Attending a recent event I was fortunate to hear Chris Boardman speak about what he believes are the characteristic of high performing teams. Listening to Chris it struck me that there are no secret formulas to performing at your best, just small tweaks you can make to what you are already doing to get the results you want. Chris talked about 10 tips to high performing teams

1. Listen between the lines – Listening is a skill that most of us think we have but very few actually do. We all hear things but few is us really listen. Sometimes it is good to just park your thoughts and truly listen to what others are saying.

2. Be comfortable being uncomfortable – Your comfort zone is your hassle free zone. Knowing how to act when you are out of your comfort zones increases your confidence to things that are uncomfortable.

3. Value Diversity- People who think differently to each other come up with different ideas. It is important to value people who do think differently to obtain high growth.

4. Take Time to Reflect – We get focused it doing things we forget the most important part of the equation, ourselves. Taking time to reflect gives you the opportunity to learn from your experiences good or bad.

5. Forget Winning- It is important to have the end goal in mind, but don’t let that attachment prevent you getting what you want. Focus on being better and getting the best out of the team and the winning will take care of itself.

6. Stupid Ideas – Daft ideas are sometimes the best. Value all contributions within a team, one person’s daft idea is another person secret to the nest best idea.

7. Put Yourself First- The instinct is to meet the needs of you team, the best way you can do this is my looking after yourself and ensuring you are in your best state to help them.

8. Success is a dangerous thing- Success can make you complacent and discourages listening and criticism from outside. Ensure you have a plan in place to survive success.

9. Painful experiences lead to the greatest growth - When you feel pain you listen and are more open to change. Put a value on failure and learn from it.

10. Satisfaction – Ensure you and your team enjoy the success and gain satisfaction from your achievements.

 Do you have a team that could be a high performing team? Do take the risk contact me baiju [at] pctconsultancy [dot] com for training and coaching opportunities

Do you know what you want? Money, freedom, approval, to be happy, to be sad? Whatever it is, what are the things that you do every day that will get you what you want. The premise to this is that we have a choice. Do you believe you have a choice? Some may say not. Ask yourself this question, do you do all you can to put the odds in your favour for the choices you want?

You maybe in a job that you don’t like, or at least wouldn’t be at the top of your list. The job you are in now is as a result of the choices you have made in your life. The schooling you had, your attitude towards education, the further studies you did and the limitations you put on yourself about what you are capable of doing. How did you approach your first job, was it a means to just earn money, or to gain valuable experience. It may of been both, however which was prominent.

Look at what you want, then list the things you do everyday that take you 1 step closure to what you want. Oh hang on, what if you really don’t know what you want? This is tough and quite sad. We might know what we want to feel i.e. happy, content, relaxed, full of life, high spirited. Look at the things you do each day that give you these feelings. Look at the things you have done in the past that have given you these feelings.

 The way you feel is a good barometer to gange what you want. Don’t be afraid to get in touch with the things that give you these feelings, it will be a clue to what you really want in life.

The current climate has meant that many people are experiencing something thet thought would benver happen to them a few years or months ago, Redundancy. This can be a very traumatic experience or it could be the best thing that happens to you. This depends on your viewpoint. People don’t like change and when change is forced upon us it is even more stressful. The key thing to say here is, if you are ever in this position what will you approach be?

Coping with Redundancy needn’t be a lonely experience. There are many things you can do that can make the experience something that can be life-changing. A very good friend of mine and fellow coach specialises in Wendy Dashwood-Quick has put together 45 Steps You Absolutely Have to Take to Succeed after Redundancy.

The guide covers what you need to do to prepare for redundancy right to the attitude and steps you can take to ensure you succeed after being made redundant.

One of the keys areas that is covered is ATTITUDE. When you are made redundant you have a choice , you either spend the next year telling everyone how awful being made redundant was, or re-write history and move forward with style, grace and determination. Again , if you act ‘as if its OK and you’re handling everything  well, eventually you WILL handle everything beautifully, and attract into your life just what you need.

What you think about you become, so make sure you’ve got some optimistic thoughts in your mind. Your subconscious believes everything you tell it, so think strong, think big, think great. Make sure the instructions you give your mind are clear and positive. Be careful what you wish for you might just get it.