SIX of the Best Business Lessons Delivered by Charlie Sheen

March 17, 2011 - PRLog -- Hot-wired mavericks like Charlie Sheen are not uncommon in the business world.  The quandary is how can you possibly convert that wild talent into well-directed energy, sustained effort and some kind of loyalty, rather than an irretrievable meltdown that in Sheen’s case has cost him everything and others tens of millions?  

I’ve coached quite a few Charlie Sheen type leaders in business.  Here’s what a few executive coaching sessions could do to bring demotivated and self-destructive type individuals back into the fold – a much more cost effective solution in a recession than replacing them.

To create a fundamental and sustainable change, you have to change their thinking. That means you have to penetrate their psyche showing them insight and revelation.  To succeed, however, the person (or people) cannot be dependent on drugs or alcohol and they must be receptive, even welcoming to coaching if success is to ensue.

1.    In the first session build on the cornerstones to job satisfaction – inspiration, growth, value and community.  People need to feel that they are motivated and challenged, continuing to develop and learn, and that they are an appreciated member of an interacting group.

Tip: talk with your team and get them to rate each cornerstone out of 10. Then see what that tells you about what they need and what you need to do.  Set them challenging (but not overwhelming) goals and focus these goals to increase commitment and determination for achievement. Break the goals into achievable milestones, and perhaps offer rewards as each mile marker is reached.  The best goals are specific, measurable, achievable, time-bound, and synched to the individual’s personal values and emotional needs.  It’s important to have more than one – I’m willing to bet Charlie Sheen has achieved his and feel he has no more to strive for.

2.   The second session could focus on self-awareness.  An important part of emotional intelligence is understanding your key drivers and limiting fears, how you adapt under stress, and how you process and learn from past behaviours. Do the same things and you will always get the same result.  Really good leaders know what their teams value and can prompt them accordingly.  When you know your boss is concerned about you, you will care for the company all the more.

Tip: a SWOT analysis carried out by members of your team focuses on where they are smart and where they have weaknesses so that they can react and respond accordingly and learn how to value their experiences.  Where self esteem issues exist, colleagues can help to iron out and identify things that an individual may be totally oblivious to.  Many observers would say that Charlie Sheen, like many self-saboteurs, never believed he was worthy of the success he had achieved. Others would say that the shadow of his father, Martin, is too much to cope with and live up to.

3.   The third conversation might address teamwork involving all team members.  It is so important for everyone to share their aspirations, barriers to progress and helpful processes and identify common points.  From this platform they can push forward with an agreed consensus to which everyone is committed. The consensus is an honest, specific assessment of the starting point and identifies the gap between the destination and the start out point.  Each team member needs to take their collective and individual responsibilities seriously and, when your team members know where you are heading – and why – there is a clear purpose to their journey.

Tip: Coaches use an ice-breaker where each team member, including the boss, takes a turn in the ‘hot seat’ while other members cover things they would like the individual to stop doing; start doing; and continue doing. It’s a revelation in honesty!

4.    Another subject would be the importance of recognising your allies.  Throughout the ages man has needed confidantes, mentors and friends who will accept him just the way he is, but challenge him when needed.  We all need first-rate personal or business advice in some areas, but need to come to our own conclusions.  It is important to recognise who is hindering your progress and who is genuinely putting your interests first.  You need to create a culture of respect, support and achievement in the workplace.

Tip: When setting goals, discuss the individual’s resources to achieve them, agree colleagues who can help and how, and name the barriers that are likely to get in the way of progress while working out strategies to overcome them.

5.    An important role of life coaching is to spot clients’ limiting beliefs.  More often than not, it is these that prevent people from reaching their highest potential.  Such beliefs as: ‘I’ll never be able to stop smoking’ are defeatist states of mind that need no proof to contribute to a mindset that then dictates resultantly indulgent behaviour patterns.  Too often the mind lives up to its own expectations and performs at a level that is far less than it is capable of reaching.

Tip:  When you see a team member’s attitude blocking success, drill down to the core belief that makes them think they are not up to the job.  Then ask them to note down the evidence that supports their thinking, followed by your evidence that does not.  Get them onto the front foot, not backing away, shying away, or trying to shuffle sideways.

6.    Fundamentally, I believe Charlie Sheen has lost his real passion.  He’s lost sight, totally, of what once made him a respected and sought after star. Without healthy and genuine passion to keep us driving forward, none of us would succeed.  In business, the lack of passion, commitment and cause manifests itself in high levels of absence, apathy, poor task and project control and frequently missed deadlines.  

Tip: The whole team needs to share a passion and where passion is missing, probing questions need to be asked to set a ‘wow’ goal that translates into a journey of challenge and excitement. Be honest with yourself and with your team.  Get to know what trips each member’s blind spots and what will light their passion with burning desire and raging ambition.

All business problems are people problems, and I believe passion and purpose are subjects that need to be openly discussed and thoroughly examined in every office to bring about increasing levels of impressively high returns.  

And it’s real, honest communication skills that underpin every step of the whole trip.

# # #

Diana Jervis Read has wide depth of experience of coaching and counseling senior level international and UK individuals: from government to blue chip to small companies. She was MD and founder of two award winning PR agencies for over 20 years.