#15. THE SOFA-TO-BLACK-BELT FUNNEL: BRAKES AT EACH LEVEL
Black-belt Funnel Stats
Imagine a funnel with a single, certified, black belt at the bottom. In the martial arts world, for every 100 white belts that sign up for lessons, only about 1 journeys to black belt. Moving further up the funnel, 500 check out Dojo programs for every 100 who commit. And, how many legions of sofa-sitting, martial-arts-movie fans dream of becoming a black belt some day?
Dreamers, tire-kickers, novices and masters: each group can have its own, inertial, next-step hurdles. Are you, or one of your – kids, friends, employees, stuck in a growth rut? What are the emotional brakes causing the stall that can be released, so intrinsic motivations can then get traction?
In a business context, how might a company: retain and continually grow black belts; turn on coasters who care; and not hire dreamers or coasters who don’t care?
Employee Growth Thoughts
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Black belts are most valuable, but some may become self-satisfied and plateau (even coast, fade) at their reputational level. Why not recognize both their value and co-create a plan for them to continually improve? Don’t take them for grateful granted.
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White belts who seem to care, but aren’t progressing on their own? Could they use some education on both the science and art of mastering the process of mastery? And, a key element of mastering any skill is having the right, personalized amount of coaching (and peer) support, which can vary widely. (More on mastery at: www.merrifield.com)
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And, what about those doing just enough to not get fired? Do some have emotional, fear-brakes that you might help release? Others may need a mastery-up or out intervention.
A Success Story
I bought a distribution company needing a turnaround. As I consciously created a new, high-performance strategy and culture, I realized that I had a hard-working, branch manager who was deathly afraid of speaking at our quarterly management meetings.
As an experiment, I paid for him to take the Dale Carnegie Public speaking course. At course’s end, he was voted “most improved” (from a panicked starting state). I asked him if we were going to get good return on my money and his time. “Huge!” he replied.
“Specifically, how so?” I asked.
His reply: “It gave me the courage to quit drinking heavily every night. My - marriage, parenting, and job productivity - have all improved.” He didn’t mention improved communication skills, but his presentation on the course at our next management team meeting was a jaw-dropper. His visible transformation made others amenable to taking the course.
In post-course visits, each graduate professed newfound courage for and improvements in both on and off the job areas. None initially mentioned “confident speaking” although their leadership communications did improve.
An Opportunity!
For each funnel-segment from the sofa to black belt and beyond, what are the fear-brakes to be released? Imagine if you could help even 10% more of each segment bust ruts and realize more of their dream potential! Will you?