One of the greatest strengths of the human race is also one if its weakest link. Our ability to imagine is the source of all the innovations around us that has made our lives and our species so dominant in the also what causes us to trip in a lot of our pursuit.

We could end up living in our imaginary worlds and never see the reality. This is the reason why so many of us (individuals and organisations) are never able to realize our potential. We are unable to get out of our imaginary worlds into the real world and look at reality as it is, without colouring it with our imagination.

This is why:

• Even after being completely drunk, we still think that we are sober enough to drive home.
• Even after seeing that the reality around us has changed, we continue to execute our old plan as if nothing changed.
• There is such a gap between knowing and doing what is the right thing.
• This is the reason why most change initiatives fail (as they don’t acknowledge and incorporate the reality but are built on imagined realities).
• Most leaders fail (as they don’t acknowledge the reality of their situation and of their followers).
• We continue to smoke or drink (we imagine a future when we will quit smoking or drinking).
• We don’t learn from our mistakes (we think that the reason for that failure was not due to mistakes we made but because of some other imagined reason).
• We have so many couples go through divorces (instead of accepting our spouses for what they are, we imagine how we want them to be and when they don’t measure up to that imagined reality, we are not happy in our relationship anymore).

Even though we know this now, I am sure that we will imagine that we are much better at recognizing the reality and not make these same mistakes (which is also a form of living in an imagined reality).    

The question then is how to get grounded in the reality (some might even question the very notion of reality, but let’s leave that discussion for a later date) and not make these very mistakes.

One way that I have found to work really well is to have a buddy who can help us see the reality and shatter the imagined reality that we are living in. If we are looking for a reality check in our work life, then this person needs to be someone who doesn’t have a stake in the discussion but is still part of the same universe. Someone who sees the world very differently than how we do.

As buddies, it is our responsibilities:

• Recognize that every world view is biased & based on some figment of our imagination or experience.
• Share our world views openly and without any
• Question each other’s world views. Go deep to find out the core beliefs driving our world view. And then explore how close to the reality these beliefs are.

This can only work on the following conditions:

• There is a strong level of trust between both the buddies
• There is no conflict of interest between the buddies
• Both the buddies know and understand that biases and imagination are a real threat that needs to be addressed.
• Both the buddies believe that the process will make them better and more successful.

In Conclusion:

As they say, “Sunlight is the best disinfectant”. Acknowledging the fact that we all live in some imaginary world which leads to biased thinking and decision making is the first step towards addressing this problem. There are more people who have failed due to this reason than any other reason.

As this is also the reason that allows us to build a better world, we need to be extra careful and intentional about when to allow our imaginary world to lead the way and when to come out of our imaginary world and let our work be rooted in our reality.

In this episode, we speak with Anne Sugar. She is an executive coach and speaker who has advised top leaders at companies like TripAdvisor, Sanofi Genzyme and Havas, She also serves as an executive coach for Harvard Business School Executive Education.

In this episode, we host David Burkus and talk about his latest book - Friend of a Friend. In the book he talks about the science of networks and what we can learn from them. 

He shares a lot of great insights into how to use the science of networking to build a network that will help us get what we want while helping our friends get what they want. 

Who is on the show: 

In this episode, we host Denise Lee Yohn. She is a best selling author, keynote speaker and the leading authority on building great brands and exceptional organizations.

Why is she on the show:

Her book "Fusion" comes out today in which she shares her insights on the importance of bringing organisational culture & the power of branding together to create an organisation that can become a powerhouse of a business. 

Top 3 ideas I learnt from the conversation: 

1} It is critical that we know right from the start of our business about what do we stand for. We might still take on work that is not the ideal work so as to stay in business. We still need to keep looking for the ideal business and only talk or brand ourselves as per the ideal work or look for the ideal client. 

2} Organisations that are able to take their branding or promise to our customers and use that to build a culture that drives the behaviours that can enable the delivery of this promise are the one's that become exceptionally successful. 

3} It is important as leaders to understand that we need to be consistent in three aspects (ideological, tactical & symbolic). This means that as leaders our actions determine the culture we create. 

Resources mentioned: 

1} You can find all her books (Fusion, What Great Brands Do) 

2} Take the Fusion assessment here.

How to connect with her: 

You can find her blog here. You can connect with her on twitter @deniseleeyohn. 

In this epsiode, we host best selling author Dorie Clark. She has written multiple best selling books - Reinventing You, Stand Out & her latest book Entrepreneurially You. 

She shares great insights on how to create a brand for yourself and also about the importance of being entrepreneurial, even if you are not an entrepreneur. 

I had a great time talking to her and is an insightful conversation. 

In this episode, we host Harold Jarche. He is focused on providing actionable insights for workplace transformation. He works with individuals, organizations, and public policy influencers to develop practical ways to adapt to the technological, demographic, and societal changes facing us today. 

We talk about how we can create our very own personal knowledge mastery strategy (Seek --> Sense --> Share) & how this can help us make sense of the changes that see all around us. 

In this episode, we speak to the creator of "Vycle" a vertical transportation system that she developed as a project.

She rethinks and creates a new product that can help us go up and down, one that doesnt take too much space (like stairs or escalators) nor do we have to wait for a lot of time to get into a box. 

The product is truly one of its kind and we try to deconstruct the process of creating this product with Elena. 

In this episode, we host Jeffrey Baumgartner (again) and talk about what he calls "Imaginativefulness" and its importance in the overall creative process. 

Who is on the show:

In this episode, we host Jill Konrath. As a business-to-business sales expert, Jill’s ideas and insights are ubiquitous in multiple forums, both on and offline.

Jill’s newsletters are read by 125,000+ sellers worldwide. Her popular blog has been syndicated on numerous business and sales websites.

Why is she on the show:

She was recently named one of the most influential people on sales by LinkedIn, among many other recognitions.

What did i learn in this episode:

As sales professionals, we are constantly busy and we are to find time on ever more busier executives so we can position ourselves as someone who can add value to them and their business.

We do a lot of our work online (from checking our emails to researching our clients and their social profiles to reading more about the financial results of our customers. And some of the most brilliant minds in our era are working tirelessly to keep us hooked on their products by using findings from neuroscience research.

When we add both of the above, it is extremely difficult to not get lost in the rabbit hole that is the internet.

Some things that Jill recommends:

No notification policy: Notifications are one of the most important way that we get distracted and sucked into rabitholes. So, the first thing to do to gain our time & focus back is to remove all notifications. I only have notification for when either my wife or my boss reaches out to me.

Batch our work: She recommends that it is easier to focus and we become a lot more productive when we batch our work. Fixed time for emails. Fixed time for online research and so forth.

Shut down the distractions: As sales professionals, we need to be able to think deeper and find insights. The ability to shutdown our gadgets and thinking deeply is  important to refresh our brains. We need to give our brains some rest.

Focus: Think about and decide what is the one thing that we can do today/this week that will have the biggest impact and focus on accomplish that.

Learn how to work in a digital world: As a species, we have not evolved to deal with the digital world. And this is not going to go down but only going to get worse. So, we need to consciously learn how to live and work in a digital world.

Take a break: The higher level thinking which is required in order to connect with different thoughts, identify patterns and gain insights require that we take breaks so that we can replenish & rejuvenate our brains. Work on 50 - 10 mins bursts - 50 mins work followed by 10 mins of active break (walk, drink water, stretch, etc).

Work on what matters: With the time saved by becoming more productive, we as sales professional can continue to do more high value activities and self development.

Unclogging our pipeline: So much of deals or opportunities are in our pipeline because we hope that they will happen. Just like it is important to be more intentional and focused on our time, we need to be as focused and intentional about keeping our pipeline unclogged. By unclogging our pipeline, we can find common themes among the opportunities, thereby helping us address these concerns. Another high value activity.

Best Prospects are the one's undergoing change: The best prospects who will be open to change are the one's that are already going through some kind of flux. This change makes them more open to challenging the status quo.

Overcoming Overwhelm: By becoming more focused and productive, we can use the time we save to not only do high value activities but also help our customers by giving them information that can help them overcome their overwhelm.

Best part of her job: Solving challenging, complex,  sales problems.

Biggest challenge of her job: Difficulty to decide which ideas to go after.

Whats on her bucket list: Iceland.

Recommendation: Hidden Figures, the movie

What superhero would she be:  Jill, the time master

What is so obvious to her which people miss all the time: Overwhelm is the biggest problem at the root of almost every challenge.

2 action recommendation: Minimise distractions. Find out your own ways to avoid and minimise distractions. There no hacks, only lasting change.

Where can you connect with her:

You can find all her great work on her website - www.jillkonrath.com and on LinkedIn. You can buy her latest book here.