“Pulling Your Own Strings”, Dr. William Halbert Jr., April 4, 2007. Institute for Public Service, Local Government Leadership Program
Overall Strength is also your weakness.
New environment is “no preparation time” anymore. Always in “white water”, no “calm”.
BALANCE is the way to handle this environment.
-Used for navigation
-Used as a stabilizer
Seven Areas to keep you in Balance
I. Attitude.
You can “act into” a good attitude. (Pretend you are happy, more likely to be happy).
Attitude is a “choice” Avoid negative thoughts. (Believe in yourself, set high standards, your attitude determines success!)
Emphasize positive.
Self-image. This is how you see yourself. Can visualize positive results and behavior.
Attitude is contagious and will affect your behavior.
Attitude skills include positive outlook, listening, responding, asking for other opinions.
Also, emphasize areas of agreement when in an “explosive” situation.
Use illustrative example or incident as a persuasive technique
(COMMENT): I decided to try this and even wrote it on my “to do” list every day. (This is approximately two weeks later. While I have always emphasized the positive, I think I have become, or at least am improving, in having a positive attitude and “looking” for the positive.
The looking for areas of agreement and using illustrative examples (or stories) also seem to work, I am emphasizing doing this.)
II. Quality Time
Psychic Energy and expanding awareness.
Energy put into a relationship.
Look at everything as if the ‘first time”, keep fascination and enthusiasm.
Expand awareness-
Think of one thing at a time-focus on one thing
Listen without interruption, concentrate.
(COMMENT: This is an item I am working on. Focusing on one thing is more difficult than I realized, I hadn’t realized how many times I do not actually focus on what someone is saying. Listening without interruption (or planning my response while the other is talking) is difficult!
III. Knowledge
He states there are four stages:
-Unconscious incompetent
-Conscious incompetent
-Unconscious competent
-Conscious competent.
Conscious competent is stage you want to be in “Know what you know-Know why you are good at something.
Memory-Improving Memory
-Remember things that happened first
-Remember the most recent things
-Remember things that are linked
-Remember things that are outstanding
Increase Skills:
-Ask Questions
-Don’t be afraid to say “I don’t know” or “I’ll find out”
-Learn from mistakes vs. blaming someone.
-Best learning from lowest level of organization
IV. Creativity
-Not always recognized-it is to see what everyone else “sees”, but to think what no one else “thinks”.
-Creativity is not always recognized.
-Don’t have “failures”, have “learning opportunities”
Any job can be done better, in some more creative way.
What needs stifle Creativity?
-Need for the familiar
-Need for excessive order
-Need to conform
Creativity is a Process:
Preparation-Pause
Absorption-Chaos to Form
Incubation-Encounter
Illumination-Ecstasy-Actualizing
Elimination and Verification-Emergence
How to you provide for a Creative Climate?
-Allow individuals to have some space alone
-Encourage some unstructured time
-Rule out judgment and criticism
-Insure a combination of alertness and discipline.
V. Change
How React to Change?
1. Denial-tend to put down the need for change (alternative is transformation, Experience, then transforms pain, conflict and fear)
2. Avoidance-settle for dull chronic pain, rather than the brief, acute confrontation
Stages in Transformation:
1. Awareness: The entry point
2. Interest: The Exploration point
3. Evaluation and Trial: The integration level
4. Adoption: The acceptance
How Change happens:
-Will to encounter
-Self-talk-the art of coping
-Visualization
-Coaches and mentors
-Skill-power, not just will-power
-Personal selling
-Commitment
-Practice and results
-Ownership
-After Care
VI. Courage
Courage influences effectiveness
1. Fear Limits
-Worry drains energy
-Fear limits ability to contribute
-Fear prevents positive confrontation
2. Courage to be yourself
-Be yourself so others like you for who you are
-Self acceptance is prerequisite to others accepting.
VII: Motivation
Motive is that impels or incites you to act.
Primary reason “do what we do”
-Hope of getting what we want
-Fear of getting something we don’t want
-Combination of both
How Create Positive Motivation?
-Decide specifically what you want to achieve
-If need to do unpleasant tasks to achieve a goal, tell yourself “I’m choosing to do this because I want “______________________”
-Picture yourself achieving your goal
-Develop a definite plan of action
-Recognize progress towards goals
-Praise your efforts
-reward yourself
-Modify your self image.
This seminar has a lot of items to work on. I am taking the course outline and using it as an outline to review with some key City personnel at our monthly goal meetings. I will have different personnel take different sections and facilitate a group discussion of the items..
This will keep me working on these items over a period of time.
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