What if you could become smarter overnight?

What if you could tap into more parts of your brain to increase innovation, creativity, emotional engagement, vision?

What if you could guide your team  to this state too? You can.

Here are my 5 favorite brain-based tools to make your team smarter overnight. Feel free to share these with your team and friends. You’ll find these and more tools in my book SmartTribes.

1. Use the 2 Types of Communication That Drive Results.

There are 5 types of communication, but only 2 that drive results. Wouldn’t it be cool to kick off the new year with more effective communication? More requests and promises are the key.

2.       Shift From Tension to Empowerment.

True empowerment means choice to respond, not react. Where do you go when you get triggered? Victim, rescuer or persecutor? Use these charts to shift from where you don’t want to be to where you do!

3.       Navigate Revenue Inflection Points Intentionally.

Navigating to, and through, increasing levels of revenue is formulaic. Honest. Follow this chart and you’ll get what you want. If your company has multi-billion dollar revenue you’ll want to treat each individual division as a separate entity in navigating this chart.

4.       Use Outcome Frames.

Outcome frames are the fastest way to find out what you truly want, to resolve conflict, to get aligned. Ask these questions in this order:

• What would you like? (Positive outcome you can create and maintain, reasonable size)
• What will having that do for you? (Benefits and how you’ll feel)
• How will you know when you have it? (Proof/criteria so you’ll know you got it)
• Where/when/with whom do you want it? (It’s key to know venue/timing/target)
• What of value might you risk losing by getting it (There has been a “benefit” of not having what you want—what is the pay off?)
• What are your next steps? (Time to get into action)

To be guided through an extended outcome frame via video click here.

5.       Focus 70%+ Of Your Time On HVAs.

There will always be a parade of bright shiny objects trying to distract you. Keep those beasts at bay by tracking your high value activities (HVAs) and low value activities (LVAs). Resolve to get to 70%+ of HVAs in the next 60 days.

Our clients find these tools help their teams perform at much higher levels by helping them to get in and stay in their Smart State, where innovation, collaboration, clarity and emotional engagement reign.

I’ll be offering 10 Strategy Sessions to readers to kick off 2014. Request yours atwww.CoachMeChristine.com.

Christine Comaford (@comaford) is a 5x CEO with 700% ROI on her company exits. Today she uses the top neuroscience-based techniques to help leaders get remarkable results. Her current New York Times Bestseller is SmartTribes: How Teams Become Brilliant Together.