12 Bear Secrets System

Make Achieving Your Tough Goals more Predictable, Profitable and Personally Sustainable

If Predictability is the root, Profitability and Personal Sustainability are the Fruit

'The 12 Bear Secrets System takes the heat out of handling the uncertainty and risk that impacts your results and consumes your resources.

The Model has its roots in my work at Henley Business School and Exec education at , Harvard Kennedy School, the Yale School of Management, the Oxford Scenarios Programme, the Oxford High Performance Leadership Programme and Cambridge Judge Business School. 

It continues to be field-tested with colleagues in challenging situations in the private, public and third sectors and in light of emerging academic and commercial research"  - David Santineer (Founder, 12bearsecrets

                   A simple journey
 
Step 1 - Speaking - choose from four Signature Talks that bust myths around how we lead ourselves and influence others. Delivered as researh-informed Keynotes or Workshops.

Step 2 - Audit - discover where you and your people are on your journey to 'predictable high-performance'. What is holding you back from your target outcomes? Gain Quick Wins and practical, low effort, high ROI Recommendations 

Step 3 - Resolve - we'll shift your situation by resolving a 'live' issue that is threatening your results. Then we'll debrief you and your people on how we did that and why it worked. Finally, we'll practice the relevant skills with your people, so they'll be able to resolve issues with similar features in the future quickly and easily.

Why 12 Bear Secrets?

Humans are like Bears...

When it comes to coming through crisis and tough change, humans can learn a lot from bears: 

  • we grow and adapt our mindset and toolset to the challenges we face;
  • we're high-impact; transforming the 'territory' we're in;
  • we generate side-effects from our efforts, which help or harm others; 
  • we value economy of effort;
  • we have clear rules of engagement (even if we forget that sometimes);
  • we hate losing!
  • we must be able to 'feed': to fuel ourselves for today, tomorrow and what lies ahead;
  • we have huge ability to nurture and fuel others;
  • we often carry scars;
  • we're survivors!  

We leverage many of these realities through the 12bearsecrets TM leadership system 

 



Below we outline the 12 Bear Secrets that will make your goal success more predictable, repeatable and personally sustainable 

12 Bear Secrets : fuel the roots to gain the fruits

As leaders and stakeholders we have clear views on the outcomes we want - and don't want - from our operations and change initiatives. 

 

Many of us have strong opinions on the changes in values, behaviours and local environments (sub-cultures) that will form and enable that change success.  

 

But here's the reality: how equipped and skilled are we at actually bringing about the changes within ourselves and others that will result in those outcomes? 

 

How good are we at nourishing the roots that will result in the fruits we're after?

 

Beyond that: how have we framed our work environment (sub-cultures) to support our desired ways of upgrading how we lead ourselves and influence others? 

 

Our clients have fed back that their experience of work - and their results - have been immensely improved through adopting even just two of the 'secrets' tools to uplift their decision-making and leadership.  

 

 

In our interactions:

 

We'll bust some key leadership myths (and self-leadership myths) by summarising the latest research on each bear secret, and what that means for us as leaders and led;

 

We'll explore inspiring true stories (bear and human),

 

We'll engage with practices and behaviours (NOT manipulations) that:  

 

1. change results on the ground, on a personal and group basis (e.g. through sharpening interactions and interpersonal results)

 

2. change the environments (sub-cultures) that you operate in (e.g. by equipping you with valuable, easy to use tools that give you and your people greater impact with less time and effort)  

 

The 'B' in 12 BEAR Secrets: Believe You Can Impact

To be effective in our proactivity (getting on, and staying on, the front foot) we must have a sound basis for believing that our proactivity will lead to our goal success. The self-leadership and influencing Practices in Bears Secrets 1 - 3 are research-backed and proven ways to fuel this vital 'root' of goal success, in ourselves and in those we lead and influence. 

Bear Secret 1: 'Fuel Calling' 

INSPIRED by the Gobi Bear (Ursus arctos gobiensis).

 COVERAGE:: Calling, Identities, Disruptions, Getting back on track 

Bear Secret 2: 'Embrace Talk' 

INSPIRIED by the Sloth Bear (Melursus ursinus)

 COVERAGE: Self-Talk, Gossip, Malicious Talk, Reputation

Bear Secret 3: 'Clarify Paths'  

INSPIRED by the Kodiak Bear (Ursus arctos middendorffi).

 COVERAGE: Hope (Goal Clarity, Path Clarity, Agency), handling risk and uncertainty. This includes installing our (highly confidential) Scenarios Tool into your team. 

The 'E' in 12 BEAR Secrets: Energised to Impact

To make effective impact, belief is not enough. We and our people (those we need to lead, with and without authority) must be Energised to act wisely on that belief. The Practices in Bears Secrets 4-6 are evidenced and practical ways to Energise ourselves and others for goal success. 

Bear Secret 4: 'Spread Power'

INSPIRED by the Grizzly Bear (Ursus arctos horribilis).

 COVERAGE: 'Power' Assets, Cultivating Personal Power, Power Sharing, Taking back Power 

Bear Secret 5: 'Treasure Autonomy'

INSPIRED by the Polar Bear (Ursus maritimus).

 COVERAGE: Autonomy without Chaos, Fueling Autonomy

Bear Secret 6: 'Grow Impact'

INSPIRED by the Spectacled Bear (Tremarctos ornatus). 

COVERAGE: Innovating Frontline Impact, Fuelling Outliers

       The 'A' in 12 BEAR Secrets: Be Attuned to Impact

The biggest factor in someone behaving proactively is a personailty trait called 'proactive personailty'. But that comes with a downside: compulsive behaviour that looks like 'ants in the pants proactivity' or 'bull in a china shop' proactivity.  This approach often causes more damage than the value it delivers. The Practices in Bears Secrets 7-9 give us the upside of proactivity (dubbed 'wise proactivity' in the research) to reduce the risk of counter-productive approaches.

Bear Secret 7 'Align Valued Goals'

INSPIRED by the Moon Bear/ Asiatic Black Bear (Ursus thibetanus). 

COVERAGE: Valued Goals, Alignment, Innovation    

Bear Secret 8: 'Cherish Dignity'

INSPIRED by the Sun Bear (Helarctos malayanus). 

COVERAGE: The impacts of Dignity, Cherishing Dignity,   Dealing with Dignity Violations

Bear Secret 9: 'Love Deal-making'

INSPIRED by the North American Black Bear (Ursus americanus).

 COVERAGE: Enlarging the Cake, Authentic deal-making. Recovering 'deals' that have gone wrong.

This includes installing a (highly confidential) Deal- Tool into your team environment.

The 'R' in 12 BEAR Secrets: Reasons to Impact

The Practices in Bears Secrets 10-12 are research-backed ways to fuel Reasons to keep going - and keep impacting - for goal success. When things get really tough. 

Bear Secret 10 'Fuel Significance'

INSPIRED by the Himalayan Blue Bear (Ursus arctos pruinosus).

 

 COVERAGE: Fueling Significance, Dealing with Significance Violations


Bear Secret 11: 'Satisfaction'

 

INSPIRED by the Giant Panda (Ailuropoda melanoleuca).

 

COVERAGE: Satisfaction Practices, Deep Rest, Assurance

Bear Secret 12: 'Expand Legacy'

INSPIRED by the Grolar/Pizzly Bear (no scientific name).

 

COVERAGE: Legacies, Innovating Legacy, Never Too Late  

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