Why is there chaos in Downing Street?

So another week of chaos at Downing Street has unfolded with high profile exits of senior advisors etc, and as we watch political correspondents falling over themselves to give their own opinions, it made me wonder if there is an explanation related to the Myers Briggs Type Indicator that goes some way to explaining the chaos, so I did a little bit of research to help me understand better why things might have run the way they have in recent months with Boris at the helm.  

I checked a few different websites, and they all seemed to indicate that Boris Johnson is an ENTP type.  As an ISFJ, he’s my complete opposite! What does this mean for what’s been going on recently?  What are those typical characteristics?  The different letters mean the following: 

• E = Extrovert (v I = Introversion)

• N = Intuition (v S = Sensing)

• T = Thinking (v F = Feeling)

• P = Perceiving (v J = Judging)

Looking at the above, the Extroversion element is probably not unexpected, as Boris seems to enjoy bouncing ideas off people rather than inwardly reflecting, especially if you watch him at the dispatch box.  The Intuition element indicates that he prefers to look at the bigger picture and strategy, rather than the detail of what needs to be done.  If we think about what he has promised during press conferences (i.e. the number of tests we would be doing at various stages etc)… he promises to deliver, but he then needs more people around him to get the detail done, and the plan delivered. On the Thinking part, this means his Head rules his Heart, and again, based on his interactions this is probably not surprising.  Finally, for the Perceiving element, this indicates that he prefers to be more spontaneous and flexible than organise himself within a fixed plan.  Well, that’s a Eureka moment, and probably explains why Brexit is still being negotiated as his personality type actually gets energised by last minute pressure, and why someone like me then panics as I like to work more methodically towards the deadline (and hence why a lot of the British population is also concerned, whereas Boris has the belief it will be done!)

I think what’s really interesting with this type is how they deal with stress situations… this type can react by generating possibilities with no data or follow through, withdrawing and avoiding people, working harder but less effectively.  They need to therefore spend a bit more time reflecting on what they need to do, talking to others to get support with problems (although they wouldn’t want to be offered a solution!), and bringing more organisation into their portfolio.  

In my previous work life, I often operated in a Chief of Staff role using my attention to detail and organisation skills to support the Team Lead.  The Team Leads were often the opposite type to me, and a similar story to the above would have played out when working with them, without my intervention and work ethic.  Therefore, my conclusion would be that Mr J needs to ensure he gets some more Sensing and Judging types within his new team in the coming weeks to help bring equilibrium of thoughts and deliverables going forward.  Otherwise, we are going to continue seeing chaos reigning and being reported for a long time to come! And regardless of political persuasion, that’s not good for the country! 

Coaching Accreditation – What does it mean?

This week, I received the exciting news that I had passed my Accreditation upgrade with the Association for Coaching, and as a result, have moved from the Foundation Executive Coach level to Executive Coach level. A lot of work went into getting this upgrade signed off over the last few months, and some people may wonder whether it’s worth the effort, so I just thought I’d explain why I believe accreditation is so valuable. 

Coaching as a formal profession is a fairly new one in the world we live in today. Coaching will focus on unlocking a person's potential to maximise their own performance. It is about helping your clients to learn rather than teaching them. It is however a profession that in some respects is not heavily regulated, and has in recent years become a profession that people jump into when they would like to change career, and believe that their previous work experience alone can be used to sufficiently aid their transition into this field. When I was considering Coaching as a future career for myself back in 2013, there were lots of considerations that came into play as to how it aligned with my values, for example helping others, communication, authenticity, people contact. Before I proceeded, however, I also played to one of my strengths, and looked at the detail behind coaching to understand better what it entailed before making the financial commitment to attend some more formal training within the coaching arena. 

Having invested in my formal coach training qualification, it was also important for me, in line with my values of authenticity and expertise, to continue building my knowledge in the coaching arena, and as a result, I decided very early on that I needed to make that commitment, both to myself and my clients, to continue getting accredited as and when my qualification required renewal. Each level requires additional coaching hours and supervision hours, as well as a number of reflective practices designed to challenge the coach to think about how they operate well, and what perhaps they need to work on as well. It’s not an easy exercise to pull everything together, as you need provide logs of hours and continuing professional development, as well as getting your supervisor to reflect on their interactions with you. In addition, I had to provide a recording of a session, a number of reflective practice documents, and a personal assessment of my coaching style and approach. For someone who does not like to talk herself up, this was an interesting challenge! I spent a lot of time pulling all these different elements together over the course of a few weeks during Summer 2020, and submitted everything in August, and waited for the outcome. 

Now I have received my positive outcome, I am pleased and delighted to be able to call myself an AC Accredited Executive Coach, but really why does it matter? In whatever path you follow, I really do believe that you need to understand the importance of reviewing your professional development to continue to evolve yourself and your practice. The accreditation provides a formal route to do this and a formal recognition of what I have achieved to date. As you develop your own path, it’s important to ensure that you continue to feel challenged, and have enjoyment, interest and fulfilment in what you do. Undertaking a formal accreditation process such as the one I have been through recently enables me to review and understand better how I am developing as a Coach. I learned a lot from this process, and while the next cycle will again fill me with dread again when I do it in 3 years time, it is a great process to go through to think about where I have got to in my career and practice. The accreditation review provided me with some great acknowledgement of what I have done to date as well as some areas to work on going forward. 

In conclusion, accreditation matters as it provides a recognition of the quality of the coaching practice I undertake so that my clients can feel sufficiently comfortable and confident that I am supporting them in the best way that I can, and for me, this is really important as I continue to develop my practice.

The Circle of Influence v The Circle of Concern

It’s Day 1 of National Lockdown 2 in England. There’s also the small matter of a contested election result in the USA…. How do you view these events as they unfold?  Do they cause you stress, anxiety, sadness, concern?  However, what can you actually do to influence them?  That’s where reflecting on the circles of influence and concern , you can understand better what you can control which is key to giving you a different perspective on the situation.  

The concepts of Circles of Influence and Concern were brought to the world via Stephen Covey in his book the 7 Habits of Highly Effective People.  The two circles can be described as follows: 

• Circle of Concern comprise things we are concerned about but we have little or no control over as they are outside your influence, i.e. Covid-19, Global Warming, Election results.

• Circle of Influence comprises things that concern you that you can do something about, and to a certain extent control, i.e. exercise, reading etc

On the picture, the white circle is the Circle of Influence, and the blue circle is the Circle of Concern, and there are examples of the sort of things that would fall into each circle.  

Situations such as Covid -19 will predominantly sit in the Circle of Concern, i.e. the media reporting, how people are behaving, the disease spread itself.  You feel concerned about these, but there is not much you can do to influence them.  However, we can influence how we personally deal with the situation, and some of the ways of doing this are as follows:  

• Being mindful of your own social distancing, and not putting others in danger if you think you may be infected, essentially being responsible

• Think about what social media you share – confirm its validity beforehand, especially if it is something that may make people feel vulnerable

• Try to be a more calming influence with people, and keep yourself with a positive mindset.  Be supportive of work colleagues, clients, friends and family

• Keep focussed on what you need to do both from a work perspective, as well as personally, so that you continue to deliver.  You need to be resilient and focussed during times like these, and you can influence that, even if you can’t influence the external effect that something such as Covid 19 might have on your business.  

The two circles can contract or expand dependent on how you as an individual decides to focus and cope with the situation you are dealing with.  If you take more personal responsibility to manage the situation that you can control yourself, you can expand that circle of influence, and with it, create more positivity around you i.e. I can say to myself “I can’t control the National Lockdown, but I can write some blogs for my clients to help them through this phase, as that may help some people”, and this expands my circle of influence, and makes me feel happier.  In contrast, if I spend too much time worrying about the US Election Result, and  what it means for the future of the country and its citizens i.e. civil unrest etc, my mind might go into panic mode, and expand that circle of concern such that I lose focus and use too much thinking time on that, rather than thinking about the things that matter to me more i.e. friends, family etc

An interesting reflection at this point would potentially be around the Black Lives Matter movement to understand how something can span both circles potentially.  Initially, people may well have placed this into their Circle of Concern, but in recent months, people have potentially been able to shift part of this arena into the Circle of Influence by protesting, writing more openly about it on their social media etc.  

It’s useful to look at the Circle of Influence and the Circle of Concern if you are feeling particularly stressed, anxious or vulnerable about something that is outside of your control.  If you overly focus on the elements within the Circle of Concern, this can lead to you potentially allowing what’s in that circle to control you, and dominate your thinking and your life.  If you instead can focus on the elements within the Circle of Influence, you become more free and able to manage your own destiny more.  We all have fears, concerns and anxieties, and that is OK, but understanding how to channel your time and focus better to help you navigate these situations really is key for you in the future.  Good luck!