In his book What Got You Here Won’t Get You There, Dr. Marshall Goldsmith (same author who wrote about MOJO), defines 20 bad habits of leaders that hinders their further progress. Our previous experience with success may sometimes prevent us from thinking differently and cause us to resist change. He also mentions seven steps to change for the better. An elaborate review of the book can be read at The Simple Dollar.
Although I could identify with several points raised in the book, I felt that it would be difficult to remember and incorporate all the changes needed. I thought it would be useful to have a small statement which could summarize the key learning for me and serve as an easy reminder.
Acknowledge and offer significant inputs merrily.
Acknowledge: We have to acknowledge what colleagues are saying (16), acknowledge their contributions (10, 14, 17) and not claim credit that we don’t deserve (11). We also have to acknowledge when we make an error (12, 13, 15, 19).
Offer: We should ‘offer’ and not impose our ideas or standards (1,3).
Significant inputs: We should offer positive inputs which add significantly to the topic/matter rather than add our 2 cents to every discussion and on the other extreme we should not withhold valuable information (2, 8, 9).
Merrily: Our contributions should be based on a sense of joie de vivre and our interactions should have a sense of lightness. With a focus on the message (rather than the messenger), the use of destructive comments, negative qualifiers or the use of anger as a management tool is to be avoided (4, 5, 7, 18).
Showing posts with label Books. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Books. Show all posts
Wednesday, November 10, 2010
Tuesday, June 29, 2010
Mojo and Satisfaction
Marshall Goldsmith is a professor, management consultant and executive coach. He is the author of acclaimed management-related literature. His new book, MOJO: How to Get It, How to Keep It, and How to Get It Back When You Lose It, focuses on one attribute that all successful people share. He calls it Mojo.
His operational definition of Mojo is: that positive spirit toward what we are doing now that starts on the inside and radiates to the outside. The use of the word ‘now’ in the definition is interesting. It denotes that people with a positive Mojo love what they are doing when they are doing it. They are finding happiness and meaning in the present. He uses the word ‘Nojo’ to describe the opposite of Mojo.
While performing any activity we have two forms of associated Mojo; Professional Mojo and Personal Mojo.
Professional Mojo is a measure of the qualities that we need to bring to an activity in order to do it well and includes (1) motivation, (2) knowledge, (3) ability, (4) confidence and (5) authenticity. Personal Mojo is a measure of the benefits we may receive from a particular activity and includes (1) happiness, (2) reward, (3) meaning, (4) learning and (5) gratitude. The terms are individually delineated and the author’s guide is available here.
Marshall Goldsmith suggests rating your different important activities on each of the ten aspects on a scale of 1 to 10, with 10 being the highest. Using the Mojo Scorecard for a few days will allow observation of patterns. One will be able to identify areas of strong Mojo and areas of weakness. In fact, exploring the qualities in the scorecard for any endeavor makes the performance of the activity better and makes it appear more meaningful.
His operational definition of Mojo is: that positive spirit toward what we are doing now that starts on the inside and radiates to the outside. The use of the word ‘now’ in the definition is interesting. It denotes that people with a positive Mojo love what they are doing when they are doing it. They are finding happiness and meaning in the present. He uses the word ‘Nojo’ to describe the opposite of Mojo.
While performing any activity we have two forms of associated Mojo; Professional Mojo and Personal Mojo.
Professional Mojo is a measure of the qualities that we need to bring to an activity in order to do it well and includes (1) motivation, (2) knowledge, (3) ability, (4) confidence and (5) authenticity. Personal Mojo is a measure of the benefits we may receive from a particular activity and includes (1) happiness, (2) reward, (3) meaning, (4) learning and (5) gratitude. The terms are individually delineated and the author’s guide is available here.
Marshall Goldsmith suggests rating your different important activities on each of the ten aspects on a scale of 1 to 10, with 10 being the highest. Using the Mojo Scorecard for a few days will allow observation of patterns. One will be able to identify areas of strong Mojo and areas of weakness. In fact, exploring the qualities in the scorecard for any endeavor makes the performance of the activity better and makes it appear more meaningful.
Monday, March 29, 2010
The Ultimate Happiness Prescription
In his book ‘The Ultimate Happiness Prescription’ Deepak Chopra talks about certain practices in daily life which result in joy and fulfillment. He writes about seven keys which according to him would lead to self-knowledge and enlightenment.
First Key: Be Aware of Your Body
A person experiences happiness when the body is in a natural state. By listening to the body and responding with awareness a person can tap into infinite possibilities and experience naturally peace, harmony and joy.
A very interesting activity has been mentioned while discussing this topic. Allocate time (about 20 minutes) to yourself when not feeling rushed, relax and simply tell your body that it can do whatever it wants. Whatever your body wants to do, allow it to do it without any restriction. You may feel the need to emit a deep sigh, remember a specific memory, feel tense in a certain area, feel relaxed in another area or even burst into tears or feel a deep sense of relief. These signals indicate that the body needs space to heal and refresh itself. An opposite effect will be produced if the body is in a natural state.
First Key: Be Aware of Your Body
A person experiences happiness when the body is in a natural state. By listening to the body and responding with awareness a person can tap into infinite possibilities and experience naturally peace, harmony and joy.
A very interesting activity has been mentioned while discussing this topic. Allocate time (about 20 minutes) to yourself when not feeling rushed, relax and simply tell your body that it can do whatever it wants. Whatever your body wants to do, allow it to do it without any restriction. You may feel the need to emit a deep sigh, remember a specific memory, feel tense in a certain area, feel relaxed in another area or even burst into tears or feel a deep sense of relief. These signals indicate that the body needs space to heal and refresh itself. An opposite effect will be produced if the body is in a natural state.
Thursday, October 29, 2009
Self Image and Individual Happiness
A significant factor which influences our happiness levels is our ‘self-image’. If you sit back and think about yourself, how do you perceive yourself as in general? Do you see yourself as a serious person, as a grim person, a no-nonsense person, a melancholic person or a happy person? Our perceived self-image makes us seek and enact accordingly. A person who has a melancholic image will find reasons to burden himself with heavy thoughts even under happy circumstances. A person who has an image about himself which communicates humour or happiness will find reasons to smile even at the dullest occasion.
An American cosmetic surgeon Maxwell Maltz noted that after corrective plastic surgery some patients experienced an immediate increase in self-esteem. However, in some cases the patients continued to feel inadequate. He then recognized that reconstruction of the physical image would not help, if there was no reconstruction of the ‘non-physical face of personality’ or ‘self-image’. He developed Psycho-Cybernetics, a system of ideas through which, one could improve one's self-image and, in turn, lead a more successful and fulfilling life. The book Psycho-Cybernetics includes several techniques and is considered a classic personal development book.
The self-image in general and that related to happiness is imbibed at various moments subconsciously and soon we start identifying that image as ourselves (‘this is me’). The fact is that this is how we have come to consider ourselves as, slowly over a period of time. The self-image can be changed through deliberate intent.
The initial step would be to relax and then create an image of yourself as happy and joyful. Imagine how you would behave, act and feel if you had the new image. Associate words like happy, joyful, cheerful, jolly, blissful, humourous, mischievious etc with this image. This may need to be practiced frequently, particularly when you recognize that you are exhibiting the previous unhappy behaviour. Several experts mention that a behaviour practiced over twenty one days becomes a habit. Each time while practicing add more details (like speech modality, appearance).
It would be very useful to align this image with the individual definition of happiness.
An American cosmetic surgeon Maxwell Maltz noted that after corrective plastic surgery some patients experienced an immediate increase in self-esteem. However, in some cases the patients continued to feel inadequate. He then recognized that reconstruction of the physical image would not help, if there was no reconstruction of the ‘non-physical face of personality’ or ‘self-image’. He developed Psycho-Cybernetics, a system of ideas through which, one could improve one's self-image and, in turn, lead a more successful and fulfilling life. The book Psycho-Cybernetics includes several techniques and is considered a classic personal development book.
The self-image in general and that related to happiness is imbibed at various moments subconsciously and soon we start identifying that image as ourselves (‘this is me’). The fact is that this is how we have come to consider ourselves as, slowly over a period of time. The self-image can be changed through deliberate intent.
The initial step would be to relax and then create an image of yourself as happy and joyful. Imagine how you would behave, act and feel if you had the new image. Associate words like happy, joyful, cheerful, jolly, blissful, humourous, mischievious etc with this image. This may need to be practiced frequently, particularly when you recognize that you are exhibiting the previous unhappy behaviour. Several experts mention that a behaviour practiced over twenty one days becomes a habit. Each time while practicing add more details (like speech modality, appearance).
It would be very useful to align this image with the individual definition of happiness.
Tuesday, October 13, 2009
Thoughts and Reality
Masaru Emoto is a Japanese researcher and author. Dr. Masaru Emoto’s water crystal experiments consist of exposing water to different words, pictures, or music, and then freezing and examining the response in the form of aesthetics of the resulting crystals with microscopic photography.
It is claimed that depending on the different focused intentions, water appears to ‘change its expression’ and images of the water crystals are beautiful (in one study beautiful crystals were defined as symmetric, aesthetically pleasing shapes) or unsightly depending upon whether the words or thoughts were positive or negative.
The children’s version of the book ‘The Message from Water’ is available on the net. It is available in different languages.
Commentators have criticized the research for insufficient experimental controls, and for lack of sharing of sufficient details of the approach. In other experiments scientists have not been able to either accept or reject the findings.
At least there is proof that thoughts and feelings affect physical reality and it would be preferable to maintain an environment of positive thoughts, words and actions.
It is claimed that depending on the different focused intentions, water appears to ‘change its expression’ and images of the water crystals are beautiful (in one study beautiful crystals were defined as symmetric, aesthetically pleasing shapes) or unsightly depending upon whether the words or thoughts were positive or negative.
The children’s version of the book ‘The Message from Water’ is available on the net. It is available in different languages.
Commentators have criticized the research for insufficient experimental controls, and for lack of sharing of sufficient details of the approach. In other experiments scientists have not been able to either accept or reject the findings.
At least there is proof that thoughts and feelings affect physical reality and it would be preferable to maintain an environment of positive thoughts, words and actions.
Friday, August 7, 2009
Happiness Traits
Originally from Russia, Sonja Lyubomirsky (Lyubomirsky in Russian means love and peace) is Professor of Psychology at the University of California, Riverside. Lyubomirsky teaches courses in social psychology and positive psychology. Her research addresses questions like what makes people happy and how can people become happier still.
According to her, happy people have been noted to exhibit some thinking and behaviour patterns. The following is a sample of the observations.
1. They devote a great amount of time to their family and friends, nurturing and enjoying those relationships.
2. They are comfortable expressing gratitude for all they have.
3. They are often the first to offer a helping hand to co-workers and passersby.
4. They practice optimism when imagining their futures.
5. They savour life’s pleasures and try to live in the present moment.
6. They make physical exercise a weekly – and sometimes daily – habit.
7. They are deeply committed to a life-long goal and ambition.
She has also authored the book ‘The How of Happiness’ which contains happiness related information based on scientific research.
In this video Lyubomirsky discusses how learned traits influence happiness.
According to her, happy people have been noted to exhibit some thinking and behaviour patterns. The following is a sample of the observations.
1. They devote a great amount of time to their family and friends, nurturing and enjoying those relationships.
2. They are comfortable expressing gratitude for all they have.
3. They are often the first to offer a helping hand to co-workers and passersby.
4. They practice optimism when imagining their futures.
5. They savour life’s pleasures and try to live in the present moment.
6. They make physical exercise a weekly – and sometimes daily – habit.
7. They are deeply committed to a life-long goal and ambition.
She has also authored the book ‘The How of Happiness’ which contains happiness related information based on scientific research.
In this video Lyubomirsky discusses how learned traits influence happiness.
Wednesday, July 29, 2009
Virtues and Strengths
It has been mentioned in a previous post that the Good life and Meaningful life require the utilization of signature (character) strengths. Virtues and strengths that enable human thriving are described in Character Strengths and Virtues: A Handbook and Classification (CSV).
The CSV identifies six overarching virtues that almost every culture across the world endorses.
Wisdom and Knowledge: Cognitive strengths that entail the acquisition and use of knowledge
Courage: Emotional strengths that involve the exercise of will to accomplish goals in the face of opposition, external or internal
Humanity: Interpersonal strengths that involve tending and befriending others
Justice: Civic strengths that underlie healthy community life
Temperance: Strengths that protect against excess
Transcendence: Strengths that forge connections to the larger universe and provide meaning
The 6 virtues are made up of 24 measurable strengths. Signature strengths are those one most frequently expresses. It is suggested that practice/utilization of these traits lead to increased happiness.
One can find out about his/her signatures strengths from this survey.
The CSV identifies six overarching virtues that almost every culture across the world endorses.
Wisdom and Knowledge: Cognitive strengths that entail the acquisition and use of knowledge
Courage: Emotional strengths that involve the exercise of will to accomplish goals in the face of opposition, external or internal
Humanity: Interpersonal strengths that involve tending and befriending others
Justice: Civic strengths that underlie healthy community life
Temperance: Strengths that protect against excess
Transcendence: Strengths that forge connections to the larger universe and provide meaning
The 6 virtues are made up of 24 measurable strengths. Signature strengths are those one most frequently expresses. It is suggested that practice/utilization of these traits lead to increased happiness.
One can find out about his/her signatures strengths from this survey.
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