Volkmar Völzke's BLOG

What do you think of this summer? Too hot? Or rather, wasn't it too cold until a few days ago?

My point is this: no matter what you think, there will be many people who see the whole thing differently than you do. Although that's actually a trivial insight, but it's always overlooked in everyday life.

Sometimes I jokingly say that as a leadership coach I am at times also an expensive reminder. So, with this point:

Your internal story about this summer has a massive influence on your behavior and your actions (for remembrance: Thinking Behavior Action Results).

If someone has a different story about it (i.e. thinks differently), he or she will behave differently. Thus, they will achieve different results. But it gets even harder: the other person will interpret your behavior from his or her viewpoint. They might also react "strangely" in your view.

Now, here comes the transition to business: we not only think differently only about the summer weather but about everything. It also...

500 weeks ago, I committed to sending value to my community every single week. This is almost 10 years!

I called this newsletter "Friday Noon Memo".

Thank you for being a reader and by this a supporter of the “success movement” for making the world a better place.

Here are four landmark posts over the last 500 weeks.

I think they didn't lose any relevance.

Enjoy reading!

Issue #1, October 9th, 2009:

Foundations for a better performance 

Let me invite you to our Friday noon memo where we discuss fresh ideas about better performance of people and organisations. Enjoy reading.

Always the same story

All organisations presume they are different from the competition. Perhaps they are, to a certain extent; however, three key challenges are almost the same for each organisation, no matter in which industry, of what size, if non-profit or commercial.

1. The goals, objectives and strategies are not consistent or not consistently communicated.
2. The business processes...

It is commonly said, “You will become what you think of most of the time.” This applies to any organization. The more people talk about “unsolvable” problems, the more unsolvable those problems become. 

The more managers talk about tough competition from Asia or elsewhere, the more the staff will act as if the situation is hopeless. The more people think that the next meeting is a waste of time, the more likely it is that the meeting will be ineffective.

The root cause is the programming of our brain: we move in the direction we are facing. And we generate the reality we think of most.

This is why the assessment of any company’s difficulties is fairly easy for me as a consultant: most of the time, I just need to listen carefully to how people talk during the day. You as a leader can do the same: listen carefully to yourself and to your people. And then influence the thought patterns.

Here are five ideas:

• During a meeting, when...

How much do you look ahead and how much do you look into the rear mirror?

How much time do you spend on creating your future and how much time explaining to others (and yourself) why you do what you do?

These are crucial questions not only for your own life, but even more so for any professional organization.

Too many companies become paralyzed by looking into the rear-view mirror.

They squander precious hours on project reviews, steering committee meetings, deep-dives, audits, and reports, forgetting that such time is much better spent moving forward than looking over their shoulders.

Looking backwards is caused by a culture of fear, mistrust, and control. People look into the rear-view mirror to check who is behind them, and organizations and their leaders do the same.

Here are some indications that your organization spends too much time looking backwards:

• Preparation and execution of project reviews takes more than ten percent of the project leader’s time.
• The...

Maybe you know the comical question, "How do you eat an elephant?" The answer: "Bite by bite!"

The background is a very relevant one for changing behaviors and corporate cultures: Most changes never happen - even if you consider them important - because people never really start.

And by "start" I don't mean that you're attending a workshop or reading a book on the subject (although these can be important preparations), but that you're really changing something about yourself.

The order is always: awareness intent to change information execution perseverance.

Steps 1-3 can be seen quite often among individuals and in companies. Even step 4 sometimes still occurs. At step 5 we lost most of the people, despite our best intentions. The elephant mentioned at the beginning still stands tall.

So how can you overcome this obstacle? Here are three steps:

1. Simple process. Simply define the steps you want to take on yourself. Then implement them, every day. Example: If you want to be more...

I don't know about you, but I can't hear all the fuss anymore about the coming economic downturn in Europe. Well, I do not presume to predict if and when there will be anyone in the near future or not.

My point is different: the fitter you and your team and your company are, the less any external influences can affect you. On the contrary: the best-trained teams can even benefit from a deterioration of the situation.

I like to talk about going through any crisis in “full swing”. Three examples:

1. Full swing in sales. Bring your sales strategies, sales methods and above all the mindset of your teams up to speed at all times. Continuously increase your sales productivity. Most companies do far too little for this and then wonder when nothing more is sold as soon as the situation becomes difficult.
2. Full swing in leadership. Work continuously to increase the quality of leadership in your company or team. Here, too, I can see that most companies have a lot of catching up to...

In my leadership development workshops, there is always a miraculous phenomenon: the workgroups develop innovative ideas - often outside the comfort zone - on how to lead people's ways of thinking and behaving towards more success.

This success takes place in "risk-free" exercises, where nothing direct happens to the ideas and results.

Almost everyone agrees that the ideas and measures presented make sense and have desirable positive effects, such as greater enthusiasm, increasing productivity, growing innovative power and so on.

But then something strange often happens: As soon as you give the same workgroups the task of creating concrete action packages for their divisions or departments from these ideas and measures, with milestones and success measures, they snap back into the old, conservative way of thinking. Examples:

• Instead of strong leadership with clear objectives, they prefer to discuss measures to change the structure.
• Instead of agreeing on a really strong vision with...

"A few years ago we had a burnout due to overwork in our staff," says the HR director at the meeting, where the aim is to increase the winning team spirit. Then he adds: "We must not demand too much from our people".

The others nod casually and the CEO remarks: "Yes, let's approach the whole thing with a sensitive touch." I know such objections quite well in a similar form. This reasoning is based on the belief that peak performance and fun are a contraction.

The problem: If you firmly believe that top performance stands in contrast to a pleasant working atmosphere and well-being, you will always shy away from establishing a winning team culture.

The consistently proven fact, on the other hand, is a different one: the happiest and most fulfilled people of all times challenge themselves again and again, measure themselves against the best, are more productive than the average person, and have an overall "winning mentality".

Any sustainable increase in performance begins with the...

The other day when I was on a Swiss Airlines flight, I noticed the name tag "I'm a new cabin talent" on one of the flight attendant's lapel.

This not only attracted the attention of some of the passengers but it also led to pride in the eyes of the young team member.

You may think it's "just words" and it's just a marketing trick to increase motivation. Attention: There is rarely such a strong drive for happiness, fulfillment, and productivity as direct and unvarnished appreciation.

And, it makes a huge difference between "flight attendant" and "I am a new cabin talent." Words are important!

Here are three ideas about what you can do directly to increase self-esteem and thus pride, belonging and productivity in your work environment:

1. Imagine that everyone is running around with the inscription "make me important" on their forehead. Then you do something to make the person feel important. Precisely because he or she is. 
2. Titles are important - when they convey a positive...

Here's what we do among friends: We have fun, we trust each other, we give honest feedback, we forgive each other, we fight together for our dreams, and we look forward to spending time together.

Above all, when we work together on goals that are important to all of us, an incredible amount of energy and passion can unfold. I don't know how you feel, but I know I can remember these times very well. 

Here's the point: Why don't we act the same way during our work? Why do we often switch to a different program as soon as we get into the office?

Of course, there are many reasons to do just that and see our work as an unfriendly environment. And will, therefore, do exactly the opposite of what we would do among friends. Here is the counter-program (how to create a friendly environment):

1. Projection. Imagine your colleagues, your managers and your customers as long-standing friends: How would you greet them in the morning? Then do exactly that!
2. Humour. Hours of seriousness seldom...