Learning Through Change – Do You?

How many times have you said to yourself at work:
“I’ve seen it all before; it didn’t work then and it won’t work now”

If I had a pound coin for every time I’ve heard that when running change seminars I’d have very heavy pockets!

Yet before dismissing such utterances as cynicism from died in the wool change resistors it is worth taking stock. Evaluating the successes and the unsuccessful is a crucial element in managing the change process, yet it it astounding how often this bit gets left out.

When Change Doesn’t Work

In large corporations a failed change strategy often results in the lead person ‘leaving’ with others then politically distancing themselves from the process. Very few senior executives seem prepared to look in depth at the processes as learning for next time.

In my experience of working within several large organisations, the most successful are those that can take into account the people who actually deliver the job on the ground and involve and engage them from day one. The top down approach simply doesn’t cut it any more.

A recent government report prepared by David McCloud and Nita Clarke put it this way:

‘We believe that if employee engagement and the principles that lie behind it were more widely understood, if good practice was more widely shared, if the potential that resides in the country’s workforce was more fully unleashed, we could see a step change in workplace performance and in employee well-being, for the considerable benefit of UK plc.

Engagement, going to the heart of the workplace relationship between employee and employer, can be a key to unlocking productivity and to transforming the working lives of many people for whom Monday morning is an especially low point of the week’.
Engaging for Success: enhancing performance through employee engagement. July 2009

So the old ‘seen it all before’ cynic may teach us something after all! Step one in any change process is get your people on board!

And the same principle applies to personal change. Who are the key people you need to support you in any changes you want to make? Are they with you, supporting you? Or are they secretly trying to sabotage you as they are fearful of the consequences? Always check first!

If you’d like to find out more about my seminars for managing your staff through change and uncertainty click here!

Are You Flexible Enough?

‘If you always do what you’ve always done, you’ll  get what you’ve always got‘ the old adage says, but actually in times of change and economic recession even just getting what you’ve always got is no longer guaranteed!

If you run a successful business you will know that you have to keep a weather eye on the economic climate, competitors, fashion and so on to maintain an edge. If you’re successful you know that you have to keep being flexible and offering what your clients want and need. You have to be prepared to change.

But if you are an employee are you as flexible?

Assess Yourself

I was coaching a business owner a while back who was talking about changes that had to be made within the company. Her dilemma was that she had some very good staff and some OK staff. All were loyal with low sickness records etc but she knew that over the course of the next year there would probably have to be a reduction in staffing levels. I asked her to consider which staff gave her most value and I didn’t mean staff who worked for less, or longer unpaid hours. They weren’t offering her any additional value; simply turning up and doing your job without mishap is not enough when jobs are at risk. We were talking about staff who were enthusiastic, offered ideas, undertook training, sometimes even of their own volition.

If you are employed it might be worth taking time out to reflect on your flexibility. What changes are afoot in your industry or business? Can you see a new skill base being required in the not too distant future? How can you add value to what you bring to your role? If the future looks uncertain have you considered alternatives? When did you last undertake professional/job related training?What alternative sources of employment are there in your vicinity? If you were suddenly to be unemployed, how would you manage?

Being prepared to face up to potential problems can lessen their impact and put you ahead of the field.

And if you did have to change your current role, what opportunities might there be?

If you’ve been in this position I’d love to hear from you and how you coped. Did you use an outside resource like a careers advisor? A coach? A CV expert? Did your company provide helpful support? What would you advise others? Did you see the change coming?

Inspirational Women-Morag Joss, Author

I first met Morag when our respective offspring were members of a youth Theatre Group in Bath, so I was thrilled to discover that her first novel, Funeral Music, was highly acclaimed.She is now the author of six novels, including the Sara Selkirk series, and the Silver Dagger winning ‘Half Broken Things’.

Morag began writing in 1996 after a short story of hers was runner-up in a national competition sponsored by Good Housekeeping magazine. The renowned writer P.D.James inspired the plot of her first novel, Funeral Music, which gained a Dilys Award nomination for the year’s best mystery published in the USA.

Further success followed when Half Broken Things was adapted as a television film in 2007, starring Penelope Wilton

In 2009 her sixth novel, The Night Following won a coveted Edgar Allen nomination in the Best Novel category and her new novel, Among the Missing will be published this autumn.

Jane: Morag, thank you so much for talking to us; I hope your story will inspire others to try their hand at writing that novel we all think we have inside of us!

Can you remember what your very first job was? Do you think you still use any of the skills acquired then now?
Morag: When I was twelve I had a Saturday job at a dogs’ beauty parlour.  I shampooed mainly poodles and Westies but also a few Afghans, trimmed their toes and tails, and finished them with a brush and blow dry after the proprietor had done the clipping. Can’t say I use those skills any more!

What was your dream job when you were at school? What did you want to ‘grow up’ to be?
I had the usual fantasies – I narrowed it down to explorer and ballet dancer, but insisted I had to be both!  But my teenage years were characterised by an extreme lack of confidence so I barely dared to have any ambitions at all.  I went to the kind of school where nobody thought of careers for someone “good at English” much beyond teaching, although one teacher thought I would make a good advocate (Scottish equivalent of barrister).  I didn’t agree at the time. Nobody ever pointed out that somebody had to write all those books in the bookshops, but even if they had it would have felt impossibly presumptuous to imagine I could do such a thing.

When I was at university I was encouraged to take my singing seriously and for a while I did, before realising I didn’t want a life as a performer.

Who most inspired the young Morag?
I wish there had been someone! If there had been I might have found some focus earlier.

And who is your inspiration or muse now?
Other writers.  It works two ways – simple admiration of writers such as Carole Shields, David Mitchell, William Trevor, and then aspiration, a kick of envy of such great talent that just makes me want to keep trying to make better use of any modest talent I may have.

When did you first decide to write a novel?
1996. I’d written a short story, on the quiet, and sent it to a national competition. It was runnerup out of 2000 entries, and that’s when I thought, well, now I must at least try to write a novel.

How long before it was published? Did you get many/any rejections?
I found an agent as soon as it was finished and they found a publisher within two months.

Do you have a role model, or someone, maybe in the public eye that you aspire to emulate?
Can’t say that I do, though there are many people whom I admire, and for many things. As a general observation I think it is unfair to expect people in the public eye to be anything other than flawed. Why should adults require or expect perfection in their fellow human beings?  I believe hero-worship should be part of childhood.

What were you doing before you became a writer?
A mixture of things, because I followed my then husband wherever his career took him and had to be very adaptable in order to develop my own career.  I ran education departments in museums and galleries, lectured at a university, did consultancy work for the National Trust and other arts bodies.

What has been the best piece of advice you have been given re writing?
To be an artist of any sort, one has to be stubborn, to have a very strong inner compass. It’s the hardest thing and no one can teach you. You have to know yourself.   (Donna Tartt)

And best piece of advice about life in general?
Never waste a talent. Look after what you’ve got.

Have you followed a plan? Did you know what where you wanted to be?
No, because I’m aware that I’m not in control of everything that comes along. I try to keep a general attitude of openness to the unforeseeable, in an optimistic, not a pessimistic sense.

How do you relax and unwind?
In company, and usually round a table. Walking, swimming, music, sometimes a deep scented bath…
When are you most happy?
Early evening, after a fruitful day’s work and a walk, and I’m thinking of what to cook for the person I adore, and I hear the door opening.  Perfect!

Do you have a favourite saying, book, or piece of wisdom to share with the readers?
If not now, when?

Morag, thank you so much for taking the time to share your thoughts with us. I wish you huge continued success with your next novel and look forward to reading it.

And if you’d like to find out more about Morag and her work her official web site is here and you can get her books from your local library or here, via Amazon. If you like a good mystery or a well written story, you’ll love them!

Friendship and Moonwalking

Many of you will know that I took part this year in the Edinburgh moonwalk. Me and 10,000 others….

It was an amazing event, mainly women plus a few stalwart men. Everyone who took part was encouraged to wear a highly decorated bra, yes, men as well, with the theme of Mardi Gras. And most people were walking in memory or celebration of someone who had been touched by breast cancer; emotions were high.

Me and my mate, Sharon, opted for pink feathers, covering as much of the chesticle area as possible! My daughter Laura, and her cousin, wee Laura, were resplendent in matching painted bras, pink leg warmers, pink tutus, and pink fingerless gloves! They looked gorgeous and finished their 26 miles in record time.

Friends

And as I walked, I reflected upon the special nature of friendship and how extraordinarily rich I am in friends. I am a positive millionaire!

Just undertaking the walk itself came about as a result of the death of a very good friend from breast cancer – 30th October 2009: Ros Herbert. Ros was a nurse educator and every student nurse in Britain today will probably read something that she wrote; some legacy! This reflection on friendship is dedicated to her.

And then there is the aforementioned friend, Sharon, who did wonder, half way round the course, why she was my friend as I had somehow persuaded her that walking through the streets of Edinburgh in a bra at midnight would be a good idea! But she stuck with me and we got round together, taking turns to encourage each other. And we have had some fantastic training walks together (although with hindsight possibly not enough!) marvelling at the beauty of our glorious countryside.

Good friends support and encourage you in your challenges, even if they do secretly think you are bonkers!

I am not going to list all my wonderful friends or this will end up like an over emotional Oscar speech but there are many. Offering encouragement, support, a comforting hug or a friendly nudge, and of course, money in sponsorship. And one of the amazing things about doing the walk was the sponsorship that came from people I have never even met! The world of Twitter is quite amazing. I even had a donation from a lovely guy in the US (thank you Jamie)!

Your Wealth Audit

How well off are you? I don’t mean money: when it comes down to the wire, assuming you have enough to live on, money is not a guarantee of happiness. Research has shown that once a certain level of income is reached (and it’s not that high) happiness levels remain the same. Our happiness does not rise exponentially with our income. But it does rise with friendship. And happy friends make for more happy friends.

So, give yourself a quick audit. How many true friends do you have? What do they mean to you? What does friendship mean to you? Are you a good friend? And if you find yourself with less friends than you would like, what can you do to improve the situation?

“Friends are those rare people who ask how you are and then wait for the answer”

What’s your definition of a good friend?

If you’d like to read more about the Moon Walk click this link

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Take Your Time

I was recently coaching someone who had an issue she wanted resolving-fast! But actually the issue was not something that could be quickly resolved and my advice to her was ‘stop putting pressure on yourself to solve this’.

The pace of life today sometimes lulls us into the idea that everything can be done quickly and that there must be an answer.

Many of the problems to do with our lives have taken time to develop and the quick and easy answer is often only transitory and ultimately unhelpful. And some things we experience are part of the human condition. You cannot short cut grief, for example, and a loss of any kind produces a grief reaction in us. And we need to honour that time before rushing to fix ourselves.

So my advice to you today, if you are facing a difficult problem, is to let yourself off the hook for a while. You cannot be happy all the time and you cannot know the answers all the time (yes, even coaches, maybe especially coaches!). Sometimes the best and most restorative thing you can do for yourself is to accept what is happening and give yourself space to simply accept it, before you try to move on.

And you will be all the wiser for it.

Three Tips to Happiness!

Listening to the news each day can be, frankly, very dispiriting with forecasts of economic gloom and environmental disasters: if we’re not careful we could find ourselves getting caught up in a downward spiral of misery. Similarly, talking excessively about problems and concerns (and I don’t mean sensible evaluation and taking action, but getting to the point when it’s all you focus on) has been shown to cause anxiety and even depression.

Good News

But the good news is that happiness and good humour is contagious too! There are some things that no economic crisis can take away from you, like your innate talents, resources, family and friends. Take a few moments to reflect on those each day.

Three Cheerfulness Tips

1) Stay calm and carry on! By which I mean don’t let yourself get dragged into a cycle of moaning and complaint to no purpose. Go on the complaint diet. Even one tiny moan a day uses up masses of cheerfulness calories so go for a smile instead. When someone starts up a litany of complaints, tell them you are following the complaint diet and will have to decline! Hopefully that will make them smile!

2) Share more! Start talking to neighbours, colleagues, friends about what you have which you can share. Like a power washer perhaps or books? Maybe you have a glut of vegetables you could offer? Once you start opening up in this way it’s amazing what you discover. Sharing a car to go shopping can lead onto sharing the buy one get one free offers which tempt you into buying too much, for example. But it also brings you a closer appreciation of your local community.

3) In times of economic downturn it can feel like you are in competition with everyone else for fewer resources, particularly in work situations. To counter this, think about joining a group and nourish your community spirit together. It might be a coffee club at work, a sewing group, a reading group at your local library, or an allotment club. Find one that interests you or start one of your own!

Try at least one of the above and see if it impacts on your happiness levels. Making yourself more happy is a very altruistic thing to do. Research in the US has revealed that happiness really is highly contagious. The findings show that when you become happy, any friend of yours who lives within a mile becomes 25% more happier too! And a friend of that friend is likely to be 10% happier, and a friend of that friend’s friend (still with me?) will be 5% happier!

It’s a positive civic duty to be a happy soul! I wish you much happiness today!

And please do share your own happiness tips!