Posts from — April 2008

As many of you have probably seen on billboards, newspaper adds, and on TV, the big phone companies recently started advertising so called flat-rate plans for cell phones. Frequent readers know that I see this blog as a place for conversations, education, and exchange of information.

Though I am normally trying to bring you new perspectives about the field of coaching, self-improvement, and how you can become successful faster, it bugs me when organizations toot their horn and take credit for things they didn’t really invent or develop.

From some of the energy-related articles I wrote some time ago, you recall that we at AMC LLC provide project management to wind energy projects. When the first few teams arrived from Europe in 2006, one of the silly issues we ran into was the phone bill for the cell phones we provided. When I inquired how it is possible to reach $600/month on the phone bill when we already offer a 500 minute plan, the guys actually looked at me as if I am from another planet. Their question was: “What do you mean - 500 minutes?”

Over the years of using cell phones in Europe (which they call Handy in Germany, and Mobile in Britain) the market has developed into user-communities no longer concerned about the amount of time they use their phone. They actually have two main options:

1. Get a flat rate plan for your cell phone
2. Get a flat rate plan for both your cell phone and your landlines (up to 4 lines/numbers in one plan for no extra cost)

If you choose option 2, you can call, fax, text, web-surf, etc. for as much or as long as you want in all networks. Oh yeah, I almost forgot to mention that Europe decided decades ago to have one standard for cell phones, so you can switch from carrier to carrier without needing a new phone each time, or having to change the internal wiring, like for the I-Phone. Wouldn’t that be neat for our market here?

Back to the point: With option one - the flat rate for cell phones - you can get deals starting at $30 a month. All that is nice, convenient, and as my story with the guys from Europe has shown, you can get used to unlimited calling really fast.

What I find disturbing is the claim by the new CEO of Sprint that they came up with this new idea of a flat rate. Admittedly, their plan is the most comprehensive of all the large carriers in the US, but it is by no means a new idea. Just because they have, and to some extent still do, gauge us for our hard earned money when it comes to cell phone use, especially when we go over the planned minutes, now offer an alternative that at least allows us to forget the minutes for the “small fee” of $100 /month doesn’t make it their idea.

It is probably asking too much to give credit where credit is due. I wonder how many other things we are fed by the media and the companies paying for the commercials, claiming innovation where they really only copy what is common in other places in the world. Don’t get me wrong, finally starting to offer flat rates is definitely a good thing and I hope competition will drive down the prices quickly. I would get a plan like that for about $50/month – and I know a lot of other people and readers here would too.

At the same time I like to be treated with honesty and integrity. In global and international markets it appears short sighted to think that nobody would notice that Sprint, AT&T, and Verizon simply copy what is already common in other places in the world, and now want us to believe how creative they are.

My advice: Check out the new plans, compare them to your habits and past pains when going over you plan limits, and choose the best solution for your circumstances. Let’s hope the offers will get better very quickly and some day we will also have a system where we can really compete in an open market, where all phones work with the same, faster technology the people in Europe and Asia are used to. That would get us into a competitive position in the global markets and allow us to only have one phone when traveling oversees – without fear of paying an arm and a leg for roaming.

I look forward to your comments – and maybe someone can explain to me why the taxi driver in one of the Verizon commercials where the “can you hear me now-guy” is following his wife to the hospital delivery room is wearing a hard hat with a Verizon logo on it – that’s another one of those examples that bug me – as if nobody would notice???

Axel Meierhoefer, President AMC LLC

As mentioned several times in the last few postings, in my review process of Theory-U I am learning new vies and approaches about leadership and what one can or should do to become more successful. In his book, Otto Scharmer actually points out that several successful leaders know at least parts of this process, while their organizations are mostly still stuck in the methods of the 20th century. I see this same phenomenon all the time when speaking with my coaching clients.  They are working on their self-improvement as a first step to in turn help their organizations modernize.

U-Theory speaks of three components of openness:

1. Open mind
2. Open heart
3. Open will

Otto Scharmer describes these three as follows:
“Open mind is based on our ability to access our intellectual, or IQ, type of intelligence. This allows us to see with fresh eyes, to deal with objective figures and facts around us. As the saying goes: the mind works like a parachute: it only functions when it is open.” (Scharmer, 2007, p.41)

This is the area where we use our knowledge and experience and hopefully some systematic approach. A lot of modern science is almost exclusively living in this paradigm.

“The second capacity, the open heart, relates to our ability to access our emotional intelligence, or EQ; that is our capacity to empathize with others, to tune in to different contacts, and to put ourselves into someone else’s shoes.” (Scharmer, 2007, p.41)

AMC has access to an assessment instrument called EQI, developed by Ruben BarOn to measure emotional intelligence. The aspect of putting yourself into someone else’s shoes is something we try to encourage our coaching clients to do. Some have trouble, especially when they are very skeptical in nature, or very focused on themselves through self-defeat or self-consciousness. Exercises we offer can be a good help to overcome fear and stress and open up the heart and the emotional being we all have inside ourselves.

“The third capacity, the open will, relates to our ability to access our authentic purpose and self. This type of intelligence is also sometimes referred to as intention or as SQ (spiritual intelligence). It deals with the fundamental happening of the letting go and letting come.

We can tune each of these three instruments on an individual (subjective) as well as on a collective (intersubjective) level.” (Scharmer, 2007, p.41)

In my practice we try consistently to work on the individual level, although I hope to get to the point where individuals with the experience of some self-improvement through coaching will actually move to the collective level in group events.

The open will that Scharmer describes appears to have a direct connection with what we teach and coach about ambition, motivation, and confidence. When a person is mainly focused on what others thing about him or her, and how to behave and act to make the world around them happy, the inner self is taking a back seat, almost disappearing.

By rediscovering who you are, what you can do, what your goals and intentions are, the inner self and the spiritual intelligence in reappearing. It is important, in my mind, to realize that three open parts of our being do not occur or exists independent of each other. They are present and important all the time and together.

We want to find ways to be aware of their existence, but also how we can change and improve ourselves to take full advantage of our capacities in all three areas. For that goal, we look to improve our interpersonal and relational skills to learn how to tap into our emotional side without feeling vulnerable or awkward. We want to use our knowledge and experience in a systematic and coordinated way, rather than being frantic, disorganized, and under stress, especially when we are responsible for other people, who look for our guidance and leadership.

For the open will, and the ability to let go and let come, we help to strengthen ambition in a healthy combination with confidence. This allows you to be calm, collected, ready to receive what develops and actually recognize when something new emerges. This recognition goes hand in had with awareness we constantly teach our coaching clients. When you are aware of your state of mind and body and willing to let go and let emerge, you can do amazing things and feel really good about it at the same time. This feeling of joy and accomplishment turns success into an emotion, and not just the material manifestation of achievements.

If you feel inspired to try it, you can go to www.meierhoefer.net/welcome.htm and discover your own profile or get a free report as a first step toward self-improvement and a successful career. At AMC we stand ready to help you through our coaching process get to your goals faster and in more depth.

I hope to see you there very soon

Axel Meierhoefer, President AMC LLC

As discussed in previous posts, I have begun to study U-Theory by Otto Scharmer, a fellow German. As I am working my way through the material, I am using the blog here to make you familiar with the passages that most impress me, and that fit into the overall system used at AMC LLC.

To say it with the words of Rick Schefren: “So I’m writing the blog post about this cool freebie I want you to have…and while I’m clacking on the keys like a madman, the “conversation” starts to veer in a different direction.

A very interesting direction at that. You’ll see what I mean here. Now there’s a reason I put the word “conversation” in quotation marks above… That’s essentially what my blog is–I post my thoughts, you post your thoughts about my thoughts, etc. etc. You’re probably thinking, “Duh, Rich–tell me something I don’t know.” But as a maven, this type of back-and-forth with the audience is crucial to your business success. And without it, you’re dead in the water. That’s one of the main points of Joe Jaffe’s outstanding book, “Join The Conversation”.

I agree with Rick and I believe this conversation needs to be triggered. That’s part of why I am providing the posts to you. Otto Scharmer looks at Attention and Leadership and has this to say:

“The essence of leadership is to shift the inner place from which we operate both individually and collectively. In my research I found that there are four different places or positions that each give rise to a different quality or field structure of attention:

1. I in me: what I perceive based on my habitual ways of seeing and thinking.
2. I in it: what I perceive with my senses and mind wide open.
3. I in you: what I tune in to and sense from within with my heart wide open.
4. I in now: what I understand from the source of the bottom of my being, that is, from attending my open will.

These four places differ in origin. They come (in order) from: habits, open mind, open heart, and open will.”

When we take this amazing information and put it in perspective to the work done here at AMC LLC every day, we find remarkable similarities. In our assessment and coaching system we try to first build a foundation through the measurement of the human performance.

The result is a detailed profile across 12 attributes. When we look at what Otto Scharmer points out about leadership and the origins of our actions, we immediately resonate with this thought because we too try to get to the origin of the results we measure.

What we see are people who can be hard on themselves either because they don’t have enough trust in their abilities, or because they are overly concerned about what other think of them. We call these attributes self-defeat and self consciousness. If we find elevated reading for these measurements, we can almost always predict that the individuals suffering from stress and fear.

On the other hand, the open mind and the open heart resonate with high levels of ambition and confidence, resulting in true independence and healthy relationships, both in the way a person communicates as well as the level to which emotions can be shown without feeling ashamed or out of place. This also jives well with being in tune with oneself.

Confident and successful people don’t take every argument as pointed against them as individuals, but rather as something to discuss on the merits. They can separate themselves as individuals from the subject at hand. That way vigorous exchange full of energy and passion can happen without anybody walking away with a bruised attitude. If that doesn’t describe how you feel or operate, coaching might be a great solution for your self-improvement.

Finally we come to open will, which isn’t just found in motivation, ambition and confidence, but also in having goals, a plan and the network to achieve them. The tools are formed in the personality. Again, if that doesn’t sound like you, you might want to take our free assessment, measure the extent to which you tap into your won full potential and begin the conversation to discover how you can become a leader prepared for success in your future.

To find out more, you can go to www.meierhofer.net/welcome.htm and find the link to the free assessment. It’s also a place to become a member of our network, and you even receive a free report for your efforts.

I hope to welcome you there very soon – to continue the conversation about leadership and attention

Axel Meierhoefer, President AMC LLC