, Author at Paul Duxbury

You Can’t Climb a Mountain until You Can Climb a Ladder

There’s no doubt that we live in a VUCA World (Volatile, Uncertain, Complex and Ambiguous) and that brings with it all sorts of challenges. Whether it’s for managers who are trying to deal with the demands for certainty from staff or us as individuals faced with risks and challenges that may present us with opportunities if we are prepared to take the risk and leap into the unknown.

A lot of people get stuck in a rut and are content to do the same things over and over again, day in and day out. They have carved a groove for themselves and making any sort of change requires a great deal of mental and physical effort to grasp why change might even be needed.

The saddest thing about this common scenario is that those who are the most stuck are often the most in need of change. They are often miserable, with a job they aren’t enjoying, lower wages than they feel they need, and perhaps difficult relationships at work and/or at home. They feel like they have the weight of the world on their shoulders. And yet if you ask them to take a risk that can make things better, they refuse. The familiar, however bad it is, is less scary than something new.

Fear of Failure in Our VUCA World

A lot of people hold back from risk-taking for fear of failure. They don’t want to lose time, money or effort, or change their job or place they live and then realize they can’t return to the way things were. They don’t think the rewards are worth trying for, or they label themselves a “loser.” And this is often what happens; their negative thinking leads to a negative result.

Fear of Success in our VUCA World

They might also be terrified of becoming successful. This may sound strange, until we stop to consider just how many expectations are placed upon people who are in the top of their field. Tiger Woods the golfer was at the top of his sport for many years; now all most sports commentators can do is comment on how good he used to be, even though most of them could never play as well as he is doing at present.

Not everyone wants to be an Olympic athlete or a top CEO of a Fortune 500 company. They can see the rewards, but everything is a balancing act.

Growth through Risk

However, you will never be able to move forward and grow unless you are prepared to take some risk in your life. Learning how to walk, ride a bike or swim all had risks involved, but they certainly were fun.

They also usually involved observation and even instruction, from your parent or coach, for example. Your parents might have stood on opposite sides of the room and encouraged you to totter towards them. One of your parents put the training wheels on your bike and took you out to the park or up and down the drive. You might have had swimming lessons before trying to swim on your own.

Educated Risk-Taking

If you are still struggling with taking risks, have fun with them. Go left, not right, try a new restaurant, order a dish you’ve never tried before. Getting used to taking these smaller risks, with no huge issue about failure or success, can help broaden your horizons and open your mind to a range of possibilities. As you start to have fun and picture what a better life looks like, you can move on to greater challenges and better rewards.

One thing is for sure: you will never know until you try. And if you get hung up on the idea of failure, just remember – each setback can be a teaching moment that will enable you to learn valuable lessons and do better next time. In this VUCA World we need to climb the ladder of success one rung at a time, and you can soon climb a mountain.

5 Simple Steps to Improve Teamwork

Are you looking to improve teamwork? Is your team motivated, energised and enthusiastic? Does your team work well together? Do they look forward to coming to work each day to be a part of the process? If not, it’s time to develop better teamwork and reignite team spirit.

Great teams don’t just happen. Teams are comprised of people. People need to feel both needed and wanted. One of the key factors in getting the most out of your employees is for them to realize they make a difference.

Have you ever wondered why some teams are so quick to work together and others are not? It’s not just down to the manager each and every team member has a responsibility for the effectiveness of the overall team. Each person can add value or can detract from the performance of the team. Ultimately, it’s about the chemistry. When the chemistry is right, teams tend to work more effectively.

5 Simple Steps to Improve Teamwork

Share responsibility among all team members: This is one of the easiest ways to get the team to develop mutual accountability. If team members know they must count on each other, each member will work hard because they don’t want to be the one to let the team down.

Get everyone to understand each person’s strengths: This will aid in getting everyone to work together and build on each other’s strengths and improve overall team performance. We cannot all share the same strength so when Sharon’s strength can assist Bob in an area he doesn’t have a particular strength in, it creates a win-win for the team.

Get each team member on the same page: Too often team members don’t understand how what they do plays into the bigger picture of the organisation. This is critical. Your team will be able to think more critically and problem-solve better when they understand the part their contribution makes to the company as a whole.

Encourage members to praise each other: Like Canadian Geese that honk along their flight, it is important for team members to motivate and encourage each other. One of the largest misconceptions in business today is that motivation must come from management. Motivation must come from within, and each member can play a part in increasing others’ desires to improve and be self-motivated.

Humanise each team member: This one is a little sticky with some employees because they feel they are there to work and not to socialise. While on the surface this is 100% correct, it has been shown that when employees know something about each other as people, they are quicker to empathise and help each other out. One key factor here—don’t press the issue with someone who absolutely does not want to share.

With these tips you should be able to start that journey which will enable you to improve teamwork and get more from your team.

How to Be More Creative

Would you like to be more creative? I have been talking to a few people of late about bringing creativity and creative thinking into the work environment and using it to support change processes. As I have discussed with them there are so many ways in both our personal and professional lives where we can be more creative.

We Can All Be More Creative

Who knows when that creative spark will strike? It can happen at any time. It often happens in a place where you can’t capture it. However, it is possible to set up yourself for optimal creativity.

You need to find what works for you. That may seem obvious, but too many people disregard it. For instance, if you do your best writing work on Monday in the morning, why aren’t you writing more on Monday mornings? That is the right time for you, use it to your advantage. Many people ignore this.

Look at what others have created for a source of inspiration. It’s easy to spend some time on the internet and discover some great ideas. One website dedicated to this is StumbleUpon.com. It randomly selects pages, and you can further refine your searches by category. Wikipedia and Reddit are other websites that offer up random pages. Using resources like this can be a great way to generate new inspiration.

Most ideas are not truly original, they stem from past creations. For instance, songwriters often use the structure of their favorite songs as the base for their work. Every so often an idea comes along that seems unique. However, when you peel back the layers of how the idea developed, you will often see inspiration from somewhere else.

One important point is never to copy ideas. It’s okay to use other peoples’ ideas to generate new ideas. But, if you simply copy what others have done, people will pick up on that. You will be looked on as a fraud. Besides, it’s an illegal practice that can get you into trouble. Don’t do it. It’s not worth the risk.

To help you to be more creative when you work, listen to music. That can help a lot. Choose music that is easy to listen to without distracting you too much. Many people find classical music is a good fit here as the music contains no lyrics. However, if you find that you do well with another style, don’t limit yourself.

Give something a try that falls outside your normal activity. For instance, try reading magazines that you typically wouldn’t read to get different perspectives. Try browsing websites that you wouldn’t typically browse, etc. The idea is to use a pattern interrupt within your brain which makes it use different pathways. Doing that can generate ideas you would have never had before. The results will likely surprise you as you discover you can be more creative!

Embrace The Stillness In Life

Why not make some time in your life to embrace the stillness? There’s no doubt that we live in a fast-paced world that seems to be getting faster with every passing moment. The internet and the explosion of social media sites has connected us in ways we never imagined. Sometimes there seems to be no respite from it as people reach out to each other any time the mood strikes that. That can make it difficult to have time for yourself. Embrace the stillness, and you can gain back your peace of mind.

Embrace the Stillness

You can think of stillness in multiple ways. One way to think of it is as the word suggests. You don’t move. You merely reflect on the day’s activities in a quiet room, away from all distractions. You can do this for extended periods, or you can do it in small increments of time. Both will benefit you.

You may consider this to be a form of meditation. However, meditation is a more formalized set of techniques. It often takes people several tries to gain the benefits of meditation and some people never succeed. Stillness, by contrast, will deliver immediate benefits. Anyone can reflect on their day wherever they are. You could be in a car, and even though you may be moving, you experience stillness within it. Naturally, you’ll find this will work just as well as when you are stationary.

Of course, if you feel you want to go through the learning process of meditation, it can bring tremendous benefits to you. It can give you the peace of mind you seek. If you are a beginner, you should consider using guided meditation. That can be a quicker way to get you in the right place with your meditation sessions. Make sure you choose an experienced guide.

You can also think of stillness of in a more metaphorical sense. For instance, if you spend every weekend visiting family or participating in other events, staying at home can be thought of as a way to be still. You may continue to move around, but you can capture the peace of not having to go out and travel.

Sometimes, observing the stillness in life can bring about significant benefits. For instance, if you are by a lake and the waves are calm, you can get lost in the moment and feel at peace. For me spending some time sat quietly on the edge of the Japanese Garden at Tatton Park has an incredibly calming effect.

It’s the same effect as watching a beautiful sunset. Also, observe the people in your life and take note of those who are relaxed and serene. Try to determine how they get to that point and use the same techniques. You can ask them directly how they achieve their serenity and they may be able to help you. Go on, take some time to embrace the stillness!

Changing Careers – They Have Done It!

Changing careers is something that people think about but it can be quite a scary concept! I have been talking to a number of people over the last few weeks who have been considering whether they should change the focus of their careers. Seeking a new role or changing career is one of those things that people do tend to consider at this time of year.

I am sure you will have come across people who have “fallen into” their current career and have stuck with it because of the security the regular income brings. They often find themselves frustrated as time goes on that they are not following a career that would really fulfill them and allow to work in an area that they would enjoy and feel they were adding value to the world around them. You may be one of those people?

Pondering on this set me thinking about some of the people from history or that we know today who have changed their careers.

There are many examples of people who have have taken the plunge and moved from thinking about changing careers to changing their lives and careers completely through knowing themselves and what they were capable of. They also had the courage to change direction and make the most of the opportunities presented to them.

Changing Careers – These People Did It!

Julius Caesar

In 49BC, Caesar, though a great commander, was told to disband his legion and return to Rome – most likely to retirement or even death. He disobeyed orders and instead crossed the Rubicon River into Italy. His power grew through his great talents and love of the people, and that one act led to him becoming the Emperor of Rome and first in a long line of Caesars.

Napoleon Bonaparte

Napoleon was not even French, but become Emperor of the French within a decade after seizing upon the opportunities for power that had resulted through the French Revolution. He transformed himself from a corporal of artillery to the greatest general the modern world had ever seen, and he made every member of his family a king or ruler in Europe.

Arthur Wellesley

Arthur Wellesley was born in Ireland, a second son who would not inherit his father’s estate, and so would have to make his own way in the world. He was a talented violinist, but when the family of the girl he wished to marry turned him down because he had “no prospects,” he burned all his violins and threw himself into a career in the army. Around 20 years later, he defeated Napoleon at the Battle of Waterloo and became the Duke of Wellington. He also became the prime minister of Great Britain.

Winston Churchill

Winston Churchill was a retired politician writing books and painting watercolors in the 1930s, but the rise of Hitler in Germany so alarmed him that he became a tireless opponent of the Fuhrer even though he was nearly 60 years old. He became Prime Minister in 1940 and led England through the horrific war and on to victory in 1945, when he was 71.

We have many modern examples of people who thought about changing careers and went on to be wildly successful:

Walt Disney was a newspaper editor
Ellen DeGeneres was an oyster shucker
Harrison Ford was a carpenter
Andrea Bocelli was a lawyer
Chef Julia Child was a spy in World War II

Sylvester Stallone was a deli-counter assistant and lion cage cleaner at the Central Park Zoo. Desperate to give his family a better life, he penned the screenplay to Rocky. Hollywood loved it, but he insisted he would only sell it if he got to play the lead. And the rest, as they say, is history.

What drives people like this to success? It’s often a sense of purpose or destiny. It’s knowing what they want and finding ways to get there. Let’s look at one way of accomplishing this in the next post! In the meantime are you thinking of changing careers? What are you going to do about it?