At times industry events need a change of pace. Somebody to boost the energy level and deliver a message that those of us in business may not hear every day.
That's the role Steve Graef, a sports psychologist at Ohio State University's Wexner Medical Center, played this month at the International Latex Conference titled: "More than Rubber: The Superhero Powers of L.A.T.E.X."
Graef works with top athletes, studying what they do to reach peak performance. He contends that we all are performing in some capacity, so he devised these "superhero powers" designed to help anyone reach their own definition of peak performance.
• Laser focus. His two strategies here include "control the controllables" and "what's important now." In other words, recognize what you have control over, and concentrate on the most urgent tasks first.
• Awareness. Be aware what you need to take better care of in yourself, and also identify where in your organization you can step in and make a difference. In addition, in any situation know what you did well, where you could have been better, and what can you learn from it.
• Talk the talk. Figure out a phrase that can be a positive way of talking to yourself. He said it's better to have your "mind play positive music, rather than hearing doom and gloom."
• Embrace conflict. Graef identified this as the most important power. Essentially, embracing conflict opens us up to the reality that over the course of life there is going to be conflict and struggle. And the more we try to run away from it, the more it persists. "Embrace and lean in and appreciate the conflict that is inevitably going to happen in our lives," he said. "Don't be surprised by it, welcome it. Because when you welcome it, you can control it and you can manage it."
• X-ray vision. Having X-ray vision encompasses not only having a vision for where you want to go, but also identifying the everyday steps you need to take to accomplish that goal.
So keep an open mind and you never know, you just might learn something. I know I did.