Help them!

Create the environment in which people can thrive

Our red zones are created by being subjected to controlled motivation (reward and punishment) as we grow up.  They are then held in place by our being trained – at school mainly - to engage with the world through the form of attention where we judge and compare what we see or hear.

As adults we recognise the limits that this formation has placed up on us and practically every form of self-help or other development is about overcoming these ways of reacting to and engaging with the world.

It is hard to change.  I estimate that probably only about 15% of people can do it by themselves (which doesn’t mean unaided, but it does mean having a strong self-will).

Yet, everyone can change.  For most people, put in an environment that is affirming and supportive, and doing the work that allows them to meet their inner needs for competence, self-determination and connection, change will occur.

It is up to leaders to create this environment and recognise that trying to use controlled motivation with those deemed to be under-performing will get you precisely nowhere.

We grow when we are encouraged to operate in the blue zone.

It is as simple and as hard as that.