Leadership Sounding Board

Who’s Driving – Me or My Habits?

A habit is something you can do without thinking - which is why most of us have so many of them.  Frank A. Clark

The chains of habit are generally too small to be felt until they are too strong to be broken.  Samuel Johnson

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We have 12,000 – 50,000 thoughts per day according to the National Science Foundation, and 90% of those are thoughts we thought yesterday!  Most of those thoughts, especially that 90% are housed in the “habit center” of our brain and they allow us to carry out routine activities and to react and respond in automatic ways. 

Our brain is like a computer – you’ve heard that analogy before – how powerful it is, how many connections it makes, etc.  And like your computer which now has a zillion gigabytes of memory, the real working part of the brain which processes new information (learning, decisions, creative endeavors, etc.) is like the RAM in your computer – much smaller and very limited relative to the other storage memory.  Even now, with all of the advances that have been made in computer science, we can still experience our computers FREEZING when we have too many programs open.  And like our brains, sometimes we just run out of space to process information and have to shut down, get rid of some of the details, and the reboot, or regenerate ourselves.

Four Pillars of Personal Effectiveness

If I were to task 10 people about how to be more effective in getting what it is they want in their work and their life, I would most certainly get 10 difference answers!  And while we might have a hundred different routes for getting there – to being more effective,  we could probably all agree that there is a need to be more effective, and this need is driven by many different factors that are way outside of our immediate control!  Things like the speed of change, the rapid expansion of the global marketplace, the impact of technology on everything we do, mergers and acquisitions, corporate failures and mind-blowing opportunities.  All of these things are colliding in my world right now and demanding that I expand my capacity on many fronts even if just to comprehend what they might mean for me and my organization! 

So, expanding capacity is the name of the game!  And all of this is happening while exciting new discoveries are being made in how the brain works and how we can actually make changes in how we approach using the brain. If we assume that they way we think is just the way it is, and that we just have to learn new behaviors to get us where we want to go, we will be missing a significant player in this game of effectiveness!

What do I mean by personal effectiveness?  I say that personal effectiveness is leveraging your time, skills and personal resources to get more of what you want for yourself – for fulfilling on what is important for you. 

Procrastination: Are you a “Now? or a “Not Now” Person?

“It has been my observation that most people get ahead during the time that others waste.” Henry Ford

“Procrastination is the fear of success. People procrastinate because they are afraid of the success that they know will result if they move ahead now. Because success is heavy, carries a responsibility with it, it is much easier to procrastinate and live on the 'someday I'll' philosophy.” Denis Waitley

“Know the true value of time; snatch, seize, and enjoy every moment of it. No idleness; no laziness; no procrastination; never put off till to-morrow what you can do to-day.” Lord Chesterfield

“Wasted days can never be recalled.” Anon 

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What do we procrastinate about? Here is what several people I asked told me: cleaning house, doing home repairs, doing my exercises, doing my taxes, filing expense reports, following up from meetings and telephone calls, following up on leads and inquiries, handling the mail, making phone calls, paying bills, replacing light bulbs, sending thank you cards, work projects, and writing my dissertation. We procrastinate about all kinds of stuff, big and small!

One person told me about someone who inspired her. She is a "Now" person.

Coaching with Pegotty - a leader responds

I recently asked a client what they had taken away from their coaching experience.  Their response was so wonderful, I simply have to share it here.

What have I taken away from the coaching?

• I can talk to anyone about anything – something I felt very uncomfortable with before the 6 Advisor program.  I thought I had to be able to create conversations – and now I can by stepping into their world and using the tools available through the program.
• I am putting myself first and learning that when my needs are taken care of, I am in a much better position to be there for the staff, the board members and the people that are most important in my life. Something that was impossible when I listened to my unbalanced advisors.
• And I have learned how to be an effective leader, to spend some of the time out of the weeds and in the hovercraft, pointing in the right direction, shouting words of encouragement and identifying when more resources or information are needed.  Pegotty’s coaching and experience in this area has been invaluable.
• I have found the coaching process to be so effective that I have encouraged and funded the coaching for the three directors who make up the management team.

DF, Executive Director, National Credentialing Organization