2. Gazing concepts have been delivered to people in a
range of sectors including Business, Sport,
Education, Healthcare, Military and Police.
Who are Gazing
We help people perform under pressure
and get better at what they do.
3. 3
On your paper, please draw the following:
• A line 0----------------100
• A triangle
• 3 circles
Before we begin
4. Mindset and performance: a perspective
Where do you think you are?
Adapting Moving
Stuck
Direction
0% 100%
4
5. The Performance Equation
5
Example
• Learning new
• Focus on familiar
• Remote and virtual
Example
• Accepting the discomfort
• Engaging deliberately
• Connecting with others
Example
• Clear purpose / direction
• Resetting and reframing routines
• Ways to measure progress
UNDER
PRESSURE
Mindset Skillset
Structure
Direction
0% 100%
This session is designed to support you with developing you mindset under pressure
It will introduce a concept and tools that are highly practical and can get you started immediately
Originates form Gazing who work across a range of sectors
to support focus and their general mindset under pressure
Slide timing – 1 minute; total timing – 5 minutes
To get started get everyone to draw the three concepts in the margin of their page
Encourage them to take notes and have some paper available for exercises
If small group allow for introductions
Slide timing – 6 minutes; total timing – 13 minutes
The perspective this session takes is that pressure does impact people. And in different ways, depending on lots of different things….but it is worth starting with this reflection and taking a step back to just really acknowledge that a lot of us will be at different places within the current context of pressure and change.
How would you describe the team / yourself? Which word best describes how you're feeling / where you're at generally?
Acknowledge their responses
The overall goal is to get movement. And its not an all or nothing thing. Under pressure we can lose perspective and think in extremes….it’s a total disaster / or we are brilliant. Results themselves can skewer perspective too. The reality of performance doesn’t always match results …its helpful sometimes just to think about a scale….think of where you feel you are…the goal is always movement
And its worth recognizing that how we are feeling doesn’t always translate into how we are doing in general if were not feeling ok, feeling stuck a bit overwhelmed by pressure then it usually impacts how well we do (at the job or other tasks)
So let’s take a minute to think about where our pressure comes from now..
Slide timing – 8 minutes; total timing – 31 minutes
Debrief top 3 factors from each group
In those days you either do ok or you don’t do so well…and that usually depends quality of structure, skills and mindset
Give or elicit examples
Relate back to adaptation and movement in pandemic…had to really put focus on getting structures and systems in place, had to learn new skills
Let’s take a minute to think about where our pressure comes from now
The main organizing principle in mindset as a skill is ATTENTION
If you want to do well it starts with what you put your attention on
Let’s explore that idea further
Draw 3 circles
List the things you can control
List the things you can control
(give them time circa 5 mins)
Elicit some examples from each person for each side (circa 2 mins)
This is not a new idea
And it’s obvious
Everyone knows that it’s better to focus on what you can control
So does that mean the main skill is don’t worry about…just focus on…
No.
It’s impossible to not think about something….where attention goes can be automatic and responsive…
In the quiet zoom class setting it’s easy to draw out the difference between what we can and can’t control and see where attention should go
But in the heat of the moment….well we can all go there
If we think back to performance terms the goal is to get movement – high performers are able to move fast from losing focus to refocusing – or are able to maintain focus on what they an control
This ability can be developed and improved, and the starting point is having greater awareness of where actually attention is. That means recognizing , accepting and deliberately choosing
This is how we have defined the skill
To help individuals and teams recognize this – where their attention is - we have a map
Its says that attention is either on task or diverted. This isn’t true but it’s a helpful simple dichotomy to make the map clearer.
The premise is that to complete a task well requires attention, to feel more engaged in a task requires attention to be on it
E.g. driving…I might not need to think about it but driving in a new city I might have to concentrate more. And if I'm looking at my cell phone (attention diverted ) I might not do so well
The general characteristics of what's happening in our heads and how were feeling is different based on where our attention is….
When you are in a Red moment, there is an internal dialogue (I can / I can not, this is too much for me, it is not fair). You can feel hot and tense. you are focused on something that has already happened or something that hasn't happened yet.
When you are in the Blue, things are calm, you feel connected and there is less internal dialogue. There can still intensity and emotion, but your mind is present and engaged. You have clarity on what to focus on - you focus on the process rather than the result.
STOP HERE - Ask the audience if they recognize the two heads.
Ask how the image can help (try and get to the answer that it just helps with recognition…which helps with choices. Try and get an answer too that say it’s gives a name to something we all do, and normalizes it, allows us to talk about it - doesn’t have to be a massive drama
Let people reflect on map and ask any questions
Key points to reinforce
It's not all or nothing - we're not always all Red or all Blue. But, the more blue you are, the more likely you are to perform better.
The ability to quickly recognize that we are in the red is the key skill.
Being in the red or blue is a decision. Only you can control your attention.
The key is to be clear about where you are going to put your attention
Under pressure we need to zoom out
Points you should raise proactively
Is the red blue idea just positive and negative thinking.. if not what's the difference?
Don’t you need to have a red head sometimes to perform well?
