By Michael McMahon

In our business, the number of uncontrollable challenges that we face is daunting.  However, by developing a keen sense of timing and the willingness to act, we have the ability to minimize the impact of uncontrollable events. 

When you fully accept that there will always be challenges, you begin to develop a higher threshold for obstacles whenever they appear. Change is often painful for many of us, and while completely normal to any process, it requires a healthy dose of respect and understanding.

Developing tools and tactics to embrace and react to change can be the building blocks for greater awareness. Simply put, once you heighten your level of awareness, you begin to make choices about how you “show up.”

We suggest a Two-Phase approach to transform your people into members of a highly productive team that knows exactly how to “show up” and why.

 PHASE 1: GAIN SOME CLARITY

MEASURE: Measure what is currently happening. You need and deserve metrics in order to be effective.

EVALUATE: Evaluate any and all data. Share your findings with others while challenging them to evaluate the raw data from another perspective.

DEFINE: Define your intended outcome around all phases of business activity, right down to how you expect people to “show up."

PHASE 2: ONCE YOU HAVE CLARITY

ELIMINATE: Eliminate ANYTHING that does not support your intentions.

INTRODUCE: Introduce your intentions around critical components of your plan, specifically where it counts most.

ADJUST and ADAPT:  Consistently adjust, innovate and adapt, while maintaining constant focus on your intended outcome.

FYI, tactics are activities towards achieving a desired outcome. Successful execution of a tactic that does not create the desired result can be a waste of time if you didn’t learn anything.

What does “showing up” have to do with mitigating risk?

Everything! We’ve built our organization to respond to the idea that human nature leans toward control versus being open to possibility. Our People become the buffer between chaos and control in such a way that clients, vendors and associates can expand their expectations around what is possible.

Right at the heart of any behavior is intent, but unfortunately many of us don’t actively acknowledge, evaluate or measure the outcome of our intentions.

When you choose to “show up,” you are no longer at effect of things. While fully present, you choose your behavior, even when that behavior may contradict a more natural response.

Once the muscle has been built, choosing how to “show up” begins to feel more natural than reacting subconsciously. When an entire organization shares the intention to consciously show up for each other and our clients, the results are quite powerful.

The deliberate process of evaluation, along with the requirement that ALL members of a team participate will lead the way to greater ROI on all activity.

Half the battle is deprogramming all of our counter productive default behavior. The worst of which is the subconscious tendency to look beyond our own activity for fault.

Intentional clarity gives us the ability to cut through old habits and actively choose ONLY activity that supports our newly found clear intent.

To sum it up, if the people on our team know how to "show up," their behavior oozes clarity of intention, which will consistently result in positive gains toward that very focus.