If your business has gone off-route, it's time to 'recalculate' says Karen Jacobsen – aka The GPS Girl – who shared five quick steps for correcting your course with APPMA members at a recent meeting.
No matter your line of business, it’s likely that at some point in the journey, things have not gone as planned. And how you react is key to performance success.
The best response, according to Karen Jacobsen, is to recalculate and find your direction again.
Jacobsen, an Australian-born voice artist whose calm, clear and confident voice is heard on over 400 million GPS and smartphone devices around the world, was the guest speaker at a recent APPMA members’ dinner in Brisbane.
She related how, in her journey to success in New York where she is an accomplished concert performer and the widely recognised voice of Siri and GPS guidance systems, she too encountered a few unexpected detours which forced her to recalculate.
The process led to the publication of two books and the start of a successful business as a motivational speaker, teaching people and organisations how to harness their inner GPS to take them where they want to go.
Her latest book, Recalculate: Directions for Driving Performance Success contains the five-step process for getting back on course, which Jacobsen shared with the audience.
Step one is to notice you are off-route. “By realising we are not where we want to be, we are empowered to make new decisions,” she says.
Step two is to be willing to change direction. Jacobsen says that having the courage to be willing to make a change is possibly the most challenging aspect of recalculating.
Step three is to clarify your destination. Are you still headed where you thought you were going? Or has new information come to light that requires you to take a different turn? Or in GPS Girl speak: “Re-presence yourself to the outcome you are working toward, and zoom out to the satellite view.”
Step four requires you to embrace the steering wheel. “This is about getting into gear,” Jacobsen says. “Sometimes we need to make the shift from the passenger seat to the driver’s seat.”
And finally, with step five, it’s time to accelerate. “The true power of recalculating is taking action,” she says, “and in this step you are actively moving in the direction of your destination.”
The benefits of recalculating, Jacobsen says, include being able to navigate change powerfully; to see problems coming with the confidence you can ‘recalculate’ and move through them effectively; and build your solution-oriented capability and so drive performance.
Asked whether drive is something that can be learned, Jacobsen told PKN that while it was something she was born with, she firmly believes it can be acquired through practise and changing your approach to how you do things in your daily life and business.
“When you're clear about what it is you want to be doing, act on it – don’t hold back,” she advises.
“Once you do, and you feel like you can take an active part in determining your destination, this can be a vital source of energy and empowerment,” she says.
Our business world is changing at such a rapid pace that it can be overwhelming.
Asked how she suggests we process this change and deal with the distraction while still keeping sight of the ‘big picture’ goals of our business or personal life, Jacobsen’s answer is clear and concise: “Pick a lane, and stick in it until new information comes to light that makes you notice it’s time to recalculate.”
