The Arrival of The Changer

by Rob Kennaugh

 

The Leader leads, the trainer trains and the Manager manages. Perhaps none of these fits what you want to do. Look out - because here comes the new boy on the block. Perhaps you are a “Changer”?

A Changer is an agent for change. They relentlessly pursue tasks, positions, deadlines and budgets. They may be examining your team’s performance right now, as you read this article. They may be looking to find ways of improving efficiency or reducing budgets. The vulnerable 21^st century Middle Manager is becoming exposed to the scrutiny of the Changer.

Yes, the Changer may be watching you, but all is not lost. If they are doing their job right they should be working, providing advice and guidance on how your worst nightmares can be resolved.

How can they do this, you may ask? Well, they see issues from a different perspective. They have the ability to visualise issues so that they can see around corners. They use their intuition and are “in touch” with their feelings. They cut through the analysis and goal seeking with a knowingness on what needs to be done.

Their awareness doesn’t invalidate what you are currently doing; however they see the world from a different perspective. If you are members of the same team you will be unstoppable. Problems will melt before you, deadlines will fall into place and resources will arrive as requested.

I saw this in action with a couple who were good friends of mine.

The husband was an exceptionally good organisational planner. He could analyse, logically scrutinise and project plan. He carried this battery of skills to the design of their new garden. Out came the graph paper onto which was placed the reticulation points, paths and plants all drawn and positioned to the correct scale. It was perfect in every way and he was justifiably proud of his masterpiece that was waiting for approval from his wife to commence the implementation of the project.

There was just one small problem – his wife couldn’t understand a bit of the graph paper with its legend, scaled sizes and implementation dates. He was confused that she couldn’t follow the plan so he invited her to produce her understanding of the project. She set forth and collected some clay, pebbles and twigs and began moulding a three dimensional “garden”.

When it was completed it was shown to her husband. He looked confused as she explained, with both arms waving in all directions, how she could smell the flowers and feel the plants growing with great beauty.

What a great team. Both were right in describing what they saw, he from left brain logic and sequential thought and she from right brain intuitive and simultaneousness thought. Both would separately have produced a pleasant garden but together as a team they produced a truly magnificent masterpiece. They were able to respect their individual skills and to harness them to produce this synergetic effect of one plus one equals three.

In this home environment project both parties were able to recognise the joint skills of the Changer in each other’s partner. Whilst in the corporate world the Changer holds the balancing skills of left and right brain thinking in a single individual.

How many times have you had a knowingness that something was not quite right, that the justification for a project just didn’t add up, or that if a minor change was made there could be significant benefits? And strangely your peers couldn’t recognise the potential benefits that were so obvious to you.

Worry not, let me reassure you that you are not going crazy. Rather, you are beginning to use the skills that exist in us all, but are asleep in many. You are special and it is your destiny to be an “agent for change” or Changer.

Changers don’t appear to have an affinity with any particular management function and as such anyone can become a Changer whether they are currently a Work at home Mum, Team Leader, Project Manager, Teacher, Priest or Politician.

So what sets the Changer apart from their peers? Well, technically they are both left and right brain thinkers. They combine logic and reasoning with intuition and feelings through an awareness that is almost beyond explanation. Where the Manager will study, compare, analyse and plan the potential outcomes, the Changer will just have a knowingness of what needs to be done.

Sounds familiar? It can be incredibly frustrating for both parties requiring increased levels of trust and patience.

They have the ability to solve apparently unsolvable problems, are cool and calm under all adversity and are able to manage multiple tasks simultaneously with apparent ease, because intuitively they are able to pin-point tasks that need immediate attention.

As a Changer it is your role to be in touch with the feelings and self worth of individuals on your teams as they negotiate their day-to-day issues. Should they fall or falter you are there to help them get up again, and again, and again! Why? – because these individuals are probably the ones who will help you to bring about your team’s successes. They need you, but you also need them.

There will be those who learn by quickly adapting to today’s disasters, recognising the opportunities, and moving onwards in a new direction with new enthusiasm. There are also those who are not so fortunate. They will repeat the lessons of life again, and again.

Whilst recognising the frailties of mankind, the Changer learns how to adapt to change, be a fast learner and how to help others to do the same.

If these concepts are new to you I recommend that you visit your library or bookshop and wait for a book to “fall into your lap” – and then read it!

There are many tools to help you to achieve your objectives. But as with most things it is going to take time and effort in order to harness their full potential. Browse in your favourite bookstore to find a wide range of topics to help you increase your level of awareness. They may include the following:

• Waking and Sleeping Dreams
• Inner Guides
• Past lives
• Colour therapy
• Harnessing the power of Crystals
• Numerology
• Feng Shui
• Colour management

Research and experiment with the above in order to determine those with which you are comfortable.

You can gradually add some of the tools literature to your home library or you may find them in the work library. Now is the time to begin using your latent abilities, brush-up on the Changer tools. Add new tools with which you have an affinity and talk to your work’s decision makers about the tools you are using to become more effective. Provide feedback to demonstrate your successes.

Finally it is very important, having asked to become a Changer to keep your ears and eyes open to receive the promised gift. But you probably knew this already – didn’t you!, because you can’t un-know what you know.

Be a great Changer – it is your destiny.

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Rob Kennaugh is the author of Project Management: 101 Tools & Tips for Success, and 100 Tips to Find that Job. Find out more at www.robertkennaugh.com

 

Which Comes First In Life – The Energy Or The Fire?

by Peter Nicholls

You meet a person who oozes energy. Their mind is bubbling with impressive ideas, their optimism unlimited, their eyes sparkling with boundless enthusiasm and sense of purpose. There’s a fire in them that seems unquenchable. You tell yourself you want whatever they’re having.

How do you get what their having?  Fire is the natural product of mixing fuel, oxygen and extreme heat. But it’s the ignition source that counts – flammable materials such as petrol fumes, dry grass, etc.

It’s like that in life. Nature has provided you with all the ingredients needed to fire your life, accelerate your drive to achieve and unlock your creative potential. Your natural-born talents provide the fuel. The desire to make the most of your talents provides the oxygen. The flammable material that ignites this potentially explosive combination comes in the form of your natural-born passions and interests.

If you can express your passions through your work, you’re indeed fortunate. The great news, however, is that any passionate interest – expressed at work, home, at play, or in community life – will do it for you. Re-kindling long-forgotten talents, untapped since your youth, can often provide the most explosive source of new energy.

The impact spreads like wildfire through everything in your life, eliminating outdated dead wood so that new green shoots can emerge from which vigorous personal growth can naturally blossom.

You need to create the best possible conditions to ignite the spark.  Lose yourself in any interest you love – one that creatively expresses the real you – physically, mentally and spiritually. Revel in the joys of the experience, feel the rise in your self esteem and self confidence and relish your heightened sense of self worth.

You’re on fire!

Peter Nicholls

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As Australia’s “People Gardener”, Peter Nicholls is renowned for nurturing his clients’ growth and cultivating their potential. He has 40 years experience of professionally observing and helping people when they are at their positive best and passionately enjoying their favourite leisure/recreation interest. Find out more at www.workleisure.com

Dating in 2011-2012: Is Online Dating Taking Over?

by Ellie Stevens (Guest blogger)

In this day in age, with our lives run by crazy schedules revolving around family, work, home, etc…you can barely manage to find the time to put on your socks in the morning, let alone find the time to cross “dating” off of your never-ending to-do list.

If this is you and you often find yourself worrying that you are facing a lonely future without a soul mate or at the very least a Friday night dinner partner, fear not for there are many others out there who share your worry.  The good news is that thanks to the technologically world in which we live and the influx of singles across the globe flocking to the internet with the same romantic goals as you, there is a shot at love or companionship for even the busiest of eligible bachelors and bachelorettes.

Because of the convenience that comes with taking to the internet to find that special someone, you can browse through databases of thousands of singles while basking in the comfort of your own home and wearing pajamas.  Gone are the conventional days of stepping out in your best attire with the hopes of starting your love story when your dream guy or gal crosses your path at the gym, the bar, or the grocery store…the trend in dating is now focused on starting your love story with the click of a mouse.

Check out the following data compiled by online dating researchers in 2011 that suggests internet dating is more than a trend.  It appears as if it’s here to stay:

Online dating usage:  Just how popular is it?

• India has 15 million people signed up to online dating sites.
• In the United States there are 40 million singles subscribed to online dating sites.
• 140 million people are signed up to online dating sites in China.

Money:  How much are online dating services making?

• The online dating industry is currently raking in 1.049 billion dollars a year.
• The online dating industry is bigger than the porn industry (who blames its recent $74 million dollar decline on internet dating).
• The online dating industry is anticipated to reach 1.3 billion dollars by 2013.

Relationships:  What are the odds that your cyber fling will turn into a ring?

• 33% of online meetings flourish into relationships.
• Of couples who met online, 17% develop into relationships that will remain long-term, including marriage.
• Couples who met online spend about 18.5 months dating before tying the knot. 
• Couples who met by traditional methods spend about 42 months dating prior to marriage. 
• 48% of breakups where a relationship started online are terminated via email.
• By 2019, it is estimated that more than half of couples in the world will be matched through online dating.

If you are fascinated by these statistics, a suggested read is the e-book, Fast Food Dating Your 2 Cents by Peter Sacco PhD, which you are likely to find equally as fascinating.  This interactive book shares the tales, views and insights of daters who have had less than successful experiences in their quest for love and lust.  Just as people take to fast food because they are low on time, people in today’s 2011 do the same with dating.  That being said, Fast Food Dating Your 2 Cents focuses on giving readers ideas on how to make new age dating (internet dating, telephone chat lines, classifieds, blind dates, etc.) work for you.

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Ellie Stevens is an author who shares with us this guest post on modern dating via the internet.  To read more of Ellie’s work, check out her articles on Best Senior Dating Sites where she covers topics about safe online dating.

Peter Sacco is the author of Fast Food Dating Your 2 Cents. You can read more about him at www.petersacco.com

Why Life is Like a Public Transport System

by Peter Nicholls

We are told that, of the 9/11 hostages who could make last-minute calls from the plane, none phoned the office. Nor would you expect them to do so. But it’s a powerful reminder of the fact there is much more to life than work. Yet there are still plenty of people who believe work is their whole life.

If you imagine work as being like a public transport system, the analogy brings out some interesting perspectives on the role of work in life:

• It’s controlled by others and it’s designed with many aims beyond just your personal needs
• You use it to get you somewhere, you’re not just on it for the ride
• The driver is just doing his/her job and its up to you to decide if its going in your direction
• It will take you some of the way to your destination but it won’t drop you right at the door
• The system isn’t always reliable. Sometimes you can be offloaded and told to catch another job
• Lots of people are sharing your journey, but none are heading for the same destination as you
• You have to keep watching where the job is taking you, or you might end up somewhere you didn’t want to be
• Even when you decide you’re on the right track, there’s still no guarantee you will get there.

You use many modes of transport to get where you want to go – cars, trains, buses, trams and planes, to name a few.  You also have a transport system that carries you through much of your life – significant others who support and encourage you in your journey.  Work is just one of them.

Others include family, home, friends, people who share your interests/passions, clubs, churches and other community groups, to name just a few. They help move your life forward. Without them, you stagnate.

The difference is in the energy sources. Buses and trains use their own energy to drive you.  All you have to do is hop on and let them do the work.  When it comes to your life journey though, the energy must come from you. Others can help you only when you supply the energy.

Like the sap coursing through a tree, feeding every fibre of its growth and ability to blossom, your unique passions, talents, enthusiasm and emotional desires provide the energy to feed your growth.

An incredible life transport system exists solely for you. But it depends entirely on you providing the energy of mind, body and spirit to take you where you want to go.

Enjoy being you

Peter Nicholls

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As Australia’s “People Gardener”, Peter Nicholls is renowned for nurturing his clients’ growth and cultivating their potential. He has 40 years experience of professionally observing and helping people when they are at their positive best and passionately enjoying their favourite leisure/recreation interest. Find out more at www.workleisure.com

Success, Prosperity and Freedom: GUARANTEED!

by Davis Goss

Imagine the increased production, freedom and general well-being you would experience if all your problems were to suddenly disappear and be turned into benefits and profits.  It can be done.

Whether personal, professional, corporate, national or international, nobody needs to endure the pressures imposed by these things we call “problems”.  Problems are no more natural to man than darkness is to light.  In the final analysis, freedom from the pressures imposed by problems lies in knowing how to resolve them.  Problems are like waves at the seashore.  We are not always responsible for the waves that come to us but we can learn how to meet them, remain in control and avoid being swamped by them.

What must we do in order to control and gain dominion over these tough challenges that scream at us for attention?  We must realize and accept the fact that,  in spite of what things seem to be, we all live and operate in a world that is governed and maintained by specific irreversible natural laws and principles that by their very nature and definition cannot contain any negative, destructive elements.  If they did, the universe would have self-destructed eons ago. For all its power, the universe has no power to destroy itself.

These natural laws and principles are omnipresent and fixed throughout all time.  They cannot be successfully challenged, altered or circumvented.  In fact, Webster defines natural laws and principles as “the creative and controlling forces of the universe”.  We don’t make these laws but when we can understand them, we can use them.  And if we use them correctly, positive results are assured with predictable certainty.

A perfect example of this is embodied in the laws governing mathematics.  When you are faced with a problem in mathematics, such as balancing your checkbook, you know exactly what to do.  You can balance your checkbook with absolute surety and confidence because you understand, accept and trust the irrevocable laws and principles that maintain the integrity of mathematics.  If your figures do not balance, it is not because they are variable and have somehow been set aside and cancelled by some unknown outside influence, it is simply because you have not implemented the principles properly.  The moment you do, your checkbook is balanced.

This identical procedure is applicable when working with any problem with which you will ever be faced.  You can experience balance and oneness when you understand that any problem is simply an implied negative ”something” that stands between you and the fulfillment of your goal or objective which, in fact, already exists  in the archives of the universe.

Your goal or objective is positive and real.  The problem is negative and unreal.  They are opposites.  By law, opposites are totally and completely irreconcilable.  They cannot be commingled or  justified to the other.  Only one can be dominant.  One will completely annihilate the other.

That which is negative is, by definition, “the opposite or negation of something”.  That “something” is your positive objective which is, according to Webster, “that which is real and has actual existence”.  Any problem, then, is simply a negation or negative statement about the positive answer  or solution you are seeking.  It is not a condition you need to confront as an enemy with which you must do battle.  This confrontational approach will only compound the problem because you be giving reality to that which is unreal.

Note this axiom:

A negation cannot exist alone.  A negative anything is totally dependent upon there being a positive something to be negative about.

 

That problem you have been dealing with is not a “something”; it is really a “no-thing”.

Treat it accordingly by focusing your full attention on its positive counterpart, your goal or objective, even though the answer may not be immediately apparent. Removing your attention from any discordant  circumstances, you will have provided the proper mental environment that will permit right ideas to express themselves through you.  You will get a sense of how Victor Hugo must have felt when he recognized that “there is nothing more powerful than the right idea whose time has come”.  You have just as much right and authority (and obligation!) to reject the conditions of any problem as you have to reject the suggestion that “5” belongs at the end of 2 + 2.

These universal natural laws and principles are established, revealed and invariable.  The only variable is the degree to which you are able to accept, trust and practice them.  When you consciously and consistently use them correctly you will experience their effects: success, prosperity, freedom and  pressure free life experiences. It is the Law!  Guaranteed!

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Over the past 50+ years working as a creative consultant, with focus on problem solving, Davis Goss has developed, tested and proven a singularly unique approach to resolving “impossible” problems to the benefit of a widely diverse client base.

Unlike any other, his discovery is based solely on scientific natural laws and principles  that, by their very nature and definition, assure positive results with predictable certainty.  The logical continuity of these natural laws and principles are explained in “The Science of LIVING BETTER FOREVER”