Training & Coaching News from Smart Coaching Training

04/07/2016 By Isla Baliszewska

An interview with David Rigby

David Rigby has been working in the business transformation and change management sector for many years and is currently providing training in the UK and UAE.

Business Transformation is a change management strategy which aims to align the people and it’s a strategy that must be practiced by each and every organization. The process was first initiated by IT companies to re-brand their consultancy processes in order to sell integrated information systems more effectively. Now, business transformation have innovated into a holistic process across the business implicating that this an effective strategic process to stay profitable and competitive

In conjunction to Marcus Evans Business Transformation & Corporate Strategy Training that will take place on 28th & 29th August 2016, we spoke to our highly experienced trainer, David Rigby, Founding Director of Smart Coaching and Training (SCT) in United Kingdom and Middle East.

Read the full interview with David.

29/06/2016 By Isla Baliszewska

Change The Wallpaper

Change is not always sought or planned and not always welcomed.

Last year 14 year old Domanik Green hacked into his school computer in Florida. Did he alter exam answers? Did he meddle with pupil’s grades? No. He changed the school computer’s wallpaper. His reason was simple; he wanted to annoy a teacher he didn’t like.

Some people interviewed after Brexit admitted voting Leave because they were annoyed, wanting to make a point, and they were alarmed at the result. The result has bred high levels of uncertainty and alarm at an unknown future with warnings of doom and calamity looming.

Domanik faced criminal charges for a third degree felony with a maximum sentence of up to 5 years imprisonment and a $5000 fine. All he wanted to do was make a point.

GETTING THE RIGHT DESIGN

Things change.
Change has consequences.
We are not necessarily able to control change, but we can influence it.

Whether we choose to make a small change or a huge one, we should think about WHY we are doing it. What might be the unintended consequences? Domanik probably thought he might be banned from computer access, it is unlikely he considered he might face criminal proceedings.

The great thing about Domanik’s story is that his actions highlighted weaknesses in the school IT policy – he watched his teacher log in using his surname as a password, and apparently other students knew several teacher passwords. So another unintended consequence of his hacking activities was the overhaul of the school’s IT security.

Change can have positive side effects:

Opportunities for reflection
Opportunities for invention and innovation
Opportunities to improvise and improve

A final thought – How can you influence change, whether it has already happened because of external forces, or the changes that you want to make yourself?

Isla Baliszewska

06/04/2016 By Isla Baliszewska

Be a Great Mentor

We are all doing or have done some mentoring at some point in our lives – whether with our friends and family, or in a more formalised way through using our considerable experience of a particular sector to mentor a business owner, or colleagues at work. For those who are mentors in a work or business environment, on a voluntary or paid basis, having an opportunity to embed and build real impactful mentoring skills through some professional development can have real value for those who you are helping through your mentoring support.

The Business Mentoring Fundamentals Course in Bristol on 20th April offers just such an opportunity for in-house professionals or anyone considering or already having experience of mentoring in businesses, for owners, management, teams and individuals. Participative, interactive and enjoyable, sharing experiences and best practice, making new contacts and embedding real quality in your mentoring delivery, this is a day of great learnings that will help hone existing mentoring skills, develop new ones, build your mentoring brand and help you engage with those you are looking to support to grow and flourish.

Accredited with the IIC&M (International Institute of Coaching & Mentoring) the course provides the tools and groundwork from which to refine your mentoring and build your accreditation and professionalism..

www.associationofbusinessmentors.org

To Book click here or call Isla on 07828 516058

04/04/2016 By Isla Baliszewska

The Big Ask

“Captain Ian Fraser lost his sight at the Battle of the Somme in July 1916, after being shot through the eyes by a German sniper. A single gunshot had robbed him of one of his greatest passions: reading. “ RNIB – How Talking Books were born

Charities have had a bit of a hard time lately, not least being frowned upon for questionable fundraising methods pressuring vulnerable people into giving. Last year Gareth G. Morgan (Professor of Charity Studies and leader of the Centre for Voluntary Sector Research) at Sheffield Hallam University) gave his valedictory lecture ‘The End of Charity’ . In it he referred to the “extraordinary combination of threats” charities faced, including the issues of underfunded organisation, fundraising abuses and media criticism. He ended his talk saying “So, what is the end to which all charity is ultimately directed? The answer is very simple: the end of charity is public benefit. If that is our focus, both in our fundraising and our operational work, and if that can be the focus of charity regulation, then we cannot go astray.”

Halina Jaroszewska and I have been working with the RNIB fundraising staff and if we wore hats we would be constantly taking them off in deference to those fabulous people. We have discovered the ‘public benefit‘ that this charity gives. We recently spent a day with some of them in Birmingham where we were offering our knowledge and expertise on presentation and public speaking, and where we found ourselves learning and increasing our respect for those fundraisers. Our focus for the day was the RNIB Talking Books, which began in 1935 and revolutionised reading for people with sight loss. With a collection of over 23,000 titles, and with over 30,000 listeners, this service brings a gift to each of those listeners.

Captain Fraser’s desire to get back to reading inspired him to record an entire talking book and he began working with the RNIB in 1918 exploring how new technology could develop this recording ability. Today, the people we were privileged enough to work with last week are now able to promote the Talking Books as their Big Ask knowing the gift that is in those Books.

“It’s like having another voice in the house. It helps break the silence and the loneliness” (Dennis, 66, a Talking Books reader) – a gift of reading, of company, of meaning, of knowing someone cares.

RNIB Talking Books

www.rnib.org.uk

Isla Baliszewska

To find out more about how Smart Coaching & Training can help with your presentation and public speaking needs please get in touch

23/03/2016 By Isla Baliszewska

Be the Best You Can Be

I recently listened to David Hemery of 1968 gold medal Olympics fame and of 21st Century Legacy fame. Last year he ran the London Marathon to raise money for 21st Century Legacy. For those not in the know 21st Century Legacy is behind the Be the Best You Can Be! programme in schools to unlock the valuable potential in each child.

David is an inspiring speaker, fundraiser, coach and do-er, and has worked assiduously with 21st Century Legacy to raise funds to ensure the charity can provide this great programme at minimum cost to schools. He has been a coach and mentor for many years and engages eagerly with the discussions around the overlaps and distinctions between the different descriptors of “coaching, mentoring, advising, consulting”.

The ultimate aim of those of us who deliver coaching/mentoring/advising/consulting is to elicit the best from those we work with and enable them to elicit their own best. David does this with schoolchildren and students giving them the opportunity to discover their own greatness on whatever scale and in whatever dimension. I do it with grown-ups to help them enhance and develop possibilities and opportunities in and for themselves. Neither of us, or anyone else in our profession, needs to worry about terminologies as long as we make sure those on the other side of the relationship understand that we are there to somehow make their lives change for the better. Be the Best YOU Can Be. As David said, it isn’t about being the best of or better than everything and everyone, it is the best YOU.

Read more about 21st Century Legacy and get your local schools on-board. Don’t let the kids miss out!

An interview with David Rigby

Change The Wallpaper

Change is not always sought or planned and not always welcomed.

Be a Great Mentor

The Big Ask

Be the Best You Can Be

www.21stcenturylegacy.com

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