3D Coaching

3D Juggling 483: The Hand of Clod

Jane writes: 'Whether you love football, hate it or just don't care about it, you must have heard about England's performance at the World Cup last week. Robert Green became the most talked about footballer in England - for all the wrong reasons. He made what has been described as a ‘calamitous’ error in the 40th minute of the World Cup match that left England to settle for a 1-1 draw with the USA.
 
Have you noticed how easy it is to focus on the negative?  I see this happening all the time in organisations, and it often happens in families as well. How often do you hear people saying things like ‘he made a real mess of that’, or ‘they tried this before and it didn't work’?  How differently might people feel if they heard statements like ‘that didn't go well but he had a really good idea there, and with a bit of help would be able to develop a powerful message’, or ‘we tried doing this before and it didn't work, how can we make it work this time?’

The most helpful quote I read in response to Robert's calamity was from Sandra Wheatley, a psychologist. She said ‘There is a big difference between those of us who succeed in life and those of us who don't. Those who thrive are good at coming to terms with failure and changing their behaviour.’
When we acknowledge mistakes and failures we acknowledge that we are human, and not perfect. When we focus on the future, and how we can change our behaviour so that we get different results, we feel better about ourselves and the world we live in.

This is worth remembering when you attend a job interview. Wouldn't it be useful to your prospective employer to know that you can cope with mistakes because they hear you describe how you recovered, what you learned and how you are applying this learning to new situations? This tells the story about someone who is honest, understands the impact of their behaviour, and is continually improving their performance.

Robert shouldn't feel too despondent.  Brand experts have said that his future could be bright if he follows in the path of Gareth Southgate, Chris Waddle and Stuart Pearce by capitalising on his misfortune. They all missed crucial penalty goals in international tournament clashes and appeared together in a Pizza Hut advert where Southgate takes a bite of his pizza while hiding under a paper bag with holes cut out for the eyes. Anyone who has experienced a Career Makeover with will recognise this as an excellent example of recognising core skills and developing new options around them!

Who can you help to come to terms with failure and change their behaviour? How can we help you to help them?'

Love this? If you need some help in your organisation to help people bring about behavioural change, come out for a cup of coffee with us to talk about how we can help you.  We'll pay!

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