Why All Choices Are Emotional
Why All Choices are Emotional
Any belief we take on, or any logic we follow, we do so because on some level, we believe it will bring us closer to feeling better about ourselves and our reality, or it helps us defend against losing what level of comfort we already have. ~Mark Petruzzi
Steve is a middle manager and a programmer who’s in his mid-thirties. He is in my Be Your Own Coach workshop, and I’ve asked him to write down his top ten “wants” in thirty-seconds.
Like most of the others in the workshop on this day, he doesn’t make it past three desires listed in the time allotted. I tell the workshop that this is evidence that not one of them is thinking about what they really want often enough, or they’d have successfully listed more than 10 desires each, given the same amount of time.
Steve agrees: “I realize that I haven’t thought about what I really wanted in years!” he reveals to the rest of the workshop.
I ask Steve to pick one of his desires from the list. He picks some training he wants his employer to provide him. I ask him why he wants it. He tells me that it will give him the certification he needs to get a promotion, and it will keep his skills current.
I ask Steve what that would mean to him. I ask him how that would make him feel. He disregards the feeling question, and answers logically (as I expect him to, because he is a Jungian “thinker”), “I am more likely to get a promotion and a raise with this training,” he says.
“How does that feel?” I persist.
“I would feel more confident leading my direct reports, and plus… well, I just realized something about my personality: I love to learn. I love knowledge! I’d feel great just learning new stuff!”
“So, if you had to sum it up” I continue, “How would this additional confidence, and the process of learning new stuff make you feel?”
16 Leadership Lessons from Riding a Motorcycle
16 Leadership Lessons from Riding a Motorcycle
- Hold on to your vision, and make sure it is aligned with who you are.
- You get what you pay attention to.
- Slow into the curve, accelerate out.
- Counter-steer.
- Test assumptions continuously.
- Anticipate, without fear.
- Take ‘em somewhere.
- Know how to make an emergency stop.
- Practice makes fearless.
- After a ride in the rain, dry your bike thoroughly.
- Pair new riders with more experience ones, and give them plenty of encouragement.
- Give ample notice before what happens next. Communicate clearly, and make sure you’re getting through.
- Check your rear view often!
- Prepare for the ride.
- You don’t want blind followers.
- Have Fun!
Lesson 1: Hold on to your vision, and make sure it is aligned with who you are.
Several years ago, my wife was cruising through the Farmington Flats here in Connecticut, when she notice a female motorcycle rider who was obviously enjoying the wind in her face and the combo of open road freedom and fingertip-power that’s only available on motorcycle. As Sue tells the story, she wondered what it might feel like to have that kind of freedom, and decided that she would find out.
Anyone Can Train, Right?
From time to time, my blogs will come straight off one of my answers to a LInkedIn question. In this case, one poster queried the ASTD group as to how readers would respond to the belief that confronts many an educator, trainer, or training manager in the business environment. What is this belief, and who holds it?
The "who," in this case, is any decision-maker not in the company's performance improvement or training organization, but who has input or sign-off on the training that will happen in his or her department.
The belief is none other than (drum roll): "Training is easy, and anyone can train".
This usually means that our decision-maker has a subject matter expert (SME) on the staff, who they feel they can put in a training or conference room, or put on a conference call, and this SME will present to everyone, and everyone who hears the presentation will go away and do what they just learned.
Good luck with that, right?
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