Pub. 2 2013 Issue 1

20 l e a d i n g a d v o c a t e f o r t h e b a n k i n g i n d u s t r y i n k a n s a s Z ACH WAS TORN. HIS SUMMER INTERNSHIP HAD gone so well that the San Diego-based company had offered to pay his rent on his Iowa apartment if he would just delay his senior year and stay in California through December. “They’re even offering me a raise,” he shared with his parents. “I don’t know what to do.” But the fact was, Zach did know what to do. Since he was 10 his parents had taught him a formula for making the best decisions every time. He needed to use both sides of his brain. If everyone at your workplace had two hands, but started to only use one of them, everything from typing a report to making coffee would be harder. You’d call a meeting to inquire about it. Surveys would be written and focus groups would be formed. Yet many of us use only the left side of our brains, and no one seems to mind the imbalance. The left brain is good at lots of things — reading, writing and “rithme - tic,” for example. It can set a goal and recite the words from a conversation. But it can’t do creative problem solving, listen to a troubled co-worker, forgive, or be happy. Those are functions only found in the right brain. The right brain loves to cooperate with its left brain counterpart, but the left brain is too busy quantifying and labeling to want to work together. In fact, the left brain loves to call its skills “hard” and diminish the right brain faculties as “soft.” Seth Godin is the author of 14 books on business that have been trans- lated into more than 30 languages in the past decade — all best sellers. His latest book has no words on the cover, only a picture. What does he have to say about soft, hard, and decision making? The hard stuff is measurable, quantifiable and easy to put into a spreadsheet. This concrete stuff gives you an easy way to demand a bonus or track progress. The soft stuff is merely essential, the real reason you do what you do. Ironically, hard is easy and soft is difficult. The question, I guess, is whether or not you and your team spend most of your time on the hard stuff, merely because it’s easier to measure, to argue about and to hide behind? - Seth Godin There’s another reason to strike a balance. In his recent chart-topping book, A Whole New Mind , presidential speech writer Daniel Pink makes a bold prediction: If all you need to do your job is your left brain, then you will soon be replaced by a computer. Despite prophets like Godin and Pink, business leaders continue to be encouraged — even threatened — to decide by the numbers, ignoring their intuition and “gut sense” of whether an investment makes sense, and going by the book in handling personnel issues. Our future is not just in our hands, it’s in (both sides of) our heads and our hearts. So what was the formula that Zach had been using since he was ten? “If you had no fear, what would you do?” As his Mom, I watched him use that question to decide to join a world- touring choir in 5th grade. In high school, he used it to successfully apply for a college he didn’t have the test scores to get into. In college, he used it to call a San Diego company without an intern program and talk them into one. In each case, looking back, I believe he made the right decision for him. Last summer, without any further help from me, Zach remembered to use that formula, and made another great decision. If you’re wanting to attract the best and the brightest of the new gen- eration, numbers won’t get you there. They’re looking for workplaces with a heart, that inspire their passion (right-brained) and encourage their creativity (right-brained). If you’re an employer looking to con- nect with a troubled team member, listen to and validate their feelings (right-brained) rather than argue about the facts (left-brained). And if you’re trying to decide whether to fund a new enterprise, check your chest cavity. If there’s lots of pumping and jumping going on, that may be your sign that this entrepreneur is onto something. Zach did go back to Iowa to enjoy the only senior year of college he’d ever have. During that first semester (that he almost gave up), he was inspired to create a “Toys for Tots” Christmas party at his fraternity which he called “Miracle on 34th St.” (The frat house just happened to be on 34th Street.) It was such a huge success that the freshmen committed to carrying on the tradition in future years. Zach’s learning to listen to his right brain has helped him make the right decision every time. As his proud Mom, now I just get to watch and whisper, “Right on!” MK Mueller will be a speaker at the KBA/MBA/NBA Tri-state Leadership and HR Conference to be held March 27-28 in Overland Park where she will address communication skills and the eight essential habits of happiness. MK MUELLER Author of 8 to Great: The Powerful Process for Positive Change info@8togreat.com | www.8togreat.com LINKEDIN: www.linkedin.com/in/mkmueller TWITTER: www.twitter.com/#%21/8togreat FACEBOOK: www.facebook.com/#%21/8toGreatEducation Our mission at 8 to Great is to inspire and instill lifelong habits that increase emotional health, overall happiness, and personal and professional success. MK Mueller, author of 8 to Great DECISION-MAKING FOR THE DARING: HOW TO TELL THE RIGHT RISKS FROM THE WRONG ONES