The Vitality Imperative. Mickey Connolly

compare your reactions to a time when someone was devoted to and focused on understanding you. What were your thoughts, emotions, and physical sensations?

      This reveals a simple truth: When you are fully present in a conversation, people feel honored by your attention, relationships are strengthened, and candor is increased. The faith people have in your judgment improves, too.

      Much is written about trust in organizations. To build trust, start by giving someone your wholehearted, undivided attention. Pick someone today, and give it a try. Make being fully present in this moment your first act of leadership.

Presence Principle #3: All improvement begins with what is present

      An executive in the restaurant business once told us, “You know how you can waste a lot of food? Just add ingredients to a dish without knowing what is already in it.”

      If you want to improve a strategy, a process, or any kind of performance, first understand how the work is currently done. You will discover that it rarely, if ever, fits your preconceptions. Be present, be curious, and be ready for surprise. Whatever you do, don’t try to fix the dish until you know what is in it.

      Jim Reinhart is the chief operating officer at QTS, a fast-growing, world-class leader in data center management. We first experienced Jim’s commitment to starting with what is present when he was an executive at Capital One sponsoring supply-chain improvements involving internal and supplier processes. When Jim announced workshops to map out how the supply chain was already functioning, many thought that was a waste of time.

      Jim heard the fears and criticisms and made a simple request: “Let’s try one workshop and see what we get. We need unprecedented results, so I think we need to try something unprecedented. If we get no value, we will rethink the approach.” Jim’s credibility was sufficient for the many skeptics to give it a try.

      In that first workshop, a group representing the whole supply chain, many of whom compete with one another, convened to map out how the work gets done. Reinhart did not want to “fix the dish” until everyone understood what was in it already. The only assignment was to carefully document the process of work entering the system and moving to successful execution. This was the first time all these citizens of the Capital One system were present simultaneously, and they got to see the work through each other’s eyes.

      As everyone became mutually aware of how the work was done, the workshop facilitators asked people to report what they saw, how they felt, and what they thought about the emerging picture. They were coached to listen, learn, and let go of prejudice.

      One of the people who originally doubted the value of the workshop said, “I was surprised by how open and honest people became and how much people cared about their work. We never had those kinds of conversations, and we never had results like that either.”

      Defensiveness disappeared, and people came together to get more done with less.

      According to Reinhart, the workshops initially produced more than $200 million in improvements and the highly present, highly collaborative approach ultimately led to over $1 billion in savings.

      Curious presence is an antidote to bias. We have observed huge, negative impact on profit and loss statements, balance sheets, and cash flows when senior executives operate out of prefabricated biases. Leaders who do not begin by understanding what is present waste time, talent, and money by chasing assumptions. Even successful companies like HP, Toyota, and Xerox have experienced billions of dollars of losses when executives failed to appreciate what was present in their own company and the marketplace before pursuing their own preferred acquisition or high-risk investment.

      Reinhart’s experience shows that Connected Leaders begin with what is present and end up more informed, trusted, and productive. Superior Leaders, on the other hand, tend to think they already know all they need to know. Which leader do you want to be?

Presence Principle #4: Presence improves performance

      If we are aware of what is actually happening around us, we naturally operate at the top of our talent. We notice things others miss and take actions others do not. Savvy leaders can help people be more effective by developing better presence.

      To make the point, here is a presence experiment we adapted from W. Timothy Gallwey’s creative work in The Inner Game of Golf, which is illuminating even if you do not play golf.

      Get a putter and three golf balls, and position yourself 10 to 15 feet from a golf hole or a similarly sized target (e.g., business card or a drinking glass on its side). You can do this inside on a rug or carpet. Position the ball, and then follow these steps:

       1. Notice thoughts you have about putting the ball into the hole. If you are with a trusted friend tell them the thoughts, such as, “I don’t have good hand-eye coordination,” or “What will this prove?” If alone, just acknowledge those thoughts to yourself. Then take three deep breaths, noticing the moment when you pass from inhale to exhale.

       2. Notice emotions that are present, like, “This is embarrassing,” or “I feel foolish.” Take three deep breaths, noticing the moment when you pass from inhale to exhale.

       3. Place your putter behind the ball so you are ready to putt. Close your eyes and putt the ball toward the hole. Then, with eyes closed, predict where the ball went relative to the hole. For example, “I think it is short of the hole by about three feet and to the right about two feet.” Open your eyes and notice where it actually went.

       4. Close your eyes and hit again. Feel the ball as it touches the face of the putter. Predict where it went. Open eyes and check.

       5. Take a deep breath, noticing the passage of your breath from in to out. Close your eyes, hit again, and predict the result.

       6. Now, just hit a few putts with your eyes open.

      All you did is notice your own thoughts, emotions, and physical sensations. What do you notice about the results? Most people find their predictions get more accurate, and so does their putting. This reveals an essential truth: when you notice other people’s thoughts, feelings, and actions, you will find your predictions about them are more accurate, too.

      The more we are present, the more naturally our thoughts, emotions, and bodies align with our goals. Effort declines and effectiveness improves. This applies to a lot more than golf. No matter what the subject, presence is key to operating at the top of your talent.

Presence Principle #5: Presence improves with practice

      Practicing presence develops our capacity to give our attention rather than have it taken, and cultivating presence produces practical results. The following passage is from the February 15, 2010 edition of Penn News. The article uses “mindfulness” for much of what we mean by “presence.”

      A University of Pennsylvania-led study in which training was provided to a high-stress U.S. military group preparing for deployment to Iraq has demonstrated a positive link between mindfulness training, or MT, and improvements in mood and working memory. Mindfulness is the ability to be aware and attentive of the present moment without emotional reactivity or volatility. The study found that the more time participants spent engaging in daily mindfulness exercises, the better their mood, working memory (the cognitive term for complex thought), problem solving, and cognitive control of emotions. The study also suggested that sufficient mindfulness training may protect against functional impairments associated with high-stress challenges that require a tremendous amount of cognitive control, self-awareness, situational awareness, and emotional regulation—something leaders in all complex organizations face.

      Presence is not a “soft skill”—it is a hard business asset and worthy of practice. And everyone who relies on your judgment