Welcome Everyone,
How many of you have said this? “I wish I had listened to the advice my parents gave me.”
I once read this quote “Listen to your elders NOT because they are always right but because they have more experiences of being wrong…”
After 40+ years working across several industries and countless jobs from the mailroom to the last 15 years as a VP I’m here to share with you tons of tips, methods, strategies, training, advice, and coaching as I can. Not from always being right, but also from my experiences of being wrong.
But first, I cannot begin to tell you how many mistakes I’ve personally made in my career and life and continue to make. If you have never made a mistake, you can stop reading this. You learn from mistakes, and we all know mistakes are a part of life. However, if you have never made a mistake in your life, you are a genius.
Some sources suggest that the average person makes an astonishing 35,000 choices per day.
And research indicates the average person makes 50 errors per day. That’s over 18,000 errors a year.
Please note the word ‘average’. I’m sure I’ve pushed that limit well beyond the average.
Did you know it turns out that our brains know when we are making a mistake before we do? The article “Learning From Mistakes: How Does the Brain Handle Errors, Frontiers, June 16, 2020, discusses how the brain detects and deals with errors, and found that the brain creates a specific kind of brain activity when a person makes a mistake. This activity, called error-related negativity or ERN, happens almost at the same time that the error is made. It’s as if the brain already knows we are making a mistake within fractions of a second before we are even aware of it. No wonder my brain hurts.
I’m here to give back and serve. With that in mind, I’m ready to help. Reach out to me. I will be posting content on different topics. If you have anything specific you need advice on, please let me know. Whether you are a student, entrepreneur, employee, or manager… it doesn’t matter. Mistakes and problems do not discriminate, they await us everywhere. We all face similar problems they are just dressed in different clothes.
Following is a leadership tip to ‘snack’ on:
How to run an effective meeting?
Follow the TGROW model.
T – Topic. Always ensure you identify the topic of every meeting
G – Goal. State the goal or objective and ensure attendees stick to the goal.
R – Reality. What are the facts? Encourage facts over opinions to help support the goal.
O – Options. Explore what options are available to meet the goals.
W – Wrap up. Finish each meeting by recapping the findings, clearly communicating the next steps, and determining who will be assigned to them.
Meetings should start and end on time. Your responsibility is to move the meeting through these stages promptly. Topics or points that come up that are relevant should be noted and set aside to keep the meeting moving. Remember, if you are doing all the talking it’s a speech and not a meeting. Encourage attendees to be ‘deep and brief’ with their input. More on meeting in other tips.
Best
Bill Nicholson
billnicholson@nextreign.com