Convictions

Convictions – those things you believe in, that are not negotiable.

This from a woman who points out, in her classes and coaching on negotiations, that you should carefully think about what you think might be open to negotiations and why. For some people this is an odd way of looking at life.  Each person behaves differently in conflict resolutions and negotiations.

At the heart of how you behave are your beliefs.  The repetition of those behaviors over and over again then become habits.

Heck, you knew that!  Here is where a tiny bit of new light might be coming in:

You can shift your behavior, be more agile with your behavior, if you are moving in a direction that doesn’t violate your convictions.

Your own experience told you that. It is that little alarm that goes off when a new environment, a new leadership team, asks for a change that doesn’t quite tally with your own core beliefs.  It’s not just hard.  It’s really stressful.  It’s also slower. Today’s speed of life, speed of business, doesn’t really like having to accommodate slow.

A long time ago – ok, right now five years seems like an awfully long time! – I moved from northern California to the middle of the Midwest. I’ve been on the road for ages and ages so I’ve given lots of thought to regional, cultural, and generational differences. I’ve learned that I don’t know nearly enough and, thankfully for my firm attachment to curiosity, that gives me all sorts of opportunities to learn. It was, and is, my firm conviction, a core belief, is that people have, at heart, many more commonalities than differences.  That belief and my generally sociable manner would, I thought,  help me build a small community in my new home in short order.

Coming from a place where a huge percentage of the people were transitory, I was unprepared for a place where people stayed put and relationships could be generations old.

Ok. Agility called for. Behaviors needed to be modified, different paces accommodated, expectations (on my part at least!) leveled. Despite occasional stumbles in transitioning, I can say that I see the high value and gratifying depth of the small community I am a part of here.

You can gently shift or modify behavior with greater ease and grace when the rationale for those pivots does not violate your core beliefs. And this is likely true for the other folks in your environment.

For your team ask: what are the core convictions you all share? Start with the strengths you share so the team’s collaborative spirit is strengthened.

Talk to us about facilitating the conversations, the assessments, that can reveal those commonly held convictions and move the needle on your levels of productivity – contactus@ksppartnership.com