Adrian Banger's Blog

How HR Policies can screw up employee relations

I recently came across an organisation in the so called "caring professions" which had unauthorised absence categorised as Gross Misconduct. The Care Home concerned suspended a member of staff for gross misconduct for taking a day off between Christmas and New Year to enable her to visit her Mother living in a care home some 400 miles away, inspite of the member of staff advising the organisation in writing before the event that she would need to take the day off and of her intended date of return to work.

Teaching and Learning

"You cannot teach people anything, You can only help them discover it within themselves.” Galileo

“The great end of learning is not knowledge but action.” Peter Honey

These two quotes really reinforced to me the benefits of a combined coaching and mentoring approach when seeking to enhance performance. The traditional approach of sending people away on a training course to achieve long term behavioural change is likely to frustrate both the participant and the sponsoring organisation. Whilst courses may be a useful source of knowledge unless the participant is encouraged to relate that knowledge to their current context, internalise it into their way of thinking and act upon it, then the investment in the training is unlikely to show demonstrable benefits. However, when you combine a coaching approach with specific knowledge sharing to enhance an individual's skills and understanding, then you create the climate whereby real changes in behaviour and performance can take place, providing, of course, the individual has the desire to develop!

How high the price?

With the death today of  Alexando Litvinenko following on from the assignation of Anna Polivkovskaya I invite you to take a moment to reflect upon what price you are prepared to pay to fight for your “truth”. Their willingness to take on the might of regime which they believed had lost sight of its purpose to serve the best interests of the people is truly inspiring. Let their courage, congruency and ultimate sacrifice of their lives energise and inspire us to challenge the systems of which we are a part when we believe they have lost their way.

The least useless course I have ever been sent on!

Memorable feedback from a delegate during his  coaching session following the first two modules of one of my leadership courses that he had been sent on by his boss. I took it as great praise, as he had announced at the end of the first module that he was 50, had already done a leadership course and knew all he needed to know! Over the course of the following four modules I continued to work to open his mind to the possibility that gaining more awareness of other people’s styles and developing his own behavioural flexibility could be of benefit for him.

I was delighted when he came bounding in to the final coaching session some 8 months after we started to announce that he had changed, he was sleeping better, his wife was enjoying his company more, he had successfully dealt with a personnel issue that had been unresolved for some considerable time and was enjoying the look of bewilderment on his colleagues faces when they found that they could no longer “push his buttons” and get a predictable response.

This experience really reinforced to me the benefit of ensuring potential delegates are emotionally signed up to the potential benefits of investing their time and energy in further training rather than training being seen as either a tick box exercise or remedial for perceived failings.

Coaching – What can it do for you and your company?

The benefits of coaching have been long established in the sporting arena. Originally, sports coaching concentrated on improving the techniques used by the athlete but now includes substantial emphasis on mental preparation particularly after the publication of “The Inner Game of Tennis”  by Timothy Gallwey in 1979.  Sir John Whitmore was one of the first sportsmen to take the lessons from sports coaching and apply them in the business arena and published the ground  breaking book “Coaching for Performance” in 1992. He defines coaching as

  “...the unlocking of a person’s potential to maximise there own performance. It is helping them to learn rather than teaching them.”

This definition helps us distinguish between training and coaching, training invariably is a broad brush approach to teaching people new skills whereas effective coaching, combining both

Leadership mindset...

There's a Henry Ford (1863-1947) quote that's very well known amongst NLPers:

“Whether you think that you can, or that you can't, you are usually right.”

I wonder if Ford ever met Mahatma Gandhi (1869-1948)?

Certainly the two leaders would have agreed on this trusim; I came across this Gandhi quote today,

“Men often become what they believe themselves to be. If I believe I cannot do something, it makes me incapable of doing it. But when I believe I can, then I acquire the ability to do it even if I didn't have it in the beginning.”

Now that's got me thinking of that conversational game - Fantasy Guestlist...

If you could invite 6 people to dinner - dead, alive or fictitious - who would they be and why?

I'd love to know. Why not share your Fantasy GuestList by clicking on the Comments link below.

Manage your Mind – the NLP approach to Stress Management

“Stress is the price your body pays when life is not the way you would like it to be!”*

Stress is frequently linked to physical and mental health problems but stress, in itself, is natural and not necessarily detrimental to health. Indeed, a certain level of stress, used in a positive and constructive manner, is a vital if we are to perform at our peak.  The “fight or flight” response to uncertain or dangerous situations has been a fundamental part of our survival and evolution. Although we no longer have to face decisions about whether that noise means we are about to get food or become food, our bodies still react physiologically in similar ways to perceived threats. It is this unresolved stress, such as a pounding heart, the urge to run, hide or cry, that can damage our health.

One of the core understandings of NLP is that the mind and body are inevitably and inescapably

Leadership Quotes #1

"The best executive is the one who has sense enough to pick good men to do what he wants done, and self-restraint to keep from meddling with them while they do it."

Theodore Roosevelt

Picture source: www.northernskynews.com

Are your recruitment procedures up to the job?

Irrespective of size or sector, your organisation,  in order to compete successfully  in today’s challenging marketplace, must deliver more with fewer resources to customers who demand more for less. To do this you must ensure each position is filled with a person who has the potential to become a superior  performer.

Traditionally employees were recruited on the basis of their skills  and knowledge as evidenced by their C V or application form backed up by one or more interviews. In the majority of companies these interviews were carried out by people with little or no training and employment decisions were often made “ on gut instinct or personal chemistry”.

Leadership Resources

Marshall Goldsmith School of Management is a great site full of useful articles on Leadership and  Executive Coaching, I particularly liked the article " Leadership as a Contact Sport"

Executive Coaching Plus

Executive Coaching Plus is an introductory coaching package for small business owners which runs over 3 months.

Package includes:

Full behavioural profiling
3 x 2 hr face-to-face coaching sessions  (at my office or mutually convenient location )
2 x 1 hr structured telephone coaching calls

Your investment: £995 +VAT

To take advantage of this offer, please email me, Adrian Banger, at the email address above.

More details about the benefits of the programme follow...