past I have done work for works sake. And, I wasn’t very happy.

One of the key messages to take way from this post is to try to strike a balance between your outside world and your internal world and focus on trying to get the inner world balancing in the right direction.   However, let me remind you the outside world also needs modifying. That is, your role in it.

Remember, it’s the inner experience that matters most not the outer experience. So those of you stuck in a negative workplace or whatever situations start sorting the inner experience out.

There is one enemy, it’s inside you. It is natural for all of us at work, home or with friends to externalise the causation of our unhappiness. This results in anger, attachment, jealousy and hatred, these are the real enemy of our happiness journey.

Here is a free ticket for the happiness ride, enjoy and be happy.

12 Free strategies to help increase your happiness at work and home

1.      In the past month, how happy have I been really? (be truthfully honest )
2.      Where would I rather be on a score of 1 to 10?
On a scale of 1 to 10 how rate yourself (1 very unhappy, 5 happy sometimes,10 very happy)

Ask yourself the following and answer them by writing your answers down. It helps, trust me.

1.      What small things could I do to move myself further to that score that I want?
2.      What is my role in the current work or life situation that makes me unhappy?
3.      What and how am I contributing to the situation
4.      What are my attitudes that I change about the situation?
5.      What positive actions can I take to get a positive outcome?
6.      What will I take responsibility for in this situation?
7.      What changes am I not prepared to take in this situation?
8.      If I don’t change how happy will I be?
9.      If I do change how much happier might I be?
10. What’s stopping me from changing?

Journey well,
Matt Cartwright
Inspiring People, Inspiring Business, Inspiring Results
© Copyright 2008 -12

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7 Things Great Employees Do

6/3/2012

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7 Things Great Employees Do

A great read......This definitely isn't the first time somebody's written about what makes employees special. But it may very well be the first time someone's telling you what will genuinely get your management excited about you and ultimately get you promoted. No kidding. Read More
Journey well,
Matt Cartwright

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Managing Mojo in the Workplace

3/2/2012

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Managing your mojo (work performance)

Like going to the gym, some weeks you're feeling awesome, fit and toned and other weeks you’re sagging in the wrong places and it shows. Don't you hate that?

What I've found most common with managers and executives is they lose their mojo for vision, focus, energy, meaning and purpose.

Their personal values are not aligned to their work values, and they lose touch with themselves, their teams and many of them their loved ones. Sad, but true….How many hours do you spend on work versus family, be honest now.

Managing work mojo is on a continuum, there are a lot of cause and effects, peaks and troughs and pressures.

Managing work mojo is managing you, your emotions, your expectations, its emotional intelligence, and its social intelligence and for the brave ones it’s physical and spiritual. I hope I didn’t lose you on that one. Yes, I meditate I have for 20 years, I am still learning to do it better. It does work. Massive research evidence on this topic, so why do so many people not follow it? Go figure.....???

Here’s a tip for you, If you think are losing your work mojo, here’s the secret, you didn’t lose it, it was dormant inside you.

Are you up for this week’s challenge? Well your work life is about to improve, let’s go……

Go look for your mojo, it’s inside you, that’s a hint to get you started.
Get visual, recall times when you were at your best at work, and duplicate it.

Answer these questions now….. 4 minutes don't think too hard

1.      What makes you tick at work?
2.      What do you do well?
3.      What have you stopped doing?
4.      What could you start doing?

Now, make a plan, start doing it in 24 hrs. Goal, Action, Time, KPI, Rewards etc.

Tell someone you are making changes, like a friend, loved one or a colleague. This confirms you are serious.

Commit to doing something different at work every day for the next 10 working days.

Then set another medium term goal/s for 2 to 4 weeks, 1-2 to achieve those changes, write it down, keep it in your work diary or bag, review it daily, then-

Set some medium- longer term goals 1-3-months. Same deal, write it down, review it weekly.

I say 3 months because most businesses operate in quarterly cycles. Also, the world and business changes rapidly, be ready, be prepared.

Last 8 Tips

Avoid alcohol, drugs, poor eating and whinging, it doesn’t work. We are adults, take responsibility, be accountable, own it and move on.

If this fails, start considering getting professional help from a coach at Professional Facilitators Australia
Journey well,
Matt Cartwright
Inspiring People, Inspiring Business, Inspiring Results
© Copyright 2008 -12

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Relapse to Remission, Reflections on Workplace Cancer

3/2/2012

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Relapse to Remission, Reflections on Workplace Cancer

Have you noticed the signs and symptoms in a workplace or team and/or experienced any of the following?

Criticising
Complaining
Contending
Competition
Comparing

Well I have, and these have resulted in team ineffectiveness, loss of productivity, low customer quality, staff turnover, organisational co-dependency and poor morale.

Imagine this for a moment.... an environment free of these behaviours and committed to more productive, positive and proactive behaviours that engage, energise and empower people. A bit nirvana like really, isn't it, and yes it's possible.

How do you do this in reality? Reality is now and not sometime in the future.

The answer is, responsibility lies within you to be the catalyst for change. If you want to prevent these cancerous behaviours, consider asking these questions about yourself. Or pass this on to your team.

As manager or leader:

How am I contributing to the problem?
How am I contributing to the solution?
What am I doing that is working?
What am I doing that isn’t working?
What will I keep doing?
What will I stop doing?
What are the changes I need to make?
When will I do that?
How will I know that I have been successful?

Challenge
Discuss with your team what actions you can take to prevent these behaviours.

Check Up
We can help you and your teams achieve healthier outcomes. We offer services that bring about sustainable change. Visit us for your team check up and protect your best assets.

Journey well,
Matt Cartwright
Inspiring People, Inspiring Business, Inspiring Results
© Copyright 2008 -12

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SHIFT HAPPENS...JOB CUTS and More...

4 Irrefutable Facts about Motivation

It’s not what happens to you that matters, it’s what happens in you

7 Things Great Employees Do

Managing Mojo in the Workplace

Relapse to Remission, Reflections on Workplace Cancer

Matt Cartwright +617 3040 1129

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