Inside Strategic Coach Podcast with Dan Sullivan and Shannon Waller

Focus: Forget About Your Difficulties and Focus on Progress

Context

• Current Event: COVID-19 health scare and global shutdown.
• Challenge: Managing new and emerging difficulties by focusing on progress.

Key Points

Difference Between Reacting and Responding

• Reacting: Emotional. Natural, requires no talent.
• Responding: Combination of emotion, reason, experience, and problem solving.
• Initial emotional impact can be transformed into a positive response.
• Analogous to Muscle Training: Emotional, psychological, and strategic challenges require preparation similar to physical training.

Importance of Being Prepared

• Preparedness from normal times helps, but new situations require new skills.
• Example: Social distancing is a new challenge compared to past financial downturns.
• Mastery of virtual platforms like Zoom is crucial.
• Muscle Building Analogy: Extra effort is needed initially to adapt to new challenges, like physical training.

Accountability and Reliability

• First New Knowledge: Understanding who can be counted on.
• Three Aspects of Accountability:
  1. Mental capability.
  2. Optimism or pessimism.
  3. Useful skills.

Personal Responsibility and Teamwork

• Responsibility is a choice; it can't be imposed on others.
• The goal is to find accountable individuals and form a new kind of teamwork.
• Assess both others and yourself quickly during challenging times.

Avoiding Traps and Focusing on Progress

• Biggest traps: Self-focus and reliance on past ways of being useful.
• Perspective Shift: Must adapt to new market needs quickly.
• Scary times penalize lack of self-awareness much more quickly than normal times.
• From Self-Pity to Action: Moving from feeling unfairly treated to proactive adaptation.

Key Questions to Build Mind, Spirit, and Character

1. What's Your Single Biggest Commitment?

• Focus: Acquiring new capabilities and higher levels of confidence during this period.
• Example: Mastering virtual technology like Zoom.

2. What's Going to Require a Period of Courage?

• Leadership Role: Must show up with confidence to inspire confidence in others.
• Emphasis on Action: Even if steps are uncomfortable initially, progress can be made.

3. What's Your Most Important New Capability?

• Measure Progress: Track compliments and feedback to gauge improvements.
• Act on both positive feedback and constructive criticism.

4. Where Do You Want a New Higher Confidence?

• Capability as Means, Confidence as Reward: Improved capabilities lead to greater confidence which in turn spurs further commitment.

5. Who’s the Better You as a Result of Your Scary Times Growth?

• Future Perspective: Envisioning a new, improved self post-crisis.
• Example: Strength developed during tough times accelerates growth during normal times (analogy: running with elastic bands).

Conclusion

• Crises are opportunities to grow new strengths, capabilities, and confidence.
• As circumstances improve, the gains made in difficult times provide lasting benefits.
• Importance of responding creatively and constructively during crises.
• The series offers a structured approach to being effective during and after challenging times.