WorkPuzzle

Coaching For Confidence...Revisited

A few years back, I wrote a blog with the above title that became one of our most popular blog entries.  I reviewed it recently in order to address a manager's concern, and realized that a revisit to this important topic may be due.  Some of the information below is from the original blog, but included are new thoughts garnered along the way...

It's no secret that managing and coaching those around us can feel futile if those being coached lack confidence in their ability to succeed.  We've all witnessed talented people lose their spark and confidence, begin to wilt, and eventually begin to drop below performance standards.  Most of the time it feels like we can’t predict who will go which way.  And sometimes we can’t.  But, here are some clues and suggestions...
 
At the time I wrote the article, in 2009, I was watching "American Idol" (OK, I admitted I watched it- and still do) when one of the judges, Simon, who happened to be pretty candid and generally correct, asked a contestant, "Do you think that you can win this?"  Her answer, or lack thereof, proved that she clearly had serious doubts as to whether she could!  And you can guess what happened.  She was soon voted off the show.

Psychologist, Rosabeth Moss Kanter, expert on the subject of confidence explains:

"Confidence consists of positive expectations for favorable outcomes.  Confidence influences the willingness to invest - to commit money, time, reputation, emotional energy, or other resources - or to withhold or hedge investment.  This investment, or its absence, shapes the ability to perform.  In that sense, confidence lies at the heart of civilization.  Everything about an economy, a society, an organization, or a team depend on it.  Every step we take, every investment we make, is based on whether we feel we can count on ourselves and others to accomplish what has been promised.  Confidence determines whether our steps – individually or collectivity – are tiny and tentative or big and bold."  (Rosabeth Moss Kanter, Confidence: Leadership and the Psychology of Turnarounds, 2004)

Recruiting people is only the first stage of an ongoing process.  It's your job as a coach, manager, and/or mentor, to bring out the best in others, and that begins with assessing their confidence.  They have to believe that they can succeed in order to succeed.

This past weekend I caught the last two holes of the British Open.  I witnessed Darren Clarke, the least likely person to win the trophy, do it three strokes ahead of the runners up.  What struck me as I watched him on and off throughout various news stories the entire weekend, is that it appeared like he expected to win all along.

After the win, a commentator said that Clarke had consulted with his sports psychologist before the Open, who told him: “Don’t let your golf game determine your attitude, let your attitude determine your golf game.” 
 
So...what do you do if your agents begin to "lose," or rarely show a sense of confidence?

1. Ask them: "Do you believe that you will succeed?"  If they don't, or if they say yes in a tentative or not believable manner:
2. Then ask them what they believe the outcome will be if they don't really believe they can achieve their goals?  (Even though my graduate courses were over 25 years ago, I can tell you that those who believed they would finish and succeed, did!  Those who didn't have that confidence, failed!)
3. Once you have them talking openly about their uncertainty and its impact on their performance, ask them to remember a time when they did succeed - big time!  Get them to remember their attitude going into the situation.  What was their level of confidence?  Did they expect success?  How did they envision success?
4. And lastly, remind them that their best confidence comes when they aren't taking on important tasks and projects to bolster their ego, rather when they are doing it to contribute to clients, co-workers and society at large.  Only under these conditions can one sustain great performance.  Because when things don't go well, it's not about your ego, it's about your contribution!

And remind them…“Don’t let your sales so far this year determine your attitude, let your attitude determine your sales the remainder of the year!”

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Editor's Note: This article was written by Dr. David Mashburn. Dave is a Clinical and Consulting Psychologist, a Partner at Tidemark, Inc. and a regular contributor to WorkPuzzle. Comments or questions are welcome. If you're an email subscriber, reply to this WorkPuzzle email. If you read the blog directly from the web, you can click the "comments" link below.

New Research: Why Do People Leave Their Jobs in Today's Economy?

If you've read WorkPuzzle over the last few months, you probably remember several discussions (1, 2, 3) I've facilitated on the need for real estate companies to look beyond hiring just those agents who are already active/experienced in their industry.

If you're going to spend time and effort looking for candidates outside the industry (commonly called "new to real estate candidates"), it may be helpful to know what all those people  who "have normal jobs" are experiencing.  Thankfully, there are several researchers who study this topic.  

Mercer, a large global human resources firm, recently conducted surveys of more than 30,000 employees from various industries, and discovered that more than 50% of the workforce in the U.S is really unhappy with their employers.  Their findings were published in their What's Working? human resources industry report.  A similar survey was conducted in 2005.  The 2005 data serves as a benchmark for the findings this year.   

So, what's changed in the last six years?  There are four strong theme's that have emerged in the data.  These themes were recently identified and documented by recruiting expert Kevin Wheeler in a recent Electronic Recruiting Exchange forum.  Here are some of Kevin's observations:

"While money and benefits are not the primary reason people leave their employers in normal times, these times are very different.

This recession has lingered longer than most and is impacting a generation of workers who have not suffered much from recessions in the past.  Their tolerance is different, and so are their expectations.

Today I think there are four primary drivers of these rather frightening statistics.  And these same reasons will eventually drive away the new people you recruit as well, unless you are candid and realistic right up front with the candidates."

1.  It's About the Money.  

"For many employees it has been a long time since they have gotten much in the way of a pay increase.  The recession is often used as a reason for not granting reasonable increases, and managers have been more focused on performance — or lack of performance, as a way to hold down these increases.

Yet, employees see their organizations making good profits and in some cases even record profits.  Corporate coffers are flush with cash, yet this has not translated into significant pay increases.  At the same time, option grants have shrunk due to changes in how they are taxed, giving some employees even less reason to stay.  Employees perceive an unfairness in how they are paid compared to how firms are profiting."

2.  It's About Being Overworked.

"Second, and not completely separated from pay, is the amount of work that is being asked of employees.  Many people I speak with are really doing what two or more would have done prior to this recession.  Managers have asked for more and gotten it as employees fear there are few other jobs.

Yet the perception about jobs is changing, and many are starting to make a move if for no other reason than to lessen their workload or find a more flexible employer."

3.  It's About Flexibility and Respect.

"A third growing issue is the attitude younger workers, especially those in the Gen Y category, have about work.  They feel their personal freedom is threatened by restrictive social media polices.  And they are unhappy with the unwillingness of many firms to allow flexible working hours.

They are also inclined to want open, authentic cultures and this recession has caused firms to tighten up communications, keep more secrets, and allow much less open discussion.  This is all negative to the younger folks who will seek out more open and flexible environments."

4. It's About Lack of Training and Development.

"A fourth element is lack of development.  Many surveys have pointed out that Gen Y in particular, but all of us at some time, want to take on new responsibilities and learn new skills.  During the recession organizations cut back on training and limited development opportunities.

In some cases when development was available no one could take advantage oif it because of high-demand work requirements that left no time available.  This has resulted in frustrated and bored employees who are looking for a change."

I would recommend that you work these four themes into every candidate interview you conduct.  Ask open-ended questions that are directed at uncovering the pain that the candidate is experiencing in their current employment situation.  The pain will not be hard to find if you poke around on the topics listed above.

Remember, until this pain is identified and felt by the candidate, they will not be able to "hear" how a career in the real estate industry could alleviate that pain.

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Editor's Note:  This article was written by Ben Hess.  Ben is the Founding Partner and Managing Director of Tidemark, Inc. and a regular contributor to WorkPuzzle.  Comments or questions are welcome.  If you're an email subscriber, reply to this WorkPuzzle email.  If you read the blog directly from the web, you can click the "comments" link below.

What Summer Camp Can Teach You About Coaching New Agents

Earlier this year, one of my teenage sons had the idea of hosting a “bluegrass music camp” for kids this summer.  His older brother had attended a high school debate camp the previous year, and the college kids hosting that camp made it look pretty easy.  A budding entrepreneur was starting to spread his wings.

As some of you know, several of my children are pretty good bluegrass musicians.  To staff the camp, he recruited his brothers and a couple of his bluegrass friends.  He quickly had the staff necessary to pull this off.

Next, we put his mind to building a website for the event and a registration process, and finally securing a location for the camp.  He even started to promote the website through other adults in his network.  In April, things were looking great and hopes were high.  I even saw an email or two between his buddys, regarding “how much money they were going to make.”

Then reality set in.  Although he generated more than 1,000 unique visits to his website, the registrations were slow in coming.  As the weeks ticked by, it became apparent that he was not going to have enough kids registered to hold the camp.  Last week, he had to notify his instructors that the camp was cancelled.

As I contemplated how to turn this event into a learning experience, I ran across an article in this week’s issue of BusinessWeek.  The article highlights the growth and success of businesses that offer summer camps to kids.  The author tells the story of Andy Wexler, a summer camp entrepreneur who started a successful camp business:

“Andy Wexler didn’t much enjoy his own childhood camp experience. The only part he liked was going on field trips.  That’s why, as a 19-year-old junior at the University of California at Los Angeles in 1990, he borrowed $1,000 to start his own camp based entirely on daily excursions to Disney Land, Magic Mountain, karate studios, and more.  'I thought it would be a fun thing to do, so I got a list of kids and called them up,' says Wexler.  'I probably did about 1,000 telephone calls and convinced 25 parents to send me their kids.'

Within five years, his Southern California-based enterprise grew to more than 500 campers, and had revenues of more than $1 million for an 11-week season.  Today, Wexler’s idea has evolved into Pali Overnight Adventures, a 74-acre camp complex offering 9-to-16-year-old attendees 16 areas of concentration ranging from Secret Agent sessions, where kids do things like soar down ziplines while firing paintball guns, to Hollywood Stunt Camp, where campers learn to jump from a two-story building, to a Culinary Institute where they receive instruction from professional chefs.  Wexler’s camps cost almost $1,700 per week, as compared to, say, Camp Marston, a 90-year-old YMCA camp near San Diego, which costs $535 for six days.  Pali’s revenue has averaged 10 percent growth annually over the past decade and rose 39 percent this year:  'If we have a day where we make under $25,000, we’re in trouble,' he says.”

This is a nice little business that Mr. Wexler has put together.  If my math is right, he’s generating over $3M in revenue during his 11-week season.  He’s also experiencing nearly 40% growth this year.  How many mature businesses (he’s been in business over 20 years) are experiencing this kind of growth in today’s economic environment?

Similarly, my son had a great idea and picked an industry experiencing exciting growth.  So, what went wrong?  I suspect it is the same thing that goes wrong with new agents who are starting their businesses in the real estate industry today:  He was unwilling to do a sufficient level of prospecting to get his new venture off the ground.

Notice what Andy Wexler had to do to get his first 25 campers:  He made 1,000 phone calls!  My son did not make 1,000 phone calls.  And, subsequently, he did not fill his camp with 25 students.  

What’s the lesson?  It takes a huge amount of focused effort, determination, perseverance, and tenacity to get something new off the ground.  Of course, the payoff for this effort can be quite substantial.  Notice that Andy Wexler’s company grew from 25 campers the first year, to more than 500 campers by the fifth year.  Once he made the huge effort of getting the ball rolling, growth likely came more quickly and easily than he originally expected.

This has been a great learning experience for my son...and it serves as good advice for the new young agents that you’re bringing into the real estate industry during these difficult times. 

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Editor's Note:  This article was written by Ben Hess.  Ben is the Founding Partner and Managing Director of Tidemark, Inc. and a regular contributor to WorkPuzzle.  Comments or questions are welcome.  If you're an email subscriber, reply to this WorkPuzzle email.  If you read the blog directly from the web, you can click the "comments" link below.

Waiting for Superman: Reinforces Principles of Management and Sales

If you haven’t already seen it, I want to highly recommend you watch the critically acclaimed documentary called Waiting for Superman.  Directed by Davis Guggenheim, Waiting for Superman, received the Audience Award for Best Documentary at the 2010 Sundance Film Festival, as well as Best Documentary Feature at the Critics’ Choice Movie Awards.

Documentary filmmaker, Davis Guggenheim, explores the tragic ways in which the American public education system is failing our nation's children, and explores the principle differences between “dropout factory” public schools and some charter schools, many of which are in some of the worst neighborhoods.

On the public school side, dreadful statistics are presented in a series of animated episodes. He chronicles decades of diminishing national reading and math scores, America’s low standing when compared with other countries, the high dropout rate in urban public high schools, the tenure system (guaranteed by union contract), and the fact that it is against union rules to pay excellent teachers a higher wage than inferior ones.  Apparently, many public school principals rotate lousy teachers within a district, in pessimistic shuffles known as the Dance of the Lemons, the Turkey Trot, and Pass the Trash.

On the flip side, despite receiving public funds (as well as much private support), charter schools can hire non-union teachers and adopt their own curriculum and standards.  In these environments, they can hire and fire at will, reward good teaching, hold longer school days, and exercise high expectations.  What a concept!

What does this have to do with real estate?

I did some additional research and came upon an article, by Ellen Galinsky, who had personally spent time interviewing some of the best education innovators.  In this article, you will readily find principles that relate to the best managers and agents in real estate.  Here is some of what she has to say:

“About a year ago, I spent time interviewing and filming Geoffrey Canada and his staff at the Harlem Children’s Zone (HCZ) for Mind in the Making.  Since Canada is one of the 'stars' of Waiting for Superman (as he deserves to be), I feel compelled to share my observations from that visit as a brief glimpse of what it will take to fix education.

 

To foster good teaching—it takes an adult learning environment where there is accountability: When I visited the HCZ, Canada told me that they look for teachers with a 'no excuses' attitude:  Everybody who comes in to work for me promises me they know these kids are poor and the families have problems.  However, Canada finds that if a teacher isn’t doing well, he or she is likely to begin blaming the difficulties in these children's home lives.  Canada says to these teachers:

'You knew [the realities of these children’s lives] when you took the job—you said you understood that was the deal—now you’re making excuses.'  If you allow people to make excuses, it becomes the kid’s fault, the parent’s fault, the community’s fault...versus those of us who are getting paid!  That said, the teachers at HCZ have a great deal of support for improving, including opportunities to learn more about children’s learning and teaching from other more experienced teachers, from specialists, and from colleges and universities which they are encouraged to attend.  I had the strong impression that HCZ was a learning community, where everyone, at every level, including Canada, was trying to learn more.  And that learning environment has become contagious, spilling over onto the children.

To foster good learning environments for the children, there needs to be high expectations and accountability, but mistakes are seen as part of the process of learning.  In its brochure, Canada describes the ultimate goal of HCZ: 'getting our kids into and through college.'  HCZ makes sure that this goal is visible and reinforced daily.  For example, in the Promise Academy elementary program I observed, the children line up in the hallway every morning and state this goal as their creed.  Canada says:
 If kids are saying their creed, 'I will go to college; I will succeed,'
if their parents are thinking that, if the teachers are thinking that, then you’ve got thirty percent of the work done.  In the HCZ, the children are expected to develop a good work ethic, put many hours into school, and to understand that there are times when learning won’t be fun.  The staff also know that it is impossible for children to succeed all of the time, which is why I like the rating system used there—not A, B, C, D, and F but 1 to 4, where 1 is an 'oops.'  The superintendent of HCZ, Daryl Rock describes their philosophy:  We give [children] the freedom to make mistakes.  We teach our kids that failure is not a way of labeling who you are—it’s just a way of identifying what you don’t know and what you need to put more effort into.  When kids understand that, they’re not hesitant about trying something, because if they fail, it’s not a reflection on them.  That just tells them:  'This is an area we need to work on.'  To put this in another way, the children aren’t just learning content, they are learning life skills, including how to take on challenges.”

Which attitudes are you and your company adopting toward productivity?
 
Furthermore, if you’ve been searching for a worthy cause for individual volunteering or better yet, to rally your office/company around, you might want to visit the Waiting for Superman website for action opportunities.  This could be what you’ve been waiting for...

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Editor's Note: This article was written by Dr. David Mashburn. Dave is a Clinical and Consulting Psychologist, a Partner at Tidemark, Inc. and a regular contributor to WorkPuzzle. Comments or questions are welcome. If you're an email subscriber, reply to this WorkPuzzle email. If you read the blog directly from the web, you can click the "comments" link below.

Help me Build a Survey for Managers

Hello everyone.  We write and frequently speak on the topics that concern managers of real estate offices.  However, it occurred to us that it's due time we discover an effective way to receive your input about the pertinent issues that exist in your field of work.

We've chosen to obtain this valuable information about the current challenges real estate professionals face by designing a survey, intended to gather relevant information regarding the management of real estate offices.

But, I need your help...  We would like as many of you as possible (Managers, Agents, GM's, Directors, C-Levels, Owners...and anyone I left out) to respond to me through my email davidm@tidemarkonline.com and post questions that you feel should be considered for the survey.  We'd like the questions to be formulated in such a way that they can be answered in varying degrees.

For example:

Managers in our company are given clear performance objectives.
This can be answered (1) VERY TRUE, (2) SOMEWHAT TRUE, (3) INCONSISTENTLY, or (4) NEVER.

Or...

I spend the following percentage of time Recruiting:
(1) 1-5%, (2) around 10%, (3) More than 20%, or (4) NONE

Get creative.  What do you really want to know about your fellow managers, nationwide?  You can ask anything.  I'll keep this post brief so that you can spend some time considering some questions, click my email address, and then send them over.

ALSO-- I guarantee that the source of all questions will be anonymous, unless you indicate that you would like for us to let others know you were helpful in building this survey.

When we're done building it, we'll send the link out to take the survey, and let you all know the results once they're compiled.

Thank you for your time,

Dave

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Editor's Note: This article was written by Dr. David Mashburn. Dave is a Clinical and Consulting Psychologist, a Partner at Tidemark, Inc. and a regular contributor to WorkPuzzle. Comments or questions are welcome. If you're an email subscriber, reply to this WorkPuzzle email. If you read the blog directly from the web, you can click the "comments" link below.

Experienced Agent Recruiting: Turning a Failure Into a Success, Part 3

Hopefully, you’ve had the opportunity to read the previous WorkPuzzle posts (1, 2) on the prospect of recruiting your competitors’ failures.  Engaging individuals who have recently failed with the hopes of turning them into successes within your company, is a risk that should be considered carefully.

If you decide to go down this path, it is critical that you learn everything possible about the nature of failure.  More specifically, if you are able to distinguish a good failure (someone who will use a recent failure as a learning experience and springboard to their next success) from a bad failure (someone whose recent failure is the start or continuation of a professional tailspin), you can lower your risk of making a bad investment.  There are still no guarantees, but it is helpful to get on the right side of the odds and make sure the data is stacked in your favor.

One data point you’ll want to pay particular attention to is the character trait of resilience.  In a recent article published in Harvard Business Review, Dr. Martin Seligman, the proverbial father of positive psychology, makes the following declaration: 

“Thirty years of scientific research has put the answers to [the questions of why people fail] within our reach.  We have learned not only how to distinguish those who will grow after failure from those who will collapse, but also how to build the skills of the people in the latter category.”

The article goes on to describe the details of a multi-million dollar research project being conducted for the United States Army on the topic of teaching people resilience.  While the verdict is still out on whether the trait of resilience can be successfully taught (he overstates the reality of the situation in his statement above), the “distinguishing who will grow after failure” part of the research is quite definitive.  Those who possess the trait of resilience, sooner or later, turn their failures into successes. 

But, how do you tell if someone is resilient if this is his/her first professional failure?  Or, if you’re in a casual conversation with someone who you could possibly recruit, how do get the person to reveal enough of their work history to detect a pattern of resilience?  In both cases, you probably can’t collect enough information to make a determination.

Thankfully, Dr. Seligman and his researchers are going to help us out.  One trait that seems to be strongly connected to resilience is optimism.  In simple terms, optimistic people tend to be resilient.  Here’s what the research revealed:

“We developed questionnaires and analyzed the content of verbatim speech and writing to assess 'explanatory style' as optimistic or pessimistic.  We discovered that people who don’t give up have a habit of interpreting setbacks as temporary, local, and changeable. (‘It’s going away quickly; it’s just this one situation, and I can do something about it.’)”

Now, optimism is something that you can detect in a casual conversation.  Since optimism and resilience are closely linked, this is the path to not only pursuing the right types of candidates, but also opening the doors in conversation that will help you learn about a person’s propensity to display resilience.

If you start a conversation with someone who is failing in his/her current role as a real estate agent and that person displays a lot of pessimism during the discussion, you probably want to back off right away and focus your efforts on someone else.

However, if a similar scenario results in you finding someone who displays a lot of optimism during an initial discussion, it might be natural to say something like this: “Wow, you seem to be a very optimistic person in spite of some really challenging things going on in your life right now.  Did you learn to be that way from some of your past experiences, or do you think that just comes naturally?”   

This type of open-ended question will naturally lead to someone sharing their past experiences.  Once you get this conversation going, look for the track record of overcoming difficult circumstances.  These are the good failures you potentially want on your team.

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Editor's Note:  This article was written by Ben Hess.  Ben is the Founding Partner and Managing Director of Tidemark, Inc. and a regular contributor to WorkPuzzle.  Comments or questions are welcome.  If you're an email subscriber, reply to this WorkPuzzle email.  If you read the blog directly from the web, you can click the "comments" link below.

The Positive Brain and Productivity

I know you were expecting a follow up article from Ben regarding his last blog on Experienced Agent Recruiting.  Ben is out of town and will pick up where he left off in the next WorkPuzzle edition.  But, on an unrelated note...   

I’ve never cared very much for books like, “The Power of Positive Thinking," or motivational speakers like Tony Robbins.  I’m one of those guys who get a bit nauseous if a speaker asks the audience to perform some sort of goofy exercise to brighten our day.  Maybe it’s my scientific background that makes me question the motives of people who are trying to sell happiness. 
 
However, as you have probably gathered if you’ve been reading WorkPuzzle for very long, Ben and I occasionally supply you with hard research evidence regarding happiness, positive emotion, and success that should be made mandatory learning for anyone who manages people.  Research over the last 15 years has mushroomed on the topic, and has supplied empirical evidence that should compel you to make a point of knowing, applying, and teaching about the this important link between happiness and success.

The latest summary of the research by Shawn Achor, a former Harvard psychology professor and author of The Happiness Advantage: The Seven Principles of Positive Psychology that Fuel Success and Performance at Work (Crown Business 2010) is a worthwhile, empirically grounded read.

Here he says what we all have witnessed: "You can take individuals of equal levels of intelligence, and you find there's dramatic variance in their success rates."  If career success isn't primarily a function of intelligence, then what causes it?  According to the evidence, Achor points to optimism, social support and whether we view stress as an opportunity or a threat.

The evidence is clear that, “Our brains are designed to work much better when they are in a positive state as opposed to a negative or neutral one," says Achor.  "We find that when people are positive, it raises their productivity rate by 31 percent compared to when they're in a negative state of mind.  Sales people sell 37 percent more than their negative counterparts.  We know that doctors, when they're positive, perform diagnoses 19 percent more accurately."

There is a neurotransmitter called dopamine (related to pleasure) that is released in the brain when we’re in a positive state of mind.  Furthermore, scientists have found that the brain can access all kinds of creativity, activate learning centers, and provide motivational energy when dopamine is naturally released in the positive state.  As a result, positive brains see more possibilities, and productivity rises.

Does your office create positive states of mind?  Are you mindful of working to keep your team positive, regardless of current stressors? The best leaders in history have had an uncanny way of providing this model and a path for those around them to experience the same.  It’s a worthy goal.

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Editor's Note: This article was written by Dr. David Mashburn. Dave is a Clinical and Consulting Psychologist, a Partner at Tidemark, Inc. and a regular contributor to WorkPuzzle. Comments or questions are welcome. If you're an email subscriber, reply to this WorkPuzzle email. If you read the blog directly from the web, you can click the "comments" link below.

How to create change: Part 3

As I mentioned in the last blog, I am excited about this edition.  (You'll see why in the "Build Habits" section below...)  In the first two editions of this series (1,2), I introduced you to a well-constructed book by the Heath brothers entitled, "Switch: How To Change Things When Change Is Hard."

The authors consolidate a lot of information about the major elements of change, including how to create change, in their very concise, easy to read book.  The brothers liberally borrow their basic analogy around the elements of change from Psychologist and Researcher, Dr. Jonathan Haidt.  They explain that change involves two parts of the whole person that we are all familiar with....a person's emotional side, as well as their brain's rational side.

As I mentioned before, to create change, you must impact both sides.  The overpowering emotional side is identified as the "Elephant," and the rational, decision-making component sits atop the Elephant as the "Rider."  When conflict arises between the two, the Rider is easily the underdog.  (I addressed "the Rider" and "the Elephant" in the first two editions.)

Lastly, to create change, you must provide and shape a clear PATH.  This means that you must provide clear direction.  Sometimes change doesn't require anything we've described so far.  Sometimes, it only requires providing a path that's clear, accessible, habitual and inherent in the culture.  We all occasionally entertain the lazy habit of blaming character rather than environment when it comes to groups of individuals who may not be performing in the way we envision necessary.  However, the following are ways that you can begin to make change easier.

Tweak the Environment.  Did you know that the airline industry has a "sterile cockpit" rule that applies to any commercial plane flying below 10,000 feet?  Apparently, the most accident-prone time is while a flight is either ascending or descending.  Conversations that are not flight-related are not permitted at this time.

Similarly, the authors describe an IT group that had been unsuccessfully grappling with continually taking far too long in developing new products.  They set out to reduce new product development from three years to eight months. They decided to adopt the sterile cockpit rule for new projects, establishing "quiet hours" on Tuesday, Thursday and Friday mornings, before noon.  Making this simple tweak of the environment provided coders ample time to concentrate on complex bits of code without being interrupted, which turned out was the major culprit to slowing progress.  Ultimately, the group achieved a nine-month development cycle.  Not too shabby for a simple fix.  This result reinforces the idea that what can appear as a people problem, is often a situational challenge.  We all have a tendency to minimize, or ignore all together, the fact that situational forces can greatly influence and shape peoples' behavior.  And often, just simple tweaks of the path can produce dramatic behavioral changes that we wouldn't otherwise expect.

Build Habits.  When one has a habit, one has a sort of behavioral auto-pilot.  Habits allow behavior to happen without taxing the rider or the elephant...Both are simply doing what they always do.  Once habits are built, little energy is expended.  There are several examples in the book that address companies helping their people develop habits.  Your office/company can either help reinforce or deter successful habits.  Paying attention to your power to do so, is vital.

To change anything, you must build habits.  One way to help build habits is to set up "action triggers."  Action triggers are behaviors that are always followed by the habit you want to build.  For example, every Monday, Wednesday and Friday for the past 25 years, I have gone to the gym to work out.  This is such a strong habit that I don't ever even consider placing something else in that time slot.  These specific days/times of the week pre-load a decision to work out, and therefore prevent the Rider from scheduling over them.  Setting up action triggers have been proven to TRIPLE the chance of successful goal completion.

So, while helping build your agents' business plan, ask them to specify exactly when they will perform each activity.  Don't take a given time for granted...Instead ask, "After what activity will you do this?  After brushing your teeth?  After dropping off your children at school?"  Etc.  The authors offer several great examples of how you, as a leader, can help others to create habits and even "instant habits" through action triggers.

The authors then spend considerable time discussing the MAGIC, underrated, and sometimes despised tool...The Checklist!

Bear with me, and read further... This simple tool can make or break your company's success.  Dr. Peter Pronovost of Johns Hopkins, was fed up with the finacial waste and human loss attributed to preventable line infections occurring in the Intensive Care Unit (ICU).  So, he finally resorted to demanding that all staff take the time to check off a simple checklist of routine, required tasks.  It was a five-part checklist, containing items like, (1) Wash hands, (2) Clean skin with antiseptic, and so on... No new activities were added, rather, the expected routine was simply itemized out.

Eighteen months after the checklist was put into place by Johns Hopkins and some Michigan hospitals, $175 million dollars and 1500 lives had been saved.  "Check lists are insurance against over confidence."  I love that sentence.  Print it out in bold letters and paste to your office door.  If you think a checklist is for boring, menial jobs, then try your luck flying a 747.  I can tell you, first hand, that the majority of recruiting efforts put forth by most real estate companies, involve completely flying by the seat of their pants.  They not only don't have a checklist, but wouldn't know what items to place on their checklist if they were asked to create one.  If you are a client of ours, then you know that we have built-in checklists (literally thousands daily - between our clients and us) that ensure that the best sourcing and the best recruiting can be accomplished.

The last way to change the clear the path is to Rally the Herd.  There is no scientific fact more etched in granite than peoples' tendency to follow the lead of people in their immediate environment.  This is another reason to make sure you churn out agents who stand around the water cooler too much and never produce.  If 90% of your agents are working, most of the others will follow their lead.  Find ways to instill a sense that "this is the way we do it here" and ensure that it's in fact done that way.  Lead an Elephant on an unfamiliar path, and it's likely to follow the herd...

The authors acknowledge that change isn't always easy.  But the evidence suggests that when change works, it tends to follow a predictable pattern.  Visit the authors at  http://www.heathbrothers.com.

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Editor's Note: This article was written by Dr. David Mashburn. Dave is a Clinical and Consulting Psychologist, a Partner at Tidemark, Inc. and a regular contributor to WorkPuzzle. Comments or questions are welcome. If you're an email subscriber, reply to this WorkPuzzle email. If you read the blog directly from the web, you can click the "comments" link below.

How to Create Change: Part 2

In the first edition of this series, I introduced you to a well-constructed book by the Heath brothers entitled, "Switch: How To Change Things When Change Is Hard."

The authors consolidate a lot of information about the major elements of change, including how to create change, in their very concise, easy to read book.  The brothers liberally borrow their basic analogy around the elements of change from Psychologist and Researcher, Dr. Jonathan Haidt.  They explain that change involves two parts of the whole person that we are all familiar with....a person's emotional side, as well as their brain's rational side.  
 
As I mentioned before, to create change, you must impact both sides.  The overpowering emotional side is identified as the "Elephant," and the rational, decision-making component sits atop the Elephant as the "Rider."  When conflict arises between the two, the Rider is easily the underdog (I addressed "the Rider" in last week's edition).
 
Research tells us that in order to achieve lasting change, the Elephant and Rider need to unite.  Lastly, you must provide a clear PATH.  In this edition I'll provide for you some examples of motivating the elephant.

MOTIVATING THE ELEPHANT -- The following are techniques that can help you tap into a person's emotional side (Elephant), which can spark actions that will lead to lasting change.

Find the Feeling.  Most of you can relate to the necessity of "feeling" the need to change in order to provide the rocket fuel and begin the necessary work to actually make the change happen.  I can personally remember, while in graduate school class, a guest lecturer spontaneously changing his topic from whatever practical, cerebral lesson he was sent there to instruct...to telling my class: "What you're learning here is less important than how badly you want to be good at what you do."  He continued, "And furthermore, how good you are, will determine EVERYTHING... Your reputation, where you work, how much you make, your options in life, and most importantly, the satisfaction you will gain from a life well-lived."  I can vividly remember him stating that, "Mediocrity will get you nowhere."  After hearing this, I took a long walk and introspected more deeply than I had in a long time.  Those words motivated the Elephant in me, and gave the Rider (my brain) the energy needed to alter my behavior (not only "getting through" school but excelling) and sustain my tenacity for a long time.  It's not that the pure content lectures were unimportant, but this one altered something deep and enduring inside me. 

Shrink the Change.  In the book, the authors speak of a car wash that ran a promotion using loyalty cards.  They tested two variations of customer cards to see which worked the best.  One card was an 8-stamp card, earning a free car wash when the card is filled.  Another card was a 10-stamp card, but already had 2 stamps completed, advancing them 20% toward their goal, but, in reality had the same amount required.  Several months later, only 19% of the customers given the empty 8 stamp card had received a free car wash, in contrast to 34% of the head-start group.  The authors state that this type of behavior is found in multiple studies.  In other words, people find it more motivating to be partially finished with a long-term goal than to be at the starting gate of a shorter one. How could you motivate your agents or managers to achieve a long-term goal by highlighting what's already been accomplished toward its completion?  To motivate an uninspired Elephant, shrink the change.

Grow Your People.  Change is very difficult if people believe that they can't change, or that they don't have any influence.  In past blog editions, I've written about the "Growth Mindset," an empirically verified set of facts that will determine the percentage of people who will thrive in your organization.  The Heath brothers list several examples to further the power of believing that people can grow and change.  Here's just one example: 
 
In 1977 the St. Lucia parrot faced extinction.  Despite laws and several "carrot and stick" attempts to change the fact that Island natives undervalued the bird, nothing changed.  Some even continued to eat the bird as a delicacy, while others turned their backs.  All analytical cases for protecting the bird had failed.  So instead, the government implemented an emotional appeal.  To do this they set out to convince St. Lucians that they were the kind of people who protected their own (there is much research confirming that people will live up to a collective belief system about "who" they are).  They did this by making the public assumption that St. Lucians swell with pride over their exclusive Island parrot.  The Parrot Campaign included T-shirts, bumper stickers and locally recorded songs about the Island's pride around their parrot.  In fact, the bird became part of the natives' national identity and it was constantly being compared to other "uglier" national birds, including our own Bald Eagle.  Stories published in 2008 noted that St. Lucians had not been caught shooting the parrot for the past fifteen years, resurrecting the species from extinction.

How can you find the feeling, shrink the change, and grow your people to accomplish the "impossible?"
I am very excited for the next edition...the final piece of change -- Clarifying the Path.

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Editor's Note: This article was written by Dr. David Mashburn. Dave is a Clinical and Consulting Psychologist, a Partner at Tidemark, Inc. and a regular contributor to WorkPuzzle. Comments or questions are welcome. If you're an email subscriber, reply to this WorkPuzzle email. If you read the blog directly from the web, you can click the "comments" link below.

How to Create Change

How many times have you thrown up your hands, as a manager, parent, or business owner, and said "I give up.. I've tried everything and there is no way I can change this culture... or this pattern of behaviors?"  We have all, at some point, hit major road blocks in our quest to find ways to implement lasting change.

As a practicing Clinical Psychologist, I could point you to a large library of books about how to create change, written in thickly worded scientific language...but rarely have I seen a book written in layman's language that breaks down the process and elements of change effectively.

I am nearing the end of a such a book.  This well-constructed read by the Heath brothers is titled, "Switch: How To Change Things When Change Is Hard."  It's one of those books I wish I had thought of writing (although I wouldn't have done nearly as good a job). 

What they do, and do well, is manage to break down much of the information about the major elements of change, including how to create change, all presented in a concise book that's a joy to read.  The brothers liberally borrow their basic analogy regarding the elements of change from Psychologist and researcher, Dr. Jonathan Haidt.  The premise is that change involves two parts of the whole person that we are all familiar with -- A person's emotional side, as well as their rational side ("the brain").

And to create change you must impact both.  The overpowering emotional side is identified as the "Elephant" and the rational, decision-making component sits atop the Elephant as the "Rider."  When conflict arises between the two, the Rider is easily the underdog.  Research tells us that in order to make lasting change, the Elephant and Rider need to unite.

The last element is "The Path," or a VERY clear direction.

Over the next three editions, I'll share with you examples of appropriate uses of the following options:

   1. Directing the Rider - Analytical, Rational thinking 
   2. Motivating the Elephant - Appealing to Emotion and instinct
   3. Shaping the Path - Providing clear Direction

1. Direct the Rider:

Finding the Bright Spots.  In 1990, an international organization that helps needy children accepted a Vietnamese government invitation to decrease malnutrition.  They were given only six months to make a difference.  This short timeline made it impossible to end poverty, to purify water, or to build a sanitation system to address starvation.  They had to find a simpler solution and find it fast.  Most of us would waste precious time focusing on looking at, and even trying to magnify the problem.  This organization didn't.  Instead they traveled to a rural village and met with mothers whose children were thriving.  They were obsessed with finding the "Bright Spots."  Despite widespread malnutrition, they found them.  They discovered that "bright spot" moms fed their children four times a day (easier on kids' digestive systems), vs. the standard two meals.  Another finding was that bright spot moms added shrimp and crab from the rice paddies into their kids' meals.  Cooking classes where bright spot moms taught other mothers how to prepare healthy meals for their children ensued.  The mothers already had the emotional motivation (Elephant) in the form of their natural concern for their kids.  They needed direction (The Rider needed a Path), not motivation.  Six months later, 65 percent of the village kids were better nourished and stayed that way.

How often have you set out to find exactly what your best agents and managers do right...not just generally, but as specifically as possible?  How do they organize their days?  How many calls and emails do they make and to whom do they make them?  Figure out the detailed formula utilized by the best of the best, and then deduce the common denominators.

Point to the Destination.  In the mid 1980s, a major investment firm's research department ranked an embarrassing fifteenth among their banking clients.  This coincided with the hiring of a new GM, labeled "The Company Coach."  After discovering that the analysts of the company had become isolated from clients and each other, holding onto knowledge rather than sharing information and credit, he set the expectation for all analysts to initiate at least 125 client conversations per month.  In addition, he required analysts to cite colleagues' work at least twice during presentations, thus promoting a team environment.  He told everyone that he expected the firm to be among the premiere investment magazine's top five.  He directed the rider by laying out clear expectations (make 125 calls and cite colleagues work), and he also painted the destination.  In three years, the firm went from fifteenth to first place.

We have several clients who have done something similar to the above examples with regard to addressing goals around recruiting expectations.  Is it possible for you to be even more enticing with a clearer, more compelling goal?  Can you be precise about your exact expectations?  Instead of saying, "Make more recruiting calls,"...say, "Make X number of calls and X number of appointments per week."

 In the next edition, I'll discuss ideas around Motivating the Elephant.

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Editor's Note: This article was written by Dr. David Mashburn. Dave is a Clinical and Consulting Psychologist, a Partner at Tidemark, Inc. and a regular contributor to WorkPuzzle. Comments or questions are welcome. If you're an email subscriber, reply to this WorkPuzzle email. If you read the blog directly from the web, you can click the "comments" link below.