Posts Tagged ‘deliberate practice’

Deliberate Practice – Emotional Self Regulation

 

 

Here’s your deliberate practice and highlight reel for this week:

Nothing makes me more frustrated than not being able to be connected to my hard drive, to my resources, to not be able to communicate or access my files.

Actually brain scientists have shown us that is exactly what happens to us (can’t connect to our hard drive) when we are overrun with emotions in difficult or frustrating situations.

The highlight reel for this week is from an executive I am coaching.
She called this week and said, “It was great! I had a very difficult, upsetting situation and I noticed that I took a breath and was able to stay calm and maintained my resourcefulness, creativity, and problem solving through the work we are doing.”

 

This deliberate practice is called emotional self control and regulation.  It’s like a muscle you build so that when arrows are flying at your head when you are upset or when a breakdown occurs with your staff, team or customers – you are able to take a deep breath, stay connected to your resources, solve problems, and be creative.  You will be more successful and more satisfied in what you do.

That is your deliberate practice for this week. Practice it. If you have a question about it or need help call me. Get out there and build this muscle!

  • Posted by Coach Pete
  • Thursday, September 22nd, 2011
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Deliberate Practice – Talk to Key Employees

 

Here’s some highlight film from this week working with executives all over the country. I work with a construction company in Texas and they have a deliberate practice of annual performance reviews. They also ask for feedback from employees. A longtime employee made comments about trusting the company that were a bit upsetting. The CEO went out and saw the employee to discuss his feedback. The employee said, “I can’t tell you what a difference this has made to me that you talked to me about it.”  They  talked it through and ironed out the issue.

You know this employee is going to be even more committed, more focused and will produce a higher level of results. CEOs and leaders sometimes are reluctant, they’re busy or they just don’t get out to talk or connect with their key employees – so that is your deliberate practice for this week!

Ask yourself – How often am I connecting with and having heartfelt discussions with some of my key employees?

It will make a big difference and needs to be one of your top deliberate practices. Email me at pete@peakcoach.com and let me know if you have taken the time to connect with your leaders and what kind of results you got.

Rocky had Mickey in his corner. Who do you have?

 

 

I just realized business leadership today is a little bit like a 15 round heavyweight boxing match.  It’s very difficult out there right now in the business world.

I’m a little bit like the guy in the corner with the stool and the bucket as a support for the prizefighter.  Many times coaching is about teaching leaders a new technique, but sometimes it’s just about providing some real time performance feedback and support.

Like the executive teams that participate in our quarterly leadership workout, we might just provide them a safe place to sit down, catch their breath and get a pat on the back.  I might tell them “keep your hands up… keep leading with your left hook and you’re doing great out there.” (About as much as I know about boxing!)

Leadership right now is what my client Eric Scollard calls “hard rock mining.”

So consider this deliberate practice… have someone in your corner who you can go to on a regular basis, if nothing else, to get to sit down, take a break, cool off and get some positive and objective feedback.

It’s tough out there.  Good luck.

What does the World Cup have to do with leadership?

Fresh off the excitement of the USA Soccer World Cup victory in the semi-final match last week, I am feeling like I need to reach out to all of the leaders in the world.  Well, maybe not in the world, but at least in my blog world. 

There is so much to be learned from the Team and the Coaches!  Just like our teams in the boardroom or the office, we simply must work together to achieve our goals.  There cannot be one star on the team to get us where we need to go long term.  Today we saw 11 stars on the field putting their egos, personal biases, and feelings about any coaching decisions aside.  These 11 amazing athletes use some of the same skills we have mentioned in our blogs and bookDeliberate practice, direct feedback, listening, honesty, trust and teamwork, to name a few.  We should follow their lead and try some of them at work.

As a leader, can you imagine coaching these athletes?  They are the best of the best.  They have been doing this for years.  What could you possibly add to their game?  How do you get them to play as one?  So far it appears that their Coach has the answers to these questions.  A commentator mentioned the other day that the Coach changed the style of play from previous coaches.  That was a daring move, but she has different players than they did years ago.  Once she recognized that, she decided to focus more on skill that purely athleticism.  This would be a change for some of the veteran members of the squad.  How the Coaches presented these changes and helped the players adapt can make a big difference to their ultimate success.  She has carefully chosen her starting line-up and substitutions, prepared the team mentally and physically, and then, most importantly, she lets them play the game.  This is an important leadership lesson that we need to be reminded of sometimes.  Coach your employees, don’t boss them!  Give them the tools they need to succeed and offer them feedback as needed.  Many athletes and employees have said that they would do absolutely anything for their Coach or boss because of how that person has inspired and respected them. 

Would your “team” say that about you?  Our book, Coach to Win the Leadership Game, has a clear, step by step strategy to help you be the coaching leader your team deserves!

First deliberate practice of the day – meditation

There’s no doubt most participants in our executive coaching and business coaching programs are feeling incredibly challenged to keep up with all that’s coming at them.  They have hundreds of e-mails each day, new competitive and economic threats, and the ever joyful demands of keeping employees happy, focused and productive!  Welcome to leadership 2011.

One particular client have been working with for the past two years has been slugging it out trying to bring his company back to strong vibrant health.  It hasn’t been easy.

Recently he started showing up with a new sense of calmness and peacefulness.  I figured he broke down and began seeing a psychiatrist and getting antidepressant medication— who would’ve blamed him?

As it turned out he came upon the book Conquest of Mind by Eknath Easwaran and had begun a very serious and dedicated practice of morning meditation.  The differences in him were startling.

Instinctually when there’s so much coming at you it seems like the smart thing to do is to work harder and faster.  That’s not always the right answer.

When I asked the client about his new found calmness he said the morning meditation was really giving him a feeling of “groundedness” and stability as he faced the day’s challenges.

So I went ahead and purchased the book and followed the author’s formula. I found it to be one of the most simple, straightforward resources to either refine your meditation practice or begin your meditation practice.

Remember the old saying –  The definition of insanity is doing the same thing over and over again expecting a different result.

Tomorrow morning instead of diving into your e-mail, why don’t you try taking 15 to 30 minutes of meditation and see if you achieve the same result?  I think you’ll find with a clearer calmer mind you and your team will produce better business results and find a sense of joy in this tumultuous business world.

  • Posted by Coach Pete
  • Monday, June 20th, 2011
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A new leadership tool – a sugar packet

I’m having a great time recently coaching a high performing leadership team in the Philadelphia area.  As part of their coaching process they are utilizing 360° feedback (staff members giving confidential feedback about their leaders).

One leader receives feedback that he comes across as agitated and abrupt.  By the way, the brain scientists have now proven, and can show us with FMRi (functional magnetic resonance imaging) samples how abrupt language and emotion shuts down the creative part of people’s brains.

So critical part of our process is identifying new deliberate practices.  For this leader the deliberate practice is to be able to deliver difficult messages but from a positive mood and emotion.

Thirty days later when we return to review the game film this particular leader has added an interesting twist to their deliberate practice.  As he is being accountable to the coach,  he tells me that he is now carrying around a sugar packet in his leather portfolio.  The sugar packet is a visual reminder to him that he needs to put a little sugar on the message.  The sugar packet is working! Every time he has a meeting in which he has to deliver some difficult news he sees the sugar packet, gets in the right mindset, and delivers the message with the right mood.  People are noticing and commenting on his improved disposition.  The bottom line is people are receiving his message with an open mind and less defensive.

See full size imageIn coaching the sugar packet is what we call a “structure”.  It’s some sort of physical thing that helps us achieve our results.  Some companies put vision statements on the wall, some salespeople put small mirror their desk to remind them to smile, and now one leader carries a sugar packet with him.

Whatever it takes to keep you mindful, allow you to show up with the best most mature version of you that enables you to be the most effective leader you can be.

Eventually after enough deliberate practice, I’m guessing this leader will have this new behavior ingrained and can toss the sugar packet!

Coach Pete’s Tip: CEOs should practice physical and mental approach just like Stewart Cink

I know coaching is gaining widespread acceptance when guys like Stewart Cink (2009 British Open Champion) acknowledge their coaches in their acceptance speeches.  What’s interesting about Stewart’s acknowledgment is how he lets us know that he has both a physical and a mental coach.  His renowned mental coach is Dr. Morris Pickens (http://drmolearntowin.com/about/).

In my CEO coaching we are not only emphasizing the importance of good physical technique, but also great mental technique.  Good physical technique performed with poor mindset or wrong mood will not produce great results.  It seems like we are so action oriented that we don’t give the proper amount of time to mental training. Our Peak Executive Workout by its very nature, tends to be thoughtful and reflective.  One of our most common practices is developing greater self-awareness (of blind spots and tendencies) that enables greater performance in real-time on the job.

Personally commit to making mental practice part of your deliberate practice routine and you will be on your way to Peak Performance!

  • Posted by Coach Pete
  • Tuesday, June 22nd, 2010
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Effective Communication is the cornerstone of business performance

One of the backdrops of coaching and business coaching is performance.  Executive coaching and business coaching are designed to help participants find new awareness, techniques, and strategies so they can be more effective at what they do and reach higher levels of performance.

To be in a position to evaluate performance, we must first be able to define performance.  In the business world there are several ways to measure performance including:

  • Profitability and financial strength
  • Customer/client satisfaction and retention
  • Market share in comparison to the overall market

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