The good resolutions. Or: “Groundhog Day.”
Have you ever been quizzed about your New Year’s resolutions? Were you asked if you’ve decided to quit smoking, work less, eat healthier or exercise more? If so, how did this make you feel and what is your standard response?
We all know that good intentions are rarely successful, and yet we keep making them or at least keep being asked about them. Year after year.
As a matter of fact, I myself stopped defining “New Year’s resolutions” many years ago. Because I was not very successful at keeping them. I found this irritating because I’m used to achieving my goals and making changes on a regular basis. Why not do it at the turn of the year?
The answer seems simple. When I personally decide to accomplish or implement something, I give it my all and roll up my sleeves with great passion. In other words: I take action. And this is true regardless of the season. Such important decisions can be made and tackled on February 15, June 3 or November 25. Step by step, at my own pace. I don’t look at the calendar. I don’t say to myself, “Oh, that would be a nice New Year’s resolution. I’ll save it for December 31st. No. I start right away. And I don’t put it off until next Monday either. Why is that? Because once I realize I have this wish, desire or goal, there really is no point putting it off. Why should I? Essential success factors are my profound will, my conviction that it is right and my sense of purpose. This motivates me immensely and gives me the feeling that I could move mountains.
Which is why, by the end of the year, I would typically have run out of ideas for new resolutions. There was simply nothing left. But since it is “common practice” to make resolutions, I thought about ideas and chose resolutions that seemed logically correct or reasonable. Here’s the catch: I didn’t deeply feel that I wanted to achieve them, I wasn’t convinced by them, and I didn’t see the point of them. The result? Most of the time I had forgotten about them by January 2nd. Sound familiar?
It appears that the end of a year triggers a feeling in many people that “everything starts afresh in January,” and so new resolutions have to be made, which – due to a lack of previous success – are often identical to those of the previous year. At some point, this procedure just seemed pointless to me.
Eventually I decided to use the end of the year, the slowdown and the pleasant silence around me to appreciate the past year, so that I could continue in January. Don’t get me wrong. As an entrepreneur, I am constantly reflecting on my activities, actions and behaviors throughout the year, making adjustments where and as I feel necessary. But for me, the time around Christmas and New Year’s is a time for inner reflection, contemplation and leisure. This has become established for me and I enjoy it to the fullest.
For me, this just raises the question of how many opportunities we give ourselves throughout the year to listen to our inner voice, which tells us our wishes, goals and desires. Little oases of peace. Just switching off. Get off the hamster wheel. If we’re allowed to enjoy these moments – I call them creative breaks – on a regular basis, then we also develop an eye for what we truly want in life. Regardless of any particular date.
You don’t get creative breaks? Because you don’t take them for yourself? Maybe that would be one last good resolution for 2023. “Incorporating” creative breaks as a farewell resolution from the groundhog trap. That’s when you’ll know the answer to the question, “So, what are your resolutions for the new year?”: “I don’t have any.” Or even better, “I don’t need any.” Because you’re already successfully doing all the things you want or even aspire to do 365 days a year. Doesn’t that sound wonderfully relaxing?
With this in mind, I wish you an implementation-rich and, above all, healthy 2023 with many happy moments as well as (un)exciting creative breaks.
Go for it,
Your Crisis Manager
“What material do you always carry in your trunk?”
I was recently asked this question by a mediation student during a seminar. I thought it was such a great question that I decided to write a blog post about it. Because I think there are few things more annoying than finding yourself without or with poor materials during a mediation session. Especially when you can avoid it.
Of course, it is ideal – and can be expected – that a hotel seminar room be well stocked with materials that are also fully functional. Pens, for example. But just to be on the safe side, I always carry some basic equipment in my trunk, which I would like to introduce to you today. To make it easy for you to find the various products on the Internet, I’ll provide links to each one.
First of all, I don’t carry any flipchart paper with me. However, there are mediations and workshops that I prepare at home on flipcharts, which I’ll then bring to the event. Unfortunately, flipchart creativity isn’t my strong suit. To make these flipcharts look reasonably respectable, I have a few books that provide welcome support in this department.
There is a classic by Axel Rachow that you might be familiar with. The book is called The Flipchart Coach and contains professional tips. You can buy it on Amazon (https://amzn.to/3H6YW9X). Mr. Rachow explains very well and in great detail which pens you should use and how exactly you should conduct your hand. I don’t fully follow his recommendations. However, he lists many practical tips that have served me well over the years.
In order to support certain illustrations with visualizations, I also purchased another guide called Learn to Draw Business Symbols Easily (https://amzn.to/3AZLnFc). I’ve found it to be a great source of many helpful symbols that are easy to grasp and, more importantly, easy to draw.
By the way, some of the things you draw on the flipchart can also highlighted quite well through color coding, which also gives your design a visual edge. I always carry wax crayons with me for this purpose, and I like working with the Stockmar variety (https://amzn.to/3H2z3Ii).
But let’s go back to my trunk.
While I don’t carry flipchart paper, I do carry Post-it notes for emergencies, which have become very popular due to their role in agile working. They don’t take up much space, and because they’re self-adhesive, they can be stuck to walls, doors, and windows and removed without a trace. Just like the classic Metaplan cards, they come in a variety of colors, shapes, and sizes. And they have one big additional advantage: You don’t need a metaplan board or pins.
I usually carry two sizes of Post-it notes with me. The 203 x 152 mm ones (https://amzn.to/3Ut1YYN), which I use for brainstorming topics and interesting ideas, and the smaller 152 x 101 mm version (https://amzn.to/3ESVxsr), for notes.
I also believe it’s important not to use flipchart markers to write on the Post-it notes, nor classic ballpoint pens. Markers tend to be too thick and pens are often difficult to read later in a photo log. I always carry black Stabilo premium felt markers (https://amzn.to/3OYRek4). They’re a bit more expensive, but have a good grip, can be photographed legibly, and last forever.
Finally, I always have room in my trunk for at least one small moderation case with standard contents. These come in a variety of sizes, colors and materials, depending on your taste. Since I usually have both hands more or less full of stuff, I prefer either the shoulder-strap version from Neuland (https://de.neuland.com/shop/workshopkoffer-sets) or a mobile trolley presentation case (https://amzn.to/3ORcTudl). These usually contain other useful materials, such as flipchart markers. After all, how many times have I relied on the pens from the hotel presentation cases that turned out to be dry or out of ink? With my own presentation case, I can always be sure that I have pens that are fully functional and refilled. Of course, I check it regularly before I go on a business trip.
I hope you enjoyed this little excursion into my trunk. I’d be happy to give you more tips on how to improve your standard equipment. It was important for me to recommend specific products to you because I wanted the public transportation users among us to understand that what we typically need for appointments is not all that much and can easily be taken on the train – as I should know, having done it many times.
In this spirit, I wish you a very reflective Christmas season.
Go for it!
Your crisis manager
Food for thought
As a child, whenever I felt annoyed by other people, my grandmother would respond with a wise and heartfelt saying: “The oak tree doesn't mind if a wild sow scratches its back on it, does it?”
Do you know this saying? It comes from a novel by the German writer Walter Kempowski and has entered the German language as a proverb.
Ultimately, it means that we shouldn’t mind if other people try to annoy us or rub up against us.
Maybe this kind of thought has crossed your mind before, too. Either in a personal or professional context. Did it help you deal with the situation? Well, it certainly helped me.
After all, it expresses a sense of self-confidence and composure, and I'm sure that’s exactly what my grandmother wanted to convey: “Don’t get mad”; “Don’t let it get at you”, etc.
If felt regularly and if it comes from conviction, this kind of saying – and many others – can form a mindset or firm belief in us. Both mindsets and beliefs are building blocks of our individual attitudes and thus grow into an integral part of our subconscious processes. This means that we instinctively act upon them when we feel triggered. In such situations, we typically operate on autopilot, and thus they are not directly or consciously controlled by us.
Why am I telling you this?
The dose makes the poison. In other words: There are two sides to every coin.
While the saying is meant to help us deal with certain situations more confidently and morel calmly, it can swing exactly in the opposite direction if used too often, with the “wrong goal” or even if the stimulus threshold is simply too low. After all, the phrase, “The oak tree doesn’t mind if a wild sow scratches its back on it” could also be interpreted as an expression of arrogance and ignorance.
Is that what you want?
With this, let me wish you inspiring thought processes.
Go for it,
Your crisis manager
Employee retention and motivation – Part 3
You may have accepted my invitation from the September blog and reflected on how often you communicate with your employees and, above all, on what basis these conversations take place. Have you asked about and exchanged mutual wishes, needs and expectations? And what was the result of your reflection?
Perhaps you’ve also wondered where my recommendation for conversations of this kind comes from? To answer this question, let’s turn to an insight by German neurobiologist Gerald Hüther. He has explored the question of how we should ideally deal with goals and their respective meaning for employees, what effect this has on motivation and thereby, ultimately on employee retention, too.
Gerald Hüther has coined a “growth and relatedness” model. He assumes that goals provide orientation and can thus serve to motivate. These goals should be set interactively in a discussion between the manager and the employee. Of course, they should be based on the goals of the department and company and should be designed in a meaningful way. Why meaningful? Because, according to Gerald Hüther, motivation arises from the relationship to the goal.
This relationship to the goal must be experienced by the employee as meaningful and include a personal growth perspective in the sense of a development perspective. Of course, only the respective employee will be able to tell whether a certain goal seems meaningful to them and truly worth striving for.
This is the reason why appreciative, emphatic and authentic communication is needed; and this requires trusting framework conditions.
In such a conversation, it is precisely the questions that exceed the factual that lead to success. Questions about individual needs, values and priorities. If these are explored together, goals can be set. If they are defined and set together, they can give rise to passion and motivation.
According to Gerald Hüther, another crucially important aspect is relatedness. In this context, relatedness means belonging and connection. Employees need to feel related to a group, such as a team, or to a specific person. Ideally, this is the manager. The Gallup study I reported on in the August blog found that it is the connection to the leader that has the power to create employee loyalty – or, as the case may be, not create it.
You may object that you conduct those types of conversations on a regular basis and that your employees often don’t even know or can’t describe what exactly they want or what elements and aspects would create meaning – and thereby motivation – for them.
This is a phenomenon we’re all familiar with, in ourselves, too. How often can we say exactly what we don’t want, but struggle to say what it is we do want? Why should your employees be any different?
This is another argument in favor of high-quality conversations, which should have an investigative character with open and interested questions. It’s only when employees feel that they’re appreciated that they’ll truly be able to open up and explore with you what they find important. Trust is the key to success.
Of course, this also requires a fair amount of self-efficacy in the employees. What that means exactly and how the development of self-efficacy can be promoted is something I’ll explore in my November blog.
I look forward to seeing you there again.
Go for it,
Your crisis manager
Employee retention and motivation – Part 2
So, what can be done when we realize that employee motivation has deteriorated – or is even completely gone? Is there any way to rekindle or revive it?
Let me put it this way: There certainly isn’t a magic pill that we can just hand out to make everything hunky-dory again. At the same time, we shouldn’t give up or look the other way, either.
Are you, too, familiar with this particular scenario? I sometimes see companies’ corporate values spelled out on their website, where it says things like “Our employees are our main focus” or “our biggest asset.” Yet, when I talk to the employees, I find out that it’s precisely these same employees who often don’t feel seen at all, and sometimes even laugh at those proclaimed values and shrug them off. Don’t get me wrong – this is of course far from the truth for all companies and fortunately, things are getting better all the time. But it still does happen. And unfortunately, it isn’t all that rare, either.
When asked about this, managers often reply that it’s up to their employees to roll up their sleeves with intrinsic motivation and get to work. After all, these employees chose the job and knew what they were getting into.
In principle, this may be correct. However, from my personal point of view, employee motivation is not a one-way street. It’s precisely the managers whose job it is to show leadership to their employees – and that includes motivating them. Wouldn’t you agree?
Now you may be asking yourself: “True enough. But how exactly do you go about doing that?”
Well, before I go into specific methods, let me ask you one more thought-provoking question:
“Where is this lack of motivation coming from? What caused the employees’ motivation to dip so low like this? What part does the company, the team, the manager or even the circumstances play in this?”
You’ll get your answers – if you haven’t already experienced something similar yourself in your own role as an employee in the company, remember that managers are employees, too – wait for it … in a personal and confidential conversation with your employees. This may sound banal, but it’s true.
Often, employees actually started out highly motivated, but were then disappointed again and again. Promises made by your predecessors were not kept or were put off endlessly. As a result, employees no longer take spoken words and promises seriously. Walk your talk. If you promise something, keep your promise – always!
Here’s an example: If confidentiality is promised, but the employee repeatedly hears that confidential information has been passed on, then trust devolves into mistrust. Building trust takes a long time; destroying it can take no time at all.
Here’s another example: If employees are promised a promotion if they perform their tasks conscientiously, and they do exactly that, but then don’t get the promised promotion for reasons such as, “I can’t get it approved right now,” or “We’ll have to wait another year,” well, what effect do you think this will have on employee motivation?!
With these particular examples, you may think: “Obviously! We would never do that!” But Iet me ask you this: When did you last take a serious interest in your employees? When did you last have an appreciative, open conversation with them seeking to find out what, exactly, they need? What do you know about your employees? What moves them? Where are their pressure points?
I want to be clear here: I’m not looking for a scapegoat, nor am I passing the buck on to you. Often, managers are tasked with cleaning up the interpersonal debris left behind by their predecessor in that role. This can be exhausting and require a great deal of energy. But it is so much more than just work – it’s the process of building interpersonal relationships grounded in trust. And those kinds of relationships pay off – with employee motivation.
This is also confirmed by employee surveys. A trusting relationship with a manager is one of the strongest motivators – it’s the feeling of being seen that creates loyalty and identification with the manager.
I encourage you to engage in fruitful discussions about this issue.
Go for it,
Your crisis manager
S
Employee retention and motivation – Part 1
For quite some time now, the shortage of specialists and executives in Germany has been a major concern for our economy. HR departments and recruiters are finding it more and more challenging to come up with creative ideas and to find new ways of attracting and recruiting suitable candidates. Teams are understandably groaning under the low staff density and are barely managing to complete the tasks at hand. As a result, there’s an increasing focus on prioritizing, and work is either left undone, or its completion takes significantly longer than what would benefit the company and its customers.
Questions around employee retention also tend to arise in this context. Because while it is becoming increasingly difficult to find new colleagues, there’s also a growing willingness among employees to change jobs. And as they leave a company, something important leaves with them: historical knowledge.
That’s where we touch upon a point that is very close to my heart and one that may also concern you, or at least it should: employee motivation. Although it’s only one building block in the context of employee retention, it is an essential one that offers many opportunities, too.
Perhaps you feel the same about this as I do. I was shocked by the latest Gallup study results (from the Gallup polling institute) that found that more than three-quarters of all respondents have little or no emotional attachment to their jobs. Three quarters. Spelled out in numbers: 75%! In my view, that’s more than alarming – and not just for the companies, but for each individual employee concerned, too.
One aspect of this that we should pay particular attention to is that of people mentally quitting their jobs. Because that is exactly what the respondents did. This is reflected in ever-decreasing, or even non-existent, motivation, low levels of commitment and negative energy spreading throughout the workplace. All of this affects work performance, the team, customer relationships and ultimately, the economic strength of the respective company. It turns out that rising sick-leave figures and a high degree of willingness to change jobs are frequently indicators for this situation.
We used to worry when employees said they were just doing what was expected of them. Today, many employees aren’t even doing that anymore.
Should we hold this against the employees? Not really. Ideally, we should look for the reasons behind this kind of development and identify how we can actively put a stop to it.
In subsequent blog articles, I’d like to take you on a journey through employee motivation—its various aspects and how to improve it. The goal is to identify the underlying causes of the question and what exactly we can do to motivate employees, drive up their identification with the company and increase overall employee satisfaction at the same time.
If you have any questions about this topic, feel free to comment on this blog post.
I look forward to hearing from you. Let’s take a good look at, and then deal with, what’s so important to all of us: human satisfaction and resilience.
Go for it,
Your crisis manager
“transparent communication” – INSIGHTS FROM PRACTICAL EXPERIENCE
For 13 years now, I’ve been working as a freelance crisis and conflict manager in the German business world and abroad.
As such, I support executives, teams and organizations at all management levels around issues such as employee motivation, employee retention, culture development as well as conflict resolution and crisis management.
In most cases, there’s perplexity about how the other person reacts or about a supposed lack of commitment on the job. The question arises over and over again about how to handle such situations in an appreciative manner.
Before I started my own business, I asked myself what my core competencies were. The answer was simple: communication and conflict resolution. At the time, however, I thought that no one would need communication consulting because “anyone can do that.” How naive I was.
Since then, I’ve increasingly noticed that many people believe they communicate well and in an open, transparent and appreciative manner. Unfortunately, this is often not the case, or at least not to the required degree.
And this is not about basic knowledge about how to communicate, or about sender vs. receiver models and the like. It’s mostly about attitude and the question of what’s needed. Often, people overlook just how important good communication is for employee motivation, employee loyalty and, above all, for conflict prevention and resolution.
For instance, in team-building sessions, people are often surprised at how accurately Tuckman’s team development model reflects the team’s current situation, and statements are made such as, “But I thought we got along well. We talk everything through!” Subjectively, this is probably true. But does the person across from me really feel the same way? Unfortunately, that person often does not.
In this context, open communication that enables the other person to understand contexts, wishes and expectations is incredibly important when it comes to motivating them. At some point, I’ll devote another blog post to that.
So, what can we conclude from such team-building measures, you may ask? Well, people often seem surprised when I ask them, “Did you ever discuss mutual expectations and desires when the team was set up?” The answer is often, “No, because that was in the job description.”
It’s important to understand that that's simply not enough. Of course, people read their job description. And if these descriptions are good, many things can be deduced from them. But at the same time, each person has their own “map” of their area. In other words, everyone connects differently with any given subject matter, has a subjective perception based on their prior experiences, conditioning and desires, and also has a personal definition of concepts and terms. These need to be discussed, clarified and, above all, compared.
At the end of the day, it’s really quite simple. All you need to do is talk to each other.
How open do you think your communication is with other people? And could communication be the answer for resolving certain irritations? Why not give it a try?
I look forward to receiving your feedback—please feel free to ask any questions you may have.
Until then, here’s wishing you all the best and an insightful journey into the world of the people you’re communicating with.
Go for it,
Your crisis manager
Strengthening your teams: The team development clock
Currently, I’m receiving more and more requests for support around team collaboration. Market disruptions, staff shortages and the need for high levels of agility are causing restlessness, manifesting feelings of insecurity and leading to dissatisfaction and a lack of motivation.
What’s going on here?
Teams are living systems that react to change of any kind. The departure and arrival of colleagues can rock the boat of a system and require attention. Which makes sense. But is that all there is to it? Certainly not. Changes in the structure of tasks, growing demands from the market when it comes to speed and flexibility as well as personal stress due to geopolitical or pandemic uncertainties can also lead to unrest within a team.
This kind of situation isn’t always given sufficient attention and it certainly isn’t typically dealt with in an appreciative manner. How can we resolve this issue, especially on an interpersonal level?
One helpful model is Tuckman’s team development clock, first described as early as in 1965. The first step of this model demonstrates the need for action and supports the need for being understood, yet also provides possible options for action in a second step.
Tuckman first distinguished between the four stages a team goes through as it develops:
- Forming
- Storming
- Norming
- Performing
Forming
In this initial stage, the team comes together for the first time, the members get to know each other and the team begins to orient itself. You’re probably familiar with this stage from your own experience: When you’re new to a team, you start out by observing the work processes, communication channels and, above all, the relationships between the individual colleagues before you position yourself. And this is also true for an existing team: Your colleagues scan you, too. This phenomenon also occurs when work areas are restructured or when new fields of work emerge.
People typically respond to this sort of situation by first waiting to see how things develop. The group spirit in such situations tends to be described as polite, impersonal, tense and cautious.
Storming
This phase can also be described as the stage of “struggle” or “identifying positions.” Turbulence and disputes are typical here. Almost all team members seek to position themselves, claim certain tasks for themselves and actively champion their own interests. Friction can develop, which is “normal” and even important. Unfortunately, these minor conflicts, which are highly necessary, are often downplayed and not addressed, sometimes due to a desire for harmony. However, not taking seriously or not acknowledging these conflicts typically leads to the them intensifying and manifesting the storming stage. The “close-your-eyes-and-hope-for-the-best” approach simply doesn’t work. Also, my experience has shown that statements like, “We've never had that issue before and we never will” and “Everything is running smoothly for us,” usually turn out not to be true. At some point, conflicts will surface and by then, they’ll often appear to be intractable – at least through the team’s own efforts – because they are so entrenched and have been going on for so long.
Norming
If the storming phase has been accepted, taken seriously and processed cleanly, the team can enter the so-called “norming” stage. “Norming” describes the organizational stage when the team agrees on common agreements and rules. Goals, tasks and roles within the team are made transparent and distributed fairly. Forms of mutual support, a sense of “us” and team cohesion emerge. Contradictions and competitive thinking diminish and cooperation develops. Individual team members are willing to share their knowledge with everyone.
“Norming” focuses on developing interpersonal etiquette and a new team culture, new behaviors, a culture of giving and receiving constructive feedback as well as of confronting differences in viewpoints, rather than in people. Ideally, this stage is concluded with concrete agreements being reached from within the team, including on how to collaborate and deal with each other in concrete terms.
Don’t let yourself be confused by this. Sometimes the way to greet each other in the morning can even become the subject of an agreement. Initially, this may look like a matter of course for many people, but for teams that have just gone through some major storming, this is an important step on the way to reaching a solution.
Performing
The fourth and final stage in the team development process (leaving aside the fact that Tuckman later added the “adjourning” phase) is “performing.” It’s a stage of integration and shared success. Trust within the group continues to build and deepen. The team is now willing to take some risks and has learned to proactively leverage the strengths of all the team members. Role behavior often becomes self-efficiently flexible and situationally adjusted to the prevailing conditions. For the team, holistic success becomes important while the specific performance of individual team members fades more and more into the background. During this stage, the group spirit can be described as brimming with ideas, flexible, open and efficient, and informed by solidarity and mutual help.
At this stage, the team runs like clockwork. There is good communication and mutual support, goals are being achieved, and motivation and commitment are high.
The following is true for all the stages:
- They vary in their duration.
- Pre-existing teams go through all the stages again whenever new team members come on board or individual team members leave.
- Going through the storming stage is important and there should be no attempt to bypass it.
- It’s crucial in teamwork to know which stage your team is currently going through so as to be able to support and steer it well.
- Measures will only bear fruit if they are appropriate to the respective stage.
- Each team goes through the cycle again and again.
- Changes at the structural or organizational level also set off a new forming stage.
- Ideally, the respective stages are acknowledged and accepted so that the ability to take action and find solutions can be retained.
What stage do you think your team is in right now? And what insights are you drawing from this for your action strategy?
I look forward to receiving your feedback—please feel free to ask any questions you may have.
Until then, here’s wishing all the best and exciting insights about your team.
Go for it,
Your crisis manager
Self-efficacy and empowerment DURING uncertain times
In my current video series, I’m looking at a model that can prove helpful for dealing with stabilizing factors during uncertain times.
We already have two years of global pandemic behind us, marked by restrictions, social distancing requirements and fear, too. The current geopolitical situation has only further aggregated these feelings.
As I explained in my earlier blog article on Stephen Covey, it’s particularly important during such times to recognize the options we have for dealing with such challenging situations. One possible model is offered by Hilarion Petzold’s “5 pillars of identity.”
Hilarion Petzold is a German psychologist. His model offers us a way to develop an idea of how to strengthen our identity through subjective evaluation and self-awareness.
Petzold assumes that our identity, i.e., our self (the answer to the question, “Who am I?”), is like a roof supported by five pillars.
These pillars provide us with resources for dealing with stress, difficult situations, and crises. Each pillar stands for an area of life.
These areas are:
- Work and achievements
- Social environment
- Material safety
- Body and health
- Values and meaning
In each person’s life, the five pillars are filled up to varying degrees. Of course, this also depends on where in our life cycle we find ourselves at the moment of observation.
Ideally, the pillars are strong enough to support the “roof” of our identity. This doesn’t necessarily mean that all five pillars must be equally strong, but we should at least have two or three strong pillars to support our identity.
The goal of working with this model is to fill the pillars in such a way as to permanently achieve solid inner stability through a balanced distribution of the pillars in our lives. If, due to illness, separation, etc., for example, this is not achieved, if a supporting pillar crumbles, this can lead to crisis. It’s also worth noting that the more significant a crumbled pillar’s supporting role, the more intensely we tend to experience the crisis.
Investigating the meaning of the pillars in our lives can enable us to become more closely aware of the areas in which we may have some “catching up” to do. In other words, we may find that we’ve neglected some area of our life or perhaps even completely ignored it. This is how we can develop an awareness for what might be possible and make adjustments or shift our focus so we can deal with rough times in a psychologically stronger and more stable fashion.
Let’s take a closer look at this.
Our society attaches particular importance and focus on the “work and achievements”pillar. This pillar includes questions of success, career decisions and efficacy. For many people, work in particular, as well as the achievements made, is closely linked with appreciation and recognition.
And isn’t it precisely this area of life that constantly confronts us with new challenges, lures us out of our comfort zone and stresses us with its speed and constant demand to remain flexible?
And please note: Housework as the focus of daily occupation also falls under the category of this pillar. In fact, it’s not about what I do to make a living, but with what kind of activities I fill my daily life.
So ask yourself:
- What is it that fills up this column in your life?
- Do you enjoy it? And if so, what exactly do you enjoy about it?
- What is it exactly that gives you fulfillment
- What would you like to do more of under this pillar?
- What other goals do you have?
The “social environment” pillar is about the connections that we have, and that we actively live and shape, with other people, whether friends, family, acquaintances, colleagues, etc. They may be able to support us during difficult times and provide us with a sense of relatedness and belonging that keeps us feeling connected, instead of lonely.
- Who are your confidants?
- Who can you call to ask for help, even in the middle of the night?
- With whom can you be yourself?
- Who appreciates and encourages you?
- With whom can you laugh and be exuberant?
- With whom do you feel you belong?
Another pillar that is getting more and more attention from my coachees and clients is that of “body and health.” You probably know the Latin expression: mens sana in corpore sano (a healthy mind in a healthy body). We often have a “gut feeling” when something isn’t quite right. For instance, our hair simply doesn’t seem sit right when we’re coming down with the flu. And our heart races when we feel excitement or joy.
- What do you like most about your body?
- Do you keep moving and work out regularly?
- What’s your diet like?
- Do you get sufficient rest and recovery time?
- Do you sleep deeply, and sleep enough?
- How do you care for your body and soul?
- Where can you best relax?
- Do you take time for yourself?
Worries about job losses and financial worries are particularly prevalent right now. These are part of the “material safety” pillar. Financial and material safety describes a basic need for existential security. Of course, every individual’s needs are different when it comes to the money they require for their personal material safety as they perceive it. And this certainly depends on a person’s specific life commitments, too.
- What does material safety mean to you?
- Have you ever checked your monthly fixed costs against your respective income?
- Do you have financial protection in place?
- Are there any things you could do without?
- Who do you have in your life who could advise you on financial matters?
- What wishes or goals would you like to fulfill in your life?
The fifth pillar deals with “values and meaning.” In the past, most people never asked themselves questions about meaning until the last third of their lives, but today we’re seeing that even young people are increasingly seeking meaning. No matter our age, values and meaning serve as guardrails for our actions. When we’re challenged to make decisions, they can provide us with support and security. They define who we are and where we’re going and often carry us through times of crisis.
- Which values are particularly important to you?
- Do you live by your values?
- Do you see meaning in what you do?
- Have you ever asked yourself the question, “What for?”
- How would you like to be, and how would you like to be seen?
- What causes are you involved with?
- What’s important to you in life?
- Do you surround yourself with the “right” people?
- What makes you stand out?
- What do you believe in?
Maybe these questions have enabled you to take a closer look at your five pillars. Have you perhaps even painted and visualized them?
What did you realize? Did anything surprise you? Was one column less filled up than you thought it actually was? Or vice versa?
- Which of your pillars gives you the most strength and stability?
- Which pillar would you like to focus on more in the future?
- Which pillar do you want to fill up more and strengthen? And how?
I truly hope I was able to give you some insight and support on your journey through this model. And perhaps you even found a takeaway for action that will give you strength and confidence—that would be even better!
And always remember: No matter the result of your consideration, the journey itself is the reward and it begins by taking that first step!
In this spirit,
Go for it!
Your crisis manager
Self-management and organization – How to define goals and put them into practice (Part 3)
In my March blog, I introduced you to the Disney Method for defining goals. I also promised that I would introduce you to a self-coaching variation on this method—and that’s what I’d like to share with you today.
The Disney Method – self-coaching
Find four chairs and name each of them according to their roles: the visionary, the realist and the critic. The fourth chair is for entering and exiting the process and takes a meta-position.
Sit down on the meta-position chair and choose a topic you’d like to address today.
As soon as you’ve identified a relevant topic, sit down on the visionary’s chair and consider some questions like these:
- What situation are we ideally trying to achieve?
- What arguments are in favor of it?
- What might a solution look like?
- What ideas do we have for a solution?
- What’s our vision when it comes to this solution?
- What are our options and possibilities?
Afterwards, please switch to the realist's chair. This is all about implementing the previously dreamed dream, or vision. Ask yourself some questions like these:
- What changes will need to be made?
- What resources are required?
- What costs are involved?
- Who will do what, with whom, and by when?
- What does the implementation plan look like?
- What else would be helpful for the implementation?
After that, switch over to the critic's chair. Now ask yourself questions like these:
- What are the consequences?
- What are the risks?
- What is missing?
- What could be improved?
- What mistakes/weaknesses can be identified?
After completing a first round like this, do a second round, and again, start with the visionary’s questions. The findings of all the thinking chairs should be incorporated into this second round and developed further. Be sure to keep a written record of the respective findings.
And now I invite you to try out this process on a personal goal. What are your experiences with this approach? How did it work out for you? Feel free to contact me any time if you’d like my support.
Until then, wishing you lots of fun and great insights!
Go for it,
Your crisis manager