Walk like an Egyptian and the music of Bangles comes up in my mind. There is a skip to the step of rhythm. There is life. There is passion.
 
Contrast this to a dead man walking. Not hard to see around us, as people walk to work going through the hum-drum in their mind of what the day holds. Much of the same I imagine.
 
How then to convert those in the latter category to those in the former? All it takes is a “want to” change. A desire to have what another has that inspires.
 
A more formal and accelerated approach would be to attend a Neuro Linguistic Programming course, one that eradicates negative hurdles and blockages programmed from young.
 
Akin to clearing out the deepest part of your wardrobe allowing for new things to be organized within. The human mind is capable of change at this level in a short space of time due to its neuroplasticity.
 
Passion springs forth to the surface and the same person could migrate to the first category in a matter of days. Why then walk like a zombie? I’d rather walk like an Egyptian.
 
My life so full of colour is a matter of making choices. The path that eventually unfolds is one meant for me. This is when meaning in life surfaces and people are unwilling to work unless it is present.
 
It is the responsibility of employers and others in authority, to share steps towards attaining this level of passion. I wake up every day knowing I have so much to do and meaning inspires me to do it with passion.
 
How do you live your life? Are you inspired by passion?

​The race is on and winners seem to be leaders who espouse ethics at the highest level. Employees are frustrated, for working hard has not produced the goods.
 
In my father’s days, it was enough to have a job. In fact people were thankful to the organization they worked for and gave their life for it. Today where there are choices, people are looking further afield, even compromising on salary to find a job they enjoy with a good boss at the top.
 
Seeing it from the employers’ perspective, employee engagement has become a top priority. So how does a leader change to be more influential with his people?
 
Steven Covey’s book Heart Centered Leadership definitely comes to mind. Authenticity sits at the heart of success. This plays out in obvious initiatives like investment in employees through continuous learning. It is kind of the statement “put your money where your mouth is” playing out.
 
Leaders have a responsibility to create a human culture where people come first. When looked after with this type of care, employees are willing to bend backwards for each other and the organization.
 
Empathetic leaders are sought after today. This permeates in the form of language spoken and actions towards employees. A small gesture I noticed one day as I was consulting in an organization, was how the CEO stopped to have a personal chat with one of her employees.
 
This carried a lot of mileage, fueled by the fact that the employee was chuffed by the CEO’s memory about her child’s illness. She mentioned this to colleagues but I could see her loyalty was sealed.
 
In my career when I was still an employee in a bank, I remember my boss reiterating that we were his first family, one that he spent most hours in a day with. He encouraged us to work in harmony with each other especially when things got tough.
We did! To this day I think back about him. What an excellent leader he was. It was such joy going to work every day. He had influenced us to high performance!   

One of my clients hired me to set up a culture of accountability in an organization he was responsible for. It was a small outfit comprising 400 plus employees, a good time to install a structure of deep accountability.
 
This CEO wanted to elevate his employees to high performance by igniting their passion. He needed structured tools that ran down the line, so every employee understood their goals clearly. This enabled them to operate with success at their individual levels while indirectly engaging their teams to a higher level. 
 
Expectations were set up front, goals adjusted after two-way discussions. This clear definition of roles and responsibilities with a Neuro Linguistic Programming (NLP) goal setting process, lessened the work of Supervisors, Managers & Leaders at all levels.
 
Helping employees realise where their gaps were was a great place to start as it  defined where focus needed to be directed. Each employee was trained to be a coach and was also assigned a coach.
 
Coaching became part of the corporate culture. There was someone to discuss gaps when results were not being achieved. Wearing the hat of a coach, this also clarified in the coach’s mind how to support another, beyond working on their personal goals.
 
Employees were given contextual help from the organization. For instance updated technology and weekly reviews became a part of the eco-system. Feedback became the norm rather than the exception.
 
A major tenet of accountability, rewarding behaviour that the organization aspired to was clearly laid out. Small wins were celebrated most of the time with verbal recognition, spurring employees forward to the next level.
This entire process took less than six months for employees to fully engage. What was the difference that made the difference? Employees knew how their daily roles contributed to the organisation’s Purpose and Vision.
They felt a sense of belonging hence were self-motivated. There was no need for managers rather the trust afforded to them went a very long way. They were inspired by the organisation’s level of transparency that helped them meet their commitments.
The CEO’s objective was met. With self-discipline installed in his employees, his daily schedule freed up. His open door policy which encouraged employees to meet him if they needed to, was still in place but he noticed, many did not have the need to seek his views anymore.
Silo-thinking had broken down and employees were happy, engaged and productive. Throwing his hands in the air, he smiled and said “we did it!".

​Ever wondered how to diagnose and attain the difference that makes the difference? Watching the Olympics made me focus on what determined a medalist from the rest. 
 
Apart from the physical, sports people are also proponents of lifelong learning. Taking feedback with every mistake to improve results is a common denominator for all who seek improvement.
 
Another component in operating from high performance, is the preference to employ coaches, as this certainly fast tracks the process. Not only does this require some level of self-reflection, specific information from the coach about how one operates in life also helps catapult people to the next level.
 
So important and not attended to in today’s world is a focus on creating habits that stick. Re-directing the brain from a less productive space to one that accelerates outcomes is the main tenet of Neuro Linguistic Programming (NLP). 
 
For example, Senior Leaders may need exemplary presentation skills that are fundamental to their roles. Helping leaders like this create a state of mind that excludes stress or anxiety, rather focusing on being a charismatic presenter is what the NLP toolbox promises.
 
Once a coach is able to help the leader identify what is needed, the process needs to fit the leader. Once this feeling has clicked in for the leader, with minor tweaks, it takes practice beyond this to make it a state of mind that becomes natural.
 
Wearing the state, applying it to a lesser context (for instance a smaller audience) helps the leader feel comfortable with this new way of being. In a matter of weeks sometimes days, this begins to generate confidence in the leader.
 
As a Master Coach I have seen this fast turnaround in so many clients. It is exhilarating for coach and client. Succeeding beyond new boundaries has to be one of the best feelings anyone could ever experience.
 
Creating physical or mental anchors to trigger positive emotional states is probably the most powerful skill any human being could acquire. Learning to access resourceful states like confidence, relaxation, focus, on demand, could most certainly improve levels of productivity hence performance. 
What does it take? Experiencing an eight day program, totally immersed in the NLP Practitioner technology, learning processes that re-direct the mind. Now wouldn’t that be awesome?
 
Elevate your way of operating and access these gold nuggets that await.