The Brains I can Borrow

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“I not only use the brains I have, I use all the brains I can borrow.”

– Calvin Coolidge, 30th President of the United States

We have all heard the phrase, “two heads are better than one.” Research on this subject demonstrates this is a general truism in which there is a high degree of openness and communication regarding individual perspective and points of view.

However, in cases where this openness and collaborative communication is missing, or less than optimal, more brains can actually produce worse results.

Exercise:

Consider picking up a copy of Edward de Bono’s Six Thinking Hats to support both your own individual and group collective thinking.

This is a great example of putting on your thinking cap (or hat). 😉

Reply to this message if you’d like a one-page summary of de Bono’s tool.

Barry Demp on Business Beat with Chris Holman

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I was interviewed on the Michigan Business Network radio show Business Beat by Chris Holman.

We talk about why I chose to go into coaching in 1992, and how I left my role in sales and marketing to pursue a new career as a business coach.

I discuss my early career, including highlights like attending my first coaching conference in Texas, and the gradual process of growing my customer base.

I also explain what a business coach is, what they do, and how the coaching process works from the inside out. Chris and I discuss the key areas I work in, and the types of people I work with.

To listen to the recording, just click below.

[audio:https://www.thequotablecoach.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/09/2013-09-business-beat.mp3|titles=Barry Demp on Business Beat, Sept 2013]

“A smile is a curve that sets everything straight.”

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“A smile is a curve that sets everything straight.”

– Phyllis Diller, late American comedian

Image from Unsplash by Petr Sevcovic

I recently attended a seminar where the speaker suggested that using Google was a great idea catalyst. From my research on the importance of smiling, here are a few interesting facts I’d like to share:

Smiling…

  • Slows the heart rate and relaxes the body.
  • Releases endorphins and diminishes stress and improves our mood.
  • Must have been used by the Seven Dwarves to increase their productivity as they whistled while they worked.
  • Improves relationships by increasing trust and building empathy.
  • Makes us more appealing and attractive – yes, smiling makes us look younger.
  • Improves our immune system and lowers our blood pressure.
  • Conveys optimism and positivity that helps us be more successful.

Exercise:

How can you smile more and turn that frown upside down to improve your life and, as Phyllis Diller suggests, to set everything straight?

“One thought driven home is better than three left on base.”

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“One thought driven home is better than three left on base.”

– James Liter

It’s hard not to be a baseball fan if you live in the Detroit area. We love our Tigers. In years past, when the team did not quite have it all together, they stranded many a base runner. Today’s team seems to have a greater confidence and the capacity to bring those runners home.

In a world of business, this quote from James Liter suggests that our ideas and creative solutions may be like these baseball runners – and we often leave them stranded.

Exercise:

Select at least one professional or personal idea, objective or goal that you simply must bring home.

Create a compelling, enthralling vision of this idea so you can get buy-in from your communities. Work with them to achieve it together, celebrating their hard work along the way.

“A prudent question is one-half of wisdom.”

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“A prudent question is one-half of wisdom.”

—Sir Francis Bacon, 15th Century English Philosopher

Image of an "ask questions" button

Image from killerinterventions

One crucial tool for most coaches, including myself, is the question. Below are some of my favorites:

  1. What results in life are essential for you to see yourself as a success?
  2. What qualities do you hope to expand or develop to be your best future self?
  3. What would you like people to say about you at the end of your life?
  4. What inspires you?
  5. What are you passionate about?

And of course… #6. What else?

Always ask “What else?” to help you layer into each question, to reach the full depth and rightness of your answers.

Exercise:

To reap the other half of wisdom, answer at least one of these questions today and others over the course of the coming week.

Share this exercise and your answers with those you care about in your personal and professional life.

Coach and support one another in living life each day consistently with your answers.

“A man who works with his hands is a laborer; a man who works with his hands and his brain is a craftsman; but a man who works with his hands and his brain and his heart is an artist.”

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“A man who works with his hands is a laborer; a man who works with his hands and his brain is a craftsman; but a man who works with his hands and his brain and his heart is an artist.”

– Louis Nizer, trial lawyer

What percent of your day do you function as a laborer, a craftsman or an artist?

Consider which of these roles bring you the greatest satisfaction and fulfillment.

Exercise:

Make a definite choice to reduce those roles that diminish your joy and increase those areas that provide the most.

Share this insight with family members, co-workers, mentors, or a coach that could support your intention.

Swim With the Stream

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“Only dead fish swim with the stream all the time.”

– Linda Ellerbee, journalist

Image from fifteenminutescience.com

Image from fifteenminutescience.com

We have all heard phrases such as “Go with the flow” and “Take the path of least resistance” as ways to simply and effortlessly navigate life. When we take such advice, we are almost always carried along by factors not influenced or controlled by us, and we wind up somewhere we didn’t intend.

When we chart our own course and swim against the current, we strengthen our ability to navigate our own life’s journey and realize our deepest held desires.

Exercise:

Where in your personal and professional life are you being carried downstream by someone else’s current?

What issues have you come alive, so that you use your fins to swim upstream and realize your vision?

“Try to open a path through that maze, to put a little order in the chaos.”

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“Try to open a path through that maze, to put a little order in the chaos.”

– Isabel Allende, writer

Consider the current level of chaos in your world in the following areas:

  • Work
  • Home
  • Email
  • Clutter
  • Paperwork
  • People
  • Time
  • Money
  • Clothing
  • Kitchen
  • Garage
  • Basement
  • Health
  • Event planning
  • Vacations

Exercise:

Rate yourself in each of these areas on a 1 – 10 scale with 1 being low and 10 being high.

Consider tackling one area at a time by using a resource such as Georgene Lockwood’s The Complete Idiot’s Guide to Organising Your Life.

“How am I doing?”

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“How am I doing?”

– Ed Koch, lawyer and politician

Ed Koch, the former mayor of New York City who passed away last February, was well known for the quote above. This short question is perhaps the quickest and simplest possible example of a performance appraisal.

During their careers, many business professionals experience a wide variety of feedback vehicles, including the famous 360° feedback tool that can approach 100 pages in length. Who has that much time these days?

Koch used his simple question to ask the citizens of New York for feedback so he could make appropriate adjustments to his leadership to improve his performance and hopefully serve his constituents better.

Exercise:

Consider asking this question of those closest to you in your personal and professional life as it relates to the numerous roles you play.

If you take their coaching and adjust your approaches, looking for what works to your advantage and other people’s advantage, I’m sure you will experience greater success.

Please consider replying to let me know how we are doing with The Quotable Coach series. Thank you.

“How do I work? I grope.”

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“How do I work? I grope.”

– Albert Einstein, theoretical physicist

How about that? A man many consider synonymous with the term “genius” admits to pursuing his work in a non-linear and haphazard way.

Perhaps this groping was part of his genius. Maybe square pegs and round holes can fit in some way if we simply grope around to take more frequent quantum leaps in how we solve problems.

Exercise:

Select an issue or challenge you are currently facing and set up a “groping” session instead of a general brainstorming session.

Play with possibilities as if you were from another world where playfulness, novelty, and experimentation were the only objectives.