Coaching has a lot to do with helping someone become unstuck … get around an obstacle(s) that are keeping them from moving forward … from where they are to where they want to be. Often the ‘stuck’ part prevents them from either getting a specific job done or finding the energy and enthusiasm for doing their job overall. In short, they have lost their MOJO at work. My job is working with them to help them can get it back.
I can imagine that there have been times in most everyone’s career wherein they have found themselves in a funk of sorts. Perhaps you’ve been doing ‘this’ for
so long that you’ve lost your excitement for the work. Or … changes in management have not been well received and it’s more difficult to want to be a productive team contributor. And then there are situations where we are experiencing challenges in another area of our lives which just makes concentration at our job seem less important and we inadvertently put it on a back burner.
Regardless of the reason, there is little positive about being in this place and there are things one can do about it. FIRST … recognize that you are there and have the desire and need to change. And then here are some steps you can take to get you back on track …
Change your perspective – doing certain tasks in new ways can achieve changing the way we see them and help to get us out of a rut. It’s an effective way to help us get out of our rut.- Start with one small task – We’re not going to wave a wand and bring about complete change to our thinking and process. It’s in steps so taking one lessor task and seeing positive results is a step toward moving around the obstacle.
- Put distance between you and negative influences – It doesn’t take much or long to begin seeing things through a half-empty glass. Recognize that your funk is being fed by putting yourself around negative voices and situations. It’s a poor diet and one to avoid
- Take back control from your internal voices – We all have them and it quite easy for those team members with negative views of what we are doing to take us off the course on which we want to be. Recognizing this is happening to us makes it easier to resume control and get us back on the positive and desired track
- Envision yo
ur end goal – use props to help you keep focused on the end goal. A picture of the finished product, the building you’re selling or the stack of money you’ll earn in bonus can prove to be a simple and motivating way to stay focused on your aim. - Change your thought – Often when we are in a mojo funk we think of what we can’t do or why we can’t do it. Replacing this with the question such as ‘what do I need to change in order to accomplish this’ or what are the steps I need to follow in order to achieve this goal’ puts us on a track of accomplishing the task and moves us further around the obstacle.
Why is this important? It’s simple. We need our MOJO to move forcefully and confidently forward be it making a sale, executing the development of a new and improved process or being an effective leader of an organization, department or team. Our 
confidence is directly related to our mojo … the thing that lets us absolutely know that we can succeed. Recognizing that it has waned or even been lost is our first job. Is it easy? Not really because we are charged with bringing about a behavioral change. It’s safe to say that for most, this takes determination to do so and the commitment to stay the course. At least in this case the hard work brings with it definite rewards!
Mike Dorman
