All that really matters is that “the zone” experience seems to be triggered primarily by intense emotion – by passion. And if I’m right, if it is truly our passion that tips us into “the zone” then that is a radical insight. It means we can actually create the conditions that transport us to “the zone” of transcendent performance. Pat Williams, VP Orlando Magic

Pat Williams is talking about the experience an athlete or any other person experiences when they are doing something that they are truly talented at. When they are in "the zone", their talents are maximizing their ability to perform and hence the quality of the performance and their high level of performance is creating a passion for the very thing that they are talented at. It is like a self sustaining energy source. The more you work in your area of strength, the more success you experience. The more success you experience, the more passionate you become about this activity. The more passionate you become about this activity the more motivated you are to continue in this activity. When developed properly, working in "the zone" can seem like living in a time warp as your productivity and effectiveness will increase while you become totally absorbed in performing in your personal "zone". You will be performing in your "zone" at a level that is unattainable by most other people!

Pat Williams goes on to say that "But an extreme dream fires the imagination and captivates the soul of every member of your team. An extreme dream ignites the passion that lifts players into that magical, mystical “zone” where dreams come true." Williams is saying that we can bring the experience of "the zone" to our entire teams. This applies to business as well as sports. He goes on to say that "One mystery of the zone is that entry to it is not restricted to the elite…...“The zone” is for everybody. And passion is the key."

I believe that the more people we can have in our workplaces working in their areas of strength (their Strength Zone) the more opportunities we will have to boost our entire business to operating in "the zone". This will boost employee satisfaction, productivity, effectiveness, profitability, customer satisfaction and customer loyalty. This whole process can be kick started by us as individuals. Provide an example for others by discovering and living in your Strength Zone with passion. Once you have established yourself in "the zone" help others find their "zone" as well. Transform your business into a high performing, passionate workplace!

I recently read Tim Irwin's book Derailed where he steps through the career derailments of six high profile CEOs. These derailments were not due to fraud or other legal issues but were due to character flaws that manifested themselves so strongly that the CEOs were removed by their respective boards. The commonality between the CEO derailments that were studied came down to a five stage process;

1. Failure of self or other awareness

2. Hubris or extreme pride

3. Missed early warning signs

4. Rationalization

5. Derailment

To minimize the chances of a derailment as a leader or as an individual, Irwin defines "five critical habits of the heart" that are required to be developed. These are listed below;

1. The habit of openness - be open to feedback from others and actively pursue this feedback. Use the feedback to adjust your approach to your role(s) and always improve.

2. The habit of self/other awareness - always be aware of your strengths and weaknesses (Strength Zone) and always read the body language and messages that others are sending you. Adjust your approach to communication and strategy to optimize your strengths and the strengths of those around you.

3. The habit of listening to early warning systems - Use things like performance reviews, stress levels and interpersonal tension at work to provide early warnings.

4. The habit of accountability - Be accountable for your actions but create a culture of openness so your team can be accountable for their actions as well.

5. The habit of resiliency - Deal with setbacks positively and stick to the game plan. Don't sink into negativity and give up.

I am not going to detail out each of these habits but it is interesting to note that one of the best ways to avoid a derailment in your career or life in general is to study and define your strengths and weaknesses (point #2 above - the habit of self/other awareness). Once you understand this, then you need to leverage your strengths into every role that you have and bolster your weak areas with others that have strengths in these areas.

Don't get derailed….discover and live in your Strength Zone!

PS. Wishing everyone a Merry Christmas!

Similar to how pruning a tree allows the tree to focus on its strength areas to become even more productive, we must prune things from our lives that take our focus away from our strength zone.

Did you know that a fruit tree needs to be pruned if it is going to grow properly and reach its maximum fruit production? The tree needs to have its least productive branches pruned so that it can focus on its strongest and most productive fruit bearing branches. If it is not properly pruned, it will focus much of its energy on branches that are low production branches to the detriment of the high production branches. By careful and focused pruning, a fruit tree can be made to focus productively and maximize its potential.

The parallels to human life are stunning! Think of all the things we do each day that are not productive. Think of the energy we waste doing things that we are not good at and things that drive us crazy because we hate doing them. This robs us of energy and causes us to focus even less time, resources and energy on the things that we do best. We need to prune these unproductive, energy sapping, time wasting activities out of our lives. We can do this in a few ways;

1. Minimize things that are simply not productive (i.e., watching TV, mindlessly surfing the Internet, spending too much time on email and social networking sites, taking personal call at work and work calls at home, etc.)

2. Stop doing things that we are simply not good at and can be done by someone else better, more efficiently and cheaper

3. Find someone to help us in the areas that we are weak

4. Find a coach to help us determine what we do well and coach us to get even better in these areas

If we can prune areas 1 and 2 out of our lives then we can spend more time on 4, doing what we do best. Just like the fruit tree that is pruned to maximize its potential by focusing on its high production branches, we can prune our lives and begin to focus on our Strength Zone to maximize our potential.