Most people I know have trouble at work managing large amounts of e-mail, so it's great to see some practical advice on Peter Kenworthy's site, 3D HR, at http://www.hr-adviser.co.uk/HR-Guidance-sheets/managing-email.html. Guidance is also available as pdf for download at http://www.emailhelpdesk.co.uk/Download-files/. (If you have trouble with these links, paste them into your browser address bar.)
He also runs training courses on e-mail handling.
Saturday, July 4, 2009
Thursday, June 4, 2009
Leaders are accelerating!
We have found that our coaching has been particularly popular in helping CEO's, directors and senior managers of businesses and charities to adapt quickly to promotion or new responsibility. We find that this is partly about coaching to their agenda (as all coaching does!) and also using appropriate tools to describe their personality and motivated abilities, so that leadership style can be developed and built on those strengths.
So we have launched our new Leader Accelerator coaching programme. This helps recently promoted leaders to fill skill gaps and rapidly ramp up to full effectiveness, thus bringing fast Return on Investment to their organisations. Through bespoke coaching, and some use of diagnostic tools, the Leader Accelerator allows leaders in business and charities to understand their strengths, character, and communication preferences – and develop their uniquely effective leadership style.
Like most of our coaching programmes, businesses and charities with up to 249 staff will probably be eligible for a grant of up to £1000 from Train to Gain.
Download leader accelerator information here.
So we have launched our new Leader Accelerator coaching programme. This helps recently promoted leaders to fill skill gaps and rapidly ramp up to full effectiveness, thus bringing fast Return on Investment to their organisations. Through bespoke coaching, and some use of diagnostic tools, the Leader Accelerator allows leaders in business and charities to understand their strengths, character, and communication preferences – and develop their uniquely effective leadership style.
Like most of our coaching programmes, businesses and charities with up to 249 staff will probably be eligible for a grant of up to £1000 from Train to Gain.
Download leader accelerator information here.
Wednesday, May 13, 2009
Be audacious to beat the recession!
I’ve been impressed by a recent article in the magazine Engineering & Technology (5th May). It’s an extract by Steve Carter from his book “Road to Audacity.” He is a psychologist, fellow of the Royal Geographic Society, and makes three fascinating points about handling change, which seem to me to be a good framework and to apply more widely than just the present recession. Here’s my summary paraphrase.
BURNING PLATFORM
Things never stay as they are, so we need to be as attached to the present as we would want to be to a building that is on fire! Leaders must not offer false comfort, but be honest about what is happening now. We need to be in fully in touch with reality, and this includes listening to our staff.
A MOTIVATIONALLY RICH VISION
So where to jump to? We can’t stay where we are; motivating people to avoid something does not work; and anyway if we avoid reality things may get worse not get better! We need to have prominently in front of us in our mind that which we are seeking to build. Know what you want to become, and be passionate about it.
A SMALL MANAGEABLE WORLD
If the vision, the desired change, seems to be too distant, people feel not motivated but powerless. Therefore there needs to be a focus on small steps, that is realistic goals in areas that people can make an impact (compare Stephen Covey's "Circle of Influence"). People need to be clear about how they can contribute. So the leader’s task is to present the reality, the vision, and also the plan for this leg of the journey.
Read his full article here.
BURNING PLATFORM
Things never stay as they are, so we need to be as attached to the present as we would want to be to a building that is on fire! Leaders must not offer false comfort, but be honest about what is happening now. We need to be in fully in touch with reality, and this includes listening to our staff.
A MOTIVATIONALLY RICH VISION
So where to jump to? We can’t stay where we are; motivating people to avoid something does not work; and anyway if we avoid reality things may get worse not get better! We need to have prominently in front of us in our mind that which we are seeking to build. Know what you want to become, and be passionate about it.
A SMALL MANAGEABLE WORLD
If the vision, the desired change, seems to be too distant, people feel not motivated but powerless. Therefore there needs to be a focus on small steps, that is realistic goals in areas that people can make an impact (compare Stephen Covey's "Circle of Influence"). People need to be clear about how they can contribute. So the leader’s task is to present the reality, the vision, and also the plan for this leg of the journey.
Read his full article here.
Wednesday, April 22, 2009
Will you survive the recession?
"Survive" sounds like a negative word in the way that we use it in English: it conveys a sense of coping (which is perhaps a healthy British skill). However the two - originally French - syllables in there point me to "overcoming" and "life." So a better question may be, "How can we overcome the recession and live life to the full?"
People who do so are likely to both keep an eye on where they want to get to, and grow relationships with people. In these they will both give and receive support. These effective relationships may include friends, colleagues, suppliers, or clients. This focus on both task and relationship is important.
A coaching approach is a good way to offer support, and a powerful model that is often used is GROW (more about this later).
Step 1 is the Goal. As you seek to live life to the full, what is your goal? Where are you trying to get to? How will you know when you get there?
As an example, I may have a goal of replacing my ageing small car with a new Saab Turbo. However it is good to dig deeper to clarify this as better Options may emerge. Is my real goal to avoid fear of my current car breaking down? Is it to have a reliable way of travelling to and from work and holidays?
A final thought: Do the people who are close to you know where they are going?
People who do so are likely to both keep an eye on where they want to get to, and grow relationships with people. In these they will both give and receive support. These effective relationships may include friends, colleagues, suppliers, or clients. This focus on both task and relationship is important.
A coaching approach is a good way to offer support, and a powerful model that is often used is GROW (more about this later).
Step 1 is the Goal. As you seek to live life to the full, what is your goal? Where are you trying to get to? How will you know when you get there?
As an example, I may have a goal of replacing my ageing small car with a new Saab Turbo. However it is good to dig deeper to clarify this as better Options may emerge. Is my real goal to avoid fear of my current car breaking down? Is it to have a reliable way of travelling to and from work and holidays?
A final thought: Do the people who are close to you know where they are going?
Wednesday, January 14, 2009
Business Leader Grant
We're excited that, at this time of concern about recession, Train to Gain continues to offer up to £1000 to develop leaders of small businesses and charities in their "leadership capability." It gives us a way of increasing our own contribution to the economy, and to small businesses in particular, by providing valuable coaching to our clients more liberally.
As I get in touch with CEO's that we know there seems to be a lot of interest, and some see ways of making use of the scheme in the services that they provide to their own customers too.
Since many of the issues in business are to do with relationship and communication skills rather than technical competence, it will be interesting to see how this will take shape.
More details of the scheme are on our main web site: Leadership and Management Advisory Service.
As I get in touch with CEO's that we know there seems to be a lot of interest, and some see ways of making use of the scheme in the services that they provide to their own customers too.
Since many of the issues in business are to do with relationship and communication skills rather than technical competence, it will be interesting to see how this will take shape.
More details of the scheme are on our main web site: Leadership and Management Advisory Service.
Tuesday, January 6, 2009
The gate of the year
As we move into the start of a New Year, there is a tangible sense of the unknown in the business community. Some respond with optimism; others have already been affected by declining income in their businesses.
A poem comes to mind helpfully.
I said to the man who stood at the Gate of the Year, "Give me a light that I may tread safely into the unknown." And he replied, "Go out into the darkness, and put your hand into the Hand of God. That shall be to you better than light, and safer than a known way."
This is an extract of a broadcast by King George VI on Christmas Day 1939, which was a significant moment in British history. Click on the link for more details.
A poem comes to mind helpfully.
I said to the man who stood at the Gate of the Year, "Give me a light that I may tread safely into the unknown." And he replied, "Go out into the darkness, and put your hand into the Hand of God. That shall be to you better than light, and safer than a known way."
This is an extract of a broadcast by King George VI on Christmas Day 1939, which was a significant moment in British history. Click on the link for more details.
Sunday, December 21, 2008
The importance of trust
If you mention "Prosperity Gospel" Christians will usually react badly, and perhaps they should because of the teaching of those who seem to think that Christianity is all about financial wealth. On the other hand I could say that the Bible is all about prosperity, in the sense that prosperity is about health and wellbeing - individual and corporate - in the broadest sense.
While not believing that being Christian necessarily results in financial wealth, there are Christian teachings which if followed are likely to result in a growth in wealth and prosperity for the whole community. One of these is the encouragement to be trustworthy and to seek to trust others. This is mentioned specificaly, and also encompassed in "Do to others as you would like them to do to you." The reason for this is that trust is necessary for trade to thrive, which is presumably why "my word is my bond" was once the motto successfully lived out by the City of London.
So it is with considerable sadness that I see greed and a lack of trust as underlying recent financial collapses (the "credit crunch"). As another example, I have heard of local farmers (in the UK) who have agreed prices for the sale of their grain to one of the trading at a certain time in the future. The price of grain has dropped and the traders seek to renege on their contracts as it will be difficult for them to sell on the grain. Of course they would not worry if their sale prices had gone up.
Trust takes time to build, and can be easily damaged. Perhaps the most important thing the business community can seek to do at the moment is to build trust, through being trustworthy. This is about a focus on relationships, not on solving a "financial problem."
Interestingly, in his book The Seven Habits of Highly Effective People, Stephen Covey speaks of the importance of trust, and how we need to start to build that by keeping the promises that we make to ourselves (individually). As is so often the case, we need to start with ourselves.
While not believing that being Christian necessarily results in financial wealth, there are Christian teachings which if followed are likely to result in a growth in wealth and prosperity for the whole community. One of these is the encouragement to be trustworthy and to seek to trust others. This is mentioned specificaly, and also encompassed in "Do to others as you would like them to do to you." The reason for this is that trust is necessary for trade to thrive, which is presumably why "my word is my bond" was once the motto successfully lived out by the City of London.
So it is with considerable sadness that I see greed and a lack of trust as underlying recent financial collapses (the "credit crunch"). As another example, I have heard of local farmers (in the UK) who have agreed prices for the sale of their grain to one of the trading at a certain time in the future. The price of grain has dropped and the traders seek to renege on their contracts as it will be difficult for them to sell on the grain. Of course they would not worry if their sale prices had gone up.
Trust takes time to build, and can be easily damaged. Perhaps the most important thing the business community can seek to do at the moment is to build trust, through being trustworthy. This is about a focus on relationships, not on solving a "financial problem."
Interestingly, in his book The Seven Habits of Highly Effective People, Stephen Covey speaks of the importance of trust, and how we need to start to build that by keeping the promises that we make to ourselves (individually). As is so often the case, we need to start with ourselves.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
Posts
