You see, I'm doing some research for a new project I'm working on (Top Secret - for now). I'd LOVE to get your opinion. It won't take long, I promise. I value your ideas!

Will you take 5 minutes to complete three fill-in-the-blank statements for me?

Just complete these three statements in the comments below. 

1. ‎"What can help me be my 'best self' is ___________."
   (Think in terms of what supports, what help, what products and/or services, what advice do you seek/have you sought to improve yourself and reach your personal best?)
2. "What frustrates me about trying to become my 'best self' is __________."
   (What have you tried that was unsuccessful? What gets in your way of applying tools/advice you've received? What confuses you? What's missing in your knowledge/skill bank?)
    
3. "Successful experts/gurus in self-improvement, personal development, or 'life-hacking'  include __________."
   (Who is a good source for information, products, and/or services for self-development?) 

Again: Thank you for your time and input!

Photo by Flickr Creative Commons User Marco Bellucci

The same is true with positive recognition and appreciation; in my opinion, it is the most influential tool in any leader's toolkit. When you say "thank you" or "job well-done" to a staff member, peer, supervisor, client, associate or friend, it has a lasting positive effect, often with a multiplier effect rippling off of it.

Let's face it: NO ONE has ever felt TOO appreciated. Period.

Halelly's "STS Formula" for positive feedback and appreciation

Here's the simple formula that is guaranteed to work to make people feel truly appreciated:

1. Be Specific. Describe in as much detail as possible WHAT you appreciated and WHY.While "Thank you" and "Good job" are way better than nothing, they don't really describe the behavior you appreciated and want to recognize. Here's a little secret: what gets appreciated, gets repeated. Don't you want to let the person know what behavior to repeat?
2. Be Timely. Articulate your appreciation (whether orally or in writing) as closely to the occurrence of the appreciated behavior as possible. Otherwise, not only will the person possibly forget what they did, but they may not feel your appreciation is as authentic or heart-felt as it should be. I mean, "thank you so much for helping me that time two months ago" just doesn't have as much of a positive impact as "thanks for your help yesterday" does.
3. Be sincere. People can read (and smell) 'fake' from a mile away. Humans are astute observers of nuanced body language signals that convey incongruence. And, when faced with a mismatch between the words and the way they were conveyed, we almost always trust the visual and vocal cues as the 'true message'. If you're giving appreciation as a 'management technique' or because you 'have to', not because you're truly appreciative, the receiver will pick this up and your positive feedback will have the OPPOSITE effect - it will create distrust and disgruntlement. The bottom line: if you can't find a way to sincerely feel thankful, it's best you don't give thanks. 

Take the "STS Challenge"

In the next week, look for opportunities to 'catch' people doing things right, and for things you can appreciate about them, and provide Specific, Timely, and Sincere appreciation. It can be as simple as a spoken appreciation face-to-face or by phone, a thank you card, or a symbolic gift. Then, come back and report about your experience and reactions in the comments below. I can't wait to hear about it!

Image: my modification of a photo by Flickr Creative Commons user Claudio.Ar

I love learning. I love being creative. So I really enjoyed listening to recorded Creativity in Business Telesummit (CIBT) interviews with creative leaders, hosted by my friend Michelle James of the Center for Creative Emergence. I got new insights, learned new information, infused new energy into my creative thinking, and re-invigorated my passion from listening to the stories and practices shared by these various practitioners and creativity thought leaders.

All of the CIBT sessions featured some kind of an exercise or practice the expert wanted to share on how to bring more creativity to business (in addition to lots of juicy food for thought). I want to share one of these exercises with you:

One of my favorite sessions featured Annalie Killian, who has the coolest corporate job title -- Catalyst for Magic -- at AMP, one of Australia’s most eminent Financial Services corporations. In her interview, Killian described a practice she called 'Algorithmic Brainstorming': when contemplating a new goal, or a topic she wants to write about, or a question to which she wants to figure out the answer, she gets an algorithmic 'right brain' boost from doing a Google Image search on that word, phrase, or question and seeing what comes up. She says that looking at the images that are generated by Google's algorithmic search encourages your mind to use both hemispheres of your brain to think about the idea: both the linear, logical, linguistic left brain as well as the metaphoric, imagery-based right brain. It enhances your ability to think creatively about the subject at hand and generate fresh insights.

I really like this exercise and would like to offer my slight twist on it:

I find that doing this kind of search in Flickr's Creative Commons gallery brings even richer images than Google. This is especially true if you apply a trick I learned a while back from blogger/author Tim Ferriss: click the 'Interesting' button on your search results in Flickr. (This is how I search for images for my blog and also my graphic-rich PowerPoint presentations.) Then, feast your eyes on the diverse and fascinating images that load up, page after incredible page.

The image at the top of this blog post is what I selected from a search I conducted using the word "curiosity" - one of the keys to creativity and my number one character strength according to the VIA Strengths Survey (love of learning is my #3 -- I've written about strengths here, here, and here). I looked at so many other idea-provoking images before selecting this one!

So - why don't you give it a try? Go to Google, or Flickr, and type in a key word, phrase, or question that has your attention right now. What does your 'algorithmic brainstorming' search bring up? I'd love to read about it in the comments below!

Photo by Flickr user jvc

In the vlog (video blog) below I share a useful analogy that likens the experience of learning any new skills to learning to drive a car for the first time. Please watch it here:

The Learning Cycle 

The Learning CycleThe learning cycle has us going from a state of Unconscious Incompetence (you don't know what you don't know) to the realization that there is something we need to learn - Conscious Incompetence. We feel uncomfortable with being incompetent and get motivated to learn the skill. So we become Consciously Competent as we begin learning and practicing the new skill. We experience that discomfort and awkwardness because performing this new skill requires a lot of concentration and effort, and we aren't yet masterful in applying it -- it doesn't come naturally. And, if we push through the discomfort and continue mindfully practicing, we finally complete the learning cycle and arrive at the state of Unconscious Competence. We can now perform the new skill with little conscious effort - like being on 'auto-pilot'.

So - if you experience that awkward discomfort with a new skill, remember: it's natural and normal to feel thi. Resist retracting. Push through, persevere, and practice mindfully, and you will eventually master it!

Would love to hear your reactions - have you experienced this? What do you think?

[Graphic corrected 12.18.12]

But wait, there's more!

As if the surroundings and atmosphere weren't perfect enough, I was lucky enough to be doing GREAT work. It was my role to coach a group of 11 smart, engaged, and successful managers on what it means to be at their Best Self, at work. This is a subject about which I am VERY passionate. I truly believe that each of us has special gifts and strengths, and we should strive to leverage, optimize, and maximize them at work -- daily! It was wonderful to be working for a client who also believes this and is willing to invest in helping their employees get this right.

I want to share with you the exercise we worked on.

How to Bring your Best Self to Work

1. Take out a notebook, journal, or your favorite word processor and complete the following sentence:
   
   "When I'm at my Best Self, I am..."
   
   Some examples may include
   
   "...adding value by suggesting creative, outside-the-box ideas to solve problems or improve products, services, or processes."
   "...collaborating with others to create synergistic solutions."
   "...focused and calm."
   "...thinking about serving others."
   
   
2. List some of the potential and actual barriers to being your best self at work. What might get in your way of being creative and thinking outside-the-box, for example? Perhaps barriers for you include self-sensoring and being too critical of yourself, or maybe it's not getting enough creativity-stimulating inputs from fresh and divergent sources. If being focused and calm is how you want to be, for example, then maybe your barriers include having a very noisy environment, or not having a clear plan for your day's work.
   
   
3. Devise three specific routines, or habits, that you will incorporate into your daily and weekly work to help ensure you are bring your best self out as much as possible. Be specific, and phrase them in the positive (i.e., say what you will do instead of what you will avoid or stop doing).
   
   For example, you might say, "I will read three articles each week from other industries or other professional fields to diversify my perspective and generate new insights into existing problems." Or, "I will close my door for a 90-minute stretch each morning at 10:00 a.m. and dedicated uninterrupted energy and attention to a highly important focus project."
   
   
4. Create accountability structures. How will you stay true to what you have committed to and how will you track your progress? Consider enlisting an accountability buddy or a peer coach to help you keep yourself accountable and stick to your plan. Another method is to keep a journal of your progress and reflect on your accomplishments and challenges.
   
   

What do you think? Are you bringing your best self to work? Do you know what it takes? What are your challenges and successes? I'd love to hear about it!

Our brains experience an emotional reaction to any situation BEFORE we can experience a single rational thought about it. Therefore, it's impossible to 'leave your emotions at the door'. Instead, become more emotionally intelligent: learn to become aware of your emotions and override your 'gut reactions' with rational analysis and self-regulation. In addition, learn to increase your awareness of others' emotions and incorporate this data into your communication strategies to enhance your results.

Whoever said things slow down in the summertime did not check in with me... not true here! Gratefully, I've been super busy with work and with arranging to speak about Employee Development on a Shoestring to new audiences around the nation. I'm happy to be busy!

Recently, ASTD featured not one, but two articles of mine on their member newsletter, ASTD Links. One provides five useful tips on how other consultants, like me, can continue to increase their productivity. The other features an excerpt from chapter five of my book - the chapter that describes how mentoring and being mentored can each be helpful employee development methods. I hope you check these articles out!

August is the month I usually take time to rejuvenate and vacation. Are you scheduling a time to disconnect and renew? It will pay back dividends, I'm told... See you in a couple of weeks and Happy Summer!

~Halelly

Photo by Dene' (Seattle) Miles via Flickr Creative Commons

What's on YOUR summer reading list?

Is your leadership style all about ensuring compliance or engendering commitment? In this vlog (video-blog) episode, I discuss the difference in the business results and employee engagement that can result from each leadership approach. What do you think? Use the comments below to jump into the conversation - I look forward to hearing from you!