“Amy Cuddy’s research on body language reveals that we can change other people’s perceptions — and perhaps even our own body chemistry — simply by changing body positions.”
For quiet some time now in workshops and presentations its been great to share insights in to the work of people like Amy Cuddy Social psychologist. Why? Because from a high performance perspective this all makes so much sense. We all understand these things at our core I think but often many of us to tap into the deeper feelings which can make a powerful difference to those around us and to ourselves.
Power poses, posture, impact and influences of how we hold ourselves and how we see others are such a fascinating area of study. In the TED talk video Amy Cuddy presenters her work and its can have profound impact of our own physiology just by being conscious of how we stand, sit, motion, and have presence or purpose.
How to speak so that people listen
Have you ever felt like you're talking, but nobody is listening? Here's Julian Treasure to help you fix that. As the sound expert demonstrates some useful vocal exercises and shares tips on how to speak with empathy, he offers his vision for a sonorous world of listening and understanding.
Its great to take time to consider things like how we lead, how we coach, and how we work with others. Came across this article with a nice a clean infographic which shows the branches any of us take in our style of leading and coaching.
Leadership can be a rewarding experience, but there are many different ways to lead your team to success. Do you know which is best for you?
For more information follow the link here to view the full infographic.
https://www.headwaycapital.com/blog/what-type-of-leader-are-you/
Having stepped back into coaching and our education system in Australia. I have found it fascinating and thought provoking.
This short video I found to be great as a platform reflecting on how I coach students and adults.
Create a shared vision of teaching and learning. Using learning as a process and not an event. Allow authentic learning through practice, trail, and reflection.
A look back during the year I had the chance to reflect on a meeting and subsequent first interview with Gary Bertwhistle, MOJO Radio. We were enjoying being part of the Tour de Cure signature ride from Brisbane to Sydney. This was an absolutely amazing event which you can read more about 'Wouldn't it be awesome to cure cancer.' Gary is one of the founders of this great event and charity. Our chat that night was free flowing and great fun sharing insights and learnings after many years in striving for peak performance.
Our first interview was an impromptu chat a few days into the tour ride. After which Gary asked if we could do another interview and for so many reasons I agreed. This is the second instalment and along with Gary leading the change we got to explore some fantastic topics.
The MOJO Radio podcast has so many gems which can be enjoyed anytime and anywhere.
“Winning gold means you delivered the right performance at exactly the right moment.”
EP 86 - UNLOCK THE GREATNESS THAT EXISTS WITHIN US - OLYMPIAN DREW GINN
How to Prepare Yourself to Produce your Best Result in the Moment.
Judging by the feedback we receive from you all, it’s fair to say our audience is very interested in the Olympic thinking. Due to his popularity, Drew Ginn is a return guest to the show. Drew is an champion Australian rower and is a five-time world champion and triple Olympic gold medallist. In addition, recently he took on the world 24hr outdoor track record where he rode 836k in 24hrs.
Winning gold means you delivered the right performance at exactly the right moment.... we uncover how! Learn steps and tools you can apply everyday to unlock your own personal greatness in and out of work, and most importantly learn to be in the moment. Useable, practical tips we can all apply!
- What is the main characteristic of Olympic thinking?
- Handling the emotional highs and lows in oder to produce and perform.
- Steps or processes Drew has learnt to help us cope with our emotions.
- A profound moment that brings you to the moment…. in the zone!
- How to prepare yourself to produce the best result in the moment that counts?
- An event that had a real impact on Drew Ginn as a man.
- Finding the greatness that exists within all of us.
- Taking on the world 24hr outdoor track record- he rode 836k in 24hrs!
- What did Drew learn about himself in doing the 24hr outdoor track attempt?
- The non negotiable in Drew’s day to day.
- What is the next dream for Drew Ginn?
- The rituals and routines of Drew Ginn.
The Mojo Radio Show - © Gary Bertwistle & Darren Robertson
http://www.themojoradioshow.com/ep-86---drew-ginn.html
Cornerstone Growth Edition
For some time I have been trying to find a tool or platform which helps facilitate the work I have done with teams and leaders of teams. A little while back I came across the Cornerstone system and was intrigued. So I reached out and started working to understand if it could be a link between the work of a facilitator and coach when you have groups together from a business with the aim of improving performance and helping them make their team better.
In Cornerstone I think I have found a great technology ally that when combined with effective group facilitation and one on one coaching can make a significant difference. Importantly there are no silver bullets with these process and connecting parts. Its all still requires effort, learning and commitment. This combination however is a pretty good solution for creating more real time reflection and feedback loops along with the opportunities to improve relationships with peer, reports and managers.
Get Noticed in a Crowded Marketplace By Challenging the Design Tropes
I liked this article about design and the unorthodox expression not only with beer, but so many other markets. Yes sports are markets and events are markets. The Olympics are a market place and people and buying and selling all sorts of stuff. The field of play is a market and again lots of buying and selling takes place.
Hence the reason way I say this reminds me of the Oarsome Foursome days as they and those around them we great at selling this attractive and appealing concepts of these awe-some and awe-inspiring athletes. Its helped in racing, it helped at major events, and it helped in the Australian sporting mad public.
The athletes were perceived to be somewhat unorthodox individually but more some as a team. This become the story and was so effective on many layers. A different rowing style, different attitudes to training, different looks and style. This was marketable for sponsors and interesting to the public. It was leveraged with competitors international and domestically. All of it was propagated from a simple idea and perception for a reporter looking to make that first story.
The process of design was organic and evolved from journo to athletes and coach, and the community within the sport. It grew and took on a life of its own.
The magnificence of the Oarsome Foursome was a mingling of characters and stories, with a tagline name and clear messaging. The visuals took shape and the stand out unorthodox features grew to a level were I recall to moments which confirmed the power of the brand.
1995 a member of the crew was standing beside and member of another International team in a toilet post the Worlds. The Oarsome Foursome was so far from the dominance of 1992 Olympics and what their name would suggest. A 5th place in the Finland Worlds surely would challenge the notion of them being Oarsome. No it would not this other athlete initially suggested then almost begged jokingly with a member of the Oarsome Foursome to not continue onto the 1996 Olympics. The Oarsome Foursome were their hero's and they were so amazing and talented. This athlete begged by saying can you leave the 1996 Olympics to us and let us win our Gold. This was an insight into the psyche and the myth which had grown about the Oarsome Foursome.
The other moment which exemplified the stand out brand was during the 1996 Olympic games when venue commentators would announce crews and athletes by Country and boat class. Examples were clear this was the offical way things should and would be done. Here comes the New Zealand Men's Coxless Pair. And the Great Britain Men's Pair has surged away from the field. The Germany Men's Quad looks dominant from lane 3. The Belarus Women's Sculling seems to have this one. The obvious thread to all this seemed never to be interrupted, until. "HERE COMES THE OARSMEN FOURSOME, THE AUSTRALIAN COULEES FOUR". Wow what just happened and how did that happen?
From competitors to commentators the unorthodox, the story, the brand, the visual differences, and the name all played out to create this true stand out effect.
When I read this article about design and branding for beers and the tow approaches, it reminded me of the experience with the Oarsome Foursome and I thought it worth sharing.
Why? Well the Olympics are around the corner and fast approaching and this will be the same dynamic playing out again in the biggest of sporting markets.
In most markets branding and packaging tends to fall into one of two camps: time-tested mainstream commercial design appealing to the masses (usually seen from big brands) and unorthodox concepts featuring a strong personality (typical of craft brands). Too often, you’re either in one camp or the other, making standing out difficult. Like most problems,…
via Get Noticed in a Crowded Marketplace By Challenging the Design Tropes — 99U99U
Its said a pictures tells a 1000 words. Here is a different way to look at Teamwork and what can be found on the web relating to the use of the word. Nothing more needs explaining except its now requires exploration and a process of curiosity to see where it leads. Imagine the possibilities when combining 'Network Analysis' with an approach like 'Design Thinking' and 'Integral Theory' with a focus on 'Elite Teams'. More to come on this in future posts but for now the journey has begin to explore things like Social Network Analysis / Network Analysis / Network Mapping / Team Mapping / Organisational Mapping.
Many years ago while preparing for the Beijing Olympic Games, Duncan Free and I were in the thickest and heaviest of human fatigue. This was due in large part to a commitment to challenge their capacity fully prior to the Games and to re-find their best form if not find new levels of performance. With the struggles of fatigue like a fog on a dark night on a country road.
What I was seeking was to make sense of the annoying, often strange waves of feelings which were arising. Little thinks would trigger relations and many things seems bigger that reality would suggest. Grasping at words and like swatting at mosquitoes was common and inflections, gestures could easily been seen or taken the wrong way. Fatigue was like compounding interest and would pay dividends eventually at the Games but the short term highlights many things which drove a curiosity to find out more and understanding the behaviours, biases, intuitions, speculations, mistakes and the role coast of feeling in control and helpless.
At this time a book by author Dan Ariely was a fantastic ally for the experience, reactions and response I was going through. The book was, Predictably Irrational. Based on the book and the help through that period as a resource it then lead to many an internet search for Dan's work and links to other resources. Here is another connection to a remarkable interview by Unmistakable Creatives' Srini Roa, host and founder.
From their site:
Overcoming Learned Helplessness and Understanding Irrational Behavior with Dan Ariely
In this interview Dan Ariely discusses overcoming learned helplessness, understanding irrational behavior, and managing time in an effective and meaningful way.
NYT Best-selling author and behavioral economist, Dan Ariely, shares his perspectives on suffering, irrational behavior, and how most time management systems allow others to hijack our time.
In this episode, hear:
- What causes people to be more resilient?
- Overcoming “learned” helplessness
- Language’s impact on our experiences
- Time management and deathbed regrets
- How our intuitions sometimes mislead us
- How most time management systems allow others to hijack our time
www.unmistakablecreative.com obviously has many more podcasts worth checking out.
Back to the Games then... How did this help. Well under a great deal of stress during the event a back injury almost derailed our plans but greater awareness relating to many of the experiments shared in Predictably Irrational and some of what is now mentioned in a podcast like this one enable greater insight, clarity and aided better decisions. It helped with a two days process which could have been the difference between our gold medal success and an outcome much less satisfying and effective.
Having access to people and resources like this one really does help make sense of many thing would do and what we see others do and once I started wrapping my head around things better I was able to handle tough situations better. In our World thats the difference between Gold and a potato medal. Nothing wrong with potatoes as we found out from a potato farm on the border of Queensland and NSW while up their on this training camp before Beijing, but the better to eat than having hanging around your neck when you get forth place.
Hope you enjoy the resources. Until next time, be aware, be smart, be together and be awesome.
Drew
Chilli Peppers _ Motivation | Intensity | Commitment
This weekend our Australia Rowing Team athletes compete at the World Cup in Lucerne, Switzerland. Here's wishing them well and that they make their boats as fast as possible.
Sharing the Tour de Cure Experience
Take a look back at a great talk by Jeanne Liedtka, Professor at the University of Virginia's Darden School of Business, spoke to audiences at Better by Design CEO Summit 2013.
She posed the question, "How do we create in our employees, an entire organisation full of minds that are prepared to see and act on opportunity?"
Design Thinking Business Innovation _ Check Out Issuu Book
This is a great resource to support your design thinking approach.
Wouldn't it be awesome to cure cancer?
New Science About Great Teams
