PPEP Workshop

The Problem With Hi-Po

November 13, 2017 By Tom Mungavan Leave a Comment

Forty percent of designated “Hi-Po” (high-potential employees) are seen as disappointing in their performance, and often derail at some later point in their careers. Harvard Business Review, in an article (by Tomas Chamorrow-Premuzic and Abhijot) has identified that the selection process in many companies is flawed by politics. Developing future leaders is very important. How the individuals are selected, and developed, has a major impact on the future of the organization.

When the the truly strong future leaders are not developed, they often leave … maybe even going to the competition. How a company develops leaders impacts the entire organization’s view of the company’s commitment to development.

The authors see:

How Old Are You?

March 10, 2017 By Tom Mungavan Leave a Comment

When my father was 60, he referred to himself as being “middle-aged”. His friend asked him, “How many people do you know who are 120?”

A Life Well Lived

Minnesota Orchestra Conductor Laureate Stanislaw Skrowaczewski was born in Poland 93 years ago. He started playing piano at age 4. He loved playing music until he was injured by a bomb during World War II. He became a conductor in Warsaw and Cleveland before he took over the Minneapolis Symphony in 1960. A few months ago we heard him conduct the Minnesota Orchestra with such gusto that it was hard to believe he was 93 years-old. His love for the music was clear. One non-stop performance was 80 minutes long without using the written score. Last year he conducted in over a dozen countries. So how old was Skrowaczewski? Sadly, he died last month. He fully lived all of his 93 years.

Being Engaged in Life

There are numerous studies that all point to being engaged in something you find worthwhile (for pay or not) significantly improves our happiness and our health. I feel blessed to feel that way about what I do. Most of my “work” gives me energy, even though I am well past what many think is retirement age. See my blog Build your Return on Life (ROL) from 2014 about Mitch Anthony’s book “The New Retirementality” that challenges the concept of a retirement age as a leftover concept from the Industrial Revolution.

How Old Should I Feel?

I do not advocate that people should not retire because I have not done so. There are many people who have sacrificed enormously to build their career and feed their families. They have traveled extensively, or in other ways, sacrificed family time to do work that is not all that satisfying any more. Finding a way to remove from your life what is draining and add things that are nourishing is a wonderful endeavor. I know many who have focused on their grandchildren to recapture what they lost with their own children’s growing years. That is a fabulous opportunity to recover. Others have found the artist inside them during their retirement, like President George W. Bush.

My misconception of how a grandfather should feel is very apparent to me. Looking at the photo of the man looking in the mirror pretty well captures the gap. I feel like the younger man, and the mirror reflects an older man. I expected to feel like the older man in my 70’s, but I don’t… most of the time.

I know many who think their 60’s and 70’s are the best years of their lives. Maybe the 80’s too …. I just have not asked enough people in their 80’s. That was not my expectation when I was in my 30’s. That was not how I saw my grandfather in his 70’s.

Should We Allow More People to Work Longer?

Many would say, “Not on your life!” and others would find community, contribution and maybe purpose, if they were able to continue to work. Warren Buffet continues to make good investments in his 80’s. The Supreme Court is filled with senior citizens. Many cultures honor the wisdom of age more than the US culture.

There are definitely limitations brought on by aging. There are also strengths that build with continued age. I was blessed with a grandmother who was young at heart and willing to share honest wisdom such as, “Those who talk about the ‘good old days’ have bad memories. It was not all good.”

The companies who can overcome unfounded age discrimination and also make adjustments, where appropriate, to work rules will have a competitive advantage in many industries.

September 2016 – Change Masters President’s Letter

September 28, 2016 By Tom Mungavan Leave a Comment

2016-09_diamond-app September should be declared self-development month. In the USA the children head back to school. It also seems that the end of summer turns our thoughts to being even better leaders in the coming year. It has always been one of our busiest new business months. This year is no exception. We feel very blessed in the opportunities to provide individual coaching. Our goal is to service our individual coaching business, and still build new products.

We are also excited about the new horizons and developments. We continue to develop our smartphone Diamond Principle app to provide persuasion and influence in your pocket. We are in the alpha stage at this point, which is going very well.

Katie Welsh is leading the marketing of the Change Masters Academy. Our The Sport of Business (TSOB) video series we have been working on for three years will be moving into beta testing next month. We are receiving wonderful feedback and we look forward to releasing the series more broadly.

Customer Feedback is Exciting

You may have noticed that I tend to focus on what is new and being developed. We received some wonderful feedback on products we have offered for years. We recently did a review with a group of clients who gave us feedback one year after our PPEP workshop.

Persuasion, Perception and Executive Presence™ (PPEP) is the only in-person workshop we offer. Several years ago, we eliminated all other workshops. We planned to also eliminate PPEP. One of our customers convinced us to continue. I am very glad we did. The PPEP workshop is clearly making a difference in peoples’ lives, and it is cost effective per individual. This month, we had a follow-up call with participants from a workshop we did last fall. Examples of the feedback were:

“The self awareness of my own executive presence grew exponentially, as did my ability to analyze people in meetings more rapidly.”
“The PPEP increased my ability to coach junior people – just coached junior person who presented to two VP’s – she did a great job but looked like she was going to a bar in the way she dressed! I told her that, was able to position it as an opportunity and she really appreciated it. It made us closer than ever before. The power of honesty, once the intention was clearly established, was amazing. I saw that modeled in the PPEP session.”
“You have ruined me for all time! 🙂 I thought I had a high level of awareness – until the PPEP Change Masters experience!”

The 23 Mundane Moments that Can Make or Break Your Career (23MM) is a part of the workshop follow-up. Participants also commented about the impact of the video series:

“During the week I would watch the 23 MM videos and then see people doing the exact opposite of what they should be doing! It was freaky how that happened! I literally wouldn’t have seen the behaviors before. The videos were so self-explanatory, I could instantly see in others the impact their behaviors were having.”
“Discussing [23MM] with my peer opened up my eyes to so many things he saw that I didn’t, and vice versa. It was amazing how I would see something from the series on Tuesday and that same exact area would show up during the following week!”
“I’ve been critical of myself and judgmental about others. The 23 MM series has been a vitamin pill I took every week to realize that the energy I burned by being judgmental was HUGE! I was giving away too much of my power by being so judgmental. It set me up. I realize now this is not how I want to use my precious energy during the workweek.”

In addition to being part of the PPEP workshop, the 23MM series can be purchased separately by an individual or for groups.

Here are some recent blog topics of interest:

All the Work and None of the Benefit?

You can do the best technical work ever, but if you can’t influence others to buy it or want to see it, it’s all for naught. Use Change Masters Seven Steps to help you influence better at work or at home. Be able to answer the following questions to influence more effectively:

1. What do you want? Be clear on precisely what you’re trying to get done and list the concrete actions you need to take to move your idea one step forward or get you to the next meeting.

2. Who needs to change? Make sure you’ve included all the parties this change touches.

3. What’s the relevance? What is the importance of your idea to others? Be able to simply … [more]

Coffee Was the Mother of Webcams

Webcams have been around for 25 years. They are built into most laptop computers, tables and higher-end smartphones. Computer geeks at University of Cambridge are credited with creating the first webcam. Their motivation was a cup of coffee. In 1998 the BBC did a story on the birth of the webcam. A camera was [full story …]

Blindspot: Book Review

Blindspot: Hidden Bias of Good People by Mahzarin Banaji and Anthony Greenwald

I am continually interested in how perceptions are formed and how the gaps in our perception impact everyday life. When I found the book, Blindspot: Hidden Biases of Good People by Mahzarin Banaji and Anthony Greenwald, I was curious. The book focuses on documented and generally accepted social science studies to look at our preconceptions in many areas. Why do we enthusiastically support our local sports team? Why do we think God is on our side when we go to war?

The authors look at the gaps in the discussion of race in the United States. Why do so many [more …]

Key Communication Differences for Each Decade of Your Career

Powerful interpersonal communication is a key factor in your success as an executive or professional. What the vast majority of career executives do not know is that the communication skills necessary for success in the 20’s are not the same communication skills necessary for success in your 40’s or 50’s.

Let’s take a closer look at the interpersonal communication skills necessary for each decade of your career, and the differences in each decade. The same behaviors we accept from a 25-year-old we won’t accept from someone who is 35 or 45 years old.

The 20s – In your 20s, it’s all about making your mark through task completion which [more …]

Listening Saves You Time

Are you a good listener? You may think you are, but are you actually putting your whole head and heart into the task? “But I don’t have time to listen to the …” are often used words from the less effective and poor listeners. You may think you are a good listener … you are probably not as good as you think.

Good listening actually saves you time. Let’s take a closer look at how to be a good listener and how to save time by listening. The top attribute of the best senior leaders is that they are good listeners. Hearing what others say is not good listening. Having the other person feel you heard them is being a good listener.

The Listening Executive
When asked for the traits of a good listener, these are the responses from [see the list ...]

Tech Tip – Bedtime Function in Apple IOS 10

There are a number of “hidden” new functions for those with an Apple iPhone or iPad when they upgrade to the latest operating system as of September 2016. One that relates to most of our clients is that management of good sleep. There is ample evidence that getting enough sleep improves effectiveness as well as health and well-being. Apple has added a new function that is designed to help set and track your sleep objectives.

The function is inside the “Clock” application and called “Bedtime”. You can view a brief video at Short Video on Bedtime IOS 10 Function

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Perception and Misperception

March 10, 2016 By Tom Mungavan Leave a Comment

I was reading a LinkedIn post about “perception” and “misperception” that included:

” I recently participated in some coaching on executive presence. While I know you can see my profile picture, I am a little over 6 feet tall, relatively fit, shave my head, and often wear my greying facial hair in the form of a beard or goatee. During the coaching, I had to get up in front of the team and give a “pitch” while being videotaped. Then I received what I had been dreading… the feedback …[Link …]”

It is a great article!

It was written by one of our workshop participants talking about his experience in our “Persuasion, Perception, and Executive Presence” (PPEP) workshop. The high intensity workshop has made major changes in people’s lives. It is very rewarding to see a blog post from a past participant and see how it has impact him personally. It is particularly rewarding to see how he has taken the concept to a whole new level.

We all fall victim to stereotypes of us and the stereotypes we have of others. I encourage you to read the article and watch the videos.