Professional Documents
Culture Documents
Thinking Ahead is a collection of blog posts from members of the First Step Member
Community. Each contributing author retains their copyright for their individual content. The
material contained in this publication is general and is not intended as advice on any
particular matter. The authors expressly disclaim all and any liability to any persons
whatsoever in respect of anything done by any such person in reliance, whether in whole or
in part, on this publication.
23 August 2009
Thinking Ahead
www.first-step-community.info
One of my clients has just completed a year-long program within an I recently added a comment to a blog post on a well-known American
organisation. The final assessment survey showed some interesting speaker’s blog. His blog post was about a YouTube video he had seen,
results about the e-learning aspects of the program, which were which he included to make a point to his readers. My comment was to
extensive: suggest a slightly different interpretation of that video.
It also reminded me that there’s no law that says you have to take part in
every argument. I felt like I had walked into a friendly-looking pub,
entered a conversation with some people at the bar, and then suddenly
got attacked by a surly bartender! The sensible thing to do in that
situation is to walk out, not to keep defending your position.
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www.first-step-community.info 23 August 2009
financial year), and with the additional proviso that at least 80% of it has
to be earned without me leaving Perth. This makes it so much easier for
him to help me, and it keeps us both focussed.
The value of mentoring Whenever I learn something new, I immediately start thinking of how I
AUG 21, 2009 10:26P.M. can improve it! I suspect I’m not alone! But this isn’t appropriate for a
mentoring relationship, so I have to keep stopping myself from
I’ve recently started David Penglase’s sales and marketing mentoring “improving” my mentor’s advice.
program, and I’ve got to say ... I’m loving it. Lots of work, and my brain
hurts, but it’s very, very valuable. Ask lots of questions, but don’t argue. They’ve got the experience, so do it
their way, not yours. The path David has suggested for me is very
It got me thinking about the value of mentoring in general. It’s different from the path I had in mind. But it would be crazy for me to
something I’ve done a lot - both as a mentor and as a mentoree. So I insist on doing it my way.
thought I’d share some of my thoughts here. I hope you find this useful,
especially if you haven’t used a mentor before. 6. FOLLOW THROUGH.
1. WORK WITH THE BEST. There’s no point getting the advice if you don’t use it. Mentoring is not
like reading a book, watching a keynote, or attending a training course,
If you’re going to use a mentor, you might as well get the best. I’ve had where you sift through the information and figure out what’s relevant to
Glenn Capelli mentoring me in presentation skills, Matt Church you. It’s not for you to pick and choose. That’s your mentor’s job; yours is
mentoring me in my thought leadership and IP, Creel Price mentoring to do it.
me in entrepreneurship, Paul Counsel mentoring me in wealth creation,
Mal Emery mentoring me in marketing, and now Dave Penglase (From the other side of the table, I know my favourite - and most
mentoring me in sales. Some of these names might not be familiar to successful - mentoring clients are those who follow through with their
you, but believe me when I say they are all masters at what they do. actions)
I don’t think it’s necessarily true that free advice is only worth what you I believe mentoring is the fastest way to accelerate your growth, in
pay for it, but I do think it’s easier to be motivated to take action when whatever area of your business you’d like to improve. So please do it
you pay for the advice. A few of my mentors offered to help me for sooner rather than later. Even if it seems like a big investment, it’s worth
nothing, but I needed to pay so I could hold myself accountable for the it!
return on investment. I suggest you do the same.
(By the way, the going rate for one-on-one mentoring seems to be
around $3,000-$5,000 for a three-month program)
Paying for mentoring is a good start, but it’s not necessarily a We Love Google
commitment. Do something more to commit yourself - set up a support AUG 21, 2009 10:06A.M.
group with other mentorees, announce it publicly, hire a staff member
you can’t afford in anticipation of your success, whatever.
The first year Matt Church was mentoring me, I spent more time sitting
in airplanes flying between Perth and Sydney than I actually did sitting
down with Matt. That was a huge commitment of energy and time, but it
really motivated me to make the most of the mentoring.
4. SET A GOAL.
Come to your mentor with a clear goal. For example, for my mentoring
with David, I’ve set a specific income goal, with a specific deadline (this
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www.first-step-community.info 23 August 2009
Google is the world’s most popular search engine. But there’s a lot more
to Google than just searching. In this episode, Chris and Gihan share
their top 10 Google tools.
MP3 File
10. YouTube
9. Adwords/Adsense
8. Picasa
7. Google Earth/Sky/Ocean
6. iGoogle
5. Docs
4. Blogger
3. Toolbar
2. Reader
1. Search
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www.first-step-community.info 23 August 2009
You might think that she would not have much time for smokers but she
is quite the opposite, she feels sorry for them “they just want to relax and
have a few puffs” she says and when she asks them to be more careful
with their butts she says, “they are more than helpful”. Not only does
Alison do this herself but she also now has a website
www.wastewarriorsworld.com dedicated to helping others do the same
sort of thing all over the world.
If you see Alison in your travels, buy her a cup of coffee and take the time
to have a chat with a remarkable lady who has chosen to get off her
My passion in life is making a difference and inspiring people to make a backside and make a REAL difference.
difference. I am also inspired by people that make a difference. I met
Alison by accident on the beachfront at Terrigal on the weekend.
Much to her surprise they were not only there the next day but they were “Top companies are moving beyond employee satisfaction — a one-way
full of butts. She then decided to take it a step further and pick up the street which only measures if the employees needs are being met by the
ones that don’t make it to a bin and she has now been doing this for organization — to employee engagement, which is all about aligning
years. individual, organizational and customer needs,” comments Mollie
Lombardi, analyst at research firm The Aberdeen Group.
Not only does she do it but she has raised the bar, she now also calls the
council if she discovers graffiti, vandalism or damage along the Employee engagement does not have to be an expensive project. Even
beachfront. small changes can make a big difference! What changes could you make
today to increase the connection and communication with your team?
Alison says that it keeps her young and alive by giving her something
purposeful to do, she gets great exercise, it makes sure she sees her The good news is that it’s about implementing simple ideas to connect
elderly dad who lives at the other end of the beach each day, she gets to your employees with your business, not about spending a fortune. A
have conversations with heaps of people and she is doing something that simple way to start is to create is to conduct a survey of employee
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www.first-step-community.info 23 August 2009
opinion and get input from your people. As a special offer for my blog
readers, call me in August for a free survey of the Juice Levels
(engagement, energy, alignment) at your place - either email me at
helen@helenmac.com or call +614 199 30864.
THE ALMOND EFFECT
Gigerenzer I’ll be twittering in future! Quick tips and examples of The Almond
AUG 18, 2009 01:24P.M. Effect® and what to do about it. Help me get started. Follow me on
Twitter
8.15pm - alone on a long empty platform waiting for the 8.30pm train
from London Paddington to Heathrow. Another person appeared. He
had the entire platform to choose a spot to wait but he came and stood
next to me. My heart started to race.
Another example: DNA testing on a murder weapon matches your DNA, I took deep breaths. I kept telling myself that my reaction was irrational
and a forensic expert says there’s only a 1 in 100,000 chance of that and that my body should calm down.
happening. Are you doomed? Would you be surprised to know that in a
city of, say, 2 million people, this means you’re 95% likely to be NOT Stop Think Act.
guilty, based on that DNA evidence alone?
Eventually the 8.30pm train arrived. I stepped on, sat down and my
Do these examples surprise and confuse you? If so, take heart: They heart rate slowed. I started to Rewire...
surprise and confuse most people - laypeople and experts (doctors and
lawyers) alike. Unfortunately, this can have disastrous - sometimes tragic Deep in the ocean
- consequences in law, medicine and other fields.
Two months later, off the Neptune Islands in South Australia I was in a
This is the topic of Gerd Gigerenzer’s excellent book about working with cage heading towards the ocean floor hoping to get up close and personal
risk and uncertainty. Read it and you might be horrified at some of the with some Great White Sharks.
horrible mistakes being made by experts giving advice. At least you’ll be
in a better position to question them and become better informed. One came soon enough - ‘Cheeky Girl’ – 4.2 metres and 1000 kg. She
was BIG! And I saw her many teeth as she passed several times within a
Is this the best book ever written about dealing with uncertainty? I’m not metre of me while she attempted to snatch the bait hanging off the back
sure. But it’s certainly well worth the read. of the boat!
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www.first-step-community.info 23 August 2009
The Almond Effect® - the fight/flight response - even though our lives
The 30 minutes in the cage passed in a flash. are not at risk.
But did my life flash before my eyes? When that happens, use the STAR technique – and focus especially on
Rewiring afterwards – what can you learn from the experience? The
Back on board I realised that my heart rate had not increased at all when more times you experience something confronting, the less confronting
I came face to face with this enormous predator. All I felt was awe and it becomes. Your amygdala learns that it is nothing to be overly
wonder as I watched one of the most amazing animals I have ever seen. concerned about.
So what was the difference? Why did I experience the fight/flight But do not beat yourself up for reacting even though your pre-frontal
response so fully on a London train platform but not at all when within cortex knows you should not have. We are hard wired for survival and
touching distance of a Great White Shark? our amygdalae do not know the difference between physical and
psychological threats.
Preparing for sharks – the type we find at work
However when you know that a ‘scary’ situation is coming up (Cheeky
The answer lies in preparation and learning (Rewiring) from experience. Girl) – do everything you can to minimise the impact of The Almond
Effect® by preparing as much as possible. Show your amygdala that
Some of you will recall from previous CLUES that I searched for GWS there are no potentially fatal consequences to what you are about to do.
once before. But even with 3 days of turning the ocean red with burly
including tuna heads, blood and guts – no shark appeared on that trip. Then perhaps you’ll even enjoy coming face to face with your Great
So much for ‘blood in the water attracts sharks!’ White Shark
However what we did do on that ‘no show’ trip was to talk a lot about
GWS with experts, practice descents in the cage, watch videos, look at
GWS photos and listen to research – all of which prepared us for the
recent trip – and took away the fear.
MATT CHURCH
In contrast, the man on the platform was a complete surprise. It was the
end of a fabulous trip to the UK; I had just been shopping in Oxford Don’t let the turkeys get you
Street and was looking forward to returning to Sydney.
down
I simply wasn’t focussed on what was happening on the platform or that AUG 18, 2009 09:47A.M.
any risks or dangers could be lurking there.
Most of the time when you are presenting to a difficult or hostile
So I was unprepared for the possibility that a man could appear on the audience you will get questioned on content, so don’t use examples…
platform and trigger an ANT (automatic negative thought) that cracked create frameworks for discussion instead.A well-designed context will
my almonds (amygdalae) with a sledgehammer! help you make your point without creating too much dissent. Once you
get agreement on the big picture you can begin to present your stuff so it
And I had no previous experience from which to train my amygdala not supports the established framework.Here are five
to react to a racist stereotype automatically stored in my brain’s
‘database of nasty things’ after September 11, 2001.
But ‘Cheeky Girl’ could show up when you anticipate the performance
appraisal next week, a future presentation to the Board, an interview for
a promotion, the switch over to a new system.
In other words, there will be some sudden and unexpected events that
will catch us off guard. At those times, it is likely that we’ll experience
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