Reinventing yourself

As Charles B. Handy wisely said, 'Anything that takes us out of our comfort zones for a while can act as a reminder that the past we are used to may not be our best future.' This serves as a powerful reminder of the benefits of challenging oneself, inspiring us to strive for a better future.

In my previous council, I’d been working with my team to support their personal development and build the team as we navigate the pandemic . Using 360s to enable people they work with — colleagues, commissioners and partners — to give them feedback on what they’ve done well, what’s challenged them and what opportunities to grow, and questions from the excellent Manual of Me, a comprehensive self-assessment tool, to help them think about their career.

I used that to get people to imagine what they’d like to write in a year about what they’ve achieved and what they’d like others to write about them, a postcard from the future, if you will, a method I borrowed from @enrolyourself.

I’ve found that I need to use what people want to improve and specific opportunities to get them to dive in at the deep end while consciously supporting them in developing new skills. This could include a debrief after they are deputising for me, facilitating a workshop with solid characters or mediating difficult conversations to get them to lead and mobilise strategies and programmes by scoping together with the sponsor and then slowly letting them fly. At the same time, I become less involved or even encourage them to jump into a more senior role while coaching to lead it.

It’s an art rather than a science to help people navigate the choppy waters of challenging people to work in new ways. You don’t want people to sink, nor do you want them to coast. Sometimes, you have to intervene to deliberately create ways for them to develop new skills, either because they’ve had performance issues or behaviour that need to be rectified. But sometimes, it’s where they are high-performing but don’t feel confident in making the plunge.

I’ve also experienced it as a member of my team: being asked to deputise, tackle a difficult issue I had little prior knowledge of, or, more often than not, build relationships quickly with people I didn’t know to deliver change.

I’ve also used a coach to challenge me to leave my comfort zone and move to different organisations every couple of years, a practice common in the private sector. Two years is often the minimum, but less so in the public sector.

• Personal development is a powerful tool. It allows us to ask ourselves, 'How will I have challenged myself in a year?' This question empowers us to take control of our development.
• What skills and experiences do I need to develop but don’t feel confident using?
• What are the situations I find challenging to navigate, and what could help me unblock them?
• Consider this: what career options could you develop that would challenge you the most? How can you experience them? This line of thinking can open up exciting new possibilities and keep you open-minded about your future.
• What can I do over the next month or week to try this out?
• Who can hold me to account and help me with this?

What’s your core work? Your core work refers to the primary responsibilities and tasks that are essential to your role and contribute to the overall success of your team or organization.

What’s your push work, new ways of working or tackling issues you could introduce? Your push work refers to the innovative projects or initiatives that challenge the status quo and push the boundaries of your current work.

What’s your exploration work—the 5–10% of the time when you can learn something new or develop a self-initiated project?