D is for Dinosaur

There is so much to be learned from kindergarten. It’s an amazing year of growth and independence; the importance of a power nap; the brain-boosting potential of snacks/lunch and recess; and the highlight of the week -- Show and Tell!

Nearly all of Stephen Covey’s Seven Habits are put into practice in the first official year of school for kids across America.

·      Be proactive – You have to raise your hand if you want to get a special job for the day.

·      Begin with the end in mind – Learn to write A, then B, and soon you will know the alphabet -- and be able to write words!

·      First things first – Finish coloring before you go to recess.

·      Think win/win – If you help clean up, storytime lasts longer.

·      Seek first to understand, then be understood – Listen before you speak.

·      Synergize – Flashcards and partners go together like pb&j.

·      Sharpen the saw – Naps (enough said)

But, back to Show and Tell. It is the seriously classic (if a little simplistic) example of an excellent technique to help someone learn something new. People remember in pictures, not in words.

So, when your 5-year-old self, stands in front of the class and says, "D is for dinosaur" and tells your dinosaur story, and sees the written word.  Your brain makes the association of the word, the picture and the letter D; helping you to remember all of it.

Likewise, your 40-year-old self will remember how to communicate effectively if you can see three Ts at the points of a triangle. (Tell them what you are going to tell them, tell them, tell them what you told them.) And then to tattoo the memory further, you get to practice those three with a coach (teacher).

Or, when you need to handle a difficult conversation, and you can picture in your head, the talking stick and the listening ear, being passed back and forth. It’s very much like taking turns with your classmates showing your toy and telling your story, when you were just 5.

Have Pants, Will Travel

Plenty of brides and grooms have probably had nightmares about forgetting something for their big day. But how many actually forget their pants?

If you haven’t heard the story yet, a man from Minnesota had the last fitting for his wedding clothes on Saturday, near Minneapolis. Then, with his jacket, vest, tie, shirt, shoes and belt in tow, he hopped on a plane for his destination wedding in Costa Rica, scheduled for Monday afternoon. Unbeknownst to him...

his pants were left behind.

We often say customer service is all about putting yourself in the shoes of your customer to get their perspective. Well, the clothier did that and more. He did something totally unexpected. He had his 32-year-old daughter, hand-deliver those very special pants right to the resort where the bride and groom were to be married.

Customer service thrives when businesses recognize what the customer wants and needs, and in this case, the customer needed his pants.  The $500 pants were in the hands of the groom, almost before he knew they were missing. It was an unexpected gesture, likely to never be forgotten. 

The bride and groom were reportedly “speechless” and the daughter of Judd Frost, Jessie, who actually made the pants delivery, said, “I feel like I am carrying treasure through the jungle.”

Treasure for customers, now that is something unexpected!

How to Do What Hasn't Been Done

The 2014 Winter Olympic Games are just days away. 

 

Close your eyes for a moment and imagine these more than 2500 athletes from 80 nations, and the endless, bone-wearying hours of practice, training and no-doubt pure pain endured in preparation for the Olympic Games.

 

Think of their incredible execution at every trial and competition leading up to Sochi, and the unbelievable, unwavering, inspirational persistence and patience they demonstrate as they compete in 98 different events.

 

We are smack dab in the middle of what could be called P.E.P.P. week. Every competitor vying for a medal follows the P.E.P.P. formula: Preparation, Execution, Persistence and Patience.

 

So many Olympic athletes have overcome so many odds: injuries, illness, less –than-ideal training facilities, financial burdens and training schedules most of us would never consider. They are the epitome of cliché phrases about inspiration and hope. But, because of their stories, and what they have accomplished, we can see that hard work pays off in accomplishing things that may have never been done before.

• US Olympians Shani Davis, a speed skater, and Shaun White, a snowboarder, could win their third straight Olympic gold medals!
• Three sisters from Canada, Justine (19), Chloe (22) and Maxime Dufour-Lapointe (24) are all competing for Team Canada in moguls in Sochi. If they all win medals, they would be the first trio of sisters to sweep a podium!
  
• The United States has never won a gold medal in cross-country skiing, but 2013 world champion Kikkan Randall could pull it off in Sochi!
• And, in an unheard-of sacrifice, American biathlete Tracy Barnes gave up her spot on the Olympic team so that her twin sister Lanny, who was too ill to compete at the Olympic trials, could go to Sochi. In her third Olympics, Lanny will be leading the largest Olympic biathlete team in American history.

Whatever your goals, approach them like an Olympic athlete – prepare, follow through, keep trying and know that rewards may not be around the first turn, but rather, somewhere down the trail.

 

 

For more on P.E.P.P., get a free copy of our e-book

 

 

“I am building a fire and everyday I train, I add more fuel, and at just the right moment, I light the match.” -- Mia Hamm

In the Driver's Seat -- 3 More Cs of Coaching

It’s time to teach your teenager to DRIVE! (Take a deep breath!) You’ve explained how to drive, shown him how you do it, let him sit behind the wheel, pull into the driveway and drive down the street you live on.  You’ve even sat rigid with tension in the passenger seat with your foot on an imaginary brake, as they cruised home from a mile down the road.

Then, you provided positive feedback: you like how he positioned his hands on the wheel (even though he gripped it really tightly) and you are impressed with his concern about crossing the center line (but are a little worried he might hit a mailbox or a parked car!). What next? 

More Cs!

1.     Committed vs. compliant – you want your new driver to be a defensive driver all the time, not just when you are in the car, or when he sees a police car up ahead.  

·      Make your own commitment. - Show that you are a defensive driver at all times.

·      Making sure your people are committed to the cause. – Talk with your teen about the benefits of good driving behaviors and the consequences of slacking.

·      Doing what is expected all the time and not just when someone is looking. – Model this behavior.

·      Setting expectations and getting people to commit – Agree together to drive defensively and resolve to remind each other when you are not, and what will happen if you don’t live up to the promise.

2.     Compare the difference

·      Gain buy-in. – Talk about your experience learning to drive, how long it took, who was involved, how nervous you were, share your story.

·      Don’t expect people to think the same way you do – we’re all different. Maybe your new driver wants to drive circles in a parking lot, drive mom’s car instead of dad’s, or do some practice in a parking lot before they hit the streets. Maybe it’s not how you did it, but that’s okay.

·      Leave people feeling it was their idea. – Ask the driver to decide what routes to take for practice, what time of day he wants to drive and when you can talk about tweaks to their form, or maybe he wants to practice driving with someone that’s not you!

·      Leave people feeling encouraged not discouraged. – Always end your practice sessions and discussions on a positive note.

3.     Control system

·      The importance of planning. – Determine how you need to prepare for practicing driving, then how much you’ll practice and when so everyone knows what to expect and how to prepare.

·      The importance of follow through on all you do. – Always reinforce good behaviors and make corrections where needed.

·      You can’t be upset with things you allow. If you speed while you are driving, or you don't follow through on your promises, you can’t be upset when your teen does the same!

CCC -- CCC, The Six Cs of Coaching Almost Anything -- In Two Parts

Just navigate to Youtube and type “how to ____”, and you will be inundated with seemingly unending videos posted to coach people to do anything and everything.  It really doesn’t matter if you are coaching coworkers on a new sales strategy; friends on a healthier lifestyle, athletes for competition or kids on how to be good students, bake a cake, or build a fort from blankets and pillow. The principles are the same and they all begin with C.

• Compliments – give them
• Do
• Pick a quality or characteristic to comment on
• Give evidence of why you picked it
• Ask them about it to get them talking
• Don’t
• Be insincere
• Neglect to give evidence
• Be predictable (try different ways, change things up.) e.g., The Compliment Sandwich -- compliment/constructive criticism/compliment

• Catch them in the act
• Allows you to give timely feedback – don’t let busyness, frustration or lack of your own confidence hold you back.

• Coach
• Leave them with encouraging words
• Transfer skills by:
• Explaining
• Demonstrating
• Letting them practice with you
• Observing while they do it on their own
• Providing feedback

See three more Cs next week!

Less Freaking Out

As an airline passenger, there is nothing quite as soothing after takeoff as the pilot coming on the overhead speaker to announce there are “clear skies ahead”. Loosely translated, this means you can read, get some work done, or maybe catch a little shut eye without the worry of being jostled onto the shoulder of the person sitting next to you.

The skies or the road ahead won't always be free of bumps and turbulence, but generally just knowing what's ahead tends to lead to less freaking out and more getting ready. People like having a picture of what's coming up.

“Communication is the great divider,” said NO ONE, EVER. Take a look at this short video which shows you how to provide a view from 30 feet, 3000 feet and your cruising altitude.

Crystal Clear Expectations

Hand Over the Shovel -- Five steps to getting some help around here!

This time of year, many of us wish we could add more hours to the day, or perhaps clone ourselves so one of us could be at the office finishing the year-end reports, one could be shoveling the driveway and a third self could be picking up a few last-minute gifts.

Maybe it doesn’t have to be all you, doing everything, all the time. The next best thing to cloning yourself is taking some of your skills and abilities and transferring them to someone who can carry them out while you are doing other stuff.

It takes a little time on the front end, but the results are amazing. When the new skill is put into place, you will be a rockstar mentor, and your mentee will be bursting with their new accomplishment!

Example Skill: How to shovel the driveway.

Step 1: Explain. Tell them what, why and how to do the skill. Focus particular attention on the WHY. We need to shovel the driveway so we can get food; get to work or school; or go see a friend.

Step 2: Demonstrate. With many skills it is not enough to just tell someone how to do them. Actions speak louder than words. Show them how to start shoveling at an ideal spot, how to scoop and lift the snow, and where to pile it so it’s not in the way. Also, outline the specifics or even walk off the part of the driveway you want shoveled. If just a driving lane is ok, or if you want all of the concrete surface cleared of snow, show them. People will remember what you do more than what you say.

Step 3: Practice with Coaching.  In this step, allow the person to practice the skill, while you are coaching during the practice. Hand them the shovel and let them show you they can do the skill effectively and offer some advice if needed. NO YELLING in this step.

Step 4: Observe. Now, you can check your email or make a phone call while you watch them shoveling. Sweet!

Step 5: Feedback. After you observed, let them know how they did. This feedback should be 80% or more positive feedback, and 20% or less constructive criticism. If they fail at the skill then you failed in the transfer process.  Repeat if needed or marvel at your success!