Excuses or Results?

The brutal truth is that not everyone is cut out to obtain the success that they dream about. In some cases they may have unrealistic expectations and in other cases they just don’t remain focused and committed to their dream. Setbacks are commonplace and may require adjustments in the plan but success still can be achieved.

On your path to success results are what matter the most. Assessing the past is important, but often people drift into the blame game or make excuses for their shortcomings as they consider past experiences. You should only carry forward the lessons that you learned and not dwell on uncomfortable or embarrassing past performance.

Three critical factors separate those with excuses from those with results:

1. visualization
2. patience
3. persistence

Are you on the path and committed to achieving your success?

Are you making excuses or getting results?

- DEG

Finger Licking Good? No BAD!

On a recent visit to the grocery store I noticed something terrible. It made me think about big mistakes we may be making that we don’t even realize we are doing.

While shopping I noticed a lady selecting raw packaged meat from the refrigerated section and placing the packaged meat into the sanitary bags that are provided in that section. My understanding is that those additional bags are to help prevent the spread of nasty germs (bacteria, virus) from raw meat. What’s the problem here?  She was touching the packages, grabbing the sanitary bags and separating them by first licking her fingers. Nice.

Rolling this into our lives or careers, we should ask for feedback on performance. Recognize that you may not always like what you hear but take a risk and get some feedback. Even hard working, good upstanding employees are sometimes oblivious to critical errors.

Don’t give a lick discover how to do the trick! 

- DEG

Feedback and the Amygdala Hijack.

A recent blog focused on the idea of giving and receiving effective feedback in the workplace. Feedback is very important to ensure high levels of self-confidence and to promote improved performance. Unfortunately many workplace employees are not effective at giving or receiving feedback and will often avoid the feedback process as much as possible. One fear that exists is the fear of upsetting the individual receiving the feedback and essentially making the situation worse instead of better. Feedback needs to be properly managed which includes delivery at the right time. The worst time to give feedback to a fellow employee is during an amygdala hijack.

Ah-mig-da-lah what? An amygdala hijack occurs when our brain is in the fight or flight mode. Amygdala, is the part of our brain that is responsible for comparing incoming information with our past emotional memories. A hijack ensues when we are completely overcome with fight or flight emotions (and other brain functions) and as a result logic and reasoning are thrown out of the window. It is protection, in motion, real-time.

In the workplace it is important to avoid feeback in very intense emotional situations. During these times most of what will be heard, felt, or given is an outright character attack. Employees need feedback, they need constructive and useful feedback. Employees who receive no feedback will lose confidence in their abilities and assume that their efforts do not make a difference. Choose the right time for feedback, create a culture of performance feedback and watch the motivation and morale of employee teams grow.

 

Technorati Tags: feedback,amygdala hijack

Feedback Makes Us Better!

If you were doing something wrong, or something that could be improved, would you want to know about it? Most employees would quickly answer “yes” to this question. Then why do we sometimes struggle with the feedback process? Many fear upsetting co-workers, supervisors, or direct reports. The fear of the unknown or the conflict that may develop makes some employees steer clear of anything even remotely connected to the feedback exchange.

Feedback does not have to be a confrontational situation, often I suggest to organizations to think of it as a conversation, not a confrontation. Organizations that develop a culture of effective feedback, both giving and receiving are typically higher performing organizations when compared with those that do not. In some organizations feedback is abundant, in others we have to dig deep to get the feedback, and in some cases we may have to self-assess and provide our own feedback.

One key element of the feedback exchange is to create an atmosphere of providing feedback that focuses on helping the recipient succeed. Feedback should not be about an opportunity to humiliate, devalue, or disrespect a fellow employee, it should be about helping them succeed. High performing organizations utilize feedback systems that allow the process to go upward, downward, and horizontally throughout the organization, it is not just about supervisor to direct report.

Do you utilize effective feedback systems in your organization?

 

Technorati Tags: performance,feedback