Making Magic
By Leanne Crain

When you think of great leaders and people who have influenced you - there's a good chance you remember positive things they have said to you, or the way they made you feel. Guess what? Those leaders were using magic! Better still, its magic YOU can learn quickly, and take to your team, your clients and even your personal life.

No hocus pocus here; the magic actually lies in a ratio. Much research has been done on the magic ratio, and it's so simple to do that you can be pulling this rabbit out of your hat today! Imagine, a magic tool that costs nothing, is easy to do, and starts giving you immediate results. . .

According to psychology experts like John Gottam, the average person experiences 20 000 individual moments each day. These moments can each be positive, or negative. Positive moments can be things such as being nice, asking questions, or speaking in an upbeat and encouraging manner. Moments can also be negative when faced with things like criticism, hostility, anger, or general damaging and pessimistic talk. In order to have a team operating at its best productivity, each member needs to be getting at least a 5:1 positive to negative ratio.

So how does this affect you? You are the next part of the magic. Respected leaders take responsibility for their message, and view each interaction with another person as an opportunity to increase the flow of positivity in their day. Leaders who do this find that their teams encourage and support each other, increase their overall performance, and are happier in general. Let's face it, words spoken negatively do nothing but harm the human spirit, as well as cause people to disengage.

Now, we're not suggesting you shouldn't be realistic with your team, we're suggesting you think carefully about what you are saying, how it will be interpreted, and if it's the best way to deliver that message. Also remember that you should be speaking with integrity, and that you, as the speaker, are responsible for speaking so that you are understood. Encourage others on your team to do the same.

How then, do you make magic? Be the difference that you would like to see in others. The magic begins with you. Think of it as encouraging your team with a high five. Those "five" are the five positive things you can say to each team member to increase their ratio. Don't leave them hanging!

For more information on building better communication in your team, please contact Gary Gzik.