Achieve!How To Be Your
Best
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www.mba-consulting.co.uk
Achieve!How To Be Your
Best
Your expectations?
Time Management
Personal Effectiveness
AKA: How to Change the World, Stay Sane and Always Be Home For Tea
Time Management
Time Management IS IMPOSSIBLE…
Behaviour management IS NOT!
If you keep on doing what
you’ve always done -
you’ll keep on getting
what you’ve always got
4 key issues
2. Sometimes we are all idiots
1. You can’t do everything
ManagingYourself
“There is nothing more terrible than activity without
purpose”
Walt Whitman
“Would you tell me, please, which way I ought to go from here?”
“That depends a good deal on where you want to get to,” said the Cat.
“I don’t much care where-” said Alice.
“- so long as I get somewhere,” Alice added as an explanation.
“Oh you’re sure to do that,” said the Cat, “if you only walk long enough.”
- from Lewis Carroll’s ‘Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland’
“In the long run, people tend to hit
what they aim for”
Henry Thoreau
“Sometimes I feel like a back seat passenger in
the car of my life’s journey”
Chris Hansen, MBA course delegate
“If you don’t know where you are going, any road will
take you there”
George Harrison
1: To be your best, you must focus on OUTCOMES
3 parts to time?
PastYesterday’s present
FutureTomorrow’s
presentPresent
Yesterday’s future or tomorrow’s past
Family
Money
Career
Spirit
Play
Partnership
Health
Home
The Wheel of Life
10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1
My goal is …
1. … to get fit
2. … to lose weight
3. … to get a better job
4. … to earn more money
5. … to learn to speak French
… what’s wrong with these goals?
Don't say:I will spend more time with the
childrenDo say:
I will do the bedtime story 3 times a week
Don’t say:I will reduce my debt
Do say:I will pay off £1,000 from my credit cards and reduce the
amount I spend on clothes by 50%
2: To be your best, you must CHOOSE well
‘Things which matter most, must never be at the mercy of things
which matter least’
Goethe
Work hard …
and avoid all unnecessary
work!
The Pareto Principle, or …
… the rule of 80/20
20%
80%
20%
80%
Activities
Results
Can you identify your 20%..?
Some meetings, reports and
interruptions
Google, trivia, escapism
Crises, deadlines, firefighting
Preparation, Planning,
PreventionFour
Quadrant Theory
Stephen Covey
DECEPTION
RESULTS QUALITY
WASTE
Urgency
High
High Low
Low
Importance
A B
CD
If Urgent but NOT Important
Urgent AND Important
If Important but NOT Urgent
If neither Important NOR Urgent
If …
Do It Now
Plan It Now
Bin It Now
Give it Away It Now
Meet Tomas
“What one thing must I achieve today, to go home feeling satisfied and in control?”
3: To be your best, you must ADD STRUCTURE TO
YOUR DAY
SCHEDULING TIP 1: USE A SIMPLE ‘TO-DO’ LIST
Someone with their to-do list finished
My ‘TO DO’ LIST RULES
• Write everything down
• Use only one list
• Prioritise the list based on urgency and
and importance
“There can’t be a crisis next week. My schedule
is already full.”
US Diplomat, Henry Kissinger
Scheduling Tip 2
Plan to use half of your available
time
Popcorn Technique
Scheduling Tip 3
Plan tomorrow today
Scheduling Tip 4
Switch
Scheduling Tip 5
Negotiate
Technique 4: Manage Your Meetings
Hot and Bothered!
Meeting Characteristic Bothered a lot (%)
Drifted off subject
Poor preparation
Questionable effectiveness
Lack of listening
Too much talking
Length
Lack of participation
83
77
74
68
62
60
51
Clear Objectives
Must you be there?
Are your priorities interrupted?
What is its purpose?
What are your desired outcomes?
Clear Structure
1. Timed agenda
2. Lose matters arising
3. Eliminate AOB
Clear Structure
1. Timed agenda
2. Lose matters arising
3. Eliminate AOB
4. Attend only part
Liven up your meetings by:
Repeat someone’s idea in a baby voice
Write ‘he FANCIES you!’ on your pad-
nudge and point with a pencil!
Pull out a large roll of £20 notes and
DEMONSTRATIVELY, count them.
Attempt to hypnotise the room with a pocket watch
Technique 5: Do things differently
“The definition of insanity is doing the same thing over and over while expecting
different results…”
Einstein
Barriers to Innovation
Fear of Failure
Habit
Another name for a funny story, beginning with ‘J’?
JOKE
Another name for Coca Cola?
COKE
Unpleasant thing to do with a sharp stick?
POKE
Pleasant thing to do in a hot tub?
SOAK
The correct name for the white of an egg?
DID YOU SAY YOLK?
DON’T YOU MEAN ALBUMEN?
Judgement
Positional Thinking
Solutions?
• ‘Fluidity’ (AKA ‘the Tap’) – E.G. MIT
• Freedom to fail
• No blame
• Thinking time (Saatchi and Saatchi, News International, Brahms, Victor Hugo)
Technique 6: Build Rapport
Tapping into ‘The Heart of
the Mind’
Two Types of Communication
Verbal
Non-verbal
3 Ways to Connect
what you say
how you say it
what you look like when you say it
The Merhabian Circle
Words
Tone
Body Language
55%
38%
7%
Important researchers into communication
• Charles Darwin
• Albert Mehrabian
• R L Birdwhistell
First Brain
Second Brain
Third Brain
“No, honestly – I find your proposal fascinating”
Nixon v Kennedy 1960
How does this help you influence?
m b a
What’s going on …?
m b a
What’s going on …?
Using your palm to influence others
… … The Newcastle wayThe Newcastle way
Submissive and Aggressive Palm Gestures
Taking Control
Giving Control
m b a High Performance Capacity Building
Technique 7: Manage Your
Stress
Work Smart
7 BEHAVIOURS GUARANTEED TO INCREASE YOUR STRESS!
Regularly work late
Travel during the rush hour
Be honest with everyone. All the time. About everything.
Nurture grievances
Try to finish your to-do list by Friday
Listen to the news in the morning
Always make sure that you have the last word
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
7.
Learn to love Incompetence
- These are actual excuse notes teachers have received, spelling mistakes included-
My son is under a doctor’s care and should not take P.E. today. Please execute him.
Please excuse Lisa for being absent. She was sick and I had her shot.
Please excuse Ray Friday from school. He has very loose vowels.
Please excuse Tommy for being absent yesterday. He had diarrhea and his boots leak.
Please excuse Jimmy for being. It was his father’s fault.
Take the work seriously – and
yourself playfully!
Take the work seriously – but yourself lightly
• The General
• The Politician
• The Florist
• The Policeman
• The Airline Pilot
The Power of Laughter
Norman Cousins
The health benefits of laughter
• Laughter relaxes the whole body. A good, hearty laugh relieves physical tension and stress, leaving your muscles relaxed for up to 45 minutes
The health benefits of laughter
• Laughter boosts the immune system. Laughter decreases stress hormones and increases immune cells and infection-fighting antibodies, thus improving your resistance to disease
The health benefits of laughter
• Laughter triggers the release of endorphins, the body’s natural feel-good chemicals. Endorphins promote an overall sense of well-being and temporarily relieve pain.
The health benefits of laughter
• Laughter protects the heart. Laughter improves the function of blood vessels and increases blood flow, which can help protect you against a heart attack and other cardiovascular problems.
"He who laughs, lasts."
You can’t have too
much fun in your job!
…or can you?
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