Story of the Week, Top Business Skills For Our Future, Part 1
May 25, 2009
This is part one of a three part series:
This week I asked top business leaders both from my local community and around the world this question: “Everyone is concerned about how to survive in these tough times, but YOU are someone that lives bigger than just these times. When you peer into the future, what is the number one skill you see that we need for the future?”
The responses that I got were very inspiring. Feel free to pass them on to your networks. We can never have enough inspiration, especially in these times.
From Robert Dilts, Santa Cruz, CA
During tough times, we have a choice. Either we develop the skill to find our “inner zone of excellence” and re-energize by connecting with the strength within, or we regress into survival strategies that weaken our position further. The inner zone of excellence is a key part of what is known as the “inner game” of business. The concept of the “inner game” was developed by Timothy Gallwey as a way of helping people to achieve excellence in various sports, music and also business and management training. Fundamental to the inner game is our ability to stay in a high performance state when confronted with difficult circumstances.
Many challenges will present themselves in challenging times: fear of the unknown (i.e. what will happen tomorrow?), dealing with loss (i.e losing a job, a home, a dream etc.) and a general sense of vulnerability (i.e how can I succeed when circumstances are so difficult)? These can plunge us into unhelpful survival strategies: attack/blame, escape/submission or rigidity/paralysis. This frequently results in temporary regression or inertia. On the contrary, we can develop the skills to ground in our “inner zone of excellence” and feel:
- No fear of failure or anxiety about achieving our goal
- A state of focused spaciousness in the mind and relaxed readiness in the body
- Performance coming without effort and without having to think about it
This allows us to most effectively deal with dangers and yet still recognize and take advantage of opportunities that emerge during times of change and crisis.
Founder NLP University, Dilts Strategy Group, Dilts Consulting
http://www.nlpu.com
From Bea Fields, Southern Pines, NC
I think the biggest skill we are all going to need in the future is the ability to collaborate so that we can then innovate across global borders. Most people are still in the mindset of solo thinking and operating out of the industrial revoluation where hierarchical/one mind/one country structures worked. But, we are now a virtual, global world, and we need to all come together to begin a radical innovation process so that we can create jobs that will provide both employment and sustainability. This is going to require that everyone check their egos at the door and come together to harness the power of the mastermind so that the innovative proces can move us forward with lightening speed.
President, Bea Fields Companies, Inc.
http://beafields.com
From Nick LeClere, London, UK
I don’t think the future emphasis is about skills anymore – skills have a ‘sellby’ date and they are rendered useless by fast moving situations, just like knowledge in the knowledge economy is subject to constant change – the best way to do something yesterday, is no longer the best way to do it tomorrow – e.g banking! Also typical skills training is subject to huge and outrageous levels of waste, with research showing that more than 75% of training leads to little or no change of attitude or behaviors back in the workplace! What is the point? We have to go to a higher inner level than skills. In my view, Consciousness in business, is the next developmental challenge – conscious organizations and conscious leadership.
Within Consciousness there are various qualities and personal attributes that make someone ‘great’. Nuturing qualities like courage, optimism, certainty and knowing, leads to lasting fulfillment and personal transformation.
If you were to push me hard, for a future proof skill set, then above all else, it is perhaps the ability to grasp the bigger picture – to raise the level of thinking, again and again, especially under challenge, to be able to reveal the interconnected nature of all things, that often looks separate on the surface, or are often hidden from normal view. To then create new solutions at completely new levels of ‘thinking’ and ‘being’.
Program Designer, Change the World Corp.
www.changetheworldcorp.com
From Pam McLaughlin, Chestnut Hill, PA
“Vision” is the number one skill I see for the future. If we can stay focused on the long-term vision, even when we feel like giving up, we will always come out on top. In the book, “Reframing Organizations” by Lee Bolman and Terrence Deal, they discuss the hundreds of studies completed on leadership success over the past 30 years. There was one common trait for success that the majority of the studies determined: “Vision”. We can “refraim” our personal successes in the same way we address our business.
Owner, The Hill Tea Bar
www.thehillteabar.com
From Gavin Meikle, Southhampton, UK
My immediate answer to Annie’s question is simple and clear. We all need to learn the skill of loving ourselves. What benefits are likely to acrue from developing this particular skill? Three words come to mind; peace, acceptance and freedom.
Peace seems a rare and precious thing as there is clearly a lot of conflict in this world but I don’t believe most of it is reported on the news. I’m talking about internal conflict. That interminable battle between how we are and what we think others think of us. Our need for acceptance by others causes us to act in ways that are not authentic or honest and that incongruence causes pain.
Being able to truly love ourselves and in so doing, give ourselves the acceptance that we erroneously seek from others would, I believe, allow us to break that dependency forever and discover the freedom to be the best we can be. Freedom to accept others for who they are is also the key to ending the bickering and fighting that goes on between families, between organizations and between nations. Loving yourself is the beginning of a new world.
Speaker, Trainer and Human Being,Inter-Active Co .
www.inter-activ.co.uk
Read on to continue the survey in Parts 2 and 3
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