"The Extraordinary Coach" by J Zenger & K Stinnett

Through work I recently had the chance to listen to Kathleen Stinnett talk about coaching so I thought I'd get hold of her book ( The Extraordinary Coach - How the best Leaders help Others Grow) and read it.

I'm glad I did.

In a foreward to the book Marshall Goldsmith writes "Read it, devour it, practice it, and you, too, will be an extraordinary coach!"  Having read the book this certainly feels credible.

They introduce some research that suggests there could be many benefits to leaders being better coaches including reduced employee attrition rates and greater engagement.   Given I'm a keen follower of BBC Radio 4's "More or Less" the authors get a bonus mark from me when they explicitly draw a distinction between correlation and causality at the start of Chapter 3 by saying "..the fact that things are correlated does not prove that one causes the other.  It only proves that there is some strong connection between them."

The core of the book is the introduction of the FUEL coaching framework -

• Frame the conversation
• Understand the current state
• Explore the desired state
• Lay out the success plan

In detailed chapters on each element they provide concrete examples of the sorts of questions the coach can ask to guide the conversation through each of the phases.

In a nice additional touch they provide access to some further resources including videos, at www.zegerfolkman.com.

The book is easy to read and has a very practical focus being full of ideas and suggestions that can easily be implemented.  It has already had a positive impact on some conversations I have had since reading it - I feel a long way short of the "Outstanding Coach" title but hopefully further down that route as a result of reading and reflecting on this book.

First attempt at Geocaching

I first heard about geocaching some years ago - now that I have some suitable equipment in the shape of an iPhone I've been meaning to give it a go.

Looking on www.geocaching.com I found that there were numerous sites near us so we downloaded their iphone app and headed out, iphone in hand, this afternoon to find one not too far from us.

The app uses a compass image to give a rather nice direction and distance indication on the screen.  This got us to the right area and here the search began.   We knew we were looking for a "magnetic nano" but other than the expectation that this would mean it was attached to something metallic we had no idea what we were searching for.

Initial searching didn't yield anything but after a while we found it and discovered that nano does mean rather small.  However, despite its small size, it contained a tickertape style pice of paper on which to log your visit.  We left our mark (first people to do so in 2011) and then returned it to its hiding place.

Great fun, despite the rain, think we may well have a go at some of the other ones in the area now.

Bible in a year

Last August I decided to embark on a 52 week bible reading plan that should see me read all 66 books over the course of a year.

I looked around at a number of different plans and in the end opted for one by Michael Coley (www.Bible-Reading.com).  I liked the way he had split the task down based on the different sorts of books that make up the bible.   Sunday is spent on Epistles, Monday covers The Law, Tuesday looks at History, Wednesday is devoted to Psalms, Thursday brings poetry, Friday is for Prophecy and Saturday brings the week to a close with the Gospels.   This does result in a slightly uneven split of reading volume through the week from a couple of psalms on Wednesday to typically 5 chapters of History or Prophecy on Tuesday/Friday.  The upside though is that you get a variety of style and content during the week.

Yesterday marked the end of week 26 and hence the half way point on the journey.   So how am I doing?  Well, I am a few days behind schedule but pleased with the progress.  I've completed 20 books (Romans, Galatians, Ephesians, 1 Corinthians, 2 Corinthians, Genesis, Exodus, Joshua, Judges, Ruth, 1 Samuel, 2 Samuel, Ezra, Job,  Isaiah, Jeremiah, Lamentations, Daniel, Matthew and Mark.   The biblical scholars amongst you will no doubt have immediately spotted that Ezra and Daniel are out of sequence and shouldn't have been covered yet - these were covered by some normal daily reading notes I was following in addition to the bible in a year plan.

I like the way that the discipline of working steadily through the books is ensuring that I read all of them rather than just the more familiar passages.   I'm confident come August I'll have completed the remaining 46 books.

Today's passage from Philippians beckons so I'd best click on "publish" and go complete book number 21.

Death, love, courage and hope

This afternoon I attended the funeral of a lady that I have known through church for many years.

The love and respect in which Anne is held is well illustrated by the fact that this was the 2nd of 3 planned services.  There had already been a cremation service last week.  Today's funeral/interment service was held in St Catherine's church which she had attended for many years.  In a few weeks the 3rd service, a celebration of her life, will be held in Winchester Cathedral - the fact that it is being held in the cathedral again speaks to the number of people whose lives she has touched.

I always knew that she did a lot but it is still a surprise when you hear everything talked about at once in the address.  As someone put it - she was the epitome of the saying that if you want something done you should give it to a busy person.  Be it in the church, choirs, school or community Anne could be found taking an active role and making a difference.

She certainly fitted a lot into her life and was a blessing to many people.  One of the speakers at the service suggested that all of the congregation should find something we could do to help others - as he put it this would be more "pay forward" than "pay back" for all we had received from Anne over the years.  He certainly felt this would be a legacy she'd be pleased with.  We may already be busy doing things but in a way that would make it all the more apt for us to do something else.

Having just completed the annual appraisal process at work, with its focus on just 12 short months of impact, today's service has reminded me of the importance of stepping back and looking at the longer term and considering what our own legacy will be.   I was also reminded of a film I saw some years ago ( might have been "Death becomes Her") where 2 of the characters are seeking to live forever by taking a magical elixir.   The husband however refuses to take the potion - arguing that even though his mortal life will finish he will live forever though his family and through the impact that he has had on people's lives.

Over the years I've read a lot of articles/books/etc which talk about the importance and power of a positive attitude.  This is another area where Anne provided us with a great example to follow.  She has spent that last few years battling with cancer but though it all retained a positive outlook and a focus on what she could achieve.

There will be rejoicing in heaven but she will be sadly missed by those she leaves behind.  On earth she will live on through her powerful and wide reaching legacy that was encapsulated today in a eulogy to be proud of.  RIP Anne.

IBM Prize for Mathematics

This evening it was my privilege to present the inaugural IBM Prize for Mathematics at Oxford University which is awarded for the top performance in the Honour Moderations exams at the end of 1st year.

The evening started with a talk on the mathematics of bell ringing (think church rather than door or hand) from the retired head of mathematics at GCHQ.   I followed this with a short overview of IBM and why we are interested in mathematics graduates before presenting the winners with their certificates.

Sitting in the lecture room was an interesting reminder of attending lectures over 20 years ago when I was doing my own degree.  The room was much the same but I did notice the seats had been reupholstered and the blackboards have been replaced by whiteboards.

After the talks the other speaker and I were taken to Christ Church College for dinner which was very good.  Hall is impressive even without the floating candles I was sure it had when I saw it a film a while back....

Over coffee after dinner the conversation ranged over sculpture, ancient Greek manuscripts (Epic and poetry), Greek mathematicians, trisecting angles, Euclid, von Neuman, and all points in between :-)

Reflections on the Chartered Management Institute's Annual Conference #li #cmiconf

Last week I attended the annual CMI conference at the Royal Garden Hotel in London.

In a format like last year we were treated to an impressive range of speakers across various leadership topics.  The seemingly mandatory photographer was there to intrude on events by taking repeated flash photographs of the speakers while they were presenting.  It seems that this is a requirement for any significant CMI event and I have to say I've never understood why.  I was hugely amused though when we were showed a video created for the CMI reflecting on events of the past 12 months and it included a warning that there was some flashing images in it - but no mention of the photographer who had been snapping away for some while in the room !!

I was a bit puzzled by the title of the conference "From Mediocrity to Excellence" which, though I'm sure it wasn't intended as such, did seem like a bit of a downer on the leadership capabilities of the attendees and at the same time a "slight" overselling of what results might be achieved by attending.

As had been the case last year we had a late change to the programme due to a planned speaker not being available and so missed out on hearing Karen Brady talk which was a pity - especially as I had stayed up the night before to make sure I had watched a recording of that week's Apprentice to see what she said in case she referred to it in her talk :-(

So here are some thoughts that I jotted down from the day - most of the presentations are up on slideshare  ....

First up was Ruth Spellman Chief Executive of the CMI.  She talked about the progress the CMI is making both in terms of membership (now over 90,000) and in terms of brand recognition (now appears in the Superbrand survey top 500 - some 35 places above the CIPD).  Talked about the importance of management qualifications and showed a video about work Serco has done at Doncaster prison using CMI training to increase the capabilities of their leadership team with great results.  Right at the end of her talk was an interesting idea - keeping a weekly "Learning Log" to capture what you've learned each week and from whom.  I thought this sounded like an interesting way of triggering reflections on the week gone by and capturing thoughts from it - may give it a go.

Next we had Mike Southon, a political and business columnist for the Financial Times.  He talked about a range of topics, two things in particular caught my attention.  He introduced the idea of 7 stages in life.

• 21-28 - try as many things as possible
• 28-35 - serious attempt at something
• 35-42 - maybe decide to try something different
• 42-49 - at the peak of your powers
• 49-56 - maturing self awareness
• 56-63 - start to worry about your legacy
• 63-70 - elder statesperson

Interesting to note from the political sphere that Clegg, Cameron, Milliband and Obama all fit in the 42-49 bracket.

He also spoke about "Talent dynamics" and the importance of creating teams that balance the skills of the members.  Again from the political sphere he spoke about the Labour team of Blair (star), Mandelson (deal maker), Brown (accumulator - eye on the money) and Campbell (mechanic - making things happen).

On the topic of money vs wealth he suggested that money is what you have in the bank and wealth is what you have left if the money all goes - ie reputation, trust, respect etc

After a break for coffee (and some rather lovely cake) we reconvened to hear Rob Law (he of Trunki fame - sit on suitcase famously broken by Theo on Dragons' Den).  He talked about the history of his company, challenges faced and how they overcame them.  Importance of picking the right people and and making sure they were engaged with the company was highlighted and he spoke about some of the things they do.  Their new office space was deliberately fitted out in a vibrant and wacky way consistent with the company values.  Interested to hear how they had an education fund of £1000 per employee which enabled them to grow new skills - intriguingly they can now see a reduction in consultancy costs as the staff they have gain broader capabilities.  Also touched on how important it is to make events memorable - highlighted a Christmas dinner that they had one year which was run at a cookery school so the staff actually had to cook their own meal.  Years later it is still remembered fondly.

The last slot before lunch was taken by Jo Salter who was the UK's first fast jet pilot in the RAF.  Lots of interesting background on how she progressed through the RAF to take that role and the challenges associated with being the first women to do so.  Four keys to success that she offered....

• Be open to opportunities that present themselves 
• Surround yourself with people who make you feel good and fill you with energy and maintain a "glass half full" mentality
• Take responsibility for our actions - how we choose to behave drives what we do
• Enjoy the journey - have goals but rather than just focus on meeting it then setting another make sure you enjoy the ride along the way as well.

After a break for a very nice lunch we reconvened for the afternoon session which was kicked off by Stephen Howard - CEO of Business in the Community.  In an echo of comments made by Mike Southon in the morning he noted that we tend to spend the first half of our life chasing success and then decide to focus less on success and more on making  significance - making a difference.   Talked about his role and Business in the Community and came across as someone really thrilled by what he gets to do each day - lots of reference to things being "fun".  He recounted a story of meeting Mother Theresa on a plane in India.  She asked him what he did and then as he started to talk about his role (at that time a company CEO) she interrupted him to ask "no, what do you do that matters".  Seemingly the conversation had a profound effect and his encouragement to us was to think about how we can use our position and where we are to make a difference in the world.  "What can I do today that will make the most difference?"

Professor Lord Eatwell (CMI Chief Economic Adviser) spoke about the latest Economic Outlook published by the CMI based on survey of its members.  The news wasn't great with significant drops in business optimism since the last survey 6 months ago.  Whilst this was driven by a big decline in the optimism of those in the public sector (perhaps not surprisingly) there were also declines in the responses from both the not for profit and private sector as well.

As noted above Karen Brady was unable to attend the conference so we had a substitute speaker in the shape of James Cann.  In a wide ranging talk he touched on some of his own business successes and how he had got to where he is today as well as some thoughts relating to his role as a Dragon.  

To finish the day we had the rather amazing Chris Moon.  His website has a short video that talks about his background so I won't repeat it here.  Instead here are some thoughts I jotted down while he spoke...

• Stick to your values - respect other people
• When facing death you are haunted mostly by the things you haven't done and the people you could have helped.
• Courage isn't the absence of fear, it's overcoming that and doing what we know we need to do
• Do not assume the role of victim whatever happens
• Be focussed on where you are now - make use of time you have
• Never take things personally, listen to what people say and don't rush to judge
• Never underestimate the power of belief - he talked about a pig he had seen that was tied with a piece of string to a wooden stake.  Clearly the pig had the strength to get the stake out of the ground by pulling on the string and hence get free but it didn't - why not.  As a piglet it was tied to the stake in the same way and tried to get free but eventually realised it couldn't.  Later when it was tied up in the same way it "knew" it couldn't get free so doesn't try.... ie it becomes constrained by it's belief that it can't get free.

Finally he left us with his philosophy - be realistic about the situation you face, choose a positive perspective and choose a positive attitude.   It is this philosophy that has enabled him to survive and achieve what he has.

All in all it was a good day.  Whilst I like hearing from the high profile speakers I do miss the smaller breakout sessions that used to be a feature of the CMI conferences.  These smaller scale presentations added a lot of value by covering a wider range of topics and providing a chance to make connections with the speakers.  Some years later I am still linked with a number of the people whose talks I attended -  either through subscription to their newsletters/blogs or in person.

A week of looking inside my head - physically and metaphorically

As I looked back at the last week it occurred to me that amongst the normal ebb and flow of the days 2 things stood out - and both concerned looking inside my head.

On Tuesday I met an ENT consultant to look at the results of an MRI scan that I had a couple of weeks ago.  (A few years ago I had a couple of operations to remove a cholesteatoma from inside my right ear.  Not unsurprisingly I have been left with a residual tinitus in the ear which isn't a big problem but did get worse earlier this year.   The MRI scan was mainly a precaution to check whether there was any sign of the cholesteatoma regrowing.)  I'm pleased to say that the results came back without any evidence of return.  It was fascinating to be able to see the scans of the inside of my head even if the orientation was a bit difficult.  The image showed nose at the top but right ear was on left of screen - ie you need to imaging that you are standing at you feet looking up at a cross section through you head.  Lots of detail of bones inside the ear, brain etc and, as he moved the computer mouse to pass through the images, an alarming sudden appearance of my eye balls in brilliant white on the screen !!  There was some white stuff on the image inside my ear which is probably swelling due to a previous cold or other similar infection and should hopefully just sort itself out over time.  Consultant said there were 2 options ... A) leave it alone and it should hopefully settle down by itself or B) open the ear up again to have a look around inside.....  pleased to say that we both felt option A was the best.

In preparation for a workshop that I am attending later this month I had to complete a Hogan Test this week.  The test is designed to give some insights into my leadership strengths, risks around how I may behave under stress, my values etc.   I completed the lengthy questionaries and booked a 1 hour feedback session where the results would be explained to me.   I've done a number of these sorts of tests before and am always fascinated to see what the results come back as, and how what they say maps to my own self perception.  On Friday I had my call to discuss the results and was very fortunate to be assigned a lady who clearly had a lot of experience in administering and explaining the results of these tests.  We had a great discussion about what the results said about me and more broadly what sorts of things the survey can highlight.  I am going to be moving to a new role in IBM in October so this also gave an opportunity to think about how the profile identified by the test fitted with the likely needs of the new job.   I'm pleased to say that the fit between my profile and the new role look good - I thought it was a good fit when I accepted it but it's nice to see some validation of that choice in the data from the test.  Really looking forward to the workshop in a couple of weeks and learning more about the test and what it shows.