"Plans are nothing; planning is everything." Dwight D. Eisenhower

"Preparation. I have often said, is rightly two-thirds of any venture." Amelia Earhart

"Whatever failures I have known, whatever errors I have committed, whatever follies I have witnessed in private and public life have been the consequence of action without thought." Bernard Baruch


Final two of the nine suggestions.

8. Schedule a "locker room" session. Get the entire team together. Come prepared to say something positive about each and every talent. Praise each talent using a specific example of recent good work or excellence. Review the game plan for the sweep. Have each talent offer their thoughts on the competition (see yesterday's #5). Don't lead the meeting, guide the meeting. Involve the talent.

9. Catch them doing something right. To improve performance nothing is more powerful than sincere positive recognition.

Lots of emails on yesterday's post. Two recurring themes...

Why allow talent to select their best work? Are you suggesting we not offer our critique?

Our objective is to get talent listening to their work on a daily basis. This behavior alone will improve their performance. By asking them to select their best work we encourage them to compare, contrast and think about their work. By having them explain what's good about their performance we learn how they define quality, we begin to understand how they think.

In my experience one should listen to the performer. Should you offer a critique keep it positive. The error you need to avoid is leading the session, telling the performer what you think went wrong. Pointing out obvious mistakes puts the focus on compliance. Allowing the performer to lead the session and talk about what went right puts the focus on compassion. We want to learn how they feel about their work.

"The difficult should become habitual, the habitual easy, the easy, beautiful"

S.M. Volkonski quoted by Stanislavski