Tomorrow I will be taking yet another group of people to experience “Unleash the Power Within”, Tony Robbins flagship 4-day seminar.  I can’t quite believe it, but it will be my 27^th UPW – my first one was way back in 1985 when Tony was relatively unknown.  (Come and say “Hi” if you’re coming too – we’ll be in the front row).

So, why do I keep going back?  Well, for one thing it’s been part of the Blackbelt Development Programme that Kaizen runs each year for its new team members – so I go to support and coach them.  Each year I also invite selected clients to join our group – it’s such a great way of connecting with them at a deeper level and having a powerful shared experience.  I often joke that other companies take their clients to Ascot or Wimbledon, and I take mine to do a Firewalk!

There are other reasons too.  I feel like I’ve kind of grown up with Tony – he was one of my coaches way before I set up Kaizen Training in 1988.  I love the intensity of it, the fun, the laughter, the dancing, the drama.  It’s one of the few places where I get to play full-out without scaring people around me who prefer to behave more conventionally!

I also have many, many wonderful memories:  The time I took my mother after she was diagnosed with terminal cancer, and we held hands across the firewalk.  The time I took a young man who was in his last days (he died about a year later), and witnessed his completely joyful re-awakening to life.  Countless examples of family, team, clients and friends being profoundly changed by the experience.

One of my favourite ‘tasks’ each year has been to carefully choose the people who I believe will benefit most from the experience and invite them.  I feel privileged to be in a position where I can do this from a complete place of abundance.

It’ll be interesting for me this year, because – as regular readers will know – philosophically I’ve been moving away from the cultural fixation with outer success – “achievement”, “goals” and “managing your state to reach your outcome” – using tools, interventions and techniques.  Tony is the  master at all these things, and I remain in awe of his skills.   If you’ve attended a UPW, you’ll know that the mantra Tony teaches as one of the ‘techniques’ to walk across the hot burning coals safely, is to say “Cool Moss!  Cool Moss!  Cool Moss!” repeatedly as you are walking.
These days, I find myself moving towards a quieter place where we look towards our innate well-being and wisdom.  Less thrusting, and more trusting, one might say.

Michael Neill (see www.geniuscatalyst.com ) shared a story in California last month that really resonated with me.  Imagine that you’re living in the days of the Wild West, and you’re attacked by Indians.  You, and a few remaining survivors, are hiding in a circle of wagons, desperately waiting to be rescued by the cavalry.  I’m sure you’ve seen similar scenes in many movies.  Just when it looks like it’s all over, and the Indians are closer, shooting their arrows at you, you hear the sound of a galloping horse.  You breathe a sigh of relief – surely it must be the Cavalry?  But then you see that it’s just one horse, and one rider – and he comes galloping through the Indians, and jumps off his horse, breathing heavily.  “I have good news and bad news”, the rider says.  “The bad news is that the cavalry isn’t coming.  The good  news is that you’re imagining the Indians!”

There’s a way in which the metaphor of the firewalk only makes sense if you believe that there are ‘fires’ to cross.  Or fire-breathing dragons that need to be conquered to protect yourself.  What if we’re imagining the fires, and imagining the dragons, and imagining the fears?  What if it’s all really just cool moss anyway?

Mmmmm… something to think about – as Tony would say.

Rather than get all uber-analytical about it – to be constantly thinking “I don’t agree with that anymore” and possibly move into judgement and criticism, I’ve decided to just enjoy the experience this weekend, once again.  To see it as a 4-day party, a celebration of life, a chance to dance and sing in the company of 10,000 other crazies!

To just live in the moment, and to notice how I can serve those people in my group – and beyond.

I hope that, whatever you’re doing this weekend, you find ways to unleash your own power within!

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Given the rate of change evident even in today’s business climate, this sounds like a sensible approach. The continuing instability of the Euro, incessant rises in the cost of living and widespread job cuts can take their toll on morale and motivation. It seems to me that being able to live with uncertainty and thrive in a state of ‘not-knowing’ are increasingly desirable skills.

We all feel unsettled from time to time, perhaps not in control of our destiny, or disgruntled with our lot. Here are nine practical tactics to help thrive in unpredictable circumstances:

1. Stop worrying about what you can’t control

Of course, there’s always the option not to worry at all… borne out of the ‘what will be will be’ adage. However, if you’re inclined to indulge in a spot of worrying, try directing it purposefully at something over which you have a modicum of control. Worrying about whether your 18 year-old will get the requisite grades in their ‘A’ levels can be a heavy burden to bear; worrying about whether you are being a supportive and consistent parent in the run up to the exams may serve you (and them) better.

2. Mind your language

Picture the scene. Your company announces that sales are down for the third quarter running and that headcount ‘cuts’ will need to be made. Your department is in the firing line. The whole process is handled clumsily and those of you on the receiving end of the rather terse communication (with no opportunity to ask questions) are left confused and upset. The way you make sense of it to yourself and others is key. You may be tempted to use emotive language (it’s ‘outrageous’, ‘despicable’); or generalise the issues (everything is going wrong; the entire senior management team is incompetent); or exaggerate (they are lying; it’s criminal). However, the more you say it, the more you (and others) will believe it.

Keeping a check on your language can help to maintain perspective.

3. Stay clear of the doomsayers

Whilst we’re on the subject of language, have you noticed how some people are highly adept at turning a bit of unexpected news into a calamity? Tempting as it may be to join in and stoke the fire, it’s best to resist. Colluding with this kind of behaviour is one of the quickest ways to bring morale tumbling down, so avoid it if you can.

4. Get clarity about what you want

Dwelling on a problem for a period of time can be helpful. It can also be a strong motivator for solving the problem. However there comes a time when dwelling becomes wallowing and at that point, if not before, it’s useful to consider how you would like things to be instead. It’s hard to take action if you don’t know what you’re moving towards, so be clear and specific about what you want. Hint: if you’re struggling to know what you want, choose something really small and fairly immediate. You don’t have to ‘solve’ the next 6 months or a year in one go!

5. Be grateful for what you’ve got

Have you noticed how there’s a lot of dissatisfaction about? The accountancy partner with children at private school and a second home in the West Country disillusioned with how their job is now constrained by changes in regulatory practice; the business owner-manager enjoying high profile, well-paid projects but frustrated that growth plans are not coming to fruition.

Practising gratitude (which used to be called counting our blessings!) is one of the most oft-cited prerequisites for being happy, because it trains our brains to look for the positive in a situation. For best results, repeat frequently.

6. Listen to other people’s hopes and fears

If you’re responsible for supporting others (a team, or family members for example) through a crisis, you may feel a desire to try and make it OK for them. Perhaps your tactic is to shield them from what’s really going on by shouldering a disproportionate amount of the burden. However, to take this approach may be to deny them the opportunity to learn how to deal with it themselves. Sometimes the best gift you can give is to be available to listen to them… not to validate or dismiss their concerns, but purely to seek to understand.

7. A problem shared is a problem halved

Who is your rock in times of uncertainty, doubt or fear? Have you got someone who will simply listen to you in a non-judgmental way (without jumping in with solutions)? Acknowledging your concerns and feelings out loud lends a more objective quality and can provide comfort and insights.

If you’re not ready to share with someone else, you could keep a journal where you can capture your thoughts in the moment.

8. Acknowledge your achievements

If we’re uncertain about the future, one thing that’s certain is that we’re thinking about the future! This can be a pattern for some, constantly moving onto the ‘next thing’ and admonishing ourselves for what we’ve not done. A useful reality check and confidence booster is to look backwards and see how far we’ve come, acknowledging our accomplishments and what’s gone well. Friendships nurtured, goals achieved, good deeds done, projects delivered and milestones reached. Make a list, or perhaps represent them in a picture and review it from time-to-time to give yourself a boost.

9. Do nothing

It’s an option, isn’t it? I’m not talking about sticking your head in the sand, ostrich-like (that would, after all, be taking some kind of action). I’m thinking more along the lines of noticing that something ‘bad’ appears to be happening and being curious about it. Then (in my case), sitting firmly on my hands and resisting the temptation to slap it into submission or replace the ‘bad’ with something more palatable. Who knows, given time it might just go away.

So, as you bring to mind a challenge facing you at the moment, borne out of circumstances not entirely within your control, or uncertainty about the future, what choices are you making?

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Helping individuals develop their learning capability and desire to learn is seen as a key priority for both organisations and the education system. This one-day workshop will be devoted to discussion and debate on how people learn and how L&D practitioners can best support learners. There will be an emphasis on the key role played by neuroscience and psychology in our understanding of how people learn.

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• The senior manager who told me “No, I’m bloody well not going to share that (critical) information with department X, because they don’t appreciate all the work I’ve already put into the project”
• The team leader who risks being fired – but cannot bring himself to do anything about the poor performance from some of his team because of his own insecurities about challenging people and risking not being ‘liked’.
• The director who stubbornly remains in denial about his organisation’s customer service problems, even though customers are leaving in their droves.

How do you make decisions about your strategy and tactics for a better gender balance at the top?

When you stop to think, what are the key things that influence your approach?  Are they largely internal or external to your organisation? Which people hold the greatest sway for you? What have you read that has caused you to stop, think AND take action?

For example, I am a big fan of the research McKinsey produces in their Women Matter papers.  The 2012 report, Making the Breakthrough, is no exception. You may already have seen it and/or perhaps your company was one of the 235 European companies that took part in the benchmarking study. For a summary of the growth of women’s representation in senior roles; discussion of what combinations of initiatives are gaining traction and delivering results; analysis of the gap between good measures and their implementation; a synopsis of 4 key steps to make a breakthrough; and some interesting anecdotes of good practice, it’s worth a read.

What particularly appeals to me about this, and the four preceding Women Matter reports? I can point to factors such as McKinsey’s reputation and the apparent rigour of the methodology, but that wouldn’t be completely it.  I like the comprehensive nature of the studies; that the data is presented in a useful and readable format, with some highly quotable statistics to trot out when the need arises. And that’s not entirely the answer either.

If not that, then what?

I reckon I’m drawn to these reports primarily because I agree with what they say – and they articulate it in ways I am sometimes unable to.  Their conclusions fit with my own experience about what it really takes to drive change in large organisations.  They tell the truth about how hard it can be and are realistic about how slow progress can be.  They challenge me to look beyond the temptation to implement ‘quick fixes’ or ‘tick-box’ initiatives so we can say we’ve ‘got gender diversity covered’. They highlight the need, and the rewards, for putting the right foundations in place.

Of course, the danger with vast quantities of research is that we skim read it all.  Then, every so often, we find a piece that causes us to nod ferociously – so we circulate it to everyone in the steering group plus a few others for good measure.  These people write back and tell us how interesting it was. Then we do nothing with it.

Now, I’m not saying that just because we agree with a piece of research, it must be right.  Indeed, our natural inclination as humans is to focus on the familiar bits we know already (and agree with), so we may need to challenge ourselves to read differently if we truly want to take on board a new perspective.

Research fulfils a variety of purposes:

• The basis for useful discussions with stakeholders
• To support a business case or prove a point
• Ideas for new things to try
• ‘Social proof’ for initiatives and approaches already being implemented
• A catalyst to undertake a review or change direction.

And you can probably think of more.

So, how can we get more value from what we read?

Here are 4 steps to making research count:

1. When you’ve read an article or piece of research, before you feel compelled to ping it to a few colleagues, ask yourself what has connected with you. What message do you want them to take from it?
2. Re-read the piece as if you had to teach the content to someone else (this may mean highlighting key points or making notes).  What new perspectives do you gain?
3. Write down what the research means for you and your organisation – how it supports or challenges the way in which you are going about achieving your objectives.
4. Now, how will you use the data to move you forward?  Make a firm commitment to take action.

About Helen Krag

Helen’s fortnightly publication, The Key, is a free resource for those responsible for gender diversity and achieving a better balance of men and women in senior leadership roles. Twice a month you’ll receive a case study, article, tip or story – to offer a fresh perspective and help keep you focused on what works.

Sign up here for your free copy.

Helen supports companies to create the conditions for a better balance of men and women in senior leadership roles; and works with talented employees, individually and in groups, to help them step up and progress.

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• What do we want people to do after the training?
• Have they done it?
• What did they achieve as a result?

Crawford is on record as saying that she often feels like a bad mother (her kids wish she was a dinner lady), but her deep held belief is that “war reporters have a moral duty”.  Interviewed on BBC Radio 4 a couple of weeks ago, Crawford talked about applying for her role.  She was rejected four times before she became a foreign correspondent, but was not prepared to give up.  “You’ve got to really want it”, she said.

Have you ever reflected on what drives people (you perhaps) to do extraordinary things?

In the next three months one friend of mine is running the London Marathon to celebrate her 50^th birthday; another, who is averse to camping even during a perfectly acceptable English summer, is trekking to Everest base camp; a third is undertaking to climb and ski in a 53km race (with 4km to climb and descend) which will take 12-14 hours overnight.  I can only surmise that these folk really want it.  It’s noticeable that each seems to be getting a real kick out of preparing for these events, and two of them are also raising funds for charities they have a personal connection to.

Michael Neill makes the following assertion: “When someone is consistently not doing what they say they want to do, it’s because they don’t really want to do it”.  Now I for one can cite a trail of good intentions that represent unbroken promises to myself: my plan to grow vegetables for example, which simply never got off the ground (no pun intended).  It didn’t stop me, though, spending a hefty sum at the garden centre on trays, seeds and propagator, as well as a gorgeous wooden handled trowel and fork that are still pristine in their packaging.  You see, I love the notion of pulling vegetables fresh from the garden, it’s just I don’t want to go to the trouble of growing them.

Neill goes on further to categorise our goals (or aims/outcomes/intentions) into two types – ego projects and soul goals.  My vegetable growing is an ego project –I would dearly love to be seen as a gardener capable of turning out healthy produce and converting it into delicious dishes (aha… there’s another ego project creeping in at the end there).  Sadly I had overlooked the rather obvious fact that I don’t enjoy gardening.  A soul goal, on the other hand, is something that truly inspires us and that we are going to enjoy – in other words, we want to do it for what it is rather than for what it will say about us.

Anthony Thompson is former MD of Asda’s successful clothing brand, George.  He was tipped as a future leader in the business, but decided not to pursue this path.  Instead he joined Fat Face (still a respectable brand, but lacking the ‘big-business’ kudos of Asda) as CEO – partly because Fat Face is based in Hampshire and Thompson can swim in the sea every morning and then cycle to work.  Then there’s the successful FD of a multi-national business who loves the discipline, technical aspects and creativity of her role, and right now can’t imagine doing anything else.

Vanessa Mae, the violinist who rose to fame as a child prodigy is now in her thirties.  She lives in Zermatt and is training in ski slalom, hoping to be selected to represent Thailand (the birthplace of her father) in the 2014 Winter Olympics. An article I read recently speculates on her motivation for this.  When she was 17 her Mother (also her manager at that time) stopped her from going on annual family skiing trips in case an accident ruined her music career.  The two women are now estranged… so is Mae’s motivation borne out of rebellion?  On the other hand there seems to be no doubt that Mae loves to ski, but why set such a lofty goal as to qualify for the Winter Olympics? Mae herself claims to be ‘super lazy’, but someone who becomes ‘super motivated’ with a goal.

What does all this mean for you?

Let’s imagine your reflections on this column lead to some real insights about what motivates you.  What will you do with this information?  How will it transform the way you perform and achieve inside and outside of work?

Do you buy the ego project / soul goal distinction?  Are you curious about how to distinguish the two?  If so I rather like this question from Michael Neill:

“Am I really looking forward to this, or am I looking forward to telling people about it?”

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PowerPoint is the most successful presentation product of all time and has produced a whole sub-industry of techniques and products which have helped create some of the most mind-numbingly dull presentations. This tip looks at why this happens and what can be done about it.

Don’t get me wrong – the tool itself can be used to great effect.  Used with thought, creativity and a real understanding of how to engage an audience – it’s a fantastic piece of software.  In practice, however….

Most traditional presentations are predicated on four key principles:

• I have some facts, information or knowledge – and you need it (expert)
• You will learn these by me telling you (pedagogy)
• The best way to do this is by a logical linear presentation – using lots of words, and giving you the information in bite-sized chunks so that you don’t have to think for yourself
• If I can enhance this with pretty colours, wipes, fades and even a picture or two – so much the better!

Yet everything we know about learning tells us this is wrong, wrong, wrong! Learning is about meaning–making and requires participants to engage actively to make sense of the data.

So, why is PowerPoint so popular – I hear you ask?

For presenters it affords them predictability and control – to stay in charge by minimising discussion or challenge.

It requires less thought and less work – we can use someone else’s template (or last year’s) and just spruce it up a bit.

For the audience, it allows the option of feigning interest while doing more interesting things – like sleeping (especially with dimmed lighting), Blackberrying, or reading something completely unrelated. Since we will get the handouts at the end, we don’t need to pay much attention.

All of the brain-friendly learning research tells us that what produces the best learning is:

• Active processing (involvement) by the audience and opportunities to make meaning
• Keeping it real by relating content to the experiences of the audience
• The emotional state of the learner/audience – which can be massively influenced by the passion and communication skills of the presenter

If you doubt any of the above – try this experiment.  At the end of the next traditional business presentation you go to ask the audience (outside) what they thought were the 5 – 7 key points of the presentation, and then match these against those the presenter had.  Most people will remember 2 or 3 if they’re doing well.  Check back with them later that day – and then again later that week, and later that month – and very little, if anything, will have transferred to long-term memory.

To really make the point, have a whole-day conference with PowerPoint presentations all day – finishing with a dinner and alcohol in the evening – and then ask them the same thing next morning.

Now try this light-hearted questionnaire:

Assume you have a 20-minute presentation with PowerPoint. Answer the following:

1. Do I put more than five words per line?
2. Do I put more than five lines per page?
3. Do I use wipes/fades?
4. Do I show detailed diagrams that are sometimes too small to see?
5. Do I hold onto handouts until the end?
6. Do I read from my slides?
7. Do I turn off the projector during the presentation or between slides?
8. Do I show my slides line by line?
9. Do I need to reduce the light in the room to show my slides?
10. Do I keep questions until the end?
11. Do I use more than 10 slides in 20 minutes?
12. Do I leave less than 7 minutes for questions at the end?
13. Do I cleverly use small fonts (<16 pt) to get more on my slides?
14. Do I regularly use templates which I can quickly revamp as needed?
15. Do I have to skip or rush slides because there is not enough time?

Score one point for each definite yes or sometimes
Score zero for never

Less than 5 - There is still hope for you! Just stop it.  In fact,  give yourself the challenge of doing your next  presentation without using PowerPoint at all.

5-10 - Get yourself some brain friendly training in developing your presentation skills – your punch, presence, power – and your ability to really engage an audience.

More than 10 - Time to join PowerPoint Anonymous! (“We admitted we were powerpointless and our presentations had become unmanageable….”)