Training & Coaching News from Smart Coaching Training

28/04/2017 By Isla Baliszewska

Women at the Top

Wow! So much in the media about women’s place at work!

Greg Hurst in the Times pointed out that female leaders are better than their male counterparts.

……The Wall Street Journal last year reported on how men won more promotions and women felt that gender issues contributed to them not getting promotions.

……Last year the Fawcett Society called for more action to tackle the gender pay gap.

……The Guardian reported that despite the increase in the number of women in UK boardrooms, they still tend to hold non-executive and non-CEO or Chair positions.

……According to a report from Coutts and the Centre for Entrepreneurs 38%of serial entrepreneurs under 35 are women.

……And Royal Bank of Scotland’s research showed that in 2015 businesses led by women contributed £3.51bn to the UK economy and created 77,000 jobs in 2015.

Wow indeed. And so the big questions:

1. Are women getting the same opportunities in the workplace and in setting up businesses?

2. Are women being treated equally in the business world to men?

3. What do we need to do to make sure this happens?

Sorry, we don’t have the answers all neatly packaged here for you now. But we are going to explore this issue in the coming months so we encourage you to visit our news page and have a look at our newsletter to get some answers and create some actions in the right direction.

Starting off, please read the first part of Women at the Top Leadership Research; fascinating insights on Women at the Top’s reflections on leadership by Halina Jaroszewska.

Halina’s research is an ongoing project and a valuable contribution to this dynamic subject; if you feel you have something to contribute or you know of a woman who does, please get in touch with Halina.

25/04/2017 By Isla Baliszewska

What is Business English?

Where does it come from? What’s it for? What makes it different from non-business English? Ways of communicating both verbal and written have developed over centuries, but the protocols have never changed faster than now. We need to be adequately equipped with the relevant knowledge and understanding of the business that we represent to adapt to its culture, customs, norms, and practices. Who we are and what we do will be clearly reflected in our oral and written interactions.

As the photo of the Electric Vehicle Road Trip in UAE shows – the world is fast changing and many will be left behind. And even legal practices need to balance between the future and the precedent.

Business communication is not just about writing letters

While it is important, it is but a small part of doing business. Of course you need to be able to write business correspondence, whether letters, emails or texts.

Communication also embraces the world of oral business communication, be that face-to-face, phone or social media. Networking gives opportunities only if you know how to behave, engage people and negotiate. Building rapport and improving communication are key ways of getting and retaining business, and are different when dealing with British, American, or other genres where English is used.

One size does not fit all

As with all communication it’s not just following the learnt routine – you need to know your audience and tailor your communication to them. One man’s business English is another man’s flippant communication by a young upstart not showing respect to his elders. Or some boring long winded diatribe for those brought up on instant messaging. The conflict between story telling and the inverted triangle means you have to consciously chose the approach to take. Regardless of ethnicity, age, race or sex some people are more emotional, others more logical, some need lots of detail, some insist on hardly any.

As customers rightly expect omnichannel rather than multichannel it is a skill to balance between the curt and the long-winded. British English and American English have the same words which mean different things (some very rude). Indian English has a different vocabulary too. See the typical reaction when a Brit is told ‘I will revert back to you’. Different cultures read differences nuances in identical sentences.

You might expect that ‘legal’ English is the same throughout the world. There is no international standard of easily understood terms. And the balance between being ‘legal’ and ‘understood’ is harder than ever.

This is why you need to work towards building rapport to create a lasting impact through your interactions, presentations, negotiations, meetings, networking, socialising, listening, speaking, writing and reading. Getting the protocol of correcting mistakes and holistic communication in the global marketplace is essential to succeed in the business arena and the wider economy.

For more information contact David Rigby on [email protected].

12/04/2017 By Isla Baliszewska

Seeing inside your business self with C-me Colour Profiling

Have you ever asked yourself “how can I build on my strengths? How can I make better decisions with greater confidence?” Or wish you had a deeper insight into your behaviours? Try C-me Colour Profiling!

Anita Jaynes of The Business Exchange, had first hand experience of how C-me Colour Profiling can give insights to behaviours and what might be changed to enhance performance and create better relationships.

Effective, efficient and easy to apply – quick to do and quick to get your personal report. What better way to discover your strengths and become more self-aware? And for businesses it is a boon! To be successful, business leaders need to be effective. They need to know what they do best, what they should get others to do, and how best to communicate objectives in a way that engages everyone in the organisation.

As a successful business leader herself, Anita was eager to explore how C-me could benefit her business, through doing her own profile and then taking it deeper in a Debrief session with Halina Jaroszewska, one of our C-me experts.

Read more about Anita’s C-me experience.

29/03/2017 By Isla Baliszewska

Breaking the Spell to Master your Mindset

Mastering your Mindset is within your reach!

Information comes into one’s life as a signpost. It’s all we need to design life as we want it. At first the signposts are subtle, very subtle in the pre-sent moment. If we ignore the signposts eventually we bring into being a life-changing event. It is essential that we get conscious and develop a practice to help turn us onto life, and to home in on the information from the Universe.

All it takes is 5 minutes each day in which to reflect and choose to see the gold versus the gloom.

Making the right decisions

When we decide to consciously take back control rather than allow others and events to control us it’s easy to break the spell. To be clear about what is important and to pause and breathe before making decisions helps us gain time and energy in which to make informed, appropriate, sustainable decisions.

By breaking the spell decisions can be

. [i type=”icon-ok” color=”icon-blue” bg=””]made based on past results

. [i type=”icon-ok” color=”icon-blue” bg=””]reflecting our values

. [i type=”icon-ok” color=”icon-blue” bg=””]in alignment with intuitive predictions of what is to come.

It is important to let go of attachment to what might be. Viewing the situation based on present possibilities brings to the table a grounded, balanced approach. By breaking the spell we give ourselves permission to ‘turn back on’, thus enabling us to be 100% responsible and to take 100% responsibility for ourselves and our actions.

Top tip#1:

Every hour take a 2 minute break in which to invite your mind to quieten and refresh.

Mastering your mind is a certain challenge, a fascinating game to engage in, and tough on entrenched behaviours, patterns, beliefs. The question to ask in each and every situation is this: Who do I want to be in this moment? Mastering your mind is like bringing magnets back into alignment, having cogs engaging smoothly.

Creating new neural pathways is always challenging as we love keeping ourselves stuck with the familiar, the comfortable, the ‘taken-for-granteds’, the unquestioning ‘going-along-withs’. We can if we choose, learn new behaviours and create better situations. The choice is as always in our hands. Once we choose to get over ourselves anything is possible!

A helpful mantra:

Let new affirmations and behaviours pull me towards where I want to be. And where might that be, is the question?

Let the good stuff in – our brains release endorphins when we are relaxed and happy. In this state of bliss we are more likely to overcome challenges and transform situations to improve our lives. Treat yourself to indulging in savouring each day a handful of things you enjoy doing. As you do them let the good stuff in, as you both enjoy them in the moment as well as remember all the good things associated with that enjoyable thing.

Top secret: on the QT, very hush hush and strictly confidential…… is to enjoy the flow.

Notice that a hero or heroine tends to handle whatever turns up. Applying that principle, take the opportunity to transform in order that your dream can inch closer to your grasp.

Top Tip #2:

Withhold judgement.

Top Tip #3:

By definition different behaviour brings different outcomes.

Enjoy the journey. Transform difficulties into gold: Turn yourself onto the way life really is – use your power!

Halina Jaroszewska

24/02/2017 By Isla Baliszewska

Stories within stories within stories: Roles within roles within roles

What are your stories and roles? It’s surprising what you

hear when you truly listen

see when you really look

know when you bravely open your intuitive memory

understand when you set free your mind.

How can you lean-in to take your place in the story? What boldness that has genius and magic in it might you use to take your place in the story? By employing gratitude as a valued member of the team how could that make a contribution? Unless you are actually in the story it is nigh impossible to influence the content and direction of the story.

“Tell a story. Make it true. Make it compelling. And make it relevant.” ― Rand Fishkin, Founder of Moz

Every individual, every team, every organisation is a story and tells a story. Every individual, every team, every organisation is a system and being a system every part of that system no matter how miniscule no matter how huge has impact, influence, inspiration on the whole system. What is the story to be told, the outcome to achieve? What would be the evidence and most importantly how would you recognise the evidence? There are stories and roles wrapped up in everyone and every organisation.

Time to stop underestimating the influence of random acts of kindness; time to introduce a cultural realignment to look for what works well and what could work even better; time to let go of blame, of guilt, of getting it wrong, of exclusion, of assumptions, of un-appreciation; time to celebrate experimenting, exploring and engaging. Time to appreciate the benefit of movement, of momentum … every system needs to be kept in good condition in order to operate effectively and efficiently. Time to be agile, adaptive, appreciative; time to learn and move on by building positively, proactively and perceptively. Healthy systems indulge in exercise in all senses – physically, emotionally, spiritually which currently is embodied in the practice of mindfulness.

What are the skills that really matter? Peter Cheese Chief Executive of the Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development (CIPD), delivered a lecture entitled “Future of work and organisations” as part of the UWE Distinguished Address Series February 2017 was clear that soft skills are the ones that really matter. He shared that with only 2 in 5 employees working at peak performance the UK has one of the worst skills mismatch in the world!

What is the place in the story of the 5 R’s – resilience, robustness, reflectiveness, resourcefulness, responsibility?

Find out about how our Signature Soft Skills Workshops can support your 5 R’s.

Halina Jaroszewska – 2017

Women at the Top

Wow! So much in the media about women’s place at work!

Wow indeed. And so the big questions:

What is Business English?

What is Business English?

Business communication is not just about writing letters

One size does not fit all

Seeing inside your business self with C-me Colour Profiling

Breaking the Spell to Master your Mindset

Mastering your Mindset is within your reach!

Stories within stories within stories: Roles within roles within roles

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