The Coaching Habit

Perhaps you are someone who has experienced the power of coaching and now you would like to use coaching skills in your leadership. But you don’t have the time to invest in an extensive coach training program. After all you love your job and you just want to add the skills, not actually become a certified coach.

If this sounds like you, then I recommend you read ‘The Coaching Habit’ by Michael Bungay Stanier. It is an easy read that will help you make coaching a daily informal part of how you lead, in order to unlock the potential of others. There are 7 chapters that outline 7 essential coaching questions. These questions have the potential to transform your interactions with your staff and team. He also throws in some other valuable coaching tips and focuses on how to build these new learning’s into habits.

If I share anymore here I will give away the content of the book! It doesn’t take long to read but it will change the way you lead. Do add it to your pandemic reading list.

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The One Thing

In our age of distraction when daily we are pulled in so many directions, this book is a very helpful and refreshing read.  The authors suggest that narrowing your focus is the key to success - “extraordinary results are directly determined by how narrow you can make your focus”.

Keller & Papason argue that not all things matter equally, despite the speed and urgency that they are coming at us.  It takes intentionality and discernment to separate the urgent from the important.  Most of us know that certain things matter more than others, but we often don’t allow these to drive our day. 

The book talks about the importance of saying ‘no’, it unpacks the myth of multitasking and addresses distraction and its ability to undermine results.   It suggests that a balanced life is a myth, as not all priorities matter equally.  The authors encourage the discipline of establishing new habits and of applying time blocking in order to achieve mastery.   They suggest blocking four hours a day for your one thing.  Having a coach or accountability partner to come alongside and keep you on track is also encouraged.

This is great read and if taken seriously will impact the way you work.  The book can be summarised by the authors statement - “To achieve an extraordinary result you must choose what matters most and give it all the time it demands.”

The questions I love from this book: -

 “What’s the ONE Thing I can do in my life that would mean the most to me and the world, such that by doing it everything else would be easier or unnecessary?”

“What’s the ONE Thing I can do today for [whatever you want] such that by doing it everything else will be easier or even unnecessary?”

What’s the ONE thing I can do in my… my spiritual life, physical health, personal life, key relationships, job, business, and financial life. 

My favourite quotes from ‘The One Thing’: -

 “It’s not enough to be busy, so are the ants. The question is, what are we busy about?”  Henry David Thoreau

 “Be like a postage stamp–stick to one thing until you get there.” Josh Billings

“The things which are most important don’t always scream the loudest.” Bob Hawke

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The Storyteller's Secret

A story has the power to take us on an emotional journey, to move us to tears. Our heart connects, the passion shines through, vision comes to life. We all resonate with a well told story. A story paints a picture, it communicates purpose, it grab’s peoples attention. A story helps people make sense of information, it can simplify complex topics, motivate teams, persuade people, or start a movement!

Carmine Gallo shares dozens of examples of great story tellers that have influenced change, started movements and built successful companies - from Apple to Starbucks, Churchill to Malala Yousafzai, both famous people and ordinary people, who have inspired and brought about change through the power of story. As he shares these stories, Gallo breaks down what makes the stories connect with people, what the key tools are to sharing a good story and how you too can learn to be a successful story teller. Add this book to your reading list and learn the simple yet powerful techniques for connecting with people’s hearts through story.

The one key message of this book - ‘story is king!’

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Creativity, Inc.

Creativity, Inc. tells the story of the well-known animated movie making company Pixar, from its inception to growth, struggles, successes and the journey to joining with Disney Animation.  This book is a great study in creating company culture and for Pixar that culture needed to be one of sustainable creativity where ‘Story is King’.

While the book is full of many examples of great leadership, let me share four takeaways that stood out: -

1.       Focus on People – at Pixar they believe in their people, that everybody has the potential to be creative.   A culture is fostered where everyone continually asks questions and is given responsibility for identifying and solving problems, regardless of title or hierarchy.  At Pixar the leadership believes that getting the team right is the precursor to getting the ideas right.  Ed shares that “ideas come from people; therefore, people are more important than ideas.”  They built a culture around finding and developing good people, which resulted in developing good ideas.  Pixar leadership is intentional in their choice to put people first and Creativity Inc shares the many ways they do this in practical terms.  Most organizations claim to put people first but this is a story where this value is lived out and results in significant success.

 2.       A Culture of Candour – Pixar leadership believes that the freedom to share ideas, opinions and criticisms is key to a creative culture and candour became the value which they embraced to do this well.  Candour - forthrightness or frankness, fosters creative collaboration that is at the heart of their company success.  The leadership embraced candour, they encouraged people to level with each other, to talk about mistakes and failures, to openly critique ideas, and to take time for post-mortems after the completion of every movie.  All of their meetings and interactions are efforts to reinforce the idea that it is okay to express yourself and this in turn has built a foundation of trust. It is impressive how well Pixar embraced and embodied this value throughout all levels of the company.

 3.      Notes Day – as the company grew and merged with Disney Animation, Ed shares that they became aware that people were self-censoring and not feeling safe to offer differing ideas.  They decided to shut the company for a day and have all employees involved in ‘notes day’.  This was an entire day dedicated to telling the leadership how to make Pixar better.  Weeks went into preparation - sharing about notes day with employees, soliciting ideas and discussion topics, training facilitators and preparing for the day.  On the day all Pixar people chose to attend sessions according to their interest and each session came out with solid ideas to take forward.  Ed describes this day as “resetting the table for creativity and breaking the logjam in the way of candour”.  The thought and preparation that they put into the day and the resulting shift in energy and culture of their people is an inspiring case study for other organisations.

 4.      Mentoring Program – when Pixar was small and growing, the vision and wisdom was easily caught by those who worked closely alongside the founders.  As the company grew it became apparent that this passing on of wisdom through osmosis was no longer happening.   After recognising this problem, the leadership created a mentoring program that would intentionally pass on what those who had worked closely with the initial creators had learned.  As a formal part of their job, every director became responsible to also be a teacher, so that the wisdom and insights of ‘how we do it in Pixar’ were not lost.  This intentionality in developing leaders is noteworthy.

What makes Pixar special? These things and many more that Ed describes in the book, all formed a culture of creativity that ultimately led to Pixar’s enormous success.  Creativity Inc is a great read and fascinating study in creating company culture.  Do add it to your reading list!

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Playing Big

For those of us coaching women in leadership, those making a difference in this world, Tara Mohr’s Playing Big provides insight and empowerment for helping women deal with self-doubt and the common inner struggles that hold women back.

Her writing around the voice of the ‘inner-critic’ and how to recognise and turn down that voice without giving it the ultimate authority, is very helpful and insightful.

She writes with experience on facing fear, criticism and dealing with feedback, ways competent women hide, undermining speech habits and looking to our inner mentor.

Whether you are a coach supporting women in leadership, or a woman seeking to make a difference, this book will help uncover some internal blockages that hold women back. Add it to your reading list for inspiration and empowerment!

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