Help me see myself the way you see and experience me: True Perspective
I do a lot of work with people to help them understand how their actions and behaviours impact others, which I see as an honour and privilege. However, I can’t lose sight of the importance of the work I do with others and how I need to do that for myself.
I’m writing a book that is due for publication in February 2022. The concept I’m exploring in the book is True Perspective, helping people see and experience themselves the way the rest of the world sees and experiences them. For anybody who is serious about doing the work necessary to grow and evolve, this book is for you.
To help with the content of my book I’m asking you to provide me with some honest feedback, some true perspective of my own. It’s incredibly important to me and I will be so grateful for your contribution.
Here is a short video I’ve created explaining true perspective and how you can provide me with some feedback.
If you are happy to jump straight in, please click on the following link to fill out the very short survey.
Take the survey here:
How do you rate your empathy? Try being John Malkovich!
If you haven’t seen the film, ‘being John Malkovich’ is a bizarre story that provides insight into the concept of being able to inhabit somebody else’s skin, feel what they feel and move how they move. In doing so, you learn more about yourself by feeling free to express and explore who you are through the vessel of another. It beautifully conveys the power of empathy to enable deep reflection to take place about ones own thoughts, feelings and behaviour. What’s so wonderful about this film is that John Malkovich stars as John Malkovich, which to me, is the ultimate test of empathy.
If you haven’t seen the film, ‘Being John Malkovich’ is a bizarre story that provides insight into the concept of being able to inhabit somebody else’s skin, feel what they feel and move how they move. In doing so, you learn more about yourself by feeling free to express and explore who you are through the vessel of another. It beautifully conveys the power of empathy to enable deep reflection to take place about ones own thoughts, feelings and behaviour. What’s so wonderful about this film is that John Malkovich stars as John Malkovich, which to me, is the ultimate test of empathy.
Imagine that you were asked to play the starring role in the movie “Being [your name]”. In other words, how would you ‘be’ you. Like any other role, you’d have to study your character’s every move, understand their motivations, values, strengths, weaknesses, and fears. You’d have to understand in-depth, how they think, feel and behave in any given scenario. If you think this is easy, see how you go when someone sets you up in front of a camera and says “just be yourself”. To most, this is usually enough to trigger a freeze response or simply makes one go completely blank.
One could argue that over-thinking who you are or how you are perceived is a bottomless pit of self-conscious despair and will only lead to anxiety. On the contrary, I don’t think we consider our impact on others enough. If you want to make a positive impact on society at large, start with the people you interact with regularly and have a go at making sure your presence ensures they have a positive experience.
WANT HELP?
Are you looking for support with managing life on a personal and professional level? Not clear on what your next steps are? Got someone in mind that you think could benefit from talking with me? I know that making the first contact can be tough, especially if you have doubts. Book in your obligation free first session to see if I’m the right fit for you.
NEED HELP WITH CULTURE, OR TEAM ENGAGEMENT?
As a registered Organisational Psychologist, I’ve got the skills and capability to help you master your culture and engagement challenges. I also spent 7 years working for GALLUP, a world leader in engagement, discovering the best strategies to engage your team, enhance productivity and increase profitability. Book in a call below to discuss how I can support you.
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CHECK-OUT WHAT ELSE I DO
I love writing articles but just in case you were wondering, it’s not all I do. Have a look at my website to discover some of my services, what my clients say about me, and some other interesting facts.
A LITTLE BIT ABOUT ME
I’m fascinated with people, always have been and always will be. From a very early age, I keenly observed people, I was curious about what motivated them, what made them successful and why they made certain choices. This curiosity led me to study Psychology. After graduating with my Master of Organisational Psychology, I worked for Gallup, a global leader in engagement and strengths-based development. I became a strengths-based coach, engagement expert and worked with senior leaders all over the world.
If you’re curious about how I can help you personally or with the leadership of your team/organisation get in touch via my email: joe@joehart.com.au | website: joehart.com.au | Phone: +61425 224 825
The view of you: Let’s talk about perspective
Perspective-taking, in my opinion, is one of the most useful tools any of us have in our life skills toolbelt. Equally, losing perspective is one of the greatest handicaps one can suffer. Being able to shift perspective helps us re-focus in times of crisis, understand somebody else’s behaviour or point of view, see new possibilities for old problems, and learn from our mistakes. Given the ability to shift your perspective is so powerful, I reckon it’s an ability worth practising.
Have you said or ever heard someone say any of the following sentences?
“I don’t care what people think of me”
“I am who I am and if you don’t like it, that’s your problem”
“I know I’m not everyone’s cup of tea but you can’t please everyone”
“I focus on being myself, being true to who I really am”
If I’m completely honest, I’ve said some of the above sentences and heard plenty of people say them over the years. Most people would interpret the above affirmations as a sign of confidence or good self-esteem. Not me, I cringe when I hear them now. Why?… Because what they are really saying is “I couldn’t be bothered understanding how others feel, think and behave… their perspective doesn’t matter”
I’m open to the idea that there are some circumstances where it might make sense to “not care” what people think of you. Some might argue that as an elite athlete, it’s essential to “not care” but if you’re wondering what happened to Bernard Tomic or don’t even know who I’m talking about…I rest my case. I personally struggle to think of any examples where it actually makes sense. Unless of course, you are happy to live and work in an environment that doesn’t require you to build or maintain relationships. It reminds me of the reclusive types that retreat from society and have minimal contact with the outside world. They are usually incredibly interesting and quirky people but also quite damaged. To me, it all comes down to how self-centred they are. In other words, they view the world as being all about them and lack empathy for others. As a consequence, the view we all have of them is of being withdrawn and closed-off, albeit interesting and quirky. Of course, their perspective doesn’t shift with feedback because they already hold the view that they don’t care what other people think.
Perspective-taking, in my opinion, is one of the most useful tools any of us have in our life skills toolbelt. Equally, losing perspective is one of the greatest handicaps one can suffer. Being able to shift perspective helps us re-focus in times of crisis, understand somebody else’s behaviour or point of view, see new possibilities for old problems, and learn from our mistakes. Given the ability to shift your perspective is so powerful, I reckon it’s an ability worth practising.
To gain perspective, the two main skills that everyone needs to master, are Empathy and Experiential awareness. That is, one’s ability to understand what somebody else is feeling and the experience they are currently having in your presence. The problem is, when we need perspective most like when we are in the middle of a crisis or things just aren’t going our way, we often struggle to find it. The solution, while counterintuitive, is to stop focussing on yourself and look to what others are feeling and how they are experiencing you. This will give you a new perspective, and also help you see yourself how the rest of the world sees and experiences you.
If you’re still convinced that what others think of you doesn’t matter or isn’t helpful, try this on for size. How you see yourself is mirrored by how others experience you. For example, not caring how others experience you would be like someone politely letting you know that you’ve got something stuck between your teeth and you respond with “Thanks for letting me know, but I really don’t care”. Not exactly the best way to win friends and influence people! More applicable examples could be rejecting feedback in any of the following scenarios. Having poor body language in meetings, the overuse of ‘um’ when presenting, belittling others publicly, making cynical comments or snide remarks, not speaking up when you have something to say, big-noting yourself, turning up late to a meeting and lying about what caused your delay and the list goes on…and on. We all need perspective at times so we can see ourselves how others are seeing and experiencing us. However, you can only achieve perspective if you see yourself from another’s point of view.
If you’re looking for a little more insight, consider this. The view others have of you is shaped by the view you have of yourself. When you think about it, it’s quite simple, how you see yourself shapes your behaviour. How you behave shapes how people see and experience you. As a leader, manager or parent, this forges the culture of your organisation, team or household you are leading respectively. Your success as a leader in any context is directly related to your ability to empathise. When you take the time to understand what your key stakeholders are feeling you’ll also start to take responsibility for the behaviour that shapes their view of you.
To sum it all up, the view of you is a reflection of how you see yourself. If you couldn’t be bothered or don’t care what people think, their experience of you will be someone who doesn’t care, couldn’t be bothered and doesn’t want to understand them. This does not bode well for anyone wanting to create have a productive, engaged life. To avoid this outcome try Shifting your focus to put others at the centre of your universe and you’ll have no option but to demonstrate empathy and understanding.
WANT HELP?
Are you looking for support with managing life on a personal and professional level? Not clear on what your next steps are? Got someone in mind that you think could benefit from talking with me? I know that making the first contact can be tough, especially if you have doubts. Book in your obligation free first session to see if I’m the right fit for you.
NEED HELP WITH CULTURE, OR TEAM ENGAGEMENT?
As a registered Organisational Psychologist, I’ve got the skills and capability to help you master your culture and engagement challenges. I also spent 7 years working for GALLUP, a world leader in engagement, discovering the best strategies to engage your team, enhance productivity and increase profitability. Book in a call below to discuss how I can support you.
Did you like this Article?
If you liked this article, have a look at some of my other articles here or sign-up to my list to receive my articles directly into your inbox each week. If you think someone might like to read them too, simply forward this email on to them.
CHECK-OUT WHAT ELSE I DO
I love writing articles but just in case you were wondering, it’s not all I do. Have a look at my website to discover some of my services, what my clients say about me, and some other interesting facts.
A LITTLE BIT ABOUT ME
I’m fascinated with people, always have been and always will be. From a very early age, I keenly observed people, I was curious about what motivated them, what made them successful and why they made certain choices. This curiosity led me to study Psychology. After graduating with my Master of Organisational Psychology, I worked for Gallup, a global leader in engagement and strengths-based development. I became a strengths-based coach, engagement expert and worked with senior leaders all over the world.
If you’re curious about how I can help you personally or with the leadership of your team/organisation get in touch via my email: joe@joehart.com.au | website: joehart.com.au | Phone: +61425 224 825
Emotional Claustrophobia: The feeling of being stuck
For everyone feeling hard done by, cheated, robbed, restricted, shut-down, humiliated, disappointed, frustrated and any other ‘…ed’ you can think of, I’d like to suggest you add “Man’s search for meaning” by Viktor E. Frankl to your reading list. As a survivor of a prisoner of war camp and world-renowned psychiatrist, Viktor beautifully illustrates how you can have everything taken away from you and still draw on wisdom that enables you to choose your experience.
While I’m not claustrophobic, I hate the feeling of being stuck. I can totally understand the idea that small enclosed spaces freak people out and in some cases, something as innocuous as a building elevator can be enough to create overwhelming anxiety.
Right now, a big chunk of the country is in lock-down which after six weeks of restricted movement and plenty of screen time has triggered what I can only describe as emotional claustrophobia. That is, anxiety and depression brought on by forced restriction of movement and social interaction.
Unfortunately, the response to lock-down has lead to a minority acting out through demonstrations of rage, antisocial behaviour, opposition and blame - all of which are understandable.
For everyone feeling hard done by, cheated, robbed, restricted, shut-down, humiliated, disappointed, frustrated and any other ‘…ed’ you can think of, I’d like to suggest you add “Man’s search for meaning” by Viktor E. Frankl to your reading list. As a survivor of a prisoner of war camp and a world-renowned psychiatrist, Viktor beautifully illustrates how you can have everything taken away from you and still draw on the wisdom that enables you to choose your experience.
“Everything can be taken from a man but one thing: the last of the human freedoms—to choose one’s attitude in any given set of circumstances, to choose one’s own way.”
― Viktor E. Frankl
Having the time to reflect on my own experiences from past and present, I’m becoming more clear on what it means to ‘choose one’s own way’. Indeed, the situation the world is in right now is real, it’s scary, it’s uncertain and there is no immediate solution to the problem we all face. However, I’m drawing strength from great leaders such as Frankl that were able to choose their mindset, regardless of the hardship they faced.
If you’re feeling stuck and also feel like you’re suffering from a bit of Emotional claustrophobia it’s time to dig deep and resurrect the choices available to you. It is in these choices that you will discover your freedom.
One final quote from Frankl for you to ponder.
“When we are no longer able to change a situation, we are challenged to change ourselves.”
― Viktor E. Frankl
WANT HELP?
Are you looking for support with managing life on a personal and professional level? Not clear on what your next steps are? Got someone in mind that you think could benefit from talking with me? I know that making the first contact can be tough, especially if you have doubts. Book in your obligation free first session to see if I’m the right fit for you.
NEED HELP WITH CULTURE, OR TEAM ENGAGEMENT?
As a registered Organisational Psychologist, I’ve got the skills and capability to help you master your culture and engagement challenges. I also spent 7 years working for GALLUP, a world leader in engagement, discovering the best strategies to engage your team, enhance productivity and increase profitability. Book in a call below to discuss how I can support you.
Did you like this Article?
If you liked this article, have a look at some of my other articles here or sign-up to my list to receive my articles directly into your inbox each week. If you think someone might like to read them too, simply forward this email on to them.
CHECK-OUT WHAT ELSE I DO
I love writing articles but just in case you were wondering, it’s not all I do. Have a look at my website to discover some of my services, what my clients say about me, and some other interesting facts.
A LITTLE BIT ABOUT ME
I’m fascinated with people, always have been and always will be. From a very early age, I keenly observed people, I was curious about what motivated them, what made them successful and why they made certain choices. This curiosity led me to study Psychology. After graduating with my Master of Organisational Psychology, I worked for Gallup, a global leader in engagement and strengths-based development. I became a strengths-based coach, engagement expert and worked with senior leaders all over the world.
If you’re curious about how I can help you personally or with the leadership of your team/organisation get in touch via my email: joe@joehart.com.au | website: joehart.com.au | Phone: +61425 224 825
Leadership: The Truth of it All
Put simply, leadership is following the truth or as I like to say it’s leading with the truth. Now, before you dismiss this as a hippy woo-woo definition, keep reading. When I say ‘the truth’ I don’t mean to get into a deep philosophical debate about perception and reality. I’m simply referring to your ability to recognise what ‘feels right’ or ‘sounds right’ to you. Think of it like a musician tuning a string instrument by ear, there is a calibration that takes place through the tensioning of the strings before the note they are looking for resonates sweetly. Now, without prior experience of hearing a properly tuned instrument, you won’t know how to tune it and regardless of the music you play, it’s guaranteed to sound terrible. So how did we ever land on an agreement about what was ‘in tune’ vs ‘out of tune’? A universal truth. Regardless of whether you are a musician or not, you can differentiate between an instrument that is poorly tuned vs one that is perfectly tuned. It requires no prior knowledge of music…you just know it when you hear it.
Before reading this article, take a moment to answer the following questions thoughtfully. For the purpose of this exercise, you don’t need to be in a formal leadership role. We all have the opportunity to lead ourselves and others in many areas of life. It could be at school, work, on the sporting field, in a family or within a group, club or the wider community. Regardless of your context, answer the following questions as a leader.
Are you a good leader?
How would you describe your leadership?
Do you know how others experience your leadership?
What makes you a better leader than anyone else?
Why would anyone want to follow your lead?
Why you….and why now?
Now that you’ve spent some time reflecting on your own leadership, you’re super clear on the definition of leadership right? Yeah well….if you’re anything like me, you might be comparing your definition with the more than 2 billion definitions that come up from a simple Google search and wondering which one is right!
Rather than quote what is already out there, I’d like to offer some of my thoughts on what good leadership looks like and how you can improve.
Put simply, leadership is following the truth or as I like to say it’s leading with the truth. Now, before you dismiss this as a hippy woo-woo definition, keep reading. When I say ‘the truth’ I don’t mean to get into a deep philosophical debate about perception and reality. I’m simply referring to your ability to recognise what ‘feels right’ or ‘sounds right’ to you. Think of it like a musician tuning a string instrument by ear, there is a calibration that takes place through the tensioning of the strings before the note they are looking for resonates sweetly. Now, without prior experience of hearing a properly tuned instrument, you won’t know how to tune it and regardless of the music you play, it’s guaranteed to sound terrible. So how did we ever land on an agreement about what was ‘in tune’ vs ‘out of tune’? A universal truth. Regardless of whether you are a musician or not, you can differentiate between an instrument that is poorly tuned vs one that is perfectly tuned. It requires no prior knowledge of music…you just know it when you hear it.
Applying this same idea to the sporting realm, when we see somebody performing at a peak level of excellence I.e. they are a well tuned athlete, we notice how effortless, fluid and true they are when they are demonstrating their skills. When striking the ball, leaping in the air, timing their run or delivering a blow, their movements represent a recognisable truth that everyone can see regardless of their level of expertise or prior experience.
Beyond music and sport, this same notion applies to everything you do, including leadership. Leadership, in all of its forms, is your ability to achieve self-mastery by 1. Recognising what is true and 2. Aligning your behaviour with that truth. In music or sport, recognising ‘the truth’ would be to understand what excellence is and evaluate your current performance against it. Aligning your behaviour with that truth would look like a whole lot of hard work in the form of repetitive practice, grit and perseverance. For leadership in the work or organisational context, it becomes a little more tricky as excellence is a bit more difficult to define than striking a ball with finesse or playing a series of chords to perfection. We often fall into the trap of emulating good leadership or refining good leadership characteristics. In my experience, this method creates a paradox whereby the harder you try to be a ‘good leader’ the worse your leadership becomes.
The ‘leadership’ paradox
Often, especially early in one’s career, there is a temptation to model yourself based on a leader that you have previously experienced. Sometimes the leadership was good, other times (very often) not so good but we naturally get anchored by our early experiences and start aligning our behaviour with them. This does little more than create a bunch of noise and distraction that prevents you from being a leader and demonstrating good leadership. We all want to have a roadmap or certainty about what we need to do to become a good leader so we can get to work and have a more positive impact on those around us and the companies we work for. The good news is, I’m going to provide you with a roadmap that will enable you to get to work but before I do, I want to make it ultra-clear that you need to let go of trying to be a leader. This is the paradox of leadership. The harder you try, the worse your leadership will be. Similarly, the more you let go of being a leader, the closer you will get to demonstrating leadership. Bringing it back to sport, the leadership paradox is a bit like generating power when kicking a football, serving a tennis ball or driving a golf ball off a tee. Your focus is on timing and efficiency rather than brute force. The most powerful shots always come with a surprising effortlessness that feels so right and true. When it happens by accident we then spend a great deal of effort trying to replicate the effortlessness!
Self-mastery is the key
The most important insight I can share about what differentiates good leaders from bad leaders is self-mastery. The second most important insight is that self-mastery is something you can never stop pursuing and can never fully achieve. In other words, you can always improve and the process of improvement is constant. To achieve self-mastery there are three elements that you need to be aware of.
Element 1: To have a strengths focus - Having worked for Gallup for the first 7 years of my career I’ve personally seen and experienced the benefits of applying the research insights that have emerged from positive psychology. Too often, we are taught to focus on fixing our weaknesses so we can be well rounded. This seems logical, and also makes sense, that is until you consider how it makes you feel. Constantly focussing on your weaknesses makes you feel tired, inadequate and like you aren’t doing a good job. Furthermore, you will likely improve but plateau at mediocrity. The real benefit is focussing on what comes naturally to you, so you can achieve excellence. In doing so, you can relax into the person you are, rather than try to be somebody you are not. Having a strengths focus also means that the way you see people around you starts to shift. Rather than focus on what is missing from them, you start to see what they offer and how that can help you. A simple way to get to know your strengths is to undertake a personality assessment. The Clifton strengths assessment is a good one but will cost you money. If you’d rather save some coin, you could try the VIA survey instead. They are both good and will give you a starting point to help shift your focus toward your areas of strength.
Element 2: Know and align to your purpose - For many people, articulating their purpose is easy. Now if you’re thinking…yeah…that’s easy, my purpose is to make money, then I need you to dig a little deeper. Of course, we all need money but there is something unique about what gets you excited, what lights you up and when you’re facing your darkest moments, you’ll draw upon to get you out of a rut. Something I’ve learned about people is that we all have a deeper purpose and we all know what it is (intuitively). The problem is, we don’t talk about it often so our ability to articulate our purpose is pretty poor. The irony of being able to articulate it is it’s hard to find when you need it most, that’s why you do the hard work when you aren’t under pressure…sort of like an athlete practice their skills in training so when the big moment comes they can perform. The best way to get clear on your purpose is to start by identifying your core values. You can do this work by yourself or by working with a coach or mentor that can help guide the process. There is no right or wrong answer but your values need to resonate deeply with you for it to be a beneficial exercise. For some, this is an easy exercise while others grapple with it for years. Once you’ve got your values identified, I like to shape them into a purpose statement or a pithy sentence that is meaningful and captures the essence of your values. Don’t worry if you don’t get it quickly, it’s an evolutionary process that will change and develop over time. You don’t need to rush it!
Element 3: Understand how to regulate your emotions - This is by far the greatest challenge but equally the most important element to master. We’ve all heard the term emotional intelligence, which refers to our ability to name, understand, recognise and utilise our emotions effectively. Another popular term thanks to the work of Susan David is Emotional Agility. This is about learning how we can embrace all of our emotions…even the supposed bad ones to help us be more effective leaders. The truth is if you aren’t able to regulate your emotions, then your ability to demonstrate your strengths and live in alignment with your purpose is diminished. Furthermore, when you let your emotions get the better of you, it doesn’t matter how good a leader you are, people only experience your emotion and can’t see your strengths or connect with your purpose. When your emotions take over or ‘hijack’ your brain, you become like a train that’s come off its rails…unpredictable, dangerous and the cause for people to run for their lives. If you know your temper is bad or your ability to manage your anxiety is poor, the best thing you can do is engage a coach or psychologist to help identify some strategies you can use to get things back on track.
By actively working on developing these three key elements to self mastery, you’ll be taking an important step toward developing yourself into a formidable leader, whether you have direct reports or not.
WANT HELP?
Are you looking for support with managing life on a personal and professional level? Not clear on what your next steps are? Got someone in mind that you think could benefit from talking with me? I know that making the first contact can be tough, especially if you have doubts. Book in your obligation free first session to see if I’m the right fit for you.
NEED HELP WITH CULTURE, OR TEAM ENGAGEMENT?
As a registered Organisational Psychologist, I’ve got the skills and capability to help you master your culture and engagement challenges. I also spent 7 years working for GALLUP, a world leader in engagement, discovering the best strategies to engage your team, enhance productivity and increase profitability. Book in a call below to discuss how I can support you.
Did you like this Article?
If you liked this article, have a look at some of my other articles here or sign-up to my list to receive my articles directly into your inbox each week. If you think someone might like to read them too, simply forward this email on to them.
CHECK-OUT WHAT ELSE I DO
I love writing articles but just in case you were wondering, it’s not all I do. Have a look at my website to discover some of my services, what my clients say about me, and some other interesting facts.
A LITTLE BIT ABOUT ME
I’m fascinated with people, always have been and always will be. From a very early age, I keenly observed people, I was curious about what motivated them, what made them successful and why they made certain choices. This curiosity led me to study Psychology. After graduating with my Master of Organisational Psychology, I worked for Gallup, a global leader in engagement and strengths-based development. I became a strengths-based coach, engagement expert and worked with senior leaders all over the world.
If you’re curious about how I can help you personally or with the leadership of your team/organisation get in touch via my email: joe@joehart.com.au | website: joehart.com.au | Phone: +61425 224 825