Are you having the Impact you want?

The aim of this blog is to help you understand what we mean by impact. Hopefully, by keeping it simple, you’ll get some hints and tips on how to be more impactful yourself.

I have had several conversations recently on leading with impact or personal impact either with coaching clients, developing a personal impact workshop with colleagues or in designing a leading with impact event. What I have learned is it is difficult for people to describe and define and therefore less easy to determine what action to take.

My definition of personal impact is ‘The ability to command your audience, aligning your physiology and emotions to create the impact you intend.’ If you are able to do this it will automatically affect the tone of voice you use.

Why Physiology and Emotions?

I often refer to the Mehrabian model on the impact of communication where 55% of what we communicate is through our physiology. This can be anything from facial expression, the way you stand or sit and breathing. It’s not about size, height or physical beauty. 38% of what we communicate is through tone of voice, which includes volume, timbre, speed, rhythm and the energy behind it.

Both tone and physiology are affected by our emotions. If you are fearful, happy, stressed it will show in both and people unconsciously read these. This leaves 7% of the impact in the words you use. It’s important to recognise that all 3 elements are significant and have to be aligned. Saying you are happy when your voice tone and body are clearly saying something different gives an incongruous message. You can bet that most people get that you are not happy.

So how do you ‘do’ impact?

It’s easier said than done as whatever we do has an impact the question is, is it the impact you want to create? Being laid back is great if that is the impact you want to create. It’s not so good if you want people to listen to your message and remember it. It starts the moment you enter the room! Here are some simple steps you can begin to practice.

1. Ask yourself – what is my intention in the meeting? What result do I want? What atmosphere do I want to create? Having got clarity on this;

2. Ask yourself – how do I need to be to create/deliver this? What do I need to embody? Visualise how you will be walking into the room and interacting with others

3. As you do this go through a basic centring practice:

a. Stand with your feet hip width apart, balanced equally on each foot with your knees relaxed.

b. Lift your rib cage slightly and relax your shoulders so you stand tall yet relaxed.

c. Lift you head a look straight ahead, relaxing your jaw in the process.

d. Now, if your breath hasn’t already shifted breath into your abdomen.

4. Notice the shift in your body and your breath and the energy you need to create and project.

5. If possible practice how you need to be.

After the event reflect:

1. Did you create the impact you wanted?

2. If yes what did you learn that you can repeat or do more of?

3. If not what did you notice about how you were? When did you ‘lose it?’

4. What do you need to practice to do better next time?

5. If possible get feedback.

Practice

As with all new skills and behaviours it will take lots of practice before it comes naturally, is unconscious and truly embodied The more you practice the more flexible and more self aware you become Don’t wait for the main event. Find opportunities outside of work where it’s not so important. If it doesn’t work view it as an opportunity to learn and adjust.

If you want to explore more and invest in some development then look at the strozzi institute who run courses through Roffey Park in the U.K

‘Be who you are in every situation.’

Michael Johnson

Balancing Chaos and Order

How many of you are currently in the middle of some form of organisational change? Maybe a reorganisation due to some cost cutting, developing a new team to take on a new product or market or changing the way you operate to be more competitive, or in the process of merging two organisations?

Change is constant, and yes I know you have heard that many times before but let me ask you this question. How good are you at managing it? Have you actually learned from your past experiences and are actively putting those learnings’ into practice? Are you taking some time to think about what is required and taking people with you? Are you actually managing the change or allowing it to manage you?

Managing the equilibrium between chaos and order is a fine balance when in the midst of change. My experience is that most organisations want order rather than chaos, when sometimes a little more chaos may bring about a quicker and better result. I am not advocating that chaos is the way to go, but just maybe we hold on too tight to controlling everything.

So how can you keep your feet in both camps and make steps forward rather than be frozen by what seems like an overwhelming challenge.

Well the first thing you need to do is STOP! Take some time for reflection either as an individual or as a team. Working at top speed isn’t always productive. Mistakes can easily be made and aren’t often spotted. When they are spotted a level of rework is often required which may actually take longer than it would have if we had just gone a little slower in the first place.

The second thing to do is BREATH. Taking time out for a ‘pit stop’ gives you the opportunity to step back and really think about where you are heading and actually take a breath. Are you on track? Are you taking people with you? Where do you really need to put your efforts for the optimum impact? Take a long deep breath and review where you are. Lift your head up and check that you are heading in the right direction. Have you got the right balance of control, or are you holding on too tight?

And the third thing to do is move forward taking small steps. In doing so be clear about what it is you are committing to internally and externally. That is what are you personally committing to and what are you asking others to commit too. As you move forward also consider what it is you and/or your organisation needs to stop doing or ‘let go’ of to create the change. All too often I see people continue to do the same and then add to it rather than rethink what they need that is different. In moving forward be comfortable ‘not knowing’ what may be ahead. This way you will be more open to what opportunities may transpire.

This may sound simple and indeed it is, however putting into practice isn’t always easy. So what practice can you put into place that can make you even better at managing/coping with the mass of change that is around? It may be something personal you can do or something with the team. Choose one thing and start practicing it either weekly or daily and review your progress. Find what works and do more of it.

"Do not wait; the time will never be 'just right.' Start where you stand, and work with whatever tools you may have at your command, and better tools will be found as you go along."

George Herbert

New Year - New Horizons

We are already into the second week of 2011 and I’m wondering how many of you set New Year resolutions? If you did, how many of you have broken them already and decided to give up?! To be resolute is to be determined, bold, not vacillating or shrinking – yet I wonder how many of us really understand this when making a New Year Resolution. Instead entering into it out of ‘tradition’. If you really want to set goals/targets for the year that work – read on.

I was one of those people who would make one or several New Year resolutions and rarely would they last the year. However, I have come across a couple of processes over recent years that have had more meaning for me and really helped me think about what I want from the year ahead. They have become a bit of a ritual for me between Christmas and New Year and more often than not I stick with them. What I've learned from putting this ritual into practice is that INTENTION is extremely powerful. Resolutions are fine, but they are often motivated by what you should do and therefore remain in our heads as just that. So the key to making this work is to have a very clear intention of making them happen.

Other critical elements to making these work and achieve what you set out to do are:

CLARITY: Be really clear about what it is that you want to the point where you get a very clear picture in your own mind as to what it looks like and how it will feel to have it. When you are unclear it’s hard to create the outcomes you desire. This does not mean you need to know the how of getting it. So the clarity of your intention is the first step.

CONGRUENCE: Another way of looking at this is to be truly authentic to who you are. This means doing it because it’s what you want not what someone else thinks you should be doing, or because everyone else seems to be doing it.

COMMITMENT: This is about pledging or promising to yourself to take action to get what you want. This is not about planning out every detail. This often leads to frustration and people giving up before they have even begun. It is about taking the first steps and then to keep going, being open to opportunities that come your way. If you have the clarity of your intention and it’s congruent for you you are more likely to commit to action around it.

So having set the scene let me give you an overview of the two processes.

Your Best Year Ever

I first came across this through the Performance Partnership.

1. Identify the areas of your life that you want to set goals for e.g. career, family, health and fitness.

2. Write some SMART objectives against these. It’s important here to ensure they are written as if you already have them and are simple and as specific as they need to be for you. Give some real thought to what it is you want and once you have written your goal review it and ask yourself are they clear to me, do I know what it will look and feel like to have this? Is it congruent with who I am? Am I really committed to achieving this?

3. Apply the creating your future process® to put them into your future.

Word of the Year

This process comes from Christine Kane.

1. Identify the word (or words) that you are choosing for the coming year. Choose a word that has real meaning for you e.g. Creativity, Pioneer, Courage. Be clear about how you need to be in ‘living’ this word and how you will embody it.

2. What old patterns or unhelpful beliefs have you been living that have stopped you from ‘living’ this word. Identify what triggers these and what you want to do/be instead.

3. List at least 5 goals you’d like to accomplish based on this word.

With both of these processes this is simply the start, remembering that once established you have to take action so be clear about what the first step is. If you find you are not taking action, or lapsing into old behaviours ask yourself what you need to do to get back on track. I find this a much better approach than beating yourself up over it.

At the end of the year review your success and learn what it is about you that allowed you to achieve it. Recognizing this will allow you to build on whatever it is and be even more successful the following year.

So Good Luck! I trust you will get all you set out to achieve in 2011.

"It had long since come to my attention that people of accomplishment rarely sat back and let things happen to them. They went out and happened to things."

Leonardo da Vinci