Newsletter No 9 :: May 03
Dear All,
Writing this newsletter becomes more worthwhile when I get e-mails saying things like "I'm waiting in anticipation for this months newsletter - always a good read." Thank you so much! This issue picks up on a number of suggestions from readers, with my own 'style' added of course! I hope you enjoy some of the following:
- Top Gun - lessons for leaders
- The Coaching Cynic
- Inspiration and Humour
- Book Reviews
As many readers will know, last week I was working at a conference for IT Directors, held on board the cruise liner MV Oriana. I was providing coaching sessions for delegates, which was great fun, and was able to attend some of the keynote speaker sessions (OK, yes I also managed to enjoy a little bit of food, wine and on-board entertainment during the trip - it would have been rude not to!).
The opening keynote speech, which 'Took my Breath Away', was by Mark Dahl and Gerry Gallop, former US Navy fighter pilots and attendees of the "Top Gun" (as in the film) fighter pilot academy. In fact, Gerry was Commanding Officer of the academy for two years and their presentation was all about how the 'Top Gun Principles' could be applied to our business and personal lives to increase effectiveness. Now, I have a particular affinity with Goose (and some of you will know why), one of the characters in the movie Top Gun, so I paid particular attention to their presentation, and now wish to share some elements of their philosophy with you. I noted five particular principles that we can apply to many elements of our lives, and should Gerry and Mark ever get to see this, I apologise for any omissions or errors!
- Understand and sign up to the team's Core Values
- Personal motivation, whether in business or outside work, is so much greater when the values expressed by our endeavours are in line with our own personal values. Many people might struggle to work for animal testing companies, or tobacco firms, or exploiters of child labour - this would be an obvious case of being against our core values - but what about when the conflict is less obvious? Or what about if we haven't actually understood what the core values of our business are?
- For Top Gun, the values might be more apparent - to be the 'best of the best' and to defend the interests of the USA - whereas for our own business or personal lives they may take a bit more discovery. Taking the time to understand them, and then to ensure our endeavours are expressing them can have a massive impact on our motivation and productivity, as individuals and teams. Looking back on my career, I can certainly see where I was most motivated, and how that relates to some of my core values. Do you know what yours are? Have you discussed that in your team at work?
- (I can offer a Values Exercise for individuals and businesses - e-mail me for details if that would interest you.)
- Disdain for mediocrity
- I love this phrase of Gerry and Mark's! One can understand why this would be important for a fighter pilot (not much chance to say oops and make amends when you've been shot down), and one can also see how that level of expectation can transfer to business/life. This doesn't mean mistakes don't happen, it means that everyone sets out to do the best they can do, and they seek to constantly improve. In this way we can improve the experience for our customers, raise our squash game or increase our profits (or all of these), or whatever is the opposite of mediocrity for you or your organisation.
- As leaders or managers, this disdain would be translated into support and training for staff to enable them to achieve a higher level of performance. Gerry maintains that no-one goes to work intending to be mediocre, an assertion some former colleagues of mine did their best to prove incorrect, and he believes we will all respond to a call to improve - we just need to manage the way in which the call is made.
- Actually, if someone sets out to excel at being mediocre, can they ever succeed, or would success undermine their own mediocrity? Mmm, I think I need more time on the sun deck with a Pina Colada to figure that one out.....
- Plan and Review Everything
- Top Gun pilots fly missions of less than an hour during a ten hour day. The rest of the time is spent planning the mission meticulously, and then reviewing every aspect afterwards to look for areas for improvement or learning. In business we may not be able to spare 9 hours of planning and review for every hour of real business (though it might feel like we do that in some meetings!), but do we actually go through this process as much as we could?
- When I worked at Biffa one of my customers was a major German electronics and engineering company, and I recall how the contact there told me that they do just this - when they start a project they write out a plan and procedure for the work, they follow and review the plan during implementation, then they stop, review and rewrite the plan, ready for the next lot who come along behind them.
- Such management tasks increase standardisation, improve productivity and actually encourage rather than stifle creativity - people are always looking for new and better ways to do things. They up their game every time and the business continuously improves - and not by accident.
- You are the weakest link - hello!
- A US Navy fighter pilot sits on the deck of an aircraft carrier, ready to be flung off the deck at a couple of hundred miles an hour, surrounded by highly explosive armanents and aviation fuel. His life depends on the 18 year old junior deckhand who is checking the launch chains and the 'veteran' 20 year old flight mechanic who serviced the jet engines overnight. It doesn't matter how good a Top Gun pilot you are, you're not going to make it back to the arms of Kelly McGillis, or whoever your loved one is, if the whole team of people behind you haven't done their job. So an inspirational leader will not only be focussing on her star staff, encouraging and motivating them, she will be looking throughout the team to ensure everyone, from the filing clerk through to the leading salesman, is well trained, properly motivated and suitably acknowledged.
- Try not to get shot at
- Helps when you're a fighter pilot. Need I explain more?
The Coaching Cynic
This newsletter is read by a number of fellow coaches, and a few friends and former colleagues who I know have a wry smile at some of my thoughts, so I include here for their amusement some alternative views:
This worked for me and I think it may work for you. I have found Inner Peace.
Recently I read an article that stated: The best way to achieve inner peace is to Finish Things You Have Started.
So today I finished two large bags of potato chips, the last half of a lemon cream pie, all the cigarettes in the house, a nearly full bottle of Jose Cuervo, a small box of Godiva Chocolates and I slapped the living daylights out of someone I have never liked.
I feel better than I have felt for a long time. Please pass this along to a friend who is in need of Inner Peace.
(Thanks to Haggis for this, and of course I do not condone slapping anyone, even if you have never liked them!)
And an alternative quote:
I spent a lot of money on booze, birds and fast cars. The rest I just
squandered.
George Best
Inspiration and Humour
It seems my quotes from Harry Potter were appreciated by a few of you last month. The July newsletter may yet feature another quote from the 5th book, if I manage to get hold of a copy, but here are some more conventional quotes I have encountered and liked this month:
When you reach for the stars you may not quite get one, but you won't
come up with a handful of mud either.
Leo Burnett
Try not. Do, or do not. There is no try.
Yoda the Jedi Master, from one
of the Star Wars movies (and I know not which one).
For humour, I was reminded of this joke when I met a lady on board the Oriana who was wearing a gorgeous antique eternity ring (and I am making no comment on her husband):
A businessman boarded a plane to find, sitting next to him, an elegant woman wearing the largest, most stunning diamond ring he had ever seen. He asked her about it.
"This is the Klopman diamond," she said. "It is beautiful, but there is a terrible curse that goes with it."
"What's the curse?" the man asked.
"Mr. Klopman" answered the woman.
Reader Feedback
It is now a couple of months since I asked for suggestions of a title for this esteemed 'publication'. My favourite has been "Wit and Wisdom" - which of course sums me up perfectly! Sadly, that appears to have been trademarked already, so the competition is still open. And if you want to see how someone else has interpreted Wit and Wisdom, visit www.witandwisdom.org.
Summer Project
The first quarter of my coaching programme for business efficiency is now in advanced draft, and will be finding its way to my R&D team in the next few days (thanks to those who volunteered after my request last month). I would still love to work with someone who manages a department in a company - if that's you and you can spare about 15 hours over the next three months (in return for free coaching!), I would love to hear from you.
For the rest of you, stand by for the launch later in the summer.
Book Review
I have read two fantastic books in the last few weeks. The first is a humourous look at personal development from Yorkshireman Steve McDermott, How to be a complete and utter failure in life, work and everything. The book presents 39.5 steps to lasting underachievement - what NOT to do if you don't want to be a success. Steve is a well known humorous motivational speaker and his style carries into the book very well. If you are no good at not working out double negatives (like that one), it is also an excellent self-help book.
The second is a seminal text for most coaches I have met, Rich Dad, Poor Dad by Robert Kiyosaki and Sharon Lechter (no relation to Hannibal). This book presents an alternative view on personal finance and suggests that we need to review how we look at our earnings and savings to achieve financial security. A thought provoking book that certainly turned some of my thinking on its head. The authors are American, so some of the information on taxation and opportunities is different than in the UK, but the principles still very much apply. Visit www.richdad.com to see details of a board game based on the ideas in the book.
Next month I will be bringing you my exclusive article "How positive thinking made Tim Henman Wimbledon Champion". What? Well you laughing is not going to help him is it? Please remember that this circulation list, and my business goes by referral, so if you think someone else would like this, click Forward. My subscription list grew by 7.5% this month - thank you for your support.
Warmest regards
James Butler
"Realise your potential"
+44 (0)1491 659073
+44 (0)7866 579514
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