The Gateway Training Blog

Reflections

noreply@blogger.com (Charles Jack) — Sun, 09 Aug 2009 10:07:00 +0000

Hi, I'm Charles. Do you know who you are?

On a walk through town a few weeks ago my life changed. I caught my reflection in a shop window. It was, for a split second, like looking in a full length mirror. Strangely I really wasn't sure who I was looking at - yes, of course it was me but in that instant I wondered who me really was. Which of my many personas was staring back at me? Charles the dad; the husband; the businessman; the coach; the trainer; the facilitator....... The list - no doubt like yours - could go on!

But where was the real Charles that adopts these personas? Where was the real me? Where now was the core person who was born before all these personas were developed? Don't get me wrong, I know that we need different personas for survival, to get things done, to influence people and to progress through jobs, careers and life in general - no problem with all that!

But, just for a moment, I wanted to connect with the real me. I started asking myself some questions:

What is my dream; my vision; my big picture?
What are my values; my standards; my principles?
What traits or aspects of myself do I like and dislike?
What do I trust and distrust about myself?
What do I really appreciate about myself?

My reflection in the window was gone in a second but the questions are still with me. Happily a few thoughts and answers are beginning to formulate in the old grey matter. And most profound and enlightening some of these thoughts are too! A couple have really made me stop to think about and review what I'm doing with my life, my family, my career and my business.

Although my walk through town was only a few weeks ago addressing these questions seems to have had quite a profound affect, there is movement; things are changing, opportunities are appearing and (strangely!) I have a greater sense of the core me - of the real Charles.

When the cranial dust has settled on all my musings I may share some of them with you.

In the meantime why not look in the mirror - ask yourself some questions - and reflect on who you really are.

It just might change your life. ..............!

www.gatewaytraining.net

Active Listening

noreply@blogger.com (Charles Jack) — Wed, 26 Nov 2008 22:47:00 +0000

There's a song that goes I can't dance - so don't ask me! Well I can't dance and, by the way, I can't sing either; but as a management trainer and coach I did think I was a good listener.

We had just watched Spooks on BBC IPlayer. The main story line was freaky enough but the ending was a bit of a cliff hanger. A few minutes after the last credits rolled into the laptop's keyboard I was still contemplating whether Harry was a rotten egg or whether he had been stitched up like a kipper in an Arbroath smoke house when I heard the Voice say "........... and I'll email tomorrow"

Email who tomorrow - email what tomorrow?

It was a simple enough enquiry - or so I thought! But the Voice was on her very own MI5 style character assassination mission and the accusations came thick and fast.

"You never listen to me" "You only listen to half of what I say" "Well if you think I'm going to repeat myself ....." "And by the way you're just like....." (The list was long - don't laugh I'm sure I heard your name mentioned.)

Too tired (and Spooked out) to argue against the onslaught I considered putting up a robust defence but instantly judged this strategy to be deeply flawed and doomed to failure - those of you who know the Voice will fully understand why.

On balance I felt a swift retreat was the better part of valour but as I reached for the Daily Torygraph - behind which, on these occasions, I always think it is wise to hide - the brain snapped and the mouth opened.

"But I was listening!" I heard myself shout softly.

"Oh yeah, while I was talking you were watching Sky News reporting the bombings in Mumbai at the same time as reading the latest on the same item on BBC News online and ... (pause for small breath/large sip of wine) ... and ('and' repeated for increased dramatic effect) ... and probably still wondering if Harry is going for an early pension or not!!"

Oops!

I've been preaching for years that proper listening is an active skill that requires total engagement with the information giver, ergo the Voice.

Active listening involves blocking out all internal interference - I wonder what's for dinner tonight? - and external interference - phones, other people, passing traffic; you know the problems! - by applying total concentration to the incoming data and body language of the speaker.

We need to maintain good eye contact (bearing in mind that in some cultures this may not be appropriate) whilst at the same time nodding sagely in all the right places.

These techniques ensure the other person feels that you are listening, knows that you are listening, believes that you are listeneing.

I'm exhausted just thinking about it - no wonder I (you?) find it so hard to do.

Well, lesson learned - yet again. Just need to practice more; active listening I mean; not dancing.

Talking of which, I had better be on my toes tomorrow night. We're watching the next episode of Spooks on IPlayer and if the Voice asks a question, I better be listening - venturing the wrong answer would be like jumping in with two left feet! Anyone know a good dance teacher?

The importance of training in a downturn

noreply@blogger.com (Charles Jack) — Wed, 05 Nov 2008 19:02:00 +0000

To train or not to train

My colleagues and I passionately believe that taking care of people takes care of the business. We know we are in difficult times right now and that the instinct of the average UK plc enterprise is to cut back on, or axe completely, any spend on training. This strategy may make sense in the short term in terms of cash flow etc. but can have disastrous consequences when markets pick up and demand for high quality goods and services is back to normal or better.

Maintaining morale

There is another aspect and that is staff morale. In tough times those people who remain in leaner businesses often feel under pressure to produce or provide more with the same or less resources. They may be asked to take on additional roles or jobs – some of which they may not have been trained to do - or are competent in. This can create a huge amount of stress and unrest in a previously content workforce. Morale can plummet quickly unless staff feel supported and valued. Additionally in times of downsizing there is also the question “Who’s next?”

Support and feeling valued

Support can be as simple as giving help and guidance (and extra resources where possible) on the job and giving the opportunity to learn new skills to cope with additional (or new or unfamiliar) tasks and responsibilities. Making people feel valued can be equally as simple as listening and responding to their current issues and problems, keeping them informed of company events and – wait for it - saying “Thank you”.

Does size matter?

By the way, the same applies whether the workforce is large or a very small handful of dedicated people. Although the logistics are different, the principles are the same.

Five steps to surviving a downturn

You need a flexible motivated workforce so:

Offer on the job support and coaching
Review available resources – what can you re-engineer – what else can you offer at low/no cost?
Consider short off job training courses for staff who need new skills
Keep your workforce informed, listen to them and react to their needs
Ensure they feel valued; recognise hard work and say thanks!

Here is the link to some information about our training courses:

http://www.gatewaytraining.net/