“I will be making an exciting announcement this week, an alpha test you can participate in during early November, which includes my coaching on a favorite, highly effective Managing with Aloha toolbox essential.”
Did you think I was talking about The Daily 5 Minutes? You were right!
I hereby declare this last week of October 2009 dedicated to The Daily 5 Minutes.
I can think of no better way to celebrate wrapping up our annual Sweet Closure initiative than with the single best tool a person wanting to “live, work, manage and lead with Aloha” can learn, for in part, Sweet Closure is about getting your focus back on what is essential, and away from what is not.
Here’s why I love the Daily 5 Minutes:
- It’s simple (to learn).
- It’s easy to do.
- Once it’s your habit, you can’t fail at it.
Those are the same reasons I push you (and every manager who’ll listen) to try it.
The Daily 5 Minutes helps you be more effective in communicating with the people who surround you. Day by day, 5 short minutes at a time, you build up your confidence —and significantly enhance a relationship you have with another person. Listening better, so you can respond better (the basics of what you do when D5M-ing) turns into the 5-minute building blocks of greater managerial self-esteem, whether you subscribe to my writings to learn self-management and self-leadership, or to manage and lead others as well.
The SIMPLE part
If you are hearing about it for the first time, The Daily 5 Minutes (D5M) is a simple habit. Each day, without fail, managers give five minutes of no-agenda time to at least one of their employees. What they are giving is whole listening time, and their undivided attention to whatever that person has on their mind.
Your time is one of the most precious resources you have, and to consistently give it to someone in the form of the Daily 5 Minutes may be one of the best workplace expressions of unconditional Aloha there is.
Many people bring the D5M practice home to their families and to their friendships, for they find it works quite naturally in those conversational circles as well. Everyone yearns to be heard, and the Daily 5 Minutes becomes that gift of being heard you give them.
The EASY part
No software, no hardware. Nothing to buy, nothing to install or plug in.
You already have everything you need to begin practicing The Daily 5 Minutes right now, for all it takes is your willingness to have more one-on-one conversations. That’s it.
You need the willingness to do it, and the good intention which enables another person to accept the Daily 5 Minutes for the gift it is, and not question your motives or test your patience.
When you give with good intentions, people receive it well, and they reciprocate, wanting to give part of themselves to you too.
In person is best, however giving someone the Daily 5 Minutes over the telephone, via chat or Skype works too when D5M-ing in person is not possible. Far better than not doing it at all.
The HABIT part
Once the Daily 5 Minutes is your habit, you can’t fail at it.
Your good intention with completely listening to other human beings turns into relationship Aloha which is transformational.
The “daily” is for you, and you will choose to give it to different people each day, however once it’s your habit, those in your circle of relationships will know they can expect to get the D5M gift from you on a consistent basis. The more ‘their turn’ comes around, the warmer the circle of comfort between you ”“ that’s what happens when people know we listen to them ”“ really listen.
You can’t fail, because they become more willing to work with you than they ever were before, and on just about anything. Listening leads to warmth, and warmth leads to trust, and trusting relationships produce amazing accomplishments borne from unrestricted agreements.
Now, the ALPHA TEST part!
On Monday, November 2nd I will be launching a first-ever virtual habit-building challenge designed for The Daily 5 Minutes in partnership with Ruzuku.com. It is completely free to those of you who participate, and will last for 15 consecutive days, helping you build your own D5M habit in the Managing with Aloha way —with me as your coach.
In other words, participate in the D5M challenge, and by the time Thanksgiving Day arrives, you will be giving thanks for some dramatically enhanced relationships. Just how sweet would that be for the coming holidays?
Help me share the good news! Here’s what’s coming:
Starting Today:
As we wrap up October’s Ho‘ohana of Sweet Closure our Talking Story week will be dedicated to reviewing more of the tips and benefits to the Daily 5 Minutes by bringing the scattered writings I have published about it back here to our Talking Story mothership. I will be creating a new D5M page here as your one-stop resource for before, during, and after the alpha test challenge.
Registration opens on Thursday, October 29th:
Alpha registration will be opened for 5 days time, closing at day’s end on November 2nd, the day the challenge starts. Check back here on the 29th for details, and discover how simple and easy your habit-building in this newly designed coaching environment can be! (I have already covered all you need in this post.)
Challenge begins on Monday, November 2nd:
Our Daily 5 Minutes challenge begins a week from today, with coaching available to you throughout the 15 days of the challenge (Our alpha test ends on November 17th.)
I hope this news excites you too. Tomorrow I will unveil our new resource page. (Update: Resource Page is up!) If you have a copy of my book, Managing with Aloha, you will find The Daily 5 Minutes on page 145 within the chapter on ‘Ike loa, “to seek knowledge and wisdom.”
UPDATE:
Our 1st Ruzuku alpha is now complete! Read about our results, and get up to date with the news about our next two challenges:
The D5M Ruzuku Report (and 2 New Challenges!)
The next one will begin on Monday, November 30th and remains free of charge only during this period of alpha testing.
Rosa:
Not only is the Daily 5 Minutes one of the best management quick approaches I know you have made it quite beautiful with the images in this post. D5M Rules in a time of few rules and more conversations.
David
.-= David Zinger ´s last blog ..Read This: Fast Links to Employee Engagement Reading =-.
Thank you so much David!
The credit for these beautiful graphics goes to Rick Cecil, my partner in creating the D5M challenge for November at Ruzuku.com and someone many in our Ho‘ohana Community know quite well (he has written for us at Joyful Jubilant Learning). Rick was kind enough to interview me for his “Another Step Forward” feature at Ruzuku back in July, “Encouraging dream-chasers to take their first step” – this alpha test will be another fabulous step forward!
The D5M is maybe the single greatest takeaway from your work Rosa. (the maybe part is related to: “tell me David, of your children, who is your favorite?”)
If a manager has not used the D5M, it will, if used consistently, produce dramatic results. But as a manager, I did use the D5M (and taught my coworkers to use it too). I just didn’t know it had a name :-) By giving it a name and providing structure as you have done Rosa, it makes it that much more effective. Although I used it, I wasn’t quite as consistent as I should have been. The structure you lend helps that.
Thank you for sharing your own experience with it Dave, for you mention a couple of things here:
— “if used consistently” — that’s the habit part. Habits put us on automatic pilot so that the extra effort magically seems to melt away… we just do it. The repetition adds to the comfort level too, much in the way we get warmer the more we layer on clothing.
— “and taught my coworkers to use it too” — so great that you did so! Managers quickly see that the D5M is a good way to lead by example. When others see the results you get, just because people talk to you more, and give you more information, they jump on board pretty eagerly.
— “giving it a name and providing structure as you have done Rosa, it makes it that much more effective” — we underestimate the power of vocabulary, and what our language of intention can do for us. One of the best things is the name of it, and the agreement that these conversations ARE contained within only 5 minutes time. People get more efficient (it’s similar to how we edit ruthlessly when we tweet because Twitter only allows 140 characters).
This is what makes me excited about the alpha Dave, we’ll be able to share these tidbits there as people share more about their own experiences in real time.
I live in a world where attention is hard to get (the world of college students). Choosing to find 5 minutes to connect and collaborate with these students is doable…on both ends of the relationship.
We all knew it was a good idea. I’m glad Rosa has taken it to the next level and put it in a usable, strategic, and productive format!
.-= tim ´s last blog ..People Are People =-.
Many have your challenge Tim: Attention is hard to get, and it’s also hard to keep! Your phrase “choosing to find 5 minutes to connect” is the insight: Our intention to make it work and direct our attention in a better way is what the D5M is all about.
Knowing you as I do, I think you will love the alpha when you see it!