How do you know you are good at something?

Welcome to November's newsletter. This month, we'll be covering:

• Useful resources
• Top Tips
• Introducing the team
• Events
• How we help

For me, there are two things that I see organisations do really well in creating a culture of development and growth:

Creating leaders at all levels. I see this when people are feeling empowered, coached and supported. Encouraging people to lead themselves and others at all levels.

Making safe mistakes. This links to “Black Box Thinking” book. The idea is that small mistakes that you learn from are great for development. Giving people enough space to grow, develop, make small mistakes and learn from them is key.

Writing these two down, I think it boils down to helping people think. I wonder how many times you have seen a team or an organisation full of people doing but not really bringing their minds to work?

Resources

Below are links to books, podcasts, and that I've read or listened to. I found them insightful, I hope you do too.

Start with Why – Simon Sinek (book and TED talk)Situational leadership (from Management of Organizational Behaviour) – Dr Paul Hersey and Dr Ken Blanchard7 Habits of Highly Effective people – Stephen R CoveyBlack Box Thinking for personal and firm wide growth - Matthew Syed

Some of our own resources

Planning your coaching session - Downloadable resource

The changing nature of training and development?

Fee paying hours versus investment hours?

When it comes to business development are skills or confidence more important??

Top Tips

How do you know you are good at something? It’s a simple question, and the answer tends to be a little challenging. Do you:

• Behave modestly and underplay your skills?
• Assume you know what you are good at?
• Reflect on your skills and development areas?
• Get feedback on strengths and areas to improve?
• Explore best practice for your own learning?

In our experience, if you can take a little from each point (probably least from the first) then this will put you in a strong position for yourself. You might need to support your less experienced colleagues to really embrace these approaches, and here are two quick tips for understanding the group and individual strengths and development areas: ? World Café – Mark in our team is great at running short, focused events that get teams talking about the development, growth, and challenges. It’s a hands on event, where groups scribble answers on paper tablecloths, discuss and share development opportunities. Why this approach? It’s fun (it does feel a little naughty to scribble on paper tablecloths), it’s engaging and gives a safe environment to capture development areas and strengths as a group. If you want to know more about this approach, please drop me a message and we can talk you through how this can work for you. ? Get good at coaching – We have provided a resource on planning your coaching session. For me a great coach can gently tease out both strengths and development areas for their coachee. Here are some questions you can start with:

• Where in relation to your development goals are you now?
• Thinking about your role (or your next role), how well equipped are you do this?
• What could stop you moving forward?
• How do you know this is accurate and true?
• What skills and attributes do you currently have in this area?

The answers to these questions are then drilled into to explore the thinking, evidence and positioning of any given strength or development area.

This month, we had our first lunch and learn session delivered by Jane?Fisher on Organisational Change.?Our next session is on Wednesday, 13th December and is called DEI Hard?DEI Hard – The State of Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (DEI) Today. Plan some time over lunch in your diaries?and sign up for as many as you like.?Wednesday 13th December 13.00 - 14.00?

DrivenNet 19th January 2024 at Porsche Teesside. Networking for car enthusiasts and petrol head business owners. If you would like to join us as a guest, please register?and click the “Free taster request” button to reserve your space.

Introducing the team

Steven Parker

Experienced Business and Non-Exec Director | Digital Marketing Specialist | Chartered Institute of Marketing Tutor.

Steven has amassed almost two decades of experience in advertising and marketing. Starting his career in 2004 with the Newcastle Chronicle and Journal, he then moved into a more specialised digital agency before setting up and scaling his own digital marketing business.?

He set up his first business, Digital Allies, in January 2015 and grew that to be a well-regarded digital marketing business working on digital marketing strategies and implementation with clients such as the Solicitors Regulation Authority, North East LEP. North East England Chamber of Commerce, Gateshead College, Darlington College, EPNE, among others. In November 2020, he exited that business.?

Since then, he has focussed on applying his digital marketing knowledge to a vast range of businesses and continues to develop a deep understanding of the latest trends and best practices for organisations of all sizes and industry.

Steven is passionate about helping businesses improve their online visibility and drive more traffic, leads, and revenue through their websites.

How we help

Have you had a look at our new range of eLearning? We have a range of courses to help you and your team develop and grow. The platform can be accessed at any time on any device. Check out some of our courses below:

Coaching Skills for Professionals

Networking for Professionals

LinkedIn for Professionals

Presentations for Professionals

Stakeholder?Management and Engagement