TO BE FULLY PRESENT
In this life we are often pre-occupied with our efforts to make something happen in the future, or to ruminate over past mistakes and regrets, or just to keep turning to social media with a coffee to occupy our already highly stimulated minds.
When you stepped outside this morning to go to work or elsewhere did you get the chance the enjoy what was happening around you, did you connect with the people you came in contact with, did you notice all the sights, smells and the sounds – or were you locked in your head thinking: “I mustn’t forget to do xyz, I wish I had done abc yesterday, what emails have I had….tweets…Facebook….?”
How about making our goal to be fully present in as many moments as we can. To see, hear, touch, smell, feel what is happening, to experience our deeper sense of self and our connection to each other, to feel good about the gift of being alive.
KNOW WHO YOU REALLY ARE
In my early experience with Putting People First programmed with organizations such as American Express and Unipart Group, and much more recently with Brighton & Hove Albion Football Club, Tottenham Hotspur Football Club and Progress it’s clear to me that igniting people at a deeper, more personal level is at the heart of transforming culture – whether the priority be to drive innovative customer experiences and/or boost operational performance and efficiency.
In my work directing The Big Bite-Size Breakfast Show at numerous Edinburgh Festivals and on Sky, this same principle has emerged: sustained high performance comes from the inside out. When actors engage fully with the deeper purpose and objectives of the character they are seeking to become, the magic happens.
When leaders shape a culture where people put their heart and soul into something, it releases enormous potential. This potential can be applied to meet some big challenges without burning out the leadership team…and often the rest of the organization too.
