Message received …

The single biggest problem in communication is the illusion that it has taken place. (George Bernard Shaw)

Just because you have spoken, doesn’t mean that anyone heard what you meant to say. Communication must be a two way dialogue, successfully received and regularly confirmed. Think back to a recent problem.

• What was the misunderstanding?


• How did you find out that you were not on the same wave length?


• If what was heard was not what was said, stand in their shoes and work out why.


• Precisely which action, phrase or word did you interpret differently from each other?


• What three things would help you to avoid this happening again?

Set your transmitter to receive and seek out signs that comprehension is taking place.

This week Kathy has two places available for individual leadership coaching.

Look at http://www.volitionassociates.co.uk/2010_coaching_programmes and contact Kathy.gee@volitionassociates.co.uk

Friendship

Life is partly what we make it, and partly what it is made by the friends we choose. (Tennessee Williams)

Friendship is both powerful and fragile, a strength and a problem, hard to understand and fundamental to a rich life. Friends influence us even when we have outgrown whatever brought us together.

• Do all your friends want what’s best for you?


• Who would you go to for honest, truthful advice?


• Who would come to you?


• Whose company would you seek out for pure enjoyment?


• With whom can you be completely yourself without being judged?


• If you dread seeing someone who is destructive or who demands more than you can give, why are you still in touch?

Loyalty is a virtue, but don’t get dragged down by it. Your choices make a difference to your life.

This week Kathy posted two new videos on http://www.wordstring.co.uk/ and went to a terrific talk on historic corsets by Rod Quilter.

Sea legs …

Smooth seas do not make skilful sailors. (African Proverb)

Everything I have ever learned was in response to a challenge of some sort, from talking (can you imagine me silent?!) to problem solving. But it wasn’t painless or easy and, apparently, to my great delight, learning never ends.

• What is your personal Sargasso Sea of inactivity?


• Where could you make waves by adding energy?


• If heavy seas are turning your life upside down, which way is up?


• What have you learned by weathering the storm?


• Which skills do you need to refine for next time?

I do enjoy my smooth seas, but storms have benefits as well …

This week Kathy was exhilarated by a deliciously wicked set by the Decadent Divas, was infuriated by The Iron Lady, and feels completely alive.

Brain power …

Man is still the most extraordinary computer of all. (John F. Kennedy)

Scientists have built a robot that can deal with steps, but could a robot walk rapidly down a crowded street without ever touching anyone? A computer can play chess, but can it choose the right direction for an organisation?

• How can you read the mood of a colleague without spoken “data entry”?


• How do you instinctively know what information is potentially useful?


• What signals make you aware of your working environment?


• When do you use data as a supportive tool, and when as a directive driver?


• How many micro-decisions went towards building your most recent working relationship?

Never underestimate the power of the human brain, or the people who own them.

This week, among other seasonal activities, Kathy saw Gentlemen Prefer Blondes at the village hall, took a friend to Oxford for the day and bought a SatNav, and now has cultural indigestion.

Happy Christmas

Don't underestimate the value of Doing Nothing, of just going along, listening to all the things you can't hear, and not bothering. (Winnie the Pooh)

It is time to relax. Exercise your Doing Nothing muscle. Go on, give it a really good work out - find your own way to not bother …

• Travel lightly through crowds


• Banish “oughts” and “shoulds” to a slimy, bottomless pond


• Seek out stillness and, when you find it, bathe in its indigo warmth


• Let your mind walk away and enter the sunlit groves of somewhere else


• Create random moments of hearing nothing at all

At least once this Christmas, desert the leaf cutter ants, ignore the pack of ravening wolves and join the pandas … bamboo, sleep, bamboo, sleep …

This week Kathy will do nothing, including Brain Ginger, for a whole week. See you in the New Year!