By Rob wilkins

OK. I am going to get a bit scientific this month. Recently I got together with some networking colleagues and had a discussion on trust in the workplace. Is it being eroded? Does it exist? Or does everyone have an inherent level of distrust because of their own personal values and what they are trying to achieve? I have tried to capture my thoughts based on those aspects of the discussion that resonated with me, and have drawn on some university research I did.

An Illustrative Connection Of Trust And How It Is Impacted

My reflection led me to try and “make sense” of what role I thought trust played in the context of workplace management but more importantly (for me), how the states of trust referred to by Maija-Leena Huotari and Mirja Ivonen in their book “Trust in Knowledge Management Systems in Organizations”, are impacted by the influences my fellow participants raised in the discussion. Knowledge remember, is considered power!

Figure 1 articulates this for me and I will use this as the centrepiece of my reflection.

Two theorists, Huotari and Ivonen, say that trust means different things to people but systematically contains 3 things:

• A mere mental attitude (prediction and evaluation) towards another person, a simple disposition;
• A decision to rely upon the other, i.e., an intention to delegate and trust, which makes the trustor “vulnerable”
• A behaviour, i.e., the intentional act of trusting, and the consequent relationship between the trustor and the trustee.”

These are shown across the top of figure 1 above.

I found myself questioning these three states and testing them against my current and held beliefs on trust. I formed the opinion that I fluctuated between each of these states depending on the condition or impact at the time.

If the situation was one where there was a lot of emotion involved then I could relate the volatility of the moment and the types of situations where different emotions would impact my trust of an individual. If I feel elation for instance I would have a positive mental attitude, would more than likely favour a person to with a decision to trust and the act or behaviour that would ensue would re-enforce the relationship with that person. Conversely, if I feel anger then all three would tend to be negative and the subsequent trust would be almost non-existent.

Similarly, there was an extensive amount of conversation about the validation of information from experts in order for them to be cited as a trusted source. Whilst it was argued that most of the participants needed to have some validation that the information/knowledge was from a trusted source, there was also some, myself included, that argued that knowledge from a critical mass could be trusted just by sheer weight of agreement. The need for validation however, was observed as an impact on my “states of trust” and in particular on my mental attitude or disposition towards the source as well as my decision to rely on that source.

One very strong observation I made is that context has a massive impact on each of the states of trust and influence debate and discussion consistently. As examples or “context” were given, discussion and debate would change and modify based on that context and this would help people form opinion on trust. An example was the debate between self-publishing verses publishing through a recognised authority. Whilst it incorporated the natural debate of validation it also raised questions as to what context the publishing was taking place in. If it was in a reputable Blog (or the recharge lounge) for instance then it might be considered a trusted source. If published in a WIKI then maybe not? I concluded that context will impact the states of trust consistently.

Reciprocity was an impact that seemed to hold a strong place of consideration amongst the participants. The view was generally held that in order for trust to take place reciprocity was a needed behaviour. I generally think that the impact of reciprocity is required in relationships and impacts the behavioural state of trust. But conversely, if the trust you seek is purely whether to trust a certain piece of information, then reciprocity is not required as an individual takes it upon themselves to “make sense” of whether they can trust the information or not. I therefore concluded that reciprocity was an impact only on the behavioural state of trust.

The impact of history is something else I thought needed to be taken into account when considering the impacts on the states of trust. It would appear that the more history a relationship or piece of knowledge has, the more each state of trust is impacted. My observations centred around the research I did for the topic and what in particular I found to be trusted conversations and resources. In addition if you look at what other participants cited in their research it would seem that the longer a connection or piece of knowledge had been in place the more it appeared to be reliable and worth trusting.

I would love to hear your feedback. Take a look at how I mapped the impacts against the states of trust in Figure 1. Of course you may not agree and I would love to hear more about what you think.

Rob Wilkins is a Learning and Development professional with over 20 years experience in Corporate Learning and Development, Management and Executive Development, Learning Technologies and Organisational Performance Improvement. Currently completing his Masters in Knowledge Management and Business Information, Rob is considered a specialist in eLearning and Personal Learning Environments with a strong Knowledge Management influence guiding his research and professional development. Email: dawilkos@tpg.com.au : or more of his insights on a daily basis: Blog: http://roalp.blogspot.com

by Tony Wilson

Would you willingly put your happiness and success in the hands of someone else? Of course you wouldn’t - sounds ridiculous, right? But that is what many people do every day at work.

I am baffled by the notion of HR practitioners and managers everywhere trying to ‘keep people engaged’. Surely it can’t be up to these people - HR, our bosses, our colleagues - to make sure we are happy and successful at work. But we look for these people to keep us engaged and when they don’t, we are unhappy and unsuccessful - and it’s their fault.

So how do we stay engaged and happy at work?

It’s not our job. I spent many days with professional athletes who had, arguably, the best jobs in the world. But some of them aren’t engaged. They turn up to training and say things like, “Here we go again. Man, I don’t feel like this today.” Most people would love to have those jobs - great money, travel the world, live your dream, spend every day with your best mates………good gig, huh?

So what is it? Research has shown that a happy professional life is a precedent for a happy life in general. It’s no wonder, given that we spend about half our waking hours from Monday to Friday at work and we spend more time with our work colleagues during the week than we do with our kids.

Here are some tips for helping you ‘Love Your Work’

1) Have goals and work with them in mind

Understand what you want to get out of work and, somehow, make an effort towards that every day. Even if it’s ‘just a job’, I bet it’s a job that’s paying for your next holiday. Or giving your kids a chance at a better education. Keep these things in mind and have reminders of them close at hand to refer to when you feel like things are dragging you down.

For those who want to achieve more and more at work, the trick is to understand the things that you have to do regularly - build networks, turn in quality work, contribute at meetings - and continually execute these with the end goal in mind.

2) Do something you like doing

This doesn’t mean that you need to quit what you are doing and find another job - though in some cases it might (sorry, HR managers!). But you need to find the things you enjoy about your job and engage in these regularly. Intersperse them throughout the day so they act like a light at the end of the tunnel when you invariably have to do the things you don’t like.
I once worked with a lady who was a great sales person and then got promoted, but found out it was all admin and meetings. What she really liked was the interaction she used to have with her clients. She hated the new job until she realised that her direct reports were her new clients. Apply the things you like doing and work to your strengths whenever possible.

3) Achieve

We all like to achieve something. Even the most cynical person likes to cross the last thing off their to-do-lists - it’s about accomplishment. Try to work on things until they are finished instead of doing bits and pieces of projects all the time. If you don’t have specific targets to achieve (or they are long-term or meaningless to you), then ask your boss what he/she expects of you and what would help them most. It also helps to ‘chunk things down’ into manageable parts so you are continually finishing something.

Achievement is different for different people. For some it’s small things, for some it’s large, and for others still, achievement is more about helping others. Understand what is important for you to achieve.

4) Understand where work fits into the big picture

This is the big one. For many people, work is not the be-all and end-all. It is merely a part of their life that helps facilitate the things that are most important to them. Keep reminding yourself of what is really important, and understand that the small things that drag us down are just that……small things.

It helps when we have ‘attitude anchors’ around us. These might be pictures of family, photos of your last (or next) holiday, anything really that helps you put things in perspective. When things get out of control, take a reality check and ask yourself “in the grand scheme of things, is this really something that should make me unhappy?”

Tony Wilson is the founder of Teamcorp Australia, and has spent over a decade working with elite performers in business and in sport. His ability to help athletes reach their potential and maintain motivation has been a large factor in their success, and many corporate leaders throughout Australia now also apply Tony’s philosophies with outstanding results. Tony’s practical background, coupled with an MBA, give him a unique perspective on personal and team performance.

By Dr. Tom Buckley

Sound familiar? Do you find it impossible to take time out in your office to concentrate on finishing a task, or even have a quick ‘nothing break”, only to be constantly interrupted by the phone ringing, email alerts not to mention your colleagues’ needs? And that’s before we factor in family or friends’ interruptions as well as much needed personal breaks.

Do you find that you are often disturbed twice or three times in your day in order for someone to ensure you go their message? Well you’re not alone and recent research suggests that for workers, getting more than there minute’s sustained work without interruptions has become mission impossible in our technologically driven work environments.

Researchers at the University of California shadowed a dozen information workers for three days and found that in their office areas they were interrupted on average every three minutes by phone calls, text messages or people popping in to see what’s wrong when they didn’t answer emails or phone messages instantly. Such interruptions take up over two hours of the working day and only 77% of interrupted work is resumed the same day. 77%!

Other research from the Institute of Psychiatry in London that reported being bombarded by emails and phone calls has a greater detrimental effect on IQ to smoking marijuana. You can only abuse the brain for so long eh!

Rosalind Pickard from MIT Boston suggests some really useful tips for surfing the wave of interruptions. These are my favourites:

1.    Get a bigger monitor – apparently helps people work up to 44% faster – works – I’ve done it

2.    Put up a “do not disturb” sign and enforce it

3.    Rearrange your office furniture so that you desk faces away from the flow of people – bad karma I hear you say but your there to get the job done

4.    Stand up to talk to people who interrupt you  - so that they can see that they are doing – also good for you physical well being

5.    Put a big clock in your office in view of visitors and keep an eye on it while you are talking – be careful with this one!

6.    Be prepared for interruptions and factor it into your to-do list - perhaps make it known the good times for interruptions. I have colleague who puts a picture of a shark on her door when she does not want to be interrupted – I don’t walk in then so it works

7.    Keep a note pad and write down what you are doing before you were interrupted – this definitely works for me

8.    and finally…..cutting 2 centimeters off the front legs of a visitors chair makes it just enough to keep visitors visits short!

Tom Buckley a University lecturer and researcher in the field or Health Sciences whose doctoral studies focused on physiological responses to stress. Author of several peer reviewed publications and supporting author of Flip the Switch, his current research interests are in human factors related to performance and wellbeing

By John Buchanan

In my recent book, “If Better is Possible”, I suggest that all of us play a coaching role in some form or other. Some have the formal title attached, that is, coach of a certain sporting team or one of the growth occupations of the 21st century, ‘life or personal coach’. Others have less visible acknowledgment of their coaching role, or at least part of their job function, such occupations as a teacher, a manager, a minister of the church, a parent, journalist. All of these people actively engage in the very special role of coaching.

So then what is coaching? And what can be done to help you coach?

As you can see, I differentiate very little between coaching, teaching, parenting, educating, managing.  I think there are a number of key principles to coaching which we all deliver -  dependent upon life experiences, personality, clientele, and situations. I will touch on some of the key principles, and suggest what we can do for the remainder of the season….

1.RELATIONSHIPS and the WHOLE PERSON

Before I can coach someone effectively, there must be a relationship established between us. Some relationships grow quickly due to the ‘chemistry’, the ease with which I can interact with someone and therefore the honesty of that relationship. Other relationships may never really develop because of that lack of ‘chemistry’ – each of us lack some commonality (of background, of interests, of friends, etc) which means the relationship will always be distant.

Nevertheless this latter relationship is still a relationship. It means the coach in this case is allowed only a minimal insight into the life of the person with whom they are coaching.

The trick then is to find another way into understanding the individual. Generally, the approach is through friends, contemporaries and sometimes partners so that the coach is aware of what can continue to build what is existing, and what can destroy the tenuous links.

So as coach seek to know the WHOLE PERSON – not just the athlete, the student, the staffer, the Sunday church goer. Who is this person? What makes them tick? What and who are important in their lives? What goals are they striving for? How can I best help this person?

The message here is that everyone is different, and as coaches we need to invest time in getting to know all our ‘flock’ as best we can, and as much as the individual wants to let the coach into their life. I have found that when I am most satisfied with what I am doing as a coach, it means I am putting in time with all those around me – I feel I am ‘in touch’ with my players and staff. As a consequence, I believe I am in a position to best help them, should it be required. Isn’t this the same as a parent?

I think business and its managers today do not invest sufficient time in their greatest asset and resource – its people. We are all too busy, caught up in self directed needs, communicating through impersonal medium and using surrogate means to superficially deal with a world of self made complexity.

2. Make yourself REDUNDANT

As with any relationship, the longer it lasts, the more change that occurs. The coach needs to keep pulling back, no longer be the directive guide, but become more the safety net – allow the individual/athlete/child to grow. It does mean they will fall down many times, but rather than rushing in to pick them up, the coach assesses their ability to pick themselves up, get back on the bike again, and continue to grow.

There is no science to this process, but it does stem from the coach-person relationship. Knowing the individual will make a big difference in providing the best learning environment and the best way to manage redundancy!

3. CONTINUAL IMPROVEMENT

There should be no coach who does not want his or her ‘athlete’ to grow, to improve. The only blocker to this approach will be if the individual being coached has made the choice not to.

Shane Warne, Glenn McGrath, Adam Gilchrist, Ricky Ponting and all the greats in their respective fields follow this mantra. Greats in literature, ballet, sport, music, politics are only accorded such status because of their longevity and their ability to produce consistently highly skilled performances. There is little doubt that their individual skills are at the peak of their respective fields; but what has kept them there is their desire to continue to be the best – an ongoing process of not being satisfied with where they were yesterday and are today.

Now while we are not all so lucky to have our ranks filled with greats of the game, the principle of Never Being Satisfied, or Continual Improvement holds true for everyone.

Our job as coach is to make sure that we do everything in our work, home or social  environment that encourages individuals to explore their potential, to venture outside their comfort zones, to learn more about themselves and in so doing expand their horizons as people.

There are other key coaching principles such as VISION, LEARNING ENVIRONMENT, CULTURE, PLANNING which I will visit next time. However, I think it is very important not to underestimate the role we can all play as ‘coach’. If we do see and think of ourselves as ‘coach’ and understand that we have the capacity to influence the lives of others both positively and negatively, then I believe we can create a very powerful method for the teams that we coach – families, organizations, communities, countries!

Best of luck for the next part of your season.

John Buchanan is the former coach of the Australian Cricket Team. He is in demand as a speaker, corporate coach and sports coach. John Buchanan is available to share his philosophy for success expanding the benefits well beyond the cricket team and into any area. www.buchanancoaching.com

By Fiona Cosgrove

Goal-setting has been a buzz word in the corporate world for some years now.  Like all popular ideas, it can be enormously helpful but when overdone, produce the opposite result. Some people now cringe when the word “goal” is mentioned.  Goals have to be measurable (amongst other things), but in measuring we assume success or failure.  When we fail to reach goals, the end result is disappointment and undermined confidence.

So what is the purpose of setting goals?

Firstly, to use the well-worn expression – without a map we don’t know where we’re going and we certainly won’t know when we’ve got there.  Lily Tomlin once said “I always wanted to be someone, I just wish I’d been more precise” which is a strong argument in favour of describing accurately what it is you want.  There is a mass of literature expounding the benefits of goals and describing how they should be written.  Again, too much can overwhelm people and produce the opposite result.

If you feel you need more direction in your life, then setting a few goals, or creating an “action plan” will be useful but guidelines are a good idea.

The following tips may help:

Make your goals your goals, not someone elses.

Why? So you have ownership.  A common problem is that the majority of work goals have been set by someone else.  Ask yourself, “What do you really want?”  Don’t fall into the habit of judging your success or failure by either media driven expectations or someone elses agenda.  Come up with your own definition of success.

Make your goals meaningful and exciting

The only way you will get commitment to your goals is if they have meaning and importance to you.  Try and imagine what it would be like when you have achieved those goals.  If that doesn’t get you excited, try thinking what it would be like if the alternative continues.  Is that what you want?  What will not achieving the goal do to your life?  How will goal achievement affect other areas of your life?  Create a vision of the future.

A fun exercise to do is to write a list of 50 things to do before I die.  You may be surprised by what comes up.  Make sure the list is about enjoyment, not duty.

Make your goals specific and measurable

“Ours is a world where people don’t know what they want and are willing to go through hell to get it”.  Don Marquis, 1878-1937.

Getting fitter” or “being financially independent” are not specific goals.  How do you know when you have achieved them?  Describe what fitness means to you.  How will you know when you are fitter?  What will you be able to do?  What does financial independence mean?  How much do you need to allow this to happen?

Write your goal around what you will be doing, not just what you will get

Goals often suggest that our life will change when we achieve them.  This is possibly true.  An outcome goal describes an end result.  A process goal describes something that will continue to happen after the goal has been achieved. For example – losing 5kg is an outcome goal.  Eating breakfast and planning meals that are low in fat and nutritionally balanced is a way of living.  When you write your goals, make a process goal tie in with the outcome goal.  To go back to “financial independence” – an outcome goal.  “I will be living on the interest from my investments” – process goal.

Make your goals well-balanced

It is tempting to set goals in our professional lives and let our personal lives “evolve”.  We forget that to live life to the full we occasionally have to create change in our personal lives and place as much importance on it as our working hours.  Make sure that you have as many personal as professional goals.

Your goals need to be flexible

Life is full of changes.  Our priorities change and challenges arise.  You may move quicker than you thought in one direction or struggle with unforeseen obstacles.  Be prepared to amend your goals to fit in with changing circumstances.

Avoid life being a goal

Goals make us look towards the future.  Which is a good thing.   But never forget that the most important thing is what’s going on right now.  If we forget to notice or enjoy the present, we live our lives in constant anticipation of “when this happens, life will get better”.   Cultivate mindfulness of the present and let the future unfold, with a bit of help from you, but knowing that not everything is under our control.

Fiona Cosgrove has over 20 years experience in the wellness & fitness industry - owning and managing clubs in Australia and Asia, including No 1 Martin Place, NSW Fitness Centre of the Year, 2006. Fiona is the author of Coach Yourself to Wellness and she regularly runs corporate seminars and workshops in the areas of healthy lifestyle, motivation and wellness.

by Andrew May

Our modern way of living teaches us that faster is better. Speed is the new king with our lives measured in bits and bytes, and dissected into micro-detail. Is it any wonder our health, performance and relationships begin to suffer?

We are not designed to go flat out around the clock. Life is meant to be a series of sprints interspersed with periods of rest and recovery. Our culture has conditioned us to think that slow is the enemy of achievement, yet as the Slow Movement is showing us, nothing could be further from the truth.

The Slow Movement

The Slow Movement is about slowing down and taking time to enjoy the things that give us pleasure. It’s about reconnecting with food, people and places, but it’s not anti-work or even anti-capitalist. In fact as Carl Honoré says in his book, In Praise of Slow, “The secret is balance. Instead of doing everything faster, do everything at the right speed. Sometimes fast. Sometimes slow. Sometimes somewhere in between”.

Founded by Carlo Petrini, the movement started in the late 80’s as a foodie fight back against the opening of a McDonald’s restaurant on Rome’s Spanish Steps. Slow Food gave birth to Slow Cities, or Cittaslow in Italian. Adhering to the Cittaslow Manifesto, these towns of 50,000 or less embody a way of life that supports slow living; where traditions and conventional ways of doing things are valued.

In Australia, the town of Goolwa was recently named our first Cittaslow, while Bloodwood Vineyard in Orange is now making slow wines. Annually, Canberra also hosts the Slow Festival in celebration of all things, well, slow.

Lessons in slow from Kenya

When I was a middle distance runner in the 90’s, every year we’d get the opportunity to train with Kenyan athletes who would come out to Australia. Each year a different group of athletes would come, and amazingly each year a new champion would emerge from their ranks: the talent pool seemed endless. What did they know that we didn’t?

There’s a phrase in Swahili that sums it up, ‘hapa hapa’. It means slowly, slowly, and that’s exactly the way these high speed Kenyans took things. They listened to their bodies, training when they felt good and taking time off when they needed rest, often for weeks at a time. Looking back on my running career, I really believe I would have run much faster if I’d taken more notice of the Kenyans and trained hard and recovered even harder!

Eight go slow tips

Here are some great ways to apply the slow philosophy:

1. Slow stretching
Try doing a gentle 5 to 10 minute stretching routine before going to bed. Slow your breathing and your heart rate.

2. Slow walking
Emulate my dog, Cougar. Stop and sniff absolutely everything!

3. Slow weekends
Don’t race around trying to see and please everyone. Try shifting back a few gears and getting rid of the weekend to-do list.

4. Slow mini-breaks
Get away for a three day mini-break, but avoid scheduling every waking hour with sightseeing.

5. Slow food
Copy the Italians with a three to five course meal that takes a few hours to get through, washed down with a couple of glasses of hearty vino.

6. Slow gardening
Just stop and smell the roses! Potter in the garden and take stock of the beautiful smells and plants.

7. Slow sex
Tantric sex is not just for hippies and rock stars like Sting. This 5,000 year old discipline advocates slow sex as a way to increase awareness.

8. Slow thinking
Stretch out on the grass and stare up at the clouds. It’s amazing how often the biggest breakthroughs come when you turn off the conscious chatter.

Like to know more?

For more on Slow Movement practise, try Carl Honore’s book, In Praise of Slow – How a worldwide movement is challenging the cult of speed, or my latest book, Flip the Switch – Why performance increases when you play hard and recover even harder.

Andrew May is is considered Australia’s leading expert on performance and productivity and is the author of the bestselling book, Flip the Switch. Andrew speaks at conferences across the globe, mentors CEO’s and senior managers. He is published throughout national and international media, with regular segments on 2UE radio, Mix 106.5 Body and Soul and Channel Nine’s TODAY show.

by Tony Wilson

Many people ask me about what to do when you feel you have just been beaten up – by clients, by the market, by the uncontrollables that seem to jump out from nowhere and give you such a terrible run of things that you think it is never going to end.  Here are some brief pointers on staying motivated and in control and, from a leadership perspective, engendering some of those qualities in your team.

Action:

Action is the one thing that gets us past ‘rumination’ (feeling sorry for our selves and wallowing in the problem) and on to achieving the next step.  A great friend of mind, Psychologist Phil Jauncey, says that most of our poor feelings are caused by a lack of action.  When we are depressed it is because we are worried about something in the past but haven’t yet taken the actions to correct it in the future.  When we get anxious it is because we are worried about something in the future and we haven’t taken action to control it to the best of our ability.  And when we are in a state of distress we are worried about what is currently happening to us, but haven’t yet begun to take real action to solve the problem.

Different Actions, Different People:

The right action to take is different for different people, but it is action nonetheless.  For introspective people action might take the form of sitting down, making lists and formulating a plan.  For those who are more social and interactive, action might take the form of talking to someone else who has been in the situation before.  For others still, action might be a case of forgetting all about it for a day or two and getting away with some friends to enjoy yourself.

Talking to Ourselves:

And then there’s the phenomenon of ‘internal dialogue’ – a fancy way of saying that we all talk to ourselves (remember, it’s only crazy if you start answering!).  We all have these conversations at some level as we try to make sense of the world and those around us.

“Can I trust this person?”

“Can the rest of this report wait until tomorrow?”

“I’ve been pretty good……I deserve to stay in bed rather than going to the gym this morning”

“Does my bum look big in this?”

But the key conversations we have with ourselves centre on our explanations for failure.
In Martin Seligman’s landmark work, he discovered that when people are defeated, they say that failure is permanent (“this always happens to me!”), and pervasive (“this will ruin my whole day!”).  When people are resilient the think failure is temporary (it’ll turn around) and specific (the next time will be different) – and the key is that resilient people work out that they can change something in order to improve their chances next time.

Resilience in Your Team:

What does this mean from a leadership point of view?

Action is still the most important driver of being resilient.  Listen to your people and understand their problems – let them vent when they feel they have to – but engage them in action as soon as possible.  Where appropriate, coach this in order to get them to own the action…don’t always solve the problem for them.

When it comes to inner dialogue, I am afraid that you have to be that inner voice for them.  Again, listen to them and let them vent (not for too long) and then ask the questions that get the positive dialogue going:

“What would you change about it next time?”

“Why do you think that approach didn’t work?”

These questions force them to question the permanence and pervasiveness of the problem or situation.  Give them a reason (not an excuse) as to why it didn’t work out this time and ask them what they will change to get a different outcome next time.

Uncontrollables:

When your team is failing due to uncontrollable circumstance, it is best to set some new benchmarks.  These might be revised KPI’s that were already set, or alternatively the focus might change from outcomes and be placed more on activity or behaviours that would otherwise be successful were it not for the current market etc.

People still want to achieve, but sometimes we have to shift the goal posts to make this happen.

And finally, keep reiterating…….

We can only control the things that we can control, the uncontrollables shouldn’t matter.  We might not always choose the things that happen to us, but we always choose our behaviours afterwards.

Tony Wilson is the founder of Teamcorp Australia, and has spent over a decade working with elite performers in business and in sport.  His ability to help athletes reach their potential and maintain motivation has been a large factor in their success, and many corporate leaders throughout Australia now also apply Tony’s philosophies with outstanding results.  Tony’s practical background, coupled with an MBA, give him a unique perspective on personal and team performance.

by Michael Licenblat

Dealing with demanding clients, complaining customers or difficult colleagues is often distracting and can leave you feeling drained and irritated.    In this frame of mind, you are less productive and have less patience for the clients and people you work with.   The key to dealing with difficult people, without becoming drained, is about understanding everyone’s ‘Pressure Profiles’ and knowing how to make them work together.

There is a lot of good psychology written about personality types that explains how to work with different people, based on their patterns of behaviour (I remember the endless ‘required research reading’ when I was a psychology student).  However, it was during the years when I was a Shiatsu Practitioner, where I noticed that the way people processed pressure greatly influenced their ‘personality type’, and how they communicated, resolved issues, and negotiated with others.

When you deal with a demanding customer, energy builds up or drains out from your body.  This energy movement creates changes in you through 4 spectrums:  Mentally (problem solving, perspective and focus), physically (muscle tension, strains, and gesture patterns), emotionally (intensity and self belief) and Lifestyle (wellbeing, personal achievement, and connection with others).  The degree of change that takes place in each of these areas creates an overall energy, known as your ‘Pressure Profile’,

By being able to read a person’s Pressure Profile, you will understand why they behave the way they do, how to pick the signs, how to respond to them, and what to do to help them feel calm and communicate clearly.

Your pressure profile can, and does, change from moment to moment, depending on the situation or people whom you deal with. This is why it is important to be able to pick the pattern as they change and adapt with them.  Here are 4 Pressure Profiles:

A. Biter

Much like a kettle, a Biter’s energy moves up and out.  The Biter is vocal when under pressure; they openly argue, yell and let off steam.  The flip side is that they can be good communicators who say what they mean.  The building of energy can be seen in shoulder tension, facial tension, or tightness in the chest.  They are emotionally fast responding, appear self confident, and tend to speak before they think.

When dealing with a Biter, you need to let them get their energy out and express themselves.  If you are a Biter, you need to practice expressing your views or emotions without intimidating or dumping.

B. Growler

Like a pressure cooker, a Growler’s energy moves up, but stays in.  The Growler is reflective when under pressure; they stew over details, analyse, and suppress their feelings.  The flip side is that they thoroughly think through their emotional responses and maintain their composure during high pressure situations.   The building, and containing, of energy can be seen in the rigidity of neck and upper body movement, often resulting in tension headaches and shoulder/neck pain.  They are often impatient, somewhat anxious, can experience stomach or bowel upsets, and speak in a higher toned and faster speech.

When dealing with a Growler, you need to help them open up and get them talking.  If you are a Growler, you need to practice expressing your points of view and let go of needing to be perfect.

C. Sinker

Like a sponge, a Sinker’s energy moves down and absorbs at the same time.  The Sinker is melancholy when under pressure – they complain, whinge and worry.  The flip side is that they are in touch with how they feel and often relate well to others and are able to get them to open up.  The sinking of energy is represented in a physical slump in posture, contraction in the chest and abdomen, occasional stomach bloating, and sluggishness.  They tend to be more pessimistic and display less confidence in their abilities.

When dealing with a Sinker, you need to keep them focused, motivated and on track.  If you are a Sinker, you need to practice not getting caught up in complaining and focus on what is going right and the objectives you want to achieve.

D. Drainer

Like a stone, a Drainer’s energy is heavy and moves down quickly.   The Drainer become overwhelmed and exhausted under pressure – they become overloaded, exacerbated, and depressed.  The flip side is that they understand their boundaries and are able to step back and say ‘no’ when they need to.  The heavy energy is represented in lack of lustre in their face, voice and energy.  They tend to be withdrawn, introverted and isolated.

When dealing with a Drainer, you need to offer them support, empathy and understanding.  If you are a Drainer, you need to know your limits and practice not taking people too personally.

When you can read your customers, clients or colleagues Pressure Profile, it makes it so much easier to relate to them and resolve issues, because you understand how they feel and what you need to do and say to relate with them.

Michael Licenblat B.Sc.(Psych) is a Resilience Expert who helps people in business bounce back fast from pressure, stress and burnout in their work and life. He is a professional speaker, coach and author of three books.

By Rob Wilkins

Or Personal Learning Environments (PLE)

I have spoken before about individuals needing to know what their learning landscape looks like.

Mine is a combination of a number of things.  I know I learn best when I have access to, and conversations with, those I trust and learn from.  However, the world wide web now gives people an opportunity to construct a landscape for themselves that brings all of their learning together in one place.  I call this a personal learning environment.

This is something that I have meant to do for a little while. Give my perspective.

Now do not ask for a definition of a PLE. I do not believe there is one. It is an ecology that is important to the person and is ecology unto itself. It is unique to every individual. Personal learning environments, to me, are also evolutionary. They have evolved, and will continue to evolve, due to a number of key factors:
•    Individuals need to filter information. There is so much information nowadays that an individual needs efficient ways of “dealing with” and “making sense of”, this information.
•    In filtering this information they begin to prefer the collective wisdom of the individuals they choose to “include” as part of this filtering.
•    These individuals can include published experts, academics, peers, colleagues or strangers.
•    The learning that takes place is based on what “resonates” with the individual and not what someone tells them they should learn. This fosters true listening from the individual.
•    The PLE allows an individual to harness the natural motivations to learn that exist within the individual and as such, provides a continuing learning experience that few corporate or academic training environments can provide.

My PLE looks something like this:

In essence I describe my PLE as a learning environment that is functional and provides me with different activities, modes and experiences for learning. Central to this model is the “connectedness” that exists between each of the activities and the people I interact with. As you can see, the tools are in the background and as an individual I choose to use and discard tools based on the ease of use and it’s ability to maintain the connectedness I require as a learner. This means my environment is fluid and ever changing.

This is not about the technology.  That is the tool.  This is about how you as an individual arrange an ecology that allows YOU to learn in the way YOU like to learn.

Now of course this is my perspective……

Rob Wilkins is a Learning and Development professional with over 20 years experience in Corporate Learning and Development, Management and Executive Development, Learning Technologies and Organisational Performance Improvement. Currently completing his Masters in Knowledge Management and Business Information, Rob is considered a specialist in eLearning and Personal Learning Environments with a strong Knowledge Management influence guiding his research and professional development. Email: dawilkos@tpg.com.au : or more of his insights on a daily basis: Blog: http://roalp.blogspot.com

by Dr. Tim Sharp

If you’re reading this blog then you’re a leader.  You might not have “leader” or “manager” or “executive” in your title but I’m guessing that if you’re still with me then you are, in one way or other, the sort of person who has, or at least wants to have a significant influence within your team and/or organisation.

And that’s great, because I don’t think we can ever have enough leaders…assuming, that is, we have positive leaders.

Positive leaders energise and motivate.  Positive leaders inspire and innovate.  Positive leaders encourage collaboration and foster morale and engagement.  Positive leaders generate more productivity, better results, and out perform their peers on every imaginable measure.  People want to work for positive leaders and organisations want to find and keep positive leaders.

The good news is that we can all learn to be positive leaders; and the even better news is that there’s not just one way to be a positive leader.  We can all do it in our own way, using our own style and within our own personality.

Research from the exciting new science of positive psychology informs us that positive leaders tend to:

-    Have a clear sense of their purpose and direction; they know who they are and what their role is; they find meaning in their work and help others find meaning and see the bigger picture also
-    Be more optimistic; they focus on positives but also face the cold, hard realities of the day; they recognise problems but quickly generate solutions
-    Support others; they care for themselves but they also care for their loved ones and colleagues; they’re generous; they recognise talents and abilities in others and bring out the best in their team
-    Be self aware and cognisant of their own inner strengths; they know exactly in what areas they excel and they utilise these characteristics as often as possible
-    Appreciate and be grateful for what’s good; they focus more on what they have and less on what they don’t have; they catch people when they’re doing things right, not just when they’re making mistakes, and they say thank you

If you’re already doing all this then hold onto your hat because you’re in for an exciting and fulfilling ride; if you’re not, then start making what ever changes you need to make because if you can become a positive leader (and you can because everything I’ve outlined above can be learned) you’ll achieve more happiness and success than you ever thought possible!

Dr. Sharp is one of Australia’s leaders in the exciting new science of positive psychology and happiness. In short, he is one of this country’s leading Executive Coaches, a highly qualified consultant on matters relating to human behaviour and psychology (particularly the application of positive psychology principles within organisations and teams) and a sought after public/corporate speaker. For more information please email info@thehappinessinstitute or visit The Happiness Institute