Why do I still feel “meh” after Coronavirus Lockdown?

So, the last few months have been an experience, haven’t they?  We’ve all had to adapt our lives to deal with everyone being at home rather than being spread across workplaces, schools, etc.  I think once shops, leisure outlets, and then schools re-opened, there was an initial flurry of hope from everyone including myself, but now I’m feeling flat anxious and nervous again so why is that? 

 

I’ve reflected a lot on this recently, and have been reading a book called “Just F***ing Do It” by Noor Herbert over the last couple of weeks, as I went into this “meh” dip.  This was a great reminder that those negative emotions are part of the cycle you can fall into: negative thoughts, leading to negative behaviours, leading to negative feelings.  So, how do you pull yourself out of that? The book encourages you to lead more with your “Soul” than your “Ego” to change the “Universe” you are living in! This is by changing your vibes, from negative to positive, and you have to do this consciously, making the decision to move forward in a loving and powerful way (using your Soul).

 

You need to give yourself goals to provide clarity as to where you are going in your life, plan effectively, and do it.  

 

So, how am I going to get myself out of my “meh” moment?  I’ve given myself some clearly defined goals – increasing client interaction, getting exercise back into my new daily routine, and doing some personal development courses and reading.  I’ll let you know how I get on but I already feel better having those goals to work towards. 

 

13^th September 2020

How can you be politically savvy at work without crossing the line into the “political” abyss?

I got asked in a Coaching session recently whether they had to become one of those “political” people to get ahead at work.  I think we need to be careful what we mean by being “political”.  Some people take it to the extreme, and start clambering up that greasy pole chucking anyone off who gets in their way, but actually the better way to do this would just be to think smarter about what you do.  It is something which comes more easily to some than others, but here are some things to think about in that “political” career life: 

• Build a strong working relationship with your boss.  They are higher up the pecking order than you, and so have more direct access to people higher up the organisation.  Ensure your boss is “on side” and remember you need to manage this relationship well for this to be effective for you going forward
• Some people don’t feel comfortable promoting themselves, but learning how to do this subtly, and under the radar will mean you can put yourself on the map.  Think about regular update communication if your role warrants it, or use the chit chat at the start of a meeting before everyone arrives to let people know what you are up to.  Build a list of your strengths, or even create your USP that you can use to market yourself in a way you feel comfortable with.
• You need to be able to navigate yourself effectively around the organisation you are working in, and be adaptable when the influencers change
• Build your network and sponsorship within an organisation.  In addition, if you are leading a team, make sure they trust and respect you so that you all work together to achieve what you want to achieve in a collaborative and cooperative way.  The secret is to work both upwards and downwards.  
• Make sure you know who the people are above your boss who are the ones who will make the decisions about your career and be able to endorse what you do.   You may not get to see them that often, so make sure you use any time you do interact with them wisely, by having a question or two ready to ask, or be willing to provide an update of how you and your team are getting on.  
• You should have an interest and excitement for the business you are working within, otherwise you may eventually struggle to continue being enthusiastic about it going forward.  Be visibly positive about the business, especially with those that matter within the organisation, both upwards and within your team.  
• Remember to smile when at work - it really does relax your face muscles so you look happier to be there! 

Myers Briggs Coaching Sessions

Have you ever wondered why you react to things in a different way to other people? This is because we all have different personality types, and you can use Myers Briggs to find out more about your personality preferences, and therefore understand better what your personality type is.

I am a qualified MBTI practitioner, and love the power that learning what your personality type can give an individual.
I offer a special Myers Briggs Coaching session to anyone who may be interested in learning more about their own personality preferences.

The offering will include:
- provision via e mail of the MBTI questionnaire for completion in your own time
- an interactive feedback session where you will discover your personality type (up to 90 minute in duration)
- reference tools including detailed personality descriptors, feedback workbook and a detailed personality type report.

For this session, I will charge £150 as a one-off fee. If you are interested, please contact me directly

If you want to understand more about Myers Briggs, please check the following weblink:

https://www.myersbriggs.org/my-mbti-personality-type/mbti-basics/home.htm?bhcp=1

Why Emotional Intelligence matters...

So, I am currently reading Jenny Rogers' really interesting book - Coaching with Personality Type. This book reflects on improving the use of MBTI and other similar tools as part of leadership development and coaching.

One area i wanted to reflect on was Emotional Intelligence (EQ). The premise is that along with your own technical expertise and understanding, you also need EQ to be a better version of you in the workplace, and hence effectively a better leader. What EQ factors should you have:

• better awareness of yourself; knowing what you do well, and what you maybe need to work on
• managing yourself better; so if you do have something you need to work on, what is your strategy to improve it
• knowing others; understanding what makes someone tick and that people have different ways of thinking and behaving
• managing others; how do you deal with people in your network, what do you do well, and how could you improve. This is not just people who work for you but also those you work with internally and externally, as peers, clients etc.

To manage people better you need to know yourself, manage yourself, adapt and welcome that other people are different, and be able to flex your style accordingly, whiie not compromising your own values.

To aid your EQ understanding, it is useful to understand your personality type better, so if you've never had a Myers Briggs personality test done before, get in touch... it could be the first step on the voyage of discovery to a better understanding of your Emotional Intelligence!

Coaching Exercises as we get into the programme

The next stage in a Coaching Journey is when we work together to understand some or all of the following:
- your Strengths and Development Areas, skills and interests, core qualities and establishing your Unique Selling Point
- the Values that really matter to you
- 360 Feedback from other people (if appropriate to the programme)
- future planning exercises - "where do you see yourself in 5 years time, and how do you get to that point" 
- network mapping to understand the relationships you have with other people you work with, and how those relationships can be enhanced
- time management, prioritisation and strategies for task completion
- the wheel of life which can be useful in determining how you feel about your life balance, and helps you to identify where things could be improved

There are a number of exercises we can do during the course of these sessions to assist with assimilating the information above. The areas covered will depend on what we have discussed in the initial meeting, and what matters most for you. What we cover in this next stage is designed around you to help build your confidence and understanding of yourself.



Context... the next step

So what happens next in the Coaching Journey....

Once you have confirmed you are happy to proceed with a programme, and that you are happy with the objectives, we get to work...

At the first meeting, I will go through any number of exercises and discussions, for example:

- understanding of your career timeline: what has gone well to date, what has gone less well, any patterns, understanding where you are at currently
- a Myers Briggs feedback session (i often do this if the client has not done the MBTI questionnaire before, and I will cover this separately in more detail in another update)

What I am trying to establish during this session is the CONTEXT to your career and life to date, as this will provide context and perspective going forward as well!

I love this first session - there are often Eureka moments as you go through your career timeline where you realise what may have made a role that had been enjoyable for the first two years suddenly become less enjoyable, and having more awareness of these triggers can be really helpful! It's also fun if doing Myers Briggs to hear the observations as to you believe other people's personality types might be after going through the feedback session!

The first session will usually last 90 minutes to 2 hours, and by the end of it, you should feel like you have talked about yourself for most of the session without it feeling awkward or uncomfortable, and be looking forward to future sessions.

First Meeting, Objectives & Coaching Contract

I wanted to give you a further insight into my Coaching philosophy today...

Once I have met a client for an initial chemistry session, and we are both happy that we would like to start a formal Coaching relationship, we work together to discuss objectives for your programme. These can be strategic, operational, managerial, career orientated, and I will also include some objectives around the actual programme itself, and making sure you feedback as to how you are finding it - after all, it's YOUR programme! I will draw these up into a Coaching Contract which we will sign off at the start of our first formal session.

The objectives for the programme are really important to you as a Client as it provides the backdrop as to what you are working to achieve over the coming weeks and months.