When teaching or conducting seminars we have people choose a small thing they commit to changing in their behavior. It doesn’t need to be big, but it does need to be consistent.
They journal about their observations of how it changes them, and the people around them. Here are the kinds of commitments people make:
I commit to…
- giving others more creative control by asking what they think we should do when creating an (advertising) spot.
- getting to know more people in different departments other than my own at work.
- observing and changing if my tone/body language doesn’t match my words and direction.
- using more supportive language with my subordinates.
- devoting my time and energy to the people as opposed to just my ideas and knowledge. This will include calling and speaking in person instead of emailing.
- one act of kindness each day with the following few people…
- transforming my critical responses (e.g. I don’t have enough information.) into constructive ones (e.g. what other information do you believe I should have?)
- reduced multitasking and concentrate more on task at hand.
- having a non-work related conversation with at least 2 people on my team or on another team whose work I oversee and work closely with my team per day.
- helping [a person on my team] identify a goal to get behind so that she can grow as a leader and provide her the support, training, and resources.
- giving up control and listening more to my sisters. (in a family business)
- not being judgmental when asking questions.
- having more personal interactions with my team on a specific project rather than issuing directive and disengaging.
- listening more and asking for other team members’ input at work.
- using “leader language” (open ended questions) when talking with my reports.
- observing body language before I join a group and analyzing how that affects my interaction with them.
- listening more intently to my team and be open to alternate points of view before starting a project.
- keeping tabs on control/aggression level.
- finding at least three more stages of the daily process that I can delegate to my team.
- listening more, stopping and thinking and being thoughtful before answering.
- not passing judgment in a negative way in my organization.
- maintaining proper body language to create empathy and understanding.
- more delegation to my staff.
- kindness and intentional personal interaction.
- emptying my head when having conversations.
- reconfront [name] in regards to last week’s conflict.
- to practice not saying “me too!” when someone mentions something personal that applies to me too.
- to paying attention to body language and how it affects communications
- practicing reflective listening by attempting to find out the underlying cause of an unsatisfactory result and understand how I can help.
- to querying my counter party in conversation about their feelings
- to practice reflective listening to my family and friends
- replacing overused words in my vocabulary with new language/words to communicate more effectively with people.
What do you commit to?
