Wind, Passenger, Anchor metaphor – which one are you?

 In Mindset

Consider this . . .

HMS Surprise Sailing Ship at Sea under full sail with tall ships in the background.

Imagine, that the division or department you work in, is a metaphorical sailing ship.

With this image in mind, imagine yourself on that ‘ship’ as you reflect on your behaviour over the last week.

Were you the ‘Wind’ (to be clear, a good wind) ‘blowing’ the ship forward – to better performance and better working relationships?

Were you a ‘Passenger’, just going along for the ride?

or were you an ‘Anchor’, holding the division back?

Overall, most people who do this reflection rate themselves as Passengers – just going along for the ride, looking out only for themselves. There may be an Anchor or two.

Unfortunately, too few people, are the Wind.

The point in sharing this vignette is this. Your workplace can always use more people who are the Wind.

People who behave in ways that propel the group forward.

Who aren’t just looking out for themselves.

Here are examples of Wind behaviour.

  • At company conferences/offsite meetings, after a break, helping to get people back into the meeting room – versus just getting yourself back.
  • In a meeting, helping the chairperson lead the meeting. For example, encouraging a shy person to speak up because you know they have something valuable to contribute.
  • At a networking event, greeting a ‘lonely’ person and introducing the person to other people.
  • Suggesting a ‘Controlled stretch break’, when people have been sitting too long in a meeting.

Your CALL to action/HOW to apply for this post: In the next week in your workplace, on purpose – be the Wind, in at least one of your behaviours. Reflect on the impact of doing this.

Check out this post on the ‘Calm the arm’ body language technique.

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p.s. Recently a former client contacted me after reading my blog post Give yourself a VoiceLIFT. He requested a ‘How to apply’ technique.

Here is a technique, that involves repeated, accelerated speaking practice, to give yourself a VoiceLIFT.

GOAL

Over a 21 day time frame to be able to clearly speak a standard sentence in a target amount of time so that elements of accelerated speaking are ‘inserted’ into your usual speaking delivery.

RATIONALE

One factor in your voice being perceived as having more energy – especially in for people who are 50+ years of age – is to increase your overall speaking speed. Being able to consistently speak a standard sentence, in a limited time frame, will promote this increase in overall speaking speed.

STEPS to take

1.With the aid of a stop watch, audio record yourself clearly speaking the following 17 syllable sentence as quickly as you can. Repeat the sentence until you can easily and clearly speak (ie. all words and syllables pronounced) the sentence in a maximum of 3* seconds.

‘You never get a second chance, to listen to someone the first time’.

2.Repeat Step One every day for the next 20 consecutive days.

3.Intermittently, during the 20 day block, in safe interactions, ‘channel’ the above standard sentence speed while you speak other messages.

Field research indicates, that after 21 days, you’ll have increased your overall SPM (Syllable Per Minute) speaking speed, and given yourself a Voice LIFT.

(*If you can’t achieve 3 aim for 3.5 seconds, or 4 seconds if necessary)

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