Lisa von Massow and Doug Bolger of L(earn)2

The Power of Acclimatizing

My Grade 8 visit to the CN Tower clarified one thing. I am afraid of heights. Watching others look down made me sick to my stomach. My father shares this belief and describes walking outside with his back to the wall, watching his class enjoy the same view. His trembling hands reaching out holding the wall until… he grasped the hand of another terrified soul. Together they inched toward the exit! He embraced that 80 year old grandmother – also afraid of heights.

To combat fear, my commitment to myself has been – “You must do anything you are afraid of, so that you will never be afraid of anything.” That commitment made me present unprepared to a group of 5000 when another speaker arrived late, made me bungy jump off the highest platform in North America (someday I might share that hugely embarrassing video) and made me walk across fire just because I was asked to go by someone. The commitment served me well, I am fearless in many ways.

Yet, I was still afraid of heights. So when the CN Tower asked us to design the EdgeWalk Leadership and Sales Programs – my palms started to sweat. That would mean having to walk on the roof of the CN Tower and face my one fear again. The CN Tower team described how the EdgeWalk would acclimatize people long before the platform was constructed and installed. The guide would immediately acclimatize participants to the height so they could enjoy their walk. I thought, “Nothing will prepare me to enjoy the walk.” I could only imagine fear.

Eventually the day came. Lisa von Massow, a partner in L(earn)², and I suited up and felt our fear mount as we were breathalized, scanned, triple and quadruple checked. We walked out onto the platform. Being last in line illustrated my fear, so I got to be acclimatized first! The guide asked to walk to the edge and put my toes over! My one toe made it but the other foot would not move closer to the edge. Lisa achieved success by switching feet when one refused to go further. Next we leaned out over the edge with only the middle of our foot touching the platform, and I did it! Then we walked more and leaned out over the edge face first at an impossible angle. A rush of realization hit me – I was not afraid of heights! I was never acclimatized to heights!

Aha moment! I learned the power of acclimatization. The CN Tower team were right! You can be acclimatized and enjoy the walk. Immediately the cascade effect started – I could acclimatize to any level of performance regardless of fear. By taking small, methodical steps into your fear, you can actually enjoy hanging off the CN Tower for photos.

What makes acclimatization work? A safe environment and trusted guide to take you step-by-step out of your comfort zone. Each step interrupts the Negative Self Talk with evidence of success for the brain. Moving forward within a group supports the more resistant members as they experience the positive support and pressure within the group. The guide ensures each step is not too large or too small and stretches the group’s comfort zone.

As facilitators, we acclimatize participants to new behaviours and approaches. We build a safe and supportive environment. We start practicing the skills one by one. Then we mix some skills together. Then we add some conditions like time pressure, specific outcome, or conflict. Then we practice in real situations starting with the most comfortable and ramp up to more challenging. After each round, participants share their learning, feedback and fears. We allow the participants to find their own solutions to empower their confidence. Choosing the right size of step toward the behaviour ensures continual movement toward comfort in the behaviour.

AFTER ACCEPTING THE President’s Award this year, I addressed our chapter. Although I didn’t expect to receive the award and so had nothing prepared, I discovered I had a lot to say.

You Affect All of Us
My commitment to our industry, like many of you, is to building a stronger industry. How you do what you do affects everyone in our Chapter. As planners and suppliers, if you organize a bad meeting, it affects all of us; conversely, if you create something amazing, it affects all of us.

We as a Chapter, even as an industry, are listened to based on the quality of meetings we organize. If a meeting does not achieve the desired result, we are all affected. Our industry is tightly connected. If a VP of Sales never sees an increase in sales due to the National Sales Conference then we become less important, less strategic and are less likely to be listened to as relevant. We end up relegated to presenting themes and finding entertainment. Now, more than ever we must deliver results. For some of you this means getting clear on the true intent of the meeting and finding content and process to achieve the intention.

Independent Yet Interdependent
Toronto Chapter remains one of the strongest chapters within MPI and I believe in this chapter and what we are capable of doing together. You influence the choices your clients make. You can take the easy way – the well-walked path that produces happy feelings without producing the intended result; or you can choose the way of results, finding the right way to engage and involve the participants to ensure they internalize the key messages and take action immediately following the meeting. Meetings of this nature increase our listening as an industry.

New Economic Consciousness Rising
Please, do not let this economic consciousness that’s transforming the world intimidate you. Get out there. Stand up. Stand up for the value you know you deliver or learn how to deliver that value. We believe a new economic consciousness rises from the crisis of confidence in the greed of the banks, financial companies and citizens. The economic crisis receives 24 hour attention on the Constantly Negative News station, CNN. Much like a child who cries for the loss of the toys he melted with the magnifying glass, they media focuses on the economic crisis they intensified.

At the same time, an economic consciousness continues to naturally grow and develop within us all. We ask more questions now and consider the long term consequences of our choices. The economic consciousness helps each of us choose more wisely. More conscious awareness in one part of your life makes you more conscious. As we grow and develop our consciousness, we notice more, experience more and improve more. Consciousness provides you with more choice and let’s face it – since poverty is the absence of choice, then wealth is more choice.

How do we choose more wisely every day? First of all, be careful what you allow into your unconsciousness. Do you remember what happened after the news when we were young? The TV went off. It stopped broadcasting. Now, hundreds of channels broadcast 24 hours a day, 365 days a year.

The impact of carelessly watching TV is that you may start to believe the media’s messaging, which brings us doom and gloom from every corner around the globe. The reality is that many people have given birth, gotten married, celebrated accomplishments and made the world a better place, which the media fails to recognize. Be careful what you watch and think about it all, for it affects you.

Choices
Choose clearly. Do you believe in economic crisis or economic consciousness? Find your intention so that you build your business and your life on a solid foundation. How do you do that? Well it is surprisingly easy. You choose your intention and notice how your mind indentifies supporting data and supporting opportunities. Having chosen your intention, you become less likely to absorb someone else’s intention. When they ask in hushed tones, “So how is business?” you can answer from your intention rather than from your fear.

Tie up your shoelaces, roll up your sleeves and find ways to deliver the intended results at every meeting. Let’s make this year the best one yet.

Our learning levels (the intention of our learning designs) allow participants to become increasingly conscious about what they are learning, how to apply that learning and how they learn. In Distinction (level 2) – participants distinguish between their current way of doing something (their how) and become aware of other alternatives (or possibilities). They, in essence, create choice points. When participants distinguish the difference between one way versus another to achieve a task or communicate – they now have a choice. Or a choice point. The choice point means they get to consciously choose between two or more different ways to proceed. That choice, when you notice it allows you to live consciously. Consciously choosing your action/approach to your action.

Years ago, on a site visit with World Accord in the hills of Honduras, Chet Thomas explained choice to me from a completely different perspective. Chet had given up his powerful New York agency and gone to develop sustainable agricultural practices and community development in Honduras. Chet had a tremendous impact on me because he distinguished choice and wealth for me. I had been giving kids my spare change. And Chet chided me. He explained, “Poverty was the absence of choice.” Think about that (I have for 15+ years). Poverty is the absence of choice. No choice… you are poor. Inside those few words lives a lifetime of understanding of humanity. If poverty is the absence of choice, then wealth is the presence or abundance of choice. Simply, consider us reading a menu (of choices) versus the billions who eat what they can get when they can get it.

Choice then has informed much of my life. I actively look for choice even when it occurs like there is none (there always is). So consciousness seems, in practical terms, be connected to the noticing of choice points. Perhaps we could measure consciousness this way – the degree to which you are conscious could be measured in how often you notice choice points and then consciously choose. Perhaps this is the basis of living a conscious life. From simple choices of requesting a reuseable coffee mug when you are staying, instead of just receiving the paper cup. An example of how many of us live unconsciously, ignoring a choice point.

So the more conscious you are, the more choice you have. The more choice you have, the more wealthy you are. Could this mean – the more conscious, the more wealthy? Could that mean that the new bling or the nouveau riche will become consciousness. Media attention seems to be shifting that direction and all hail the tipping point on that concept. Conscious capitalism may be the next mutation of our collective evolution. Now to be the change I wish to see in the world.