Do Say

The CEO was upset, she expected to have a meeting with the VP of Sales to review the mid-month report of sales and current opportunities expected to close before month end but he only had the actual sales to date. He explained that the sales managers have all been traveling and could not complete the forecast portion of the report. Regardless of the excuse, she was upset because he said he would have the report yet he didn’t.

How frequently does a scenario similar to this play out in your organization? “I will have it on your desk first thing in the morning.” “I will be there this afternoon at two.” “I’ll give you my input for the newsletter by the end of the week.”

It happens to all of us at one time or another and we also likely fail to do what we said we would at one time or another. Unfortunately some organizational cultures allow this to become a pattern of urgency and excuses of other priorities that get in the way.

To break that pattern personally or as a team, we find it helpful to think of this as the Do/Say Ratio. If I say I will do two things but only do one my ratio is .50. The lower the ratio the worse I am at doing what I say I will do. The higher the ratio the better I am at managing my commitments as well as my performance.

Before tracking others, we suggest first tracking yourself for a few days or a week. As you monitor your do/say ratio you become more aware of what you are saying and begin to be more deliberate about both the commitments made and the actual doing of it. It can make a big difference personally and professionally. When done throughout a team it can be huge.

Please give it a try and let us know about your experience.

Learning to be Happy

The Merriam Webster dictionary defines happy as “feeling pleasure and enjoyment because of your life, situation, etc.” The implication of that, and common perception, is that we are happy “because” of something. As often happens common knowledge is not correct. Certainly the environment, people and situations around us can make a contribution to our happiness but we control it much more than common knowledge would tell us.

The recent ICAN Women’s Leadership Conference, with the first ever specific track for men, had Shawn Achor as the keynote speaker. His research has documented both how happiness can be developed and that performance in organizations improves when employees are intentionally practicing happiness techniques – happiness fuels success not the other way around. The recommendation is to pick one of the following strategies and try it for 21 days in a row to create a new habit for lasting change and happiness: 

• 3 Gratitudes: Write down 3 new things you are grateful for each day.
• Journaling: For 2 minutes describe a meaningful experience from the past 24 hours.
• Exercise: Add 15 minutes of fun active cardio.
• Meditation: For 2 minutes a day, watch your breath go in and out (calms the mind and undoes the negative effects of multitasking).
• Conscious Acts of Kindness: Send a 2-minute email thanking one person in your social support network. 

Wishing you happiness then success!