WorkPuzzle

Why Optimism Matters - Part 2: Optimism and Sport...What it Means for You

On Friday, we took a look at the toll that Optimism (or lack thereof) takes on health.  For those of you who want to apply this to business, the research on Optimism and Sports may be a better transfer of principles:

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"Sports enthusiasts at every level are intuitively aware that the ‘mental’ part of performance can be just as important as the physical.  Gymnastics is often said to be 90% mental and 10% physical.  Other sports see ‘intangible’ factors, such as confidence and a ‘cool’ head under pressure, make up more than 50% of success.

Many will talk about ‘being in the zone’ when they perform at their peak.  Olympic 100- metre gold medalist Linford Christie described his focus on the starting line as being like looking down a long, straight tune.  His ability to blank out other competitors, the roar of the crowd, the flashbulbs, gave him those extra centimeters over his rivals.

In sport, psychology matters – and at every level.  If you go onto the squash court telling yourself that you’ve never beaten Joe before and that you’re not going to beat him today, then the result is very predictable.

Optimism boosts sporting performance, both at team and individual levels.  Research into baseball and basketball teams in the USA revealed that teams have their own explanatory styles.  The explanatory style used by teams after a defeat or when under pressure in the last few minutes of a game will determine future performance, regardless of the quality of the team.  Those who are optimistic in the face of defeat are more likely to be successful in their next game; those who explain setbacks negatively will perform more poorly.  Research into swimmers revealed that the same trend holds for individual athletes.  Quite simply, when under pressure optimistic sportsmen and women try harder – and they recover from defeat more quickly.

After conducting detail study of sports teams and on individual swimmers, Martin Seligman included a list of 'What Every Coach Should Know' in Learned Optimism: _

• Optimism is not something you can know intuitively.  The ASQ (an optimism test developed by Seligman’s team) measures something you can't.  It predicts success beyond experienced coaches' judgments and handicappers' expertise.

• Optimism tells you when to use certain players rather than others.  Consider a crucial relay race.  You have a fast athlete, but he's a pessimist who lost his last individual race.  Substitute.  Use pessimists only after they have done well.
• Optimism tells you who to select and recruit.  If two prospects are close in raw talent, recruit the optimist.  He'll do better in the long run.
• You can train your pessimists to become optimists."

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If you're interested, you and your team can go to http://www.authentichappiness.sas.upenn.edu/Default.aspx and take the Optimism Test to see where you rank.  But keep in mind...your entire team can’t be optimists.  Decisions would be far too impulsive. 

Why Optimism Matters

Over the course of the last 23 years of Consulting and providing Psychotherapy Services to countless individuals, I can tell you that the role of Optimism is a concept that is greatly misunderstood. 

It seems that there are two extremes when it comes to Optimism:  One extreme people experience is a Fear of Hope, usually due to having been burned several times previously, where feelings were severely hurt and all hope was shattered.  The other extreme is Endless, (and somewhat) Baseless Hope -  Hope built on nothing but hope alone (In other words, optimism without substance and hard work).

In following the research on Optimism, I found this great summary article called "Why Optimism Matters" that is helpful in realizing the impact that Optimism can have on every aspect of our lives, including business: 

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"More than 100 studies have been conducted to measure the impact of optimism and pessimism on people's lives.

One of the key factors is that pessimism can be very insidious, pervading all parts of people’s lives, causing them to lose heart and to give up. Research shows that people who have a pessimistic explanatory style are:

• more susceptible to depression when things go wrong 

• more likely to underachieve 

• prone to passivity or helplessness when confronted with a stressful situation, such as a new job or leaving home for university 

• liable to under-perform at sport when faced with stress or defeat on the field of play 

• more likely to die from a heart attack following an initial coronary event, compared with people who have an optimistic explanatory style.

One of the reasons why optimists tend to be healthier than pessimists is that depression weakens certain hormones in the brain, sparking off a chain reaction that suppresses the immune system.

Optimists also pay more attention than pessimists to information that will help them reduce health risks.  A study by Dr Lisa Aspinwall, associate professor at the University of Utah, found that when subjects were given information about cancer and serious health issues, optimists spent more time than pessimists reading the severe risk material and they remembered more of it. It is because they are optimistic that they are prepared to bite the bullet and spend time attending to major health risks.

There is a simple explanation for the link between our explanatory style and the things that happen in our lives. Reivich points out that if you are a 50 year old man who smokes, drinks a lot of alcohol, eats a lot of red meat and has had a first coronary episode, then his explanatory style will have a big impact on the outcome. Pessimists will tend to behave passive in the face of this bad news, rather than spurred into action to change their lifestyle and improve their health.

'The doctor says "you need to quit smoking, quit drinking and change your diet". As a pessimist, you'll most likely say to yourself something like "it’s in my genes, my father died of a heart attack, his father died of a heart attack, I’m just destined for this".  And if that’s your belief then that’s going to dictate your behavior, and you’re going to be less likely to follow doctor’s orders.  So there’s nothing magical about the pathway through which explanatory style leads to real world outcome, explanatory style drives behaviour – and behaviour is what leads to outcomes.' 

'These are people,' says Aspinwall, 'who aren’t sitting around wishing things were different. They believe in a better outcome, and that whatever measures they take will help them to heal.'

Research led by Dr Mika Kivimaki in Finland concluded that optimism may reduce the risk of health problems and actually help a person recover after experiencing a serious life-changing event, such as death of a spouse or child. Following a major life crisis, pessimists tend to take more time off work than optimists. 

'Pessimists frequently distance themselves from emotional events and this coping strategy may be less effective than using active problem-focused coping immediately after an uncontrollable severe event such as death of a family member', said Kivimaki.

Pessimistic people face the real risk of giving up in the face of adversity, of passively accepting that they were born to draw the short straw in life. But we don’t need to live like this. When bad things happen we should take action by striving to find the explanations and thought patterns that give us hope, instead of the 'This happpens to me' 'all the time', 'no matter what'.

For some people it could mean the difference between life and death."

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On Monday, I'll share some examples and analogies within the sports arena that you can relate to your team and business competition practices.

Coaching From the Back of a Bass Boat

Over the weekend, I had the pleasure of flying to Nashville with one of my sons for a fishing trip.  My brother lives about an hour’s drive north of Nashville and invited us to camp and fish with him and a friend in the Peabody Wildlife Management Area (PWMA).  The PWMA is a 60,000 acre preserve that was reclaimed after this area was strip-mined for coal in the '50s and '60s.

This trip signifies a change in the role that I have in my son’s life.  In our family, we believe that childhood can be broken into three phases:  The focus of the first phase (0-6) is keeping the child alive (two-year olds have a propensity for doing things that could result in death) and teaching them to respect authority.  The second phase (7-14) is focused on character development.  And in the third phase (15-21) the focus is on coaching the child as they “practice” real life.

For each of my kids, I plan a fun trip as they enter the third phase of their childhood.  During the trip, I talk with them about how my role is going to change to that of a coach.  It’s their job to step-up and start to use the things that they’ve been given and conceptualize a life of their own.  These have been some of the best experiences in my life.  Work is important, but to see the same principles and concepts apply to life as a whole brings a deep level of satisfaction.
 
For those of you who love fishing, I’ll throw in a few details about the trip itself.  The PMWA lakes (there are hundreds of them) contain largemouth bass, bluegill, catfish, and other warm water species.  During the two days of fishing, we caught more than 50 bass and large bluegills (1st picure).
 
In timing the trip, we attempt to fish right after the female bass finish spawning.  The female bass are larger than the males, and they don’t eat while they are spawning.  So, right after they finish spawning, they’re particularly hungry which makes the chances of catching a big fish much better.  Because it was a cool spring in this part of Kentucky, we missed this ideal timing by a week or so.

I did this same trip two years ago with my oldest son and we hit the spawning window perfectly.  During that trip, he caught an 11-pound bass from one of the PMWA lakes (2nd picture).  If you click on his picture, you'll get an enlarged version.  Don't you think HotJobs should have paid us a royality for wearing that hat?  

Basic Rules For Managing People

I like rules that make sense... Rules that have a purpose... Rules that are intended to make us more productive people.  Although I've touched on it previously, I'd like to revisit the topic of rules that govern human behavior.  Just yesterday I referenced the below material in responding to a client's question.  Clearly, it continues to provide relevant insight for all of us.

Recruiting, coaching and work performance are governed by the rules of human behavior.  The rules aren’t always as ironclad as the rules of the physical universe, but they are fairly predictable.  While it may seem complicated, our job is to boil these principles down to rules that you can remember and practice on a daily basis.

Over the next few weeks, I will list and describe some of the rules regarding human behavior, and then dive into each of these rules in more detail in the months ahead.  I hope you follow along for the ride.

 

Rule #1:  The Rule of Relationship Credibility

Whether you’re recruiting new talent, coaching a team of high performers, or teaching others to recruit clients, you must understand the concept of relationship credibility.  Ask yourself this question:

“Can I generally figure out when someone is exploiting me for their own purposes?”

I think most of us have a good barometer for detecting when this is the case.  Likewise, those with whom you’re attempting to build a relationship can likely figure this out too.

If you want to draw in the very best talent, and draw out the most from them, then you need to understand what these individuals require from you.  Talented people want to have relationships, be understood, and be associated with people who are credible.

How is credibility built?  It is partially built through "process" and partially built through "substance."

The definition of "process" is "a series of actions directed toward a specific aim."  Consistent and thoughtful follow-up on your part, shows that you are dependable.  A well-conceived plan demonstrates integrity in your thoughts.  If those around you perceive that you only make contact when you want something, you will not be perceived as credible.  Executing and clearly communicating a process will prevent this from happening.

While process is important, substance is even more important.  "Substance" is defined as "real or practical value or importance."  The substance in any relationship is most easily developed by learning about the other person’s story.  This is vital for managers because it gives both you and your (prospective) employee the opportunity to assess whether you are a good fit for each other, and whether joining your team fits into his/her life story.  Genuine interest in the lives of your employees fosters the development of substance in your work relationship with them, thus fostering your credibility.

Here’s what you need to know:  What drives this person?  What are their ultimate goals?  How does doing what they’re doing now fit into this goal?  How does it fit into their financial, family and retirement objectives?  How does it fit into their charitable affiliations?  How does it fit into their personal development?  The answers to these questions will illuminate the foundation of their life story.

If a person feels that you are genuinely interested in them, he/she wants to be asked these questions.  Having this exchange will give you the most valuable tool known to managers: relationship credibility.

With relationship credibility, you can begin to integrate every conversation regarding business plans, sales objectives, and talent development into a person’s big picture.  This will be experienced as authentic, natural, and mutually beneficial.

Defining Happiness - Part 3: Coaching for Happiness and Confidence

The most popular WorkPuzzle blog to date is titled “Coaching for Confidence.”  In order to achieve a state of true confidence, you need to have worked hard at developing a talent or set of skills.  This development never comes easily and is always built with consistent and copious amounts of time and effort.

If you’ve read WorkPuzzle the last couple days (Part 1, Part 2), you know that science says the same thing about happiness.  Happiness, or a life with abiding and deep satisfaction, takes work.

For coaches, parents, and managers, this is invaluable information.  Only with this information firmly planted into your frontal lobe, can you know how to begin answering questions and fielding complaints regarding frustration, failure, roadblocks, and anxiety.

Let me give you some examples of what science says about happiness and confidence, and then tell you how to apply it:

1. Success and happiness never come solely from “the pleasant life.”  The pleasant life is defined as:  A life dedicated to maximizing the amount of pleasurable experiences in both frequency and duration.  People who value this goal above all others, exhibit more depression and anxiety, and are more likely to report feelings of “emptiness.”  (Martin Seligman, "Learned Optimism")

2. People report much greater well-being when working.  They feel stronger, more creative, satisfied, and good about themselves when they are at work.  Studies show that while at leisure, people fall into the range known as “apathy.”  They feel passive, weak, dull, and dissatisfied.

There is one more surprising finding here:  The above respondents, despite their “greater well-being”, ironically reported that they’d rather be somewhere else than at work.  The reason for this is that our culture has gradually created some very strong stereotypes about work, such as:  Work is an imposition, a constraint, an infringement of their freedom, and therefore something to be avoided.  (Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi “Flow:  Psychology of Optimal Experience”)

So, as a coach, when someone complains to you about how difficult it is to achieve what they want to achieve, and they insist that it should be easier – Remind them that everyone would be happy, confident, and successful if fulfillment was easily achieved.  Assign them the task of asking the happiest, most confident, successful people they know, how they got there.

I guarantee that the answer would be a long list of trials, failures, starts and stops, and difficulty.  Welcome to the life of a happy person!

Ralph Marston said it this way:

“If it were quick and easy you would have already done it.  The fact that it is difficult and time-consuming means you’re doing something truly worthwhile.  The value of any achievement is built with the time and effort you put into it.  Keep going, keep building, keep at it and you’ll truly have something of great value.  It is often difficult to stay positively focused.  And it is always worth the trouble.  Sure, it would be much easier to do nothing.  Yet by doing nothing, you create nothing.  Instead, step forward and do the difficult work that must be done.  With each effort, you are adding more value and substance to the achievement.  Feel the satisfaction as you continue the difficult and rewarding work of building that achievement.  Know that the value has already started coming to life.”

Defining Happiness - Part 2: Coaching

Ben's article opens the door to possibly an entire series of articles.  You see, if we don't understand both the causes and the impact of happiness, we really can't have any influence over anyone.  We must appeal to what really makes people happy to engage them on any meaningful level.

All science around human flourishing can be summed up in one sentence: "It turns out that we are very poor predictors of what makes us happy."  (Seligman, Csikszentmihalyi, and Diener all say in separate writings)

Why are we such poor predictors of what makes us happy?  Basically, it's because we get sidetracked by the ever increasing availability and temptation of short-cuts and instant gratification.  Additionally, volumes of evidence suggests that for the last 60 years we have been told (from teachers, parents, media, friends, and public policy) that happiness is attained by those who increase their pleasurable experiences in both frequency and duration. 

Science, however, tells a different story...  Research shows that this mentality (the belief that we need to do more fun things in life to be happy) leads to an increase in societal and personal depression and anxiety.

Science has found that...ouch, here comes the bad news.. happiness takes work!  It takes character development, delayed gratification, engagement in ones work, strong marriage (this has the highest correlation to happiness), playing an active role in developing ones children, and having goals that are built upon deep beliefs and purpose.

Increasing happiness in ourselves and in others undoubtedly takes work.  But, if your responsibilities include coaching others, the knowledge is invaluable.  You can begin to ask:

1. Are you happy?
2. Let's figure out why or why not? (If I can't help your overall happiness quotient, what's keeping you from moving to another office?
3. What do you believe will make you happy here?
4. How are your goals in this job related to your overall goals in life? 

Side Note:  If the person only focuses on the financial picture, ask them:  How does this fit into your goals for your family, community, or faith?  If your approach strikes them as new and different, let them know that you are dedicated to helping them see the whole picture.  You want them to work hard, but it has to be toward something with more meaning than money (...although this is certainly part of the picture and not at all bad in itself!).

Here is an example of a work-related goal you may elicit:  "I want to be good at what I do, and service my clients better than they have ever been serviced..."  Now that's a goal!  But, again, it takes hard work.  When they succeed, they'll feel deeply satisfied and very grateful to you. 

It will take time, planning, execution, and effort, because remember...there are no shortcuts to happiness!

Coaching for Focus, Attention, and Success

Yesterday, I described the neuroscience regarding the importance of maintaining focus.  Brain research confirms that we can shape how our brains operate and perform by training them to focus intently on the desired end-result.  To do this with the most positive results, we must help the brain stop doing what its oldest parts are trying to do-- keep us alive!

You see, above all else, the brain's primary purpose is to keep us from dying.  How?  The brain does this by focusing on what can go wrong; by focusing on the dangers; by focusing on the obstacles; by focusing on the negative.  This is the brain's default position.

But, unlike other animals, we have this enormous cerebral cortex that surrounds the oldest part of the brain (the lymbic system).  If we always give in to the danger signals that the lymbic system is sending out, we'd rarely take chances, innovate, face rejection, or progress in our development.

Here's an example of how performance can be enhanced by training the brain to filter out obstacles and focus on the goal at hand:

I've been mountain biking for the past 14 years.  I'm by no means an expert, but I get by...  The first thing anyone learns in mountain biking technique 101, is that your bike will go where your eyes are looking.  If your eyes are looking at a tree, you'll hit the tree.  If you're looking at a rock, you'll hit the rock.

Now, your brain actually wants to look at the rock... it's literally screaming at you.. "There's a rock you idiot!  You'd better look at it...and while your at it slow down for crying out loud!" 

There are some people who will never progress in single track mountain biking because they can't train their minds to not look at the rock.  The people who become proficient bikers, are able to train their brain, over time, to focus ahead, around the upcoming curve, toward the open trail...to where they really want to go. 

This task takes discipline and repetition.  Soon your brain has realized, "I am not only staying alive by looking beyond the trees and rocks, I'm having pleasure and success by doing it this way!"

I've heard this same principle applies to race car driving.  At those speeds, you can't look at the wall.  If you do, your dead!

Success for you and those you manage is no different.  If your team is constantly looking at the obstacles, you'll inevitably hit them, head-on.  Likewise, if you're constantly looking at the "bad market," you'll be dragged down by it. 

Success comes to those who can train their team (self included) to look toward the vision, the goals, and the opportunities.  A culture built on this mind-set, is one that will survive and thrive, while the "others" out there will continue to hit trees...  

Coaching to Remember Greatness

"It's a strange, strange time we're living in right now, where we've lowered our standards, in general, and we've gotten used to living with mediocrity.  And it bothers me.  Maybe you gotta be as old as I am to remember it, but growing up in the '60s, standards were set very, very high.  If I do nothing else, I want to remind people what greatness sounds like."

The words above were uttered by Steve Van Zandt, long time guitarist for Bruce Springsteen's "E  Street Band" and founder and host of "Little Steven's Underground Garage Show." 

Although Steve is comparing the music of today with the music of the 60's and 70's, we can all relate to times when mediocrity is present among us. 

Think back to the times in your life when you've achieved tremendous success....those moments when you've realized, "I have the capacity and the will to do something great."  This isn't a conceited or narcissistic statement.  It's a window into a chance to shine and contribute in a way that's at your highest potential.

If you've had any access to the media over the last few weeks, you've certainly witnessed Susan Boyle's phenomenal performance on "Britain's got Talant."

Why is it that the world loves this story?  Why have millions of people searched YouTube to see it?  A client of mine put it this way:

"Because we all like being reminded that we have that greatness within."

If you mentor, manage or coach people in any way, it's your first priority to find a way to help them realize their potential.  Remind them that they are capable of greatness.  Many will resist the idea, and some will never uncover their hidden capacity for greatness.  But, it's there....in all of us, just waiting to be tapped.

Let this message serve as a reminder to never become complacent at drawing greatness out in others, and out of yourself.  For those of you who are adept at identifying greatness... I'll see you at the next Bruce concert! 

We Have Some Lazy Managers!

I can't tell you how many times I have heard this statement over the years!  I just Googled "Lazy Managers" and came up with four full pages of content.  What do we make of this trend?

If it is indeed a trend, then there is something seriously wrong with how the jobs of managers are managed.  It is highly unlikely that all of these people get away with being lazy up until the day they are promoted into management. 

I presume that most people who claim "Some of my managers are lazy" probably really mean that, "They are not motivated to do what I have asked them to do."  If we were to go one step further, it means, "We don't share the same priorities."  Another step... "We don't agree on strategy."

If you agree with the latter explanation for those we perceive to be "lazy managers," you can help your organization begin working toward a solution.  Specifically, this entails working collectively to establish priorities and develop a strategy that is aligned with your company's goals. 

Below is one example of a difference in priority with regard to recruiting.  You will see how differing beliefs can quickly spiral into poor business decisions from both ends - managers and those to whom they report. 

As most of you know, we at Tidemark have worked very hard at solving some of the problems that plague most recruiting strategies.  We strive to provide a consistent, scalable system to attract, follow-up, and recruit high caliber new agents.  We've built a non-gimmicky system that simply works. This is an outsourced system - We source the candidates and deliver high numbers consistently.

One of the obstacles we face is the belief among Owners or GM's that having sourcing, appointment setting, and follow-up provided for managers, will make them "lazy."  To me, this is like saying that letting your college student use the internet for research, will make them lazy.

You can quickly see that the real problem is not laziness, but a difference in agreed upon priority, and perhaps fuzzy strategy. If managers don't really buy into their priority of recruiting new agents, they won't do it- no matter what.

Those who do view recruiting as a priority and central to their strategy, will use Tidemark's HiringCenter to augment what they're already doing (not replace), thus gaining a competitive advantage.  We clearly see differences in recruiting priority in the numbers that are generated by our clients, including differences between offices.

So, it really comes down to agreeing upon priorities, which begins with agreeing on strategy.  Tomorrow, I will discuss the advantages of having a clear recruiting strategy...

Are You Networking or "Not-Working?" - Part 2

Yesterday, our discussion focused on how social networking tools, such as LinkedIn, can hinder the development of a true network.  While these tools are not inherently counterproductive, they often provide limited assistance in equipping a person to do the “real work” necessary to build relationships.

In Peter Weddle’s discussion of the topic (see yesterday’s discussion for more background), he states:

“Now, if you've ever been in a relationship, you know two things about them.  First, you quickly learn that they are hard work.  That's why the word is spelled the way it is:  it's netWORK, not net-get-around-to-it-whenever-you-feel-like-it.  And second, you come to appreciate that relationships take time to develop.  They don't happen with the click of a mouse, whether you're on LinkedIn or Facebook or any other social or professional "networking" site.

You see, the Golden Rule of Networking is that you have to give as good as you get.  It's fundamentally an exchange of information, ideas, and/or assistance from which both parties derive value.  That mutual allocation of benefit establishes familiarity and trust, and those two factors are the twin pillars of a relationship.  When networking is working, that's what creates a relationship.”  

Peter does a great job of boiling down this issue to the most important point:  People who are truly in your network are those in which you have developed familiarity and trust.  Of course, those same people have also developed a common level of familiarity and trust with you.
 
In reality, most people have very small personal and professional networks.  They don’t dedicate the time and maintain the focus necessary to put together something more significant.  For most people, that’s OK.  They don’t have the bandwidth or the strengths to do more.  Most of us would agree that it’s better to have a close group of real friends than 1,000 contacts on LinkedIn.

However, if your job as a Hiring Manager or Recruiter depends upon networking for success, then you do yourself a disservice by focusing on shortcuts that amount to “not-working.”  Here are some ideas that may help you be more effective at networking:

1.  Dedicate a certain amount of time every day to real networking activities.  Unless an activity is scheduled, it seems to get pushed back by urgent matters.  Schedule a time each day to work on building and maintaining your network and stick to it.

2.  Focus on providing something of value to the people around you.  Reread what Peter said above:  “[Networking is] fundamentally an exchange of information, ideas, and/or assistance from which both parties derive value.”   He’s right. 

3.  Say "thank you."  If you’re struggling to find ways to provide something of value to those around you, try simply expressing gratitude.  A personal hand-written note or personal email is a great way to do this.  In the note, let people know you appreciate them, or you’re thankful for something they said, or you’ve heard something positive about them and you’re thankful to have friends with good character like them, etc...
  
4.  Ask for something.  Remember, true network relationships are two-way streets.  If you’re always providing the information, ideas, and assistance, and there is never any feedback from the other person, that’s a red flag.  Occasionally, ask for something and see what happens.  It could be something small, like a recommendation for a restaurant or advice on a problem.  If a person is not even willing to help you with something small, you may need to find some new network contacts.

There are many more ideas out there.  You’re welcome to leave a comment if you have a good idea that you think I’ve missed.  Just don’t suggest that I spend more time building my contacts on LinkedIn!