“All men dream: but not equally. Those who dream by night in the dusty recesses of their minds wake in the day to find that it was vanity: but the dreamers of the day are dangerous men, for they may act their dream with open eyes, to make it possible.” T. E. Lawrence (1888–1935), Seven Pillars of Wisdom

“Don’t focus on the result; focus on the performance that will get you the result.”

Our attention is an incredibly powerful tool. When we focus our attention on a key variable (and remember this doesn’t mean beating ourselves up!) then our performance automatically improves and we identify what further support we need.

One of our clients, a bank, gave sales targets to their branches for certain insurance products. The staff ‘knew’ it was an impossible target and there was lots of legitimate chat about how it couldn’t be done, backed up with plenty of valid reasons. However! In one branch one employee not only achieved the target, he absolutely smashed it. Intrigu

Ben: “Assume they – and you – know nothing. Take as much time as necessary to get a common understanding.” When there are changes in the team – or in the project, for that matter – discussion is essential. New team members need to understand where you’re up to; what the team ‘modus operandi’ is, so they follow the same way of working and fit in qui

The feeling of irritation was the red-light indicator on his mental dashboard that he needed to manage the pressure of the negotiation, rather than snipe at a poor random colleague.

Ben: “Maybe getting a new boat got us 0.4 seconds, maybe the training camp at Ely won us 0.4 seconds, maybe dominating the lake got us 0.4 seconds…who knows? We absolutely wanted that Gold so we put as much in our power as we could.”

The crew found that there were three elements to a really powerful team goal. 1a. Mutual desire 1b. Mutual reliance 1c. Measurability

What have you done recently that’s made you proud? •Brought in a project on time and budget? •Helped a team member get promoted? •Learnt to play a musical instrument? What have you done that’s given you a buzz? •Been on a superb night out? •Negotiated an awesome deal? •Given a presentation in front of a high-stakes audience? Whatever the experience