“Yaaaay! Dad, it's beautiful. When can we get the fish? Can we go get them now?” gushes Harry, stepping back to look at the tropical tank he has just set up with Amelia and his dad.

“What do you think, Amelia?” prompts Joe who, for once, has noticed that his usually talkative daughter has actually gone quiet.

“I really enjoyed setting that up but I'm a little worried that we've got it wrong and if we introduce fish, they'll just die – or eat each other,” she explains.

“Well, what did the book say about when to introduce fish?” Joe asks.

“To leave it three to five days for the water to settle and the plants to do their stuff oxygenating the water, or something; then to test the water for levels of pH, chlorine and other chemicals. We can take a sample to the pet shop and they will run the tests. Then, if the temperature is stable too (Dad, you're going to have to keep checking the thermometer and make sure it stays within this green safety zone), we can add our first couple of fish,” Amelia explains.

“And don't forget about the lights, Dad. You need to switch the day-time light off and the night-time light on every evening, and the night-time light off and day-time light on every morning to help establish the cycle,” adds Harry.

“Dad, can we come after school on Wednesday and go back to the pet shop with the water samples? PLEASE?” he urges.

“Yeah, can we?” pipes in Amelia.

“Well, if your Mum says so, I don't see why not. Don't be too disappointed if the water isn't ready though. It may take more time, but we may as well go for it,” Joe answers, delighted that his kids, for the first time in a while, are actually keen to see more of him.

“Come on, let's get you home, then we can ask. I need to talk to your mum about something else anyway,” Joe adds, ushering them out of the apartment and into the car.

It is the next morning. Lynette accepted Joe's offer of the role as his encourager to assist with his development, having at first joked that she wanted to take legal advice. At least, he thought she was joking. Now he is sitting with his coach, Richard, and is suddenly very conscious of how much he has changed in such a short period of time.

“Good. Now, let's look in more detail at how to practise the stretch habit of Skilfully Executing,” Richard states, having reviewed developments against the targets from the previous session.

“You've already been exerting positive stretch, I can see that. It's a shame Phil was unwilling to move out of his comfort zone. I think the solution you arrived at though is good. It's also good that you agreed on the short-, medium- and long-term goals and that each leader is doing the same with their team. You're doing really well, Joe. Let's try to capture where we are now for you, the leadership team and the wider organization,” Richard adds as they begin to map out goals and success measures, identifying which strengths will enable each goal.

“This is all very well, Richard,” sighs Joe, looking at the road map he and Richard have been creating half an hour later. “But how am I going to get some of those guys to keep up with me? Some of them are just not as driven as I need them to be. Several also avoid making tough decisions at all costs. Plus, Gwen tells me there is a perception that Phil got fired for challenging my authority, which is just not true. But if that is what people believe, they're hardly going to start making decisions for themselves are they?”

“Brilliant!” Richard responds, leaning forward and smiling.

“Pardon?” Joe asks, after a short pause, leaning back, frowning.

“This is brilliant. You have recognized that you are dealing with a situation where you don't have all the answers and need support from others to avoid panic and burnout. This is an important skill for leaders. Well done!” Richard congratulates Joe.

Joe remains silent, looking at Richard for clues.

“What's the best thing you can do now?” prompts Richard.

“Not panic?” suggests Joe, picking up on Richard's mention of the panic and burnout zone.

“What else?”

“I don't get it,” states a frustrated, tired and distracted Joe.

“Let's go back a bit to explore this idea in more detail,” Richard pulls up a slide depicting the stretch zone¹, which suddenly reminds Joe of a darts board, a game he has never had much patience for.

“When you are here,” Richard points to the centre labelled ‘Comfort Zone’, “what are you doing, exactly, and what does it feel like?”

“Well, I'm focusing on tasks, in control, doing things, achieving goals, with others following me. It feels easy – or at least it did when this approach was actually achieving goals.”

“And, when you are here?” Richard points to the ‘Stretch Zone’.

“Well, I guess that's where I've been the last few weeks. Building strong teams, motivating people, delegating tasks and responsibilities. It's been working. We're already getting results and it feels…challenging, but more energizing. It's created a lot more choices for us, when we were feeling trapped. It's made me, and this organization as a whole, I think, feel more…effective, I guess.”

“So bring me back to that discussion you had with Phil in this room, when he questioned this approach and your authority. Where in this model were you then?” pushes Richard.

“Here,” Joe points to the panic zone. He is beginning to question his decision about Phil, who, since the new arrangement, has actually been far more proactive and positive. He is wondering whether he made an overly rash decision and could have avoided taking such drastic action by looking for other ways to align Phil's strengths with his role.

“Were you here? Or were you here?” Richard asks, pointing to the arrow on his screen, which he refers to as the point of stretch’.

“Ah. I get it! You're right. I created a choice, out of nowhere, when we were both feeling trapped, and it's working, even though people don't yet know it's working. Changing Phil's role from internal leader to external advisor motivated him. If things had stayed the same, he'd have become increasingly frustrated and disengaged. He may have the right strengths for the role, but his values are not aligned with the new culture here. I've found a strong replacement for him within the finance team too. So, we have everything we need to move forward.”

“Good. So, where are you now?”

“I'm here,” Joe points to the edge between the stretch zone and panic zone.

“And where do you want to be?”

“Back here,” Joe points to the arrow that Richard has described as the ‘point of stretch’ again.

“And how are you going to get there?” prompts Richard.

Joe stares blankly.

Richard swipes his path of possibility slide onto the screen², as if to nudge Joe.

“Ah. I need to take the top path. I need to focus more on strengths, successes, opportunities, solutions, bringing in support and not so much on weaknesses, failures, threats and all that stuff,” Joe says more confidently.

“And, if you continue to navigate along that path, what will happen to the atmosphere here, the culture of this place?” Richard pushes.

“Well, I'll be more predictable and people will begin to trust me. We'll all be more optimistic. We'll share a sense of purpose.”

“Good. Back to your road map then. You state your personal goals as: strengthening your leadership, particularly your ability to engage and motivate team members; and improving your work–life balance. Your personal success measures (how you will know when you achieve your goals) are: you'll be getting positive feedback from Kelly and the leadership team; and you'll be leaving work on time at least once a week. Which of your Significant 7 strengths will enable you to achieve these goals?”

“Leading, Strategic Mindedness and Initiative?” suggests Joe.

“Good, and your team goal is: to ensure effective teamwork and positive engagement of each team member. Your team success measures are: you'll be retaining key team members and delivering the vision and strategic plan. And the staff morale will have increased (you'll know this as it will be reflected in the staff survey as well as their general behaviour, attitude and mood). Which strengths are going to help you here?”

“Leading, Results Focus and Common Sense,” Joe states this time, rather than suggests.

“OK. Now you've got the hang of it, why don't you look at organizational goals with the team? Get them to develop road maps for their teams too. If this team is to commit to your road map they need to feel like it's theirs, like they were involved in creating it. Also, take time to look at this road map again when I'm gone and think about which members of your personal development board, or your leadership team, can help you and where. Think about the strengths they have and where you can use them most effectively. Any questions?” asks Richard.

“Yes, actually,” Joe responds slowly, formulating the question in his mind as he is speaking.

“You managed to bring me back from the panic zone pretty quickly there. You made it look easy. I'm not yet good enough at spotting how I can do this. Can you help me recognize when I'm tipping over (or members of my team are) and how I can feel in control again?”

“Sure. It's all about something psychologists and elite athletes call ‘flow’, Joe. In order to achieve flow, people need to have clear goals to provide focus. They also need the skills and strengths to do the job. They need to feel energized by it and also confident they can do the task. Very importantly, there has to be a good match between their skills and energy and the level of challenge the task provides. If there is no challenge, they are likely to quickly lose interest, become disengaged, and their performance and effort will weaken.

“Too much challenge and the reverse is true. They feel incompetent, frustrated, and out of their depth. Their performance is adversely impacted too.

“The trick is to find the degree of challenge people are currently feeling, then to create new challenges or goals that make them feel challenged and engaged, but not overwhelmed. This is exactly what you did with Phil, Mark and Sally.”

“Calibrating personal, team and organizational strengths in this way keeps confidence, commitment and contribution high and we've just gone through the blueprint – this road map – to execute this.

“The main thing to remember in all of this, Joe, is not to criticize yourself or feel too anxious when you do start to feel the stretch. Feeling it means it's working, Joe. Don't forget, you're trying to break habits and behaviours you've been living for years as well as learning new ones.” Richard swipes onto the screen the Stretch Leadership™ Model³ he had introduced Joe to in their first session.

“Just because you now have this awareness and knowledge, doesn't mean that the new habits are going to come easily. You are still new to this way of leading, so go easy on yourself, Joe,” Richard continues.

“The key is to recognize when you are edging towards the panic and burnout zone. Observe yourself for about a week and make a note of how it feels when you become agitated or overwhelmed. What are some of the things you feel? What do you see yourself doing? What do you hear yourself saying? What do people on your Personal Development Board see you doing and saying?

“For example, I know when I am in the panic zone because I feel a determination to make sure everyone knows I feel fine. So if someone asks how I am I say ‘Fine. I’m fine. I'm fine'. I tend to repeat the word and want to move on and not talk about my feelings. Then on reflection I think back and realize I wasn't ‘fine’. I just didn't know how to say what I was feeling or didn't feel able to say it to that person.

“A former colleague pointed out to me that this was a warning sign. You'll have similar warning signs people can make you aware of. Like rolling up your sleeves, for example,” Richard smiles, watching Joe roll up his sleeves.

“Great leaders have enough humility to open themselves up and allow others in. Many actually share their triggers with those close to them and ask them to point out to them if they spot any warning signs,” he concludes.

Joe is not sure what to say. He had never realized he wore his anxiety, literally, on his shirt sleeves and his former self is not at all comfortable with the idea of sharing with people that he is not actually always in control.

He thanks Richard, choosing to mull over his advice. He has other things to deal with first, like catching up on progress with the various stretch projects and working out how to communicate the pay freeze with the wider team. Kelly is coming across for the next management meeting, so he really wants to make sure the new way of working is working.

*

It is the next management meeting. Everybody has presented their team's progress against goals, apart from Gwen. It is her turn. She is aware how directly her team's work will feed into the next item on the agenda, sharing the news about the pay freeze. She seems quite calm.

“So we've accelerated the Strengthscope360™ profiling and each of us will have one-to-one meetings with our staff, agreeing personal development and other goals. We've set up regular staff briefings and we've all started to make ourselves more visible within our teams – I think textbooks call it ‘management by walking about’. We're all going to take our key team members to lunch once a month and we've put a call out for the wider team to suggest other ways to encourage us to all interact with each other outside of meetings,” Gwen advises.

“I'm also recommending we put ourselves and all our managers on the strengths coaching programme Richard told us about in our one-to-ones, and look for more ways to coach and support each other (once we've identified our vital talent that is). Sally and Mark's peer coaching is working a treat,” she continues.

“The cross-department ‘lunch and learn’ sessions you introduced are going really well, Gwen,” Mark pitches in. “One result of the last one was that we identified and invited some of our key customers to participate in designing and piloting some of our new online offerings,” he concludes.

During all this, Sally has been looking uncomfortable. She decides it's time to pitch in with what has been occupying her thoughts.

“So, if we're about to have one-to-one performance reviews in this new format, hadn't we best come up with a strategy for telling them about the pay freeze?” she asks. “I mean, how do you think they're going to take the news?” she adds.

“Well, they will all react differently. I think we can lessen the negative impact and get them to accept it if we work on this together, agree how to communicate it in a way that helps them understand that this is a temporary situation. We need to help them believe that they can shape their own future to ensure that this doesn't need to last longer than this quarter,” Gwen advises.

“I agree. And I've been looking into it and it seems that we're not the only ones in this boat. Many of our competitors are laying people off as well as putting a freeze on bonuses and commissions, so if they're not happy and decide to go elsewhere, they'll soon realize they've got the best deal here, thanks to all these other initiatives we're working on,” Raj interjects.

“Let's brainstorm some low cost ways to motivate people,” Sally says, walking over to the flip chart.

Twenty minutes later they have a set of actions that she takes away to build into a revised reward and recognition programme, something they can all refer to during their team meetings and one-to-ones with staff.

Ways to motivate without money

1. Private notes of congratulations
2. Public recognition at all staff meetings
3. Time off for personal development or charity work
4. Free/subsidized lunches
5. Games room
6. Team rewards/activity days
7. Short breaks for top performers

Joe leaves the meeting relaxed. He decides to take ten minutes to crystallize his learning and the team's progress before leaving on time to make it to the gym prior to picking up the kids.