Newsletter 18 - 17 February 2005

PEST, Tough Leadership & Beating the Winter Blues This is the newsletter for www.mindtools.com. You have received this newsletter because you have subscribed to our double opt-in newsletter. This newsletter is published by James Manktelow of Mind Tools Ltd, Hardwick House, Prospect Place, Swindon, SN1 3LJ, United Kingdom. To contact us, please email newsletter@mindtools.com.

Contents: Beating the Winter Blues PEST Analysis Audience-Centered Speaking Tough Leadership A Final Note

In this issue of the Mind Tools newsletter, we shed light on the “winter blues”. We help you understand when these blues are more than just a common reaction to the season’s cold days and dark skies, and we then show you what you can do about it.

We also introduce you to an important new tool on the Mind Tools site: PEST Analysis. PEST is routinely used by business leaders to understand the opportunities and threats posed by the forces of Political, Economic, Socio-cultural and Technological change at work in our world. By using this tool and understanding these forces yourself, you can make sure that these huge forces work for you rather than against you.

There is also great information to be found in our communications article "Audience-Centered Speaking", which dives right into audience-centered presentations and explains why such presentations are useful and how to make yours the very best it can be.

And we provide you with an insightful advertorial on leadership, which details some of the stresses associated with being a leader and helps you find the best leadership style for you. At a time when soft leadership is very much in fashion, Dale Collie's "Tough Leadership" reminds us of some important realities.

We'd also like to thank the people who participated in our Make Time for Success! survey. We're pleased to announce the winners of the survey prize draw: We'll be contacting David O'Connor, Nancy Kissick and U Khiar over the next few days to send through the 3 prizes of $100 of Amazon.com vouchers. Thank you also to the newsletter readers who participated in our newsletter survey. We'll be announcing the prize winners for this in our first March newsletter.

As you know, these surveys are highly important to us because they help us understand what you want from Mind Tools in the future.

And as always, we hope you enjoy this issue of the Mind Tools newsletter and encourage you to continue to send us your thoughts, suggestions and comments as this newsletter is written for you! We also encourage you to save issues or even specific articles in an electronic file folder on your desktop, or print them out for future reference. And please, pass copies of our newsletter on to colleagues and friends, for our goal is to help everyone achieve success.

Best wishes!

James & Kellie

Beating the Winter Blues
By Kellie Fowler.

Recent research has shown us that most people in the northern United States and Europe experience seasonal changes in mood, behavior and productivity. This phenomenon, known as seasonality, seems to reek the most havoc during isolating winter months, or when the skies are grayer, the temperatures colder, and we are all forced to spend more time indoors.

If you’re one of the people affected by seasonality, you may find it difficult to wake in the morning, be tempted to snack more and fight constant temptations for high-calorie, high-fat foods. What’s more, you may find it hard to focus at work or in your relationships, feel down in the dumps or, worse still, really depressed.

But just how do you determine if this is simply a case of the “winter blues,” or if it is something much more. According to Dr. Norman E. Rosenthal, author of “Winter Blues,” if you find you feel worse in during winter months, you have a winter seasonal pattern.

You're Not Alone...
And, you’re not alone. Almost half of all people in the northern United States report that they feel worse during the winter, eating most, gaining most weight in the winter months and, conversely, eating and sleeping least and losing weight during summer months.

If, on the other hand, you feel worst during the summer months, you have a summer seasonal pattern. Interestingly, winter types are far more common in the United States and Europe; while in Japan and China, more people dislike the summer. Those who dislike summer tend to socialize less during that time. Unlike winter types, they often do not overeat, oversleep, and gain weight during the time of year when they feel worse. Instead, they eat less, lose weight and sleep less.

As more people learn to control their winter symptoms by modifying their environmental light (there are now very inexpensive desk lamps that will help you combat this), and as the world’s climate heats up as a result of the greenhouse effect, Dr. Rosenthal predicts that the percentage of those who dislike summer will increase and the percentage of those who dislike winter will decrease.

Dr. Rosenthal’s book, “Winter Blues,” is a survival kit for anyone who suffers from the negative effects brought on by winter. He also details the use of light therapy in treating such problems, including jet lag, sleep disorders and the effects of shift work.

A Survival Kit for Winter
In his book, Dr. Rosenthal explains the difference between the “winter blues” and SAD, or seasonal affective disorder. While many of the people who suffer from this do not need medical treatment, they nevertheless feel less cheerful, energetic, creative, and productive during the dark days of winter. In its most marked form, seasonality can cause a great deal of distress and difficulties in functioning both at work and in one’s personal life.

Like bears and birds, humans have evolved under the sun. We have incorporated into the machinery of our bodies the rhythms of night and day, of darkness and light, of cold and warmth, of scarcity and plenty, according to Dr. Rosenthal. And, over hundreds of thousands of years, the architecture of our bodies has been shaped by the seasons and we have developed mechanisms to deal with the regular changes that they bring. Sometimes, however, these mechanisms break down and cause us trouble.

Recently, science and medical practices have recognized and accepted the important role seasons play in our lives. In many studies, there now exist strong support for the use of light boxes, or specially made fixtures that emit far more light than is normally available indoors, to treat the symptoms of seasonal affective disorder. Such boxes are already springing up in offices, as well, as many people, unabashed by their hibernating status, are treating their symptoms while at work.

Other ways to combat the “winter blues” is to choose an office with a window, so that you have access to natural light, or to take several breaks outside (of course, this only works when the weather permits, which may not be often enough during the winter season).

Click here to see Winter Blues by Dr Norman E. Rosenthal at Amazon.com.

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New on Mind Tools:
PEST Analysis - Understanding the Biggest Picture
By James Manktelow.

PEST Analysis is a simple but important and widely-used tool that helps you understand the big picture of the Political, Economic, Socio-Cultural and Technological environment you are operating in. PEST is used by business leaders worldwide to build their vision of the future.

It is important for the following main reasons:

• Firstly, by making effective use of PEST Analysis, you ensure that what you are doing is aligned positively with the powerful forces of change that are affecting our world. By taking advantage of change, you are much more likely to be successful than if your activities oppose it;
  
• Secondly, good use of PEST Analysis helps you avoid taking action that is doomed to failure for reasons beyond your control; and
  
• Thirdly, PEST is useful when you start operating in a new country or region. Use of PEST helps you break free of unconscious assumptions, and helps you quickly adapt to the realities of the new environment.

How to use the tool:
PEST is a simple mnemonic standing for Political, Economic, Socio-Cultural and Technological.

Using the tool is a three stage process:

• Firstly, you brainstorm the relevant factors that apply to you;
• Secondly, you identify the information that applies to these factors; and
• Thirdly, you draw conclusions from this information.

Tip: The important point is to move from the second step to the third step: it is sterile just to describe factors without thinking through what they mean. However, be careful not to assume that your analysis is perfect: use it as a starting point, and test your conclusions against the reality you experience.

The following factors may help as a starting point for brainstorming (but make sure you include others that may be appropriate to your situation):

Political:

• Government type and stability
• Freedom of press, rule of law and levels of bureaucracy and corruption
• Regulation and de-regulation trends
• Social and employment legislation
• Tax policy, and trade and tariff controls
• Environmental and consumer-protection legislation
• Likely changes in the political environment

Economic:

• Stage of business cycle
• Current and project economic growth, inflation and interest rates
• Unemployment and labor supply
• Labor costs
• Levels of disposable income and income distribution
• Impact of globalization
• Likely impact of technological or other change on the economy
• Likely changes in the economic environment

Socio-Cultural:

• Population growth rate and age profile
• Population health, education and social mobility, and attitudes to these
• Population employment patterns, job market freedom and attitudes to work
• Press attitudes, public opinion, social attitudes and social taboos
• Lifestyle choices and attitudes to these
• Socio-Cultural changes

Technological Environment:

• Impact of emerging technologies
• Impact of Internet, reduction in communications costs and increased remote working
• Research & Development activity
• Impact of technology transfer

Example:
We’re going to avoid giving an example here, because of the huge potential for causing offense: few societies seem perfect to outsiders, and there are few things as irritating as having an outsider criticise one's own country..

However, a broad principle is that things that make activity more difficult for people or organizations raise the cost of doing business: activity is either blocked altogether, or costs more in time/money as difficulties are circumvented. The higher the cost of doing business in a region, the more project profitability is squeezed or eliminated. And given that businesspeople normally have at least some level of intelligence, businesses and projects that could otherwise operate are never launched - meaning that less economic activity takes place.

And the lower the amount of economic activity, the poorer and less capable societies tend to be.

Another broad principle is wherever there is rapid or major change in an area, there are likely to be new opportunities and threats that arise. Smart people and companies will take advantage of the opportunities and manage the threats.

And do remember that few situations are perfect: it is up to us to make the most of the situation in which we find ourselves.

Key Points :

PEST Analysis is a useful tool for understanding the “big picture” of the environment in which you are operating, and the opportunities and threats that lie within it. By understanding your environment, you can take advantage of the opportunities and minimize the threats.

PEST is a mnemonic standing for Political, Economic, Social and Technological. These headings are used firstly to brainstorm the characteristics of a country or region and, from this, draw conclusions as to the significant forces of change operating within it.

This provides the context within which more detailed planning can take place to take full advantage of the opportunities that present themselves.

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Tools Reviewed :
The Audience-Centered Speaking Process
By Kellie Fowler.

As every successful speech writer knows, the only reason to give a speech is to change the world! Otherwise, why bother?

Having established that, how can you ensure that your speech can accomplish such a lofty goal, especially when the opportunities for failure are many, and for success correspondingly few?

Recent studies suggest that most executives would rather die than deliver a public speech. Perhaps this explains why most executives often put off the task of preparing speeches to the last minute, or hand the task off to someone else.

Before you do this, you should know that public speaking can be a powerful tool for communicating your most important messages. And, when it happens, it’s powerful. When it’s missing, everyone feels it, including the ill-fated speaker.

Can you find that connection with your audience that truly creates sparks? And, once you make the leap and deliver a successful speech, could it be that it is something you actually enjoy?

Yes, and yes!

The place to start is with the content of your speech or presentation, for that will make or break you with your audience.

Structure Your Content Like a Conversation
Your content should be structured and delivered in a way that recognizes the audience’s need to absorb information through an aural genre with limited opportunities for feedback of the kind conversation provides. This is not to say that there is no feedback in public speaking; there’s actually plenty. But because most public speaking is more or less scripted, the speaker is limited in the amount of attention he can give to feedback, and limited in the ways in which he or she can respond.

Perhaps it is best to think of your presentation as a journey. Once on the journey, you may not get to stop often, for you will miss something. Considering this, your content needs to proceed logically, in complete thoughts, with stops along the way for the audience to check its comprehension.

You will need to remember that active listening is exhausting work and people don’t retain much of what they hear. So, with this in mind, make sure you structure your content so that it is organized and delivered the way the audience needs to hear it.

Second, it’s a matter of unabashed focus. Think in terms of getting your messages and your ideas across to your audience. For instance, if you get only a single message across to your audience, what will it be? When structuring your speech’s content, pit your focus here.

Third, consider your emotional content. You want to give as much thought to preparing an emotional story line as an intellectual one.

Take Your Audience on the Journey With You
Your audience will start the journey wanting a few key questions answered: “Why am I here,” “Why is this topic important to me,” and “Why should I pay attention to this speaker for the next hour or so?”

Herein lies the difference between conversation and public speaking. People engage in conversation for mutual pleasure, to exchange information, or perhaps storytelling, or even a mix of the three.

Public speaking differs greatly from conversation in that you need to orient the audience and prepare the way, or the journey, for where you will take them. To accomplish this, you must set them at ease early on and establish right off the bat what the context of your presentation is and why it is important and worth their time (and yours).

Once you’ve answered the “why?”, the real journey begins. Now your goal is to move your audience from “why?” to “how?”.

Don't Tell All You Know
Your audience already assumes you are an authority on the subject discussed. By being there, they are bestowing a mantle of trust and credibility upon you at the beginning of the speech. It’s up to you to wear it successfully. To do this, stick to the point and make it possible (and enjoyable) for the audience to follow you by delivering strong, focused, clear and concise messages.

Connect With Your Audience with Stories
Studies show that we make sense of the world by piecing together stories. Take advantage of this to ensure your audience gets your message.

Think of the journey you are taking your audience on as a kind of story. Your audience will understand it better if it has all the parts, or the various makings, of a good story – a strong protagonist, a clear dilemma for him or her to work on, and a happy ending.

For more information on speeches, presentations and audience-centered communications, visit the Mind Tools website’s Communication section.

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Advertorial:
Stress Control: Tough Leadership vs. Easy Does It
By Dale Collie.

Tough leaders are usually seen as ogres. Their exacting demands and high expectations add to stress levels. And their obsessive-compulsive behavior can have a negative effect on results if they don't understand how to control stress to get positive results without serious negative reactions.

The same kind of leadership challenge can be found in the Army. Management at all levels are faced with the decision of "tough leadership" or "easy does it" in preparing troops for combat and on the battlefield.

Good military leaders work hard to balance the encouragement of positive stress with the debilitating negative stress they confront. The best leaders know how to use positive stress to get the most out of their troops. And they know how to tone things down to when negative stress threatens productivity.

The Army is fanatic about training officers and sergeants to take care of the troops. And these well-trained leaders are fanatic about carrying out their responsibilities. The soldiers in their command don't always realize why these leaders are so focused on having everything 100% ready -- personnel, equipment, and training.

Even the most personable leaders are sometimes accused of managing "by the book" or of being too concerned with their own personal recognition and promotion. But those who make these allegations miss the point. Just the opposite is true.

As in the corporate arena, these "fanatic" leaders are primarily interested in the welfare of their people. They want to complete the unit's mission with minimum personnel loss. Strict discipline, intensive and complete training, and numerous inspections are essential for combat readiness. Corporate leaders face the same type challenges as they strive for efficient and effective productivity.

Failing to enforce regulations, conduct detailed inspections, or practice combat readiness is tantamount to dereliction of duty. The extra effort that goes into intensive training programs creates additional stress in the unit, but less persistent commanders actually endanger their troops and their mission when they fail to schedule training that teaches troops how to deal with the hazards they will face.

Keep this in mind the next time you are tempted to relax a corporate policy. "Easy does it" might be what your employees want to hear, but you might also be derelict in your responsibilities if you give them what they want.

A little "tough leadership" can give your people and your company the edge needed to compete on today's corporate battlefield.

Dale Collie is an acclaimed speaker, author, coach, former US Army Ranger, CEO, and a teacher at West Point. Selected by "Fast Company" as one of America's Fast 50 innovative Leaders, Collie is also the author of "Frontline Leadership: From War Room to Boardroom" and "Winning Under Fire: Turn Stress into Success the US Army Way".

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A Final note from James

I hope you've enjoyed this issue - we've worked hard to make it as useful as we possibly can. Kellie's article on Beating the Winter Blues is an important one: it's easy to take a "stuff and nonsense" approach to the subject, but you'd be amazed how much difference a good light box can make to your mood as the dark winter months drag on.

And while some of the points of PEST Analysis can seem dry and technical, I hope I've conveyed just how valuable a tool it is for understanding and working with the forces of change that affect us all.

I'm excited about our next issue, which is going to see the launch of the Relaxation MP3s we previewed in our New Year issue - these received a very positive response from our beta testers (thank you!)

And we're going to preview one of the leadership tools from "Learn to Lead: Discover the Leader Within You", the new Mind Tools leadership e-book scheduled for launch in early April.

We'll also discuss a strong time management tool and review Steven Van Yoder’s marketing book, which is entitled “Get Slightly More Famous: Become a Celebrity in Your Field and Attract More Business with Less Effort.”

As always, we encourage you to keep your comments and suggestions coming, for we look forward to implementing your ideas as we move forward with two issues every month in 2005!

Best wishes, and until next time!

James & Kellie

James & Kellie

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