Monthly Archives: November 2019

What happens when you meet someone, how does the rapport build, what do you do as a coach along with what the coachee does?

I am always amused by those first few moments in a meeting whether it is with the person, walking into an office, skype, etc. Think about you, what do you do? Notice your movements, your introductions. Is this the start of the rapport building, basically you putting someone at ease, or is it for you as you adjust yourself? Think about what the first impressions are that you receive from the coachee; how does this change your questioning, remember it can create your judgements in those first few seconds.

I love the movement with screens, and littles jiggles as the left is moved, the right, the nervous giggles, or slightly uncomfortable feeling, the anticipation.  I enjoy these moments; I gain a lot in my coaching from the first couple of minutes. What do I notice, what do I sense, what is my instinct telling me, what thoughts are then created and the behaviours that

One thing for sure if you are a manager, you are going to be involved in making decisions.  I guarantee this 100% and if you’re not involved in decision making then to be perfectly honest, you’re not doing your job.  As a manager, if we don’t make decisions, then we will not get things done.  As I reflect on past managers who used to manage me, I used to get very frustrated with managers who wouldn’t make one!  There is nothing worse than a manager who can’t make a decision.  Let's be honest; we see managers likes this as being weak.

Of course, there are so many reasons why managers don’t make decisions, and of course, some are understandable, and some are manufactured by ourselves.

Fear of making the wrong one – Many managers want a 100% guarantee that every decision they make will be the right one.  If this is you, I have some news for you, this is impossible.  I believe you should embrace when you make a wrong decision as it is an opportunity to learn. Where does this come

Like most people I love holidays and on a recent trip to the USA, I visited a local pizza shop where I met a lady who greeted me with a beautiful, friendly smile asking me how I was doing and what she could help me with; “Service with a smile, she looks like she really loves her job” I thought to myself.  This got me thinking about when we deliver training and how in feedback, I often ask delegates to smile more.  But why?

On our courses, we deal a lot with positive body language of which a smile is such a crucial part of our facial non-verbal communication.  Consider then my thoughts above when I perceived the lovely lady enjoyed her job; I didn’t know this, how could I?  My perception was from her warmth and the smile towards me that she was comfortable, confident and happy but was she? - I’ll never know; however, the impression she made was my inspiration for this blog, so that’s saying something, isn’t it!

So what does your smile do?

1. Standing in front of an audience is for

How often do you stay silent and notice? Think about it “really notice”. Coaching is a fantastic process for individuals to improve in any area of their life, both professionally and personally. I have found since mastering my coaching skills; staying silent can be an incredible experience. I genuinely love to see the change in individuals as they move between recognition and awareness of thoughts and feelings.

Watching people has become a habit of mine. Years ago, I would have jumped in with my own opinions and my thoughts. Not now, I learn so much more watching, noticing and listening. Even if I have a prejudgement on someone’s views, I still sit. It is a habit I have formed.

In life, we experience so much, and when we have time with both work colleagues and friends, we gain an opinion on our conversations. The problem is it is very easy to try to force opinion in a conversation. This, of course, means you stay in the same direction and don’t listen to understand someone else’s point

The reality is that we spend most of our time, in our adult life, at work, an average of around 40 years.  Think about that for a second.  Is it, therefore, reasonable to be happy at work?  Why would you not want to be happy?  Do you want to spend these 40 years being unhappy? The reality is though, is that many people in work, particularly managers are unhappy, which I think is sad.  The following are some top tips that I have found to make me happy at work.

Be grateful for what you have – Every day, I consider and then write down a couple of things what I am happy and thankful for.  The reality is that we are all very fortunate and we need to realise that.  I know, and I can also appreciate that you may have a lot on your shoulders now, but the reality is that you are lucky.  For a start, you have eyes to read this!  We should always start our day with an attitude of gratitude; if we start like this, it gives us a very positive way forward.  Every day, for the next

As a great trainer, you will be making sure that you are evaluating at the point you’ve delivered to get that all-important feedback straight away, but how are you delivering it?  We talk about making sure our training is interactive and engaging but is your evaluation the same?

There are lots of different ways that we can evaluate with our delegates when we deliver training.  It’s essential to remember that the information we get is hugely valuable to continually review our delivery and content, ensuring the very best learning experience.  I have used several different methods of evaluation during my time as a trainer, but one that gets excellent results I’d like to share with you is a variant of the traffic light system that has a little bit of a Windows PC spin on it:

Keeping it simple, I use three pieces of Flip Chart Paper and Flip Chart pens.  On the Flip Charts, I write the following titles:

Flip Chart 1 – “Recycle Bin it” – Alternatively, Red Traffic Light or “Stop”.

I invite

We are happy to announce our big November sale this month. An excellent opportunity to book and reserve courses at special discount prices this month.  A selection of our courses is only going to be available at special discount prices for a limited time.  This is a fantastic opportunity to make the best use of a training budget allocation, book a spring course now at these fantastic rates:

• Train the Trainer Essentials 1-day course £295
• PTT Train the Trainer 2-day course £595 includes ILM registration
• Coaching Skills for Managers £595 includes ILM registration
• Advanced PTT Train the Trainer £775 includes ILM registration

All prices exclude vat at the appropriate rate.  Offer applies on all dates for above courses only.  Courses must be booked between 8^th November 2019 to 30^th November 2019.  Maximum 4 bookings allowed at the sale price.  Offer ends 30th November 2019.

Whenever I coach, I have always kept a record on how I am greeted. It is interesting to observe what you notice by both the person who greets you and how you react by the greeting. Sometimes there are masses of energy, sometimes not, how does that affect you, what judgements do you create from this and how does this change you as a coach? What if you don't notice?

I find it interesting when someone runs towards you, what does that say. When the person is genuinely reaching out to you, who do you represent to them? Are you someone that they have never had before or you remind them of someone? I recently had a client who did this, and what was interesting was how I responded. This was a real child reacting to a parent, the role I probably played subconsciously, the fact I became the rescuer while this person was a victim. But how this made me feel and respond to how I responded to another client was different. Would I notice this as much if I did not reflect?

A different example and contrast

Stage 4 and the final stage in the delegation process is the art of giving feedback.  We must provide feedback, and if we don't, we have a potentially dangerous situation where the individual concerned believes they have done a competent job if they haven't, then they must be made aware. Always give feedback immediately after the work, don't give it too long, or people will forget.  Feedback should be delivered in a friendly and conversational type manner.  However, always ensure you provide feedback on a one to one basis and away from everyone else.  When we deliver feedback, we always use the bathtub process: 

Let them have their say first.  Ask "How do you think that went?" - Don’t step in! It’s their time to talk.  Give them the chance to say how they think they have done. If they haven’t achieved competence, it is possible they will be able to identify why and this will help them to ‘own’ the feedback they receive.

Give praise first - Most people will find it difficult