Unprecedented times

I speak often about the power of words, and recently had this lovely list of words people used to describe me visually brought to life by Sara Hoyles.

I hope you’ll agree they’re a gorgeous list and one I’m very proud of.

Today I want to write about the power of the words we're using to positively or negatively impact our mindset and ultimately our immune system.

Unprecedented times or strange, interesting, challenging or difficult times?

Words have power, and now more than ever some words are going to impact our mind and emotions more than others.

It’s not about burying our heads in the sand and ignoring what’s going on - and yes I can do that!

It is however about noticing the impact certain words are having on our mind and body.

Some words will increase our stress, the jitters, the floundering, panic and not knowing what to do - acting like a drain on our immune systems.

Other words will increase wellbeing, calm, confidence, and the inner knowing what to do - boosting our immune system.

What word triggers us will be unique as we are - some may find “challenging times” motivating and inspiring, and yet others may find them debilitating.

We can’t stop the media or others using these words but once we become aware of the words that trigger our negative thinking we can make a choice to choose more resourceful ones in our own thinking and speaking.

What words can you use less or more often to give your immune system some support?

Words have power

Today's theme for the Procurement mindset challenge is the words we use.

It's a topic I return to time and time again because:

• Words have the power to confuse or clarify
• Words have the power to impact how we act - positively or negatively
• Words have power to find solutions - even when we think we're stuck

Here's some blogs and vlogs I've written on the subject: 

Words have the power to confuse or clarify

When asked to describe 'chocolate' in 8 words here's the response I got from 21 people 

• Of the 168 words 95 of them were different
• The top word was Dark, and yet only said by 11 out of 21 people 
• Everyone had at-least one word not shared with anyone else 

When we can get such different responses to a simple word like chocolate it's no wonder we struggle with other meatier words. Remember only 11 of the 21 people participating agreed on the most popular word, and everyone had at least one unique word to them.

Words have the power to impact how we act

Our internal image associated with a word or saying impacts our behaviour, which is the same for our stakeholders too. Which means noticing what words have a negative impact and changing them to something more resourceful is a great strategy.

For example, calling a stakeholder maverick is likely to mean we start very adversarially with them from the off.

Here's other words I think can trip us up.

• What role are you playing?
• Bad cop
• Maverick spend and stakeholders
• No pain, no gain
• Meetings
• Are you looking for answers or solutions
• Game playing!!
• Deadlines - are they killing you?
• Must, ought and should
• Metaphors for life - do you see life as a war, machine or garden?

Words have power to find solutions

Alternatively, exploring the metaphor contained within our words can provide us with a potential route to find a solution. 

For example, when juggling balls we might just need to metaphorically get some Velcro so we can stick the balls waiting to be juggled into a board out of the way, or the plates yet to be spun can go on a plate rack!  

Other sayings rich with insight include:

• Juggling balls and spinning plates
• Getting on the same page as another person
• Talking to a brick wall

• No seat at the table
• Head above the parapet

• Turn over a new leaf :-)

This ability to find the solutions within the words we use is further explored in my book - can't see the wood for the trees - where we explore solutions hidden in the landscape when we're: stuck in a rut; up the creek without the paddle; going around in circles; treading water; and can't see the wood for the trees.

The key in all the above instances is bringing into conscious awareness the words we're using and the impact that they are or could have on the outcome we're getting or want.

More than happy to spend a day with your team doing a Procurement Mindset Audit - you'll be amazed at what will be uncovered. 

The Word Collector

The reason I geek out about patterns in language is because our language is such a wonderful route to solving a problem, and I love solving problems so we can make progress rather than be in that frustrating no man's land of confusion and indecision.

I particularly love helping Procurement professionals find the solutions that are eluding them, to get back on the track they want to be on, rather than up a creek, in a rut, out on a limb, in deep water or going round in circles.

Caroline Myss talks about words having power, and for me that power comes in many guises:

• Power to impact our mindset (and therefore outcomes)
• Power to impact our behaviours (ditto)
• Power to hide the solution within the very words we’re using 

Which is why when coaching, training or consulting procurement teams I can often be heard saying “I notice you said the word xxx” and then we’re off to see how exploring their language may help them turn round and head for their intended destination and away from that dead end.

Next time you’re not getting the outcome you expect, look to the words you’re using - they may just be the difference that makes the difference.

A Purchasing Coach review of 2018

Happy New Year - even if it's a little belated.

As January 2018 started much quieter than in previous years I wonder if I’d drained my blogging juices with a post a day in December 2017 introducing a range of tools I use in coaching, facilitation and problem solving?

It was also a sign of a quieter blogging year here on Purchasing Coach with the publication of my book Can’t see the wood for the trees in August and all things landscaping Your Life (LYL) that accompanied that, and then the death of my father in October resulting in posts here not being as frequent as in previous years (see 2016 year in blogs). Nor perhaps as controversial as I’m starting 2019 blogs talking about changing the buyer/supplier paradigm (out on 21st).

That said, there’s a few blogging highlights I’d like to share and they cover the topics I love to talk about:

• Words having Power
• Procurement
• Soft skills and Self Awareness
• Coaching

Words have power

Interestingly I started the year with one of my favourite subjects ‘the power of words’. That is, the power for words we use to contain the kernel of a solution within them.

Interesting with how the year ended that it started with a post over on the LYL blog on solutions for when “life gets in the way” with other posts here covering:

• Being on the same page as others
• Juggling balls and spinning plates (the solutions being a personal favourite this year)
• No pain no gain over on LinkedIn about the counter productive use of these words
• Getting your head above the parapet

Procurement

In February I wrote a love letter to organisations with love from procurement. 

A letter that outlined that procurement needs to get back to delivering real value and not just the cost savings they think that organisations want that actually diminishes the relationship between the two. That is, it could be a match made in heaven and yet often feels like a one night stand or friends with benefits! One element of the letter was expanded upon over on my Landscaping Your Life blog and touched on what happens when we've exhausted the low hanging fruit.

In November my interview with Phil Ideson at The Art of Procurement aired – discussing all things procurement, soft skills and with a little Landscaping Your Life throw in for good measure.

As I do every year on metal health awareness week I invited procurement to consider mental health in procurement within our own organisations and that of our suppliers.

Other procurement posts written for Future Purchasing, a procurement consultancy I'm an active associate for covered:

• How to access your creative side
• Why rationalising suppliers is Not the strategy for reducing costs

• What do the Great British Bake Off and Category Management have in common
• Process and toolkit - and why they're not things to be avoided   

Soft skills and self awareness

As ever, soft skills was a frequent topic in training and coaching sessions and an index of soft skills posts was posted for clients to dip into topics we’d discussed.

Other posts on this subject included:

• The impact the roles we use to describe what we do has on the outcome we achieve, and the impact of simply changing the description can have. (Although wonder of this is really a words have power post :-)). After all procurement isn't just all about fire fighting!

• Taking your rose coloured spectacles off – notes from a presentation I did at a CIPS local branch meeting on self awareness being the key soft skill that would have greatest impact on personal and organisational success

Coaching

As a coach I’m often asked about the benefits of coaching and also realise there’s some myths too that stop people considering coaching as a means of them achieving more in their personal and working lives. I wrote 2 posts to help shed more light on what to expect from a coaching relationship.

• Myths about coaching
• Benefits of coaching

Although if you’d rather not have a human as a coach my recently published book Can’t see the wood for the trees provides insight on how to have nature as your coach.

The book uses a process (LYL) I first developed over 20 years ago to help managers understand why suppliers needed to be managed, and how it was the same as looking after your garden ie I discovered that gardening was a great metaphor for supplier management. The process then expanded to using landscapes as metaphors for our lives.

You’ll find more about the LYL process using #landscapingyourlife on Instagram, Facebook, Twitter and YouTube. There's also in index of LYL highlights for 2018 including notes from a session on planning for success in 2019.


Here's to a fabulous 2019. I can guarantee I'll be continuing to share here what excites, inspires and challenges me.

You know where I am - alison@alisonsmith.eu +44(0)7770 538159

Alison Smith
The Purchasing Coach

Inspiring change inside and out

No pain, No gain

Words have power.

Words have such power, that unconsciously they’re informing our thoughts, feelings and actions in every moment – positively and negatively.

The words and sayings we use can often become a whole universe in their own right – with their own laws of gravity, relativity, and even black holes and worm holes we can get sucked into and lost within. These universes are of our own making, with immutable and often unconscious laws that may bear no relation to how the world really works. Yet they impact our actions, and therefore the outcomes we achieve.

The key is bringing unhelpful words and sayings, and their accompanying laws, into our conscious awareness so that they may be weakened of their power in our lives.

Today's LinkedIn article explores No pain, No gain.

Do get in touch if you’d be interested in a personal, team or organisational audit of the universe of words that might be limiting your progress and success. More traditional coaching and facilitation using a range of conventional and unconventional tools is also available.

Sayings getting in the way of success, that have been covered by previous posts, include: Juggling balls or spinning plates, life got in the way, treading water, needing to be on the same page as others, turning over a new leaf, testing the water and even following our dreams. (Other universes that we can get stuck within include the words we use to describe our roles – more here.)

Purchasing Coach: Advent Window 3: Words

25 unconventional coaching and facilitation tools to surprise and delight

Window 3: Words (because they have power)

Level of unconventionalness out of 10 = 3 (because it's harder to do than we think)

Benefits: Ensuring that your words don't have a negative or unintended impact on yourself or your readers/listeners. Improved motivation, communication, relationships, influence. Reduced conflict and misunderstanding.

Uses: Any and all communication, and motivating yourself.

Participants: Everyone

========================

Process to use for yourself:

• Notice when you're not motivated or even demotivated about doing something.
• Consider the words you're using to describe the current situation, the solution or the desired outcome.
• Brainstorm alternate words and explore words that might inspire action or provide an alternate more positive reaction.
• Replace the unresourceful word with the more resourceful one (this more work-like post on exchanging 'solutions' with 'answers' may shed some light too).
• Notice what you notice. 

Festive Example:

Wishing people a 'Merry Christmas' might not feel right for you for a variety of reasons. Which may result in people picking up you're not really very sincere when you say it.

To find a more sincere alternative:

• The first option is to swap out the word merry. Words might include happy, sparkly, great, splendid, fabulous, awesome, special, cosy, dreamy, festive, productive, social, restful and so on. (I sometimes say "wishing you the Christmas you'd wish for"). 
• Play around with these words and notice the impact each has on your ability to say them and mean it.
• The second option is to swap out the word Christmas. Words might include holiday, break, festive break, time with your family, and so on.
• The third option is to swap them both around.     

When I was 'playing' around with some letters I discovered that on it's own GREAT felt - well great. until I read it out loud:

and yet once I exchanged great with FABULOUS that was simply fab!

What words do you use that just don't resonate for you, and how might they be changed to make it a more enjoyable exchange for you and the other person?

Wishing you all a fabulous festive break when it comes.


Alison Smith

Unlocking procurement potential - using conventional and unconventional tools
Procurement and Business Speaker, Coach, Trainer, & Facilitator
alison@alisonsmith.eu +44 (0)7770 538159

Earlier in the year I applied some of the unconventional tools shared in this series of advent posts to common procurement challenges - more here.

How is 'maverick' spend setting you back?

Words have power and in this post originaly written for Future Purchasing I explore the negative and unintended consequence using the word 'Maverick' has on our relationship with the very people we're describing as such.

I love exploring the power of words to unlock potential and ideas, and their ability to lock it out too. Other posts written on the subject include:

• Are they answers or solutions because using one of these may help you find what you're looking for when using the other won't! 
• Is defining it as a problem the real problem? 
• How do you spell CAN'T? ..... wont
• The language of change and transformation
• What's in a word - procurement 
• No pain no gain