There’s more to having a successful career than IQ

Posted on May 8, 2013 by Jigsaw_Linzi

In the Daily Mail online, Lord Winston is quoted as saying that “He will not employ graduates with a 1^st class degree” he believes that people who have fallen short of academic brilliance make better employees.

Lord Winston, like many employers looks for employees who will be able to work well as part of a team which requires a more rounded person, someone who has intellectual ability but more importantly also scores high in emotional and social intelligence.

Neuroscience has discovered the design of the human brain makes it social, drawn into making intimate brain to brain link up’s, whenever we engage with another person. Daniel Goleman in his book Social Intelligence states “The neural bridge lets us affect the brain and so the body of everyone we interact with, just as they do us.”

Social Intelligence goes beyond the one person psychology of Emotional Intelligence, which focuses upon the abilities an individual has within, to a two person psychology which focuses upon what takes place as two people connect at a neural level.

Lord Winston commenting on the success of his recruitment strategy said “we’ve worked as a group of friends, a team. That’s very much more important than almost anything else.” This is what I would call Social Intelligence in action, as the brains of co-workers come together and connect together to produce amazing results. These joyous states, as described by Lord Winston, allow us to flourish, and have a greater capacity to achieve, as the heightened prefrontal activity enhances mental abilities like creative thinking, cognitive flexibility and processing of information.

At Jigsaw@work, we design development programmes which enhance working with the flow of the brain, integrating the latest authoritative research findings in neuroscience, and neuroleadership. Our workshops provide insights into how to drive change in behaviour, encourage responsibility and in turn improve performance. By improving the way we think enables us to perform better.

The Year of Mindfulness

Posted on April 30, 2013 by Jigsaw_Linzi

Last week the Jigsaw@work team exhibited at the Learning & Development conference in London – HRD2013. It’s a great conference for people to come and learn about the latest developments in HR and L&D and meet with like-minded people.

As well as exhibiting at the conference, Michelle also led a seminar about mindfulness. It was clear from the packed out crowd at the seminar and the number of people asking us about mindfulness that it’s a hot topic this year.

More and more people are keen to understand and put into practice mindfulness yet are unsure about what it’s about, how to implement it and how it differs from other relaxation and Neuro-linguistic Programming techniques.

One of the main differences is that when practiced on a regular basis Mindfulness alters the way the brain works by calming the amygdala – this part of the brain controls our ‘flight or fight’ stress response. It is a very sensitive part of the brain and is easily triggered, especially in these times of increased workloads and uncertainty in the economy. The calming of the amygdala enables the prefrontal cortex (cognitive) part of the brain to remain in control for longer periods. This enables us to have greater clarity of thinking and put us in a better position to make decisions and be innovative.

Mindfulness also changes our default position on the optimism and pessimism scale. Because of our survival instincts many people have a default position which is biased towards the pessimism side of the scale. This makes us more sceptical, less risk averse and less flexible. Mindfulness moves our default position towards the optimistic side of the scale meaning that we are more open, more able to identify opportunities and take risks – all skills which can help in a business environment.

Mindfulness is not a new concept – it’s actually an ancient Eastern practice – but it’s becoming more and more necessary in the workplace when pressures are increasing on staff, people are becoming more time poor and there is a large amount of uncertainty regarding job security.

Unlike many other development activities, there is scientific evidence to support the impact of mindfulness which is why organisations are starting to take note. Those who brush off the concept as a rather ‘hippy’ notion tend to be surprised when they hear that large corporate organisations such as Google and Apple have introduced mindfulness to the workplace with many others following suit.

There are a number of benefits to mindfulness, both to individuals and companies. It enables people to engage actively with what is happening in the present as well as taking a step back to understand what other factors may be affecting the situation and your emotions – put simply, it allows people to respond rather than react.

Companies have seen mindfulness reduce absence from work due to stress, anxiety or depression as well as seeing improved relationships within teams and increased focus and attention from employees.

We’re really pleased to see an increased interest in mindfulness and got some great feedback from our seminar at the HRD conference which had over 130 delegates in the audience. During the session we introduced a couple of basic mindfulness practices including: mindful listening, mindful eating and a basic breathing meditation which can be done anywhere at any time when you start to feel stressed or overwhelmed.

If you’re interested in finding out more about these techniques and how mindfulness can help improve your organisation’s productivity and resilience, why not call a member of the Jigsaw@work team on 01924 864444.

Using Emotional Intelligence to Express a Controversial Opinion

Posted on April 16, 2013 by Jigsaw_Linzi

Recent weeks have divided opinion regarding the legacy and the funeral of Margaret Thatcher. The funeral will take place at St Paul’s Cathedral on Wednesday 17 April. The West Steps of the Cathedral will be lined by 14 Pensioners of the Royal Hospital Chelsea, a single half-muffled bell will toll as the cortege arrives followed by the Cathedral’s bells, half-muffled, for around half an hour. The grandchildren of Lady Thatcher, will carry cushions bearing the Insignia of the Order of the Garter and the Order of Merit, and lay them on the Dome Alta. There will be two modest arrangements of white lilies and greenery at the foot of the lectern, and a ring of flowers around the candle. Lady Thatcher wanted the service to be ‘framed’ by music from British composers and the funeral will feature the poem ‘Little Gidding’ by T.S. Eliot.

Already there are talks of protests to the funeral. People want to voice their opinion about a woman who has now died but who has left such a controversial legacy. These opinions are heartfelt as the perceptions that the damage done by this former prime Minister still hold true, just as strongly as those people who felt she was a Prime Minister of which the country should be proud.

As Stephen Covey said in his eighth habit ‘Find your voice and inspire others to find theirs’. More importantly, freedom speech is considered to be a fundamental human right, to voice one’s opinion publicly without fear of censorship or punishment. ‘Speech’ is not limited to public speaking and is generally taken to include other forms of expression. This right is preserved in the United Nations Universal Declaration of Human Rights and is granted formal recognition by the laws of most nations, not surprisingly, to varying degrees.

However, balanced against that, we also have Section Five of the 1986 Public Order Act which is sometimes perceived to impinge on the freedom of speech.

So, how can we express controversial opinions?

A very difficult quest that will no doubt continue to be discussed for days, weeks and even years. One way of possibly considering this is to directly relate freedom of speech to Emotional Intelligence, a model established by Daniel Goleman, that seems to underpin all behaviours, often considered to be the cornerstone of communication and positive relationships.

Using the four key elements of Emotional Intelligence can in some cases help clarify when and how to put forward our own views when we have an opinion, particularly one that maybe controversial.

1. Self Awareness

If we consider self awareness we can identify what motivates our need to say our opinion – is it for a cause that we truly believe in, a greater good, or is it something that gives us ‘centre stage’ or feeds a need to enhance our ego? Fundamentally, if it is driven by our own agenda, then how can it be for the benefit of us and others? Is it possible to communicate our message in a way that evokes positive intent rather than a malicious intention?

2. Self Management

If we then look at the second stage of Emotional Intelligence which focuses on self management, we can then consider how to put forward our message. If we consider both sides of a discussion to be equally valid, it is therefore only fair and reasonable that each person or group has an opinion that should be heard, so ‘how’ we communicate that message in a way that also invites the other opinion, rather than defensiveness or aggression, must surely be considered. As Mehrabian said through his research of non verbal communication established many years ago, it is not what we say, it is how we say it.

3. Other Awareness

If we consider other people’s right as important as our right to express our opinion then maybe we will listen more and speak less, or at the very least listen once we have spoken. Otherwise, we are immediately making the assumption that our opinion is inherently more important than an other’s opinion and in that sense, cherry picking the ‘rules of engagement’ of freedom of speech, to suit our needs. How often have we agreed with a protest if it is something we agree with but disagreed if it is an opinion we do not agree with. If we truly believe in freedom of speech not only will we express our opinion but we will let other people express theirs without shouting down or making it impossible for their opinion to be heard. In this sense it is sometimes about timing, when is it your turn to speak and when is it my turn to speak?

4. Relationship Management

This may possibly be the most relevant part of Emotional Intelligence in relation to the expression of controversial opinion. If we do not respect the relationship, or see it as important then ironically the opinion we are so desperate to voice maybe lost in translation and what suddenly comes under the microscope is the fact that there is a conflict; ‘me against you’.

It will be interesting to see how the events unfold over the next few weeks to see how people react, respond, listen and voice their opinions.

There should be more women in the boardroom

Posted on April 10, 2013 by Jigsaw_Linzi

Whilst watching BBC Breakfast this morning, there was yet another feature about the lack of women in senior positions within organisations. As we are well aware this is an old chestnut, which always creates great debate and has been the focus of many TV programmes.

The reasons why there are not more women and the question of how to encourage more women into the boardroom appears to be just as controversial, but perhaps neuroscience is where we should be looking for some answers.

In December 2012, Psychology today published an article by David Rock about the five big leadership discoveries of 2012 and number two on the list was “More women increase a team’s smart.” It turns out that the Collective Intelligence of a team can be measured and compared. Dr Christopher Chabris, divided a group of 700 volunteers into small groups to work on tasks that required collective decision making and collaboration. The results of the study showed that in the teams with the highest intelligence there were three factors which were consistent;

Social Intelligence – the ability to read and respond to the social tells of others
An open and even exchange of ideas
The number of women in the group

Groups with higher numbers of women were found to be more intelligent. Women tend to be better at reading social tells and are therefore more likely to respond appropriately to individual’s enabling the development of an open and safe environment where individuals feel more able to contribute and exchange ideas.

Although we have this neuro based evidence, one of the other challenges we face when trying to increase the number of women in senior roles, is what neuroscientists refer to as the in group and the out group. Studies have shown that we will always favour others who are perceived to be in our “in group”. The decision as to whether an individual is in our “in” or “out” group takes place at a very base level and often takes place unconsciously. The more perceived similarities there are between you and others, the more likely it is they will be part of your in group. As there are so few women in senior positions, the first obstacle woman applying for the senior roles have to overcome is to be perceived as belonging to the “in group”. This in itself is controversial as it raises the question of does that mean that if women want to succeed at the top they have to become more like a man?

The Science of Teamwork

Posted on April 5, 2013 by Jigsaw_Linzi

The importance of a strong team should never be underestimated; good teamwork not only plays a large part in keeping employees happy, but will ultimately have an effect on a company’s bottom line.

But what is good team work? We get this asked all of the time and it’s an important question for managers and leaders to consider. Developing a strong team is not about having people who all work in a similar way (sometimes this can actually be detrimental) or pigeonholing people under certain labels. It’s about ensuring effective communication channels, making your team members feel valued, and knowing how to tailor your actions and words differently to each individual.

Developing self-awareness

It is vital for a team to understand each other’s preferred methods of working and behavioural traits. This is where the Jigsaw Discovery Tool comes in. Through our simple 64 piece jigsaw, learners will develop increased self-awareness and have a better understanding of their behavioural style. Equipped with this knowledge, individuals can then have a better understanding of their colleagues’ actions and understand how different people will respond to different requests and actions.

Threat or reward response

As well as understanding different behavioural types, it’s also important for leaders to consider a basic principle of the Neuroscience of Leadership – this involves knowing that as part of our survival instincts, our brains are wired to move away from threats and respond to awards. A new leader joining a group can often be regarded as a threat and might cause other team members to naturally put their guard up and regard the newcomer with mistrust.

In order for a leader to gain the trust of the team and be accepted they must become part of what is referred to in Neuroscience as the “In” group. As a stranger to the team they will be regarded by the team as belonging to the “Out” group and as such will be viewed with suspicion. This is not a conscious choice; whether an individual is perceived as belonging to the “In” or “Out” group occurs at a very base level, by the human survival instinct to naturally process information about the way the person looks, speaks, moves and the emotions they display.

Neuroscientists have found that when an individual thinks about a person perceived as belonging to the “In” group they activate the same neural networks as when thinking about themselves, however when thinking about someone perceived to belong to the “Out” group they use a completely different neural pathway. This is why it’s important for leaders to develop a rapport with staff first, learning about their values, concerns and hopes before trying to make any changes.

If a leader tries to make changes too quickly before being accepted as part of the “In” group, they often come up against resistant and uncooperative colleagues, again Neuroscience has provided insights into why this may occur. Members of the “In” group are motivated to see their fellow members win and members of the “Out” group fail. When this occurs a reward response is produced. However if the reverse occurs a threat response is produced and as human beings are programmed for survival they will always try to minimise threat responses.

Whilst a leader is gaining the trust of their team, listening and watching rather than blindly instructing, they can find out a lot about each individual – whether they are extroverts or introverts, how they prefer to receive instructions, how they react to criticism and praise, whether adding competition makes them work harder or makes them pull away.

Relating to characters

The Jigsaw Discovery Tool helps make this process simpler and more fun for all those involved. Through our Jigsaw characters, Eva Reddy, Ray O’Sunshine, Mr Huey Blue and Carey and the Harmonizers, people can easily relate to different real life characteristics, instead of having to match up experiences with letters, animals or numbers.

Managers can use these character insights to help to understand not only how individuals like to work and interact, but how others perceive them. For example, although an Eva Reddy (a team member who’s ‘ever ready’ for action) can be relied on to get the job done and might see them self as focused and decisive, others might perceive an Eva Reddy as being abrupt and overbearing.

Top tips for leading a team

Here are some of our top tips for becoming a good team leader and creating a harmonious and efficient team:

Take time to understand and bond with the group before implementing changes (remember that people are automatically geared to run from threats and move toward rewards!)
Understand each individual’s different behavioural type and tailor your instructions to their preferred method of working – do they like to think creatively like Ray O’Sunshine, in which case they need to be given space to play with an idea and consider the big picture, or do you have a Mr Huey Blue in the team in which case you should be giving clear instructions and provide practical details?
Realise that it’s good to have different working styles. It can be beneficial to a team to have different personality types and different approaches – it adds a dynamic to the group and means that an idea or problem is viewed from various angles rather than just one way of thinking.
Be prepared for fall outs – just because a team may disagree doesn’t mean that it’s not an effective group. Arguments, as long as they are about a problem and not personal, can trigger some creative problem solving and often show passion. The situation just needs to be managed effectively so time isn’t wasted and people still feel valued.
Develop shared experiences and goals to help team members see the similarities between yourself and them.

A visit to Singapore

Posted on April 4, 2013 by Jigsaw_Linzi

Anne & Richard, from our international team have just spent two weeks in Malaysia and Singapore. The purpose of their visit to Malaysia was to meet with local training providers who are interested in becoming Licensees for the Jigsaw Discovery Tool. After spending a very successful week in Malaysia, Anne and Richard moved onto Singapore where they visited our Master Licensees, Performance Leadership. Whilst in Singapore they had the privilege of delivering a “Leading with Style” workshop.

The Jigsaw Discovery Tool is already licensed in Europe, Russia and the Middle East and we are currently in discussion with organisations in the USA, Canada, Australia and Egypt.

Egomanagement

Posted on March 25, 2013 by Jigsaw_Linzi

Talking with some delegates on a recent leadership development programme we indulged in some initial conversations around the qualities of a good leader. Inevitably we focused on the ‘bad’ role models, starting with more famous figures and closing the conversation with personal experiences of the poor leaders people had experienced through the years during their working life. Very often this essentially referred to toxic leaders, which on many levels, signifies those with low emotional intelligence. There are many facets to emotional intelligence such as empathy, resilience, self awareness and awareness of others. However, when referring to leaders it seems that the key negative quality that gets in the way in many of this situations is one thing. Ego.

When discussing what makes a toxic leader, there are several signs and behaviours that indicate a lack of leadership capability. The main driver for this in many circumstances does seem to be ego. The ego of pride, the ego of being threatened, the ego which overrides the desire to serve others or the ego of insecurity. One of the leadership theories that seems to speak for itself when discussing the dangers of ego is Servant Leadership by Robert K Greenleaf. This leadership theory does what it says on the tin and in many ways was the predecessor to the emotionally intelligent leader. The servant leader makes sure things aren’t all about them but shares power, puts others first and helps others to develop; all of which is for the greater good.

It appears, according to the quote written in 600 BC that the philosophy behind ‘Servant Leadership’ isn’t anything new. Lao Tsu’s ‘Taoism’ is a strategic approach to servant leadership,

‘The greatest leader forgets himself
And attends to the development of others.
Good leaders support excellent workers.
Great leaders support the bottom ten percent.

Great leaders know that
The diamond in the rough
Is always found ‘in the rough.’

The actual Servant Leader theory discussed here was originally established in an essay by Greenleaf in 1970. Greenleaf was a director at AT&T until his retirement in 1964. He then founded the Center for Applied Ethics promoting the ideas and values behind Servant Leadership. The theory has famous fans.

Stephen Covey says of Servant Leadership, ‘I am convinced Servant Leadership will continue to dramatically increase in its relevance. You’ve got to produce more for less, and with greater speed than you’ve ever done before. The only way you can do that in a sustained way is through the empowerment of people. And the only way you get empowerment is through high-trust cultures and through the empowerment philosophy that turns bosses into servants and coaches.’

Ken Blanchard says ‘I truly believe that Servant Leadership has never been more applicable to the world of leadership than it is today. Not only are people looking for a deeper purpose and meaning when they must meet the challenges of today’s changing world; they are also looking for principles and philosophies that actually work. Servant Leadership works. It is about getting people to a higher level by leading people at a higher level.’

So, what is Servant Leadership?

Servant Leaders lead by example, promote community, and channel their authority towards helping others reach their potential. They base their actions on the following principles:

Listening first, and communicating second
Empathy and Acceptance. Create a team of people by lifting them up to ‘grow taller than they would otherwise be.’
Healing those around
Persuasion of others rather than using their position and authority to oblige others to do things
Conceptualising or constructing a vision ‘the big dream’ that will capture the imagination, and then inspiring people to continue towards this goal under their own steam, whilst remaining true to the organizations’ more mundane everyday targets.
Foresight which is the ‘better than average guess about what is going to happen and when in the future’. Greenleaf argues that much unethical behaviour can be traced back to a lack of forethought by a leader that now means that they have little choice but to act unethically.
Awareness broadens a leader’s understanding of areas such as ethics, power and values
Stewardship ‘holding something in trust for another’ i.e. hold the organisation in trust for their successors
People First then ‘the right actions fall naturally into place’
Building Community within institutions such as businesses and other organisations

On occasion there are situations when ego is not the driver but pressure of the environment and peers can make the desire to do the right thing very difficult. But nobody said doing the right thing is always easy.

Katherine Farnworth

It’s Time For Apprentices To Get Emotional

Posted on March 14, 2013 by Jigsaw_Linzi

This week is the sixth annual National Apprenticeship Week. The week is designed to celebrate apprenticeships and drive awareness of the initiative, promoting the benefits apprenticeships have for both the individual, business and the economy.

Apprenticeships are a fantastic way for workers to learn new skills in a dedicated environment, helping to improve their skillset and increase their chance of long term employability, as well contributing to a company’s progress.

There’s more to an apprenticeship than just learning sector specific skills though. The opportunity is there for workers to develop the softer, people skills which are equally important. Hands-on skills such as learning how to use equipment or carry out a procedure are relatively easy to teach as there is a process that can be followed, but finding people with the right attitude and developing their emotional intelligence can be a lot more challenging.

We genuinely need to highlight the importance of developing these alternative skills rather than overlooking them or pushing them to one side. As well as the manual skills, apprentices and workers need to have an awareness of self and others; they need to be able to regulate their emotions and manage relationships with other people. These are all essential elements for productive team work, effective communication and providing great customer service.

Ultimately it is important for leaders to think about how they can develop their apprentices’ (and their own!) Emotional Intelligence as this is the skill that creates and protects good relationships with others – arguably this is just as important as learning hands on skills. Nearly every role in an organisation involves working with others in some capacity or other, whether it’s directly with team members in a factory, reporting to your boss, talking to suppliers on the phone or pitching to a potential new client.

Developing these skills will allow workers to acknowledge what they are feeling and how this will affect the way they interact with others, as well as creating an awareness of what other people are feeling and how this might alter their exchanges with people. Developing Emotional Intelligence allows people to respond rather than react; it enables people to appreciate the context of a situation and how their emotions might affect the outcome.

National Apprenticeship Week is a great way to promote the many benefits there are to taking on an apprentice. We also hope that more employers will use apprenticeships to empower workers with vital people skills as well as manual techniques.

A Breakfast for Leaders

Posted on March 7, 2013 by Jigsaw_Linzi

To mark the official launch of the first ever Wakefield Business Week, we will be hosting a Leadership Business Breakfast alongside Councillor Peter Box, leader of Wakefield Council.

The breakfast takes place on Monday 18 March at The Hepworth art gallery from 8am – 10am and will focus on the direct relationship between the quality of leadership and the success of a business.

Alongside a panel of experienced leaders from a range of sectors, we’ll be discussing the importance of letting leaders lead, as well as how to motivate and empower employees. In addition we’ll be looking at what ethical leadership is, how to deal with organisational change, leadership in a recession and identifying and developing future talent.

It’s a great opportunity for organisations and start-up companies in the area to hear first-hand how other business leaders have handled situations and to learn from their experiences.

We’ll be sharing our own experiences from delivering leadership programmes and through our understanding of how organisations have had to change to deal with the many challenges that they face, whether this is rising stress levels, organisational reshuffles, or simply having to do more with less money and time – and the problems this creates for leaders.

The Leadership Business Breakfast is an open event so we’re looking forward to discussing leadership concepts with business leaders across the region and would like to encourage you to come along and take part in the discussions and get an insight into how our leaders are leading.

If you’d like to submit a question to the panel, please email elward@wakefield.gov.uk or to find out more about the Leadership Business Breakfast, just click here.

We’ll also be running two free workshops later on in the week (Thursday 21^st March) here at our premises in Nostell. The first starts at 9.30am and will be covering how to raise employee engagement levels, without spending a fortune. Perfect for business owners, managers, supervisors and team leaders, the session will be cover why employees become disengaged and look at how to raise engagement through effective leadership.

The next seminar starts at 11.15am and will be dealing with how to manage stress in today’s climate. This free seminar is ideal for anyone who feels that the pressure of work is impacting upon their work performance and life. We’ll be teaching strategies and techniques to help develop personal resilience to workplace stress.

We’re also offering a free 30 minute telephone coaching session for all attendees following the events.

We’re really looking forward to launching Wakefield Business Week and leading the seminars. We hope to see you there!

Two Little Words

Posted on February 20, 2013 by Jigsaw_Linzi

Thank you – two simple words, but new research suggests that these words or appreciation may be slipping from our everyday vocabulary, especially when it comes to our working environments.

A survey conducted by Avery Rewards of more than 2,000 workers found that nearly half of British workers don’t feel appreciated at work. One in four stated they had never received a thank you from their boss, and although nearly half feel they’re paid fairly, they also felt that their superiors fail to show enough appreciation.

So, who is guilty? When did you last say thank you? How many of us are slipping into the habit of thinking that a contract and a pay check is enough when it comes to employee appreciation?

With today’s workforce constantly under pressure, suffering from squeezed resources and being time poor, organisations are expecting more and more from their workers, this means that now, more than ever staff need positive and more frequent signs of appreciation.

To create an engaged workforce, with staff who take pride in their work and aren’t constantly clock watching, you need to show your workers that their efforts have been recognised and are appreciated.

Making staff feel appreciated boosts morale, encourages team members to continue working hard, and you’re more likely to retain staff if they feel their work has been acknowledged.

It doesn’t take much to give a simple ‘thank you’ but it can make a world of difference.

Saying ‘thank you ‘ is an obvious and simple thing to do, but it’s a gesture that is often overlooked, particularly with busy schedules and an increase in the use of technology when communicating. For example think of all those emails being fired off left, right and centre, how many have a pre-programmed ‘thanks’ signature – are we too busy to type the word and with it offer a genuine gesture?

Showing appreciation doesn’t always have to be a thank you, it can be shown in a number of ways. You could reward staff by letting them leave early, offer a financial bonus, organise a social night out or bring in treats for lunch one day. It’s worth remembering that most people would prefer to regularly be appreciated rather than have one off gestures after months of feeling neglected.

Everyone likes to feel appreciated, valued and thanked for the work they do, even if they are Eva Reddys who are often straight talking and to the point, or the Ray O’Sunshines, who might seem more preoccupied with doing their own thing.

And so we’ll leave you with our own bit of appreciation – thank you for reading our blogs! We hope you continue to enjoy reading the entries and take an interest in Jigsaw@work.

Jigsaw@work Blog

Bespoke Learning and Development Consultancy

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