Invest in yourself – don’t wait for your boss to do it!

The Letter - Judith Holmes Drewry

Once the domain of the CEO or senior manager, I am seeing people at all levels in small, medium and large organisations coming to me for coaching and paying for it themselves.  Why?  Because they recognise that to survive at work they need to invest in themselves!  So what’s going on?

Today’s workplace is fluid.  One day you are a highly valued employee, the next you are fighting to keep your job.  Change is everywhere and we need to continue to refresh our skills and bring new approaches to the work we do – we need to add value, generate new business, innovate and keep the organisation we work for profitable and valued. 

There was a time when an employee may have expected to receive training, professional development and opportunities for growth from their employer, but in today’s competitive workplace there isn’t always the time or the money to support these ambitions.  There are a number of reasons for this:

• A small business may be fighting to survive – investing in their employees at present may be a step too far
• Uncertainty about the future may be making some businesses reluctant to invest in their people
• A small business may feel that investment in skills development simply isn’t a priority
• A large organisation facing reduced profits or funding shortages may not be able to justify investing in developing their people

So it may be time to take the matter into your own hands.  And taking time to step outside the workplace to consider your current position, your own development needs and how they may be met could be a smart move.  Here are a few examples of where coaching and mentoring can help with your own development:

• There has been a change of direction in the leadership of your organisation, which leaves you wondering how you can make an impact and add value
• You are trying to survive in a shrinking organisation where colleagues have less time available to support each other
• You are looking for a role in a different industry or with a different employer and need some help in preparing for this
• You are in a new role and you feel that support from someone outside your organisation would benefit you and improve your performance
• You are facing redundancy and need help to work out your next steps so that you can achieve financial stability in the short term and plan for the longer term
• You have work related problems and don’t know how to manage them
• It may be time to look at your own wellbeing and what you want from life

Having your own coach means you have access to someone who will help you to recognise and build on your own skills and also identify those skills which need developing.  A good coach will listen, ask questions, challenge you and give you time to reflect, draw you own conclusions, set your own goals and help you to achieve them.  Making decisions and facing challenges can be hard and sometimes lonely.  And sometimes dissatisfaction in a role may be because the cultural fit of the place where you work is no longer right - their values and aspirations may not be the same as yours. 

Spending time talking through your options with someone who has no connection with your home or work life can be hugely beneficial and give you time to think and plan how to make those important next steps.

If you’d like more information about how coaching can enable you to take control of your own personal development, then get in touch and let’s talk about how we can help.

Izzy Ixer, Director and Principal Consultant, Blue Pebble Coaching

It's National Mentorng day – think before you jump in!

As today is National Mentoring Day, so it’s a great time to look at what mentoring is and to consider some of the factors, which can make for a great mentoring relationship.

Finding yourself a mentor isn’t always easy.  You need to feel confident that the person you are working with understands you and the challenges you are facing.  You need to know that they can strike the right balance between sharing information, knowledge and opportunities with you and also leaving you the space to absorb what has been shared during the mentoring session.

A skilled mentor recognises the importance of a reflective learning practice.  This means allowing time to assimilate information, making it your own and understanding how new skills and information can be put to good use.  These are the keys to a successful mentoring relationship.  When you find yourself a mentor, then you may find it helpful to keep a diary and to capture ideas and self-observations – this will be a great resource to reflect on your journey.

Demonstration of block printing

There are 6 commonly recognised factors which, when well managed, contribute to the success of the mentoring relationship.  They are well worth bearing in mind before, during and after the mentoring relationship has ended.

Purpose

The purpose of the mentoring arrangement needs to be clarified so that the mentor brings the right skills, experience and opportunities to the relationship.  The purpose may subtly change over time, so checking that both parties are still happy with the relationship is an important step in the process.  One of the purposes of mentoring is to bring to the person being mentored (the mentee) access to contacts, who may be influential in supportingtheir development.   This important aspect of mentoring needs to be discussed early in the relationship.

Communication

The way the mentoring session works will need to be tailored to suit the preferences of the person being mentored.  Some people prefer a face-to-face relationship while others may feel more comfortable in groups.  Some mentoring can take place online or by telephone.  If the purpose of the mentoring exercise is to induct and encourage a new group of recruits into an organisation, for example, group mentoring can be a powerful way of bringing new recruits on board and maintaining their enthusiasm for the organisation after the initial excitement of the new job has started to diminish.  In the early stages of the relationship the mentee will spend much of the time listening and questioning to clearly ascertain needs and support the formulation of goals.

Statue of an elephant

Trust

A good match between the mentor and the menteee will enable the relationship to start well.  The presentation of the mentor, the way they use their voice and their gestures all have an impact.  The mentor must be trustworthy, maintain confidentiality and have integrity if the relationship is to work.  Successful mentoring happens when the relationship between the mentor and the mentee is well founded and a good rapport has been developed.  Unlike coaching, mentors bring their own experience into the relationship, which makes it a more personal contract.  Confidence must be respected on both sides.

Process

The pace and frequency of the sessions need to be agreed and moderated as needed.  Time to explore goals and needs should be set aside at the start of therelationship to allow for the development of goals and for clarification about the way they will be achieved.  Th eperson being mentored may choose to have a number of different mentors and the process of working with other mentors may give rise to complexity in terms of goal setting and achievement of milestones.

Progress

An honest way of discussing progress against goals and providing feedback needs to be in place.  A mentoring plan with regular reviews in place is a good way of setting this up.  Milestones need to be celebrated and a time will come when the mentor has learned as much as they feel they can from their mentor.  The mentoring process needs to allow for this to happen in a planned and non-threatening way.

And finally ...

If you keep these things in mind you will soon discover the benefits of mentoring.  And remember – mentors can get just as much out of the relationship as the people they are supporting.  Reflecting on your own successes and failures and how you faced up to your challenges will reveal much about your own progress through life and can strengthen your own sense of self.

If you are interested in establishing mentoring in your organisation then get in touch with us.  We’re here to help.

Izzy Ixer

Director and Principal Consultant

Blue Pebble Coaching Ltd

www.bluepebblecoaching.co.uk

What's your learning style?

As we move into Spring we may be looking for new challenges in our personal or our work life.  So maybe it’s time to take a fresh look at ourselves and consider the way we like to learn?

Many of us will have come across Honey and Mumford’s model of learning styles, which was developed in 1986 and identified 4 learning styles, which have become the basis on which change and learning programmes are built.  These are:

Activists, who learn by doing and getting their hands dirty.  They like to dive in with both feet first. They have an open-minded approach to learning, involving themselves fully and without bias in new experiences.

Theorists, who like to understand the theory behind the actions and need models, concepts and facts in order to engage in the learning process. They prefer to analyse and synthesise, drawing new information into a systematic and logical 'theory'.

Pragmatists, who need to be able to see how to put the learning into practice in the real world. Abstract concepts and games are of limited use.  They are experimenters, trying out new ideas, theories and techniques to see if they work.

Reflectors, who learn by observing and thinking about what happened and may prefer to watch from the sidelines. They view experiences from a number of different perspectives, collecting data and taking the time to work towards an appropriate conclusion.

So how do you prefer to learn?  Which methods suit you?  And how do you reflect on your learning and incorporate it into your workstyle?

Here is a summary of preferred learning styles, their characteristics and the activities a learner will find most helpful.  You may like to think about situations where you feel you have learned well and were able to absorb information and make use of it in your daily life, your work or your hobbies.  And it’s worth remembering that although we may have a preferred learning style we can still learn in other ways too. 

Activist

Learns from experiencing new things and enjoys a challenge.  Dislikes following detailed instructions and being passive in a situation.

Brainstorming, problem solving, group discussion, puzzles, competitions, role-play

Theorist

Prefers a structured format or framework and needs opportunities to explore ideas, concepts and the relationship between them.  May be uncomfortable with unstructured activities where feelings and emotions are involved.

Models, statistics, stories, quotes, background information, applying theories

Pragmatist

Appreciates trying things out and needs to see that activities have practical relevance to their work.  Needs to see that his/her efforts have practical benefits.  

Time to think about how to apply learning in reality, case studies, problem solving, discussion

Reflector

Needs to assimilate information before acting and can undertake research then produce reports.  Learns well from listening and observing.   

Paired discussions, self analysis questionnaires, personality questionnaires, time out, observing activities, feedback from others, coaching, interviews

So, as you consider new challenges for the Spring or as you start to think about your personal development, you may like to reflect on the kind of opportunities which will work best for you – and you could even consider trying something different.

Izzy Ixer

Blue Pebble Coaching Ltd

HR data or people – where to focus our energy?

What a great People Management Industry Insight webinar this morning!  The subject was “How can HR lead the way for growing companies?”

With speakers from Talktalk, the Cass Business School and Workday as well as the Editor of People Management the speakers talked about the power of integrated HR systems.  The holy grail of entering data only once into the HR system, confident that it will be consistent across the HR functions and provide everyone with a clear view across the organisation continues to be the goal for many organisations.

Talktalk’s case study illustrated the way they had been able to support a move from fire-fighting operational activity as they grew rapidly to achieve a position 4 years on, where strategic thinking drives the organisation.

For me as a coach, the clear message coming from the discussion was that an organisation may design and execute a transformation programme which gives them world class HR data, which they can mine and interrogate to inform their strategy.  However if the message coming from the leadership is that they don’t care about their staff, the exercise will be futile as the staff will not be supportive. 

Clutterbuck and Megginson, in 'Making coaching work: creating a coaching culture', define a coaching culture as one where: “Coaching is a predominant style of managing and working together, and where a commitment to grow the organisation is embedded in a parallel commitment to grow the people in the organisation”.  Companies looking to change their systems and processes and grow may need to reflect on this at the impact assessment stage.  A sustained drive to change and embed a new culture into the organisation should not be taken lightly and creating time in a pressured work environment for thinking, sharing, growing and developing is a big ask.

In her book “Time to Think”, Nancy Kline says:  “Knowing how to manage a thinking team is fundamental to building tomorrow’s successful organisation”.  She recognises that the power base for culture change is the team meeting.  And organisations need to recognise that this change requires a high level of energy from the leadership team over a sustained period of time.

The results, when nurtured and driven through successfully, repay the effort.  The act of creating conversations where inline coaching takes place as a matter of course can be seen in higher levels of commitment in staff, improved staff retention and a greater commitment to the organisation’s objectives as a whole. 

And with a well-implemented and rigorously managed HR system working behind the scenes, data can be mined and insights revealed which will help to prove the case for investing in technology, processes and, of course, people.

Izzy Ixer, Director and Principal Consultant, Blue Pebble Coaching Ltd

26 November 2015