7 steps - achieve-lead-succeed · achieve lead succeed 7 steps to happiness at work you have...

7 Steps

to happiness at work

ACHIEVE LEAD SUCCEED 7 Steps to Happiness at Work

Are you stuck in the daily grind

doing a job you hate, struggLing to MotiVate your teaM?

you are not aLone!Studies show that only around one third of employees are highly engaged and that’s optimistic! Some studies have it as low as 11%. And a 2011 LMA LEAD study showed leaders were less engaged than employees, with just over a quarter enjoying their current role.

Research shows that organisations with highly engaged employees do better than those with low engagement – for example 14% higher net income. Some estimates also show Australia loses $32bn annually due to low productivity from disengaged employees.

So we all know employee engagement is an issue, so what are we doing about it?

Plenty of organisations have engagement programs, reward and recognition schemes and extra benefits. Many have leadership training, culture improvement actions and employee value propositions - all of which are important initiatives in any business. And yet we still struggle to improve engagement.

what if there was another way? what if it was within our own personaL ControL? what if instead of waiting to be engaged, we CouLd Look inside ourseLVes and say ‘i Choose to engage’?

What if our leaders did the same? What if our teams empowered themselves? Where would this take us? What could we achieve? At work, in business, in life?

What would we need to know and believe to do this? How do we equip ourselves, our employees and even our leaders to engage themselves?

This report describes ‘7 steps to achieving happiness at work’ through beliefs, behaviours and actions YOU can take right now.

be a pioneer of eMpLoyee engageMent froM the inside out.

try it on, giVe it a go and notiCe the differenCe.

then gift it to your boss.


Many businesses and organisations are Very good at knowing what they do and how they do it. few Can artiCuLate ‘why’.Get to know your organisation’s ‘Why’. Their vision, mission, values and strategy. Get curious, ask questions, understand where your role fits and how what you do and how you do it contributes to your organisation’s ‘Why’.

If your manager doesn’t know, talk to their manager and the manager above that and feed back to your team. Chances are your team feel the same way you do.

Encourage ‘Why’ discussions at your team meetings. Invite senior managers to come and present their ‘Why’. Model the thinking and behaviours of the teams that have a strong sense of purpose.

Figure out your own personal ‘why’. Why are you on this planet? What is your cause, your purpose? What are your values and are you living them?

Is your ‘Why’ fulfilled through your organisation or do you get your ‘Why’ fix elsewhere? Understand your ‘Why’ for going to work. For many it is to earn a living, so what does money give you? For some it is security, for others freedom.

Identify your purpose in working and celebrate every time that purpose is met.

Create a strong ‘why’ and the ‘how’ and ‘what’ will follow.

1Step Oneknow your ‘why’


what you foCus on is what you get, so foCus on what you want, not on what you don’t want.Always start with the end in mind. What do you want to achieve? What is the outcome you are looking for? What would be an outstanding result today?

It’s been said many times, but worth saying over and over again – Set goals for your life and your work to deliver your ‘Why’, and most importantly write them down. Use the SMART goal framework – Specific, Measurable, As If, Realistic, Timed. If your goals are big, break them down into manageable chunks and SMART the chunks. And celebrate every time you complete a chunk.

Human beings are filtering machines. We delete, distort and generalise to make sense of all the information we are bombarded with at any point in time. Otherwise we’d go crazy! Think about everything you could be currently aware of – the feel of your clothes on your body, the sound of your PC, the smell of coffee, your colleagues chattering at the next desk, taking in the info in this report - the list is endless. Conspire to your own success and help yourself filter in what you need to succeed. Challenge your own belief filters of what is and isn’t possible.

Focus on what you want, have a clear outcome or goal, and frame it positively - this helps open the filters, highlight opportunities and gives you your ‘how’ and ‘what’.

2Step Twobe outCoMe foCussed


nothing happens untiL you take aCtion. nothing. nada. niL.Understanding your purpose, creating your goals and opening your filters to success gets you nowhere, unless you are prepared to take action.

This can be the most challenging step! It’s also the most simple, particularly once you understand the common causes why people procrastinate or don’t take action.

1. The action seems too big. In that case go back to Step 2 and chunk the goal down to manageable steps and take action on the first.

2. You are afraid of failing. For this read on to Step 5

3. You are afraid of success, or more accurately the fear of future overwhelm of not being able to cope if things get too busy. Read that aloud – it sounds ridiculous doesn’t it! Again chunk down to manageable steps and take action on the first, trusting yourself that you will continue to do this along your journey

4.. Your ‘Why’ is not strong enough. In other words, you don’t know if this is really what you want to do, or you haven’t thought about what it will be like once complete. Motivate yourself - If you are visual, picture the end result, if you are auditory tell yourself what people will be saying to you, if you’re kinaesthetic how will you feel?

There is no use thinking if you don’t take action. Honour your ‘Why’ and take that first step.

3Step Threetake aCtion


be at the Cause of what happens, rather than at effeCt froM what happens. take 100% responsibiLity for your thoughts, aCtions and behaViours. Imagine if everyone in your team and your work acted and communicated ‘At Cause’. Where people took responsibility instead of blaming, and delivered results instead of excuses. How different would it be?

Decide from this moment you are ‘At Cause’ and start to think, act and behave accordingly. Notice with genuine curiosity how other people are with you. Consider your body language and tone as well as your words, as words only make up 7% of our communication – the other 93% is unconscious.

Develop sensory acuity (awareness) so that you notice those minute shifts and changes in others, paying absolute attention and being present instead of focussing in your head on what you are going to say next! Become an amazing listener and encourage others in your team to do the same.

Presuppose that everyone does the best they can with what they have available to them at the time (knowledge, experience, beliefs etc). They are not out to make your life hard.

Discuss this with your colleagues and become an ‘at Cause’ model team, driving away fear to develop a trust based culture.

4Step Fourt

be at Cause

At Effect At Cause

bLaMe

reaCt

probLeM

faiLure

proCrastination

exCuses

stuCk

ViCtiM

judgeMent

fear

responsibiLity

respond

soLution

feedbaCk

aCtion

resuLts

ChoiCe

hero

aCknowLedgMent

trust

Example Data


say that out Loud to yourseLf and notiCe how you feeL. then ask– what wouLd i do next if there was no faiLure onLy feedbaCk? how wouLd My probLeM be different if i knew i CouLdn’t faiL? Another way to consider this is in terms of behavioural flexibility. If what you are doing isn’t working, change it. Assess the feedback and do something different. The more flexible you are in your own behaviour, the more control you have of the situation you are in. Change your behaviour as you need to reach the outcome you desire.

As the saying goes - if you always do what you’ve always done, you’ll always get what you’ve always got! Having only one way of doing things is no choice at all. Adopt behavioural flexibility and you get choices. The more choices, the more likelihood of success.

proCrastination bust!

If you perceive you are truly stuck in a loop, unclog your thinking with the Cartesian Question framework – they help clarify the pain of staying the same, versus the pleasure gained from moving forward.

üWhat will happen if I do ‘X’?

üWhat won’t happen if I do ‘X’?

üWhat will happen if I don’t do ‘X’?

üWhat won’t happen if I don’t do ‘X’?

Again honour your ‘why’ and find a way to succeed. Become a ‘there’s no failure only feedback’ model at work, it’s a true gift to give to your colleagues and your team.

5Step Fivethere’s no faiLure onLy feedbaCk


ModeL the state and physioLogy of exCeLLenCe. states are Contagious - operating froM a resourCefuL state wiLL eMpower not onLy you but those around you too! We all know people who seem to drain our energy away. They sit with shoulders slumped and head bowed, and speak with a flat dull tone. How long do you want to spend with them? What goes through your mind when you have to ask them for something?

How much more do we prefer dealing with the people who stand tall, smile and talk with enthusiasm and energy? How would it be if we could be like this whenever we want?

Change your physioLogy and you Can Change your state

Sit up, shoulders back, smile, think of a time when you were confident/happy/joyful. If you’re on the phone notice the difference in energy if you stand up and move around. If you’re walking, walk tall with your head up. Notice how you feel as you adopt a physiology of excellence. What happens in your mind?

Learn how to break your own state. We all have days where things don’t go to plan, but instead of wallowing in an un-resourceful way, consider the feedback you’ve gained and then break your own state – Do something ridiculous, dance a jig, think of the last time you farted in a lift. If none of these work do two more things – look up (this accesses our visual modality rather than our feeling modality) and list three things you are grateful for.

Model a powerful physiology of purpose and excellence and watch as those around you rise with you.

6Step SixModeL exCeLLenCe


you haVe deterMined your ‘why’, gained CLarity around your outCoMe and deVeLoped your aCtions. you are CoMMuniCating at Cause, responding to feedbaCk and ModeLLing exCeLLenCe. now CoMMit to CoMpLetion.To successfully commit to completion ask the question - How will I know when I’ve succeeded?

Get clear on what you need to know, to know when you’ve achieved your outcome.

don’t be a dabbLer. Make deCisions fast and Change your Mind sLowLy.

Most people don’t do this. Most people take ages to make decisions, not being clear on their purpose or outcome, procrastinating through fearing what will happen if they do…and then eventually they take the plunge and make the call – Fantastic!

…But then one thing goes wrong and they change their mind, and do something else, taking it as failure not feedback.

The quality of your thinking determines the quality of your actions which drives smart decision making. Committing to completion is knowing your ‘Why’ is strong enough and then working through the actions and feedback to deliver.

And then most importantly, celebrate! Celebrate the milestones along the way, celebrate feedback, celebrate every time someone is inspired by your ‘Why’, and celebrate excellence.

finally, celebrate when your outcome is achieved, and then embrace the next exciting challenge!

7Step SevenCoMMit to CoMpLetion


References

and further reading

page 1

Major engagement studies include

üCorporate Leadership Council 2004 – 11% employees are highly engaged

üGallup Global Survey 2011 (from SMH 18/3/11) – 18% Australians love their work, estimates $32b lost annually due to low productivity

üLMA Mar 2011 – 37% managers and employees engaged in current role, 28% leaders engaged in current role

üTowers Watson 2012 – globally 35% employees highly engaged

14% better net income statistic – see ‘Closing the Engagement Gap: How Great Companies Unlock Employee Potential for Superior Results’ by Julie Gebauer and Don Lowman

Further Reading: Excellent Book – ‘The Employee Engagement Mindset: The Six Drivers for Tapping into the Hidden Potential of Everyone in Your Company’ by Tim Clark

page 3

Further Reading: Fantastic book, highly recommended – ‘Start with Why’ by Simon Sinek

page 5

Contact me for a quick little test to find out your modality (visual, auditory etc)

page 6 & 8

Further Reading: Excellent and fun book – ‘The Definitive Book of Body Language’ by Allan and Barbara Pease

Create a Life froM your LiVing

find fuLfiLMent at work

inspire your peopLe

the founder and Managing direCtor of aChieVe-Lead-suCCeed.

Rebecca is an executive coach and leadership specialist based in Brisbane, Australia.

After working in numerous leadership roles in a range of industries in both the UK and Australia, Rebecca founded Achieve-Lead-Succeed with a purpose to create positive change in business and help leaders unleash their potential and improve their culture to achieve results with their people.

www.achieveleadsucceed.com

7 steps - achieve-lead-succeed · achieve lead succeed 7 steps to happiness at work you have...

Documents