Why should we all use our creative power? Because there is nothing that makes people so generous, joyful, lively, bold, and compassionate, so indifferent to fighting and the accumulation of objects and money.
—Brenda Ueland
* * *
Don’t focus on what you fear
In business you begin to realize you can never solve a problem by thinking about it in the same negative mood that created the problem in the first place. You can only solve a problem by focusing on it with a higher state of consciousness. Or to put it more simply: You get yourself into a better mood.
When you become a hands-off manager you are always aware that resisting the things you don’t want contributes to their power. Therefore, if you tell an employee he is doing a bad job, you are sowing the seeds of future bad work. For example, if you tell an employee with a drug addiction problem that they’re a terrible person, they will feel bad and want to go get another fix. But if you tell them they have potential, that they can learn from what they’ve gone through, if they can find a way to recognize it as something that was positive, you’re able to invite them to a new place of pure recovery.
Old-school managers worry a lot
Old-school managers manage by worrying. They believe that if they don’t get worried enough about something, they won’t solve the problem. So their internal motivation system is fear. They think they have to scare themselves into doing the right thing.
If you tell them they would be more effective as relaxed, happy, hands-off managers, they tell you they’re afraid that if they try that approach, everything will fall apart. They think that without fear as the ultimate motivator, no one would work—including themselves. So they use fear to motivate themselves and intimidation to motivate their employees. They continue to fasten their minds onto the very things that block them from making progress. They’re never focused on what they can do right now to move things forward.
If they are in sales, for example, they’re not thinking about who is on their referral list or what kind of follow-up calls they might want to make, even though those presentmoment activities would move success forward. Instead, they’re obsessed with whatever frustrates them the most. If you ask them how it’s going, they’ll spew out a list of their most current frustrations, which are always at the top of their mind.
A compassionate hands-off sales manager will rectify that situation. He will teach his people to use their “now” moments creatively. They’ll familiarize themselves with the products they’re selling. They will spend time studying to develop their skills. If they’re selling homes to people in their community, they will learn about local community events and activities.
All of these things are ways of focusing attention on what you can do now.
Some surveys show the average salesperson spends only 1.5 hours a day selling. That’s because of his focus on distractions and things he considers to be threatening. But salespeople who transform from failure to success have simply realized that walking forward (by living in the now) is much more advantageous than walking backward (by living in the past) or spending their time worrying about what might happen (by living in the future).
Salespeople who struggle are taking one good step forward (identifying an intention) and then two nightmarish steps back (trying to make all the “bad” things in life go away). They wonder why they daily have that uneasy feeling of always losing ground. (They are.)
When you are a manager focused in the moment, you are moving your team forward again. You are paying attention to what’s being communicated to you. You are honoring every experience. You are finding value in everything that has ever happened to you. You have respect and caring for others. And it’s a different kind of caring. It’s not, “I care what you think about me,” but rather, “I care enough for you to want you to just be who you are. I accept you, I don’t want to fix you, I just want to understand you as you are and partner with you, moving forward in agreement.”
Many people think being focused in this neutral, accepting way would make them passive and directionless managers. Quite the opposite! Pure action emerges from an undistracted mind. It’s a clear mind that gives birth to the most beautiful quantum leaps of inspired action and bold, creative communications. Because that is where intention enters the picture, rises up, and takes over. It’s important to have intention. But intention is different from an outcome goal, and knowing the difference is vital to your success.