Archive for July, 2007

Right at the beginning of the GAINMORE model we looked at your Goals – and establishing those goals. Realistically, when you have a goal, these are generally longer term – “I want to reduce my handicap to 4 by the end of the year” is a SMART goal. Obviously, you know that such a goal is unlikely to be immediate, there are steps along the way, milestones if you prefer, we call these steps ‘Outcomes’.

After years of coaching, training and teaching, I have come to the profound conclusion that most people can only work on one thing at a time. Especially men! My research has shown that when we identify a very specific outcome and run a plan of actions to achieve it, if it fits within a greater plan, then we are more likely to see ultimate success. Any project leader knows this, and establishes a series of specific outcomes from tasks – down to the minute detail – and the greater the overall goal, the more detailed the planning, the tasks, the outcomes from each task, the resources required and so on.

To know, by and large, we;ve talked about generalities, ideas and concepts. This is the part where you do the actual work. This is how you change yourself. So, firstly, I’d like to introduce a process to ensure that you:

• Know your outcome

• Act to achieve your outcome

This template process is a truly effective outcome setting process. It works at the unconscious level and provides an action plan – or at least the first steps of an action plan for longer term goals, and links your own personal desire to achieve the goal. This is important, because most goals (if not all) require that you do something to achieve them. i.e. you have to do some work – even when such work is considered ‘play’ it will still require some degree of effort on your part.

The goal setting process is SWING - should be easy to remember right?

S – Specific goal stated in the positive and measurable – a goal to move towards not something to move away from
W – What do I Win? What are the pay-offs? What do I lose? What will I see when I have it? What will I hear when I have it? What will I feel when I have it? What will I smell/taste when I have it?
I – I control everything that I need to control to achieve this. Is anyone else involved? Where and when will you do it?
N – As if Now – Step into the future and see, hear. feel and act as if you have achieved your goal now.
G – Guarantee
What will happen if I get my goal?
What won’t happen if I get my goal?
What will happen if I don’t get my goal?
What won’t happen if I don’t get my goal?
Specific Win I Now Guarantee

Let me start with the end – Guarantee. This may look strange, it may be strange for many of you. And when you are asked these four questions (about anything), it is very likely that you will struggle to answer some of these questions. The point here is to think quickly about the answer and whatever answer comes up – that is the answer. Often the responses make little or no conscious sense. We discussed earlier how the unconscious mind cannot process negatives – and these questions are designed carefully for the unconscious mind – not for the conscious mind. It’s actually Cartesian logic and is at the heart of quantum linguistics and helps us establish the ‘non-mirror image reverse’ and creates a whole range of possible options and our action plan to achieve what we want to achieve.

Meantime, because we have gone through the whole SWING process, we have created personal motivation. Powerful stuff huh? Be patient with yourself, allow your thoughts to come to consciousness and note the responses. Again, don’t worry if no obvious thoughts come out – your unconscious mind is doing the work for you. It is easiest that you work through this with a coach – someone else (your spouse, best friend) – to ask you the questions. If you don’t want to, or you have no friends and don’t want to spend money on a coach, you can do this yourself so long as you are prepared to push yourself hard for the answers. Write down your own responses, whatever words you use (don’t justify yourself … yet). The specific words that you use are very important.

Now, let me take you though an example. I had a goal to break 72 this year. So this is how it looks going through the SWING process (I’ll put the SWING steps in brackets):
(S)I want to shoot 71 and better this year.(W) I will win two more competitions than last year and see the trophies in my cabinet, feeling great satisfaction from hearing the crowd and my peers cheer as I collect the trophies and taste the beer that I bought for my fellow competitors with the cash winnings. I control my practice and can visualise my goal and align myself to breaking 72 consistently and accurately card my scores. (I) I control my technique and can simulate the different environments in which I will potentially find myself during competition. (N) Now, as I see myself collecting the trophies I feel great satisfaction and confirms the commitment I made to practice and know that I can extend my own achievements and break personal barriers to achieve anything i want to.
(G) If I do break 72 consistently I will be satisfied
If I do break 72 consistently I won’t feel an idiot
I will continue to work on my weaknesses if I don’t get my goal
I’ll give up.

You may find it helpful, as I do, to tape or MP3 record yourself responding to the questions – it’s interesting what the unconscious says. When you type it, or write it down, you will censor yourself, and consciously interrupt your thoughts flow. Record it – or better still, get someone to help you and coach you through it. In our sessions we provide everyone with access to our downloadable MP3s with the coaching on audio to continue supporting you.

The goal is specific - I can measure it in achievement and time. It is positive.
I know what I will win and how this will look, feel, what I will hear and taste. It is sensory.
I am sure that I control everything that needs to be controlled to achieve it.
I visualise myself having achieved my goal and know how good I will feel
I have guaranteed the achievement to myself by knowing that achieving it will make me feel satisfied (personal satisfaction, by the way, is very important for me – you’ll have your own values), that if I don’t achieve it I won’t give up (last question) and I will continue to work on it. In other words, I know that I am motivated to do it.

The action plan (in my example) is within the control section and, you’ll notice, in the third guarantee question – work on my weaknesses. No, it’s not explicit in here, but I know my weak areas in the game, just as you know yours. Now all we need is an actual plan of what, where, when. Again, for me, I use a computer scheduling system – well I’ve got to fit my practice and game around writing, training, being trained, selling, marketing, speaking and so on. So, like you, I schedule my practice and write a note for myself on what I’m going to work on that day.

Now, take some time and do this for yourself. Take one outcome and go through the SWING process. More than one outcome? Of course you have, you’ll have many in golf and many many more in life. Just do the SWING again.

It don’t mean a thing if it ain’t got that SWING

Many successful players are motivated by their own dissatisfaction with their performance. It can be a very powerful motivator. You would expect someone who is thus motivated to improve their game to be similarly motivated in other aspects of their life.

Do you see a golf course as a series of obstacles to be avoided, or do you see the fairways and greens as the thing to hit. There are a few people who actually aim for the obstacles because they excel at the tricky shots – something discussed in the session on character and nature.

For most people, the self-directed anger resulting from dissatisfaction is not a positive state to be in. If you condemn yourself for playing poorly and use self-talk phrase such as “I should have…”, or yelling (at yourself or outwardly) your self-disgust such as “useless idiot” and perhaps more colourful phrasing – you are doomed to repeat it. Not only will you repeat the ‘error’, you are physically hurting yourself – self-condemnation causes self-directed anger causes stress causes physical distress causes physical sickness and, for many, heart failure. It’s a little as if your heart decides that’s it’s had enough of your inward abuse and is desperately trying to communicate your need to stop doing it. If you’ve had a heart attack or stroke you’ve probably completely reassessed how you live your life – and sought more tranquility, less stressful behaviours – in some cases avoiding the major contributors to your previously high stress levels – work and/or golf.

Some people don’t realise that this is what they are like. The way you drive your car is often a good indicator of your style. How angry do you get when someone cuts in to the queue in front of you? When you pull up to the red traffic light, do you swerve over to the other lane to be at the front of the queue? When motoring along are you more concerned about getting somewhere quickly, or more concerned with the traffic around you?

Back to golf. When you stand at the tee, what do you focus your attention on? Your target? Avoiding the trees/bunkers/water/rough? I hope the former by now if you’ve been with me all this time. What you focus on is what you’ll get.

Motivation is  a multi-faceted phenomenon. In large part, motivation is about the satisfaction of values held. It is the result of using particular personal resources towards a specific goal that satisfies a value or value held by that individual. Connecting any of these three in any order, resources, values and outcome creates the feeling of motivation. In smaller part, though often the critical component, is encouragement to achieve a goal.

It is worth spending some time here on what we mean by encouragement. The word has ‘courage’ at it’s root. Thus, to encourage is to develop, enhance or build courage. Courage, you’ll remember, is not the absence of fear but the continuation to do something of which you are fearful. It follows therefore, that if we ‘encourage’ ourselves – we are building the strength to overcome our fears and commit to an action. Encouragement itself, is often mistaken for motivation – or exchanged for it. In order to get someone to accomplish something – they will need to be motivated and/or encouraged to do so. it is possible to get someone – or even yourself – to do something which does not satisfy a value – but such actions are not repeated if no personal value is realised.

For example, many beginner golfers give up playing after being encouraged (usually by a relative or close friend) to take up the game. They continue to ‘try’ to play until they find that they do not realise something of value for themselves. Yes, there are people who don’t like or enjoy golf. Shocking but true. Encouragement is good, but it is not a substitute for genuine motivation.

There are some fundamental needs that we as human beings find motivational. There’s plenty of books and papers on the subject for the interested individual and I don’t intend to argue every combination here. However, there are some generally accepted ‘big’ motivators that the academics agree on – even if they want to put different labels to each term and put them in a different order.

Habits are difficult things, Most often the term is associated in a derogatory sense. i.e. these are bad habits. Any smoker will tell you! There are good habits of course, but for the moment, let’s work on the basis that the habitual way you are playing includes some bad habits that you;d like to be rid of. But first a warning. Every single thing that we do (good or bad) started with a positive intention – and usually some aspect of a habit retains some form of original positive intention. We as human beings ONLY do something positive. So, no matter what your habit, there is something positive in it for you – if we can, we want to retain that aspect.

So, remember, everything that you do has a positive intention for you – this applies to everybody else on the planet as well. I’d like you to put your moral objections aside just for a moment to consider if someone who takes a gun into a school classroom and shoots 20 kids at their desks actually had a positive intention for himself? It may be, in your map of the world, deluded, cruel, sadistic, mad, whatever, but in their map of the world, it had a positive intention. Just to reaffirm here, I am NOT advocating that anyone should follow such intentions under any circumstances – go and get some help you sicko, now.

When you step up to the tee and go through an habitual routine telling yourself that the last time you played this hole you sliced it into the woods, or “I always top it in the bunker” – you have, believe me, a positive intention… even though you are setting yourself up to fail. Or perhaps you have the mantra “I never win tournaments, I’m just not good enough” running through your head – it is to protect you from winning! Obviously your unconscious mind is clear that you can not win a tournament because your egotistical nature would cause your spouse to up and leave you after recounting the winning stroke for the 1000th time.

So, how do we rid ourselves of habits, well, it can be a lengthy process. See, if you get rid of the ‘H’, you still have ‘a bit’. You get rid of the ‘a’, and you still have a ‘bit’. You get rid of the b, and you still have ‘it’. To get rid of the ‘i’, you have to look to the ‘t’ and choose to be at cause for your life, your game and not at the effect of the whims and fancies of others or the environment. If you truly want to improve your game, there are going to be some sacred cows to slaughter.

There are six main ‘styles’ of playing and leading – the 6Cs of Golf and Leadership Style. By ‘style’, I do not mean to refer to an individual’s personality or their innate character as though this were true. I am, instead, referring to the way in which you perform at your best and most naturally – which may represent your true personality – best to ask your spouse or a close friend who knows you in many other situations as well.
We’ll consider each of the styles in turn, alluding to the dominant characteristics displayed and consider a few well known players and business leaders who fit each style. Your job is to identify your own style amongst these six – finding the one which most accurately matches your approach to the game of golf, and your approach to leadership. This isn’t about choosing the style you think that you ‘should’ have, or would like to have. This is about understanding where you are now, and knowing that if you play in this style, or lead with this style, it will be the most comfortable. Later you can consider how to compensate for the weaknesses in your own game.

The Conquerer
On the golf course, this player dominates. Blasting a drive as far as possible brings great joy. The conquerer plays to shorten every hole and every shot – going for broke every time. Often an exhibitionist player and like to brag about their prowess.

Long carries over water whet the conquerers appetite – long par 5’s with a copse on the dogleg right to over-fly bring pulses of energy and make the endorphins flow.

As a leader, the conquerer revels in adversity and challenge. The more impossible others consider the position, the more the conquerer defies the odds. They want results, and they want them now. Excuses will bring wrath, and success will bring a new challenge. Seldom satisfied with the result, it can always be better.

Golf players who are conquerers include: Greg Norman, Bubba Watson, Arnold Palmer, Sam Sneed
Famous leader conquerers include: Margaret Thatcher, George W. Bush, Carly Fiorina, Lee Ka Shing, John Chambers, Michael Dell, David Johnson

The Conjuror
These golfers find excitement in difficult lies, thoroughly enjoy being tested in the rough, or an impossible shot between the trees. They excel in the bunker, and become easily bored with routine fairway shots. They gather their wits before a troublesome shot and have marvellous imagination which they are very capable of transferring directly into their game. About half of the conjurors like to show-off, whilst the other, quieter half, like to core well.

The conjuror leader triumphs over adversity again and again. Seemingly intent on making their own lives difficult and forever deliberately putting themselves and their teams into new challenges.

Golf player conjurors include: Seve Balesteros, Tom Watson, Phil Micelson

Conjuror leaders include: Herb Kelleher, Hank Greenberg, Michael Eisner

The Craftsman

The clear headed technical player, deeply aware of their swing. Knowing their game intimately. These golfers, rehearse and practice even during a round – working on particular aspects of their game that needs attention.

This player excels when tinkering with the minutai details of how to play a particular shot. These players prefer a low stress game, hitting the fairway just right, and onto the green all day will suit them just fine. Quiet and concentrate more on scoring than exhibition, these are solid players and maintain a consistent game.

The Craftsman leader similarly likes a smooth-running business where they can constantly and continuously improve aspects of their business in incremental steps.

Gary Player, Nick Faldo, Ben Crane, Charles Howell III

Gordone Bethune, Andy Grove, Sandy Weill

The Cavalier

The consummate performer – the true exhibitionist of the game, these players like to shape their shots as much as possible and work the ball towards the target. How the shot, and they, look is important. This is the player who says “watch this” as they carve a beautiful shot around a tree and over the water onto the green. Others do this occasionally, with luck, but these players thrive on it. They like to wow the crowd and fellow players and are the shot-makers of the game.

The Cavalier leader is the ‘show-offs’ of the leadership world – not necessarily egotistically, but because it motivates them. Often, they will stun the audience with acts of derring-do and controversial behaviours. These leaders enjoy the limelight and are more frequently in the press.

Cavalier golfers include: Lee Trevino, Corey Pravin and Chi Chi Rodriguez

Cavalier leaders include: Richard Branson, Ken Lay, Bill Gates, Martha Stewart

The Conductor
These are the players who pull the others together as much as play for themselves. Often, the unsung heroes of the regular round with friends, these players organise, cajole and hustle. More concerned for everyone’s enjoyment than just their own, they thrive on playing with others. Taking part is more important than winning, they can glory in other’s success. Few of the world’s top golfers fit this style, yet without them, the amateur game and local competitions would not exist for long. Disciplined and organised, these players like to keep accurate scores and seldom show-off.

Most leaders would like to be considered as conductors, concentrating their efforts on bringing the symphony together in perfect harmony towards a particular goal. These leaders empower others and seldom take centre-stage in public view (like an orchestral conductor, they have their back to the audience and their guidance focused on their team.)

Players who are conductors include: Tony Jacklin, Colin Montgomerie
Leaders: Charles Heimbold, Carol Bartz, Elizabeth Dole, Ralph Larsen, Bill Marriot

The Chess player
These are the strategists of the game. These players plot their way around a course from point a to point b to point c. Positional golf is their forte and they are content to hit fairways and greens and two-put all day with an occasional birdie. They know that consistent, planned performance will win most of the time against all other styles. The Chess player gets the most from their game when they are thinking clearly, and using their minds throughout the round. Nothing flashy about their game for the most part, these players are good in all aspects of each hole and tend to strike the ball cleanly and well. These are the scorers of the game – they may appear to showing-off but that is due to their considerable skill and focus.

All leaders would like to consider themselves to be chess players, understanding the ‘art of war’ and the plethora of books on strategic management. But that’s just it, the vast majority of strategists are managers, not leaders (except by title). These leaders understand the environment, the context, the shifting positions of the competition and play a solid game along known successful routes, not too greedy and with contingencies for rough times. They understand foremost, who they are and what drives them, secondly they know their people and leverage their strengths and deploy all their resources to best effect.

Golfing chess players include: Ben Hogan, Bernard Langer, David Toms and Tiger Woods (an ex-conquerer turned strategist)
Leadership chess players are most exemplified by Jack Welch, Walter Shipley, Howard Schultz, Gordon Bethune, Tony Blair

Each of us in reality possess aspects of each of these styles in our game and in our leadership. Underneath the situational style we may have developed though, lies a core style that suits us best. A style in which we are truly ‘playing with ourselves’ – a place where we are at ease with our game, and feel confident that we will achieve what we set out to achieve. Knowing your pre-disposition for a preferred style means that you know where, when the pressure is on, you are going to play naturally and with least effort. Knowing yourself and trusting in the strengths of a particular style will enable you to actively reduce your golf score and pro-actively lead your people.

Who you are as a person in the natural is critically important. I stand by my assertion that leaders are made not born, yet, there are some people who seem to be more ‘naturally’ disposed to leadership than others. It is my belief that this will have been more strongly influenced and affected by their upbringing and the environment, than their DNA.

Over the years, I’ve observed many many golfers, and many many leaders – political, spiritual, religious and business leaders. There is considerable commonality between the way in which golfers play their game and the way they lead.

It is helpful to know and understand what your own ‘natural’ character is – the sort of golfer you are, in general terms, and the game you are most comfortable playing. When you recognise your own game, your own preferred ‘style’ it becomes both a strength and a weakness. You know what you are good at and what turns you on, you also now begin to know what you are not so ‘natural’ at doing and can take action to either remedy the situation or, simply to recognise that this will remain a weakness. No bad thing in and of itself – the greatest leaders of all time know their weaknesses – and usually (sensibly) compensate by hiring someone they trust to fill this gap.

Golf is a wonderful teacher, but what you learn from it depends on your nature and character. Golf is about you against the course. Unlike other sports, with the possible exception of downhill ski-ing, your competitors actions, successful or not, do not change your game. You can allow other people to affect your playing, but that, as we shall discuss, is very much your own choice. Golf strips away your ego, pumping it and stroking it one moment only to relentlessly batter it a moment later.

Golf provides you a wonderful opportunity to explore and understand your own nature to an extent that few other activities in life allow you to do.

It’s no real surprise that so much business is done on the golf course. What better way is there to observe and assess a person’s nature before considering doing a business deal with them? Watching how someone else experiences the game provides so many insights into their character that you’ll quickly establish whether this is someone you could work with or not. If, for example, your potential business associate berates himself or herself, throws down their clubs, shouts at the caddie, whines or whinges about making a poor shot – it’s not a big leap of imagination to know how they behave in a working situation. Someone who blames everything except themselves on the golf course will be the same in business. When they sneer at your good shots, and cheer at your mistakes – guess what they be like in business – looking after your interests? I think not. Someone who focuses on the target, learns from mistakes and keeps moving forward in good humour… you want that in business don’t you?

This is one of the reasons that golf is such a great way to develop your leadership as well. Conquer those demons on the golf course, and you’ll conquer them at work too. Golf is a mirror, and the golf ball is perfect feedback. You may not like what you see in the mirror at first, and only you can do something about it. No-one else will do it for you – in fact they can’t. You can though, guide others.

Not only so, but let us also rejoice in our sufferings, because we know that suffering produces perseverance; perseverance, character; and character, hope. Romans 5:3-4 – NIV)

Now, where would you like to be with yourself? That’s right, level 3, 4 or 5

I’ll guess that this is one level beyond your current level. So how? Well, that’s the seed planted. If you are at level 1 – struggling to attain level 2 – I recommend that you seek professional help. I don’t mean a psychiatrist – I mean a coach. If you are at level 1, chances are very high that there is no-one in your life currently at level 4 – i.e. no-one that you respect for how they have developed you as an individual. This is the person you want as a coach ideally. Short of that, ask around – or get onto our website, we’ll happily point you to someone we’ve worked with in the past who might be suitable.

Those of you at level 2, wanting to get to level 3 – production or results…

You could start with your instructor ,or your regular playing partners. Tell them to help you push yourself. It’s amazing once you start to get the results you want – then you’ll respect yourself for it and rely less and less on others influencing you.

Level 3 to level 4 – this, I believe, is about the love to learn for the sake of it. You can start with learning something you have thought till now as being ‘impossible’. Right-handed players learning to play left-handed. Shoot targets. Play games like ‘bag grab’. Best of all, start someone new on golf – help them learn.

Level 4 to level 5, I believe that this is when you find yourself and what you really really believe in. It’s a higher calling, beyond self. It is, for me, ridding myself of the self-righteousness, the ego if you will and knowing that you have a purpose in this life.

There are other aspects of influence in this game as well. It is not entirely self-focussed.

The way we play, the confidence that we exude, the way we allow our character to come out – all of these have an influence on those around us.

Something that I believe is a much worse situation, is that many people neglect to develop and improve their influence of themselves. Odd? I don’t need to influence myself. If I tell myself to do something, I simply do it. Exactly, that’s why so few people consider the importance of this. We work on the simple assumption that we don’t need to influence ourselves. Maybe not, but building the habits of higher levels of influence with others starts with ourselves. Let’s discuss these five levels in respect to self-influence.

Level 1 – Position. Are you in a superior position – i.e. a position of authority of yourself? Do you have power over yourself?

For example, you know that in order to improve your golf game, you need to do some good stretching exercises. Others have told you this, your instructor, magazines, peers and so on. Do you do it? Some of you do – well done. Most of you don’t.

You also have a busy life, what with work, family, kids, social activities, friends and so on. In order for you to ensure that you practice your golf suitably and regularly to improve, you have organised your priorities such that you always practice when you plan to? Yes, I hear you, family and unexpected events do crop up don’t they. Hmmm, influence? Over others and self?

Basically, most people do not have positional power over them self. A few will exercise this and may be referred to as having an ‘iron will’, be ‘determined’, or be ‘uncompromising’. For others, if you find that you need others to push you along every time, you might like to change this situation.

Okay then, Level 2 – Permission – based on relationships. Do you have a good relationship with yourself? Do you. honestly now, like yourself? Do you enjoy and appreciate the relationship that you have with yourself?
Some of you do, and that’s excellent, again, most do not – at least if they are honest with themselves.

Weird, namby pamby, soft clap trap. Oh that it were. The psychiatrists chairs are filled with people whose relationship with self has irreparably broken down. Unfortunately this isn’t just psychological bull – it’s a genuine problem. And basically, if you don’t like yourself, you won’t follow your requests.

Ever find yourself struggling to take your own, perfectly good advice? You know it’s the right or the best thing to do, but simply are not being influenced by someone that you actually like.

Perhaps you skipped the first two levels (or think you did, because we actually go tup the levels as we mature – still, the first two could have been climbed in childhood).

Level 3 – Production. You accept the influence of you having made good performance enhancing decisions in the past.

This is where you practice well, and properly because your experience has been to win competitions, beat your peers (whatever you have as results) – you have achieved the results you set out to achieve. Now you ‘believe’ yourself when you request yourself to continue the process. A good level of influence to be – there’s still a spot higher we could use, but so long as you constantly present yourself with appropriate results, this will suffice.

Better still, is to reach level 4 influence – People development – where you influence yourself because you have developed yourself effectively before and it has done you good. These individuals are true self-starters. Often they learn for the pure love of learning – they don’t need external impetus as a necessary ‘reason’. They respect their personal development, they make time for themselves, they indulge in everything that they want to indulge in and know, always, that every opportunity to learn is a learning experience.

Will you reach level 5 – person-hood? Do you, indeed can you, respect yourself. Now, I have worked with many people to work on this – and they successfully achieve it. The people at this level with themselves you meet who are very ‘centred’ – strong in their values or live a ‘principled’ life. Nothing seems to ruffle them, overly worry them – and, incidentally, they treat everyone around them with respect as well… they are at, or near this level with themselves.

Now, there are going to be some people out there reading this, or hearing this and thinking that it’s a load of crock. Of course, you are entitled to your opinion and I am always happy to debate the concept in the furtherance of people being able to get the best out of themselves. Meantime, I just ask -  do you talk to yourself? Do you ever have a debate going on – it doesn’t mean you have to speak out loud – self-talk can be entirely internal. You do? Who then, are you talking to?

Weighing up the pro’s and con’s – presenting yourself with a balanced argument… perhaps you want to buy a new set of clubs. Now, this is not a decision to be taken lightly. New clubs, can cost a small fortune – indeed a large fortune too. As you go through the internal debate, you are influencing yourself one way or the other.

Let’s work on a hypothetical situation. You have been playing golf for some time. You’re instructor has recommended that you buy new clubs to fit your body – your current set inherited from your father who was 6 inches shorter than you. You have no major crisis in your family requiring your savings immediately and you are in a suitably secure financial situation – but that doesn’t mean it’s easy. It’s a new set of clubs or, a longer summer holiday. You love to play golf and want the new clubs to assist your  length and, let’s face it, the old clubs have a few deep scratches and maybe the alignment is off…

There are, according to John C. Maxwell, five levels of influence – each with their own rights and each with their power to influence.

Level 1 – Position – This is when you have the positional authority (aka power) over someone else and they have to follow because of the power relationship. The most familiar situation when this is displayed is between children and their parent – in the never ending cycle of “why do I have to?” the exasperated parent running short of arguments or more frequently, time, responds “because I said so!” never an effective nor motivational response, but it sums up how leaders finally resort to this positional power to cause someone else to have to do something.

Level 2 – Permission – based on relationships – where people follow because they want to as they have a good relationship with you

Level 3 – Production – based on results that you have demonstrably achieved for the organisation. People follow because of what you have done for the organisation

Levels 4 – People Development – based on reproduction – people follow because of what you have done for them personally. This is the top level for most people and is only achieved with those you have personally developed – though your reputation for enabling others to excel will allow a superior level 3 (results)

Level 5 – Person-hood - based on respect – sadly very very few people will ever achieve this. Though its the level that many aspire to have or rather believe in themselves that others should simply respect them (usually these are disenfranchised level 1 leaders who demand ‘respect’ from authority rather than earn the genuine respect and admiration of others through their actions and continual display of care and concern for others, the organisation and standing up for forthright and important values.

Your ability to influence others is often misunderstood at best, and reliant on ‘luck’ at worst. Few leaders in the world understand their position of influence with each of their constituents and fewer still, work a deliberate plan to increase their influential effectiveness with others.

As human beings, we can choose to be at cause and in charge of a very large number of factors within our brains that affect the way we behave in any given context.

Let me take you through an simplified example of how our brain processes external events, then you can identify what must be happening inside your own mind.

You intend to play a game of golf this morning. You arise, look out of the window and see grey skies and a little rain falling.

What happens now depends on your previous experience right?

The external event is visual – you see the clouds and rain. It is auditory – you hear the rain hitting the ground, roof and so on. When you step outside, it is kinaesthetic, you will feel the water hitting you, the air will smell fresh(er), you may even taste the rain. You will feel the cooler air. You know that it is raining.

Obvious right? Sure? Ok then, how do you know it is raining? That’s right. You’ve experienced it before. You have processed the data ‘sensed’ from the external environment, passed these experiences through your brain which has tallied the sensory experiences with a similar event in the past (or a combination of events) and applied a word or phrase which adequately describes the external event for you.

You will also realise that different people will react differently to this exact same external event and use different words or phrases to describe the situation. If you are in the UK it’s possible that a phrase such as “miserable weather”, “drizzle”, “slight rain”, “downpour” would be used. it is also likely that your tine of voice would be suggestive of dissatisfaction, or unhappiness, or resignation or something similar. If, on the other hand, you were a golf course manager whose course desperately needed water, you’d likely use different words and express a tone of relief, happiness, pleasure. Same event, different behaviours manifest… because the context has changed.

Let’s dig a little deeper. When we experience an external event through our senses, the incoming data stream that hits our eyes, ears, skin, nostrils, tongue registers in the millions of bits of data. All of this data is coming to us and our brains restrict the amount of data that is processed – typically a human being processes between 5 and 9 chunks of data at once – averaging 7 chunks of data and around 300-500 kbits of data (?? check numbers) We have filtered the incoming data stream and reduced the volume of data requiring processing. We ignore all the other data. Unconsciously we have chosen which data to process. So how do we filter?

Some of the data that we accept for processing is not important to us. Based on our previous experiences, we delete that data which we consider is not relevant. (Husbands, ask your wife about this – you do it all the time. Wives, you’re right, it appears that husbands don’t listen, that’s because they think it is not relevant – it is done unconsciously).

Some of the data that we have chosen to process, does not quite fit with our preferred experiences and we distort it to our preferences. That is, we bias our fresh data with past experiences.

Some of the data we process is recognised as a momentary event – you might say that we don’t really have sufficient data to be certain about this reality, so we generalise – again based on our previous experiences.

All of this non-deleted, distorted generalised dat is processed through our own language, memories, decisions, values and beliefs, attitudes and our very personal way of deleting, distorting and generalising.

This process then provides us with our very own, unique internal representation of the external event.

It is based on this internal representation that is influenced by and influences out internal state (the way we feel) which in turn triggers changes in our physiology and the behaviour we exhibit.

Wow! And that all happens in nano-seconds!

So what’s wrong with that? Absolutely nothing. Our brains are phenomenal organs and more powerful than any computer is or can ever be.

The important point here is to understand that we filter, in our own unique way, the external events occurring around us all the time. No two individuals will see exactly the same external event (they even experience it form different places in time and place), and even if they were in exactly the same spot – they would have a different internal representation of the same event. Each individuals changes in physiology will be different (maybe very subtle, but different nonetheless) and no two individuals will behave in exactly the same way as a result.

The good news is that you can leverage some control over your own filters. The even better news is that, we can learn how the great players, the great leaders, those people that you most admire, filter similar external events.

The truly great news is that you can apply some, or all of the same filters into your processing.

You may not be able to physically swing like Tiger, or Nick, or Jack, or Seve – but you can think like them. You can process data in a way that is very similar to them. Want to?