Category: Leadership Skills

In coaching, a challenge is a powerful request that asks the client to extend themselves beyond their self-imposed limits. A challenge can shift the way the client sees and thinks of themselves for years to come.

The elements of a challenge include a specific action and the date/time of completion.

Here are some examples of challenges:

• For a client that is overwhelmed with demands: “I challenge you to say “no” to anything that is not a priority this week.”
• For a client that procrastinates: “I challenge you to finish your project by tomorrow morning.”
• For the client that isn’t satisfied with their physical well being: “Here’s my challenge – sign up for the marathon instead of the 5K right now.”
• For a client that wants to make one cold call a day to increase business: “I challenge you to make fifty calls a day starting today.”

Clients can respond with a yes, no or counter offer. Usually, in the face of a challenge, clients will respond with a counter offer that is greater than they initially would have allowed themselves to make otherwise. Therefore the challenge served its purpose – to get your client out of the box and change their way of thinking.

In what ways do you use challenge?

For more resources, see the Library topic Personal and Professional Coaching.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Pam Solberg-Tapper MHSA, PCC – I spark entrepreneurial business leaders to set strategy, take action, and get results. How can I help you? Contact me at [email protected] ~ Linkedin ~ 218-340-3330

Do you have an exceptional performer on your team — a person who stands head and shoulders above everyone else?

If you do, it can be a wonderful gift for a manager to have an employee whom you can count on to get the right results; who thinks about what else needs to be done without being told; who doesn’t need to be pushed or motivated; who is always asking to do more.

Too often managers unintentionally hinder or discourage their star performers. This counter-productive behavior is not ill-intended. It’s often because the manager isn’t sure how to motivate someone who is so exceptionally talented. If you are lucky enough to have such high-performers on your team, try these three things to motivate.

1. Push them to the next level.
Stretch and challenge stars. Find out what they are good at and what they need to learn and craft assignments accordingly.
2. Let them shine.
Don’t hide your stars. Give them visibility. Let others know what they are doing. When they look good, you do too.
3. Let them go.
Top performers need room to grow. If it makes sense for their career development, let them move on. They will appreciate it.

Why Do It?

First, it’s remarkably satisfying and gratifying to see someone grow their skills and abilities and know you had some small role to play in it. You’ll get emails and have connections with these folks for years to come. One of those gifts that just keep giving.

Second, you are far more likely to get the opportunity to move on from your current role and do something new because you are more likely to have clear successors. One of your goals, as a manager or leader, should be to work yourself out of a job. As one manager said to me:

“I get bored doing the same thing… so I make every effort to grow and recognize people who I supervise. If they shine, it shows that I’m a good manager of talent and then it opens door s to better assignments.”

Management Success Tip

It’s true that most people must work to survive and money is certainly a motivator — but up to a point. . Money gets people in the door but it’s not what makes them stay or do their best work.
For your employees to achieve great things, they need to experience purpose, recognition and involvement. See the video “Drive: The surprising truth about what motivates us.”

Do you want to develop your Management Smarts?

• Build your skills with The Effective Manager.
• Sign up for Quick Wins: 101 Management Tips.
• Find performance boosters in the Smart Moves Blog.
• Fast track your leadership. Be part of a Success Team.
• Need a speaker? Get the Edge keynotes-webinars-workshops.
• Copyright © 2012 Marcia Zidle business and leadership coach.

Research shows that most employees want feedback – they want to know how they’re doing – but many managers are doing a poor job of giving it to them. Why is that?

Here are some reasons why managers avoid providing performance feedback:

1. Lack of know-how.
Providing employees with honest and useful performance feedback is not so easy. It requires insight, skill, and maturity that many supervisors lack.

2. An orientation toward evaluation rather than development.
Many managers incorrectly assume that their job is to judge rather than to help employees improve.

3. Fear of retribution.
Supervisors worry that if they provide negative feedback, their employees will lose their motivation, argue with them, or try to retaliate against them in some way.

4. False belief: “It’s not my job.”
Many mistakenly think that their job is only to meet production and expense goals, not to develop employees. Nothing could be further from the truth.

So how can you as a supervisor, team leader or manager do a better job?
Here are five tips to become more competent and confident in giving feedback.

1. Catch people in the act.
Feedback is most effective when it is given immediately following a behavior.

2. Focus on behavior, not traits.
Feedback should be a discussion of specifically-observed behavior rather than an evaluation of employee’s personality. For example, it is much more effective to say, “you did a great job proofreading the report yesterday and catching those typos” than it is to say, “you have very good attention to detail.”

3. Do it regularly not once a year.
In order to be effective, performance feedback needs to be conducted throughout the year so that you can monitor and recognize progress.

4.Conduct coaching discussions, not lectures.
Supervisors should talk about the behavior they have observed, but also ask employees for their views of areas where improvements can be made.

Supervision Success Tip:

Your role should be as a coach not judge. Concentrate on shaping and motivating people’s behavior instead of grading it. The time for evaluation is during performance reviews not coaching sessions. Also see Employee Coaching: Three Madeleine To Make It Work and Employee Coaching: Get The Results You Want

Do you want to develop your Management Smarts?

• Build your skills with The Effective Manager.
• Sign up for Quick Wins: 101 Management Tips.
• Find performance boosters in the Smart Moves Blog.
• Fast track your leadership. Be part of a Success Team.
• Need a speaker? Get the Edge keynotes-webinars-workshops.
• Copyright © 2012 Marcia Zidle business and leadership coach.

Last fall I wrote a blog on connecting that struck a chord with one read who wisely noted:

“Being connected may just be the tip of furthering anything, even with ourselves…the real work comes in relationship.

Do you suppose that the connectivity is the driving force/thread that maintain the relationship with our groups/teams? What is beyond connectivity?”

What great questions! To reconnect with the conversation, remember that it arose from the idea of replacing Tuckman’s teaming concept (Forming-Storming-Norming-Performing) with one more suited to today’s turbulent and interdependent world: Connecting-Engaging-Acting in the context of Continuous Performance. This model is built on the work of organizational psychologists Kenwyn Smith and David Berg[1].

Connecting is very personal, an experience of your “self”, the “other” person(s), and the “link” that connects you. Out of this the first concept of systems arises: Systems emerge from the dynamic relationships and interactions between their parts (people).

Becoming aware of the whole system, the team, and how “my self” is impacted by it is the first challenge of connection. Every member has a choice to connect or remain detached during every interaction with others in their team. We normally don’t recognize our interactions as discrete choices; we just experience the dynamic of connecting. Over time, and with each team member, we establish a degree of connectedness or detachment. Looking at the whole, this is the team’s “culture.”

This continuous interplay forms the process of connecting, a process that both initiates the “teaming cycle” and completes it (each culminating Action creating a deeper sense of connection within the team). As Smith and Berg note:

The paradox of involvement explores the relationship between involvement and detachment, observation and experience. … Can there be involvement without withdrawal, or do the two spring from a common source of what it means to belong?”

Let’s look deeper into this dynamic to understand what is required when we give up part of our individual freedom to merge with the collective.

I took this concept to the Knowesys[2] team, a small idea incubator, for reflection. We structured our conversation as a polarity map,[3] first asking what our Greatest Hope and Deepest Fear was when facing the polarity of involvement and detachment.

• Greatest Hope: That diverse contributions will fuel the emergence of startlingly creative outcomes!!
• Greatest Fear: There is no reason for the collective (ie team) to exist!!

With this as context, let’s further explore the dynamic of involvement-detachment to help us manage the connecting phase of teaming. Remember in polarities you always have both poles operating and as leaders our responsibility is to manage the dynamic flow, both positive and negative, between them.

So that we can end on a positive note, let me first present our understanding of the negative aspects of this polarity. When involvement and detachment are taken to extreme they both produce attitudes and actions that can, and will, lead to dissolution of the collective. If we are overly attached as a team, groupthink replaces group thinking, a subtle but critical line in the sand that leaders (and team members) need to watch out for. When that happens we become too emotionally invested in the ideas of the collective and closed to the individual diversity that generates high-performance. Blind spots, increasingly critical attitudes, becoming unwilling to listen to each other, and rigid boundaries drive the dynamic away from involvement and toward detachment.

On the other hand when team members are overly detached, forcing the team to the negative aspect of this pole, there is a lack of commitment to the group’s decisions that stalls progress. When no one feels accountable to the collective, passion dissipates, outcomes become WIIFM, and focus is lost.

We can all agree that these are two places in the dynamic we want to steer clear of. But what are we navigating toward? The positive aspects of the two poles are where, in the words of Smith and Berg, both “personess” and “groupness” show up, where the parts and the whole are experienced. This then, explains the Third Concept in systems thinking: The whole is greater than the sum of the parts, often far greater.

What do these two poles contain? When we are involved we are passionate, engaged, and learning. Distributed leadership moves the team forward and the role of the self (personess) is to drive team action – we think of this as generative ego involvement. In this context, the team is willing and able to take appropriate risks as a collective; no one is out on the skinny branches alone.

In addition, positive detachment ensures that independent thinking is valued and there is a general openness to alternative ways forward. With greater participation, the team can leverage its diversity – making lateral associations, sensing weak signals in the environment, and then using these to synthesize new ideas and paths forward. With this increased ability to reframe the situation, the group can be “startlingly creative.”

As Smith and Berg observe: “When one learns how to deal with one’s groupness, the importance of individuation fades, and, through its fading, individuation is realized. …members learn to accept their groupness and the group learns to accept the importance of its members.”

How is that for a paradox?? Next time more on connecting.

[1] Smith, KK and Berg, DN. Paradoxes of Group Life: Understanding Conflict, Paralysis, and Movement in Group Dynamics. Jossey-Bass, San Francisco, 1987.

[2] Knowesys is composed of consultants Julie Denomme, Tom Woodman, Cindy Weeks, Don Johnston, Bruce Flye, Tom Roy, and myself.

[3] Barry Johnson, http://www.polaritymanagement.com

The saying that “people do not leave their jobs, they leave their bosses” is overused, but true. In employee exit surveys, the most frequent employee complaint is about their former supervisor’s communications skills—too little, too much, too ineffective.

Poor communication does account for a multitude of workplace woes — including interpersonal conflict, wasted money and effort, poor productivity, legal exposure, low morale and high turnover. Most communications difficulties arise from three basic deficiencies:

1. Ineffective relationships and information flow among managers and their employees
2. Lack of the proper systems and infrastructure to enable effective exchange of information
3. Breakdowns in communication by management to employees during tough times.

Everyone is not born a great communicator, but most of us can learn. Here are some of the basic things that we can do as managers and supervisors to refine our skills:

1. Establish clarity.
When you give instructions or discuss a business situation, do not assume that everyone understands you. Ask whether you have been clear or if further information or explanation is necessary. Often, different people make different deductions from the same information, and proceed in good faith to do the opposite of what the manager expected. Good communication results from a two-way process of asking the right questions, confirming what you’ve heard and achieving common understanding. The focus is not on right or wrong but on “are we on the same page?”

2. Give meaningful feedback.
While a well-considered annual formal performance evaluation is a valuable communications tool, do not limit feedback to a once-a-year event. People do not like surprises, and they want an opportunity to develop and improve throughout the year. Provide continuing, constructive, on-the-job evaluations focusing on situations as they arise, while they are still fresh in everyone’s memory. Do not forget to highlight the positive as well as the negative. A great practice is also to solicit feedback from employees. Ask if there is anything that you can do as a manager to make their jobs easier or more satisfying.

3. Find the time.
As managers are busier than ever with their own heavy workloads, it is easy to forget that an important part of a manager’s job is managing. It is critical to carve time out of your schedule for regular one-on-one and group employee meetings. While it is totally appropriate to make employees aware of your time pressures, offer your undivided attention during these meetings. Taking telephone calls or allowing other interruptions will convey to employees that you do not consider their concerns a priority.

Management Success Tip

In this age of electronic communication, far too many managers use email as a substitute for personal contact and interaction. Would you try to arrange and close a deal with a large customer via email? Would you hire a key executive without meeting this individual? Of course you wouldn’t. More direct contact will help create better rapport, better trust and ultimately better productivity.

Do you want to develop your Management Smarts?

• Build your skills with The Effective Manager.
• Sign up for Quick Wins: 101 Management Tips.
• Find performance boosters in the Smart Moves Blog.
• Fast track your leadership. Be part of a Success Team.
• Need a speaker? Get the Edge keynotes-webinars-workshops.
• Copyright © 2012 Marcia Zidle business and leadership coach.

(This is a guest post from Professor Günther H. Schust and is based on his free ebook “Supportive Leadership.”)

More than two thirds of all problems in our society result from a decrepit leadership culture in economy and politics which allows indispensable profound reforms (i.e. climate protection, finance and tax legislation) and “green” technologies for our environment and thus a qualitative (and not just quantitative) growth to only a limited extent. The whole of Europe is deeply in dept. The standards of living and raw materials become more and more expensive. Nature and “deceived” people strike back because leadership elites show a high degree of inertia. Those responsible lack the capability to anticipate in time the necessary processes of innovation and change, to control and implement them.

It is true that companies impart specialized competences, but they criminally neglect the training for key skills like competences regarding change, relations, creativity and leadership. However, it is exactly these skills which ensure a sustainable power of success of an exceedingly demanding society and a flexible employability of its people – even in critical times.

Therefore, the role of tomorrow’s leaders will have to consist in establishing a systematic knowledge and innovation management in their companies and organisations, wherein executives and specialists will become qualified for developing a sense for intelligent and creative (team) work according to the respective situation – just as this is the case in (competitive) sports. Integrated thinking, acting in a way compatible with the environment, permanent learning – also from errors – will then become a part of all our lives.

Let’s start with taking a look at five rules of “supportive leadership”.

Rule no. 1: The employee dialogue

Leading (= leadership) means to anticipate and to lead the way in an exemplary fashion. Management comes from “manus agere” (Latin) and means “to take by the hand, to help solve problems and to build up and cultivate relations”.

The executive in the 21^st century must be able to balance management and leadership and grant them equal status. Most companies, however, suffer from TOO MUCH management and TOO LITTLE leadership.

A good manager does not have to score the goals himself but sees himself as the “coach of a team”, a team with which he agrees on “rules and milestones”, where he takes each individual member of the team along on this challenging “journey of the company” and consistently requires of the team member to make his contribution. In order to change peoples’ established ways of behaviour, thinking and style of play, a constant dialogue and goal-oriented (fitness) training must be carried on, because employees want to play an active role and want to be taken along on the road to the goal. It’s a question of awakening the employee’s enthusiasm for these goals / the desired results and /or visions. Keys for achieving this goal are honesty, openness, determination and constructive feedback.

In order to be successful, however, it is of the utmost importance that the ‘team players’ are adequately qualified + trained + motivated to score the decisive goals or, respectively, to put the best ideas / solutions for the customer, the company and the environment into practice. When strategies are constantly changed, GOALS cannot be successfully achieved!

Rule no. 2: The self management

There is only one way to maintain the innovative lead over the competitors: To establish a process of renewal, based on abandoning the habit of following orders and on developing mutual trust. This cannot be achieved without trust between and reliability of the participants. In this context, to play it COOL means:

C = Clearing: To clearly know what one wants to achieve (GOAL). What is especially important (set priorities!). Word the overall task / the topic / the problem / the GOAL (result) realistically and in writing.

O = Obvious sorting: Break down the overall task into obvious milestones. These must be reached and controlled before tackling the next move. Everybody must be familiar with the delivery and pick-up principle.

O = Organizing: Do I see to everything myself or do I look for people who will support me. I deal efficiently with my tasks and I do control the result. Only when I’ve achieved at least 80 to 100 per cent of my GOALS, can I say that I am successful.

L = Learning + solving + changing: The topic/problem must be dealt with/solved as planned, the respective conclusions will be drawn from what was done right or wrong and the required changes will be made. To develop our potential and to grow (i.e. to learn) becomes only possible when we analyze our errors and successfully make changes and face challenges!

Rule no. 3: The supportive leadership

In the end, it will always be the executive’s behaviour which decides whether the company / the organisation have employees who are for or against them.

In this context it is particularly important to create a climate which is motivating and value-oriented, and which has a constructive and acknowledging effect on the performance of the employees / executives. Constant learning from (project) tasks will suddenly become everybody’s goal when dealing with said task. This principle should also be observed by families, because nowadays only every second marriage / partnership lasts longer than three to four years.

If interests and competences of employees are applied in such a way that the highest possible efficiency is achieved, both the company and the team player will profit from this principle. The performance (TO WANT and BEING ABLE TO) will every six months be validated by means of a performance report. This way, it is easier to identify under performers within the organisational units, to ‘take them by the hand’ and to support them. Each performer receives suggestions as to fitness and development, thus creating a WINWIN situation for everybody.

Rule no. 4: Putting a systematic project management into practice

More than two thirds of all problems arising in a company are caused by a lack of capability to realize projects. Only when interdisciplinary learning + mental fitness (of the young + the old) are firmly anchored in the training and the continuing education, a good cooperation can be maintained and changes can be successfully implemented. It is noticeable that many companies which have a successful relationship with their customers also have a strong, employee-oriented culture.

In this context it is important that executives are informed about essential progresses or non-progresses and will then, when it becomes necessary, be able to apply a constructive (not a derogatory!) feedback. This way of proceeding, however, must be based on a canon of values with rules which will have to be complied with when pursuing the common goals.

Conflictive issues of the project will then no longer be ‘swept under the carpet’ but will be dealt with and transformed into positive energy and dynamism. The ‘innovative resources’ will no longer be slowed down, but will be used to introduce new ideas and to put these into practice within the team. Scheming, status-oriented behavioural patterns will be stopped right away and, if necessary, be sanctioned.

A study of the University of St. Gallen / Swiss proves that a chaotic project management entails billions in additional costs. Projects which fail, mainly fail because of a lack of requirements management

Rule no. 5: Investments into personality development

Employees are rarely able to apply new knowledge gained in seminars because there is no demand for such knowledge. A lack of transfer competence in companies prevents the sustainability of seminars + trainings. Companies should not just train people ‘reactively’, but should above all invest into the state-of-the-art personality development of all of the company’s key employees. Only then will they learn to think integrally, to respect themselves and others as well as our badly beaten planet (emotional intelligence).

To ensure that renovation and growth potentials can be recognized + developed, companies and organisations must create a (virtual) campus for knowledge + innovation, where executives and specialists will be qualified and trained for developing a sense of ability to play and present solutions – just as this is the case in (competitive) sports. Acquisition and application of knowledge must be dealt with concurrently, and the focus of the training must be directed to key skills, like competences in relations, change, innovations and cultural skills. The daily, mental challenge on leadership consists of creating a quality relationship with the different personalities of the team. This is the only way to create a competent network culture – with a steep learning curve, wherein people enjoy hierarchy-free solution-oriented work (behavioural branding).

—

This article is based on the free eBook “Supportive Leadership” written by Professor Günther H. Schust and published by bookboon.com. Schust is a German Lecturer in Leadership, Personnel, Project and Innovation Management at the Universities of Applied Sciences in St. Gallen (Swiss), Zurich-Winterthur (Swiss), Kempten, Hamburg and Munich (Germany). Moreover, he is Co-Partner of IHH International Head Hunters Management- und Personalberatungsges. mbH, Munich.

Have you ever hired someone who did not live up to expectations? I’m sure many of us have at one time.

An effective interview can prevent that from happening? The purpose of the interview is to obtain good information about an applicant to make a wise selection decision. It may sound simple but then why are there so many poor hires? Too many people rely on gut instinct in their hiring decisions.

Be aware of these seven common interviewing errors that prevent you, hiring manager or business owner, from getting the best

1. Focus on the right stuff.
Pinpoint the specific skills necessary for success in the job. Develop behavioral interview questions to reveal whether the candidate has what it take to match the job requirements.

2. Never begin an interview saying:
“I haven’t had time to really review your resume…so tell me about yourself.” Before every interview, study the person’s resume to zero in on qualifications, to decide on what questions to ask and to make efficient us of the allotted time.

3. Don’t ask for information you already have.
You ask, “Let’s see, how long have you been in your current position?” This is a wasted question because you should know the answer from the application. The interview should be used to obtain new information and hone in on the applicant’s capabilities.

4. Don’t be afraid to ask tough questions.
If you uncover anything during the reference checking or employment history review that raises red flags, ask about it during the interview. It is important that you clear up any concerns before you reject or hire the applicant.

5. Prevent interruptions unless there is an emergency.
Your office door should be closed. Put calls and messages on hold. Remember, the key purpose of an interview is to determine if this person is a good fit for the position. Don’t waste this precious time on other matters.

6. Make sufficient notes.
Relying on memory gives the first and last candidates an unfair advantage. Be aware of the “halo effect”. Placing too much emphasis on first impression or one characteristic can overshadow everything else.

7. Keep score with the right goals in mind.
Develop a rating system to analyze and compare each candidate. It could a simple scale from one to five with (1) being poor to (5) being great. Rate each person immediately after the interview, by matching the person to the job description. Narrow down your list to no more than three or four finalists. Then develop another list of questions and only then start comparing one candidate to another.

Management Success Tip:

Make the next interview count. Think back to previous interviews you have conducted. Did you make any of the above mistakes? If so, what can you do to improve your interviewing skills the next time around?

Do you want to develop your Management Smarts?

• Build your skills with The Effective Manager.
• Sign up for Quick Wins: 101 Management Tips.
• Find performance boosters in the Smart Moves Blog.
• Fast track your leadership. Be part of a Success Team.
• Need a speaker? Get the Edge keynotes-webinars-workshops.
• Copyright © 2012 Marcia Zidle business and leadership coach.

A hallmark of coaching, whether coaching oneself or others, is to ask generative questions — questions to help clarify a current priority, to address the priority and learn at the same time.

However, are there times when a coach should “tell the truth” — to assert the coach’s perspective without the use of questions?

In his seminal book “The Road Less Traveled,” M. Scott Peck writes:

• “… the act of withholding the truth is always potentially a lie,” … (p. 62)
• “… the decision to withhold the truth must always be based entirely upon the needs of the person or people from whom the truth is being withheld.” (p. 62)
• “.. the primary factor in the assessment of another’s needs is the assessment of that person’s capacity to utilize the truth for his or her own spiritual growth.” (p. 63)

• Speaks of hurting her/himself
• Speaks of hurting others
• Does not make progress on his/her priority over numerous coaching sessions
• Continues to show very strong emotions over numerous sessions

My “truth” might be the strong suggestion that he/she get a professional evaluation from a trained therapist.

What do you think?

—

For many related, free online resources, see the following Free Management Library’s topics:

• All About Personal and Professional Coaching
• Communications Skills
• Skills in Questioning
• Systems Thinking
• LinkedIn Discussion Group about “Coaching for Everyone”

————————————————————————-

Carter McNamara, MBA, PhD – Authenticity Consulting, LLC – 800-971-2250
Read my blogs: Boards, Consulting and OD, and Strategic Planning.

By: Kristin Keffeler

Many of us thrive on it–the rush that comes with feeling that we’re conquering our world, accomplishing more in each day than the Average Joe. We have a love-hate relationship with the pressure—oscillating between craving the stimulation of managing concurrent tasks and sizzling with the mental overwhelm of the demands on our attention.

When did our ability to fracture our attention across time and space become such a badge of honor? A perceived trait of the successful? Is multitasking really such a beneficial skill to cultivate?

The Value of a Fast and Nimble Thinker

There’s no doubt that the best and brightest are able to handle multiple inputs, shift gears quickly when necessary, and be nimble enough to jump into whatever task or problem is in need of attention. There is also no doubt that this constant “channel changing” mode of operation takes its toll—physically, emotionally and mentally.

What genius is lurking in the depths beneath your darting thoughts and chronic distractibility?

Tapping Your Genius

In the book The Attention Revolution—Unlocking the Power of the Focused Mind, author B. Alan Wallace explores the potential of a mind practiced in sustained focus. He writes,

“… geniuses of all kinds excel in their capacity for sustained voluntary attention. Just think of the greatest musicians, mathematicians, scientists, and philosophers throughout history–all of them, it seems, have had an extraordinary capacity to focus their attention with a high degree of clarity for long periods of time. A mind settled in such a state of alert equipoise is a fertile ground for the emergence of all kinds of original associations and insights. Might “genius” be a potential we all share–each of us with our own unique capacity for creativity, requiring only the power of sustained attention to unlock it? A focused mind can help bring the creative spark to the surface of consciousness. The mind constantly caught up in one distraction after another, on the other hand, may be forever removed from its creative potential.”

Makes you think twice about answering emails on your Blackberry during your next project brainstorming meeting, doesn’t it?

Cultivating the Focused Mind

Chronic mental stimulation (agitation?) is such a common and expected mode of operating that, for many, it can be uncomfortable to even experiment with “uni-tasking.”

Interested in exploring what genius of yours may be skirting the edge of your distracted mind? In the next two days, challenge yourself by selecting a project that is begging for your attention. Shut your office door. Turn your email off. Let your phone go to voicemail. Now, commit to yourself that you will focus solely on that project for 1 hour. Notice what happens in that hour—is your heart rate lower? Do you work more rapidly? More creatively? With more satisfaction?

Hmmmm… maybe it’s worth creating more uni-tasking time in your day.

If you don’t answer my next call, I’ll know what you’re doing.

Kristin Keffeler, MSM, is a business development and leadership coach who specializes in supporting entrepreneurs and business leaders who are ready to focus their innate drive for high performance and differentiate their services in the market by building the courage and capacity to bring their Big Ideas to life.