Employee Engagement 2010 Dozen (July): Do You Have a Red Dot?

Engage the Power of the RED DOT!

The return of The One Ball. This post marks the return of the One Ball Theme to this site. The One Ball posts offered guidance in elevating and achieving fully engaged performance. You can read the first post in the series from January 2009: The One Ball: Engaged Performance.

The Red Dot. Did  you watch any of the 2010 British Open and the fantastic performance by South Africa’s Louis Oosthuizen? Louis attributed part of his marvelous golf and focused success to having a red dot placed on his golf glove. This was at the urging of his sports psychology coach Karl Morris. Oosthuizen placed a red dot on his golf glove to reminded himself, whenever his mind wandered, to focus on the task. Since the dot was visible as soon as he took his grip for a shot he was able to use it as a trigger to block all distractions and concentrate on one shot at a time. It was a marvelous performance and made even more marvelous by this fourth place finish the following week in the Scandinavian Masters Tournament. It can be a challenge to focus after a big win and all the demands placed on your time and attention after winning one of golf’s major championships.

Concentrate on the task at hand and switch off. Here are some statement from Karl Morris about the red dot mechanism:  “Louis was concerned about his concentration so we sat down together and talked about it,” said Warrington-based Morris. “We decided the red dot was going to be his trigger point to switch him into a zen-like state. Before every shot at St Andrews he looked down at it. Your mind can wander off and think about a six-shot lead but focusing on something helps bring you back to the present.”  Oosthuizen stated: “I’d always wander off badly and struggle to get back into the moment, just looking down at it and remembering what we were saying helped me quite a lot. I took my time, focused on the shot and did it beautifully.”

Are you seeing red? What triggers or cues do you use at work or in performance to focus and be fully engaged in what you are doing while you are doing it.

• There is no magic to a red dot. I encourage you to find your own cue that helps you bring full attention to the task at hand and of course you could always start with the red dot and see if it works for you.
• Draw a red dot on a sticky note and place it where you can see it when you are about to engage in an activity that demands your focused concentration and full engagement.
• Use your red dot as a cue before a presentation to do your best. It could be on your laptop during a sales presentation or your first slide could be a red dot to help the audience also focus.
• Place a red dot on a file or folder that you struggle to stay focused and not have your mind wander.
• Of course, if you are a golfer you can grab a red marker and put it on your glove. I won’t guarantee you will win the British Open after doing this but you might find yourself more focused on each shot and enjoying the game more.
• You could also use being stopped by a red light (a slightly bigger red dot) to regain your focus and attention.
• Engage the power of red to help you get ahead!

~ ~ ~ ~ ~

David Zinger, M.Ed., works with organizations and individuals foster engagement.  He is a writer, educator, speaker, and consultant who founded the 2750 member Employee Engagement Network. David’s website offers you  1100 free posts/articles on the engagement. David is committed to fostering a movement to increase employee engagement 20% by 2020.

Connect with David Zinger today to improve engagement where you work.

Email: dzinger@shaw.ca  –  Phone 204 254 2130  –  Website: www.davidzinger.com