Careful of those unconscious 'commands'

"I know you're tired after a long day today..."

"We'll do this activity so it might feel like you're a kid back at school doing a test..."

"I'm sorry if it feels like all of the speakers are droning on about this..."

"You probably don't want to hear what I'm going to say next but ..."

These are four real-life statements, made by team leaders, speakers, executives over the past few weeks ... people who should "know better".

But often we don't know! We're blissfully (or dangerously) unaware of the words that leak out from our mouths from our minds and the power those words have on a team, an environment, a presentation, a project.

I noted these four statements when I heard them and they all have a dangerous power to have the audience agreeing with you, under their breath, in their mind, or muttering to someone else.

Let's run them again:

"I know you're tired after a long day today..."

<Yeah, so get off the stage and let me go and have a beer!>

"We'll do this activity so it might feel like you're a kid back at school doing a test..."

<So stop it! I don't need to do kids stuff. Let's do things that will actually create an outcome for this project!>

"I'm sorry if it feels like all of the speakers are droning on about this..."

<OK, so you're going to waffle too? Yes you've all been droning ALL day!>

"You probably don't want to hear what I'm going to say next but ..."

<You're right mate. I'm not gonna listen. Instead I'll think about ....>

Be super careful about your 'banter' before you deliver important messages. This 'leakage' of uncertainty, apology or low levels of confidence can be turned around. 

Instead, positively frame up what you're saying. 

There's no need to use any of these waffle statements. Just deliver your content, your point, your story, your case study. And move on. 

Set up the environment, the context and the team for a positive interaction, a creative environment with a strong 'why we're doing this', or 'why I'm here presenting this' or 'why this change is happening'. 

They're the 'commands' you want people to buy in to and adopt. 

That's a smoother path to change. 

Can you really change the culture of an organisation?

School Principal Jihad Dib spoke at TEDxSydney recently - and shared his story of how a school can go from barbed wire … to belonging. 

Imagine a school community where people had given up.

But this education and community leader said 'where there's a heartbeat, there's life'. He believes the trajectory and culture of any organisation can be changed. 

You can see Jihad Dib's TEDxSydney 2014 talkhere...

and my visual notes below: 



 

How involved do you want people to be?

When you next need to get input or contributions from people, or you need to consult with a team on something, think first: how involved do you want people to be? 

This really is the question - just how deeply involved?

It can get messy if you think one thing and they think another. 

This quick video outlines a depth of involvement and participation. Go on, get into it. 

 For further information, read up on the IAP2 process here

How to engage people in change & transformation

How to engage people in change & transformation from Lynne Cazaly on Vimeo.

When change is on the agenda - and it so often is in today's workplaces - be sure you've got engaging tools to help people buy into the change and transformation that's coming. 

Avoid ambiguity and complication. Hey, you might love working down in the detail because you're involved in the piece of work, but that doesn't mean others across the organisation are that 'into' you or the change!

Check out this week's sketch video to move beyond a 'pack' of information!

Change is easy if you use your brain

Got some habits that die hard? 

It's no wonder! Our brains are passive, but our minds are active. This causes lots of 'thinking errors'. And we've all had plenty of them today … already!

This week I share a quick video (above) plus my narration of 'Change is easy if you use your brain' from neuro researcher Jeffrey Schwartz. 

When you understand 'won't power' ... you'll be able to make better choices and change will be easier!