Lesson Nr 1 from the jungle

I just returned from holidays with my children in Costa Rica where we explored wildlife and nature.  We stayed 2 days and 2 nights in the Braulio Carillo National Park and our guide during these 2 days was Leo.  We immediately felt safe with Leo, he was radiating wisdom, lots of life experience, very grounded, very serene and it seemed as nothing could bring Leo out of balance. 

Leo started explaining us the typical trails we could walk on in the park.  I looked at Leo and said: ” Please, don’t take us on the tourist trails, we want to feel the jungle, walk on earth.  Don’t lead us on trails but let us experience and discover our own paths.” Leo looked at me and the kids, and said: “OK, I get it.”  Leo took us out in the jungle and what I witnessed happening was a mini-leadership retreat with my kids.  I have seen them grow in those 2 days and know they learnt lessons for life. Leo was a great teacher.  He was modeling leadership in a unique way. Every word he spoke, was spoken with intention, landed, stuck and had the desired impact. I am happy to share with you our lessons from the jungle and hope it inspires you!

Lesson Nr 1: Presence

Leo said: “Kids listen, when we go into the jungle,  I need you to be fully present.  Every step you make, you have to make it consciously. You must look where you put your feet, you don’t just put them anywhere. Every step you make is a conscious step. Behind every tree, under every leaf can be a snake or any other animal.  This is their home and we are the visitors.”

Every step we made was a conscious step. Being so present expanded our ability to see, expanded our awareness of the beautiful nature around us. All our senses were wide awake and open. We were focussed solely on the jungle with our whole being.  Our minds were not with school or friends or business.  Our minds were not wandering off in the past, or in the future.  We were fully absorbed by the jungle, the sounds, the smells, the beauty, the wildlife. We were so in the moment, so in the “now”.  We even had moments where we crossed “natural bridges” with loose stones and pieces of wood.  We had not one single moment of distraction and felt safe, because before putting our feet down, we would test if whatever we would step upon would hold us.  Every single step we made, was a conscious step. 

We experienced this quality of being present generating sweet happiness and flow.  

Being fully present is a challenging leadership skill in corporations!                -Jungle experiences transferred into business life-

Workload for leaders/managers in corporate life is high and the distractions are manifold. It is a challenge to be highly focussed and fully present. Multitasking is “in”, expected and makes us look busy. The truth is that it takes us either in the past or in the future, we loose the connection with the “now” and it reduces our presence, our focus.

Example:  If we are in dialogue with someone and our mind wanders off to what to do next (the future), or to the conversation we had yesterday with our boss (the past), we are no longer present (in the “now”). Our conversation partner will sense that we are no longer present and the impact will be that we loose connection. 

By being solely focussed on and absorbed by the jungle and through being so present, we experienced a state of flow(*).  Our adventure through the jungle, would never have lead to this state of flow if Leo would not have started off with requesting us to be really present. We probably would have started walking without the same awareness and without having made the conscious choice of being fully present. 

This means that it is not so much what we did, but how we did it that brought us a much deeper experience leading to a feeling of fulfillment and happiness. And how we did it, was a conscious choice.  It also means that we can choose for more fulfillment in our daily lives by making conscious choices on how to do what we do. 

Some questions for reflection: 

• On a scale from 1 to 10, how satisfied are you with how present you are in your business life?
• How would you like it to be?
• What helps you to increase your focus, consciousness and awareness?
• What becomes available to you in business life, when every step you make becomes a conscious step, fully present with all you senses wide awake and open?

Jungle lesson Nr 2 is coming soon! 

Pura Vida!

Nicole Heimann

CPCC, Executive Coach

(*) Mikael Csíkszentmihályi outlines in his work, his theory that people are most happy when they are in a state of flow— a state of concentration or complete absorption with the activity at hand and the situation. It is a state in which we are so involved in an activity that nothing else seems to matter.

Perfection, blessing or curse?

Interestingly, over the last couple of weeks, I have had many encounters with Perfection in very different ways.  In working with different teams and people in different constellations, Perfection was always present and had it’s impact.  Let me share four stories with you:

1. Perfection: outcome of a creative process  - The first story was from 2 team members who created and developed something new and inspirational. Reviewing the process they went through, the process happened  in a state of flow, where creativity emerges, new ideas evolve, positive energy is released and so much was created from each other and things just got better and better.  Sparkling eyes, limitless energy, high positivity.   They described the moments as boosting their energy, flowing creativity and effortless productivity. They were so proud of their work and told me it was just perfect!

• A goal? I asked them if they had put „producing a perfect something“ as a goal.  They stared at me as if I had asked a very strange question.  No, of course not, it was an outcome of a creative process!
• Impact? The impact they had had on their colleagues had been inspiring, generating curiosity and people wanting to join them.  Positive emotions and great satisfaction were experienced.

Perfection as an outcome of a creative process is fulfilling, rewarding, energizing and motivating!

2. Perfection: source of frustration and unproductivity - I worked with a team where one of the members expected another member to be perfect and she kept returning work that wasn’t done good enough in her opinion. She was caught in being focussed on all that was wrong, did not see the good things anymore and went on criticising.  Nothing, even good things, were good enough anymore. The other person felt as if all the work done would never be good enough, felt rejected and was not able to produce anything productive anymore.

• A goal?  Yes, Perfectionism had become one, in such a way that it had become an obsessive focus on the other person.
• Impact? The impact was frustration for both parties involved, a real energy drain resulting in conflict and miscommunication.

When looking for perfection in another person becomes the only narrow focus, the outcome is a loss of energy resulting in conflict. 

3. Perfection: stopping us from moving forward - Another team, another story. A project team was working on a new strategy.  They had agreed on goals and actions.  The next project team meeting took place and one person had taken no action on the agreed actions.  When his colleagues asked why not, the answer was that he didn’t feel perfectly prepared to start taking action.  He wasn’t sure that he had all the information needed to move forward.  Everybody had been given the same information and there was really no reason not to do any of the actions agreed.

• A goal?  Not consciously, the person said, but I was very afraid not to be perfect and loose my face, so I decided not to act.
• Impact? Frustration amongst the team members because he had not taken action.

When looking for perfection in ourselves for others becomes the only narrow focus, the outcome is that we block ourselves from our true potential and delay our own goals in moving forward. 

4. Perfection: leading ourselves into exhaustion!  - Reaching for the stars is a good thing, as long as it doesn’t sabotage us. Usually people are proud to be a perfectionist.  We live in a fast world these days where lean management, overload of work and being short of resources have become standard.  I was talking to a client who asked me to help her to find a healthy relationship with her striving for perfection.  „When I am afraid not to be perfect, I loose myself, it takes control over me. I loose my efficiency, I spend much more time on things than I normally do and I can’t stop it. I work longer hours and it exhausts me.”

• A Goal?  Yes, I really worked hard, because I want to be perfect.  If I don’t think I do things perfectly, I feel like a failure.
• Impact? She realized that she doesn’t involve other people anymore in her work, looses herself into details and looses her efficiency.

When looking for perfection within oneself, it becomes a pressure through which we limit our own resources and drain our own energy with the risk of exhausting ourselves.

What is your relation with Perfection?

1. When do you produce the perfect results?
2. Do you expect others to be perfect?
3. What is the impact on you and on the other people?
4. Do you expect from yourself to be perfect?
5. What is the impact on you and on others?
6. How many times did perfection keep you from moving forward?

If you are interested and curious to learn more about

1. how this can happen (it is predictable!)
2. why this happens (yes, there’s a reason for it!)
3. what you can do about it: new ways to deal with Perfection in a productive way (for you, for others and in interactions with others)
4. what you need to do to increase your energy and have access to your full potential and spend more time in your positive parts where flow can be experienced
5. many many more fascinating aspects of communication processes (What the impact of striving for Perfection can be on you and on others is just one example…)

then sign up for our open Process Communication Seminar from September 28 till 30th in Thalwil near Zurich.  I promise you that these 3 days will have a big impact on your professional and personal life! 

Nicole Heimann 

 

How we live PCM in our Team

We talk a lot about the fact that we live PCM in our team, so I’d like to give you a few examples of how we do this. We know each others personality structures and use this knowledge to communicate and motivate and be there for each other when one of us is in distress. I believe there are three key factors that make PCM in teams so successful:

1. Authentic motivation
2. Appreciating and playing on strengths
3. Transparency, revealing our own system

Let’s have a closer look at them through real life 5C! examples:

           1. How did I become motivated to write this Blog?

Nicole sent me the following message: “… Karen, I would love your logical & heart approach for this. Can you take charge of writing a Blog on how we live PCM in our team? …”

Nicole motivated me by showing appreciation for my logical and heart approach. This reached me straight away because I am a Harmoniser base in a Workaholic phase. Nicole used the nurturative channel first and then the requestive which are my 2 favourite channels. She used psychological need satisfaction by combining phase and base and indicating appreciation of my character strengths. The impact on me is that I feel motivated and appreciated. Because even if I know, Nicole knows and lives PCM, she is using it in an authentic way. If I would feel that her words weren’t really meant, but just words used as a technique, I can assure you that I would feel it and it wouldn’t have the same impact. I believe authentic motivation is one of the key factors of successful PCM use in our team.

           2.  Appreciating and playing on strengths

Rainer and I had the opportunity to meet with a potential client. Based on information that we had received, we believed that the potential client had a lot of rebel energy and would probably be receptive to a new type of presentation. I have strong organizational/logical skills and Rainer is fabulous with creative ideas. So what did we do? We used the best of these skills and prepared an A3 size, very colourful MindMap® for the presentation. Rainer also built pyramids with key messages for the client. In addition, we prepared a standard slide presentation in case the information about the potential client was wrong and rebel energy was low. This satisfied my need to be well prepared and informative. The client was very receptive to the presentation and asked to keep the pyramids. Cooollll☺!!

             3. Transparency: revealing our own system

We are all PCM passionate and we remain human too. So, yes, within our own team it happens that we experience distress. What is great, however, is that it never lasts long, because we are transparent and open about it and continuously reveal our own system. We do this in different ways:

• If we are aware of it, we will claim our battery charge from each other and ask for a good dose of psychological need satisfaction. It’s easy and it really helps.
• If we are not aware of it in the moment and one of is in their 1st degree driver behaviour, another one will notice and reveal it. For instance, if Hannes, Rebel base, goes in his 1st degree “I try hard and I just don’t get it” : we’ll reveal it in a playful way, saying something like … yeahh… keep on trying…try harder!!! We all have a good laugh, and we’re back in business. Or, when we feel Nicole’s Persister driver wanting us to be perfect: we’ll tell her … Nicole, you’re in your first degree… She’ll say thanks, didn’t realize and by revealing that, she’s out.

Being able to be transparent and reveal the process that is happening has created a strong trust basis with each other and an increased engagement level. This strong trust basis enables us to give authentic feedback without hesitation and we also authentically voice to each other what we need or what frustrates us.
Understanding our differences makes that we don’t take this personally and are able to work with each other’s feedback in a very constructive way.
The result is that we don’t loose a lot of time because of miscommunication in our team. We experience increased efficiency, a joyful way of working, and a healthy relationship within the team. I experience this as extremely valuable.

I hope that you have found this to be inspiring and a reason to use PCM every day!!

Karen R. Schoepke

Earth Dragons connect for healing for Japan

We are rocked by the scenes of devastation we have seen in Japan in the last few days. It’s a reminder of the power of nature and the cycle of life.

I (Nicole) am an Earth Dragon, member of one of the CTI Leadership tribes. We, Earth Dragons are a tribe of 22 people from 13 countries all over the world.

When we trained together on the CTI Leadership program, we connected together via a morning ritual that was based on Shintaido and connected us to North, East, South, West, the earth, the sky and the centre.

We have revised the wording to send wishes of healing to Japan and especially to our tribe member Nao Konishi who lives in Tokyo with her family.

We share it here so you may join us in sending wishes of healing. We will be doing this every morning, wherever we are in the world.

(Stand and face the North and read the following out loud.)

Shintaido to the North
The North. The season is winter. The time of life is at its end. The North represents death, destruction, ending. The earthquakes and tsunami were strong, painful expressions from the Earth for the North. We reflect on all those who have lost their lives. May their souls find peace into the light, may we rest and recover from the shock of the powers of nature.
We have compassion for all those who have lost loved ones and for all the Japanese people mourning over the destruction to their country.
We wish that they find peace and acceptance in their hearts to accept the North.

Shintaido to the North.

(Turn to face the East)

Shintaido to the East
The East. The season is spring. The time of life is youth, a new beginning, new possibilities.
The sun is rising; the air is fresh. It’s time to plant seeds and make investments and nurture the beginning of something new.
We wish for the people in Japan to recover from the North and experience healing, trust and believe in the East. We wish for a positive outcome of the damaged nuclear reactors.
We wish for them to find their energy of the East, to rebuild anew with strength, courage and renewed energy. We wish for all people in Japan and the rest of the world to be safe.

Shintaido to the East

(Turn to face the South)

Shintaido to the South
The South. The season is summer. The time of life is adulthood. The time of the day is midday. The sun is hot. What has been planted is growing. Seeds have sprouted and are showing their beautiful flowers and fruits. We see results of the investments we made. We find a hard working and joyful spirit. We wish for the people of Japan to believe that this time will come and allow the joy in their hearts when looking at the fruits of their creations.

Shintaido to the South

(Turn to face the West)

Shintaido to the West
The West. The season is autumn. The time of life is old age. The time of the day is early evening. The sun is setting. The colours are changing, transformation has happened. It’s time to harvest. There’s a feeling of deep satisfaction. We look back and experience, everything is good now.
We wish for the people of Japan to surrender and trust that even if we can’t see it yet…this time will come.

Shintaido to the West

(Turn to face the North)

Shintaido to the North
We wish for the next North to be peaceful hibernation for the Japanese people.
May it be a peaceful time of sleep and rest to recharge batteries and end this cycle and gently move on into the East again and go with the flow into the eternal cycles of life.

Shintaido to the North

(Turn and look at the ground)

Shintaido to Mother Earth
Mother Earth. We walk on her every day, she holds us, she holds all kinds of life on her surface unconditionally. She’s our womb, she gives us life.
We bow to Mother Earth, to the earth, the rivers, the streams, the rocks, the volcanoes, the lava… to life. We connect to Mother Earth, to groundedness, to earthiness, to love for Mother Earth. We connect with consciousness with Mother Earth.

Shintaido to Mother Earth

(Turn and look up to the sky)

Shintaido to Father Sky
Father Sky, protect the Japanese people, shine your infinite stars on them, inspire them with your beautiful open blue sky. Show them infinite possibility and unlimited potentials and lovingly hold the Japanese people in spaciousness.

Shintaido to Father Sky

(Turn to face the centre)

Shintaido to the Center
In the centre is community, love, warmth, centeredness and balance. In the centre, we are all connected and we feel with all Japanese people. We connect to the centre to support the Japanese people and share loving energy coming from all over the world.

Shintaido to the Center

With love, light & compassion from
The Earth Dragons
CTI Leadership Tribe

How to keep Social Systems alive!

While studying about Systems and Systems Intelligence the other day, I came across the following:

For a system to keep alive it must continually reproduce a sort of basic element, such as cells for a ‘living system’ like a human. Without this reproduction of cells a human will die.

Niklas Luhman applied this concept also to social systems like organizations, teams, and relationships. He has developed an interesting concept about how these social systems stay alive. He came to the conclusion that COMMUNICATION is that basic element they continually need to reproduce to keep them alive.

So if communication is that critical, one could argue that it is worth the effort to invest in quality communication. Here is where I see a clear link to PCM.

PCM is a communication model aimed at quality communication. In this sense it not only serves the purpose to keep a social system alive, but to also make it a better system.

Now, what do you think of that???

Greetings from the Black Forrest, Rainer

Leadership and Conflicts

In a leader’s life, conflict is a part of it. It is predictable, it is bound to happen and leadership and conflict go hand in hand.

Where conflicts are not managed with awareness and openness, relationships are at stake. When the relationship has been damaged, it impacts business results.

In your leadership role, dealing with conflicts in a positive, creative and productive way is essential. It is not only about resolving conflict or solving the issue, it is about
1. HOW you resolve conflict
2. WHO you are whilst resolving conflict and
3. HOW you engage people during this process.
A conflict well resolved can make the relationship stronger than ever before, which is bound to have a strong impact on business results.

A true leader masters the art to
1. stay out of the conflict, stay in serenity and remain flexible and open
2. recognize what is underneath the conflict
3. transform the conflict into an opportunity

At 5C!, we teach these skills on the basis of the Process Communication Model®, Stephen Karpman’s Dramatriangle and experiential leadership methods. We help you create from conflicts in a masterful way, results-oriented whilst dealing with the underlying human issues causing the conflict.

Leaders experience this method as transformational and powerful.
Yesterday, somebody asked me “Why is this?”, which inspired me to share this through our blog.

The answer can be bottom-lined in: because it is “logical and easy”.
PCM is a scientifically validated model based on clinical psychology. It is logical, easy to understand and when people have been on a workshop, all of a sudden it all makes sense…all relationships and their communication dynamics become clear.
What makes it powerful is that it goes beyond insights – PCM gives you communication strategies to your insights. Because it is not about “what” we comunicate, but “how” we communicate… and it is easy to USE!
It allows you to actively change and transform relationships and creatively turn conflicts into opportunities.

1. Miscommunication dynamics revealed help you stay in serenity, open and flexible
The insights leaders gain through the PCM-model into the underlying issues for conflict reveal that it has nothing to do with the leader or the person being attacked or blamed but that it has to do with the underlying issue, an unmet need of that person. This unmet need often has nothing to do with the theme of the conflict!

This insight is so valuable because it allows leaders not to take things personally anymore. For the leader who doesn’t take things personally because he/she understands the dynamics of the unmet needs, it is much easier to stay in a place of serenity where openness and flexibility are possible.

Furthermore, the leaders also have insights into their own psychological needs. Effective leaders keep themselves out of conflict (their own sabotaging mechanisms) by ensuring they get their psychological needs met every day.

2. If you recognize the unmet need underneath the conflict, you can work on it to restore the balance in the relationship
When the leader has recognized the unmet need of that person, he will first work on that and “charge the battery” of this person, so that on a human level, this person gets what he or she really needs. This action restores the relationship level and steers the process of communication into a positive zone again. As “technical” as this intervention sounds, it only works if it comes from a place of true authenticity.

3. Transform the conflict into an opportunity and create from the other person
Now that the communication process has been steered back into the zone where listening and dialogue are possible, both parties are “in relationship” again. It is here that the conflict can be transformed into an opportunity. In our workshops, you will learn how to create from others in an engaging and motivating way.

Powerful leadership comes from deep within. It comes from a place connected to your passion & purpose. Skills and techniques are only as powerful as the quality of your intentions. If your intentions are positive and connected to your deepest convictions and if you use your leadership skills from a place of true authenticity, then conflicts hold the capacity to be transformed into strengthened relationships and growth in business.

Take a moment for reflection and imagine the possibilities…
1. How are you dealing with conflicts?
2. Who are you being as a leader whilst resolving conflicts?
3. How are you engaging and motivating the people involved in the conflict?
4. What becomes possible when you look at a conflict as an opportunity for strengthening relationships impacting business growth?
5. What is the impact you wish to have as a leader when dealing with conflicts?

Hope you enjoyed reading and have a great week!
Nicole

Upcoming open PCM Seminar: February 14-16, 2011

Next dates:
* in English: June 15-17, 2011
* in German: September 28-30, 2011

Richard Branson, PCM & Leadership impact

I came across an interview with Richard Branson published in the American Express Open Forum. The interview is a great example of how a Promoter (PCM personality type) keeps himself motivated.

Richard Branson is a great example of a leader who fully embraces his promoter (and rebel – and more ) energies and plays out their natural strengths to the fullest, which has an amazing impact on the success of his leadership.

Highlighting not labelling
I will highlight the Promoter personality type in this blog because it is so beautifully demonstrated and strong. Even if I highlight only one specific type, like everyone else, Richard Branson has the six PCM personality types in his own unique personality architecture. Highlighting one personality type is not meant to box or to label.

The details of how personality is structured and how people change throughout their lives and what determines their primary psychological need is taught in PCM seminars. In this blog, I want to keep it simple and look at the interview through a PCM lens.

Let’s focus and bottom-line the essence of the Promoter:
• Character Strengths: charming, adaptable, persuasive
• Perception: through action
• Trait: the ability to be firm and direct
• Words/language they use: Bottom line, best shot, move it forward, go for it, enough talk, go on, make it happen and a lot of action oriented verbs.
• Preferred Communication Channel: a direct channel (example: Tell me what you plan to do, Give me the report by tomorrow)
• Psychological Need: excitement, challenges, incidence

To my knowledge, Richard hasn’t been on a PCM-course, and I’m fascinated how he is in tune with himself, how he feels his primary psychological needs and satisfies these hungers. Furthermore he’s right on with calling it “the Art of Self-Motivation”.

His last sentence in the interview shows his PCM-Promoter-Phase which determines the psychological need. (excitement, incidence)
„You may wonder if such adventures are appropriate for a man my age, 60, which brings me to my last motivational rule: “Screw it, let’s do it!”

In PCM, self-management is one important leadership skill out of the whole model.
The Art of Self-Management works by taking responsibility to satisfy our own psychological needs. Our current phase determines our psychological need. (Our phase is revealed in our unique personality architecture through an online self-assessment questionnaire)

The promoter-personality type has a psychological need for excitement and challenge.
A promoter-phase person needs to cover a basic desire for a great deal of excitement in a short period of time. People with incidence hunger usually prefer structuring their own time for short periods of great intensity as opposed to a 9-to-5 schedule. It makes them feel alive! Feel the pace and the rythm as you read through the article! Feel the energy and the adrenaline when he talks about the challenges!

What are the three major impacts on his Leadership through mastering the Art of Self-Motivation?
1. A healthy relationship with Self
2. Productive relationships to others
3. Authentic leadership connected to purpose

1. A healthy Relationship with Self
As Richard “charges his battery” very well, in other words, masters the art of self-management to keep himself motivated, he has access to his full potential, to all six personality types he has in him.
He knows he needs challenges to stay motivated and pro-actively creates them.
„Come to think of it, my original inquisitiveness and desire to seek out new challenges can be seen in our Virgin Galactic space adventure. Following a busy year culminating in the inauguration of the Spaceport runway in New Mexico in October, my dream of space tourism is getting that much closer.“

Do you feel the adrenalin, the aliveness in the challenge he put himself?
This is what creates energy and aliveness. This is what psychological need satisfaction does. We are happier, have a lot of positive energy into ourselves and experience more joy in life.

Before we can be in a good relationship with others, a fundamental leadership skill is to be in good relationship with ourselves. The Art of Self-Management is key to that!

2. Productive relationship to others
Only when our own psychological needs are met in a positive way, we are able to deal effectively with others. Only when our battery is charged, we are able to be in relationship, connect with others and establish positive communication.

As our „batteries are charged“, we have access to our full potential, i.e. all six personality types in our unique personality architecture. In PCM Seminars we learn how to use „our elevator“ and use our full potential. In taking „our elevator“ to another personality type within ourselves, we are able to connect and relate more easy to our co-workers who will have their own unique personality architectures. Also…the „elevator“ only works if our batteries are charged…
“The U.K.’s recession of the late 1970s coincided with a slowdown in our record sales and a lack of hits. By that point we had created a close community at Virgin, and I wanted the people I worked with and cared about to enjoy their jobs; I was also deeply concerned about job security. Hoping to expand our way out of our financial problems, I bought two nightclubs and invested more money in our record business. Its managing director, Simon Draper, was a great talent, so I backed him to create the U.K.’s largest independent label.”

This is another indispensible leadership skill because if we don’t master the art of self-management and do not satisfy our psychological needs in a positive way, we will unconsiously look for them in a negative way. Our „elevator“ is stuck, and we drift off in the zone of miscommunication, masks and unproductive interaction. (predictable sabotaging mechanisms)

When our batteries are charged, our psychological needs are met, then we have „energy“, we are more productive and we have more joy in life. The impact on his leadership is an enormous capacity to create from others.
„What will keep me motivated in 2011? The thousands of people who work for Virgin, the many people around the world who rely on us, and the work of Virgin Unite.“

3. Authentic Leadership, connected to purpose
Once we live „on type“, embrace ourselves the way we are and have freed ourselves from social pressures and self-imposed limits to conform to what we might believe society expects from us, we live and lead from a place of authenticity. Authentic leaders follow their passion and start living a live on purpose. From this place, leadership goes beyond ego and serves a bigger purpose.
We can only experience this amazing amount of positive energy and flow if our psychological needs are met in a positive way and we practice the Art of Self-Management.
“Over the past decade, my motivation has broadened to encompass large-scale philanthropic endeavors, as the global scope of the Virgin Group’s businesses has put us in a position to help to address the great challenges humanity faces. This led to the creation of Virgin Unite, which was instrumental in establishing The Elders, the Branson Centre of Entrepreneurship and the Carbon War Room — all exciting tools in the fight against poverty, illness and catastrophic climate change.”

What ticks for Richard Branson doesn’t necessarily tick for you….
What is important to realize is that this way of self-motivation, works for Richard. All personality types have different psychological needs. So what works for Richard, doesn’t necessarily work for you as you might have a different type of battery to charge!
You have your own unique personality architecture, your own strengths to build on and your unique psychological needs that motivate you.

Reading through a PCM-lens
I hope you will enjoy reading the interview through the PCM-lens and enjoy the power of the promoter energy.
For those of you who have already been on a PCM seminar, you will also discover the rebel energy: look for the rebel language. Feel the emotion through the language and watch for words like “fun, passionate, inspiring., love…” and the positive character traits of the rebel such as re-acting spontaneous, their creativity and playfulness.
„That sense of fun, enjoyment and purpose underpinned our expansion….“

Here is the link which leads to the article.

And I am curious, how are you charging your batteries and what is the impact on your leadership?

Nicole Heimann

In case you want to explore PCM further, and what it can do for you and your leadership, you might be interested in our open seminar in February, read more information here or you are very welcome to contact me at +41 43 888 55 01 for a personal conversation.

Merry Christmas and a happy New Year!

Wow..what a year it has been! We feel grateful. We feel grateful that we can live our passions and do the work we do. Your enthusiasm, your testimonials, your emails with stories… are our “golden moments” for us. It is what makes our work fulfilling. Thank you!
We ‘d like to express our sincere appreciation for the trust and confidence you have given us over the past years. Thank you for the amazing relationships we built together, which have enriched our lives. We look forward to continueing the journey in 2011!

Warm season’s greetings from Nicole, Rainer, Karen, Hannes, Robert and Shirley.

“How great leaders inspire action” by Simon Sinek

I came across this video and I like Simon Sinek and his simple but powerful view on inspirational leadership where all is starting with a golden circle and the question “Why?” His examples include Apple, Martin Luther King, and the Wright brothers — and as a counterpoint Tivo, which (until a recent court victory that tripled its stock price) appeared to be struggling.
Have fun watching it, Rainer

Where is the rebel in you?

A precious gift. – With the holiday season coming up and families taking time for each other, I’m in the mood to write a blog with a more private character this time. It’s the time of the year of presents and gifts. It’s the gifts that made me dream…because I feel like we’re in this fortunate position of leaving people with gifts throughout the whole year . Leaders, managers, people who participated in our corporate development programs leave with a gift. The priceless gift is that they can use what they learned in all areas of their lives – not just work but also at home, in their relationships with their spouses, children and friends.

It has happened often that a participant – successful corporate leader AND father – comes to me and says the following:

“I think I finally start to understand one of my kids…. I think my son is a rebel-base kid… Can you give me some tricks how to change him or how to make him understand that to be successful in business later on in life, you have to be logical, organized and hard working… I keep on explaining him over and over again…and I don’t seem to be getting through to him…”

No, you can’t change them… but you can show them ways so that they get access to those other parts in them and use more of their potential. For that, the secret is that you have to find the rebel in you, first!

I hope this blog will be an inspiration to all leaders, managers, people who in their privates lives are parents with rebel-base children to embrace, accept and love them as they are and give them what they really need.

I use the word “Base”, which in PCM-language means that this is the most dominant personality type present. Everybody has access to all personality types in a certain order and to a certain degree. So, we don’t label or “box” people, and we speak of a base.

Rebel base kids (and adults too) are spontaneous, creative and playful. Their primary perception is through spontaneous emotional reactions and they value fun. They experience a spontaneous emotional reaction to people and situations with likes and dislikes. They love humor and interact with others in a playful way. The psychological need for a rebel kid or adult is playful contact. Now, if this psychological need, the rebel’s primary motivation, is not met in a positive way, he will start looking for it in a negative way – better than nothing at all! They start to be provocative, become negative and complaining, easily bored and vengeful and blame other people or situations.

If you look at my architecture on our website, you will see that I am a persister-base and that I have the rebel in me on my 5th floor. What does this mean?

As a persister-base person, I am dedicated, conscientious, observant. My primary perception is through opinions and I value trust. (Note the rebel’s primary perception is through emotional reactions and they value fun….) Furthermore, the way, I view the world is by evaluating people and situations through a belief & value system. (Note the rebel: through spontaneous reactions and likes & dislikes!). I prize loyalty, commitment and dedication. (Note: the rebels prize spontaneity & creativity!). And values are most important to me. (Not humor, which is the rebel’s favorite). The way I am motivated as a persister base (thus my psychological need) is when I get recognition for my achievements and for my beliefs. (for the rebel, it is playful contact….) And if I don’t get my needs met in a positive way, I will look for them in negative ways…which means I get frustrated about those who don’t believe the same and don’t see things the way I see them. I will become critical and suspicious and start preaching.

Are you starting to feel it?
- Do you recognize the predictable miscommunication between the two personality types which is like “preprogrammed” to happen?
- Can you imagine how simply through our own personality architecture and the basis we have most dominant in ourselves, we perceive from the limited view of our own perception and miss the connection with the other, totally different way of perceiving from the other person?
- Our psychological need (our motivation) is what drives us. Can you think of the potential conflict when my rebel child is seeking playful contact and I (persister) mom seeks to be recognized for my opinions?
- Have you ever experienced “I have told him (her) more than a 100 times and I don’t seem to get through”? When I hear this, I often ask: “did you tell him/her 100 times in the same way? If so, what makes you think nr 101 in the same way will make the message come through…?

Well, to quote Taibi: “If you want them to listen to what you say, talk their language.” It means I have to connect with the rebel inside of me, and shift perception to really connect on an intimate level with my child.

Having the rebel in me at my 5th floor means that I can cope with people who have the rebel as a basis but not for a very long period of time. Not as long as when I am in my basis (my home, my comfort zone). The floors that we have higher up in our architecture, we don’t visit them that often and it takes us more energy if we have to work or live with people who have that personality type as a basis which we have higher up in our architecture and to a lesser extent.

The good news is that those are like muscles. With desire, awareness and consiousness and a bit of training, we can flex those muscles again and use more of our whole potential!

Through gaining these insights on my very first PCM seminar in 2003, I started to look at my children with completely different eyes. I recognized them for who they are and could let go of wanting them to be in a certain way.

Through Taibi’s research we know that most adults only use their first 2 or 3 floors of their personality architecture.

So, after the PCM seminar, I knew I had to awaken the rebel in me… My rebel parts had fallen asleep in the 5th floor. I didn’t visit that floor very often. I knew if I wanted to really connect with my child, I would have to flex that muscle again. I recognised that part in me and also realized it hadn’t lived anymore for many years. My delightful rebel kid was my teacher. I learned so much from him. Today I can’t imagine a life without a space for the rebel in me which is really cool and I enjoy it a lot.

So if your child is playful, spontaneous, creative, motivated by playful, upbeat and stimulating contact with the world, is an active and kinesthetic learner…get curious… you might have a healthy delicious rebel kid! The greatest gift you can give a rebel child is to ensure that they have enough playful contact. Because that is their psychological need, it is what motivates them and what charges their batteries. When their batteries are charged, they have access to the workaholic parts (data/facts/info/logical/structured/organized) in them which they need to go through our school system.

Have a wonderful holiday season!

P.S. 1 – The cool picture is with the permission of Agnes, the daughter of our rebel (Hannes ) in the team. She had the time of her life with a real “rebel role” in a theatre play and could play to her natural strenghts.

P.S. 2 – If you are curious and you want to learn more about all the 6 Kahler PCM Personality Types, join our open seminar in February 2011.

P.S. 3 – If you are a PCM Alumni, and you’re still looking for a special gift for your family or friends, have a look at our special holiday gift vouchers!