The Power of Fun

Organisational change can be hard work.

It's even tougher when there's a gap between the amount of physis you have available to you and the amount you need to be successful.

I stopped a coaching session recently with a General Manager because the energy in the room was about as go-getting as you might expect to find in a Gentleman's dining club on a hot Friday afternoon after a good luncheon and bottle of claret.

If you're dragging yourself to work then the chances are you'll change nothing. My client (divorced with two children) was having no fun at home and he was working hard at keeping going, which sapped his energy, which meant he had to work harder to keep going... not great when the business was looking to him for assertive, enthusiastic, creative leadership.

He needed to make some personal changes to narrow his personal physis gap, in order to narrow the organisational physis gap.

So, we stoped talking about work and focused on him instead and what he could do to get more fun in life. Join a club? Do some sport? Take up a new hobby?

He chose a hobby. Dating.

He joined a dating agency, put his physis first for once and went out for some fun.

And when I saw him again a few weeks later he proudly showed me round the shop floor, pointing out all the recent improvements, mentioned that he had personally secured £100,000 of new buiness and, with a sparkle in his eyes, revealed that he was having fun.

Lots of it...