Flip the switch for Reflection & Learning

Judith Barton

In my last blog I concentrated on reflection. Whether through writing the blog, I have reflected more or have written the blog due to more reflection and learning I am not sure.

However I do know truly effective reflection needs:



1. Time – not necessarily long periods of time but ‘ free’ time free from ‘spikes’ of thought - jumping or spiking into your reflective thinking.

2. Space – freedom to think, create space to think - include it in your daily to do list.

3. Clearance-Reflective Clearance© – without a clear mind the thinking, pondering and ‘openness of mind’ is not available to you and is crucial when working with clients.

4. Unblock and remove the debris – in reality this often means stop thinking about stuff that doesn’t matter, after we have created the time, space and clear the big stuff. There can be continual internal struggles that if not removed will act as a distraction and infect your reflective thinking.

5. Floating & Oxygen – Remember your mind should be ‘floating’ to think not solve, so introduce the space to think, I like to think of this as allowing the oxygen to flow through the brain.

Make reflection part of your DNA and see your practice improve. Flip from continually doing to a balance of doing and learning.

I would love to learn of your ‘best reflect moment’. What made it really work?

Write a blog and we will publish it*.

* All blogs subject to review and sending in a blog does not guarantee publication.

...Silence

Sanam Yaqub

Did you hear that?
It was the sound of silence.

Sir Conan Doyle had it right when his character Sherlock Holmes criticized Watson for only ‘looking’ and not ‘observing’. We all ascend the same stairs everyday at home, but do we observe how many steps there are?

Similarly, it can be easy to ‘listen’ to what your client is saying, but do you always ‘hear’ what they say?

Listening to what the client is saying and hearing what they actually mean is a skill that all coaches should develop.  A coach must not only focus on the clients spoken response but also pay attention to non-verbal clues, which can be imperative in guiding further questioning.

Techniques such as pausing after questioning, are essential in allowing the client time to think about their response – silence is where the thinking and change is taking place.

In addition, listening for key information and phrases can give clues to the clients thinking. Furthermore, paraphrasing, reflecting and summarizing what the client has said can help to develop the thinking of the client and ensuring that the coach has heard the clients response correctly.
Once effective listening has been mastered, open-ended questions can be powerful for extraction of information.

Listening is more than just sitting back and taking in the words of the client.

It is about picking up the clues in the unsaid words, facial expression and body language. So next time you are listening to your client, ‘observe’ and ‘hear’ the silence – it should speak volumes.

Sanam was CPD Leader at Dubai English Speaking School and now is the Head of Cultural Development.  Having completed the ILM Level 3 Award in Coaching with flying colours, she is now working on the ILM Level 7 Certificate in Executive Coaching and Mentoring with the British School of Coaching

Developing your Reflective Gene

 

Judith Barton, Director of Coaching

I have arrived at a point in life, where I’ve started to look back.  Like many I’m sure this was brought on by a life event – in my case it was two major life events.  The death of my dear mother and a cancer diagnosis.

This post isn’t meant to be sad.  On the contrary, it makes me remember and makes me smile.

Mum had this wonderful ability to catch me when I fell, without saying ‘I told you so.’  Instead she focused on how I would develop my thinking.  She would often say ‘take me through it.’ 

As I look back on it, it makes me smile and say a little thank you; for everything I’ve learnt, everything I can hear myself saying and see myself doing.

I consider this a particular art – or is it a scientific approach?  Who knows.  For me, I’ve discovered it has a name – REFLECTION. 

If you develop your reflective gene, you will become better at whatever you do.  If you are a coach, I recommend putting it on your priority list.

Developing your reflective gene will make you a better coach and accelerate your coaching practice.

And thirdly, focus your supervision.

So, how do you develop your reflective gene?

There are 5 points you might like to consider:

1.     Include personal reflection time in all your sessions. E.g.  For a 1.5 hour session, one hour should be coaching, with fifteen minutes for reflection and fifteen minutes for write up

2.     Reflect deeply rather than widely.  Focus your reflection on a particular aspect, and examine every element of your approach.  E.g. listening – consider, how do I listen?  When do I lose my 100% focus?  What do I need to be an even better listener?

3.     Think about your baseline/where your skills and attributes are, and revisit this frequently.

4.     Identify your tiny development steps – make sure they’re tiny and achievable

5.     Contract the key aspects of your development plan with your supervisor

6.     I couldn’t resist a 6^th point – make sure your supervisor is of the same mind – they are also developing their reflective gene!

Judith Barton is currently delivering the ILM Level 7 Certificate in Executive Coaching and Mentoring for the British School of Coaching.

How to price coaching services

Judith Barton, Director of Coaching

I enjoy hearing the stories of how someone gets into coaching.  This is a new profession and there are many streams to enter the river.

Working as a coach with lots of professionals from the legal world, it is obvious this is happening there as well.

Professionals often study unrelated subjects, recognise law what they want to do and move on to a vocational course such as the law conversion course, then onto a training contract with a law firm.

The coaching profession attracts entrants with both experience and knowledge.   For me it is important to develop your understanding with a balance of academic rigour and practical application – for example through an ILM programme.

Others may choose to take an alternative route, such as an MBA and then decide to take a coaching course.

Whatever the route into coaching, identifying your value within the marketplace is something many coaches struggle with, whilst on the other side of the equation some coaches seem comfortable to let the market decide and go with the flow.

This is obviously a market decision but setting off in the business of coaching needs some careful internal thought and reflection.

Here are a few tips on beginning the conversation with yourself on how to price your coaching services:

1. Where are you as a coach? – not physically, but in terms of your mental and financial readiness?
2. Financials – what sort of basics do you need to cover in order to survive?
3. What sort of restrictions, if any, are you putting on your practice – and are these the right restrictions/parameters.  For example – location and type of service you wish to provide.
4. Values – what is it that you wish to achieve through coaching for yourself and your clients?
5. How sustainable is your approach? Will this business become a business or are you there to support a particular lifestyle choice?

These 5 key questions and much more will be discussed in the ‘How to Price Your Coaching services’ CPD course.  You can read more and book your place here:  http://www.britishschoolofcoaching.com/cdp-courses/pricing-coaching-services/

BSC Coaching Network Event: October 2014

In October we launched a new series of Coaching Network events.  In these short, informal sessions we lead a seminar on an important area of coaching, followed by a chance to mix with like-minded professional coaches and share learning.

This event was led by Martin Hill, senior tutor on the ILM Level 7 Certificate in Executive Coaching and Mentoring.  Martin discussed internal coaching, strategy, confidentiality and ethics.  It was attended by delegates who traveled from as far as the UAE and France (not to mention 400 yards down the road!)

Martin’s seminar was followed by lively discussion and delegates stayed in the venue for several hours afterwards to chat over lunch.

The next Coaching Network event will run on the 17th of January – it will be facilitated by Angela Hill, who will lead a session on the role of the coach to challenge.

Book a place now here: https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/bsc-coaching-network-spring-2015-tickets-13985959381

Visit the BSC Website for more information.

How to Win at Freelancing

Judith Barton, Director of Coaching

If you’re making the jump from a large organisation to life as a freelancer, expect at the very least a mind-set change!  Most people who make this move often feel bereft by the significant change in their lifestyle – both financially and in the change in pattern of their work.

Often leaving at the height of your career can bring additional shocks.  You may feel not only the loss of your status but the realisation that the end of the month is no longer a reliable source of money!  This seems like a very bleak picture – but think about all the other opportunities… to shape your own life; to say ‘yes’ as well as ‘no’; to think about what you want to achieve for others – as well as maybe yourself.

If you’re facing this challenge (or opportunity, depending on how you see it!) then consider these 5 important points…

1. You are it. Your work begins and ends with you.  It is unlikely at this stage that you will receive any external support  – think ‘it will only happen if I do it.’
2. Keep yourself mentally and physically fit.
3. Off days are cost days.  If you’re not able to deliver the work you’ve promised, or you’re not able to deliver any work, then that certainly becomes a cost and not a revenue.
4. Marketing never stops – whilst you’re working, you’re not getting business.  Consider how you balance the challenges of delivering and getting business – what other avenues can you use to market?   Don’t forget to exploit the opportunities that social media bring – although whilst you may have one face for Facebook, you will need to think about your business face for Facebook.
5. Manage risk.  When you set off as an independent or freelancer, funding insurance policies to cover risk may be a really difficult challenge.  Whilst you have a professional indemnity, managing any other risks may have to be about your ability rather than insurance coverage, which may be beyond your budget at this early stage.

Much more of these topics and the ability to come up with a successful freelance plan will be available through our one day programme, run by the British School of Coaching.  

We look forward to seeing you there!


Judith Barton is Director of Coaching at BSC, and is currently leading the ILM Level 7 Certificate in Executive Coaching and Mentoring in the UAE.

Book Review: Coaching and Mentoring at Work

Coaching and Mentoring At Work (2nd Edition)  –Mary Connor and Julia Pokora (2012) Open University Press, McGraw-Hill Education

Martin Hill, Senior Tutor, BSC

 This book is relevant for experienced practitioners and also provides a great framework for new practitioners and students. I would also suggest that this is an essential read for purchasers of coaching and mentoring service, HR professionals and managers/leaders who are interested in developing their coaching and mentoring skills.

The book is written in an accessible, easy to understand style and is crammed full with practical examples and tips. The authors even reserve a chapter for one of the key characters in any coaching or mentoring relationship – the client. This is one of the few coaching and mentoring texts that address the position of the client and sets out the factors that clients should bear in mind when deciding whether to embark upon coaching or mentoring and suggests how best to prepare themselves to get the best out of that experience, as well as highlighting some of the standards and behaviours that they should be expecting from a coach or mentor- a useful chapter for the practitioner to reflect upon their own practice to ensure that they are meeting these expectations and standards.

The book considers the similarities between coaching and mentoring and one of the key arguments of the authors is that “a learning relationship is central to both coaching and mentoring, which are more than just a set of activities or skills.” It also highlights the differences between the two disciplines, albeit the majority of the book focuses on the common elements.

The structure of the book prompts reflection and learning opportunities for the reader- reinforcing the reflective learning discipline that is a prerequisite for the wise practitioner! I found the chapter on contracting to be a practical and comprehensive guide which addresses the key factors that one encounters in reality – a book that addresses the practitioner elements as well as the subject theory.

The main model that is advocated by the authors for both coaching and mentoring is Dr Gerard Egan’s Skilled Helper” model-once again the authors approach this with a winning combination of theory and practical application. Two chapters show how the model would apply to a coaching scenario and a mentoring scenario. The authors also highlight other models commonly encountered in coaching and mentoring.

The authors also provide a comprehensive guide to tools and techniques that will support the successful implementation of the model – twelve tools and techniques that are succinctly described and the pros and cons considered.

The second edition features a new chapter which deals with reflective practice, supervision and accreditation – this is outlined with the same hallmarks of clarity and practicality with useful checklists and prompts.
This book will be one of the “default” texts that I turn to in my coaching and mentoring practice, and also in my role as manager and leader. It will be one of the texts that I will recommend for my ILM Level 7 candidates as a good “foundation” text.

Martin is a Programme tutor for British School of Coaching's executive coaching courses.  Read more about our ILM qualifications and CPD courses here.