				Issue 22

	Mental Composure 10 ways to focus your mind for a mental challenge.			News and views
	*Dear %1* With the coming publication of *Smart to Wise, this newsletter addresses a central feature of wisdom: presence of mind. This is a vital skill for anyone who wants to influence others, to be in control of their time, or who wants to remove the stress from intellectually challenging situations. It is also a leadership skill. I hope this newsletter goes some way to showing how central Smart to Wise is to the seemingly diverse range of topics I speak and write about. 1. Prepared* Prepare for the situation by trying to see it from all points of view: yours, the other person's, and that of a neutral observer. Think about the outcome you want, and anticipate complications and tricky questions. 2. Calm Calm yourself by slowing your breathing down, and taking a few deep breaths. Adopt a confident, alert yet relaxed posture. 3. Controlled When faced with a mental challenge, use the SCOPE process, described in Newsletter 20, to take a mental pause and control the situation. Ask for clarification or ask them to repeat the question, to give yourself more information and more time to think. 4. Confident The ultimate sign of confidence and control - as well as signalling that you are fully engaged - is to ask for more time to think. Do not fear the silence: it is your friend. 5. Curious When in doubt, get curious: as more questions. The only way to dispel doubt is to learn more - nothing else works. 6. Structured When you respond, use a structured approach to ensure you cover the main points concisely. One of my favourite structures is great for a forensic response to a complex issue: CSI: Context Summarise the situation and place it into its proper context. *Subtleties* What are the complexities that make this issue unique and difficult? Insight What do you observe that is new, or what do you advocate we do? 7. Strategic Stay with one or two big issues and avoid getting drawn into details that will cause you to lose your focus and look petty. When you dissipate your attention over lots of details, your mind will wander further. It is important to note that sometimes one or two of the details may be the big issues. Perceiving this is at the heart of wisdom. 8. Truthful *Honesty is not the best policy...* It is the only policy. Never stretch the evidence further than it will go, make assertions you cannot justify, or speak when you don't know. Set out the limitations of your knowledge or evidence and you will stay in control of any criticisms. 9. Satir Virginia Satir classified basic postural patterns. When you understand and use these, they will help you to keep control of the messages you leak into the world. A symmetric body posture will portray honesty and holding your hands with palms down will emphasise confidence and control over your facts, your opinions and your emotions. Turning your palms upwards invites people to contribute and indicates a willingness to be open. 10. Single Focus is about a single point and a single person. You will best keep your mental composure when you address one issue to one person. In a group or with an audience, single out one person to focus your response on. Persuade them and move outwards to the others. *Learn more about the journey from Smart to Wise.* Smart to Wise is due out on 7 June Website Facebook Purchase *Articles on the Smart to Wise* website Embedded Wisdom The Wisdom of Leadership First there was IQ Who Else? If you like these newsletters, please forward this to a friends and colleagues who might value them too. If you are that friend or colleague and you want your own copies, just drop me an email Two Seminars you may like** If you never have to solve problems, then you don't need this seminar... And when you have options for a solution, which one? Do you sometimes feel ill-equipped to take the plunge wondering: “is my analysis is sound”, or “how much to trust my intuition?” These are two of the 17 seminars I am currently offering. Here is the full list: Three hour MBA Seven Ways to get More from Your People Seven Ways to get More from Yourself Brilliant Influence: Ten Secrets of Persuasion Brilliant Project Leader Brilliant Team Leadership Brilliant Time Management Faster, Better, Cheaper How to Read People It ain't the Stress that does the Damage It won't work because... Handling Resistance to Change More than just Survival: Thriving in Times of Change Practical Decision Making Practical Problem Solving Practical Project Management Risk Happens! Control Risk and Avoid Failure in Organisational Projects The Seven Rules of Project Management Learn more on my website. “Excellent session. Worthwhile attending even if you have read Mike’s book. Mike’s approach to help people form their own system promises to be highly effective. I can’t wait to plan and start the new me!” Caroline Wiggins, Business Accent PR (Brilliant Time Mgt) “Very informative and interesting. Suitable for anyone in a managerial or leadership position, no matter what size the company is.” Susan Freeman, Dale Evans Beauty (3 Hour MBA)			Smart to Wise It has been a quiet three weeks since my last newsletter. I have been working on collateral material (articles, podcasts and videos) to support my next book... You’re smart. You know stuff. You’ve made great strides in your career and your life. But you know there’s more: there are things you want to do and people you want to impress that you can’t yet reach. Because being smart is not enough. *Smart to Wise* is about how to become wise. It does not set out to give you the answers, nor to dispense wisdom, but to show you the direction of your journey. The *Smart to Wise* website, with the articles, podcasts and videos about aspects of wisdom is now live, at smarttowise.co.uk. Video Introduction to Smart to Wise Podcast: "The Meaning of Wisdom" The Wisdom of Story-telling The Wisdom of Leadership Coming soon: a humorous wisdom video, more articles and a first mini-eBook about *"Emotional Wisdom". Like* Smart to Wise on Facebook: www.facebook.com/smart2wise Follow Smart to Wise on Twitter: @Smart2Wise Follow Wisdom Board on Pinterest: http://bit.ly/S2Wpins Pre-order Smart to Wise on Amazon: http://amzn.to/S2Wbook The Apprentice Series 8 of BBC's Apprentice is well underway. My series of articles on Creativity in the Apprentice ends today with a humorous look at how candidates can select the best creative option. Previously, I took a more serious look at creativity, and argued for the importance of creativity in a winning candidate and identified who may have what it takes. Creativity in The Apprentice: Evaluating Creative Ideas The Apprentice 2012, Episode 4: The Dangers of Perspective Creativity in The Apprentice: Getting Creative Ideas The Apprentice 2012, Episode 3: Attention to Detail Creativity in The Apprentice So, if you are an Apprentice fan, bookmark my 2012 Apprentice page now or, better, go to my site and subscribe to the blog. That way, you will not miss any of my episode analyses. That's not just smart: it's wise! Risk Happens! Risk Happens! Managing Risk and Avoiding Failure in Business Projects *Risk Happens!* is available in paperback, iBook and Kindle formats. It is accessible to new project managers, yet has tools and resources that will give experienced hands new ideas too. It includes 60 invaluable tables and checklists, and 57 figures and diagrams. On the *Risk Happens!* website, you will find more downloads of risk management tools. Last month, I put four sets of project risk management tips onto my Shift Happens! blog: Five ways to remove Project Risk Ten Strategic Risks that Cause Projects to Fail Ten Reasons Crises happen - and what you can do about them "The top ten things to build into your contingency plan" Learning at Work Day Many businesses arrange events to mark *Learning at Work Day* - this year on 17 May, with the theme *"learning for growth". Some organisations even have seminars and courses all week. I still have slots available. Contact me to discuss which seminar would suit you best, or see the list on my website. June Seminar Programme* Practical Project Management (mornings) along with Risk Happens! Control Risk and Avoid Failure in Organisational Projects (afternoons) 21 June, London RIBA 26 June, Manchester, Renaissance Hotel 27 June, Birmingham, Copthorne Hotel 28 June, Guildford, Ramada Hotel Download a table of all of the scheduled dates here. Book on 01227 252 100. The Three-hour MBA (morning) and *Brilliant Time Management* (afternoon) will next be on 20 June, at the Village Hotel, Maidstone. “A brilliant insight into how to take control, be positive, and manage my time and teach my staff to do the same.” Kim Foulkes, JCS Ltd (Brilliant Time Mgt) “Very useful, given it’s only an afternoon. There are a number of things I can use immediately and a number of things I need to explore further.” Mike Annetts (3 Hour MBA) All of these seminars available in-house, at your choice of location. “Excellent session. Worthwhile attending even if you have read Mike’s book. Mike’s approach to help people form their own system promises to be highly effective. I can’t wait to plan and start the new me!” Caroline Wiggins, Business Accent PR (Brilliant Time Mgt) “Very informative and interesting. Suitable for anyone in a managerial or leadership position, no matter what size the company is.” Susan Freeman, Dale Evans Beauty (3 Hour MBA) My focus this year ... ... continues to be on writing, responding to press enquiries, and seminar and speaking engagements. If you know a conference organiser who is looking for an engaging speaker with great testimonials, please do send them to my website: www.mikeclayton.co.uk. If you need a speaker now, just contact me using the links below, or the contact form on my website. You can download my speaker pack here. Best regards *Mike* mike@mikeclayton.co.uk

	I recognise you get a lot of email and I don't want to add unwanted inbox clutter. I intend to give useful tips and thoughts, but if you don't wish to get any more, I will understand, so just click the "no more emails" link and they'll stop. Many thanks *Mike*			Please contact me ... ... mike@mikeclayton.co.uk ... Tel: 08444 141349 ... www.mikeclayton.co.uk ... on Twitter @mikeclayton01 There is a full archive of past *Thoughtscape* newsletters on my website.

	www.mikeclayton.co.uk no more emails			mike@mikeclayton.co.uk © Mike Clayton, 2012