Newsletter Head
September 2006 BulletProof Success Coaching
Here's a "Two-For":
Reduce Tension.
Save Money.
  First, Answer These Questions:
1. Do you see people, events as they really are? Do you think you are objective and your beliefs are free from distortion? YES NO

2. Do you think other fair-minded people will share your views provided they have the same info you do about a given topic or situation? YES NO

3. When other people don't share your views there are three possible explanations:
a. They haven't been told the truth.
b. They are too lazy or stupid to reach the correct interpretation.
c. They are biased by self-interest, dogma or ideology.
YES (to any of the 3 explanations)
NO (to any of the 3 explanations)

Dr. Lee D. Ross has research to show that any "Yes" answers to the above puts you at risk to loosing money. And how does that happen? "Yes" answers are "dangerous convictions" as he calls them because they position a person to be relatively non-negotiable and easily polarized. Polarized ways of functioning can lead to conflict and tension in corporate structure.

Tension costs you money. With the tension that comes from unresolved conflict, you and others you work with focus less on cooperative endeavors and achievements and more on ego, turf wars and other peoples' faults rather than each person themselves and getting his or her own job done.

Just as with driving a car, the probability of accident goes way up when we're focused on other drivers rather than our own driving.

If you are concerned that you or your corporation are wasting time and profit due to higher levels of tension, ask me about the calming effect of the "Neutral Third". That's the benefit a good coach can bring to your work place.
Paul W. Anderson, Bulletproof Coach

The Tools of Leadership: Polarities
John Heider   Leadership Strategies for a New Age
All behavior consists of opposites or polarities. If I do anything more and more, over and over, its polarity will appear. For example, striving to be beautiful makes a person ugly, and trying too hard to be kind is a form of selfishness. Any over-determined behavior produces its opposite.

Knowing how polarities work, the wise leader does not push to make things happen, but allows process to unfold on its own.
The leader teaches by example rather than by lecturing others on how they ought to be.
The leader knows that constant interventions will block the groups process. The leader does not insist that things come out a certain way.

Forget About The Voice Of Conscience
John Wareham   Listen Instead To Your Own Inner Voice
Most people mistakenly follow the voice of conscience when they should be listening to the voice of their own selves. Emerson called this voice the "inner gleam" and wrote:

"A man should learn to watch that gleam of light which flashes across his mind from within, more than the luster of the firmament, of bards and sages. Yet he dismisses without notice his thought, because it is his. In every work of genius we recognize our own thoughts: they come back to us with a certain alienated majesty. Great works of art have no more abiding lesson for us than this. They teach us to abide by our own spontaneous impression with good-natured inflexibility when the whole cry of voices is on the other side."

Remember, it is more important to follow the inner gleam in the big things than in the small things. The "housekeeping" of life---working out what route to take to get to work, when to schedule servicing on the car, and so on---can be handled consciously. But life's big decisions---whom to marry, what vocation to pursue---are best handled by the inner gleam. Most people get all this upside down. They trust the inner gleam on the small things, and mistakenly worry and fret over the big things. They're like the tennis player who tries to control the big points and ends up "choking" instead. The champion just goes ahead and does it, without fretting!

Now It's Your Turn
   
You've heard from me, had some of my thoughts. I'd like to hear from you. What are your concerns about coaching? Do you have questions about how coaching can help you and/or your company? What topics are of interest to you in future newsletters?
 
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phone: 913-901-9110
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