In my line of work, I meet with CEOs, executives, business owners, and sales leaders on a regular basis. One of the questions I often hear is, “How can we help our people grow?”
You help your people grow by helping them create better habits. A good habit can improve your professional life and your personal life as well.
At Sandler, we’ve developed a 5-step framework that—if used—can help anyone create better habits and change their lives forever.
We use the acronym A.K.A.S.H.:
- A - Awareness
- K - Knowledge
- A - Application
- S - Skill
- H - Habit
Let’s dive in.
Step 1 - Awareness
Awareness is all about becoming aware of the problem you need to solve or the habits you already have. You need to figure out what’s helping you and what’s holding you back.
Lack of awareness is a major issue! Think about the person who comes up to you and says, “I am a great listener.” Then for the next 20 minutes, they don’t take a breath as they tell you how great of a listener they are.
Clearly, that person has an awareness problem! Everyone has issues they’re not aware of, it may just not be quite that obvious.
Ask yourself these questions:
- What behaviors do I engage in when I’m the most productive?
- What behaviors do I enjoy the most?
- What was the situation when my energy level rose or fell?
Also, ask a trusted advisor about areas you need to improve. Then be open to their feedback.
Step 2 - Knowledge
Knowledge comes from reading books, going to workshops, reading articles, and listening to podcasts. Knowledge is any information we take in with the intention of improving ourselves.
We can only seek out the appropriate knowledge once we’re aware of the problem we’re dealing with. The challenge is that knowledge is where most people stop.
We’ve all told ourselves, “That’s a great idea.” Then we never implemented the idea.
Knowledge is power, but only if applied!
Step 3 - Application
This is where true growth really starts. If you want to change your life, you have to apply the knowledge you’ve gained.
Learn a new idea? Implement it. Did you discover a good question to ask prospects or team members? Actually start asking it.
For most people, following through and applying the knowledge you’ve gained is not comfortable at first. But taking action is where you really start to grow.
Step 4 - Skill
The foundation of all good habits lies in becoming good at them. Skill is where you start becoming comfortable with something. It becomes more natural.
If you want to change your life, it will take time and practice until your new behaviors become second nature. You’ll have days when you feel motivated and other days when you don’t. You have to keep practicing the behaviors regularly regardless of how you feel.
Step 5 - Habit
Those behaviors become a new habit when you do them without even thinking about what you’re doing.
Often our clients at Sandler tell us we’re in the habit-changing business. We help people identify and remove bad habits. Then we help them implement, execute, and become really good at new habits.
If you'd like to change your habits, awareness and knowledge of this process are just the first steps. If you need help moving yourself and your team through the process, we would love to talk and see if we can help.
