Zach Mercurio – what a name! – has written a new book called The Power of Mattering. I’ve eagerly pre-ordered it.
In it, he connects things that we already know instinctively, and articulates them in a way that creates new understanding and clarity. So many ‘penny drop’ moments.
“What we’re really facing is not a disengagement crisis. It’s a mattering deficit. And mattering is the experience of feeling significant to the people around you.”
“Hurry and care can’t coexist. One of the things that’s really pressing us down right now is our hurry addiction.”
“The liminal space, the in-between space… culture is actually crafted is in the in-between” [between the meetings, onboardings, Awards, etc.]
Zach redefines relational communication skills as “the hard skills of caring” – anything but ‘soft’. Seeing and hearing team members daily, and demonstrating that they are needed and significant.
As Zach puts it in his HBR article about the book, “These behaviors may seem like common sense, but they’ve ceased to be common practice in a world of brief digital communications and condescension toward soft skills, and they’re well worth relearning.”
I see the leaders I work constantly struggling to overcome the “hurry addiction” of our workplace cultures, so they can allow enough time and headspace for these brief moments of connection.
Every leader I’ve worked with has wanted to do this. But somehow, it often doesn’t feel legitimate in the midst of the endless drive for efficiency.
The most effective leaders I’ve supported were all somewhat counter-cultural. Unusual, in that they prioritised time and space to show their teams that they mattered. And their teams loved them for it, and would go to bat for them.
Even if it’s “common sense”, it’s not easy to do this at scale. But if teams of people who feel like they matter are also the highest performing, then these ‘hard skills of caring’ must surely be the ultimate scaling skills.
I’ve achieved the Associate Certified Coach credential, issued by the International Coaching Federation (ICF). This means a lot to me, but probably not a lot to you. The ICF describe what this takes as:
Associate Certified Coach (ACC) Credential-holders are trained (60+ hours) and experienced (100+ hours) coaches. They have demonstrated knowledge and emerging proficiency in the application of the ICF Core Competencies, Code of Ethics, and definition of coaching. Earners show a commitment to high ethical standards and have demonstrated, through rigorous assessment, professional competence in their work with clients.
To reach this milestone, I’ve completed over 164 hours of specific coach training, over 150 hours of coaching, and passed an ICF-accredited coaching performance assessment and an ICF coach knowledge assessment exam.
Coaching is not a regulated profession. But this credential gives my coaching clients the reassurance of my experience, my ethical standards and my coaching knowledge and capability.
I’ve loved working with each and every person I’ve coached, it’s really a privilege to stand alongside someone committed to making progress. If you’re one of those people, thank you.
How is it the end of June already? Super busy month where I’ve felt like every 15 minute slot has been claimed. Deep breath; it’s going to be this way until I go away in August.
Consulting
Started working with a new client, coaching their comms manager and getting excited about a pragmatic and ambitious internal communications strategy that cuts through and reaches their complex and hard-to-reach workforce.
Worked with an Executive team to determine what a good strategy day (and a good strategy) looks like, so that I can facilitate it for them in July. Turns out good isn’t “a long session of intellectual masturbation”. I won’t be running an offsite like that! 🤢
Launched the flexible working approach for a client after a two-month sprint on it to get it right. Behaviour change takes time but we’ve supported it with guidance, nudges and role modelling, and launched it as an “experiment”. It’s gone down very well so far, we’re seeing an uptick in Peakon scores around flexibility already.
A new intro to an exciting company which may or may not turn into something. Thinking about ways to scale up to be in a position to say “yes” if that becomes an option.
Coaching
Lots of coaching sessions with an incredibly diverse group of people across different continents. I delivered a 360 feedback report to a senior leader in a biotech business. I always deliver it with a health warning – I know much of the research demonstrates that 360s are a flawed process (because humans are flawed). However, in my experience, they can also be extremely useful. I tend to talk about feedback being representative of people’s perceptions about us, not an accurate description of reality. So the question is not is the feedback true, but, what are you going to do, now you have new information about how people perceive you?
Finished a coaching programme with another client. The last session is always bittersweet – a great time to reflect and celebrate progress but an ending and parting of the ways also. Doing more of these has taught me to be much more skilful in other life endings, too.
Growth
No training this month. But I’m off to the Do Lectures next week – which will deserve a post in its own right. Equal parts excited, nervous and curious.
Community
I volunteered at the school fete, running a ‘crack the box’ game. 50p to try to crack the 3 number padlock on the box, if you get it right you get to keep the overpriced cuddly toy inside. I experienced a range of emotions when I discovered how the game worked – notably guilt of taking 50p off children for a seemingly impossible game with a 1 in 1,000 chance. However, I was proved wrong, one boy cracked it within half an hour (after 5 tries, that is).
Listen
Discovered HBR’s Coaching Real Leaders which is a joy – listening into a real coaching session allows me to learn from other coaches in a way that is hard to access after you’ve finished formal training.
Read
I’ve been too tired to read much nonfiction this month. I did finish my last guilty pleasure – Katherine Rundell’s the Girl Savage – which was a simple and classic tale of persistence against the odds and belonging. Back to grown up books in July.
Life
Voted! By post – because I’ll be on the way to Wales on July 4th. I have found the debates hard to watch. As someone who defaults to harmoniser, I have however learned to appreciate and use conflict when it can be constructive and helpful for the work. But the endless bickering has led me to switch off a number of times.
Lots of school meetings – and two sports days, at which I was irrationally excited about my progeny’s sporting prowess (definitely not my genes). Also extra transition meetings to support my son’s move from infant school to junior school. Optimistic about it so far.
Celebrated my Big Birthday with two nights away on Dartmoor with husband and no children. Bliss. Enjoyed a tour and tasting at the Swanaford Estate vineyard, which makes excellent white and sparkling wine. Took a few bottles home, naturally. Two days’ uninterrupted thinking allowed both of us to make some breakthroughs about what we want to do with our businesses next. Exciting!
Consulting: As I write, I’m 24 hours away from launching a new flexible way of working for one of my clients. It’s been a big push to get it here. I’ve designed Team Discussion guides and template Team Agreement / Ways of Working Canvases, and facilitated the Exec team to reach their own Team Agreement. We’re also publishing it for the rest of the company to read: I love how open they are to working in the open.
Some Internal Communications Strategy pieces too this month. I have my templates of course, but it always surprises me how bespoke they end up. That said, this was for the most complex matrixed business I’ve ever worked with, so off the shelf was never going to cut it.
Coaching: Lots more coaching this month, a couple of new coaching clients, a 360 feedback coaching programme, and some testimonials I was pleased as punch to read.
Helen, you’ve been amazing! I can’t thank you enough for coaching me through a real turning point in my life and career. I’ve really appreciated your gentle approach and felt throughout that you genuinely cared about me. You gave me space to come up with my own solutions, while also recognising that I needed a bit of structure to help me work through my thoughts and priorities. I’ve learnt so much about myself and what I want from life, it’s been a completely transformative experience. And I can’t wait to start the new role I secured whilst working with you. Thank you!
Head of Communications
A lovely mention on LinkedIn too from Jim Godfrey, with some client feedback. I’ve loved being part of his team of coaches this year.
Other work stuff: Migrated my emails over to Microsoft to try and bring some order to my just-about-manageable tech mayhem. When you run your own business you really miss those wonderful, patient people in IT support. It’s been a massive energy drain, I won’t lie. It’s sort of 90% working.
Growth
Did two fast and fabulous training sessions with Kirsty Lewis at the School of Facilitation, and a thought-provoking taster session with Julia Slay at Facilitation 101. Together, they’ve filled me with new ideas and inclusive practices for working with groups.
Favourite, and slightly frivolous tip from Kirsty: wear lipstick when facilitating virtually as it helps lip readers understand you better (and, I think, shows you think your participants are worth it).
Community
I’ve been amazed at the stonking progress Smartphone Free Childhood have made in a few short months. We are starting to see cultural norms shift around giving children smartphones. Read about St Albans becoming the first UK city to go smartphone-free for under 14 year olds (The Guardian). I’m working with my daughter’s Headteacher to deliver a parent forum on the topic. (There are dysfunctional executive teams I’d find less intimidating than the school-gate parents audience).
I helped on the school trip to Royal Victoria Country Park, with 90 six and seven year olds. I’m the link governor for History so it was good to relearn about Florence Nightingale’s persistence in the face of being told to go home by men who thought they knew better. There’s such an appealing and enduring simplicity in historical stories told to 7 year olds – stripped right back to the most important events, messages and morals. I also learned that I am much better suited to helping the school in ways that don’t involve confined spaces with 50 young children (I’ve been to quieter Muse gigs than that coach journey).
Listen
I’m preparing to facilitate a two-day strategy offsite for the exec team of one of my clients, so I’m enjoying genning up on new and different ways to approach these enormous investments of time and money. Highlight so far: Your PowerPoint Deck Is Not A Strategy from The Ready.
Read
I read (listened to) Jonathan Haidt’s Anxious Generation. It was compelling, appalling at times, but ultimately, hopeful. I’d recommend it to any parent, whether they have phones in the house already or not. He recommends new norms that will improve the mental health of our children for the long term.
For Strategy, I’m digging into old favourites Brave New Work, and a new acquisition: Every Team Actually Doing Business Better from the people behind Business Four Zero.
Also, Richard Osman’s Last Devil to Die. As funny, comforting, thrilling and endearing as his others. So good I bought the whole set from Wob and gave them to my mum. I do love a second hand book.
Life
Shooed the family out of the house and welcomed seven wonderful women for a weekend, all turning 40 this year, who I’ve known since I was 16. Wonderful.
We’re into summer term at school, and so it feels like daily trips to school for sports days / special assemblies / transition meetings etc. I’m thankful that for the most part, I can be flexible to be there.
Managed to avoid injuries in netball for another month, and really enjoying the free unleashing of my competitive side, which is usually kept well under wraps (or so I think).
Got the healthcare we needed (like Rishi: privately unfortunately… but fortunately for us). Which has been lots of admin, but quietly, a little bit life-changing.
I’d love to commit to a weeknote, but as I described to a client this week, ‘toddler steps’ are sometimes okay.
Work
Consulting: I’m enjoying developing a bespoke flexible working approach for a client, and being given the freedom to run with a participatory and consultative approach. It’s making some waves due to some cultural hangovers from how the subject has been dealt with in the past, but I’m sticking with the mantra:
“make it open, it makes it better”.
(Thanks, Giles Turnbull and Public Digital). If we get to a place where we launch a thing that everyone already knows about, so much the better.
Coaching: I’ve taken on some new coaching clients this month – it is great to meet some very different people working in different countries and cultures. I’m also approaching the end of a few coaching engagements, where it’s been a privilege to witness real growth and courage.
Had group supervision with some coaches I trained with. So lovely to rekindle those relationships after a few months’ coaching on my own. Everyone has come so far since qualifying last year.
Other stuff: Working with Holly McCulloch to develop some illustrations to support some personal work and projects – which is a total delight and very exciting! WIP snapshot…
Growth
Nothing hugely noteworthy this month but I’ve signed up for some facilitation training to polish my skills, in advance of a couple of team days on the horizon.
Set my sights on the International Coaching Federation Associate Coach Certification application and exam for later this year.
Community
I set up the Smartphone Free Childhood group for our kids’ schools and am trying to figure out some next steps. Full of admiration for Clare and Daisy who founded the movement with a view to restoring a play-based childhood that builds social skills, and protecting very young children from harmful content. Feels like Citizens in action!
Booked in a pro-bono coaching programme for someone who has been a massive help to our family over the last two years.
Listen
Loving the back issues of Fixable, by Anne Morris and Frances Frei.
Discovered At Work with the Ready – a spirited podcast about a new way of consulting from the company behind Brave New Work, a book that has really influenced my thinking on organisations.
Read
Started reading James Timpson’s The Happy Index. TBH, I’m barely beyond the introduction, but I visited a Timpsons to get a new battery for my son’s watch and I experienced everything the book promised. Greeted by a friendly worker, who upon finding that the watch was on its last legs, replaced the battery for free and gave it back to me with a smile. After reading a few pages, my expectations had been raised, and then they were surpassed in reality.
Visited friends in Bath, it had been too long since we’d caught up. And an impromptu bonus – meeting Jim Godfrey in the flesh, who I’ve loved working with on many of my recent coaching engagements.
Spent a slightly damp week in Studland, Dorset with the wider family over Easter. Attempted fossil hunting to little success, but did get some practical geology lessons in. I am very grateful for this annual family tradition instituted by my mum.
Went back to Back to Netball. Pulled my quad (didn’t warm up properly). But exhilarating nonetheless.
Negotiating some private healthcare providers with varying levels of satisfaction, because we’ve waited over a year on the NHS. We’re very lucky that it’s even an option, but it’s bewildering nonetheless.
It’s been a busy few months to say the least – both at work and personally. Here’s a big thing I haven’t shouted about enough, though. A couple of months ago I passed my final coaching performance evaluation.
It’s been fantastic to see the impact that offering coaching alongside culture and comms consulting can have. But witnessing the personal growth that my clients have displayed as a result of being given time to think is the biggest privilege.
They’ve also said some lovely things about what it’s like to be coached by me:
“Coaching with Helen has been transformative. By the first session I knew what I needed to work on and by the second session I was already seeing change in the way I lead and manage a global team. It brought awareness to things I knew were important and allowed me to make a conscious choice, with a key set of skills, to activate these things. It was powerful to look more closely at the inner beliefs I hold about myself and how these play out in the workplace, and then find tangible ways to change behaviours for the better. It has made my working life much more self-aware, empowering and easier! And I feel accountable to continue to do the work.”
Global Charity Head
“Helen had a big influence on my leadership style and capability. By providing a perfect balance of listening, guiding, resources and questions that challenged me to think about and review aspects of my approach, I have been able to identify areas of my leadership to work on and refine.”
Director of Consultancy, Impact and Influence
“Helen demonstrates wonderful coaching techniques, she truly listens, and puts you at the centre of her practice; I found she really believed in me (even when I didn’t believe in myself).”
Chief People Officer
“I found valuable clarity on the steps I need to take, and it wasn’t at all stuffy or scary!”
Engineer
If you’re interested in what it’s like to be coached by me, do get in touch for a free discovery call.
A year or so after I had jumped from (un)comfortable employment into the cavern of self-employed uncertainty, I benefited from a few sessions of Liam Black’s gloves off mentoring.
We talked about pricing, career arcs, what I wanted my retirement to look like (I’d never given that any thought), Imposter Syndrome and my ‘Purpose’. Four years on, as I look back at my naiveté in those conversations, I cringe just like Elsa at the end of Frozen 2.
But that’s a sign of growth. I think.
I admire Liam’s ‘loving boot’ approach greatly and will take inspiration from it into my leadership and communications coaching… more on that soon.
Best bits
Here are my personal best bits from Liam’s book. Buy it, read it. It’s pithy, provoking and funny.
On purpose-washing
“‘Sustainababble’: The verbiage produced by corporate marketing teams to distract from the truth that very little of any substance is changing yet.”
Coined by Tariq Fancy, BlackRock’s Chief Investment Officer, 2021
Just don’t. Acknowledge where you are. Say nothing if you’ve got nothing of note to say.
On work-life ‘balance’
“‘Is it really possible’, Caroline asked me, ‘to change the world and be home in time to change the nappies?’ These conversations are where noble world-changing visions and the grind of domestic relationships collide (especially for women).”
A pithy articulation of a question I’ve asked myself many times. Disappointingly (but understandably), the book leaves this question unanswered.
I asked Liam (and a friend, Cleo) about it and we surmised, “no”. Or, “maybe”, if you take your baby to work. “Maybe”, if you have another person to rely on as carer and housekeeper.
I’m a feminist, but sometimes I daydream about the simplicity of 1950s gender roles. (I snap out of it quickly, though).
On Imposter Syndrome
“Everyone has some variant of this imposter drama except for psychopaths and some FTSE CEOs I have had the misfortune to meet.”
It is good to know that I’m in good company, then. Liam’s advice?
Fact-check those voices. Write down all the thoughts going through your head and then rigorously and robustly fact check them. Doing this with someone like a mentor or coach helps, as they can bring the perspective you need but that’s hard to find when the “mind monkeys” are creating a cacophony inside your head.
And, ever practical; “One way of not being found out is to make sure that you are bloody well on your game when you need to be”.
On culture change
“Most leaders know what is required to change a culture but have had the courage and staying power knocked out of them. Relentless incremental change is what can get you there. Beware the grandiose innovation plan”
Sir Martin Narey
This is becoming more and more clear to me as I work with different organisations. It’s the reason I have some clients that I’ve worked with for years. It’s also why I have trained as a coach. No culture change strategy will get off the ground without the leaders who create the climate committing to it.
On organisational values:
“The business had some great HR policies about leadership values and behaviours, innovation and so on. These clearly hadn’t been sent to the CEO, and he’d obviously missed the group hug leadership courses… Kevin was experiencing in acute form the gulf between a company’s stated values and the actual behaviour of the senior leadership team.”
At the book launch, Liam was asked if he’d ever experienced a company where the leaders behaved in line with the organisation’s ‘values’. “No”.
Aside from this obvious hypocrisy, there’s another reason I dislike the term ‘values’ in an organisational setting. Values are personal, formed in childhood, and incredibly hard (but not impossible) to shift. We can’t expect even the best-intentioned of leaders to ‘put on’ new values every time they join a new organisation. That’s why I much prefer ‘behaviours’ or ‘principles’. These are things you can do at a behavioural level, not who you are at an identity level.
On diversity:
Liam offers a blistering critique on what it’s like to navigate “the theatre of performative male ego” as a senior woman in many businesses. It’s a brave, and probably unpopular view. But…
“I will use whatever male privilege I have to call out the appalling state of affairs so many women in leadership have to put up with.”
Thank you, Liam. Belters include:
“’Yes we need more women, of course we do, and black people too, but we can’t level down, we must only recruit top talent’. The assumption being made here – which I am always expected to agree with – is that leadership teams and boards are just bursting with fabulously talented middle-aged guys who have made it there solely because of their dazzling skills and unmatched business success and wisdom. Well, sorry lads, but having spent 20 years and more in and out of exco and board meetings, I have rarely been dazzled.”
Ouch.
On keeping on:
“Our efforts seem so trivial, pathetic, in face of what’s happening but we can’t give up Liam. I can’t stop Putin but I won’t let him stop me. I can’t change the world probably but I can change the bit I’m in. We double down old man, we double down.”
Cath, Liam’s Mentee
“Pessimism, as poet Salena Godden wrote, is for lightweights.”
Communications coaching – For the management team of a pioneering pharmaceutical research company on communicating a big change with clarity, empathy and compassion.
Employee value proposition – A nice, pacey project delivering an EVP for some of the smartest and kindest people I’ve ever worked with. And a together day at an old prison-turned-fancy-hospital.
Rebrand project – Bringing employees in to co-create a big change. At times it has felt a bit like this 👇, thanks to lawyers (doing their very necessary and important job). We’ll get there.
Company Principles – Designing and launchingsome Principles with a long-term client. And collaborating on an animation with Al Boardman.
Revamping Company Behaviours – In line with a new EVP I’d worked on in 2021. Also, learning how to create an emoji.
Business & career coaching – With some brilliant people, helping them unlock situations that were holding them back.
Reverse mentoring – Frank discussions with a CEO about diversity, equity and inclusion, and sharing my (good and bad!) experiences as a woman at work.
Growth
Learned how to work in the open – I loved Giles Turnbull’s Working in the Open course. His blog is worth a read and has inspired mine. Also learned how RSS readers can bypass the doom-scroll and be a source of joy and discovery. Appreciate I’m probably 20 years behind the curve on this one.
That’s Giles. He showed us that even Tolkien’s first Lord of the Rings draft was bad.
Learning how to coach – Learned (still learning) loads about psychology. It has opened my mind to how humans are both unique and extraordinary, and also quite similar on a fundamental level. Learned how powerful just listening is, and how to “tame my advice-monkey” (in spite of the fact giving advice is part of how I earn a living currently).
Biggest fail – Learned that perfection is the enemy of the good. I missed a critical window to get something pretty great out the door because we spent too long getting it perfect.
Increased my uncertainty tolerance – I enjoyed Sam Conniff’s Uncertainty Experts online course so much I did it twice.
Learned Sustainability Essentials for Business – Completed the Cambridge Institute for Sustainability Leadership course and got an actual certificate.
Launched this website – (After too long procrastinating about it) and learned WordPress. Thanks Chris! I love it!
Learned not to take a five year old to Paris. 🇫🇷
Family
Didn’t take enough holidays. I realised I may have taken fewer weeks off this year than when I was employed. That wasn’t the plan. Do better, next year.
I thought having two kids at school would create more space in life. Not this year, at least. I feel privileged to earn a living in a flexible way, so that I can deliver intense periods of work when clients require it, and make adjustments when my family needs it, too.
People
Worked with some lovely people who filled the team-shaped hole I’ve felt at times, working for myself.
It’s been delightful to watch some long-term clients making huge progress and needing me a little less.
In the same vein, continued to mentor a comms exec who doesn’t really need me anymore (but when we do meet, it’s always productive and joyful).
Made a new friend/work-friend locally (yay!).
Worked from home a bit too much. For me at least – we’re all different.
Didn’t see enough friends, enough of the time.
Community
Ran staff and parent engagement surveys for the school where I’m a governor. Worked together on action plans. Such amazing people, under such pressure. We really are blessed to send our son there.
Enjoyed getting to know my neighbours better after two years of waving at a distance. The ‘safari supper’ returned!
Next year
Developing my coaching practice – I’d like to work with leaders who want to work on getting their message across, connecting with their people, and building productive and engaging cultures.
Some associate work with some cool agencies, hopefully.
In my coaching training, we are currently doing some heavy work on values. Everyone has values, even if they don’t give them any thought. Values are usually formed in childhood and for most people they’re subconscious. I’m also currently working on some company values (well, ‘principles’, actually).
Most companies default to professing “shared values” when they want to communicate what they’re about. But are values dreamed up in a board room ever really “shared”? And can a company even have values?
You can observe a culture and see clearly what is valued there. It’s usually the ‘rules of survival’, how to get on there.
The behaviours that are rewarded and sanctioned – who gets promoted and what for, who gets fired and what for – tell you pretty much everything you need to know about a culture.
In a truly values-led organisation, those things are coherent with the professed values on the posters on the walls. In many organisations, the reality is not that simple, and would make for a rather messy mural with a lot of caveats. In a ‘toxic’ culture, employees may see colleagues being ‘rewarded’ for behaviour that is opposite to those values on the wall. The resulting expectation vs. reality gap, if sustained over time, will likely lead to a talent exodus.
I have experienced cultures where the real values do align with the posters on the wall. One was a manufacturing business. To say safety was a life or death issue was not an overstatement. And when an employee reprimanded me for standing on a chair to take a photo, I saw that safety was a deeply embedded value (and that also I was unlikely to get my personal ‘adventure’ value met at that company). In that way, if they are true, ‘values’ can be a helpful determiner of whether candidates may thrive with you, or not. They can help people self-select out of the process, if your values are off-putting, or contradictory to their personal ones.
So if work is done to really discover what the culture actuallyvalues (rather than just what they say), and that is something leaders are willing to put on the company website, then yes, maybe a company can hold ‘shared values’.
But it’s still my least favourite way of talking about what a company stands for, and here’s why. This might get a bit semantic for some people’s tastes, but then semantics matter when you’re expressing what really matters in as few words as possible.
“Shared values” misunderstand how humans work Values are one of the most sacred parts of our identity. Given that our values are mostly shaped before the age of seven, to demand that new recruits sign up to and share the company’s values is a bit Orwellian for my taste, and I think shows a fundamental ignorance of human psychology.
Homogeneity is not a good business strategy Even if you were to find a group of people who did actually share the company’s values (a likely impossibility), what would it be like to work in a team where everyone cared about exactly the same things? You’d have groupthink in the extreme, and a disaster for innovation.
Values are too static For me, values are just too passive for the job that many companies intend them for. Values – like integrity, respect, communication, excellence – tend to be nouns. Nouns are words for things, objects. They are stationary. They do not force action or cause positive change.
They’re often ‘table stakes’ Values like Trustworthiness, Respect, Responsibility, Fairness, Integrity often appear high up on lists of corporate values. Yet I think those should be ‘table stakes’; the minimum requirement for employment – at any (decent) company. They are not going to motivate your people to achieve more, to achieve something of unique value.
Generally, I prefer the ‘call to arms’ of a verb. A doing word. Something active, that galvanises movement.
To choose the ‘classification’ I think about what we’re trying to articulate, and what we want them to do for the culture. Here are some examples of where I’ve seen it done well:
Tenets > defined as a principle upon which a belief is formed, these are foundational statements that the organisation holds to be true, and that guide the work. Helpful if you want to align your people to a particular approach or way of doing things. I like HermanMiller’s.
Behaviours > one of my clients wanted to send clear messages to the employee culture about what it takes to get on well here, and to build those into performance management, so we went with ‘behaviours’.
Positions > as seen at Public Digital. Longer, for sure, but thoughtful, and fully considered – appropriate to the work they do and understood by their clients.
Principles > I suggested this approach for a client because it does two connected things: communicates what they stand for, and acts as ‘guiding’ principles for how they do things.
Not an exhaustive list, but all good names for the ‘things’, depending on what you want to do with them.
(You can always drop me a line if you’d like some help in creating something of real ‘value’.)
I’m becoming a coach. On the Very Hungry Caterpillar scale of transformation, I’d say I am currently at Wednesday; ‘three plums’ and still hungry. Strong foundations, but lots more to consume. Sometime in February, I should emerge from my training as an enabling, unlocking and qualified butterfly.
When I tell people, they are often curious to understand what coaching really is.
“So are you going to be a business coach or a life coach?”
“It’s a bit like therapy for work, right?”
and
“Maybe you can coach me!”
(Maybe I can 😊 )
It’s more than “you go, girl” and definitely a lot less of “if I were you, I’d climb that skyscraper / confront that jerk / astound that boss”. It’s not mentoring; giving your opinion and advice. Which is interesting, given that that’s literally the way that I earn money. That was a struggle to reconcile at first, until (in a coaching conversation) the penny dropped and I realised it’s really two sides of the same coin: helping people/teams/workplaces to thrive.
Coaching is like having a supportive ‘sounding board’, but one with insight, experience and some killer questions that help you realise what’s really going on here. Because most of the time, it’s something that we haven’t quite put our finger on yet. And I don’t draw a hard distinction between business coaching and life coaching. We all bring what’s going on in our life into work, and our work always affects our life. Putting life and work in separate buckets with lids on won’t create much momentum.
I invested in coaching last year as a client. It helped me figure out what I really wanted from this moment of my life, and what to do next in order to get it (work in progress). It has helped me to make braver decisions and stick my neck out with more confidence, and for that I’ll be forever grateful to Anna!
I’m learning to coach alongside some special people – since we coach each other twice a week we are getting to know each other pretty well. They come from all over, but there are some interesting strands that that pull us together:
Burnt out / disillusioned by a toxic workplace
Genuine desire to help people
A strong strand of HR professionals in there (no surprise)
Looking for meaningful work that works for them
My plan is to use my coaching skills to help leaders shape more healthy, productive workplaces and nudge company cultures to be more human. I’m about to start pro bono coaching with three clients as part of my training. In the very short term, it will just be a privilege to help a few people make more progress in the direction they want.
Layoffs or redundancies are, unfortunately, a necessary process in many businesses that have been around more than a few years. Whether they’re a reaction to changes at the top or external economics, they (almost) always come as a shock to the employee culture. No HR person looks forward to announcing that people’s jobs are at risk. But there are good and bad ways to do it, and there is a shred of meaning to be derived from knowing that you’ve tried to do your best by people.
There are some case studies playing out live at Twitter and Facebook. Elon Musk’s knee-jerk, clumsy and entitled approach is shocking. People who found out they were out of a job by being locked out of their emails at 3am then got an email to their personal account signed “Thank you, Twitter”. I feel for the heartbroken comms and HR people who wrote it, powerless to the autocracy above them. Mark Zuckerberg appears to have done a slightly better job by the 11,000 people whose jobs are at risk globally (but it’s a low bar).
While I’m watching with fascination and angst as these real-time case studies play out, it’s made me reflect on my own experiences. Being part of a multinational that announced hundreds of redundancies several times, and watching close team members lose their jobs. Letting a team member who I cared for know their role was at risk. Wishing to be made redundant myself when it was definitely (past) time for me to leave. And working with clients as they announce redundancies in their teams (and do an honorable and dignified job of it).
Here are ten things I’ve learned about how to do it well. It’s not a definitive list, but I think Elon could learn a bit from it.
Treat people with dignity at all times. Sounds obvious, but after you’ve been negotiating tensely over spreadsheets for weeks it’s easy to distance yourself from the human reality that these aren’t numbers, they’re people.
Try to do it once and well. Repeated rounds of job uncertainty feels like death by a thousand cuts to the psychological safety of employees.
Don’t use redundancies as a way to deal with poor performance. Aside from the fact that it’s legally very slippery (I’m no lawyer, please don’t quote me), it makes the poor performance seem incidental. Dealing with poor performance honestly but sensitively is a very useful signal to the culture about what’s expected here. Covering it up in an unnecessary ‘restructure’ just creates uncertainty and distraction for people in the team who are performing well.
Be as transparent as possible. Give people a reason and a narrative about why it’s happening and why it’s the tough, but right, decision. If you don’t, they’ll only make up their own narrative which is likely to be far more dramatic or cynical than the truth.
Take accountability (but spare the false humility). It doesn’t feel good to receive bad news signed off with a faceless “thank you, Twitter”. To be fair, Mark Zuckerbeg did “take accountability for these decisions and for how we got here”. But that admission of guilt is not likely to breed much goodwill or forgiveness from those plunged unexpectedly into a now flooded job market. The best CEOs own the decision, but don’t make it about them. Rather than expressing their personal anguish, they clearly communicate how they will do right by those employees affected.
Be as generous as you can. Leavers are your alumni. If you treat them well, they’ll say good things about you when you are hiring again one day. It’s a good investment in your employer brand.
Re-write your comms calendar. It’s not time for jazz hands right now. Be sensitive to those that are going through a process, and to those whose close colleagues are. You’ll still be working on future-focussed stuff, but do it in the background for now. It’s insensitive to talk openly about an exciting future that may only exist for a percentage of people listening.
Plan for a dip in productivity. There’s no greater uncertainty than job cuts for employees. It will send many on your team into ‘fight, flight or freeze’ mode, waiting for an axe to fall even if they’ve been reassured. Whether their role is at risk or not, this is pretty much the only thing they’ll be able to focus on right now, and it will take time and a lot of reassurance to move on.
Expect collateral damage. This is going to shake things up. People realise that no one’s indispensable. Some will be resentful and will want to leave, with two fingers up as they do it. You won’t avoid this. But could voluntary redundancy be a helpful way to limit some of these unintended consequences?
Plan for how you’ll pick people up, after the fact. You’ll need to give those who choose to say a reason to re-engage. But start gently and sensitively, listen, and adjust accordingly.
Firstly, ever since 2018, when I left my employment of 12 years (and left status, friends and security behind too), I’ve felt the urge to write.
The second is, I get asked “what is it that you really do, Helen?” quite a lot.
Perhaps I can answer the second question by meeting the first need.
From Giles Turnbull’s fabulous ‘Working in the open’ course
Inspired and nudged by two wise people who showed up in my life briefly and recently (👆& 👇), I’m going to write about what I know, do and notice, and see where it goes. It will mostly be about the world of work and how we can make it more human. But also about freelance consulting, and a bit about having a family in all that too. Hopefully my collection of thoughts might be helpful to a few people at some point.
“The metric is human connection. Are you creating human connection in what you do? When you notice the human connection, follow that.”
Pete Mosley, coach and author of ‘The Art of Shouting Quietly’, whom I met a week or so ago on my coaching course. That’s another blog post.
So here goes.
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