Getting in the zone for winning leadership

by Pam Brill

What does it mean to be in the zone? Athletes refer to it as the state of mind and body where they generate personal and team bests. The zone isn’t about competing. It isn’t about winning; that’s just a great side effect. Getting “in the zone is a matter of connecting with the challenges that life can throw at us. And it extends to the workplace.

According to research from the Gallup organization, 70 percent of the workforce is unengaged. That has serious consequences on bottom-line results as well as safety in the workplace.

You can learn to systematically get in the zone for work. By enlisting your heart, mind and physical energy, you can build meaning, momentum and engagement for work and for the people you manage.

Whether you’re a top-level CEO or an entry-level newcomer, getting in the zone can help you focus, re-energize and increase productivity and success. It’s as simple as trying these winning strategies to access the right amount of energy to experience the full force of engagement at work.

Get a mantra
Tune in to your activation and the activation of others. When it is riding too low, use energizing power words that tell people what to do and paint energized images: Let’s ramp it up; let’s get it going; and let’s move forward are activating mantras for increasing energy. Nice and steady and slow it down are proactive mantras that tell you what to do to cool it down.

Get the beat
Whether you play it in your car, at work or in the virtual music player that accompanies us everywhere, you can also ramp it up or turn it down with music. Use moderate rock to crank it up, smooth jazz or classical to tone it down, and steady classic rock or Broadway soundtracks to keep your pace moderate.

Get a grip
Tune in to the grip of your toes in your shoes, the pressure of your white knuckles on the side of the conference table, and the tension of your jaw whether it is wired tight or slack. And notice the grips of those around you.

Use self-talk or proactive language to adjust your grip and the grips of others to turn activation up or down.

Change the lens
When you notice you and your staff have tunnel vision for a goal or sales strategy, take a step back. A different point of view enables you to make sure you are heading toward the right goal or focusing on your customer’s needs. It also enables you to change focus and direction in those instances when you are heading in the wrong direction. If a wide-angle-lens view is getting in the way of connecting with work, reel it in. Ask yourself what are the critical elements you want to focus on to get the job done? Then zoom into those and tune the rest out.

Look forward
Focusing on what has been lost gets in the way of progress and keeps us disengaged from the current challenge. Look at the real deal and look forward to get engaged with the now. Create a vision of how things will be better by implementing change or a systems conversion or by putting noses to the grindstone to pound out a huge piece of work on deadline.

Exchange your language
What we say and how we say it, to others and to ourselves in the privacy of our minds, is one key to reading and changing attitude. To get a new attitude, trade the language of oppression for the language of opportunity.

Don’t use don’t
Don’t think about what time it is. The brain may not even process the word don’t but instead we picture the words that follow. To lead yourself and others into the zone, replace every don’t with do. Tell yourself and others what to do and watch the results soar.

Get the beat, look forward, choose your language and tell yourself and others what to do.

Use these field-tested strategies from top level athletes to get in the zone. By engaging your heart, mind, and energy, you can bring yourself to work today and every day.

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