Edward Lewellen's Blog, page 16
June 22, 2015
Employee Engagement and the “Hawthorne Effect”
Does it ever baffle you that company leaders and HR Departments find it so hard to keep employees engaged? It does me. Why? Because all the way back into the 1920’s there has been evidence of what people want and need to be engaged at work. There was a study conducted by Industrial Psychologists in conjunction with Western Electric to discover what causes people to feel engaged and produce better and more results. It was eventually termed “The Hawthorne Effect” because these studies were carried out at the Hawthorne Works manufacturing plant. So, what were the studies and what were the effects?
One study centered around illumination of the work areas. Slight changes in the amount of light actually affected worker productivity. It didn’t matter if the illumination was brighter or darker, anytime the lighting changed, worker productivity went up.
Another study had to do with the raising and lowering of the work stations. The workers were first told that recent studies showed that raising the work station height increased productivity. And, it did. They cam back later and said another study showed that lowering the work station increases productivity. And, it did. Lastly, they said yet another study showed that putting the work station back to its original level increases productivity. Guess what? It did!
What does all of this mean for leaders and HR Departments? In spite of the critics of “The Hawthorne Effect”, there are some very real and actionable results from it. For instance, neuroscience has an acronym SCARF, which stands for Status, Certainty, Autonomy, Relatedness, and Fairness. SCARF is a much more current motivational theory than taught in college and university courses still today. Neuro-scientists know that those five elements are what cause people to stay engaged because they are some of the most basic needs. Unlike Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs that has several levels and says that the lowest level need must be filled before moving on to the higher levels of need, neuroscience says the needs must be met in a different way. There may be times when only one need has to be filled, other times when multiple needs must be filled, and times when all the needs have to be filled at the same time. This is similar to Tony Robbins’ and NLP’s “6 Human Needs”.
Another learning is also taken from Neuroscience. The human mind is always on the watch for what’s next. As an example, have you seen how easily we have become addicted to our smartphones, email, Social Media, etc.? We say we want to set these things aside, yet, it seems we can’t wait for that next “ding!” alerting us that some new information has just hit our smartphone, tablet, laptop, or computer. Having all of this information continuously coming in is like a dog surrounded by 100 squirrels! Whatever moves next is going to get chased! How does this connect with employee engagement? Just like “The Hawthorne Effect”, leaders and HR Departments need to realize that the tools that are used for motivation don’t need to be “big” things. Another study placed a dime on a copier machine in the office. The psychologists measured the level of happiness people had after leaving the copy machine when there was a dime on it, which they took, and those leaving the copy machine when there wasn’t a dime on it. Those that saw and took the dime were “significantly” happier! Think about your kids. You could buy them a $100 toy and what would they spend the most time playing with? The BOX!
Lastly, the most recent salary studies show that a person doesn’t become any happier than when they are making $50,000 per year. The thing that changes are the things that make them happy, but with no increase in happiness, itself. I believe leaders and HR Departments make the issue too complicated. As you can see from what I wrote above, it’s actually very simple.
Dr. Edward Lewellen is a Master Executive Coach, leadership and sales expert, and keynote speaker for some of the largest global organizations.
972.900.9207
Ed@Trans-Think.com
June 17, 2015
Your Point of Personal Power!
Increase your personal power
The phrase, “Your Point of Personal Power” has an amazing affect. Just saying it once causes you to want to say it again and with more power, and again, and again. It drives a surge of energy through your mind and body, stimulating the adrenaline, raising your blood pressure and pulse rate and making you want to go out and accomplish something!
I presented this topic to one of the largest real estate companies in Dallas/Fort Worth on 6/16/15 and shared with the sales team, and others, how there are specific points of personal power we each possess. Notice how you can make of each one of these yourself:
1) NOW. Now, not five minutes ago, an hour ago, a day ago, a week, month, or year ago is where your personal power exists. You can’t do anything about what happened in those previous moments. Right now is your opportunity to stop managing your situation and start creating the future you desire!
2) Quantum Physics. According to the most proven Quantum Physics mathematical formula, it isn’t your past that causes you to be where you are now, it’s your future. All opposing possibilities of what your future will be have been cancelled out leaving only one future. And, it’s the one that you’re intending to have now. What you’re intending your future to be has positioned you where you are right now.
3) Words. With each word that you say to yourself or to others, you are in a point of power. Words, and being aware that we have thoughts and are able to use words to express them is called “consciousness”. It’s what separates us from every other life form on earth. Yet, we use words within our own minds and in communicating with others very flippantly. The next time you find yourself using negative language, consider your personal power. Are the words you’re using inside your mind growing or diminishing your personal power? Are the words you’re using with others giving them power or taking it away?
Every moment of “NOW” is your time to choose where your personal power will go. Will you invest it and make it grow? Will you use it in a way to cause it to diminish? You have a choice…now.
Dr. Edward Lewellen is a Master Executive Coach, leadership and sales expert, and keynote speaker for some of the largest global organizations.
972.900.9207
Ed@Trans-Think.com
June 1, 2015
The 90-Second Mind Manager – Special Offers for Ordering before June 15, 2015
If you’re the kind of person that likes to experience positive growth and change that will permanently impact your life, then my new book The 90-Second Mind Manager is a “must-read” book for you! You may have asked the same questions I did, “How can it be that so many people have the books, audios, videos, and seminars of Tony Robbins, Zig Ziglar, Wes Brown, Jim Rohn, Stephen Covey and so many others and still not see positive changes permanently made in their lives?” “How can it be that people study one, or many, religions and still not feel happy and satisfied?” “How can people attend sessions with psychologists, psychiatrists, counselors, and therapists for years, and continue to find that their core issues still exist?” And, many more soul-searching, thought-provoking questions. If you’ve asked those questions and ever experienced the feelings of losing control of your beliefs, thoughts, words, and behaviors, then The 90-Second Mind Manager is the answer you’ve been searching for all your life!
Until 6/15/15 when The 90-Second Mind Manager is officially released, you can take advantage of these special offers just for those that are committed to personal growth, development, change and transformation:
Offer 1: $12.99
Get 1 copy of The 90-Second Mind Manager eBook and 1 copy of my first eBook “Creating a Life in forward Motion”
That’s a value of $18.99 for only $12.00!
Offer 2: $50.00
This exciting package is only for people who are committed to personal growth, development, change and transformation! The awesome things you get:
1) 1 copy of The 90-Second Mind Manager eBook
2) Your name listed on the “Dedicated to Transformation” page
3) 1 copy of Creating Life in Forward Motion eBook
4) A Skype “Thank You!” call with Dr. Lewellen!
(In order to have your name listed in the first edition, you must have pre-ordered by 6/10/15!)
Offer 3: $1,000
The 90-Second Mind Manager Initiative – Change your organization into a vibrant, results-producing organism!
You get: Up to 25 copies of The 90-Second Mind Manager in eBook,
Choose a 30-minute video conference call to discuss the book and answer questions, OR
A video conference call to receive a 30-minute overview of how to implement The 90-Second Mind Manager initiative throughout your organization.
How to order:
Just send an email to Ed@Trans-Think.com and tell me which Special Offer you would like. In the email, I’ll need the name(s) and email address(es) of the recipient(s). I’ll need the name and email of the person paying for the offer so that I can send them a request through PayPal for the funds. Once I receive the funds, then I’ll send the links for retrieving the Special Offer.
If you have any questions, please contact Dr. Edward Lewellen at 972.900.9207 or Ed@Trans-Think.com
May 26, 2015
The 90-Second Mind Manager – Video Interview
For more information, contact Dr. Lewellen at 972.900.9207 or Ed@Trans-Think.com.
To order your personal copy of The 90-Second Mind Manager, go to Amazon.com, BarnesAndNoble.com, or simply click on this link: Smashwords 90-Second Mind Manager
May 19, 2015
What You See Is All There Is – WYSIATI
Day in and day out we think, we talk, we hear, we watch body language, and we use all of our senses for communication. With 2 Terabytes of information coming in on us at any one moment and only having the capability to sense 11 Megabytes in that same moment, it’s impossible to comprehend everything that is happening. Like an onion, there are so many layers we’re not seeing. Yet, as psychologist and Nobel Laureate Daniel Kahneman says in his book Thinking Fast and Slow, we tend to believe that “What you see is all there is” (WYSIATI) and act accordingly. And, that’s why, in spite of all the communication training we’ve received, we continue to mis-communicate. What would it be like to communicate with real understanding and minimize, and sometimes completely eliminate, the errors that prove so costly in business and personal life? Here are 3 few simple ways to help make that a reality:
1) Slow is fast. I know that you want to hurry and communicate so that you can get on with the next project. But, how many times has that expediency cost you? What was the cost to have to redo that project because someone got in a hurry and a misunderstanding occurred? How many sales have been lost because a salesperson got in a hurry and didn’t ask all the right questions? How may kids have been lost to the “wrong” crowd because their parents didn’t take time to communicate? Taking the time (sometimes it’s literally just a few seconds) to ensure that what you said is what is understood, or that you understood someone else, can save enormous amounts of time and money to fix misunderstandings after-the-fact.
2) Remove “Allness” from your ego. Things are constantly changing, even right now something in your business is changing and you aren’t even aware of it, yet. Sometimes we believe we know everything about a lot of things (Allness and WYSIATI), especially if you’re a leader in an organization you probably believe you’re supposed to know everything about a lot of things. The truth is, you can never know everything about anything. By taking on a humble attitude that there is always something to be learned, you can open yourself and your business to new, fresh, and innovative ideas to be communicated to you.
3) “How do you know?” We like to believe that we control our behaviors and our emotions. Neuroscience tells a different story. Imagine being able to help yourself, and others, to understand their actions. For example, a salesperson says, “I’m not going to hit my numbers.” Most sales managers will ask the reason and excuse eliciting question, “Why not?” What is a more effective communication strategy? By asking “How do you know?”, the salesperson is required to share the strategy of how they arrived at the conclusion they came to. A strategy can be fixed. Reasons and excuses can’t. The “How” question takes you beyond WYSIATI.
Of course, there are many additional ways that we can make our communication more effective and help us reach our personal and professional goals.
I would love to hear from you! What would you like to share about problems you’ve experienced when communicating? What are some of the ways you’ve found to be more effective?
Dr. Edward Lewellen is a Master Executive Coach, leadership and sales expert, and keynote speaker for some of the largest global organizations.
972.900.9207
Ed@Trans-Think.com
May 13, 2015
Conserving Brain-Power…at What Cost?
Though the human brain can be held in the palm of your hand and makes up less than 5% of your body mass, it uses more than 20% of your entire energy resources. Because of that, I believe the brain is the world’s best Energy Conservationist! But, at what cost?
This is one of the many things you’ll learn when you receive your copy of my new book The 90-Second Mind Manager, which you can pre-order here: https://www.smashwords.com/books/view/540978
By pre-ordering The 90-Second Mind Manager today, you’ll be have your eBook format available to you on June 15, 2015! And, remember to get your copy of my first book, Creating a Life in Forward Motion, too!
https://www.smashwords.com/books/view/162652
Creating life in forward motion,
Dr. Edward Lewellen
972.900.9207
Ed@Trans-Think.com
Stimulus and Response – How to Create More Options
One of the great gifts we are given as humans is the ability to choose. We have the ability to choose how we respond, Intellectually, Emotionally, Physically, and Spiritually. There are number of things that factor into the choices we make. Learn more here about The 90-Second Mind Manager!
Pre-order your copy so that you can gain insightful information on June 15th!
https://www.smashwords.com/books/view...
https://www.smashwords.com/books/view...
Creating life in forward motion,
Dr. Edward Lewellen
972.900.9207
ed@Trans-Think.com
The 90-Second Mind Manager…Coming SOON!
My new book, The 90-Second Mind Manager, will be released on June 15th! Learn a little about the book and come back soon for more tidbits and discover how you can get a FREE copy of my first book “Creating Life in Forward Motion”!
Pre-order your copy today: https://www.smashwords.com/books/view/540978
Creating life in forward motion,
Dr. Edward Lewellen
972.900.9207
Ed@tRans-Think.com
