In a conversation with a business colleague today we talked about the need for more leaders to understand the concept of empowerment and how the creation of an empowerment culture in their organizations could be pivotal to their success.

During a meeting with the senior executive team of a major manufacturing company, I had them choose where they thought they were on a corporate growth stage continuum.  They were to pick at  which stage they thought their company was and explain why they chose it.  They could describe their culture as either Directing, Involving, Delegating or Empowering.  Then they were to choose in which stage they would want their company to be.

They thought they were in ‘delegating’ and they wanted to be in ’empowering’.  We then gave them a questionnaire and a set of criteria which together would determine at which stage they really were and just what they needed to do to move to their desired stage.  Through this step they came to realize they were in ‘involving’ and actually wanted to be in ‘involving’.  The shock of this reality gave us the opportunity to help them understand what is really required to create these higher levels of corporate culture.  It also caused them to finally admit, and voice out loud, what they were willing and not willing to allow or give up.  And it all has to do with ‘Trust and Control’.  They came face-to-face with the real truth about themselves–they didn’t want to give up the amount of control necessary to empower their employees.  That realization also gave them the answer they were seeking as to why their company was having the problems it was.

My colleague shared two stories with me which illustrate these concepts perfectly. They happened on the same day.

Story 1: He went into a local coffee house which he does every day and has done for over a year, ordered his usual and when he reached into his pocket for his wallet, it wasn’t there–he had forgotten it at home.  Asking if he could bring the money back later he was told by the attendant, “I don’t think I can do that.”  The manager overheard the conversation from across the room and yelled over the crowd, “we can’t do that but I could lend you the money.”  At which point a person in line gave him the money, he paid and left.

Story 2: Later that afternoon he stopped by an ice cream store to pick up a quart of his favorite ice cream.  Getting ready to pay again he reached into his pocket and immediately remembered he didn’t have his wallet.  The cashier said, “no problem, bring it in the next time you come.”

Which store do you think will be more successful?  In which store would you choose to work?  For which store would you go above and beyond, even when not requested?  Which store would have the most employee and customer loyalty–which always translates into higher profitability?

These stories don’t just have to do with stores and smaller organizations.  They relate to every entity, large or small–even families.  The two main components necessary for an empowerment culture is to give ‘trust’ and give away ‘control’.  That is difficult for many, almost impossible for some, but crucial for everyone.

if you want more and more sustainable success in any entity, group or organization you lead, trust more and control less.  You will be pleasantly surprised by the results.

To your Intentional Success!

I had the privilege of being on The Dave Campbell [radio] Show on November 7th.  Dave is a great host and we had a good time talking about being Intentional.  Instead of telling you all about it here, you can listen to the show by clicking on the link below.

Joe on the Dave Campbell Show 11-7-12

Dave is a great guy.  You can read about, and follow, him on his blog:  http://clarity-from-chaos.com/

As many know, we have been teaching Intentional Life training programs in the Maricopa County jails for many years now.  It has been some of the most rewarding and inspirational work I have ever done.  I have files full of amazing testimonials written by the guys who have been in the programs.  Many of the stories we tell here will be from those letters.

This work in the jails has led us to expand our vision of the impact we can have.  These experiences, the many conversations with industry specialists and some study has opened me up greatly to possibilities I would have never looked at before.

Not really knowing much about this segment of the population, there have been many rude awakenings for me. 80% or more of the folks in jail are there for drug-related crimes.   The recidivism rate is over 80% in many jurisdictions   Billions of dollars are spent every year to house and take care of these prisoners, help them re-enter and transition back into society, and to stem the tide of increased drug use in this country.  It is overwhelming to think about, if and when you really think about it.

Some of the efforts in these industries are working, and many more are not.  I have been increasingly open to new possibilities and looking for more ways we can make a difference.  As a good friend of mine, Mark, says, I have been following intersections to see where they lead.  One has led us to the following announcement.

We are very proud, honored and excited to announce Intentional Achievements & Intentional Living Alliance have been chosen by Recovery Help to be their official Life Skills Training and Coaching partner.

It has been great to meet Gary, Recovery Help’s CEO, and work with him as he incorporates Intentional Life skills into their program.  The ability for us to work with an existing program with their own unique approach of providing three levels of care in the privacy of a member’s home is very exciting.  We get to make a difference for many people across the country while setting some new precedents of how the combination of traditional and non-traditional methodologies can produce successes not seen before.

Check out their website and stay tuned for updates.  We start group and individual training and coaching sessions next week.

To Your Intentional Success!

I was asked recently to write something explaining life skills and life coaching.  The vast array of views and explanations by those in the field are fascinating to me.  I did some research and synthesized everything I read and believe down to what follows.  I welcome all questions and comments.

Life Skills are defined as ‘problem-solving behaviors appropriately and responsibly used in the management of personal affairs and the challenges of everyday life’.   Appropriate use requires an individual to adapt the behaviors to time and place.  Responsible use requires maturity and accountability.

The primary goal of a Life Skills program is to encourage participants to develop and use balanced self-determined behavior (BSD).  BSD is defined as ‘behavior that results from a conscious choice that considers the situation, one’s own and other’s needs, as well as the potential consequences of that particular choice’ [in other words, Intentional].  BSD training and coaching increases a participant’s repertoire of choices, enhancing sense of self, increasing life satisfaction, and improving relationships with others.

Many organizations list the ten core life skill strategies and techniques as: problem solving, critical thinking, effective communication skills, decision-making, creative thinking, interpersonal relationship skills, self-awareness building skills, empathy, and coping with stress and emotions.  Self-awareness, self-esteem and self-confidence are essential tools for understanding one’s strengths and weaknesses. Consequently, the individual is able to discern available opportunities and prepare to face possible threats. This leads to the development of a social awareness of the concerns of one’s family and society.

Subsequently, it is possible to identify problems that arise within both the family and society.

A Life Skills Coach/Trainer is a trained professional who is able to coach individuals, facilitate groups, model and evaluate skills and support individualized learning.  Life Skills coaches/trainers have expertise in both content and process and are flexible in moving back and forth between the two.   Life Skills coaches/trainers are also flexible in their choice of leadership (influencing and intervention) styles.

A distinction is made between training, coaching and facilitating.

Training is ‘conducting of an organized system of activities aimed at imparting information and/or instructions necessary to bring an individual or group of people to an agreed standard of proficiency’.

Coaching is the ‘art of facilitating the performance, learning and development of another which closes the gap between thinking about doing and doing thereby accelerating a person’s potential to maximize their own performance’ [in other words, to facilitate a ‘visible change in performance’].

To Facilitate literally means, ‘to make easy’.  Facilitation is the process of making the forward movement of thought and action easy to accomplish.  The facilitator is neutral to the subject and disengaged from the outcome.  The facilitator ensures a process is followed to help those involved arrive at a conclusion–that could be an individual or group.

Group Facilitation is ‘keeping a meeting focused and moving, and to ensure even participation’.  The most important job of a facilitator is to protect the process of those being facilitated. The process is how the group goes about accomplishing their task. The problem or content is what they’re working on. In studies comparing the working styles of high performance and low performance groups, the only significant, observable difference was the percentage of time the group members dedicated to the process they were involved in.

To Your Intentional Success!

A woman in one of our past programs (let’s call her Nancy) was struggling in her sales job.  In sales positions with previous companies she was always a top producers.  She was confident in her skills and fearless in her efforts.  Now, her confidence was down, her numbers were low and her bosses were complaining constantly about her performance.

She couldn’t understand it.  She worked harder, pushed herself more and didn’t understand why things weren’t working as they had in the past.  On top of that, the badgering from her bosses was really getting to her and she was spiraling down fast.

It just so happened (and I don’t believe in coincidences), when things seemed to be at their worst was the very time we were covering the topic of Values.  With the processes we use to help someone identify what their true values are and some questioning around the culture and work environment of her job she had an ‘aha’ moment.

Her bosses were asking and requiring her to do things which would violate one or more of her values. She was struggling with doing what they were asking but couldn’t figure out why.  Once she saw it, it became so clear to her and she knew what she had to do.  She left that job, found another and immediately became their top producer.

Our Values influence, govern and guide our lives whether we are conscious and intentional about it or not.

1. Have you ever been in a situation in which you felt uncomfortable doing what was asked and didn’t really know why?
2. Have you ever done or said something and kicked yourself later for doing or saying it?
3. Have you ever procrastinated making a decision because something just didn’t seem right and you couldn’t put your finger on it?

These are times when we are probably wrestling with a Values question and are not consciously aware that is what’s happening.  In that same class I asked if anyone had ever quit a job because of a Value.  That question caused one our class members to clarify some decisions in her life she had always been wondering about.  She was making Value-based decisions and didn’t even know she was doing it.

Our lives will be easier, more peaceful, less stressful, more fulfilling with less procrastination and consternation when we consciously identify our Values and intentional live by them.

To Your Intentional Success!

 
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A class member in one of our jail classes (Let’s call him Joe) asked me this question: “I have been back in jail four times; when I get out this time, how do I stop doing the things which keep me coming back?”  We could tell he was seriously asking.  He had made the decision many times in the past, but said he just didn’t know how to do it.  This is the case, by the way, for most of the guys who come to our classes.

We were covering Vision that week.  I started out by teaching the concept of ‘substitution’.  You can’t just stop doing something which is a habit for you–and you can’t tell someone else, “just stop doing that”!  It doesn’t work.  It is like taking something away from a baby who is enjoying playing with it.  The baby will reach out and cry for it back.  If you don’t want her to play with it, give her something else in its place you know she will enjoy as much or more.  This is the concept of substitution.  If you want to stop doing something, substitute a behavior you do want in place of the behavior you don’t want.

Next we covered the power of Vision.  We shared many examples of how Vision has made amazing differences in a person’s performance and outcomes. Then, taught what a Vision is and isn’t and gave them the process of creating their own Visions and how to make them real.

I asked Joe if he wanted to try something–he said yes.  I asked him what was the most important thing to him which would inspire a new way of thinking and acting.  He said his family–wife and two boys.  I asked him to close his eyes and picture a day in the life of his family–a perfect day, then asked him to share his picture.  At first he started to talk about the picture he saw. Sometimes he would use the past tense, sometimes future tense.  I stopped him and reminded him that this picture, for it to be real, needed to be in the present tense–as if it were happening right now. We need to be IN it, not talk about it.  He started again.  This time was different.  Amazingly different.

He painted a picture so real, we all felt like we were there with them.  By the time he was finished there wasn’t a dry eye in the place.  When we looked at him, he was different.  It was like he was transformed into a different person.  His face was bright, his eyes were sparkling, he sat taller in his chair and had a great big smile on his face.  That picture was real to him.

I told him if he painted that picture for himself every day just like he did–made it that real every time, we would never see him in here again.  For the next six weeks he came to class he was the same different guy.  Everyone commented and those who were in the same pod as he said they hardly recognized him.

i believe that Vision, combined with the other skills and tools he learned, has changed Joe forever.  It will do the same for you and me.  Paint yourself a picture of what you want–in the present tense, as if it is happening right now, and the power of that reality will work for you.  When you can paint that clear and present a picture of a future you desire [with you IN it], you will have it.  Do it and let us know the results.

To Your Intentional Success!