Monthly Archives: February 2019

We all face pressures in our professional lives and no doubt there are always going to be additional stress and pressure when you are promoted into the role of a manager.  Like any new job we start we think we are being scrutinised and become paranoid regarding our abilities. Some key tips regarding taking on a new management role:

Be yourself – remember you got that job because of who you are.  You do not have to pretend to be someone else.  Be authentic and be yourself. Remember being a manager does not change who you are, it changes what you do.

Build trust – this is particularly relevant when you take on a team, trust has to be built.  Many new managers want others to see them as being perfect and of course naturally not wanting to be seen making a mistake. The reality is that trust can be built better if you as the manager admit your failings or where you see yourself as an area to improve.  Being bulletproof or pretending to be bulletproof never works; others are likely

How often have you reflected on your way of looking at the world?  When you change paradigms, you are changing how you think about something. Have you ever reflected in how you view the world and how often someone changes your view of the world? Or maybe not? If not, why? Are you so judgemental in your decisions you choose not to listen subconsciously because you have already made your mind up?

Coaching does help change the way you may think about things, just by a few words by someone else can change the way that you think. Sometimes you wish to change, sometimes not? I often hear “I wish I could be more like”, well you can it is just the way you look at things, it is great to shuffle your paradigm so that you can make some change.

A paradigm is lots of little habits, think of the apps on your phone, you have plenty of those apps stored in your sub-conscious mind. To change or create a new App it requires a repetition of information. Like anything in life, you can change and become an

It’s a natural reaction to get tied in emotionally with something you’ve put a lot of time and effort into like when you’ve designed and delivered training to the best of your ability.  If you’re pro-active, you may have asked for feedback in good faith but how do you feel when someone tells you something you don’t like or don’t want to hear after putting in all that effort?

The chances are that you won’t like it and I’ll readily admit that I’ve been there in the past.  I’ve worked on many training projects that have taken days, weeks and sometimes months with “blood, sweat and tears” invested into them.  With all of this effort, one of the overriding emotions is of ownership no matter how big or small the project and therefore we will be naturally defensive if we don’t get the feedback we want to hear whether this comes from our managers, peers or delegates.  One of the lessons on my learning journey to become a professional trainer was to change my mindset in many ways:

Remove

On many courses, we discuss the difference between management and leadership.  Unfortunately, most don’t understand the difference in the beginning but leave the class with a much better understanding of the traits of a leader vs the characteristics of a manager.  I then ask them what do they consider themselves to be a leader or manager?

In my experience leadership is either there or not naturally.  Although it can be taught the reality is the best leaders are leaders who have very natural skills and can lead a team effortlessly.

In many circumstances, natural leaders can be within the workforce, particularly young people. This can be misinterpreted as being a trouble maker or someone who is always finding fault, looking to change things. In the wrong hands, the natural leader may be shot down to ‘sort them out’ or to embarrass them in front of their peers. This is a very negative management behaviour and is often created due to weak and non-effective management.

These natural

If you want to make progress or significant changes in life, then get comfortable with being uncomfortable. I feel this is linked with stepping out of your comfort zone because being uncomfortable is good for you; it can help you develop in life. My background taught me that it was important to be slightly nervous before controlling aircraft, it is the same for pilots or any job where there is pressure.

That feeling you respond to just before you are placed in that uncomfortable position, what happens with that feeling? Before that feeling becomes second nature in your line of work, it is a point for losing some capacity due to your nerves. I personally used to have a little trip to the restroom to have the nervous pee before controlling live aircraft. The release of adrenalin needed to make me alert, that was me getting ready and building myself up before going on the console.

Throughout all of my training environment, I always had that feeling, but I remember some great words from one

Well, that's what some people do right?  Picture the scene, the Manager says, “we need Training in this, can you get some organised?” and all of a sudden, the pressure’s on.  If we know no better, then the easiest thing to do is create lots of slides with tons of information and words and talk through them.  Looks good right?  Might even impress the Manager; however, the likelihood is that no training will take place, so when the training doesn't work, guess who’s getting the blame?

The thing is, if you know no different then there is a reason why you’d go down this path; however, ignorance is bliss especially when you can do something about it by learning how to design training properly; it’s not just about making some PowerPoint slides, it’s so much more:

When I get people to think a really basic design task, I get them to think about having a room full of people who have never made a cup of tea or coffee, and you have to train them. A simple task, right?  Well it is for us

All managers are required to listen to others; this could be a member of staff with a particular issue or concern.  It could be a customer with a complaint.  The reality is we are all going to be involved in listening to other people. When we are listening to people, it is easy not to listen.  Most people listen for one reason, to respond.  Think about this when you’re in conversation with someone; you're thinking about how you are going to respond, and if you’re doing this (and we all do) then the question has to be, are you not listening.

When we listen to understand it is a different process.  We aren’t trying to win an argument; we aren’t trying to get our point across in the best possible way, we aren’t trying to get the other person to realise they are wrong.  We aren’t listening to be able to come out with an answer.

When we are really listening to what the other person is saying, we are listening for one reason. To fully understand.

This is a tough concept to get