Language Lesson in Body Talk: by guest blogger Dr Andrea Robbins

Symptoms are the language of your body.  La lingua de vostra corpo e sintoni. Unless you speak Italian you don’t know that the second sentence is the same as the first.  You

 have to understand the language to communicate. So today we will have a language lesson in Body Talk.

Symptoms are the method that your body communicates to you that something is wrong. Pain, fatigue, stomach upset, and headaches are a few of the words in your body’s language to warn you of bodily danger.

In our lives and work we see many warning signs of impending danger. Danger of radiation, fire, wet floors, poison, slippery roads, heavy traffic.  Do you listen to these warning signs or ignore them.  Do you call the fire department or simply turn off the alarm? Turning off the alarm would do nothing to put out the fire and could allow it to blaze out of control.

Let us compare your body to your car to further “drive” this issue home.  Would you look at your dashboard, see your oil light and decide to wait until it goes away? If your brakes functioned poorly on hills, would you say “I’ll change my route to drive only up hills”?  If your car started smoking from under the hood, would you stop, pull off the road the road and put out the fire, or would you drive with your head out the window to see around the smoke?

If you wear out your car, you can buy another, but if you wear out your body, where will you live?

Yet we take drug store remedies to stop our symptoms which are warning signs.  According to the Center for Disease Control nearly 48% of people are using at least one prescription drug, and painkillers are the most common. Taking drugs to stop warning signs of bodily danger is the equivalent of turning off the fire alarm. They treat only the warning signs or symptoms, not the cause, thus allowing the underlying condition to go unchecked. In the United States alone we consume 25 tons of aspirin to turn off symptoms every (wait for it)……….day. Yes we take literally tons of pills to turn off the warning signs of our body.

Here is a great book for tips to relieve the symptoms.  It  also includes a Body Battery Inventory which gives you a good snapshot of your stress and recovery levels.

http://tinyurl.com/d57eqyt

The Second Oldest Profession

I work pretty exclusively in the construction industry.  When I think about the industry, it seems I focus a lot on the negative.  We all do.  In one survey, the only two professions with lower levels of trust than a contractor were television evangelists and used car dealers.  There are a lot of alpha males in the industry.  They are tough and aggressive.  It is adversarial.  It is difficult.  I was talking to a  good friend of mine about it.  His business is creating alliances, and his view was that construction folks create alliances all of the time.  In fact, it is impossible to build a project without some sense of cooperation.

He said to me, “If two people were stranded on a deserted island, the first thing they would do is cooperate with each other and build something.  It’s the second oldest profession.”  That made me think about construction from a different perspective.  It’s part of who we are.  It’s in our DNA.

I grew up in the business.  We moved every 18 months or so because my dad would be on to the next project.  It was an exciting, nomadic life.  And when we visited the construction sites and dad let us ride up in the buck hoist (the small elevator on the side of the building) to the very top, that was an absolute miracle.    Even as a small child, I was amazed at how these guys could take something on a piece of paper and build this thing that seemed to sprout out of the ground.  It was created for people to use, and yet, when most of us walk into a building, we very rarely think of that natural miracle and how it was created for us.

Think of all of the parts, pieces, and personalities that go into a construction project.  It’s far more complicated than even something like the space shuttle.  I think we’ve lost that sense of wonder and miracle.  We get bogged down in the day to day grind of the business and we don’t appreciate the history and the true nature of construction.  So if you know someone in the industry or  you are in the industry yourself, celebrate today.  Make this your construction appreciation day.  Think of all of the projects that are built for us:  our homes, sporting and entertainment events for our pleasure, schools to educate our children, hospitals to treat us when we are sick, office buildings that add to our economy, infrastructure to get us from place to place, process our waste, and give us fresh water to drink.  When you think of all of those amazing things that make our lives so rich and comfortable, you can thank someone in the construction industry.

Ancient Chinese Secrets and How to Improve Your Emotional Intelligence

 I have just completed the second edition of my book, The Tao of Emotional Intelligence.  After The People Profit Connection, it is my best selling book.  Why is it such a popular book?  I think it is because it helps people to create true and lasting change.  The I Ching, or book of changes, is an ancient Chinese book of wisdom that gives us many insights into living and how to deal with the constant change that life offers us.  These 82 sayings cover just about everything you need to know about how to deal with the change.  I have taken these 82 sayings and correlated them to the 16 emotional competencies that are measured by the EQi 2.0.  There is also a table in the back of the book that lists these 16 competencies and all of the sayings that are associated with each competence.  Each day, you choose a different saying to focus on throughout your day.  With this daily focus on different sayings from the I Ching, you start to cultivate the changes that you want in your life and work.

Here are the steps to create change as outlined in the book:

1. Take the emotional intelligence test in the book so that you can determine which emotional competencies you need to work on.

2.  Graph your results.

3.  Read the interpretive guidelines to determine which competencies you should focus on.

4.  Choose a different I Ching saying each day and make that your focus for the day.

We are also developing an app that does the same thing.

Stay tuned and be on the lookout for more blogs about sayings from the I Ching.  Also, be on the lookout for the app as well as the publication of this second edition.

Take care.  Brent

Why Your Training Doesn’t Work and Four Rules to Make it Better

 

What is the purpose of training?  To create changes in behavior.  Period.  Whether it is technical training or soft skills training or training for behaviors such as sexual harassment or safety, you are trying to get people to do something differently, to get them to change their behavior.  Most training is event based and informational.  And with the exception of teaching a specific task or technical function, this approach to training simply does not work.  Behavioral change takes months to accomplish.  We’ve all been to these training sessions.  We call them three ring binder training sessions.  You go for a day or two, take home your three ring binder and put it on a shelf.  And never look at it again.  Until a year later, when you need the binder, you take it down, throw away all of the pages in it, and re-use it.  I think this type of training was thought up by binder manufacturers.

So how do you make your training meaningful?  How do you actually create changes in your employees?  Here are the rules:

1.  Make it experiential.  Use all of the senses (sight, sound, touch, smell, taste (we use a mindful eating technique to teach mindfulness).  Use improvisation, use storytelling, use games, use lectures, use kinesthetic learning.

2.  Reinforce it over time.  Tap into social networks, follow up emails, quizzes, tests, and games.  Retest or recheck if possible after six months.  We have found that the behavioral changes BEGIN around the 4 to 5 month mark with constant follow up and reinforcement.

3.  Hold people accountable.  Set up accountability partners in the class.  Set up accountability folks above them, beside them, below them, a family member or friend, and someone inside the business but outside the company.  Call these people at the six month mark and ask if they have seen any changes.  Use this as a coaching exercise.  They have to talk to their accountability folks and ask them if they have seen any changes, make a report, and turn it in.

4,  Go beyond Kirkpatrick.  Take the time for meaningful measurements of change and implement it.  Check in again at the year mark and see if the change has held.  You can retake evaluations, recheck with accountability folks and recheck progress.   This should be done annually as people tend to revert back to old behaviors, especially under times of stress.

So there you have it.  Four points to create permanent, lasting, positive change.

Building Brent Darnell International: Brent Shares His Decade of Experience

What were YOU doing 10 years ago at this time? It may be hard to recall or even harder to realize that 10 years have passed so quickly. For business owner and emotional intelligence expert, Brent Darnell, this past decade has been a life changing journey toward pursuing a dream, learning the raw truths of growing a business from scratch and gaining a deeper appreciation for balance in all aspects of life. To celebrate the 10^th anniversary of Brent Darnell International, Brent candidly answers 10 critical questions about this memorable journey:

Give us the back story. Where did you work and what did you do before 2002?

Brent Darnell: I graduated from Georgia Tech with a Mechanical Engineering Degree and worked in the construction business for 20 years before starting my own leadership development firm. I was a program manager for a leadership development program for Skanska and loved the work so much I decided to go out on my own.

What exactly is Brent Darnell International – what do you do?

BD: We teach people skills to technical people and train them like athletes. We use emotional intelligence as a foundation for all of this training along with physical peak performance. My wife, Andrea Robbins takes care of the physical side of the program.

How were you inspired to create this business – What was your “Aha” moment?

BD: I saw a huge need in the industry. Most of these technically excellent people had trouble with the “people” side of the business. This was the missing piece for them. Over time, we added the physical component because we saw the tie in between the emotional and the physical. Also, I noticed that many of these folks were overweight and under a lot of stress. That ultimately affects performance as well.

What was the best piece of advice you were given when you first started this business?

BD: Business is all about relationships.

Was there ever a moment in your childhood or early on that you knew you might do something like this for a living?

BD: It’s strange, but it seems like I’ve used all of my experience and combined it into what I do now. I quit construction and became a full time actor and writer for three years. Those experiences have served me well. We use lots of improvisation for learning, and my experience as an actor helps me with training and facilitation, and my writing experience has helped me with the books I have written.

(Want to try some improv with Brent? Click here for a special upcoming event!)

What has been one of your most rewarding moments?

BD: I don’t know how many times people have thanked me for their experience in these programs. One man told me that he is not only a better leader and a better superintendent, but he is a better husband and father. But being named one of the Top 25 Newsmakers by Engineering News Record for 2011 was the most rewarding moment.  They told us at the awards banquet that statistically, you are more likely to win an Oscar than a Top 25 Newsmaker Award.  I was so humbled by being a part of that.

(Click here to watch Brent’s acceptance speech for the ENR Newsmaker Award.)

What is a significant obstacle you had to overcome?

BD: My second year in business, the work totally dried up. I rested on my laurels after the first year and did nothing to create connections and relationships. It was a hard, but good lesson for me.

Is there anything you wish you had done differently?

BD: I think everything I did, including all of the mistakes, has helped to make the company what it is today. You have to go through those setbacks to learn—and without them—you don’t grow.

What is one piece of advice you wish you could tell all other new business owners?

BD: It’s all about relationships. And don’t give up on your dream!

Now with 10 years under your belt, where would you like to see Brent Darnell International in the next 10 years?

BD: My aim isn’t to grow. It’s to deliver great service to a limited number of clients. My wife, Andrea and I also want to keep an eye on our life balance. We don’t want to take on too much work. We want to continue to make a difference. We are looking at ways to deliver this work to more people through webinars, more books, and larger groups. Technology is allowing us to explore those options.

In just 10 years, Brent has built an impressive business while still maintaining the healthy work-life balance that he has helped so many others to reach. With this experience and wisdom, it’s safe to say that Brent has graduated from “new entrepreneur” to a seasoned business owner in his own right. Congratulations Brent! There are so many companies and individuals who also wish to offer you their sincere thanks for choosing the path you did and helping to change their lives! Here are just a few…

“I think we have saved a couple of valuable employees for the company, but more importantly their home and personal lives as well. Well done my friend.”
-Jon H.

“Thanks for helping me change my life.”
-Tom W.

“Thanks for helping me change my life.”
-Tom W.

Read more testimonials for Brent’s work here.

Inspire Genius: Cultivate Creativity in Yourself and Innovation in Your Company

How do you make your competition irrelevant?  There are only two things you have that others don’t have:  1.  Your People and 2.  Innovation.  For this blog, I will be focusing on innovation.  How do you cultivate creativity in yourself and innovation in your company?

CULTIVATE YOUR PERSONAL CREATIVITY: 1.  Get rid of your limitations. When you find yourself doubting or saying something can’t be done, reframe it and don’t limit yourself.  We are always our own biggest limitations  2.  Open yourself up to possibilities. Always say, “What if”?  What if that could happen?  How would things be different?  3.  Develop a Yes, And attitude.  Do you find yourself saying, “Yes, but . . .”  a lot?  When people throw ideas out at you are you quick to defeat it?  Look at it this way.  If a loved one came up to you and asked you if you loved them, would you respond with “Yes, but . . . “?  Remember, yes, and does NOT mean agreement.  It just means that you are open to the possibilities. Other ways to get those creative juices flowing:  Expand your knowledge.  Read a book a week.  Be a thirsty learner.  Learn about EVERYTHING!  Get out in nature and ground yourself.  Make sure to have daily reflection time where all of these thoughts coalesce.  Get out of your routines.  Use your opposite hand to shave, to bathe, to eat.  Put your watch on the opposite hand.  Dry off differently.  Get dressed differently.  Put your belt on counterclockwise instead of clockwise.  Be an ardent observer!  Observe everything:  how people interact, colors, textures, sounds, sights, tastes, and smells.

CULTIVATE INNOVATION AT YOUR COMPANY: 1.  Set aside the time for innovation and creative endeavors.  Have round table discussions with many different personalities, ages, and status.  For everyone in the company, make it a rule that for at least 30  minutes a day, you HAVE to play, have fun, and innovate. 2.  Meet regularly to discuss new ideas. 3.  Develop a Yes, And culture. Reward innovation instead of risk aversion. Now go out and Create and Innovate!

What Lies Ahead: How Leaders Can Seize Opportunities by Focusing on the Future

Future Shock:

Think about the future of construction.  What if you could build a 6 story building in 24 hours and assemble it with a minimally skilled work force?  How about a 15 story hotel in six days?  How about a 30 story hotel in just six days?  What if there was a 3D copier that copied large architectural elements without any form-work for use on buildings?  What if a brick paving machine eliminated the need for paving masons? What if industrial robots built walls and eliminated the need for brick masons?  What if you could construct a building that had net zero energy usage?  What if I told you that all of these “what ifs” are realities today?

Imagine a future where contracting has changed so drastically, that you don’t even recognize it as contracting.  Imagine a future where there are no retail buildings, no education buildings, no banks, no bookstores, no music stores, no malls, and no commercial offices.  Imagine buildings that don’t even look like conventional buildings.  Imagine mega-structures, sustainable communities, mile high buildings, and construction methods that can only be dreamed about today.  Imagine a completely different process of procuring, executing, and delivering work.  Fasten your seat belts.  It will be like nothing you have ever seen.

Ch ch ch ch changes . . .

Our society is transforming itself.  Much of what happens during the day is virtual.  This trend will continue and accelerate.  There are fewer face to face meetings.  There will a declining need for office space, retail space, movie houses, warehouses, schools, prisons (due to a decline in inmate populations), and dormitories.  Our virtual world will affect construction like never before.  People will do most of their business online from shopping to banking.  They will work from home and go to school via the internet.

And as those project opportunities decline, others will be growing. Some areas to look for are data centers and other support for these virtual worlds, package delivery and pickup locations, hospitals and healthcare facilities for our aging population, senior living facilities for the baby boomer retirees, and more entertainment venues including sports arenas, casinos, leisure destinations, and hotels. There will be a focus on adapting the home for virtual work and play.  There will be a focus on smaller, customized manufacturing facilities.  You will also be repairing our crumbling infrastructure and transportation services that will include more roads and bridges, more airport and rail work, more port work, and water and waste water projects from treatment to distribution.

Look for more prefabrication, modular construction, 3D copiers that can replicate large, architectural elements, machines that can build projects, paperless projects, instant buildings, and innovative construction methods that cut the time of construction by up to 90%.  Virtual simulators will be able to build the entire project virtually and you will be able to literally “walk” through the project before it has begun.  You will see more dimensions added to BIM so that technology will be able to build the entire building and identify all issues before anything happens on a site.

The estimating process will become so automated that everyone will be pricing the exact same thing. There will be more focus on energy efficiency, sustainable buildings and communities, integrated design, minimizing waste, and net zero use buildings that use no outside utilities.  There will be more collaboration and alliances among all stakeholders in the industry from owners to architects to designers to contractors to subcontractors to vendors and suppliers.  Big companies are already swallowing up smaller companies, and projects are getting bigger and bigger.  More and more of these large projects will be bid with strategic teams utilizing different sets of expertise along with local presence.

There will be more creative ways to finance projects, more creative delivery methods, more innovative construction methods, and more creative ways to make buildings last longer and be more efficient.

How can you solve these future issues?

It is a fact.  Things are changing and changing fast.  Contractors are all looking toward the future.  There is a lot of talk about “the new normal”.  What do you need to know to prepare for the future of contracting?  What areas do you need to focus on now to be competitive in this brave new contracting world?  How will you lead your company into this future?

Currently, the industry focuses on how to improve traditional construction processes and methodologies to try and squeeze out a few more dollars to the bottom line from the traditional bid, build, and deliver method.  You look at productivity.  You look at the workforce and do our best to attract and train more skilled workers, lamenting the fact that there are no more skilled tradesmen.  You look at technology.  But you are looking at all of these problems through the lens of traditional construction processes.  Albert Einstein said, “We can’t solve problems by using the same kind of thinking we used when we created them.”

Contractors have a ton of knowledge and expertise, but their focus is on that narrow window of bidding, building, and turning over a project. Think for a moment about the entire construction process from the idea in the owner’s head until the end of the life of that project. We are in the information and knowledge age, but most contractors fail to capitalize on that knowledge and information that they possess.

The contractor of the future will address the entire construction process.  He will be extremely adaptable, knowledgeable, and tech savvy.  He will focus on education and the latest methods of construction and building maintenance.  He will be able to work virtually literally from anywhere in the world. He will understand the global nature of construction and be able to see that big picture.  He will embrace diversity and find ways to bring more women and minorities into the workforce.

The contractor of the future will learn creative ways to finance and launch projects, going beyond traditional bank loans and Public Private Partnerships.  He will learn to monetize this vast knowledge that contributes value to the entire construction process.  He will be a true master builder that knows every aspect of a project from start to finish.  The contractor that comes out on top will be the one that can add the most value to this process.  Pricing will become irrelevant.

Are you ready for all of these changes?  It will take strong leadership and a willingness to change.  All stakeholders in the construction process must take a look at these trends and educate themselves and their workers on how to capitalize on them. They must work on the skills they will need for the future including being an expert on creative financing, cutting edge technology, the latest construction methodologies, effective and seamless facilities maintenance, world class education, and relationships, alliances and collaboration.

Construction leaders who serve on AGC Georgia’s Board of Directors are working together to answer some of these questions, study new trends and contemplate a different future. Efforts to better understand the contractor of the future are critical to ensure AGC Georgia stays relevant to the changing needs of its membership and a changing construction landscape. Equally important are the implications of these changes for your company. Are you looking toward the future?

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This article was written by Brent Darnell and published as a feature article in Georgia Construction Today, Fourth Quarter 2012. For more information about this publication or the Georgia AGC, please click here. For more information about Brent Darnell, owner of Brent Darnell International, visit: http://www.brentdarnell.com.