PRODUCTIVITY & Neuroscience Says Power Naps Work. Why Aren’t We Taking Them? #IncMagazine

by Jeffrey James, Inc. Magazine, 9/25/18.

Neuroscientists have known for decades that a “10‐minute nap results in significantly improved alertness and cognitive performance.” We even know from brain scans specifically how napping makes you smarter, better and faster.

Given all that peer-reviewed evidence, you’d think that CEOs–who no doubt want and expect employees to perform at their peak–would be rushing to make it easier for employees to take power naps.

But you’d think wrong. According to the New York Times, many if not most companies are still forcing people to employ subterfuge–like hiding in their cars or in the restroom–simply to take a brief restorative nap.

What gives? Why do naps remain verboten?

The sad truth: as a class, CEOs are notorious for ignoring science in favor of biz-blab and bullsh*t. Rather than relying on peer-reviewed neuroscience into productivity, CEOs have a depressing tendency to glom onto the latest management fad du jour.

It’s very bizarre, if you think about it. If CEOs made financial decisions with the same disrespect for facts that they give to productivity decisions, CEOs would be rubbing gold dust on dollars to ensure the money comes back ten-fold.

Nowhere is this tendency to swallow malarkey more obvious than with the open plan office, which runs contrary to over three decades of research from some of the world’s finest universities reveals that OPOs massively decrease productivity.

Read more at … https://www.inc.com/geoffrey-james/neuroscience-says-power-naps-work-why-arent-we-taking-them.html

PREACHING & 5 Science-Based Sermon Hacks to Captivate Any Audience

Commentary by Dr. Whitesel: Actually the title of this article by Carmine Gallo is “5 Science-Based Presentation Hacks to Captivate Any Audience.”  But most of his ideas are applicable to sermons too. Read more to discover how to keep communication going after the first 10 minutes.

“5 Science-Based Presentation Hacks to Captivate Any Audience” by Carmine Gallo, Inc. Magazine, 4/18/18.

Molecular biologist John Medina once told me, “The brain does not pay attention to boring things.” The statement profoundly shaped my approach to communication skills. My mission is to give readers the tools they need to keep their audience from getting bored.

How to prevent boredom? Simply remember that we interpret the world through our five senses: sight, sound, touch, taste, and smell. Study after study has found that people will remember information and recall it more accurately when more than one sense is stimulated.

Read more at … https://www.inc.com/carmine-gallo/5-clever-presentation-tricks-to-engage-all-five-senses.html

STAFFING & 5 Alarming Statistics That Will Forever Change Your Approach to Hiring and Keeping Star Employees

by Scott Mautz, Inc. Magazine, 7/9/18.

Gallup’s latest State of the American Workplace report is eye-opening, to say the least, if you care about hiring and retaining star talent. The findings led Jim Clifton, the Chairman and CEO of Gallup, to say, “The very practice of management no longer works. The old ways no longer achieve the intended results.”

Why such an aggressive stance? For starters, the report says the majority of employees (51 percent) are now searching for new jobs or watching for openings.

The 212 page report is filled with alarming statistics. I pulled out the five most telling stats and offer advice to help with your talent attraction and retention strategies.

1. 78 percent of employees are not convinced their leaders have a clear direction for the organization.

Job one as a leader is to set a clear direction based on solid strategies and stretching (yet attainable) goals. To set especially effective goals, be certain that the goals are relevant, meaningful and have been developed collaboratively with those who will be held to them (the study also showed only 30 percent of employees said they were involved in goal-setting).

2. 88 percent of employees would switch to a job that allows flexible work arrangements.

…The desire for flexibility came up repeatedly in the study. It appeared as the top perk/job benefit desired and was even more desired among millennials (versus boomers or Gen X’ers).

While some jobs aren’t suited to working from home (like retail or assembly line work for example), all jobs can be infused with a sense of flexibility via things like pliable work schedules or flexible time periods to go to doctor appointments or pick kids up from school. If you’re a leader, it’s time to meld flexibility into your work processes.

3. Only 23 percent of employees agree that their manager provides meaningful feedback.

The lack of feedback includes praise too, with only 3 in 10 employees strongly agreeing that they’ve recently received recognition or praise for good work.  It’s worth noting that receiving feedback is even more important for millennials.

Leaders simply must prioritize giving frequent feedback to employees. Here’s help in giving feedback effectively but for starters, simply commit to the act and remember that research shows the right ratio of positive feedback to corrective feedback is about 5:1. Which should make sense since people tend to do a lot more good than they do “bad”.

Read more at … https://www.inc.com/scott-mautz/5-alarming-statistics-that-will-forever-change-your-approach-to-hiring-keeping-star-employees.html

 

PREACHING & Neuroscience research confirms: change your presentation every 10 minutes or lose your audience.

Commentary by Dr. Whitesel: I have coached hundreds of pastors to increase preaching impact (and sat through thousands of their sermons). One thing I found is that sermons should end about 10 minutes before they actually end.

In my observations from 25+ years of coaching, the average sermon I’ve heard is approximately 30 minutes. And my observation is that 20 minutes would be the optimum time for most pastors. (But let me say that each person has their optimum time and it may be longer.) But my observation has been that their optimum length is about 10 minutes less than the speaker realizes.

But now there is neuroscience research that shows that people tune out a presentation when it goes over 10 minutes.

It seems our brains are wired to have a 10 minute attention span unless something changes.

The following article is a case study of the recent Apple product debut in which in the first 60 minutes was comprised of six speakers of 10 minutes each: Apple Follows This 10-minute-rule to Keep You Glued to Product Presentations

What neuroscience research is telling us is that 10 minutes into a sermon the speaker should introduce a new story, video, demonstration or what in communication theory we call a different “voice.” This can be a different speaker, a different medium (e.g. video, charts, pictures, demonstration, etc.) or in other words someway to reengage the audience almost as if another person walked on stage.

Here is an insightful quote from the above article:

“Neuroscientists say our brains have a built-in stopwatch that ends around 10 minutes. In my conversations with University of Washington Medical School molecular biologist, John Medina, he cites peer-reviewed studies that show people tune out of a presentation in the first ten minutes. ‘The brain seems to be making choices according to some stubborn timing pattern, undoubtedly influenced by both culture and gene,’ he says. ‘This fact suggests a teaching and business imperative: Find a way to arouse and then hold somebody’s attention for a specific period of time.’ Medina and other neuroscientists say that speakers can re-engage an audience every ten minutes if they introduce a change. A change can include a video, a story, a demonstration, etc.”

PREACHING & 5 Key Steps to Rehearsing a Presentation Like the Best TED Speakers

by Carmine Gallo, Inc. Magazine, 7/30/18.

Every year I teach a class of elite business professionals who are enrolled in an executive education program at Harvard University. They are required to participate in group and individual presentations to graduate. After their presentations are complete, I recommended that each student practice their final presentations a minimum of ten times from start to finish. The ones who do stand out.

I learned this technique from studying and interviewing the TED speakers whose talks went viral…

Here are five steps to rehearse effectively.

1. Start with presentation notes.

Start writing notes for each slide in full sentences. Read the transcript out loud as you review each slide. Next, cut down the full sentences into bullet points and rehearse out loud again–relying on notes even less…

2. Practice under ‘mild stress.’

…The famous entrepreneur and author, Tim Ferriss, applied this concept to his TED talk. “Mimic game-day conditions as much as possible,” he said after his presentation. Ferriss gave the presentation in front of friends and strangers at various startups to groups of about 20 people. “I don’t want my first rehearsal in front of a large group of strangers to be when I stand up in front of 3,000 people,” he said…

3. Ask for specific feedback.

Once you’ve practiced your presentation in front of a small audience, most people will say “good job.” They don’t want to hurt your feelings and they’ll have limited feedback. While “good job” might help you feel good, it won’t help you get better. Ask them to be specific: Is there something you didn’t understand? Do I use jargon that you’re not familiar with? Did I make strong eye contact? What did you like–or not like–about my delivery? What can I do to make it stronger?

4. Record it.

Set up a smartphone or a video camera on a tripod and record your presentation. You’ll be surprised at what you see. You’ll

5. Practice until it’s effortless.

Read more at … https://www.inc.com/carmine-gallo/5-key-steps-to-rehearsing-a-presentation-like-best-ted-speakers.html

TEAMWORK & The biggest lesson Steve Jobs said he learned at Apple: “Coach, don’t solve” … that’s the sign of a “strategic leader.”

by Justin Bariso, INC Magazine, 4/17/18.

Before answering, Jobs stops to think it through. You can almost see the wheels turning in his head as he engages in deep thought.

After what seems like an eternity (and in reality, lasted just over 20 seconds), Jobs answers the question:

“I now take a longer-term view on people. In other words, when I see something not being done right, my first reaction isn’t to go fix it. It’s to say, we’re building a team here. And we’re going to do great stuff for the next decade, not just the next year, and so what do I need to do to help so the person that’s screwing up learns–versus how do I fix the problem.”

There are some major lessons here for anyone tasked with leading a team.

Coach, Don’t Solve

When someone on your team struggles with a problem or makes a mistake, it can be difficult not to jump in and solve it for them. But as Jobs points out, that’s not going to help the person–or the company–in the long run.

Much better is to use those mistakes as teaching opportunities.

For example, you could share instances in which you’ve committed similar missteps, and what you learned from the incident–while recognizing that the individual may still choose to address the problem differently. But sharing these lessons may help spark new ways of thinking. It allows the person to benefit from your experience. Additionally, you become more approachable to your team; they’ll begin to see you as a coach or mentor, instead of just a boss or manager.

Additionally, you can employ a little emotional intelligence, using employee mistakes to build loyalty and trust.

Read more at … https://www.inc.com/justin-bariso/an-mit-student-asked-steve-jobs-to-share-his-biggest-lesson-learned-at-apple.html

EMOTIONAL INTELLIGENCE & 6 Mental Habits of People Who Manage Their Emotions Remarkably Well

by Michael Schwantes, Inc. Magazine, 4/4/18

1. They put boundaries on people who make them angry…

It’s saying to yourself, “I’m not going to allow this person to push my buttons, take advantage of this situation, or disrespect my authority.” Then following through on it.

2. They get to the bottom of why they’re really angry.

Emotionally intelligent people realize the reason for their anger may run deeper than what they’re experiencing on the surface. They probe, process, do a deep dive, and ask themselves, “What’s really beneath my anger?” By stepping back and looking at root causes, you’ll soon realize that your anger is really a reaction to whatever is disturbing you,.,Then tell yourself with brutal honesty, “The real reason I’m angry is … ”

3. They respond, not react.

Chuck Swindoll once said, “The longer I live, the more convinced I become that life is 10 percent what happens to us and 90 percent how we respond to it.” Emotional intelligent people have the advantage because they assess a situation, get perspective, listen without judgment, and hold back from reacting head on.

4. They take a six-second pause.

Why six seconds? The chemicals of emotion inside our brains and bodies usually last about six seconds. During a heated exchange, if we can pause for a short moment, the flood of chemicals being produced slows down…

5. They are the first to reach out after an argument.

6. They shift to the positive…

Have a gratitude meditation. Take out a piece of paper and spend two minutes making a list of all the things you’re grateful for in the last 24 hours. Positive psychologist Shaw Achor says if you do this simple exercise for 21 straight days, you’ll be training your brain to scan for positives instead of negatives.

Read more at … https://www.inc.com/marcel-schwantes/6-mental-habits-of-people-who-manage-their-emotions-remarkably-well.html