Focus: The Key to Effective Action
The Curse of the Capable You have overcome obstacles. You’ve hired outstanding people, trained them through their skill gaps, and equipped them with amazing tools. You’ve streamlined your organizational structure, your physical environment, and your business processes. You’ve established clear goals, reviewed them regularly, motivated and encouraged and team-built like all the books said. And yet you are still behind on the project. Why are they procrastinating? Why don’t they want to do the work? Or perhaps the scenario is different. Maybe none of this is about your team. Maybe it’s about you personally. You know you want to accomplish more, and you aren’t putting things off on purpose. But obvious tasks languish unfinished. If it’s not a lack of capability or capacity, what is it? If it’s not a motivation gap, what is it? If it’s not procrastination, what is it? It’s the curse of the highly-capable: distraction. The Focus Gap The high-performer’s mind is not avoiding work; it’s amassing more of it. It thrives on stimulation, problems to solve, ideas with which to toy and tinker. The high-performer wants to act; focus is the key to effective action. And so the weakness in the strong armor of the highly capable person is not a skill gap. It’s a focus gap. When you find that your attention is drifting, consider these five tips for achieving and sustaining your focus. Five Focus Tips First things first. Stephen Covey had it right – prioritizing your tasks will help you not only to keep your focus, but will protect your most important tasks from being affected if and when your attention naturally wanes. Outline your outcomes. Clearly define three key achievements for the day. Don’t overload. Challenge yourself. At the same time, don’t set a low bar on the goals for the day. If you have to stretch a little in order to accomplish the task, you’ll stay more focused than if you’re on auto-pilot. Use the tools you have, but use them effectively. You know when your phone, tablet, and browser are not helping your progress. The same goes for your email, your team’s live meetings, and your general time management skills. Take a refresher course if needed. Steady as she goes. The most focused people have cultivated a habit of focus and built the skill of concentration. This doesn’t mean that you don’t take breaks; it means that you are intentional about them. Your goal is to escape the “crunch and cruise” cycle for a more consistent process, knowing that you’ll have to adapt as priorities change.
Culture-Building vs. Team-Building
So, Your Teambuilding Failed? Last week we discussed the uncomfortable subject of failed teambuilding. Turns out, quite a large number of groups that subject themselves to “teambuilding events” aren’t even teams in the first place. No wonder the results so rarely live up to either expectations or the vendor’s hype! Companies invest in “teambuilding” and wonder why their group’s performance doesn’t improve. That’s a lot like thinking you’re buying fantastic new tires and wondering later why the roads are still so bumpy. Let me give you a new way to think about the conference slot where you’ve been putting what you thought “teambuilding” activities. Instead of tires, let’s go get some asphalt. Culturebuilding French novelist and art theorist Andre Malraux said that “Culture is the sum of all the forms of art, of love, and of thought, which, in the course of centuries, have enabled man to be less enslaved.” While he wasn’t referring to corporate cultures, the underlying idea – with some modification – can be applied as a definition for any organization’s culture. Art :: Expression This is analagous to all forms of expression in an organization. How do people speak, write, email, telephone, whisper, or otherwise communicate? How are people addressed? How are the organization’s stories shared and preserved? Love :: Relationships This applies to the way people relate to and interact with each other. How hierarchical is the organization? Do people from different divisions and levels of the organization interact? Is that interaction required? Natural? Forced? Tense? Relaxed? Thought :: Processes This relates to the practical and analytical activities that occur within the organization. This may span everything from work habits to clarity of mission to the choice of hardware and software used in attempting the mission. (There are good and not-so-good things to be said about both Macs and PCs, but there is no doubt that the choice of technology platform can affect an organization’s culture!) Of course I’d never suggest that we are enslaved, but the sum of these things can allow us to be more engaged, enthusiastic, and productive in our work. We aren’t throwing off shackles of enslavement, but rather those of drudgery. Do you see? All those concepts you learned about culture in drama, art, music, or language arts classes in school aren’t limited to the academic or artistic realm. Your organization can benefit from your ability to see parallels in the way culture is built and strengthened in the community and the way corporate culture affects your business model and your workplace relationships. Culturebuilding Objectives Now that you understand the distinction between teambuilding and culturebuilding, how does that change the way you engage in activities in the future? Here are some ideas. Instead of teambuilding, look at the group activity as an opportunity to have a shared experience that contributes to strengthening the culture of your organization. Save your ‘high performing teams’ management-book-of-the-month for groups that are actually teams. Measuring a group on the basis of characteristics of teams is doomed to create unneeded stress and no useful insight. How does the activity support one or more of the three overarching principles? Measure that, not whether a group of people who won’t interact again until next quarter or next year are now performing as a “team.” (If you need a refresher on what teams are, see last week’s post.) Create objectives for your group activities based on how they relate to the three overarching themes of culture. For example: Does this activity provide the opportunity for people to share our organization’s stories with our newer people? Does it provide the opportunity to create new ones? Does this event encourage people to interact across functional divisions in our organization? Does it encourage interaction across hierarchical levels? Back at the office, will people be encouraged or restricted from communicating with the people they interact with during this activity? Why or why not? Will this activity be used to communicate and emphasize our core values? Does this activity provide an opportunity to emphasize our mission and vision? Etc. What Do You Think? As I’ve written the last two blog posts, I have been struck with the idea that these ideas might form the basis of a new keynote. What do you think? Do you think HR managers, meeting & event planners, and other audiences might find value in understanding the distinction between teambuilding and culturebuilding? Am I complete off-base in drawing that distinction? Your comments are not only welcome – I’m actively soliciting them! Please share this article and let’s get a conversation going.
Nothing Is Routine: A Leadership Insight from Dr. Donald Zacharias
“Nothing is routine when dealing with the lives of other people.” Dr. Donald W. Zacharias (1935-2013) President Emeritus, Mississippi State University Dr. Donald Zacharias was the president of my alma mater, Mississippi State University, during my student years. He was a model of effective leadership, masterful communication, and committed relationship-building. He died early on March 3, 2013, after a long struggle with multiple sclerosis. Because of a generous first-of-its-kind donation to the university, a new full-ride academic and leadership scholarship program was created at Mississippi State just as I became eligible to apply for it. As incoming freshmen and the first recipients of this scholarship, three other students and I met monthly with Dr. Zacharias during our college careers. We discussed issues such as trends in higher education, leadership skills and techniques, American cultural developments, student life on campus, and even politics and philosophy. We met distinguished guests and alumni of the university and got to interact with and learn from them – people like John Grisham, Dave Swalm, Congressman Sonny Montgomery, and many others. Those were great years for students, but they were turbulent years for university leaders. Court cases affecting all the state universities were constantly in the news. Dr. Zacharias led my school with bold vision and impeccable character. He was a great leader, mentor, and friend. One of his exceptional and amazing qualities was his ability to make every person he spoke to feel like the most important person in the room. Why? The quote at the top of this page illustrates at least part of his motivation. Other people’s lives were influenced not just by legislation, administrative policies, or capital fundraising. You deal with people’s lives every time you interact with them. To him, every interaction was a unique opportunity to teach, to learn, to lead, and to grow. Dr. Zacharias exuded respect for others, and as a result, he commanded it from others as well. Do the people with whom you live, work, and play know how much you respect and value them? Why not?
Meeting and Event Planner Personality Types: The Exorcists
This week we wrap up our exploration of meeting and event planner personality types. Last week we discussed the Expanders. Today: The Exorcists! Exorcists like to ask the question, “How can I just end this and avoid another horrible experience?” An unfortunate third possibility is that a client has worked with another provider in the past who delivered a low-quality program that did not inspire confidence in future use of mystery entertainment at all. They are the “Exorcists,” and they are actively excluding magic from consideration in their events. It’s not quite casting out demons, but this client has been burned by a bad experience and understandably wishes to avoid that in the future. Strangely, after a planner has a bad experience with a caterer or vocalist, he or she will not swear off caterers and singers forever. With magic, though, the fact is that a poor performer creates an obstacle that can be difficult for other providers to overcome, regardless of quality. While it can be a challenge to get in the door, these clients can become some of your most vocal cheerleaders when you deliver a successful new experience to overshadow the old. In future articles I will discuss a variety of creative ideas for incorporating magic and mentalism entertainment into different corporate environments. Planners who fall into each of the categories above will find ideas and insights that can help them use corporate magic, mentalism, and (sometimes) message-driven entertainment to ensure the success and lasting impact of their events.
Meeting and Event Planner Personality Types: The Expanders
This week we continue our exploration of meeting and event planner personality types. Last week we discussed the Explorers. Next up: The Expanders! Expanders like to ask the question, “Where else can I use this idea?” Another possibility is that a client has worked with a magician or mentalist on a previous event, but the client is only familiar with that single aspect of how mystery entertainment can be integrated into multiple parts of an event. The previous entertainer may have delivered a quality show for one venue, but did not indicate a level of versatility or creativity in providing a broader range of experiences. These planners are “Expanders,” ready to expand their understanding of what magic performance can bring to their events. Expanders are often enthusiastic about magic, and are excited to hear different ways that they can create exciting, high-impact experiences for their audiences. These clients are anxious to hear success stories about how a different approach worked at other events, and if you have a creative twist on that idea for them, so much the better! The risk, of course, is that given the open mind of an Expander, the over-enthusiastic provider will conclude that he has a hammer and the event is comprised of nothing but nails. Sometimes the Expander gets in on this game and also wants to add magic to every single element of the event. Experienced planners and providers will resist this temptation. Less is often more. Next week: Exorcists!
Social Media Magic: Radio Interview on MileHiRadio
“Social Media Magic” was the topic of my recent interview on Denver’s MileHiRadio. Host Deb Krier and I spent an hour discussing the effective use of social media to promote small businesses. Her title for the segment – “Social Media Magic” – was based partly on the nature of my entertainment and speaking business, and partly on the kinds of results that can be generated with the effective use of social media. Deb Krier, who is now based in Atlanta but still hosts her show on the Denver-based internet radio station, is an extremely knowledgeable social media consultant and it’s worth visiting her site to get to know her better. In this radio interview, we discussed a variety of topics including: Platforms such as Facebook, LinkedIn, and Twitter Tools and apps such as HootSuite and Buffer Tips on content and what to share A description of my speaking and entertainment business You can listen below, or click here to visit the “Deb Krier: SociaLight” page and enjoy or download the interview there. [gn_media url=”https://milehiradio.com/archives/4251274D-D5ED-DCFE-022039D8F1D39A64_20130204.mp3″ width=”300″ height=”80″]
Meeting and Event Planner Personality Types: The Explorers
Event Planner Personality Types: The Explorers When meeting and event planners are considering magical entertainment or magic-enhanced keynote speaking as a possible addition to their event, they are often venturing into unfamiliar territory. Though every situation is different, my experience is that most event or meeting planners who are considering a magical speaker or entertainer fall into one of the following three categories: Explorers, Expanders, and Exorcists. Each group is asking a different kind of question. Explorers like to ask the question, “What new thing can I find?” The first group of clients are those who have never have worked with a professional magical entertainer in any venue. Many times, these people have either devised a magic theme themselves, or they have been presented with an event theme (“The Magic of…” or “Vegas Night,” etc.) decided upon by their team or another event planner. In the case of un-themed events or events without a specific magic theme, the use of a magician, mentalist, or magical keynote speaker has usually been recommended by another planner. (And if you ever wanted a short summary of my business model, that’s it.) I find that these Explorers – companies, groups, and planners – are usually wide open on the creative side of applying magic to multiple events during a conference, though almost always with a careful eye to budget constraints. These clients value experience, creativity, and cost-consciousness. It’s a new world for them, and as a performer I appreciate the trust that these clients place in me to be their guide and navigator. Being the initial experience for an “Explorer” is also a big responsibility, because the result of this experience will transform this client into one of the other two types – either an Expander or an Exorcist. It’s important to dream big and deliver for these Explorers, but it’s equally important to be realistic about what you can really do well and where your expertise lies. Stretch your skills, not the truth. Next week: The Expanders!
Radio Interview on Atlanta BusinessRadioX: Building a Speaking Career
On the BusinessRadioX network, host Jim Beach interviewed me on his “School for Startups” program. The topic, “How to Build a Speaking Career,” was suggested by Jim after we met at a Metro Atlanta Chamber of Commerce event, and that premise formed the backbone of the hour-long talk. In this radio interview, I took a basic four-step approach to addressing the topic. Identify a problem Create a credible solution Present to an audience that want to hear In a way they like Along the way, though, Jim was very interested in the components of my “5 Kinds of Amazing” keynote, so you’ll hear about how I line up magic experiences and business competencies to teach businesses how to use lessons from the magical theatre to increase their audience’s brand engagement. 5 Kinds of Amazing Talent – Expertise (highly developed skill, deep knowledge) Science – Process (natural laws with a surprise) Magic – Empowerment (breaking the laws/process) Telepathy – Communication (how close can you get to mindreading) Predictions – Trendspotting (anticipating/creating the future) UPDATE: Alas, many years have passed and the audio is no longer available online. We shot a bonus video, too – you can watch it below or go straight to the YouTube page. BusinessRadioX features business professionals interviewing their peers, drilling down on the critical issues, and delivering practical information to an engaged audience.
2013 Kickoff!
The new year is underway! The decorations are put away, last quarter’s estimated taxes have been sent in, and most of us are settling into our routines after the busy holiday season. I was blessed to have a successful December with many engagements leading right up to Christmas. My family and I had something of a Christmas odyssey: we traveled to see grandparents in Eads, TN, then down to the other grandparents in my hometown of Brandon, MS, then to see our bowl game in Jacksonville, FL, then back home. Then I left a day later for Phoenix! Whew! The Phoenix trip was for an International Brotherhood of Magicians Convention Committee planning meeting, and it also included attending the midyear board meeting for the IBM Executive Committee. Next summer, magicians from all over the world will gather in Phoenix for our annual convention and it is shaping up to be spectacular. I consider it an honor to be involved in putting that event together, and look forward to many more years of service in the IBM. After returning to Atlanta, it was only a couple of days before I began an intense trade show performance at the International Gift Show at Atlanta’s AmericasMart. This was an unusual show for a number of reasons. First, the product, “Dr. Pott’s Proven Potty Potion” from PooPourri, was an unusual brand to promote. Second, the company needed multiple performers as they were exhibiting in two locations simultaneously. (Fortunately I also work as an agent and have skilled, personable friends to bring in when necessary!) Lastly, this promotion was to be done in character as Dr. Pott, including a costume! Take a look at this: The show was a great success, drawing in hundreds of attendees to the booths who otherwise would have walked on by. As an actor, I really embraced the character and found it invigorating to stretch some of the acting muscles in a different way. The two locations were extremely different in feel: the showroom location was more like performing in a department store, while the temporary booth location was more like a traditional trade show. So, the year is off to a busy start. I already have speaking engagements and performances booked into September, with inquiries already coming in for December! What can you expect to see here in the coming months? Here are a few things to watch for: A new look for my website, www.turnermagic.com Continued work on my book, 5 Kinds of Amazing, which is going to expand into a system for creating amazing experiences for your own audiences or clients A follow-up book to High JOEltage! which was released last year. This will become a series of short books following the theme of being amazingly effective in your personal and professional interactions A few surprises I can’t yet divulge! You can also expect to see continued blogging and updates, though the blog location may transition depending on the new website’s needs. Stay tuned! As we get the new year rolling, I am actively seeking your help in finding: Speaking opportunities at conventions and conferences anywhere in the world Opportunities to take my one-man show to small theatres and performing arts venues Opportunities to expand my performances at other trade shows across America – using live magic to engage attendees around a product, service, or brand Please think about the people you know in decision-making positions – and let’s talk about the best way for you to introduce us! As always, thank you to all my friends and clients and colleagues – this amazing adventure wouldn’t be possible without your continued support and referrals!
TurnerMagic.com Gets a New Look!
The long-awaited redesign of this site has finally happened! Welcome to our new home! Spiffy, right? There are a lot of new features to explore, and of course you can expect tweaks and edits as we go. But the overall look and feel has received a much-needed update, and I couldn’t be happier. Time for some gratitude: -Kristina McInerny of www.NotesFromKris.com I’ve known Kris for years and am supremely happy with the work she and her team have done for me. I’ve designed and coded my own web sites in raw HTML for years. While they were successful and effective in their time, eventually there comes a point where you must choose to go to the next level. Kris made it happen with practically no pain. Thanks, Kris! -Maria Necessary of www.NecessaryDesign.com Maria is my graphic designer, creative sounding board, and friend. She is constantly working on about 3 simultaneous projects for me. Thank you Maria, for being the calm in my chaos! -My friend Randall Zimmerle isn’t here to celebrate this launch with us. He was the design and web guru that helped me transform my graphic identity a few years ago. Randall developed my new logos, helped me create a professional new look for my business, and was working on a redesign of my web site when he passed away at the end of 2011. Nevertheless, his ideas and work continue to influence my branding, and he surely deserves a nod here. Thank you sir! If you are in need of graphic design or web work for your business, you can’t go wrong with Maria and Kris. Give them a look. Stay tuned, this year is just getting started!
