KEY POINTS:
This is the third part of our series on how firms can improve their performance.
It is common practice for top sports people to use performance psychology to enhance achievement and success. In New Zealand we have a strong sports culture that produces a belief that world-beating performance is achievable.
Why don't we use this process to the same extent with our businesspeople? The aspiration to be the "best", the power of visualisation to "see" success and believe it is achievable must surely be just as valuable in business as it is in sports.
Yet, as The Icehouse team travels around New Zealand delivering business seminars, we find all too often the aspiration is local only, the focus is on the "now" rather than the future, and there are unlimited reasons why performance is constrained.
Gestalt psychology maintains that your perceptions and beliefs about your world and your place in it create reactions and behaviour by you in the real world. Your perceptions of reality become the major influence on actions and outcomes.
Reality is a social construct, i.e. we make it up as we go. This infers that we have the power to create our own future if we choose to take responsibility for it, and that the process starts with being able to visualise a desirable future state.
This visualisation, when compared to your current state, kick starts a creative process to close the gap between the two.
Sports psychology uses four approaches to harness the power of the thought processes to enhance the athlete's physical performance.
CHALLENGE YOUR PERCEPTIONS
In his book The Mental Edge Kenneth Baum identifies ways to stretch your perceptions.
* A loss can become a gain - turn lemons into lemonade.
* If you do what you've always done, you'll get what you've always got.
* Your imagination is more powerful than the constraints.
* Bodies work perfectly; it's the mind that gets in the way.
* All limitations are temporary.
* Success can be learned from others' examples.
* Pressure and stress come from within. It's all in our perception of the event.
* Getting better is more important than the "big win".
* Lift the bar. The more you expect the more you will achieve.
VISUALISE
* Tie the five senses into your visualisation and lock in your emotions.
* Rehearse events mentally with successful outcomes.
* Develop sets of past success scenarios.
* Define your desire in detail, including rewards.
* It's a dream until you write it down, then it becomes your goal.
BELIEF
* Having high self-esteem means it's okay to accept success.
* Use positive self talk to build belief in your ability.
* Ability matched with challenge produces a high achievement "in flow" state.
ACTIONS
* Set goals on performance rather than outcomes.
* Concentrate and focus on critical issues - filter out unhelpful stimulation.
All of these approaches are just as legitimate in the context of business management. Focus on building the five-year future business and delegate much of the management of today to others. Visualise an "absolutely fabulous" future state, fill the picture with detail, and imagine the experience of success. Be brutally honest with the picture of the current reality and focus on the gap.
In your mind look back from the ideal future position and identify the critical issues which will have to be dealt to before you can have the dream. Now you can prioritise the issues into a set of action steps that can turn the dream into reality.
Finally remember that your perception is your reality - your thoughts are omnipotent. Changing the way you think can change your life, your success and your well-being.
* Leith Oliver is the executive in residence for growth programmes for The Icehouse.
* The Icehouse is a business growth centre focused on making a difference for New Zealand. Visit www.theicehouse.co.nz
