March 2021

Fear Has A Big Impact on All the Dimensions of Our Life

Mar 31, 2021 Comments

Becoming Free from Fear to Experience Richer Lives

Fear has a direct impact on our effectiveness in all the dimensions of our lives. It can cause us to go from being highly responsible and effective to being self-protective with only our own interests in mind.

That is in a way what motivated me to write this article after listening to a podcast from “How to Save a Planet” about how directors at a certain utility company in one of the states in the US were resistive to implementing cleaner energy because the change might threaten their retirement plans.

I used to deliver two training programs by Dr. Michael Durst, “Management by Responsibility” and “Personal Responsibility in Delivering Excellence, P.R.I.D.E”. (the link goes to an old video but with great content). I thought of sharing the essence of that program since it no longer seems to be available to purchase.

Durst teaches his approach to personal development using the levels of growth system he developed. The highest level of growth or functioning for a human being is the Responsible level. To achieve this level a person needs to become self-aware and grow beyond the other levels.

But at anytime someone who functions at the responsible level or the achievement level, which is quite common for entrepreneurs and very driven people, can drop into the self-protective level due to fear.

Of course, when our well being and safety is threatened, we all seek to protect ourselves and this is normal good fear. But when there are solutions to situations that are not instantly life threatening, there is no need to let fear affect our approach to decision making.

There is a direct correlation between the levels of growth and the dimensions of life, of which there are seven. These are:

Emotional response
Intellectual function
Relationships
Activity involvement
Self-discipline
Physical state
Spiritual dimension

When someone functions most of the time at the responsible level, all the dimensions of life are in balance and healthy. We are most effective and productive at this level and yet according to Durst only a small portion of humanity functions most of the time at this level. Perhaps this is why there are so many problems in the world and so much misunderstanding and conflict between people.

For example, a person at the conformist level might have relationships with lots of drama, psychological games, withholds and resentments. Whereas someone at the responsible level would have relationship that show a capacity for intimacy, ability to communicate and the ability to lead and follow.

To transcend the levels and rise to the responsible level takes a conscious effort towards self-awareness and self-knowledge. It means work and often involves taking risks to face and let go of past conditioning. It is about being fully present but also having the ability to learn from the past and not repeat mistakes.

To learn more about the thinking, beliefs and behaviors associated with the dimensions of life at each level, I replicated a table from Dr. Dursts’ training. I also created a worksheet and instructions to help personalize this information. You can access this worksheet from the forms section of my website.

Learn to Stay in Balance for Greater Happiness, Productivity and Performance

Mar 23, 2021 Comments

When we are in balance with ourselves, we experience well-being. This translates into better happiness, health, productivity, and performance. Balance equals a great sense of equilibrium.

I thought of this as I was looking up in the sky last night as I was walking my dog and I noticed the abundance of stars in the city sky. I realized that pollution had decreased because of less emissions due to people working from home over the past year because of COVID-19.

It seems that nature had a chance to heal itself somewhat and get more in balance. This seemed to be evident in the type of winter was had. This past winter was as it is supposed to be. Lots of snow, temperatures staying below freezing and a couple of short deep freeze periods.

And then yesterday was the first day of spring and suddenly nature responded and provided a beautiful warm day showing off the glory of the change of seasons. This is how it should be and as I remembered it as a child living in the same city.

Yet we as human beings have thrown nature for a loop by all our unconscious activity and created an imbalance that has devastating effects on the planet and us.

We have done the same thing with ourselves. By focusing on everything outside of us, we have neglected knowing and understanding ourselves and have created imbalances.

This at times causes terrible stress, anxiety, and health issues. We need to learn from nature and find our balance. This means knowing ourselves.

We think of ourselves often as a single brained human being and everything seems to occur in our head brain. But we have three brains or centers of intelligence. These are the intellectual, emotional, and physical/instinctive centers of intelligence.

When these three centers are working in balance, we feel good about ourselves and life. We are effective at doing what a human being is meant to do. And we do it in harmony with each other, the planet and nature.

This all sounds simple, but it seems we have made a mess of it when you look at history and present-day life in many parts of the world. I cannot say I wake up every day and read the morning news and learn about a human race and world in good balance. But that is what we must strive for if we hope to solve the pressing problems that we face individually and as a human race.

I hope to be able to contribute as best I can with my trainings and publications. To that extent I will soon be publishing a new online training program on self-knowledge called Types of People Ways to Success. To be informed when this training will be released, I suggest subscribing to my newsletter. In the meantime, keep working on finding your inner balance. You know it when it happens and feel it when it does not.

Use a Pre-Interview Questionnaire Survey to Improve the Interview Process and Hire Better Candidates

Mar 17, 2021 Comments

A pre-interview questionnaire or survey can assist dramatically in improving the interview process and this leads to better hires.

I have been using the Step One II survey for many years and have found it a great tool to drive better first interviews and to get a good assessment of the attitude of the person towards work. The survey questionnaire takes between 20 to 30 minutes to complete and is available in multiple languages.

The interview report is in two parts. Part One has five sections plus a quick overview about the candidate.

Section I – Inconsistent Responses – Any noted inconsistency between two or more responses.
Section II – Employment Profile – Essential information regarding his/her employment and termination history with possible follow-up interview questions.
Section III – Theft – A summary of self-admissions regarding theft of money, property, data and/ or time.
Section IV – Illegal Substance Abuse – Personal admissions regarding the personal use and/or distribution of illegal and/or regulated substances.
Section V – Criminal Convictions – Personal admissions regarding criminal convictions if any

Section IV and V are only available in countries where laws permit asking these questions such as in the USA. They are not permitted in Canada where I live.

Part two has two sections and covers the attitude of the person towards work and the workplace.

Section I – Attitude Scores – Applicant’s attitudes regarding Integrity, Substance Abuse, Reliability, and Work Ethic along with descriptions of the factors being measured.
Section II – Summary Graph – A visual summary of the applicant’s results

What I find especially useful is that the report brings up things that might concern me about the candidate and it generates good interview questions to explore more in-depth. It does so in a consistent manner.

By having such a tool as part of the hiring process for a position, you keep the same standards and process for all candidates. This helps you to be more consistent in your interviewing process while making it more productive and effective.

Here is an example of a candidate statement from Section II covering the employment profile along with a suggested interview question.

Ms. Sample states that she has had a problem working for a supervisor more than one time.

Interview Question: Your past problems with supervisors could be easier for me to understand if you describe the common issues of the problems, if any. What tends to cause these problems, from your perspective?

This area of concern would not appear on a resume and may not come out in an interview, but it is an especially important matter of concern.

One reason I decided to write this article and make the video is a situation that just occurred with a candidate for a client. The candidate stated in the section on employment profile that he had previously worked for the company (my client). Again, this is particularly important to know and may not have come out in the interview but did in the survey. Now my client can explore this issue and discuss the candidate with the supervisor at the time. Part two of the report provides scores on the attitude of the person in four areas and on a scale of one to nine. It also looks for possible distortion that would make the results unreliable. Certain questions that affect how frank the person is responding to the questions are integrated in this section. If the person is being less when frank answering the survey, then there is reason to believe the resume and interview answers may also be less forthright.

Critical issues in this section will be highlighted and suggested interview questions are provided. Here is an example:

Critical Issue: Is the applicant justified for feeling this way?

Applicant’s Response to: So little of what I do is really appreciated by others. (Ms. Sample agrees)

Interview Questions:

Why do you feel that you are not appreciated by others? Can you give a specific example? Is this one time or is this repetitive?
What do you mean by “appreciated?”

My experience with this tool has provided me excellent information to focus a highly productive first interview and improved candidate selection. To request a full sample report please send me an email request.

Making Decisions Timely and Effective using the T Decision-Making Worksheet

Mar 09, 2021 Comments

Making better decisions in a timely and effective way is something we can always do better. This is especially true for complex and risky decisions. The more risk involved in a decision the more stress there is.

The T decision worksheet exercise makes it easier to think through the pros and cons of deciding and results in a better decision and less stress.

Most decisions are routine, so this is really for decisions that require more contemplation and taking all available information into account.

The first part of the exercise is to gather facts so you can better weigh the for and against reasons to deciding on what to do. Consider all elements including who the decision will affect or who should be consulted. Think of the timing involved as there may be a deadline to consider.

Writing down the risks is also important to flushing out all the facts. The one-page worksheet guides you through the process.

Once you have considered all the facts and risks, write down the FOR reasons to going through with your decision on the left side of the T and on the right side the AGAINST reasons.

Let the list sit near you for a while and add any items that come to mind. You can also consult with a colleague or friend to help you think through the pros and cons to make your decision.

Once you have gone through these steps write down your decision in the last box and then act.

Watch the video to see how I go through an example of an important decision I wanted to make.

Download the Timely Decisions worksheet here.