"When a man's undivided attention is centered on one object, his mind will constantly be suggesting improvements of value, which would escape him if his brain was occupied by a dozen different subjects at once." ~ P.T Barnum

The word "focus" is commonly used to describe a condition reflecting a convergence of attention, interest or activity on a single point or element thereby creating a state of enhanced power and clarity.

Focus is something we all do during our waking hours in varying degrees, but it's not something most of us think about very much. However, if we do take a few minutes to focus on "focus" I think we would soon come to appreciate the fact that focus is a critically important factor in achieving personal and professional success and happiness. A person's degree of focus is probably the most significant limiting factor in determining whether he or she will achieve a goal or stick to creating a new habit. Certainly self-discipline, willpower, resilience, self-motivation and other factors are very important, but without a clear, intense focus on which to apply these attributes, a person will more often than not fail to achieve that goal or create that new habit.

Why does focus matter so much?

Let's say Bob decides that now is the time to be investing in real estate. He buys some books, attends a couple of seminars and hooks up with some real estate agents. He completes a couple of deals, but soon becomes frustrated that he isn't making the progress he would like. So he throws in the towel and sells his holdings (at a loss) and decides to invest in the stock market since his broker friends are telling him that this is the time to get in.  

He subscribes to investment newsletters, reads all of Warren Buffet's books and executes several trades. But after a few months of this, his holdings remain flat and he decides this is not for him either. Then he reads an ad the Wall Street Journal offering a financial services franchise and jumps at the opportunity to get in on the ground floor of this promising business. He had always wanted to be his own boss. So he buys the franchise, quits his job, takes all the training and invests in a lot of advertising, but the rush of customers somehow fails to materialize. He finds that not only has he not bought himself a business, he hasn't even bought himself another job.

Why is Bob failing over and over again at generating the substantial income he desires? It all comes back to lack of focus. He doesn't have one. He's all over the place, and not concentrating his efforts on any one central purpose. When we think of individuals who have become spectacularly successful, it soon becomes crystal clear that the reason for their success is that they were laser-focused almost solely on their chosen endeavors. Warren Buffet wasn't trying to be a skillful investor along with trying to become a renowned neurosurgeon. Bill Gates didn't bounce from job to job until he just happened to land on computers, and Madonna didn't become a great pop megastar simply because she just happened to be at the right place at the right time.

The reason these people and scores of others like them became the successes they became is because they found their passions in life and then completely, resolutely and tirelessly focused their efforts on their chosen vocations. Certainly it can be argued that there are people such as Donald Trump and Oprah Winfrey who have become very successful in diverse fields. Such individuals are rare, however, and secondary successes usually follow the initial ones because focusing on a single endeavor and excelling at it tends to open many other doors.

The Magnifying Glass Effect

At some point in our lives, most of us have probably experienced the effect of burning a hole in a piece of paper by shining sunlight on to it through a magnifying glass. The magnifying glass captures and focuses the rays of relatively harmless sunlight with such intensity that they can start a fire. Instead of the light rays being dispersed over a wide area, they become entirely focused on one small spot, and that's what makes the difference.

Let's look at some of the ways you can use focus to improve different aspects of your life.

Focus on the Positive

If you wake up in the morning and think about the unpleasant things you need to do or that might happen to you that day, you'll be off to a bad start and will probably have an unproductive day. There will always be times when you feel like giving up, and if you don't catch these negative thoughts in time, they'll fester and grow until you actually do give up.

On the other hand, if you arise with the attitude that you just can't wait to get your day going because of all the good that you will do and that will be coming to you, and the wonderful gift that your life is, you'll have a great day. Think about how good it will feel when you accomplish what you're trying to do. Recognize the fact that if others have done it, so can you. I'm not suggesting that this is always an easy thing to do; I know that it isn't. But the second approach is productive, and the first is not. Since we have a choice, why not choose the positive?

Focus on What Is Important

Apply your power of focus to those areas that are important to you. Remember that we all have limited time to accomplish that which we want to get done. It is essential, therefore, that we focus on the right things, those areas of our lives that are most meaningful and that we enjoy. For most people, this is the hardest part. As mentioned above, you must find your passions in life and focus on them. Immerse yourself in them. That is the only way you can fully harness your power of focus. That's why it's so important to find what you love to do. If you dislike your job or have no interest in an activity, there is no way, no matter how hard you try, that you will be able to effectively focus on it, much less master it. Once the right focus is identified, mastery becomes not only possible but probable. see life wheel concept 

It's easy to stray with all the distractions we have today. Internet, TV, magazines, cell phones, etc. What we don't often realize is that these distractions can lead us off on tangents that will steal our focusing power away from what is important. If you are person who has decided to get into the field of sales, for example, and you sincerely desire to be successful at it, then you must relentlessly avoid any trivial activity that deters you from that focus. If you want to stay focused on achieving your dreams, you need to find and eliminate everything in your life that is distracting you from it. see effective time management strategies 

Focus on One Task at a Time

If we let our attention jump from one thing to another, we will have a busy but fractured and probably unproductive day. If we focus entirely on one job at a time, we may lose ourselves totally in that job, and it will not only be the most productive thing we do all day, but it will also likely be the most enjoyable. Have you ever completely lost yourself in a task, so that the world around you seems to disappear? You lose track of time and become completely caught up in what you're doing. That's the popular concept of flow described by psychologist Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi.

In his book of the same name, Csikszentmihalyi defines flow as "the state in which people are so involved in an activity that nothing else seems to matter; the experience itself is so enjoyable that people will do it even at great cost, for the sheer sake of doing it." Being involved in work and leisure that puts you in a state of flow will almost always lead to success and satisfaction. People find their greatest enjoyment not when they're passively mindless, but when they're absorbed in a thoughtful challenge. The key is to find work and leisure activities that you are passionate about and are productive for you.

Focus on Now

Past failures, mistake and embarrassments are usually things we can do little if anything about, and reliving them only serves to divert our attention from what we should be doing at that point in time. The same is true about revisiting memories of good times past. Similarly, worrying about things that might happen in the future or things we may need to do later also has the same unproductive effect of robbing us of the time and energy that we should be focusing on what is important now. Forget the past and deal with the future when it presents itself.

Anyone who has the responsibility for supervising the work of others has an obligation to continually take steps to help improve the direct report's performance. Whether one holds the title of supervisor or that of team leader, manager or simply, boss, he or she has a duty to help subordinates optimize their productivity not only for the benefit of the organization, but for their own sake and for that of the subordinate as well. This activity is generally referred to as performance coaching. Unfortunately, the responsibility for coaching direct reports is often not clearly spelled out or defined in supervisors' job responsibilities nor is sufficient time and resources usually allocated for developing their coaching skills.

Reasons for Coaching

Performance coaching has to do with improving another's knowledge and skill levels in order to perform better at a particular activity. Most often, performance coaching is associated with behaviors relating to sports, the arts, interpersonal relations or matters pertaining to one's personal life. However, it also has enormous relevance to an individual's job performance. Most work-related performance coaching initiatives usually focus on one or more of four basic objectives:

• Improving a deficiency in a person's expected job performance level
• Augmenting a person's effectiveness in a current job responsibility
• Developing a person's ability to perform at a higher job level
• Minimizing or eliminating undesirable job-related behavior

The primary roles of a good performance coach are as a diagnostician and teacher. A coach helps a performer see those aspects of behavior that they are often incapable or unprepared to see themselves. Then a skillful coach offers suggestions for improvement. Even the best athletes and the most accomplished artists depend on skilled coaches for their continued development because a skillful coach can provide valuable insights that would otherwise be unavailable to them. Additionally, a supervisor's own current success as well as his or her potential for advancement is often determined by their proficiency in coaching others toward improved performance

Why Effective Performance Coaching Skills Are Important

When effective coaching skills are inadequate or lacking in supervisors, not only are they less effective than they should be, but their words and actions can actually be counterproductive to an organization's objectives. Supervisors who are ineffective coaches are usually uncomfortable with the process, and as a result, revert to approaches which lie more within their comfort zone. While they may be able to recognize job-related areas for improvement in a subordinate, they may not possess the technical expertise or interpersonal skills to help the subordinate make the necessary behavioral changes.

Ineffective coaches often tell subordinates that they are performing some activity poorly such as not getting reports in on time; need to improve in some way (e.g., demonstrate better telephone skills) or that they need to do something a certain way simply because that's the way the supervisor prefers. By simply chastising or reprimanding a subordinate for his or her behavior without offering any positive, useful suggestions for improvement, such supervisors  don't do anything to actually correct a performance situation and may even exacerbate it by coming across as overbearing and insensitive. In other words, many ineffective supervisors resort to just telling rather than coaching.

The problem is frequently compounded by the fact that subordinate performance deficiencies sometimes go un-addressed until the annual performance evaluation comes around, and then they are heaped on the subordinate resulting in an unfavorable appraisal leading to a frustrated and demoralized employee. All too often, there is an even greater disservice inflicted on the employee by the fact that no coaching input or resources are made available to address the deficiencies highlighted in the performance evaluation, and the situation just continues to deteriorate.

Six Basic Principles for Effective Performance Coaching

The following six factors are critically important in developing a supervisor's coaching skills:

• Expertise. An effective coach must be proficient in the activity/behavior he or she is coaching. To help another person perform better a coach must be able to confidently demonstrate exactly how the target behavior can be improved, teaching by example whenever possible. Without recognized expertise, a prospective coach has no credibility and is unlikely to have a positive impact.

• Focus on the behavior, not the person. For a coaching initiative to be effective, it is important to separate the behavior to be improved from the person. Otherwise the subordinate is likely to feel personally attacked and become defensive. Because someone is continually late for work does not make him or her a bad person. In this regard, it is important never to let emotions or attitudes become involved in a coaching discussion. Focus only on the objective facts relevant to the performance behavior that requires improvement.

• Collaborate. A coaching initiative is rarely effective if it is one-sided. An effective coach always takes the time to get the subordinate's view of the situation. This demonstrates empathy on the part of the coach and helps to get the subordinate involved in the coaching discussion. If you believe that improvement is desired in a particular area and your subordinate totally disagrees with your assessment, there is little chance that any change will result, and the exercise become a waste of time for everyone involved.

• Get buy-in. If you collaborate effectively with your subordinate, you will generally be able to get him or her to agree that a change in a particular behavior would be desirable for all involved. The key to getting buy-in is to be able to connect the subordinate's goals and desires to the proposed behavioral change. A subordinate is unlikely to commit to any significant change in performance behavior if he or she feels it is for your or your organization's benefit alone. It really all comes down to the "what's in it for me (WIIFM)" notion.

• Generate a development plan. Once you and your subordinate are on the same page as to the reasons and desirability for performance improvement, the next step is to generate a plan of action as to how the agreed-upon, desired change(s) will come about. A development plan should consist of specific goals, action steps, and a timeline for their achievement. Learn more about effective goal-setting. 

• Provide continual feedback. Effective coaching is a process, not an event. Therefore, you should hold periodic coaching sessions with your subordinate to assess the progress of the agreed-upon developmental plan and to make any revisions that may be appropriate. This will help ensure continued improvement in performance and also strengthen the coaching relationship. It will also eliminate the year-end performance evaluation fiasco mentioned above that often results when continual feedback is lacking.

Learn more about performance coaching skills. 

Please contact us about implementing a performance coaching program to dramatically improve your organizational results.

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People often associate the topic of persuasion primarily with the concept of selling, but the importance of effective persuasion skills really pertains to every one of us regardless of our individual vocation. Every day each of us is involved to some degree in influencing the thoughts and actions of others. In fact, the path to success in life lies to a very large extent in gaining the cooperation of others. In this edition of Insights, we continue with our ongoing segment dedicated to the topic of persuasion.

Using Questions to Persuade

SPIN Selling is a sales model developed and promoted by Neil Rackham who authored a book of the same name in 1988. Rackham's approach in based on the application of four types of questions asked in a sequential order designed to motivate a potential client to make a positive buying decision.

SPIN Selling advocates the use of four different types of questions, thus SPIN stands for:

• Situation (questions)
• Problem (questions)
• Implication (questions)
• Need-payoff (questions)

Situation Questions deal with the facts about the buyers existing situation. (e.g., "Do you have a problem with missed delivery deadlines?")  Answer: "Yes, sometimes."

Problem Questions focus the buyer pain and frustration that is created by the current situation while clarifying the problem and surfacing implied needs. (e.g., "What are some of the negative consequences that result from late deliveries?) Answer: "Unhappy customers who complain."

Implication Questions focus on the implications resulting from the problem if it is not resolved. Implications questions highlight the potential seriousness of the problem relevant to the buyer's desired outcomes. Such questions are intended to increase a buyer's motivation to change. (e.g., "Isn't it likely that some of those dissatisfied customers may look to other suppliers for their needs resulting in a potentially serious loss of sales volume for your company?") Answer: "I'm sure that could happen with some customers."

Need-Payoff Questions get the buyer to clearly articulate his or her explicit needs and acknowledge the benefits your solutions offers. The answers to this type of question help the salesperson get the potential buyer to recognize and appreciate the importance of the need the salesperson is working to establish and the desirability of satisfying it. (e.g., "It sounds like it might be an important need for your organization right now to implement a solution to significantly eliminate late delivery issues. Don't you agree?" Answer: "Yes, I think you're right about that."

Assuming that the salesperson in this example is selling a solution to improve delivery performance, what the hypothetical customer is actually saying by answering the above Need-payoff question is "I definitely need what you are trying to sell me." From this point on, the sale is pretty much a done deal.

Many have found the SPIN questioning approach to be an effective sales technique, but it can also work in any persuasion situation where you are trying to get someone to adopt your position on a matter. Suppose you are in a discussion with your boss regarding a deadline for the completion of an important project.

Situation Question: "When do you want this project completed by? Answer: "By the end of the month, no later."

Let's suppose you feel that you need an extra couple of weeks to get it done right.

Problem Question: "I understand your urgency in getting this project completed by the end of the month and I'm confident that we can do it if we absolutely have to, but with such a short time span there may be some issues with the accuracy of some of the data. How important is it to you that all the data be up to date?" Likely answer; "Very important; we can't afford any criticism from above on this."

Implication Question: "I see. What do you think the fallout might be if we don't get all the numbers right?" Answer: The folks upstairs won't be happy. Some heads might even roll, like yours or even mine."

Need-Payoff Question: It sounds like you're saying that while we might get some flak by asking for a little more time to get the project done, things will probably be a lot worse for us if we commit to the date, rush everything through and possibly screw things up. Am I right? Likely answer: "You have a good point."

The real benefit the SPIN questioning approach is that it facilitates the process of having the other person arrive at your desired conclusion through their own reasoning.

Ask us a question about Persuasiveness. 

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