Sparkenation: a spark that ignites passion that leads to action that changes what's normal.
Download draft 11 and learn more about the book.
Sparkenation 4 Consciousness (part of the section on self-leadership)
In a nutshell
A defining moment occurred in my life as I left hospital following a life-saving operation over 40 years ago. I share my experience via a short video (‘Don’t die with your music locked in you’) at the companion resources web page.
I was to go on and discover that the number one skill of leadership is self-awareness. And the number two skill is awareness of others.
A key to both is unlocking our music i.e. our unique gifts and talents and helping other people to be and do the same.
The five faces (spiritually alive, emotionally healthy, mentally alert, physically active and universally aware) overviewed there are one way to establish that your own and/or someone else’s music is unlocked. I’ll suggest a few more ways in the recommended actions and deep work section of this sparkenation.
Self-awareness and Awareness of others is a pre-curser to genuine empathy which in turn precedes helping others to achieve what’s valued by them as referenced in the Zig Ziglar quote at the bottom of page 16.
The key consequence of ESI (enlightened self-interest) is that you will achieve what you value.
3 recommended actions
Meet with your team to discuss the insights below and to answer the questions.
What Employees Really Want From Employers
(from my research over the past two decades)
Appreciation. The eminent psychologist William James observed: “The deepest craving of human nature is the need to be appreciated.”
To be held to account via regular, constructive performance feedforward and feedback
Autonomy
Opportunity to master something
Role satisfaction
A feeling that their work contributes to a higher purpose
Knowing that their work is helping them to achieve their aspirations
Open, regular, truthful, information gathering and sharing
Remuneration perceived to be at least equal to effort
Trust and trustworthiness
Happy and healthy working environment
Fairness in all dealings
Flexibility
Hope for the future
How well are you providing your employees with the above?
How can you do better?
Would you add anything to my list?
What Employees Really Want From Each Other
(from my research over the past two decades)
Goal and strategy alignment
Promises kept
Open communication
Understanding of personal needs
Trust, trustworthiness, and confidence
Appreciation, support and encouragement
Authenticity
Sense of family
Acceptance of the merit of ideas
Mutual respect
How well are your employees providing each other with the above?
How can your employees do better?
Would your employees add anything to my list?
What customers/clients really want
Geoffrey James has sold and written hundreds of features, articles and columns for many publications including Wired, Men's Health, Business 2.0, SellingPower, Brand World, Computer Gaming World, CIO, The New York Times.
Geoffrey believes all customers want the same 12 things, regardless of who they are, who is selling to them or what they’re buying.
In my work over the past 25 years I would concur with every one of these.
They want to feel important.
They want to be appreciated.
They want you to stop talking about yourself.
They want you to stop talking about your firm.
They want you to truly listen.
They want to be understood.
They want to teach YOU something.
They want and need your help.
They want to buy something.
They want you to delight and surprise them.
They want to pretend they make logical decisions.
They want success and happiness.
On a scale of 1 - 10 with 10 being remarkable how well are you delivering on the above 12?
How can you and your employees do better?
Would you add anything to Geoffrey’s list?
2) What modifications will you make to your processes (and/or policies, procedures, practices, and systems) to ensure more stakeholders of your workplace are receiving what they want?
3) In your recruitment what tools do you use to help you to uncover people’s unique music/gifts/talents? How will you do better?
Recommended deep work
1) Seeing people as they can be is the first step to helping people to discover their unique music/gifts/talents.
My ‘You’re Special’ story illustrates how I believe we should see and treat people.
Schedule a session just for the purpose of watching the video of this story at the companion resources web page and answer the following questions:
Share with your team what you feel is special about you and What you love to do that you are good at?
Ask each member of your team to share as you did.
Have a candid, convivial and compassionate conversation about how much you are all doing what you love to do, and that they are good at. How could you increase this?
What processes (and policies, procedures, practices, and systems) would you need to have in place in your workplace to ensure that you and all of your people are continually enhancing what you love to do and are good at?
2) Pay careful attention to defining moments in your life and in the lives of other people.
Defining moments are those times that make or break a situation or sustain the status quo.
From defining moments emerge stories, those we share and those we tell ourselves.
Know the stories you are telling yourself and that other people are telling themselves. To improve performance change your stories and help other people to change theirs.
There’s a back story to everything. When something happens we all play a story or stories we made up and act them out as part of our response/reaction to situations.
Sharing stories and helping each other to change the stories we tell ourselves are not just a key to music/gift/talents enhancement they are also key to developing high value and mutually rewarding relationships because trust is an outcome.
There’s more on music/gifts/talents in the next Sparkenation.
Do Your Work.
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