The Keys to Business Change

It begins with the individual

• Introduction
• Max Focus
• Winner’s Secret
• Personal Training

Maximum Focus and The Art of True Leadership

Gifted leaders make a significant contribution to performance within any organisation. This is particularly true when leading through times of change, growth or uncertainty. Unfortunately, it’s often in the face of change that organisations experience the highest levels of dissatisfaction and loss of direction within the ranks of their workforce.

True leaders are aware that running deep within every individual is attitude. Some good, some bad, but each attitude is fine honed by personal experience, each with a personal remit of motivation, core values and personal preferences. Faced with an ever-changing commercial landscape, leaders in the 21st Century must rise to a more exacting challenge than ever before. They must be able to provide a laser beam of positive focus to all around them—a solid track upon which the organisation can run, an unshakeable attitude of trust, absolute purpose and positive belief.

This unshakeable attitude must be instilled in every individual. And this attitude is self-leadership.

Every Maximum Focus programme helps individuals, groups and organisations begin to explore the concept of self-leadership. It begins by investigating the roots of personal responsibility and how we can accept and develop the principles of ownership. It also introduces the concept that negative attitudes rapidly erect barriers of self-protection and negative beliefs where firmly drawn boundaries would serve us far better. Recognising the difference is the key.

As simple as ABC

Our attitudes and beliefs define the way we react to our world. It makes the difference between pleasure and pain, happiness and misery, even good health and bad. Beliefs are like deeply worn pathways the mind has gradually forged as a result of thousands of minor choices made every day throughout life. Attitudes are what we adopt as a result of these ingrained beliefs. They define experience to such a degree that different people often have opposite reactions to the same thing.

Put in its simplest terms: A + B = C. Attitude + Beliefs = Consequences.

It depends purely upon the positivity or negativity of the Belief system of the individual as to the circumstantial outcome. Positive Attitude + Positive Self-Belief = Positive Consequences. Equally speaking, Negative Attitude = Negative Self-Belief = Negative Consequences.

Maximum Focus begins the sometimes painful process of changing ingrained negative attitudes and belief systems which hold people back. Training in techniques of self-communication is the first step towards self-mastery. Once in full understanding with yourself, leadership becomes second nature; communication with others ceases to be a hit and miss affair and life begins to take on an air of fascinated expectancy. Change is accommodated into normal everyday processes and fear and self-doubt are easily consigned to the past.

An Example structure of a typical Maximum Focus Two Day Programme

Every Maximum Focus programme is designed to introduce power, pleasure and pride into the art of self-leadership.

Max Focus explores how we motivate, lead and inspire others (as well as ourselves) through unlimited growth and change. It concentrates first upon self-leadership—opening our minds to new ways of thinking and the desire to unlock unlimited personal potential in ourselves and others. The programme then shifts towards exploring how you might appear to others, how to overcome resistance, strengthen existing relationships and ultimately how to develop the gift of true leadership.

The generic Max Focus programme examines the techniques, attitudes and personal understanding required to maintain positive focus during change. It delves into personal change management and self leadership before examining how alignment with organisational values can ensure the successful implementation of leading others through change.

In order to manage the expectations of delegates and to identify the most practical solutions, the first day of a typical two-day Max Focus workshop covers many of the core principles geared towards flexibility and open discussion. The objectives of this approach are to meet the needs of the group in order that they might successfully accommodate Max Focus solutions to enable personal and organisational change.

The second day introduces a co-coaching culture. A heightened awareness of group dynamics and relationship management form key aspects of leadership, utilising qualities of emotional intelligence to focus upon the group itself as the medium of change.

Day One: Individual Effectiveness

1. The self-concept: The importance of how you choose to think of yourself; behaviour modification techniques, communication and influence
   We look into “self-talk” and how it is directly related to behaviour. This in turn colours attitude, mood and performance. We explore how self-perception changes according to circumstances and life experience. If attitude changes due to external circumstances, can we change it at will?
2. Emotions and positive and negative self-belief: Emotional Intelligence, productive and un-productive emotional response patterns
   Research shows that we “catch” each other’s emotions. Choosing our own responses to the actions of others is a learned skill not a natural response pattern. An introduction to our own inner “recordings” helps us to acknowledge and break down self-erected barriers.
3. Finding personal drivers, motivators and belief-systems that work for us: Hogan and your Bright Side, Dark Side and inside “drivers”
   Sometimes (especially when under pressure) individuals are unable to readily accept responsibility for their own actions and reactions. The Fear Factor is introduced as the Dark Side in each of us. Once acknowledged, the Dark Side can be readily understood and utilised as a strength. We also explore the Bright Side of personality (our everyday style) and the motivators that drive us.
4. Perception and the power of the mind: Appreciative Inquiry, new cues and positive reinforcers
   The mind/body connection is simply illustrated. Fixed and flexible thinking and holding onto your personal power is introduced as a mnemonic attitude “jogger”—not giving away your personal power and choosing your feelings rather than letting them “choose you”.

Day Two: Team Effectiveness

1. Group Dynamics: Myself and others – am I OK, and am I making you feel OK too?
   Taking core elements discovered during the previous session, we focus on the dominant attitudes of the group. Techniques, objective strategies and the formation of boundaries are introduced to develop personal and group immunity to negative dominant attitudes.
2. The Team Purpose: Emotional Intelligence Part II – Relationship Management
   Self leadership techniques and how to develop, strengthen and maintain a positive group identity are explored and an understanding that every “transaction” can have an effect upon another is gained, together with a greater awareness of self and others.
3. External Focus: Appreciative Inquiry – developing and motivating others
   Delegates learn about individual “power points” and how to use personal power to eradicate limiting beliefs and replace them with empowering beliefs (the 10% paradigm shift)—and how to form and maintain a support network through change.
4. Personal development, coping with change and the way forward as part of a progressive team: personal and team purpose – Future Basing
   Once made aware that any form of self-knowledge and insight into our own behaviour is a positive step forward, individuals find it helpful to begin defining their ultimate “purpose” as a route towards future goals.
5. Coaching – support, involvement and group influence
   The concepts of coaching & co-coaching are introduced, together with the skills of superior communication skills, openness and understanding.