Data has such a crucial role to play in GIRFT (Getting It Right First Time) that it's important we move beyond seeing it as an enemy or something that just doesn't make any sense. For too many people, that's exactly what it is, and I hear all too often that "the data is wrong". It's like the data chose to make some people's lives hell. But is it wrong? Is it the enemy? Well, let's get something straight from the start. Data does not have a personality. It can't be wrong of its own accord, it doesn't choose to make your life difficult. However data entry can be wrong. Data analysis can be wrong. But data itself, no that cannot be wrong.
What happens then? Why do some people believe that data is wrong? Sometimes it's because people have never used data before. Over time they've got used to anecdotes, opinion, belief as versions of truth. As humans, we're great at getting ourselves to believe a perception of events. And we usually opt for the version that suits us best. When data is presented as evidence, and that data conflicts with previously held beliefs of what was considered to be fact, people think something has to be wrong. It's inevitable that the person with the belief will jump on the one thing that is obvious to them - the data must be wrong. Can data ever be wrong? Kind of, yes - in terms of the data was input incorrectly, or we collected data that wasn't relevant. People make mistakes, they categorise things incorrectly at the point of data entry, and at times the system only allows them to input data in a particular way, which doesn't match the reality of the situation. All of this can lead to data that conflicts with reality. And then of course there are those people who manipulate situations to enable data to demonstrate something different from reality. What I mean by that is that there are those smarts who realise that if they adjust a little part of the process, it results in the data being entered at a different part in that process ... thereby giving the appearance that one thing is the cause of a problem when in truth something else was the cause. So in reality, most of the time when data appears to be wrong, it is in fact correct, and simply needs to be understood and used as a baseline (or a starting point) to inform what's going on. How can we make sense of data then? Start by understanding what the numbers are telling you. Are they showing you an absolute number or an average? Does it show you a maximum and a minimum? Is it about the actual number of something against target? Once you understand what the numbers are about, you can then identify if this is what you need to know about - if not, you may require different data to be collected. Next you can begin to analyse what the data is demonstrating over a period of time. How is the data distributed? Does it show you a high level of variance? Is there a trend of improvement or worsening? Can you identify how close to or far from target you are? Now you're moving away from data being so damned difficult, and getting it to work for you. But what if the data still seems to be wrong? Well, now it's time to do what's referred to as data cleansing. This means you remove any data that is skewing the results because it's been input incorrectly; changing the factors or categories that you collect data under; and correcting incorrect data. And if the data doesn't seem to be correct then do an audit. Collect data at source, collect data at more than one point in the process, collect data with a narrative. This will give you clarity about whether the data is correct ... and will probably highlight the areas where it's being manipulated. After all that, if the data still appears to be wrong, well, now it's time for you to admit the truth. You might just need to change your mindset and accept what the data is telling you. From there you can take actions to change your practice, change how you work, so that you achieve target and deliver the best work you can do. Use your BI team I'm really lucky at my local Trust - the BI (Business Intelligence) team are fabulous and really helpful, and the coding team couldn't be a bigger support. But I hear that's not the way for everyone working on GIRFT. You might need to help your BI team to understand what you are working on and what you need. And your coding team might need to support people in your project areas to input data correctly. Use the resources you have around you, collect the data in whatever way you can. Your data will show you patterns, trends, variations and correlations. It promotes transparency and helps you become more efficient. And it makes sure you are fit for purpose for the new way of working in the NHS. Data is your new best friend ... even if it can be a little difficult at times. GIRFT, the Getting It Right First Time change programme that is rippling through the NHS, is possibly the first piece of work I've come across in 30 years of working on transformation where we're returning to the basic elements of Total Quality Management - TQM.
You may remember that TQM was developed in Japan after WW2 because the whole country needed rebuilding. There are 8 principles underpinning TQM which we also see as the foundations of GIRFT:
Introducing The Leadership PyramidWorking on the GIRFT programme at my local Trust, I recently asked a colleague what they thought the role of a leader was. I was shocked at the naivety of the response from someone so far on in their career. The answer was that a leader asks their colleagues what they want, and then makes sure they get that. Now, if like me you've managed staff, you'll know that's a recipe for disaster. Each person in the team has their own perspective of what is required, often not aligned to the strategic direction. And then when they don't get what they each wanted, there are battles ahead. "You promised me ...", "I thought we were getting ...", "Why did they get what they asked for and I didn't get what I asked for?" and so on. I partly blame the move away from using the words supervision and management in the NHS - people don't know what it is they are doing as a leader because they never learned what to do as a manager or supervisor. And worst still, staff don't know how to respond to being managed or supervised anymore. If you're older like me you'll have started work in the days where we were supervised, and as we progressed up the ladder, that changed into management. The difference was the supervision meant your work and behaviour was watched more closer than when you were managed. A manager trusts you to work within boundaries, where a supervisor makes sure you stick to those boundaries. Your manager sets you a goal over a month or more and leaves you to achieve it, checking in on you from time to time; a supervisor oversees your work as you deliver the goal, and the goals are generally delivered in days or even hours. The supervisor is concerned with short-term output; the manager is focused on medium to long-term outputs with the additional element of trust in the person doing the work (both their motivation to deliver and their ability). And then somewhere along the decades we stopped referring to management and supervision in the NHS, and it all morphed into leadership. Now, I don't have a problem with the change to the word leadership. A supervisor can lead just as much as a manager can. In fact you don't even need to be a supervisor or manager to be a leader - disrupters can be exceptional leaders within a team. However I do think we've lost something in the process of language change. It's almost as if we have become scared of making sure staff do what they're paid to do. It's like we shouldn't hold people to account anymore. And in the NHS where I've spent a large part of my career the move to leadership over management has lead to a lot of people crying the bullying card when they are simply being managed. That's not a good place to reach. To Understand What's Going On We Need to Understand Leadership ... Leadership is more about the way you do something. A leader inspires people, encourages, them, supports them, engages them in the activity. In fact, it's often said that a leader enables people to willingly do something they don't want to do. To achieve this leaders communicate clearly what the vision is so that they can give people a sense of purpose. They help people to understand what their role is, giving them a clear understanding of their responsibilities and the boundaries they're working within. And leaders then hold people to account for completing their work within those boundaries. In order to achieve this, leaders encourage, engage, support and develop their staff so that they can keep going when things get tough. Is everyone a leader? No, not at all, even when they carry the title of leader. In fact I've come across many a person who describes themselves as a leader who then uses dictatorial and authoritarian methods of working. These kind of 'leaders' are focused purely on the output, on their way of delivering the output, and in getting the results no matter what. They work in a reactive way and often struggle to see the impact they are having on the delivery of tasks. These kind of 'leaders' generally become bullies in their attempts to get people to do what's required of them. But in my experience, so many of them become this kind of leader because they got no support in developing their supervisory or management skills as they developed through the ranks. They were left guessing without support from their own manager. So we have employees who cry bully when they're being managed, and we have 'leaders' who supervise people in a bullying manner, mostly because they don't know what else to do. Plus, thankfully, we have some people in the middle that are actually leaders who inspire others, and achieve remarkable things with apparently little effort. Is There Anything We Can Do To Create More Inspirational Leaders? I believe there is, yes. In fact, it's crucial we do. And the easiest way to do this is to go back to basics. Straight off, we need more people who understand what is required of them as a leader at different levels in the NHS. Below is The Leadership Pyramid that I developed for an NHS Trust that was on the journey from 'good' to 'outstanding' as defined by the CQC, but it applies to any organisation. The Leadership Pyramid helps leaders to understand the competencies required of them at different points in their career, as well as highlighting the behaviours, attitudes, skills and knowledge of a great leader. Take a look at the point where you are at in your career, and identify what is expected of you as a leader. For example, if you are a Band 7 team manager with aspirations to progress to a more senior role, you need to make sure you have grasped the link between operational management and strategic management. You are the bi-linguist - the manager who has to translate the strategy into operational activity for the staff, and the operational output into strategic progression for the more senior colleagues above you. Do you do this? Have you developed that understanding of the wider picture of how your Trust runs? Do you know how your team links in with other parts of the organisation, or what impacts you are having on others? I have found in my career that many managers struggle when they get to a strategic role at a Band 8a and above because they have yet to understand the strategic element of the senior part of the leadership journey. Additionally, they keep hold of too much operational activity - they fail to stop doing things. And this is generally because throughout their career they carried on doing the work of the job they were doing before they were promoted. As a result, we have more and more senior staff delivering more and more junior work. STOP! It's time for you to deliver at the level you are working at. The Leadership PyramidWith The Leadership Pyramid, it recognises that we are all leaders, no matter where we are in an organisation, and so we all have things we can do in our role as a personal leader. Our next role is as an operational leader, which is the position where we guide day-to-day operations and then move into linking the strategy with operational activity. And then we progress into strategic leadership roles where we provide direction for others to work to. Finally, the people at the top of the pyramid create the vision and set the culture by how they work and how they treat others.
Once you've got to grips with what The Leadership Pyramid is telling you about what is expected of you at your level, it's time to think about how you develop your expertise as a leader. Most people think in terms of training courses, however there are so many other ways to develop as a leader. Have you got a mentor? You can generally identify someone from within the NHS who will mentor you for free. Alternatively, you can ask your manager to help you develop specific parts of your leadership journey, such as giving you feedback on reports you write, discussing difficult staff conversations with you before you undertake them, or having you to chair a meeting on their behalf. There are also many books you can read or listen to on Audible, and it doesn't cost much to learn through books. I love these books:
Enjoy! I'm currently working on a fabulous project for my local hospitals Trust - and it's called GIRFT. Now, I hear you - what the heck is GIRFT, right? Simple, really - Getting It Right First Time. And who wouldn't want their hospital to get it right first time, hey?
Over the coming weeks I thought I'd share some of my story of managing this programme of work - the ups and the downs - so that you can learn a little bit about how the process of improvement and change works in large organisations. But first, let's start with a little history. GIRFT is the brainchild of Professor Tim Briggs, an orthopaedic surgeon who noticed that there is considerable variation in the NHS - variation between hospitals, between specialties, between consultants and nursing staff, between management processes. So he researched what equates to best practice, and then by using data he identified areas where there was unnecessary variation. His work on GIRFT has made such a significant change within the NHS to date that he is now the National Director for Clinical Improvement. Why does variation matter? Well, it matters a lot because variation leads to higher infection rates after surgical procedures, it leads to higher mortality rates, and it leads to unnecessarily higher costs. It can also lead to mistakes, inefficiencies and waste. I'm sure we can agree, none of this is acceptable, so the variation has to go. The start of the process is collecting data, so that it can be used to present facts. Over my 30 years of experience of working on change in organisations I've found that people love to tell stories - but anecdotes and perception often jar with data and reality. So the data tells the story. It's fair to say this is where the first hurdle often comes, and that's been my experience with my local hospitals. It's human nature to believe we are doing the best that we can do, but in truth we have to set aside our beliefs and instead work with knowledge and facts. But not everyone is used to reading and understanding data, so it's important to make it mean something to the people who are using it. Otherwise they have every right to believe in their anecdotes because that is something that makes sense to them. So the learning from this first stage of working with GIRFT:
When someone feels aggrieved they're generally very quick to start talking about their rights. And yet not so fast to talk about their responsibilities. Then add on accountability, and they'll be even less likely to shout from the rooftops. So what's the difference between the two?
Let's start with accountability. When you're told by your manager to do something, you are expected to provide assurance that you have done what you said you'd do. You are answerable for delivery and results. If you can't demonstrate the results you've achieved, then you will be held to account which means you must let your manager know why you didn't deliver. You are accountable for your actions. When it comes to responsibility, this takes accountability one step further and is about your duty which will result in you taking credit for delivery, or blame for failure to deliver. You could be responsible for the actions of others as well as yourself. And what about rights? These are entitlements, what you are owed. You cannot have rights without responsibilities, and yet a lot of people act as if they are owed something without having any duties attached. So you have the right to free speech, and you have the responsibility to treat others with respect. You take on a responsibility in exchange for your right to do or be something. How does this all affect you in the workplace?
Let's look at an example. You have the right to work in a safe place. Your manager has the responsibility to make sure that space is safe to work. If you have an accident in the workplace, your employer is accountable for not keeping you safe. Here's another one. You have the right to an uninterrupted 20 minute break if you are working for more than 6 hours in a day. You have the responsibility to turn up to work on time, and to leave no earlier than the end of your shift. You are accountable for working the hours you are paid for. So next time you find yourself shouting about your rights, remember, you have responsibilities and accountabilities as well. It's a tough one when things are going bad at work. And you're likely to react emotionally to it all. When you think your boss has got it in for you, there are a few simple steps I want you to follow.
Let's get something straight. There is no such thing as a work life balance. There is and can only ever be life balance. Your work, and how you work, is part of that life balance. So it's time to ditch the work life balance and instead look at what you are doing to create balance in your life.
As I'm ditching the work part of the balance, let's start in the workplace. I'm going to assume a few things about your approach to work, and I think it's looking a little bit like this:
If this description is in any way similar to your life (or it's part of the culture you work in, which means that you're in danger of getting dragged along with this work approach), you need to introduce some Rules To Live By - and fast! Rules To Live By are your boundaries and principles. They help you to put the balance in your life with little effort. Here's some things you can think about introducing to your Rules To Live By:
It's time to create your own rules to live by, ditch the work life balance, and choose to create a life of balance. You owe it to your future self. So your assignment, if you're prepared to accept it, is to develop your set of rules to live by ... and then little by little develop new habits that help you do just that. There are some things we accept we can't do, some things we need to be trained to do, some things we need to develop over time, and some things we have the talent for. Without the skills, the knowledge, the ability, the talent we can't do some things, which can hinder our progression in our career.
And then there are those things that can make a big difference and don't require any talent at all. So if you're moaning that things are not going your way, that you're not getting the promotions, that you're getting overlooked for interesting projects, take a look at these 10 things that require no talent. Are you doing them all?
It doesn't take much to get noticed - for the negative things as much as the positive things. Make 2019 the year you get noticed for the positive, and put into action the 10 things that require no talent. Working as a consultant and coach I'm regularly charged with the task of dealing with the problem, getting rid of it. And yet working with the problem you have is generally the perfect starting point. Changing things, undertaking transformation all takes time to deliver. Working with the problem you have is something you can do now, today.
The problem you have is unhappy staff - work with the problem and be kind to each person individually. If you don't trust them, begin by giving them the benefit of the doubt. If they annoy you, begin by finding one thing about the person in front of you that you can like about them ... even if it's simply the colour of their eyes or their hairstyle. The problem you have is complaining customers - work with the problem and start by listening to what the customer is complaining about, without interruption. And finish with 'I am sorry'. No ifs, buts or explanations. Quite simply, working with the problem of complaining customers begins with listening and unconditionally apologising. The problem you have is that you don't have the skills for the promotion you want. Start by being clear with yourself about what skills you do have. Are these skills enough to get the promotion or do you need to get some additional training? The problem you have is you can't get a parking spot in the mornings close to work. Park further away and get fitter by walking for 10 or 15 minutes. Whatever problem you have, there is always a way to work with the problem you've got. I've worked in a lot of different companies and organisations, both as an employee and as a consultant and coach. One common thing I hear is this - 'it's different here'. I've been told that in industry (high tech, FMCG, digital goods), in higher education, in councils, in the NHS, in micro businesses and SMEs. I've been told this in the UK, the US and in countries throughout Europe. Everyone believes it's different in their sector, where they are, doing what they do.
I've got news for you, it's not different where you are. There's one thing common through all sectors, all types of business, all countries in the west - people. And people are remarkably similar regardless of the sector they work in. You get your bossy ones, your pushy ones, the networker, the shy one, the ideas person, the risk taker, the risk averse ... honestly, you get them all in every walk of life. What is different is the TLAs people use - you know, the Three Letter Abbreviations! Actually, the NHS is brilliant at FLAs - Five Letter Abbreviations! But once you know what they are, you're back to the same old, same old. People. And so there is one crucial thing to get to know, to understand, and that's how people tick. Read the research about people in organisations, get to grips with the psychology of a business, understand the social mores of how a place ticks. Spend time getting to know the individuals you encounter in your workplace. When you get under the skin (sorry!) of people you will be able to better understand where you fit in, what your role is, how you can make a difference. Because whatever is different where you work, people will always be people. I always feel like this time of year is the time I want to set goals, make plans, reflect on the year to come. Maybe that comes from having been conditioned into an academic year throughout my formative years, but January never feels like the right time to reflect and plan.
And so I generally ask myself this question. Have you given up on yourself? It's not an easy question to answer, because obviously I want to answer that I haven't given up on myself. Why would I? But if I've not done the things I promised myself, if I sabotaged the results I was aiming for, if I ignored the opportunities that stared me in the face, then yes, I gave up on myself. Some years ago I had 2 colleagues who felt that their manager and the team they were in had given up on them. They complained that they got overlooked when it came to interesting projects, and they felt like they were getting sidelined. One also moaned about how she was convinced her fixed term contract would not get extended. The reality was, they'd given up on themselves. Here's the things I pointed out to them:
I only spent 30 minutes coaching them about this, and what a difference it made to them. We had the coaching session on the Friday, and one came in on the Monday with a new hair cut and a new outfit. The other had smartened her image up within a week. They both changed their email signatures. And they both made sure that every piece of work that was outstanding got finished within 2 weeks. They both started to smile more, and whilst I am sure they still went outside for their smoke breaks, they stopped making a point of it happening. All in all, they began to believe in themselves again. Within 3 months both had applied for and got new jobs, promotions. And a couple of years on they are both still in those jobs, making a difference, and are happy doing what they do. So I ask you, have you given up on yourself? What signals are you giving off to others around you that you no longer care, that you can't be bothered, that it's all about you and your wants and needs, and not about your contribution to the team? It's time to reflect, do a stock take on where you are at, and begin making changes now. We've all heard the saying - people buy from people. And that means that from the moment someone meets you they are making a judgement about you. They are deciding if they like you, trust you, value you - and if they will 'buy' from you, even if that buying process is buying into an idea in the workplace.
Accepting this is happening, we need to be fully aware of the brand we put out there - oh yes, in case you thought it was optional, having a personal brand is happening right now, whether or not you have worked on developing that personal brand. People are judging you based on your opinions, values, the things you say or don't say, what you do or don't do - even their interpretation of your facial expressions and body language. People are making their mind up about you based on how you dress, how you do your hair, what shoes you're wearing (and maybe even whether or not those shoes are clean). The difficult thing is, when we do personal branding by accident we have no idea if other people are judging us well or deciding they don't want to be associated with us. And we have no idea if that accidental personal brand reflects how we want to be known. This is where purposeful personal branding comes in. It's time to decide what you want to be known for, how you want to be recognised, why it is that people will remember you. Some of the purposeful personal branding is about your appearance, how you look, the image you portray (just think Steve Jobs and his trademark black top), and some of it is about your values, beliefs, morals, opinions, statements. When did you last write out what it is that you want to be known for? When did you think through and own your opinions without worrying what others might think or say? Unless you did this in the last 3-4 months, you need to work on your personal brand. You might find the following questions helpful to get you started:
Have you ever caught yourself saying that you're good at multi-tasking? Do you fill your day doing more than one things at a time? The only thing is, multi-tasking is now known not to work. In fact it is more likely to lower your IQ, increase your stress levels and decrease your productivity levels. Yet many of us have convinced ourselves that it works for us.
Researchers at Stanford University discovered that the more inclined you are to multitask, the less able you are to actual deliver on the multitasking, whereas someone who just multitasks on the odd occasion may find it does actually work for them. Additionally, University of Sussex researchers found that cognitive ability is impaired long-term when we are regular multi-taskers. This means that instead of functioning well when we multi-task, over time we are actually making ourselves less efficient. But what of those people who swear by their ability to multi-task? Well, it seems that those who think they are successful at it may in fact be good at multi-layering. This is when you do one task whilst in part being involved in another task. For example, if you're waiting in line, or travelling a long journey, you may be able to do some other mental processing activity because the first task doesn't require much mental attention from you (as long as you're not driving!). Other ways you can multi-layer are to listen to an audio book whilst walking the dog, going through your voicemail whilst tidying your desk, or reflecting on your day as you iron your outfit for the next day. Researchers believe it's important for us to understand the difference between multi-layering and multi-tasking, and to combine our tasks in the context of layering so that we can maximise the benefits without impacting on our anterior cingulate cortex, the region of the brain that is concerned with empathy along with cognitive and emotional control. Multi-layering is a strategic approach to your work, and one that is done with purpose. It's about combining activities that are not competing against each other - the competing element being the part that reduces our abilities to function at our best. And remember, multi-tasking could be your way of multi-avoiding. After all, who will criticise the person who is working so hard that they're doing 3 things at once. If you're ready to function at your best level, though, it's time to flick the switch. Turn off your multi-tasking, your multi-avoiding, and turn on your multi-layering. Give your brain the chance it deserves to function at its best and give yourself a break from trying to be the perfect person who can do everything at once. I've yet to meet Superwoman - but when I do, I now know her brain is deteriorating on her more and more for every day that she shows off her multi-tasking prowess. That makes me feel so much better! There was a time when fear had a stranglehold on me - it stopped me in my tracks and I couldn't do anything much at all. I'd read Susan Jeffer's book, Feel The Fear And Do It Anyway (great book by the way), but I wasn't taking any notice of what I'd learned from it. And then one day I realised something. Fear is actually necessary. It's part of our human DNA. I'd got it all wrong - it wasn't that fear should be something for me to avoid, but rather fear needs to be something I welcome into my life.
You see, fear is actually a semi colon, not a full-stop. It's warning for us to check things out. It's something we need to keep us alert. And yet many of us take fear as a sign to stop and do nothing. We're paralysed by fear like the rabbit caught in the headlights. Fear is such a strong emotion, and it's one we're taught to avoid from quite young. We're shown how to walk away from it, how to avoid it altogether, how to hide from it. But fear is important to us - it is supposed to be there to galvanise us into action, to inspire us, to help us push our boundaries a little further. It builds our confidence, and helps us to achieve things we didn't know was possible. Since I turned 50 in 2012 I have been working on a list of 50 things to do in my 50s. Some of them have been quite easy to do, like being a tourist in Liverpool for the day. But many have really stretched me, and have required me to face up to my fears. I used to think that I had a fear of heights. Apparently not! I now go climbing almost every week because I added bouldering to my list of things. I've also done stand-up comedy, and sung in public on a stage ... in front of an audience! I've gone on the zip wire (OMG when can I do that again!), and I've cycled 173 miles in 3 days as I cycled from one side of England to the other. The fear there was all about whether I had the endurance to do such a thing - and yes, I do. Doing these 50 things in my 50s is challenging me to go beyond my fears, and the more I do that, the easier it is for me to face up to fear, and to use fear as my friend. It's said that both the hero and the coward face the same fear, the difference between them is that the hero takes that fear and turns into a fire in the belly that gives the hero an inner strength to go further. Are you ready to turn your fear into fire? What can you do today that pushes the boundaries of your fear and turns it into a positive thing for you? You're not happy in work, so you decide to set up your own business. You've likely read plenty of posts that tell you the sure-fire ways to succeed in, but little is said about the best ways to fail in business. Why does that matter? Because when we know what encourages failure we're better equipped to spot the triggers and the signs of failure before it takes a stranglehold on our business. Here are my 3 best ways to fail in business.
And so if you do these three things you're pretty much guaranteed failure - but let's get something clear. Failure isn't a bad thing. Failure can be some of the best learning we'll ever get. It can help us grow, and it can be a fundamental part of your future success. Remember, some really famous people failed many times before they encountered success. Oprah was fired from her TV job; J.K. Rowling had Harry Potter rejected by 12 major publishers before Bloomsbury took the risk with her first book; Bill Gates failed with his first business; it took Henry Ford 3 attempts to get things right with his business; and Walt Disney's first business ended in bankruptcy. Great reminders that failure can be part of the journey to success. But here's a thought, instead of accepting the inevitability of failure, if running your own business really fires you up, why not give it a go, become a failure spotter in your business, and make the tweaks as you go so that you can enjoy success after success. You've got to admit, it's worth a try! What a silly question, right? If we're not working to succeed, then what are we working for? The money? Blah, I don't believe you are only working for the money. The truth is, I see so many people who feel they don't deserve success, people who sabotage their success, people who walk (or is that work) straight into the best ways to fail. There are some things that make it so easy to succeed - and 4 must-do's will make all the difference for you. Are you ready for them? Stop Doing We all have things that we spend time on that really we should be giving up on. It's time to stop. For example you may be spending time on activities that are best done by someone else (maybe these are even things that are somebody else's job!), or perhaps you're wasting time on activities that it's really not worth the effort. Perhaps you've developed some less than helpful routines, like telling yourself the work has to be perfect, chatting to colleagues at the water cooler ... even if it means that you are late delivering your work. Throughout my career I've come across people who work through lunch, get to work early, stay late - and they tell us all that they are just so busy. And yet if you observe these people (maybe you are one of them), they are generally disorganised, and their work is actually suffering for the long hours. Heck, I was one of these people! And I know that now I am organised, now I take breaks, now I work on my most important tasks first I seldom have urgent work, I generally am more effective, and I am so much more relaxed and happy. Time to be honest with yourself. What do you need to stop doing? Set yourself the challenge of stopping one thing today so that you can free up time for yourself. Start Doing As well as working on things we don't need to do, we have a tendency to avoid doing things we know will bring bring us success - like sales calls, talking to people, letting people know what we need them to do in a timely manner, writing the report. Now it may be that you lack skills, and that's why you've not yet started doing something. That's great - what are you going to do to learn those skills, to develop them? But you also know that there is something you are not doing even though you know how to do it - come on, it's time to get working on it. Small starts that you can keep up are better than sudden full on activity that you give up on again within days. Take those small steps now, today. Do More Of There are some things that we do that in truth we don't do often enough or regularly enough - you know those things that give you a little boost and then you don't do again for another few weeks or months. These are the things you need to do more of. When you know that an activity works for you, then you know it's worth replicating to achieve success. Probably the one thing that most people need to do more of is networking (be that in work or in running your own business) - which comes from going to the meetings you think are boring, from doing more of telling people what it is that you do, from showing people you are interessted in them (that is so important), and from making it easy for others to connect with you by emailing them and thanking them for their time. Do Less Of It's important to question whether you are the right person to be doing some of the activity you are engaged in. Some activity is part of your job and requires you to be doing the work - other tasks support what you do and can be conducted by someone else. We all get caught up in tasks that we are competent at, but for success you must look for the ways that you can outsource work, or just keep quiet instead of volunteering all the time. And that is the supporting tasks. Are you the one who always offers to 'be mum' when it comes to sorting out the drinks before the meetings? Whilst this is very nice of you, do you realise that you are positioning yourself within the context of the meeting as the person who 'just' organises the drinks for every meeting? What about minute taking? It's an easy enough task during the meeting and certainly keeps you occupied if you don't think you have much to contribute. The only trouble is, during the meeting you'll be too pre-occupied to get involved in with the discussions, and you've just given yourself more work to do after the meeting. When you get into the habit of doing less of these kind of things, this will enable you to then concentrate on doing more of what positions you within your workplace - but watch out for the common mistake! So many people who do less of something then fail to increase their profile or their activity on something else. Prepare yourself for this happening by going back to the 'do more of' section of this exercise. Going through these 4 tasks is a continuous process. It's worth asking yourself on a monthly basis what you need to stop doing, start doing, do more of and do less of. By the way, you might enjoy this little interlude - I love this Bob Newhart sketch, Stop It! You're unhappy at work, your career isn't going where you hoped it would, your business isn't working out as you'd expected, your relationship is on rocky ground, maybe you're feeling depressed or you get angry about things that never used to bug you. What's going on?
It's simple. There is one thing that is the root of most issues that we experience in life and in our work whether that's working for an employer or running our own business. That one thing? Control. Or rather perceived control. That's control over our life, over our work, over our environment and more. Chances are, if you are in a rut, you are likely to be feeling that you don't have control, in one way or another. The worst cases demonstrate that people feel like they have no control over any aspect of their life. What happens when there is this sense of no control? We may get depressed, possibly clinically depressed, maybe we'll find decision-making difficult, possibly we'll be experiencing stress, illness or keep having accidents, large or small. This is our mind and our body reacting to the perceived lack of control. Is there anything you can do if you become aware that control is an issue for you? Yes, definitely.
I once got to a stage where I felt I had no control in life, in fact I felt like life wasn't worth living as a result of what was happening around me, and I tried to take my life. Thankfully I didn't (obviously!), and I am very happy now, but it took some work, I can tell you. So I'm talking from experience, and I promise you, it's ok to be at rock bottom. It's ok to feel like shit. It's ok to feel not ok. I make no apology for telling you the truth - somebody has to say it. This is why your business is failing.
Let's get the cards on the table here - when I talk about over-qualifying yourself I'm not talking about qualifications, exams, courses and the like. I'm talking about the habit too many of us have of qualifying our statements about ourselves, our business, our expertise, our qualifications. It seems that humility may have taken over to the level of being a disorder for some people, when in fact our business needs less humility and more confidence! It seems that humility may have taken over to the level of being a disorder for some people Now for the record, I'm not saying that you should not be humble at times as humility does have it's place, but let's remember what the word means. Humility comes from the latin word humilis which means low - and that's something we need to keep in mind when we put ourselves down, when we adopt a humble approach. We are putting ourselves into a low position relative to others around us. We are using modesty to the point of devaluing ourselves, and in fact the definition of humility tells us that it means meekness and a lack of pride. Our businesses deserve more, we deserve more. You've heard of self-harming, right? Well humility is in danger of taking you down the road of business-harming. It's time to stop! Much of the humility we adopt is something we don't even notice, though. My anecdotal evidence (and please challenge me on this if you know otherwise) is that there are a great many people who struggle to accept compliments, who put themselves down when someone says they're doing a great job, that they look great, or whatever. We put ourselves down so often, most people don't even realise they doing it. And one way we do that most is by using the qualifiers - and in many cases over-qualifying. You see, many people, particularly women, use qualifier words such as think, believe, just, only, kind of, ok, sort of, quite ... and other similar words with such regularity even when they have every right to own the pride in their achievements and in what they do that they no longer notice they are saying these things. I know you've heard it all too - "Oh, I'm just a stay-at-home-mum", "I'm just admin", "I only got a degree but my husband got an MBA", "I'm kind of good at what I do", "I sort of know how to do that", "I think I'm quite good maths" .... we've heard them all and many of us have used them too. Many people, particularly women use qualifier words such as think, believe, just, only, kind of, ok, sort of, quite ... These qualifiers position women - and it's not a positioning that we benefit from. You see, men are less inclined to use qualifiers when they talk about something, and so is it any wonder that many men find it easier to succeed in what they do? The reason for this is that qualifiers add to the humility that we adopt - which indicates to others that we put ourselves down, that we are placing ourselves in a lower position. It's a more discrete way of adopting a humble position than saying something like "oh this old thing", but nonetheless the use of qualifiers demeans us, it lowers us, and it suggests a lack of confidence.
Do you use qualifiers? How often do you use them? What about the use of the word "sorry" when you didn't even do anything? The use of qualifiers, and the over-use of qualifiers along with the word sorry are great indicators that you may not be feeling confident in work, and you may be downplaying your expertise, the very thing that your future successes depend on. Here are the 4 steps you can use to put the qualifiers to bed, and to believe in who you are.
What do you do when you notice that you are over-qualifying to the point of putting yourself down? What do you say when your life partner asks you a question about your business? Ignore them? Tell them it's none of their business? Start telling them about this dreadful customer you've got who won't pay you and immediately regret it because you feel like you're being judged? I've heard so many stories of people saying they'd never have their husband or wife in their business, tales of how they don't even discuss business with their other half. And yet I have found over the years that both my husband and my daughter are a great asset to my business. I'm not just talking about the times when it's all hands on deck and I've needed them stuffing envelopes or collating documents ready for stapling together. Both of them have also been a great sounding board for me. It didn't start out that way, though. In the early days my husband used to really irritate me because all I wanted to do was to get something off my chest but he felt it necessary to tell me what I should have done. And with my daughter I used to feel like telling her that at 10 years old she didn't know anything about business! What do you do when your life partner asks you a question about your business? Boy did I have a lot to learn! Because you see, having a business isn't something we do separate from our family. Our business has one of two impacts on the family. It either drains the family, or it contributes to the family. It can drain in terms of taking finance away from the family purse, or taking you away from spending time with your family, taking your energy so that you've none left when it comes to family time, even making it that you miss important things in the lives of your family all because you've something you've got to do in the business. When it comes to contributing, obviously our business can contribute financially, but we also contribute through our mood, our energy levels, what we have time to do with and for the family. I used to work so hard that even though I contributed more to the family financially than my husband did, I was always too tired to cook, clean or just sit and chatter, having a giggle. The result? My contribution to the family was not what any of us would have hoped for, with a dark cloud hanging over me most of the time. You don't want that in your life, I know. And this is where involving your life partner in your business can actually work for you. Ask yourself this: when did you last hide something about your business from your family? Did you spend money on a course and conveniently not get around to telling your husband or wife? Have you invested in a website or some platform to support your business such as a customer relationship management system, but you've not got around to telling the other half about the investment because you know it's a lot of money? Ask yourself this: when did you last hide something about your business from your family? Hiding things from our loved ones is not a great approach in business. In fact, I'd go as far as to say that you need to share what's going on in your business with your life partner, and maybe teenage or grown-up children too. Making decisions in isolation can lead to poor decision making - and you know, the very fact that our close family are the people who will be most honest with us means that it provides us with a different perspective before we make decisions. And this is particularly important when it comes to financial decisions.
But how can we make it work? It's all too easy for the conversations about our business with the other half to turn into arguments, disagreements, and territorial behaviour. I'd recommend these 3 steps to keep you sane, keep your relationship healthy, and keep your business yours.
It can work, and it's worth the efforts you will need to put in. Remember, this approach may take a few false starts, you may still have a few arguments to get to the point where you can get your life partner to take on their non-executive role, and that's ok - it doesn't mean it's time to give up, instead it means it's time to check in with why the conversations are not working. Which of you is struggling, and how might you approach the discussions differently so that you can turn this into a benefit for you and for your business. My own personal experience has been that it was worth the process of finding out how my husband could support me in my business - even though some of our arguments were not great (I will always remember the one where I suggested divorce over a difficulty with my printer! Hmmmm just as well he didn't listen to me!) What things help you to involve your life partner in your business? Leave a comment below. |
Hello!Welcome to the Journal. This is where I post musings, learning, tips and ideas. |