Ten of the Biggest Ways Leaders Break Trust

 

 

“Trust is the lubrication that makes it possible for organizations to work."                                                             

                                                                     – Warren Bennis

Trust is a word everyone understands but few can accurately define or measure. It seems at once essential but fluffy, complex yet simple. According to the Human Capital Institute, trust can be defined as “the willingness to put oneself at risk based on another individual’s actions.”

What does that mean in a business context? And how can trust be measured in economic terms like risk, speed, and cost? Research has shown that high-trust organizations have a total return to shareholders that is 286 percent higher than low-trust organizations (Say what!). The top 25% of retail stores that rank high on trust achieve 7% above budget annual sales and 14% sales productivity gains. The impact of trust on productivity and efficiency is clear.

Surprisingly, the simplicity of trust lies in the economics: as trust increases, so does speed. Speed goes up in high-trust cultures because costs and risks go down. In organizations where trust is low, costs and risks go up, resulting in a trust tax that slows down work across the organization.

So, it follows that as companies grow, trust often erodes because it becomes increasingly difficult to develop relationships, resulting in layers upon layers of bureaucracy that act as a poor substitute for trust. In fast-paced business environments where companies must evolve quickly to keep up with the speed of technology, building and maintaining trust at scale is more important than ever.

The complexity of trust is that it can be difficult to build, yet easy to break. While trust can take a long time to build, it is also delicate enough to be destroyed through a single action or misconception. Yet the benefits of investing time into building trust can lead to exponential results.

I believe most people strive to be honorable and trustworthy in their leadership roles. There aren’t too many people who wake up in the morning and on their way into the office exclaim to themselves, “I think today is a fabulous day to break someone’s trust!” Most leaders unintentionally erode trust through what I like to call “trust busting” behaviors. Despite our best intentions, we sometimes get in our own way and bust trust without even realizing it.

I did a little crowd-sourcing with my peers in the leadership development field and asked them to send me a list of the most common trust-busting behaviors they’ve experienced from leaders in their career. The wisdom of the crowd was incredible. The behaviors on their lists were eerily similar.

In classic David Letterman style, here’s the list of the Top 10 Ways Leaders Break Trust:

10. Spinning the truth – Leaders break trust when they try to shape or color the truth to their liking rather than being transparent and authentic in their communication. Spinning the truth is a form of deception, just in a more socially acceptable manner, but it’s deception nonetheless. Save spin for the gym, not the workplace.

9. Not being available – If your schedule has you constantly booked in meetings and unavailable to the questions or concerns of your team members, you are sending the message that you don’t care about them. That may not be how you really feel, but it’s the message that’s being sent. Your schedule is a reflection of your values and priorities, so be sure to build in time for regular 1:1 meetings with your team members or just blocks of time where people can drop in (Virtually or in person) for quick questions.

8. Not soliciting or listening to feedback – Believe it or not, your team members probably have pretty good ideas about how to improve your business if you’ll only ask. And if you do ask, make sure you do something with their feedback. Asking for feedback and then disregarding it undermines trust more than not asking for it at all.

7. Withholding information – Why do leaders withhold information? It’s because information is power and power is control. Most people think distrust is the opposite of trust. It’s not. Control is the opposite of trust. If you’re withholding information it’s likely because you’re trying to control your environment and the people around you. People without information cannot act responsibly, but people with information are compelled to act responsibly.

6. Taking credit for other people’s work – Leaders can easily fall into the habit of taking credit for work of their team members. Because it is work produced by their team, the leader rationalizes that it’s OK to take credit for it personally. Trustworthy leaders do the opposite. They call out the good performance of team members and credit those individuals for doing the work. Taking credit for the work of others is another form of plagiarizing. It sends the message to your team members that you don’t value their work and it’s more important for your ego to get credit than giving it to someone else.

5. Not keeping confidences – Integrity is the hallmark of trustworthy leaders. If someone tells you something in confidence then it should never be shared with someone else. Gossip, hallway or slack conversations, or speaking “manager to manager” about something told to you in confidence should not happen. Above all, you should protect your integrity as a leader. At the end of the day it’s the only thing you have.

4. Playing favorites – Want to corrode trust and divide your team from within? Then play favorites and watch your team burn. It’s a recipe for disaster. Now, treating people fairly doesn’t mean you have to treat everyone the same. Most leaders resort to this leadership tactic because it’s the easiest thing to do. In reality, it can be the most unfair thing you do. Aristotle said, “There is nothing so unequal as the equal treatment of unequals.” They key to fairness is treating people equitably and ethically given their unique situation.

3. Inconsistency – A key element of being trustworthy is reliability and predictability. Trustworthy leaders behave consistently from setting to setting. They don’t have wild swings of behavior, exhibit temperamental outbursts, or say one thing and do another. Inconsistent leaders keep their team members on edge because they never know who is going to show up. It’s hard to trust someone when you can’t rely on the consistency of their character.

2. Micromanage – As mentioned in regards to not sharing information (point #7), micromanagement is about control. Micro-managers often rationalize their behavior by saying they’re trying to ensure high quality, or they have the most knowledge and expertise, or they are protecting their team members from failure. That’s BS. Hire smart people, train and coach them properly, and then let them do their jobs. Trust requires risk and leaders need to be the first to take a risk, extend trust to team members, and let them succeed or fail on their own.

And the #1 way leaders break trust…

1. Not keeping their commitments – Most leaders have every intention to follow through on their promises, but the problem lies in our eagerness to make the promise without having a clear idea on what it will take to deliver. Leaders tend to be problem-solvers and when a problem presents itself, leaders spring into action to marshal the resources, develop an action plan, and get the problem solved. It’s important to carefully chose your language when you make commitments with other people because although you may not use the word “promise,” others may interpret your agreement to take the next action step as a promise to accomplish the goal. Be clear in your communications and set the proper expectations for what you are and aren’t committing to do.'

To your greater success and fulfillment,

Peter Mclees, Leadership Coach, Trainer and Performance Consultant
SMART DEVELOPMENT

 

Take the Next Step...
Interested in learning how to develop your organization's leadership capability, culture, and employee engagement? We begin with a collaborative discovery process identifying your unique needs and business issues. To request an interview with Peter Mclees please 

contact: Email: petercmclees@gmail.com  or  Mobile: 323-854-1713

Smart Development has an exceptional track record helping service providers, ports, sales teams, restaurants, stores, distribution centers, food production facilities, wealth management services, facilities management, real estate services, nonprofits, government agencies and other businesses create a strong culture, leadership bench strength, coaching skills and the teamwork necessary for growth.

Having worked with several companies throughout their growth cycle, we have valuable insights and strategies that would help any late stage startup, small or medium sized company achieve sustained growth and prosperity.

How to Coach a High Performer to Go Even Higher

 

When discussing coaching, most leaders first think of it when working with employees who have missed the mark. Leaders don't always think about coaching employees who want to perform even better.

Coaching isn’t merely about holding people to the fire or making sure they do what they say they will do. Coaching is about helping people become the very best version of themselves so they can make their biggest and best contributions. Often the biggest challenge of leading others is helping them see they need to improve.

Here are three tips to help you raise your coaching game as you help high performers raise theirs.

1.      Identify the Gap

For underperformers, the gap is the space between expectation and performance. For high performers, the gap is the space between where they are and where they want to be.

Begin by asking your employee where he sees his own gaps. Ask questions like “Where do you feel like you can grow?” or “What do you need to take yourself to the next level?” or “What’s the next step in your career and what do you need to get there?” or, my favorite, “If you were competing with yourself for your current role, what would you need to win?”

If your employee has a difficult time answering your questions, offer gentle recommendations or insights that encourage him to think and allow him to choose: “Here are a few things that have worked for me—do you think any of these approaches might work for you?”

You might also focus on your employee’s processes rather than his performance. Performance accountability evaluates individuals based on outcomes. Good outcomes are not always the result of good decisions or processes. Process accountability evaluates individuals on their decision-making process. Adam Grant says, “Focusing on results might be good for short-term performance, but it can be an obstacle to long-term learning.” Ask your employee, “Are there processes that can be improved?” “What habits if changed could lead to consistently better results?”

When you and your employee take the time to define the gap, you together develop a clearer vision. This is vital because if you can’t see the gap, you can’t build the bridge.

2.      Build the Bridge

Now that you have a clear picture of your employee’s gap, you can help her begin to bridge that gap. When building any bridge—but especially a bridge to greatness—it’s important to identify roles.

You are both key stakeholders. But in order to optimize performance and ultimate construction, it’s important that your employee act as lead architect and engineer. You serve more as the general contractor and consultant. You oversee and manage the coordination of the project and provide anything needed to bring it to completion.

As the general contractor, start by establishing parameters or boundaries. What constraints will there be as you work on a development plan? Is there a budget? Timeline? What resources are available?

With parameters in place, let your employee now take the lead on how to build the bridge. No one better understands what she must do to close the gap, to build the bridge, than him. Work together to brainstorm and craft a plan.

3.      Provide Support

With a plan in place, remember that life is complicated. It won’t be the sureness of the plan that will lead to success, but rather the ability to be flexible as you execute the plan and adapt as necessary. There will be plenty of competing projects and priorities along the way. Provide support by doing two things:

·      Establish regular check-ins. Make sure you regularly and consistently meet to discuss how things are going. These should be check-ins, NOT check-ups. Allow your employee to return and report. Ask whether and how she needs your help.

·      Acknowledge growth and recognize small wins. Personal and professional development can be challenging because there isn’t a definitive result, outcome, or arrival. Look for and create opportunities to recognize growth and development. This can be done both publicly and privately. The goal is to reinforce particular behaviors, practices, or activities that result in better performance and better results.

Greatness is a lifelong pursuit, a way of living rather than something we arrive at. As leaders we have the wonderful opportunity to assist others in that effort. And we can help them align performance with potential by holding them accountable through coaching in the ways I’ve outlined above.

To your greater success and fulfillment,

Peter Mclees, Leadership Coach, Trainer and Performance Consultant

SMART DEVELOPMENT

Take the Next Step...

 Interested in learning how to develop your organization's culture, employee engagement and leadership capability? We begin with a collaborative discovery process identifying your unique needs and business issues. To request an interview with Peter Mclees please contact:

Email: petercmclees@gmail.com  or  Mobile:323-854-1713

Smart Development has an exceptional track record helping service providers, ports, sales teams, restaurants, stores, energy storage and facilities management, distribution centers, food production facilities, title companies, wealth management firms, third-party maintenance companies, nonprofits, government agencies and other businesses create a strong culture, leadership bench strength, coaching skills and the teamwork necessary for growth.

Having worked with several companies throughout their growth cycle, we have valuable insights and strategies that would help any late stage startup, small or medium sized company achieve sustained growth and prosperity.

 

 

Transform Your Team's Performance with the 1% Better Rule

 

How Small And Simple Actions Everyday Lead to Big Results

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

"Inches Make the Champion.”   

                           —Vince Lombardi, Hall of Fame Football Coach

When water is at 211 degrees, it is hot. At 212 degrees, it boils. And with water boiling comes steam…and with steam you can power a train.

Applying one percent, or in this case one extra degree, of temperature to water means the difference between something that is simply very hot and something that generates enough force to power a machine—a beautifully uncomplicated metaphor that ideally should feed our every endeavor—consistently pushing us to give the 1% extra effort in every task, and action we undertake.

Small differences in performance can lead to very unequal distributions when repeated over time. The people and organizations that can do the right things, more consistently are more likely to maintain a slight edge and accumulate disproportionate rewards over time.

You only need to be slightly better than your competition, but if you are able to maintain a slight edge today and tomorrow and the day after that, then you can repeat the process of winning by just a little bit over and over again.

This is called the 1% Better Rule. The 1% Better Rule states that over time the majority of the rewards in a given field will accumulate to the people, teams, and organizations that maintain a 1 percent advantage over the alternatives. You don't need to be twice as good to get twice the results. You just need to be slightly better.

Kaizen is a Japanese word that embodies the 1% Better Rule. Kaizen translated into English means good change. In the 1960’s, products made in Japan were considered junk. The Kaizen philosophy helped Japanese companies learn to  manufacture some of the best products in the world. This resulted in the Japanese gaining significant market share of vehicles and electronics.

The 1% Better Rule is not merely a reference to the fact that small differences accumulate into significant advantages, but also to the idea that those who are 1% better rule their respective fields and reap the rewards.

Here are some amazing examples from the field of sports:

Golf

·         2.28—the average margin of victory in strokes at the Masters (.57 strokes per day)

·         76%—additional prize dollars on average for winning first place at the Masters.

Horse Racing

·         4.55—average margin of victory in lengths at the Kentucky Derby.

·         260%—additional prize dollars on average for winning first place at the Kentucky Derby.

Auto Racing

·         0.082—average margin of victory in seconds at the Daytona 500.

·         53%—additional prize dollars on average for winning first place at Daytona.

Many years ago when asked what the most powerful force in the universe was, Albert Einstein said, “compound interest.” There’s a force at work in all of us that’s  just as powerful. Just as compound interest allows your money to grow on itself,  Incremental improvement allows your skills and productivity to grow on themselves.

In short, if you want to improve your skills, it’s not about some one-time transformative event or conference. No, your best approach is to get a little bit better everyday. You can’t make quantum leap improvements each day (there are certainly situations where a new idea, technique or approach may in a short time drastically improve your skills or abilities, but you can’t rely on these occurring regularly.) If you want to get 10% better at a particular leadership skill in the next 30 days, that might seem daunting.  But can you get 1% better every day for a month? That seems easier and more realistic. We can all get 1% better each day.

So let’s do the math. We’ll just use the working days and assume 20 working days in the next thirty (even though there are plenty of ways to work on leadership development every day).  At the end of our 30 days, we will have improved by: 20.81%. This is certainly a powerful concept for us personally and should cause you to be excited and ready to start learning, but this is just the start.

  

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The power of incremental improvement is perhaps the most when considered as an organizational leadership development idea. Ask yourself this question: What would happen to productivity, operational excellence and results overall if everyone on my team improved by 1% each day? Now you don’t have one person improving 20.81% in a month, but EVERYONE improving by that amount!

And this is just month one.

Want a strategic leadership initiative? Recent research has revealed that leadership is a set of 22 core skills. Build a process, tools and expectations to help everyone in your organization work on a single skill each month, with the goal of getting 1% better each day. Then, move to another skill next month. 

Here's a 1% better action leaders can take right now: Thank someone or "catch someone doing something right" once more each business day and that will equal 200 more times each year. In the book, "How Full is Your Bucket," the authors reveal how 1% better actions like a 30-second praise can positively affect your relationships, productivity, and health. Click here to download the 6-page book summary.

The 1% better rule is not only a message of action--it's a message of persistence and additional action--the continual application of effort to whatever task or activity you undertake in order to achieve not only the primary objective you seek, but reap the exponential rewards that are possible with the 1% extra effort.

Small positive change can add up to big bucks as the examples from golf, horse racing and auto racing so clearly illustrate.

To your greater success and fulfillment,

Peter Mclees, Leadership Coach, Trainer and Performance Consultant

SMART DEVELOPMENT

Take the Next Step...
Interested in learning how to develop your organization's culture, employee engagement and leadership capability? We begin with a collaborative discovery process identifying your unique needs and business issues. To request an interview with Peter Mclees please contact:

Email: petercmclees@gmail.com  or  Mobile:323-854-1713

Smart Development has an exceptional track record helping service providers, ports, sales teams, restaurants, stores, distribution centers, food production facilities, title companies, wealth management firms, third-party maintenance companies, nonprofits, government agencies and other businesses create a strong culture, leadership bench strength, coaching skills and the teamwork necessary for growth.

Having worked with several companies throughout their growth cycle, we have valuable insights and strategies that would help any late stage startup, small or medium sized company achieve sustained growth and prosperity.

 

7 Leadership Lessons From Great Basketball Coaches

 

 

 

 

 

 

March madness is sweeping the country. The NCAA basketball tournament is a welcome diversion for many of us during these challenging times.

When I was a young blade the first thing I remember purchasing with my own money that I earned was a basketball. I've always loved the game. I know longer  play but I do enjoy watching, especially college games. 

Time spent watching and really observing these exciting games has gotten me thinking about the lessons we all can take from the paid leaders of these teams - the head coaches. Even if you're not a basketball fan, I encourage you to read on because the lessons are powerful for everyone - fan and non-fan alike. 

These seven lessons are reinforced for me by the best basketball coaches. Look for the lessons you can apply today.

1) Great coaches flex their system, but not their philosophy. All great coaches have a coaching philosophy. They know it takes skill in all phases of the game, but it's their philosophy that informs their focus. Some coaches always have great rebounding teams; some focus on a fast break offense; some are defensive minded. Yet, if their current lineup gives them different strengths, they may flex their system or make adjustments to best take advantage of the current talent. 

Non-basketball leaders can do the same thing - focus on your core philosophy, yet be flexible in implementation based on the circumstances and talent on your team.

2) Great coaches measure performance. Of course, wins and losses are measured, but the best coaches measure far deeper than that. Assist to turnover ratios, number of offensive rebounds, number of steals, and free throw percentage in the last five minutes of games are just a few examples. What they can measure in their context is almost endless. Coaches who focus on rebounding will have deeper and more extensive rebounding measures that they follow. Those measures inform them on progress, development needs and more. 

The important lesson for us is that they measure those things that are important to winning, based on their philosophy. We must do the same if we want to achieve top performance. 

3) Great coaches practice everything (in a variety of ways). Supervised practice for college basketball teams begins several weeks before games. And once the season begins teams still practice most every day (including having walk throughs and film sessions on game day). They practice fundamentals and simulate particular game situations, so players are prepared for every situation on the floor. Most leaders in organizations fall far short in this area. 

Are you taking or allowing time for walk throughs, practice and review of results? Are you allowing and helping people prepare for the tough situations that may occur on their jobs? If not, this is an opportunity area for you and those you lead. 

4) Great coaches recognize and utilize passion and enthusiasm. Have you ever seen a really disengaged basketball coach? Like non-athletic leaders, different coaches have different personalities, and therefore their passions and enthusiasm may manifest differently, but they all show passion - typically so plainly that even the last person in the arena knows how the coach feels from moment to moment. They all are enthusiastic, and they all support and extend the passion and enthusiasm of their teams. 

Are you doing the same? If not, try the "Act As If" principle. Act enthusiastic and you'll be enthusiastic!

5) Great coaches are products of their coaches. Watch college basketball for long and you will hear about "coaching trees." This coach coached under that guy, who actually played for coach X. Coaches obviously benefit from a network of past bosses (a lesson for us), but the best also regularly credit their former coaches and mentors in helping to develop their skills and philosophies. Generally speaking, I'm not sure most leaders are as consciously aware of what they have learned from their former bosses. 

There are two lessons here. Make it a priority to learn from the best, and reflect and recognize what lessons and principles you have learned from others that you can apply for yourself as a leader. And, give credit to your coaches as often as you can!) 

6) Great coaches define their team broadly. The best coaches want their players to succeed both on and off the court. The best coaches start or extend these "coaching trees" by developing their assistant coaches. The best college coaches recognize the role they play as a part of the larger organization (the college or university in their cases). 

Leaders can learn from this example as well. When you define your role broadly you allow yourself to have greater impact and more overall success. 

7) Great coaches coach! They aren't just managers or leaders. They actually coach! They recognize that an important part of their job is to develop others and help them reach their potential. Perhaps they have an advantage because their job title is coach. 

Your title may not remind you of this priority every day (and you may say you have other priorities). However, if you look closely at the other everyday tasks of a head coach you will find many of the same tasks and distractions you face. Yet the best "coaches" don't stop coaching.  

The best "leaders" shouldn't either.

Click here to read a related post:  You Can't Be A Great Leader If You're Not Coaching Your Team

Stay hungry and humble,

Peter Mclees, Leadership Coach, Trainer and Performance Consultant

SMART DEVELOPMENT

Take the Next Step...
Interested in learning how to develop your organization's culture, employee engagement and leadership capability? We begin with a collaborative discovery process identifying your unique needs and business issues. To request an interview with Peter Mclees please contact:

Email: petercmclees@gmail.com  or  Mobile:323-854-1713

Smart Development has an exceptional track record helping service providers, ports, sales teams, restaurants, stores, distribution centers, food production facilities, title companies, wealth management firms, third-party maintenance companies, nonprofits, government agencies and other businesses create a strong culture, leadership bench strength, coaching skills and the teamwork necessary for growth.

Having worked with several companies throughout their growth cycle, we have valuable insights and strategies that would help any late stage startup, small or medium sized company achieve sustained growth and prosperity.

Curiosity: An Essential Attitude for Leaders During Rapid Change

 

If you’re a leader, a business owner, an investor, a manager, a salesperson, or a problem-solver, one of the greatest assets you can have for thriving during rapid change is your thirst for answers—your curiosity.

The Curious Thing About Curiosity

All of us have untold potential. Yet it’s easy to fall into behaviors that prevent us from reaching what we are capable of. These behaviors are almost always the result of self-limiting beliefs. There are millions of them:

I can’t lose control because the world will spin apart.
I can’t love because I’ll be hurt.
I can’t speak up because I’ll be put down.
I can’t challenge the status quo because I’ll be punished.
I can’t try because I’ll fail.

Although none of these things may be true, many people act as though they are. And limit themselves as a result.

Each of these beliefs is personal. It’s easy to see how they might affect a person's behavior, happiness, or chances for success. But underlying them all is another limiting belief—one that is more insidious and in many ways harder to deal with than any of the others. It is the belief that the way things ‘are’ is permanent.

“It is what it is” may be true.
“It will always be what it is” couldn’t be further from the truth.

Nothing is permanent. Your body and your mind change from moment to moment. Eventually, those changes (we call them aging) become so profound that you wear out: you cease to exist.

Even though we see the impermanence of life almost daily, we often cling to the belief that certain other things are permanent. Knowledge, for example, is permanent, isn't it?

Not at all. The history of science is the story of human beings converting what we know into what we thought we knew. The Greek astronomer Ptolemy thought the earth was the center of the universe with the sun and stars revolving around it. Today we know that our earth is a small planet on the outer edge of a remote galaxy billions of lightyears from the center of the universe.

And some time in the future even this sophisticated concept of the way things are will prove to be faulty. It will become as obsolete as Ptolemy’s.

Many people find the idea of impermanence unsettling. But there’s another way to look at it. Impermanence can actually be empowering.

If we can accept that everything is changing, and that even what we ‘know’ is not stable, we can actually exercise enormous influence over our lives. Far from making us helpless, this belief actually gives us leverage.

If Nothing Is Permanent, Curiosity Becomes A Source Of Power

Think of it this way: If what you ‘know’ to be true has become no longer true, and you act as though it still is true, you are probably limiting your options.

Here’s a story that illustrates this point: In traditional South Asian societies, elephants were trained as beasts of burden. If you owned an elephant, you were wealthy. But you had to invest in your asset. Not only did you have to feed and care for it, you also had to make sure it didn’t wander off, get into your neighbor’s garden, or accidentally knock over the outhouse.

How do you keep an elephant in place? If you don’t have easy access to metals and forges with which to make chains, it’s not easy. Elephants are strong.

But Indian mahouts discovered a simple and reliable method. Soon after a calf was born, it was tethered by a heavy rope to a tree or stake pounded into the ground. The rope was tied around the animal’s leg with a slip knot. If the calf pulled, the rope tightened painfully. Over time, even the slightest pressure from the rope would warn the baby elephant to back off.

Adult elephants are kept in place with a much lighter rope. They can easily break it. But they don’t. Because they assume things haven’t changed and the rope will still cause them pain. As smart as they are, the elephants aren’t curious enough to question whether what they once knew to be true still is.

Most of us have elephant’s tethers of our own. We repeat the same behaviors over and over, simply because “that’s the way things are”.

One simple way out of this mess is to be curious. Pull at the rope. See what happens. You never know, you might find there’s a whole world out there waiting for you to explore.

Curiosity To The Rescue

Curiosity—combined with courage—is the root of every major advance human beings have ever made. So how can leaders, managers, salespeople, and problem-solvers use curiosity to their advantage?

By harnessing the power of questions. From simple, informational questions to complex, probing ones, questions are the key. There’s nothing new in this. Socrates discovered the power of questions 2,500 years ago, and the world’s most successful leaders, thinkers, humanitarians, inventors, investors, and artists have been using it ever since.

The most basic questions are informational: who, what, where, when, how long, how much, and so on. When you meet a new person, you can use these basic questions to open up areas for mutual discovery. You can find commonalities and connections, you can give yourself the chance learn another person's perspectives.

The next level is the complex, often difficult question that relentlessly probes for causes, reasons, and speculations. This is where you begin to discover what’s working for other people—and what isn’t. What they hope for and what they fear. These questions open worlds of problems and opportunities and challenges and solutions.

Finally, there are the questions that have no answer. These are the ones that create the new—that move us both individually and as a species to the next level.

Questions—the basic tool of curiosity—activate a very different part of the brain than mere statements. Questions literally energize the brain.

A Simple Experiment

See for yourself. Here’s a quick thought experiment. Look at the following sentence and notice what happens in your mind when you read it:

New technologies will change the way we live.

Now look at the next sentence. Notice what goes on in your mind as you read it:

How might new technologies change the way we live?

If you’re like most people, you didn’t react much to the first sentence—the statement. It probably just sat there.

But the second sentence—the question—activated your mind. You may have imagined possible futures, or thought about how technology has already changed the way you live or do business. In other words, something happened when your curiosity was triggered. It’s almost as though you can’t help yourself. Once you encounter a question, your mind jumps to try to answer it.

Curiosity Generates Energy!

Curiosity is the way we build both knowledge about the world and connection with the people around us. It’s also how we discover the new.

Mutual curiosity is a kind of two-way street that carries the traffic of human thought, feeling, commerce, connection, and possibility.

Stay hungry and humble,

Peter Mclees, Leadership Coach, Trainer and Performance Consultant

SMART DEVELOPMENT

Take the Next Step...

Interested in learning how to develop your organization's culture, employee engagement and leadership capability? We begin with a collaborative discovery process identifying your unique needs and business issues. To request an interview with Peter Mclees please contact:

Email: petercmclees@gmail.com  or  Mobile:323-854-1713

Smart Development has an exceptional track record helping service providers, ports, sales teams, restaurants, stores, distribution centers, food production facilities, title companies, wealth management firms, third-party maintenance companies, nonprofits, government agencies and other businesses create a strong culture, leadership bench strength, coaching skills and the teamwork necessary for growth.

Having worked with several companies throughout their growth cycle, we have valuable insights and strategies that would help any late stage startup, small or medium sized company achieve sustained growth and prosperity.