THE 10 COMPONENTS OF A THINKING ENVIRONMENT – NANCY KLINE
The quality of everything we do depends on the quality of the thinking we do first
The quality of our thinking depends on the way we treat each other while we are thinking
The ten behaviours that generate the finest thinking, and have become known as The Ten Components of a Thinking Environment, are: Attention, Equality, Ease, Appreciation, Encouragement, Feelings, Information, Diversity, Incisive Questions, Place.
1. Attention: listening with palpable respect and genuine interest, and without interruption
2. Equality: treating each other as thinking peers; giving equal turns and attention; keeping boundaries and agreements
3. Ease: offering freedom from internal rush or urgency
4. Appreciation: practising a 5:1 ratio of appreciation to challenge
5. Encouragement: giving courage to go to the cutting edge of ideas by moving beyond internal competition
6. Feelings: allowing sufficient emotional release to restore thinking
7. Information: supplying the facts; recognising social context; dismantling denial
8. Difference: welcoming diverse group identities and diversity of thinking
9. Incisive Questions: removing untrue assumptions that limit our ability to think for ourselves well
10. Place: creating a physical environment that says back to people, ‘You matter’
Source:
https://www.resultcic.com/Downloads/resources/Kline_10_Components_of_a_Thinking_Environment.pdf
ATTENTION
Attention is an act of creation
The quality of our attention determines the quality of other people’s thinking. Attention, driven by the promise of no interruption, and by respect and interest in where people will go with their thinking, is the key to a Thinking Environment. Attention is that powerful. It generates thinking. It is an act of creation.
Attention: listening with palpable respect and genuine interest, and without interruption
EQUALITY
Even in a hierarchy people can be equal as thinkers
In a Thinking Environment everyone is valued equally as a thinker. Everyone gets a turn to think out loud and a turn to give attention. To know you will get your turn to speak makes your attention more genuine and relaxed. It also makes your speaking more succinct.
Equality keeps the talkative people from silencing the quiet ones. And it requires the quiet ones to contribute their own thinking. The result is high quality ideas and decisions.
Equality: treating each other as thinking peers; giving equal turns and attention; keeping boundaries and agreements
EASE
Ease creates; urgency destroys
Ease, an internal state free from rush or urgency, creates the best conditions for thinking.
But Ease, particularly in organisations and through the ‘push’ aspect of social networking, is being systematically bred out of our lives. if we want people to think well under impossible deadlines and inside the injunctions of ‘faster, better, cheaper, more,’ we must cultivate internal ease.
Ease: offering freedom from internal rush or urgency
APPRECIATION
The human mind works best in the presence of appreciation
In life we learn that to be appreciative is to be naïve, whereas to be critical is to be realistic.
In discussions, therefore, we focus first, and sometimes only, on things that are not working. Consequently, because the brain requires appreciation to work well, our thinking is often specious.
The Thinking Environment recognises the right ratio of appreciation to challenge so that individuals and groups can think at their best.
Appreciation: practicing a 5:1 ratio of appreciation to challenge
ENCOURAGEMENT
To be ‘better than’ is not necessarily to be ‘good’
To compete does not ensure certain excellence. It merely ensures comparative success. Therefore, competition between thinkers can be dangerous. It can keep their attention on each other
as rivals, not on the huge potential for each to think courageously for themselves.
A Thinking Environment prevents internal competition among colleagues, replacing it with a wholehearted, unthreatened search for good ideas.
Encouragement: giving courage to go to the cutting edge of ideas by moving beyond internal competition
FEELINGS
Unexpressed feelings can inhibit good thinking
Thinking stops when we are upset. But if we express feelings just enough, thinking re-starts. Unfortunately, we have this backwards in our society. We think that when feelings start, thinking stops. When we assume this, we interfere with exactly the process that helps a person to think
clearly again.
If instead, when people show signs of feelings, we relax and welcome them, good thinking will resume.
Feelings: allowing sufficient emotional release to restore thinking
INFORMATION
Full and accurate information results in intellectual integrity
Recognising our collective social context creates psychological safety
Facing what we have been denying leads to better thinking
We base our decisions on information all of the time. When the information is incorrect or limited, the quality of our thinking suffers. Whereas, accurate and full information provides the path to good independent thinking.
Similarly, dismantling denial is often the first step to independent thinking.
Information: supplying the facts; recognising social context; dismantling denial
DIFFERENCE
The greater the diversity of the group, and the greater the welcoming of different points of view, the greater the chance of accurate, cutting-edge thinking
Reality is diverse. Therefore, to think well we need to be in as real, as diverse, a setting as possible.
We need to be surrounded by people from many identity groups, and we need to know that there will be no reprisal for thinking differently from the rest of the group.
Difference: welcoming diverse group identities and diversity of thinking
INCISIVE QUESTIONS
A wellspring of good ideas lies just beneath an untrue limiting assumption
An Incisive Question will remove it, freeing the mind to think afresh
The key block to high-quality independent thinking is an untrue limiting assumption, lived as true. To free the mind, therefore, we need to know how to construct an Incisive Question, a tool of unbelievable precision and power.
Incisive Questions: removing untrue assumptions that limit our ability to think for ourselves well
PLACE
When the physical environment affirms our importance, we think more clearly and boldly
When our bodies are cared for and respected, our thinking improves
Thinking Environments are places that say back to people, ‘You matter.’ People think at their best when they notice that the place reflects their value to the people there and to the event.
And because the first place of thinking is the body, it needs to be in a condition that says to us as thinkers, ‘You matter’.
In these ways, Place is a silent form of appreciation.
Place: creating a physical environment that says back to people, ‘You matter’
Source:
https://www.timetothink.com/thinking-environment/the-ten-components/
Thursday, 25 March 2021
THE 10 COMPONENTS OF A THINKING ENVIRONMENT
Wednesday, 24 March 2021
THE IMPORTANCE OF VALUES AND RELATIONSHIP
THE IMPORTANCE OF VALUES AND RELATIONSHIP
Based on the feedback on an earlier article about culture I have been asked to write about creating high performing teams, and I suggested it wont be about "values". I somewhat brashly said; we do not expect a mission or vision statement from our family or friends, and we don't ask people their values and CSR activity when we join our hobby groups, sports teams or community groups.
That, of course, provoked some good challenge and so ahead of writing about creating high performing teams, I'd like to explain by views on "values".
Values by definition are "principles or standards of behaviour; one's judgement of what is important in life". I am not going to argue against the definition but I am going to debate the application, particularly how businesses publish them, staff recite them, and people hold them in high regard, but significantly ignore them.
Try this test, get your colleagues to recite the business mission, vision, and values, and then explain their own and see which is easier for them!
J.D. Meier has written a great article on "values" and gives examples of Amazon, Google, Microsoft and more. In the interests of brevity I won't repeat it but simply refer to it (See link below). These are great, but if Sam moved from Uber to Apple, or Google to Amazon, or indeed Microsoft to LinkedIn are we expecting Sam to change his values to fit-in with his current employer?
Maybe Sam comes from a different cultural background to Arden and Bergen, possibly a different religion, social-economic-group and education. Do we expect all these people to have exactly the same values in order to get along, as friends? Do we expect them to relinquish these values in favour of those of their employer in order to be productive colleagues?
Should we change our values like we change our clothes; different according to the circumstances? It is true that what is legal and acceptable today is very different to what was 10 years ago, 100 years ago and 1000 years ago. It seems sensible to update our principles or standards of behaviour accordingly. And I suspect experience of war, covid, birth and death and our own personal challenges may modify one's judgement of what is important in life.
So if every person has different values (according to culture, faith and experience) and every business has different values (even those providing similar products and services to the same consumers) what are the implications in-so-far-as they apply to "values".
If values and behaviours at an organisational level are important (for example in relation to Diversity, Equity and Inclusion) which values should we "accept" and which should we "reject". What are the implications for individuals or marginalised groups if their "values" don't match their colleagues or their company?
I fear that putting people in categories is bad, unless it is a category of one and you have 7 billon of them! I think success of humanity comes from diversity, about 300 million years of it! I can see why we like to simplify and codify things. Life is so much simpler when everyone is either a hero, victim or villain. It becomes messy if we embrace 16 personality types (MBTI) with different passions and interests. And more so if we also take account of all the other possible variantions.
The secret behind unifying factors, like values, is to make them so vague, so generic, that everyone can subscribe to them. Make them detailed and specific and suddenly you will see the internal divisions that exist in every religion or political group. So if values are sufficiently bland that they can accommodate everyone that has to be good for Diversity, Equity and Inclusion, but what does it say about values?
I will write an article about creating high performing teams, but I want to conclude by making a link to my starting proposition. I think what is key is relationship. You may have different priorities, interests and beliefs from your colleagues or team-mates. I am pretty certain every rebellious teenager has different priorities, interests and beliefs from their parents. I know different political and faith groups have diverging views. I don't think we need to be the same to be successful. We don't need to impose a set of "values" we need a listening, accepting and learning relationship that helps us and others integrate, collaborate and perform, together.
Of course, you may not agree with my view. And that's my point. You dont have to. And I will accept you and listen to you, and learn from you nonetheless.
Brilliant Examples of Company Values
https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/brilliant-examples-company-values-amazon-google-microsoft-j-d-meier/
Tuesday, 23 March 2021
FINDING YOUR OWN COACHING STYLE
FINDING YOUR OWN COACHING STYLE
As a coach it is valuable to read widely to understand the breadth and depth of psychology, philosophy and humanity. This seems to be to be an essential pre-requisite to understanding and supporting people, and meeting elements 3,4,5,and 6 of the necessary and sufficient conditions of change, explored below.
For constructive change to occur, it is necessary that these conditions exist and continue over a period of time: (1) Two persons are in psychological contact. (2) The first, whom we shall term the client, is in a state of incongruence, being vulnerable or anxious. (3) The second person, whom we shall term the coach, is congruent or integrated in the relationship. (4) The therapist experiences unconditional positive regard for the client. (5) The coach experiences an empathic understanding of the client's internal frame of reference and endeavors to communicate this experience to the client. (6) The communication to the client of the coach's empathic understanding and unconditional positive regard is to a minimal degree achieved.
I have recently completed Person-Centred Counselling Psychology: An Introduction by Ewan Gillon and really recommend it. It has made me reflect on my own coaching style, values and beliefs as I progress beyond my ICF training into the real world of coaching and the many different views, philosophies as well as needs and expectations of the profession and our clients.
I found it really useful to compare and contrast the following, and consider which elements I am drawn to in my own style.
HUMANISTIC / PERSON-CENTERED COACHING
Key thinkers: Otto Rank, Abraham Maslow, Carl Rogers, Viktor Frankl and Rollo May.
The goal of Person-centered coaching is to provide clients with an opportunity to develop a sense of self where they can realize how their attitudes, feelings and behavior are being negatively affected.
My inclination is towards the Carl Rogers' person-centered approach in the belief the people are not ill or broken and so they do not need diagnosis or direction. My experience as a coach is that they generally need the safety and space to explore their own thoughts and feelings. The judgement and advice of a coach is not helpful to people who may already feel judged, obligated, subjugated, directed, confused by family, friends, work, community or culture. No wonder people turn to mindfulness as an opportunity to remove oneself from the world and reflect.
However passively expecting people to 'work stuff out for themselves' by simply listening does not seem helpful. It is akin to watching a drowning person try and work out how to save themselves, without feeling the need to intervene. I think it is incumbent on the coach to offer tools, models, perspectives for the client to pick and explore what works best for them. For example taking a MBTI or Ocean-Big5 personality assessment may be enlightening for a client without being directive by the coach. As another example: thinking about relative priorities in the Life-Wheel (home, work, family, friends, health, career, spirit) can be thought provoking and informative without being prescriptive.
I am therefore inclined toward the experiential / existential approach which seeks to explore areas which the client indicates are important than to simply let the flow of conversation distract us from the rocks and depths that may be on the surface or hidden below. This intervention may be outside the norm of person-centered coaching and take queues from Psychodynamic coaching or Behavioural coaching without becoming a process of discussion, diagnoses, prognosis and prescription which is associated with making broken people fixed, ill people well or some judgement of normal.
PSYCHODYNAMIC COACHING
Key thinkers: Carl Jung, Melanie Klein, Alfred Adler, Anna Freud, and Erik Erikson.
The psychodynamic approach includes all the theories in psychology that see human functioning based upon the interaction of drives and forces within the person, particularly unconscious, and between the different structures of the personality.
I think it is wrong for the person-centered approach to ignore the subconscious. It seems to me ridiculous to have a conversation entirely at a superficial surface level. Clearly the direction, content and dept of any conversation must be guided by the client. This is not a doctor-patient or teacher-pupil relationship, but one of equals in a positive relationship exploring thoughts, feelings, beliefs and behaviours of the person and their world.
The psychodynamic approach does have merit where it seeks to understand how past and present experience impacts current and future perception and growth. This however should be pursued as exploration of what is right for the client, rather than what is wrong according to the coach.
This may include consideration of dreams and their meanings (according to the client) or observation of defensiveness (Denial, Repression, Projection, Displacement, Regression, Sublimation, Rationalization, Reaction Formation, Identification with the Aggressor). This is about exploring perceptions, issues and options of the client not judgement or direction of the coach.
BEHAVIOURAL COACHING
Key thinkers: Albert Bandura, Steven C. Hayes, Ivan Pavlov, B. F. Skinner, John B. Watson, Montrose Wolf, Joseph Wolpe
This approach seeks to identify and help change potentially self-destructive or unhealthy behaviors. It functions on the idea that all behaviors are learned and that unhealthy behaviors can be changed.
Aristotle said: “We are what we repeatedly do. Excellence, then, is not an act, but a habit.” He is talking, far more eloquently than I ever could, about the value of repetition. However, clients are not lab-rats to be taken out of context and examined (reference to B. F. Skinner) or dogs who salivate when the bell rings for dinner (reference to Ivan Pavlov). So our approach to habit, routine, behaviour needs to be person-centered, but it woud be wrong to ignore the impact of culture, environment and circumstance on our reactions, behaviours and habits.
In reality any routine or habit proposed or prescribed by a coach to a client cannot be anything more than a suggestion. Whether or not this is accepted and practiced is entirely for the client. To that extent I see no harm in a coach suggesting options for the client to consider; it is part of being both a relationship and a resource for the client. This however has to be a conscious suggestion rather than an unconscious or sub-conscious one (reference Milton Hyland Erickson) unless the client has specifically agreed hypnotherapy.
EXISTENTIAL COACHING
Key thinkers: Sartre, Kierkegaard, De Beauvoir and Fanon.
Existential coaching emerged from existential therapy, which focuses on the human condition as a whole. The approach is informed by existential thinkers and is the only form of psychotherapy based in philosophy. Existential work looks at what it means to be an individual, how we can use our inner wisdom to resolve issues, and how we can view our struggles as inherently human rather than as dysfunction or defect.
This seems to me to be closely aligned to my comments above about experiential / existential variation on person-centered coaching. During the period of covid and lockdown 2020/21 many people have been reflective and philosophical and this can be valuable in the appraisal of self, goals and purpose. The key issue for me is that coaching should be practical and supportive to the client and go beyond the examination of 'here and now' which is important, but follow the clients pursuit of 'where next'.
CONTACT
If anyone is interested in this topic email me tim@adaptconsultingcompany.com I am happy to share ideas and guides on coaching and change for people, teams, projects and organisations.
Tim Rogers
MBA (Management Consultancy) & Change Practitioner
ICF Trained Coach IoD Business Mentor
https://www.adaptconsultingcompany.com/coaching-and-mentoring/
REFERENCES AND RESOURCES
https://mick-cooper.squarespace.com/new-blog/2019/4/2/carl-rogerss-core-conditions-are-they-necessary-and-sufficient
Rogers, C. R. (1957). The necessary and sufficient conditions of therapeutic personality change. Journal of Consulting Psychology, 21(2), 95–103. https://doi.org/10.1037/h0045357
https://www.simplypsychology.org/client-centred-therapy.html
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Psychodynamics
https://www.rivier.edu/academics/blog-posts/an-introduction-to-behavioral-psychology/
https://www.simplypsychology.org/behaviorism.html
https://psychology.jrank.org/pages/229/Existential-Psychology.html
MY READING LIST AS A COACH
https://adaptcoaching.blogspot.com/p/books.html
Monday, 22 March 2021
YOU ARE WHAT YOU BELIEVE (AND 10 QUESTIONS TO TEST THIS)
You Are What You Believe (and 10 questions to test this)
Great article by Taymour Qabazard
I have the following observations ...
The line ..we also tend to take on board other people's beliefs.. is interesting because we form ourselves in response to others. This starts from birth and continues throughout life. Where is and what is the boundary between my self and your self and to what extent is there no boundary at all but just a merge of thoughts, feelings and identity.
The line ...The truth has almost become veiled in layers of opinion... is also very interesting. Truth has changed with science, time. legislation and understanding. What was 'true' 1000 or 100 or even 10 years ago may not be true now. Moreover since our truth is based on imperfect perception, understanding, experience, judgement you and I can experience the same event and have very different throughs, feelings, judgements and memories of it leading to different truths. This is a point made by Qabazard...There never really is one reality...
Given the above I would challenge line ...Most of the time, our greatest fear is failure... I suspect it is not so much failure as judgement. What if we failed at something and nobody knows, sees or cares? But if our self-concept is based on how others judge, embrace or accept us, then clearly failure will have a very personalised impact.
I believe purpose and fulfilment can be found where Qabazard suggests... visualize what exactly it is they want and maintain strong focus on their goal as they jump every hurdle along the way.. The point here is the goal and the attitude towards that goal rather than other people's judgement of it or you.
There is a real risk that in an effort to be normal or liked there is a race to the lowest common denominator which undermines the uniqueness of each individual, and the opportunities, challenges and growth that each can offer each other through dialogue, debate and striving. To what extend should we pursue happiness or contentment, if it is at the expense of discovery or growth? We can all sit in a cave and complain about the weather.
Qabazard acknowledges this...Confucius once said: "Our greatest glory is not in never falling but in rising every time we fall" and further when he says we must take a ...conscious decision to change, we override the programming we have done for years..
For me the challenge is not limiting yourself by worrying what others think, but being robust and honest about what you think. Really stripping that down to find something that is pure, passionate and purposeful and then pursuing that purpose. Arguably that will bring far more social acceptance and self actualisation than the anonymity of other people's opinions.
Read the full article You Are What You Believe
http://www.positivehealth.com/article/mind-matters/you-are-what-you-believe
Qabazards 10 questions
• What's stopping me from achieving this goal?
• Where did this belief come from?
• Who gave you this belief?
• How do you feel about that person? Do you regard them highly and respect them?
• What does this belief do for you?
• What is this belief costing you?
• How will your life be different if you were to let go of this limiting belief?
• What concrete evidence do you have to back this belief?
• What is the positive intention behind keeping this limiting belief?
• How else can you satisfy this positive intention without relying on this limiting belief?
If anyone is interested in this topic email me tim@adaptconsultingcompany.com I am happy to share ideas and guides on process and change for people, teams, projects and organisations.
Tim Rogers
MBA (Management Consultancy) & Change Practitioner
ICF Trained Coach IoD Business Mentor
https://www.adaptconsultingcompany.com/coaching-and-mentoring/
Thursday, 11 March 2021
WRITE DOWN YOUR STORY
WRITE DOWN YOUR STORY
Sometimes it is really useful to write your story, either as a story or in a journal. This can help you examine how you want to describe the past, present and future and help you choose the words (values, lessons, beliefs) about those experiences and what they meant then, and what they mean now. The process translates thoughts and feelings into words which can more easily and objectively assessed, and also prepares the ground for your future choices and how you want to story to progress.
Never under-estimate the power of fairy tales, fables, mythology and day-dreams. Hollywood is based on them and society is built on them. We all know the hero, victim, villain, the crisis, battle and victory. These are the narratives that shape and guide us. When it is us writing the story we get to choose which role we want to play.
If you feel you cannot write about yourself, if that is too self conscious and emotionally loaded, write about someone else in a galaxy far far away, or a long long time ago, or perhaps something non-human. Whether the character is Harry Potter or Bilbo Baggins, or maybe even Princess Leia or the Wookiee. They all have strengths and weaknesses, needs and wants, virtues and flaws. How would they experience your story. You get to choose. It is your story, and its not ended yet!
You might like these articles...
SOMETIMES YOU DONT KNOW WHAT YOU THINK UNTIL YOU WRITE IT DOWN
https://adaptcoaching.blogspot.com/2021/01/sometimes-you-dont-know-what-you-think.html
THE STRUCTURE OF ALL STORIES - INCLUDING YOURS
https://adaptcoaching.blogspot.com/2021/01/the-structure-of-all-stories-including.html
NON-DIRECTIVE COACHING - being positive is not the same as being supportive
My reflections...
When doing my ICF Coach Training I sometimes received praise "You were very good" and whilst this initially is pleasing I quickly realized that the implication might be 1. The Coach is clever 2. The Client is not. I had in fact stolen the focus from the client. It is not about me, it is about them. If their reflection is on how good I am, then it is not upon how resourceful and productive they are. I have given this a lot of thought.
It reminds me of a story: Legend has it that British Prime Minister Benjamin Disraeli and his political rival William Gladstone had a date with the same woman on different nights. When asked her impression of the two men, she said, "When I left the dining room after sitting next to Mr. Gladstone, I thought he was the cleverest man in England. But after sitting next to Mr. Disraeli, I thought I was the cleverest woman in England."
I also got feedback like "You were very supportive" and this got me thinking too: If I said "That is bad, Oh how terrible, Ohh yes I agree" then I am projecting my values and directing the conversation. The same would be true if I said "That is a good idea, Well done, Yes you are right". Clearly neither praise or criticism are agnostic, impartial and accepting they are value laden and directing.
I have always been cautions about Sympathy or Empathy with my preference being Compassion so as to avoid dissecting the client (I know exactly how you feel) or competing with the client (that happened to me once). Empathy refers to feeling what another person is feeling. Sympathy means you understand what the other person is feeling even without feeling it yourself. Compassion means your feelings have prompted you to take action to relieve the suffering of another person.
However I had not fully appreciated that being positive is not the same as being supportive.
A USEFUL RESOURCE
Attached / below is a really interesting resource on non-directive coaching
https://www.itta.uva.nl/upload/files/Coaching_citizen_guide_non-directive_coaching(2).pdf
I am always interested in feedback, ideas, books, blogs and references. Please feel free to comment.
Tim HJ Rogers
MBA (Management Consultancy) & Change Practitioner
ICF Trained Coach IoD Business Mentor
Tim@AdaptConsultingCompany.com
Mob 447797762051
Sources
https://www.forbes.com/sites/kareanderson/2013/04/29/bring-out-their-best-side-and-theyll-see-and-support-yours/?sh=1f744ee16d63
https://positivemindsinternational.com/the-danger-of-confusing-empathy-or-sympathy-with-compassion/#:~:text=Empathy%20refers%20to%20feeling%20what,the%20suffering%20of%20another%20person.
Wednesday, 10 March 2021
‘OUTLANDISH’ COMPETITION SEEKS THE BRAIN’S SOURCE OF CONSCIOUSNESS
‘OUTLANDISH’ COMPETITION SEEKS THE BRAIN’S SOURCE OF CONSCIOUSNESS
source:
https://www.sciencemag.org/news/2019/10/outlandish-competition-seeks-brain-s-source-consciousness
CONTENDER NO1
The GWT says the brain's prefrontal cortex, which controls higher order cognitive processes like decision-making, acts as a central computer that collects and prioritizes information from sensory input. It then broadcasts the information to other parts of the brain that carry out tasks. Dehaene thinks this selection process is what we perceive as consciousness.
CONTENDER NO2
By contrast, the IIT proposes that consciousness arises from the interconnectedness of brain networks. The more neurons interact with one another, the more a being feels conscious—even without sensory input. IIT proponents suspect this process occurs in the back of the brain, where neurons connect in a gridlike structure.
From my reading and research I am going to make a bold bet, I'm backing CONTENDER NO2 in this play-off.
My reason is that I believe consciousness has evolved from 300m years and the 'reptile brain' pre-dates the 'central computer' cortex and a lot of decision-making is instinctive, unconscious, or sub-conscious and my view (note I am not a neuroscientist!) is that consciousness has 'evolved from the wiring' and will continue to evolve as brains become more sophisticated with passing generations. Of course this is conjecture, which is why the $20 million project is being launched.
As a Consultant and Coach interested in how people and organisations set and achieve their goals I will follow with interest.
Tim HJ Rogers
MBA (Management Consultancy) & Change Practitioner
ICF Trained Coach IoD Business Mentor
Tim@AdaptConsultingCompany.com
Mob 447797762051
Thursday, 4 March 2021
BENEFITS OF COACHING
Coaching & Mentoring are incredibly powerful tools that can help create more productive, engaged and fulfilled employees. Coaching is a process that aims to improve performance and focuses on the 'here and now' rather than on the distant past or future. Good coaches believe that the individual always has ideas and opportunities to resolve whatever is holding them back but understands that they may need help to define their goals, set their path, and achieve their success. Coaching is about listening, reflecting, asking questions and unlocking YOUR potential. Mentoring is more development driven, looking not just at the professional's current job function but beyond, taking a more holistic approach to career development. Mentoring is non-evaluative, while coaching is based on measuring performance change. Due to the personal nature of mentoring, a mentor will more often than not draw on their personal experiences and expertise to help their mentee. This could be in the form of sharing a story that taught them a valuable lesson, or a challenge they overcame in their career. Both can contribute at all levels of your organisation.
- Establish and act toward achieving goals Coaching can help people, teams and organisations define, agree and deliver upon their goals. These may be skill sets, competencies and professional behaviours, or projects, department or organisational outcomes. The individual or team is given checkpoints to manage and measure their goal achievement and that progress is reported directly to their coach, manager or leader. Coaching can the provide the necessary support, or Mentoring the necessary guidance to keep individuals on-track and performing.
- Increased level of engagement Coaching engages participants with its unique one-on-one feedback and lots of encouragement. When an individual becomes engaged with their workplace, they can contribute more effectively to the team and the organization. This engagement also helps to increase retention rates and productivity, benefiting their careers as well as their overall organization.
- Safe Place to Gain Perspective Having a coach gives the individual a safe space to go and talk through sensitive issues. The coach is a third-party participant, and their ability to remain uninvolved but give guidance allows the coachee to gain perspective without feeling intimidated by someone within their own organization.
- Helping staff adapt to changes Managing change, whether driven by technological developments, evolving consumer patterns of behaviour, or organisational re-shaping, is one of the greatest learning and development challenges in any workplace. Changing job roles and responsibilities can be a huge challenge for individuals to get to grips with. Coaching can help staff to understand that change can be good, helping to shift their mindset from a negative to a positive one, and removing the fear factor from something that is a fact of modern working life.
- Build Personal Awareness A coach can give their coachee ideas for ways to improve themselves, but more importantly they can help them become aware of their blind spots. These blind sports are areas of the individual’s work or personality that they may not see, but that need improvement. Once the individual is aware of these areas, they can work with the coach to begin improving them.
- Improving productivity and performance Coaching can play a key role in helping individuals feel more confident and achieve real gains in their performance levels. Where the staff members being coached are managing or leading teams, this can in turn lead to improved productivity by the team as a whole.
- Making staff feel valued Coaching, by its very nature, helps individuals feel more valued. Introducing coaching within a workplace sends a powerful message to employees that they are valued, that their views matter, and that they are worthy of investment. This promotes a more inclusive culture within the organisation and helps individuals feel more motivated and engaged with their work.
- Dealing with challenges more confidently Research has found that, amongst those who have received coaching, improved confidence, performance and productivity are cited as three of the most positive changes witnessed for themselves, others and their wider team or organisation. 84% said that coaching would have helped them in periods when they struggled to manage an individual.
COACHING OPPORTUNITY I am an experienced and qualified Consultant, ICF Trained Coach and tutor for the Chartered Management Institute and IoD Business Mentor. I am looking for new clients to build 100 hours of experience to progress my International Coaching Federation (ICF) Accreditation. If you are interested in coaching please contact me Tim@AdaptConsultingCompany.com or phone +44(0)7797762051 Best wishes Tim Tim HJ Rogers MBA CONSULTANT MENTOR COACH ICF Trained Coach IoD Business Mentor Mob 447797762051 Tim@AdaptConsultingCompany.com WHAT COULD YOU ACHIEVE WITH A COACH/ MENTOR BY YOUR SIDE? Coaching is a process that aims to improve performance and focuses on the 'here and now' rather than on the distant past or future. Good coaches believe that the individual always has ideas and opportunities to resolve whatever is holding them back but understands that they may need help to define their goals, set their path, and achieve their success. Coaching is about listening, reflecting, asking questions and unlocking YOUR potential. Resources, Terms and Conditions https://www.adaptconsultingcompany.com/coachingtoolkit/client.php Mentoring is more development driven, looking not just at the professional's current job function but beyond, taking a more holistic approach to career development. Mentoring is non-evaluative, while coaching is based on measuring performance change. Due to the personal nature of mentoring, a mentor will more often than not draw on their personal experiences and expertise to help their mentee. This could be in the form of sharing a story that taught them a valuable lesson, or a challenge they overcame in their career. Resources, Terms and Conditions https://www.adaptconsultingcompany.com/coachingtoolkit/mentoring.php
Wednesday, 3 March 2021
HOW TO MANAGE TIME, PRIORITIES AND PRODUCTIVITY BETTER
As a Consultant, Coach and Mentor I often get asked about priorities and managing time, as well as deciding, setting and progressing goals. We all have different aims and ambitions. We are all different people, some are morning people, some are night owls. Our work, family, habits and routines are all different and personal. So the ideas below are a pick-n-mix for you to select and try what might work for you in your circumstance.
Personal Story: I used to be a performance athlete [Commonwealth Games Triathlon and World Champs Rowing] and I know how hard it can be to juggle family and work-life with sports training and distance learning. I also managed to get my MBA at the same time! The tips below are useful for anyone, you don't have to be doing sports, study, family and work to benefit from some of these ideasUSE YOUR OUT OF OFFICE
Perhaps put your out-of-office on and say I am working with clients / on project XYZ today. I will return emails between 12pm and 1pm. If its urgent you can phone me. 0979-962-059. This should allow you to focus 100% on what you are doing and manage expectations. If people know that you will respond by the promised time they will usually wait, and if it is not really important they will usually not bother you. You can train children, pets and colleagues to get used to new habits.THREE BEFORE ME
Perhaps help people to learn from each-other, develop self reliance and trust in colleagues. Ask them Have your consulted three before me, what did you learn, and why do you feel the need to ask?. This works if you have a coaching, trusting and collaborative style. It also means that the decision will always be better for the thinking that has gone into it before it gets to you, if indeed it needs to get to you!ONE MEETING RATHER THAN MANY EMAILS
Perhaps rather than have lots of people and lots of emails over a long period of time set-up one short, sharp, clear meeting with everyone in attendance. It will help communication, collaboration and coordination and save lots of time. Send an email In order to save time, get everyones input and coordinate lets have a Teams|Zoom|Skype call dd/mm/yyyy at hh:mm. Bring all the issues, facts and figures with you (or better still circulate 24 hours in advance) and we can make the right decision together.UNINTERRUPTED TOTAL FOCUS CHOICE
If someone comes to see you it is flattering to drop everything to be able to talk to them.However the truth is that you will lose momentum on what you were doing and are probably ill prepared and too distracted for this conversation. Perhaps instead say If it is 1 minute and urgent I can talk now, but I can give you uninterrupted total focus if you want to come back at hh:mm.. If it is really urgent drop everything, but most people will prefer uninterrupted total focus and will be glad of the opportunity to come back later. If you have a regular time for DROP-IN meetings that is even better.URGENT / IMPORTANT
There are lots of models for Important activities have an outcome that leads to us achieving our goals, whether these are professional or personal. Urgent activities demand immediate attention, and are usually associated with achieving someone else's goals. They are often the ones we concentrate on and they demand attention because the consequences of not dealing with them are immediate. Rank them: 1. Important and Urgent; 2. Important but Not Urgent; 3. Not Important but Urgent; 4. Not Important and Not Urgent, and then put them in your diary, calendar, planner accordingly. Remember to keep some time in your diary as FREE / FLEXIBLE or maybe even DROP-IN CLINIC to accomodate the unexpected.DO DITCH DELEGATE DELAY
Similar to the URGENT / IMPORTANT, think about tasks in terms of what you can DO, DITCH, DELEGATE or DELAY and then plan time accordinglyOUTSOURCE OR AUTOMATE TASKS
There are some tasks you can delegate to colleagues and some you can outsource to consultants. There are others where technology or automation might lend a hand. If you are tech-savvy tools like IFTTT [https://ifttt.com/] are great for automating emails, tweets, posts etc. Perhaps instead of emails with documents would a video message be better, or perhaps a simple photo of your drawing, plan or post-it notes be sufficient to communicate your ideas?AUDIO DICTATE OR DELEGATE - SIRI OR ALEXA
Perhaps instead of writing documents use Siri, Alexa or Otter so that you can dictate documents. This may or may not save time depending on how good you are at typing or how clear you are at speaking, but it may allow you to multi-task and perhaps think and dictate during a walk or travelling between locations.SEPERATE HABITS FROM GOALS
It is useful to be clear on habits and routines (daily, weekly, monthly, quarterly, annually) and goals which are once only and not repeated. For both we can predict, prepare and schedule, but by virtue of being a habit or routine people will quickly accept and accomodate these patterns. You can train pets, children and colleagues to to get used to habits or routines which make life more predictable and feel familiar and safe. Once you have plan for "the usual" then you can make plans for "the unusual". I recommend two great books, Habit Stacking: 97 Small Life Changes That Take Five Minutes Or Less Book by S. J. Scott and The Power of Habit: Why We Do What We Do in Life and Business by Charles DuhiggHABIT STACKING - THINGS AT THE SAME TIME
Get used to doing things at the same time, for example walk and talk. Steve Jobs famously did most of his thinking, meetings and decisions whilst going for a walk. With audio books and podcasts you can walk and learn. Do this intelligently, do not over-burden yourself, but for example if you need to go to work and you need to exercise, maybe go to work by bike? Or if you need to travel into town make a list of all the things that need doing and do them in that one trip. You can do this with regular meetings, instead of lots of emails, maybe save everything for the Monday-morning 30minute catch-up?POST IT OR FRIDGE MAGNETS TO OUTSOURCE YOUR THOUGHTS
Instead of going everywhere with 1000 ideas in your head, outsource them to external storage and clear your mind to think on one thing at a time. You can outsource them to external storage like a diary, post-it notes, index cards, or a white-board. You can then have these notes or reminders in a place where you can add, amend or delete ready for when you actually need them. Adding to-do lists or revision notes to the fridge door, front-door, car steering wheel or even shower-door are all great as reminders, affirmations and planners.#Financial Career:
Why, What, How, Who, WhereDaily, Weekly, Monthly
Jan, Apr, Jul, Oct
#Physical Health:
Why, What, How, Who, WhereDaily, Weekly, Monthly
Jan, Apr, Jul, Oct
#Mental Health:
Why, What, How, Who, WhereDaily, Weekly, Monthly
Jan, Apr, Jul, Oct
#Family:
Why, What, How, Who, WhereDaily, Weekly, Monthly
Jan, Apr, Jul, Oct
#Friends:
Why, What, How, Who, WhereDaily, Weekly, Monthly
Jan, Apr, Jul, Oct
#Community:
Why, What, How, Who, WhereDaily, Weekly, Monthly
Jan, Apr, Jul, Oct
#Social:
Why, What, How, Who, WhereDaily, Weekly, Monthly
Jan, Apr, Jul, Oct
#Educational:
Why, What, How, Who, WhereDaily, Weekly, Monthly
Jan, Apr, Jul, Oct
#Fun:
Why, What, How, Who, WhereDaily, Weekly, Monthly
Jan, Apr, Jul, Oct
#Spiritual Faith:
Why, What, How, Who, WhereDaily, Weekly, Monthly
Jan, Apr, Jul, Oct
BLOCK TIME IN YOUR CALENDAR
Use a calendar, table to allocate your time to routines, habits, and goals. By scheduling the time you are more likely to be able to do them. What people put into their schedule will be different for everyone. Here are some possible themes/topics
#Financial/Career #PhysicalHealth #MentalHealth #Family #Friends #Community #Social #Educational #Fun #Spiritual/Faith |
| ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
PLOT AND PRIORITISE WHAT IS IMPORTANT TO YOU
For each segment ask yourself, On a scale from 1-10 (with 10 being the ideal), how satisfied am I with this area of my life? Dont over-think it, just go with your gut. Now think about where you are now, where you want to be, and what you need to change. You can then decide how you want to make that change.
#Financial Career
Priority: Low/Med/High Difficulty: Low/Med/High
Why is this important:
What is a good measure of success:
What will I do daily/weekly/monthly to progress:
When and how will I check and measure progress
What will help (people, resources, rewards) - and what will I do about these
What will hinder (obstacles, circumstances, time) - and what will I do about these
#Physical Health
Priority: Low/Med/High Difficulty: Low/Med/High
Why is this important:
What is a good measure of success:
What will I do daily/weekly/monthly to progress:
When and how will I check and measure progress
What will help (people, resources, rewards) - and what will I do about these
What will hinder (obstacles, circumstances, time) - and what will I do about these
#Mental Health
Priority: Low/Med/High Difficulty: Low/Med/High
Why is this important:
What is a good measure of success:
What will I do daily/weekly/monthly to progress:
When and how will I check and measure progress
What will help (people, resources, rewards) - and what will I do about these
What will hinder (obstacles, circumstances, time) - and what will I do about these
#Family
Priority: Low/Med/High Difficulty: Low/Med/High
Why is this important:
What is a good measure of success:
What will I do daily/weekly/monthly to progress:
When and how will I check and measure progress
What will help (people, resources, rewards) - and what will I do about these
What will hinder (obstacles, circumstances, time) - and what will I do about these
#Friends
Priority: Low/Med/High Difficulty: Low/Med/High
Why is this important:
What is a good measure of success:
What will I do daily/weekly/monthly to progress:
When and how will I check and measure progress
What will help (people, resources, rewards) - and what will I do about these
What will hinder (obstacles, circumstances, time) - and what will I do about these
#Community
Priority: Low/Med/High Difficulty: Low/Med/High
Why is this important:
What is a good measure of success:
What will I do daily/weekly/monthly to progress:
When and how will I check and measure progress
What will help (people, resources, rewards) - and what will I do about these
What will hinder (obstacles, circumstances, time) - and what will I do about these
#Social
Priority: Low/Med/High Difficulty: Low/Med/High
Why is this important:
What is a good measure of success:
What will I do daily/weekly/monthly to progress:
When and how will I check and measure progress
What will help (people, resources, rewards) - and what will I do about these
What will hinder (obstacles, circumstances, time) - and what will I do about these
#Educational
Priority: Low/Med/High Difficulty: Low/Med/High
Why is this important:
What is a good measure of success:
What will I do daily/weekly/monthly to progress:
When and how will I check and measure progress
What will help (people, resources, rewards) - and what will I do about these
What will hinder (obstacles, circumstances, time) - and what will I do about these
#Fun
Priority: Low/Med/High Difficulty: Low/Med/High
Why is this important:
What is a good measure of success:
What will I do daily/weekly/monthly to progress:
When and how will I check and measure progress
What will help (people, resources, rewards) - and what will I do about these
What will hinder (obstacles, circumstances, time) - and what will I do about these
#Spiritual Faith
Priority: Low/Med/High Difficulty: Low/Med/High
Why is this important:
What is a good measure of success:
What will I do daily/weekly/monthly to progress:
When and how will I check and measure progress
What will help (people, resources, rewards) - and what will I do about these
What will hinder (obstacles, circumstances, time) - and what will I do about these