Down at the coalface

Day 45 (Thursday 14th January 2016)

45 rpm vinyl phonodisc records and a bakerlite player were introduced in 1949,
by the Radio Corporation of America (RCA), as they were seen as being smaller, more
durable and providing a higher fidelity recording than those produced on the traditional phonograph cylinders or 78 rpm gramophone records made of shellac.

Jon Bartlett is the author of today's post. Jon was one of the people I got to know soon after I first joined Twitter and, as well as being in contact via social media, we now meet when we can IRL, and I am proud to call him my friend. The three glorious photographs of sky-high drama and showers of sparks like a comet's tail, used to illustrate the year just gone, are all taken by Jon - as many of you know, he is a talented photographer. You can see more of his pictures on his work website: Project Libero, as well as getting a better feeling for him and how he operates. Jon is a coach, trainer, specialist mediator, mentor and one of the UK's recognised experts on mental health and related issues within the workplace. Jon writes an excellent blog at projectlibero.wordpress.com

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When I started my business I had a vague business plan about helping operational staff rather than executive teams. My experience in organisations led me to the conclusion that many of the frontline teams had management “done to them”, rather than it being collaborative or generative. I wanted to show staff how to manage upwards, how to take the initiative and become leaders themselves.

Along the way I got pleasantly side tracked into delivering a lot of training and consultancy on mental health and the organisational challenges (and opportunities) of managing this well. When I started this, I naively assumed that leadership teams would want to, well, lead on these issues. The reality was somewhat different. So as I look back and reflect on 2015 I realise how much time I’ve spent at “the coalface” this year. Not for me the comet trails of the C-suite but rather being down in the coal dust at an operational level. The place where lots of people want to see change, where they are willing to embody that change and push it upwards. With teams who are ready to seek forgiveness rather than permission.

This year

I’ve stood in front of a 15 strong SMT who all agreed that something “must be done” and were somewhat lost, until I pointed out that presumably we had all the necessary decision makers in the room…  And had their junior staff get on with setting up a knowledge sharing lunch and learn session.

I’ve had a senior operational leader discount my training to their staff as “more time with the men in white coats”….  And had their support staff make amazing adjustments to keep people on the team and bring them back to health and productivity.

I’ve heard a senior executive ponder on whether “we have those sort of people round here”….  And had 60% of their management cadre sign up for training and another 10% ask to be on a waiting list.

I don’t count those as my successes. Sure I was involved but I didn’t lead those initiatives. Good HR and L&D teams did. Motivated staff did.

My successes? Well the nature of my work these days mean that I spend a lot of time with people going through tough and frightening situations. Getting some of those people to look up and start to aim for the comet tails, for their own personal goals is reward in itself but perhaps my happiest moment was the time when someone talked to me about 10 years of self harm. The first time they’d spoken to someone other than a clinician and the trigger for them to ask for help from their employer to prevent it happening again.

All in all a successful year and with the prospect for more of the same in 2016, that’s enough to keep me chasing comets.

The Start of the Advent-ure

Where do I start? I’ve had a wonderful weekend rereading the posts that people so generously contributed to the Advent Blogs series. What an amazing selection of articles written by so many inspirational people. Thank you!

 

It is said that HR is bad at data, although Deborah’s post showed that some of us are naturally analytical when sorting out our lives. While perusing all the pieces, I created a spreadsheet to undertake some rudimentary analysis of the posts. So here is a little of what I discovered:

1.  The theme for the series was Paths and Perceptions – a number of writers tried to write about both, but most posts showed a clear bias towards one or the other (for example Ed was clearly a path follower whilst Meg, who kicked the series off, was concerned by the perception filters we each apply and Alex worried at our inability to put ourselves into others’ shoes and hence to appreciate their view points.) Paths were most popular, with 41 writers stepping that way, whereas 31 preferred considering perceptions.

2. There were 6 first time bloggers and each of them wrote with aplomb – congratulations and welcome to the blogging community. I am humbled by people’s courage to step into the unknown and to share intimate facts about themselves and their lives. Given her trepidation at writing, but the brave, open piece that ensued, Gina deserves a particular mention. I would also like to wish Susannah on-going success as she develops her career and life in a direction that suits her. Without my commenting on it in an intro, I would defy any reader to distinguish between a “newbie” and a “veteran”.

3. I had expected self-awareness to be the primary theme (indeed it was a topic covered in 50 of the posts – Andrew gave a clear depiction of what it is like to be a public speaker and there was a powerfully frank piece by the originator of the Advent Blog series, Alison Chisnell, which appeared on Christmas Day – Alison’s year took an unexpected turn, but she has learned to be thankful for the new life-affirming opportunities that have opened up for her), but in fact appreciation, in its various forms, was expressed in 52 of the posts. Appreciation is Dawn’s job, but she realised that we need to show how much we value people who are close and precious, but occasionally overlooked, as well as those in our wider lives.

4.  Authors were diverse - people in their teens (thanks to my son, Hamish, whose poem still makes me misty eyed whenever I read it), twenties (my other son Charles who urged us to think deeper than the superficiality of first impressions and the articles we read), thirties (it’s often easy to forget that, given the depth and breadth of his knowledge, David is in his mid 30’s – I would like to take this opportunity to wish him all the best when he starts his new role as Head of London for the CIPD), forties (Jayne’s piece was all about the pleasure to be gained from being that little bit older – Confucius also felt that contentment and self-awareness need to come with age. I must confess that I am quietly pleased that my illustration for Day 57 was an early Heinz advertisement as, unbeknown to me, Jayne’s father worked for Heinz), and fifties (what a walk Chris gave us – showing the importance of belonging as well as inhabiting a space and feeling a sense of spiritual connection with others).

5. Posts originated from countries around the globe (including Australia (thanks Colin – what a great review of your childhood/formative years), New Zealand (Zoe – I’m so glad to read that you are settling well into your new homeland and beginning to make more time for yourself), Switzerland (Sara – I know that you are not as “flakey” as you claim - it was a beautiful post and I hope one day to meet Bean and Tiny), Scotland (Julie – what a challenging year on so many levels and yet you still manage to shine and inspire), England (Phil managed to find insight and an answer to a question that had troubled him for 700 days whist walking the streets of Leeds for a Street Wisdom session), South Africa (Janine – your girls are lucky to have you as their mum and I shall think of you as #7 going forwards) and the U.S.A. (I loved Christopher’s uplifting piece about dropping our expectations, taking time and acknowledging others to make life better for all).

6. There were 3 anonymous bloggers – each of which of whom were brave and honest. The first had personal information to share, in the hope of encouraging and supporting others, her piece shows that tough times can happen, even to the best of us. It was clear from the response that the second anonymous blogger received that they are not alone in finding the seat at the top uncomfortable – good luck with your new venture. The third anonymous writer wanted to protect his family – what an awful year, but as he said, he survived and I am pleased to report that he tells me things are picking up. I salute all three of you.

7 Total Views for Advent Blog posts in January 2015 were19835 and for December 2014 they were18513

8 During January the significant views by country were (2,803 views were scattered across countries around the globe but did not exceed 35 in any location):  

United States	10525
United Kingdom	4930
France	649
Germany	466
Australia	137
New Zealand	89
Taiwan	70
Slovakia	64
Ukraine	64
South Africa	38

The top 12 blogs by page views will be disclosed in my next post

As you can see, I have not illustrated my thoughts and comments, which risks making this post quite dense and hard on the eye. As a result, I shall post the second half of my thoughts and supporting data later this week.

A Story - Day 29

Day 29

29ers are mountain bikes that are built to use 700c or 622 mm ISO 

(inside rim diameter) wheels, commonly called 29" wheels 
(most mountain bikes use 26" wheels). 
The 29ers traverse obstacles more easily, provide better 

traction & lose less speed on uneven terrain than smaller wheels.

Today is the first day back to work for many of us. I hope you had a good break.

The below piece is a powerful, heartfelt post by Tony Jackson. Tony is an Executive Coach and runs his own business, Chelsham Consulting Limited. I first met Tony through Twitter, his handle is @jacksont0ny, and I have subsequently discovered that we are neighbours in South London (as well as sharing a penchant for exotic holidays). Tony is an accomplished writer, you can read his blog here or sample his words below. The following piece is brave, honest and, as well as being a true story, holds a strong message for all who read it.

Unlike most of the posts in this series, I have added no colour pictures to this post, all the stunning photos were taken and selected by Tony. I did add the cartoon and the piece of music at the end.

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It’s a story. Not a sob story. Just a part of my story.

Sometimes it seems my path has taken me past vertiginous drops, across sunny uplands and through the occasional war-zone.

My starting point? A growing sense of difference as a teenager. I don’t react in quite the same way as most of the class. Some of them pick up on it. They spot it before I do. Their perception of me adjusts. Later in adult life I find this is a shared experience of people like me. Remember those words – ‘people like me’.

As a student my path leads me to discovering myself – sitting on my bed watching ‘that’ film on my black & white portable TV and afterwards reflecting on and grappling with something. Finally, after all those years of wondering, I accept my authentic self.

Enter the world of work. A professional services firm. No employment law protection of course. The manager who tells me in front of the whole team that, if he finds out that the rumours are true, he will sack me on the spot. This at a time when people like me are truly scared because some of us are dying in London hospitals. And our Government is simultaneously legislating against us. I soon run from that employer. I ask you: would you stay? Your first job post-University. Would you be brave enough to fight? Would you ever have to think along those lines from where you sit?

A few years later – another professional services firm. I notice on the way in that their policies are way ahead of employment law. Enlightened. I can be myself. Maybe. Before I arrive the HRD (yes the HRD) apparently asks my future team members  when the “bent bastard” is arriving. Charming. They are on my side though – not his.  All will be well. My perception of ‘how I can be’ shifts. I can be myself and my performance has never been higher. Still slightly living on my nerves. Having to think about something that the majority never have to consider. That’s sometimes noticed. Performance at the top end of the spectrum but “Are you OK Tony?”

Scroll forward. Picture two professional men walking down a street. The Universe helped us find one another. We’ve bought a house. We’ve worked bloody hard to get where we are. In proof that societal change can and does happen we are now living in a time when we can marry (well nearly). We have the protection of the law in the workplace. And yet – the local youths storm out of a fast-food joint and abuse us. Not sure what they’ve spotted but their perception is that we might be different. Then notice our size & stature and maybe think better of it and skulk away into the evening. But for a few weeks at work I worry about what might happen if he meets them when he’s on his own. Oh yes – you noticed that I’m a bit preoccupied. Thanks.

And now – a further decade later - well I advocate authenticity whilst knowing that when I am really my authentic self, there are still those who will find me “different”, so I shy away from it at times. I’m finally running my own business. Love it. Having had positional authority for years I now live off my personal reputation, networking skills and professional ability. For the first time in years this point features again in my mind (rightly or wrongly). I just occasionally wonder whether that assignment will go to the other person – because, again, it’s easier for the client to choose a person like him/her.  So am I authentic? Is it possible for an executive coach to be anything but fully authentic? A challenge.

So when that person in your team is reacting differently maybe you will ask yourself – why would they not react differently? They bring a whole lifetime of personal experiences to that conversation, that interaction. Why on earth would you expect them to react as you do? That would be the surprising thing wouldn’t it?

And I challenge you: when you imagine someone is excluding themselves (yes people say this – they are excluding themselves) by behaving differently, or being different, well how are you going to adjust your pre-conceptions and work hard, really hard, to make them feel included?

No they aren’t in the group of people like you.  They are an individual and for all you know their life has had challenges that you couldn’t imagine from your place within the in-group. They have walked a different path. They may have a story like mine. Of course they carry some of it around with them. Even if they would rather that they didn’t.

And when you push yourself to get this right, to reflect hard and to adjust your own perceptions of life, so that you help them be at their best, then my friend, right then, you will be a leader.

Mama Cass Elliot - Make Your Own Kind Of Music

Happy sad, young old, stupid wise - Day 1

Day 1

Illustration by Simon Heath

Happy 1st December and welcome to the Advent Blogs 2014! The theme this year is Paths and Perceptions…

Before I start, I would like to thank and acknowledge the wonderful Alison Chisnell for coming up with the concept of the Advent Blog Series and for curating it with such aplomb and sensitivity since 2011. You can read former years' posts on her blog, TheHRJuggler. For this year, and this year only, she has loaned her wand to me. I have received some wonderful pieces. I hope you enjoy them as much as I have. I will be sharing one per day over Advent and into the holiday period.

It is an honour to curate these writings. From its first year onwards I have been a participant in the Advent Blogs series and have always been astounded and humbled by the experiences and outlooks that individuals have shared. This year is no exception. It is clear that people have trod some very varied routes and have exciting vistas ahead; come join me and we can explore some of their paths and perceptions…

Number 1 - this number is sometimes referred to as "unity", 
which is appropriate, as that is what the Advent Blog series is all about:
A collection of individuals, each with a voice, who collectively produce 
something unique

We are getting off to a hot start. The first post in the series is written by the talented Megan Peppin. Meg is a well known and much loved personality on Twitter - you can follow her via @OD_optimist or else read her thoughtful blog, Halls are Made for Madness, which was listed by People Management magazine as being one of the top 10 HR blogs worth reading. Meg was one of the first members of the Twitter community to welcome me into its ranks. She has been involved in the Advent Blogs series since its inception, so it seems appropriate for her to be the first voice this year. Meg is a specialist in organisational effectiveness. After an initial career in HR and OD, Meg founded her own business, which has gone from strength to strength since 2003. She helps a wide range of organisations and people to achieve their goals.

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This is my third contribution to this advent series, and I have undertaken each previous piece of writing without a plan.  Stare at the screen, touch the keyboard, close the laptop, go away, and think.  Think, think, think.  In past years, something good has arrived for me; when I clear space, the writing flows without effort or design.  This time has been harder, but now that the thoughts are flowing in, I’m seeing how our perceptions create our paths in everything.

One of my maturing processes has been an acceptance of “being”.  I see that being with negative emotions increases peace, rather than battling with them which increases angst.   I can be happy sad, old young, wise stupid, they all exist in me.  I am not one thing or another.

Paths open themselves up when I allow myself to “be”, particularly when I feel uncertain or vulnerable.  I accept my uncertainty and my vulnerability, and I walk alongside them.  I feel less desire to know, and more inclination to explore.

This is the path that appeared…...

I’m curious about the need for certainty, where it comes from, how it helps us make sense, and what it offers.   The desire to quantify “human capital” for example is an area in which so much is being invested.  I’m genuinely puzzled at how much proof we need to trust in our judgement. 

• Don’t we already know that being treated with respect, being expected to be resourceful intelligent and responsible will lead to good things, good relationships, trust and in turn these will very probably lead to high performance? 
• Don’t we know that arrogance, leader distance and greed distort reality and contaminate purpose?  What more do we need to know?
• What else do we need to give us certainty?

We can’t quantify potential, love, power, respect – human qualities; much of the work I and many others do are about creating the conditions for our potential to be released.  Creating time, space to think, to be, to connect with no other purpose.    When we are looking for certainty, we look for evidence to support our particular truth – I wonder, in what way are we limiting ourselves when we search to validate our perceptions?

limited perception

Here’s a short story about something that regularly happens, which I think illustrates how powerful our perceptions are and which makes me really curious and sometimes tips me into irritation.  My surname is Peppin.  I’ve never met anyone else called Peppin apart from my own family.  So that might mean it’s an unusual name (my perception?).    It’s not unusual enough though; there is a familiarity about it I think which results in a perception filter kicking into action, and what happens is that my name regularly gets remade into Pippin.  This doesn’t happen occasionally, it is a frequent occurrence;   I might write an email as Peppin, but documentation gets addressed Pippin; I’m asked what my name is, I spell out the E but it gets remade into an I; name badges, invitations…. I could go on.  (I did once get called Meggy Poppins by one organisation, but that’s another story!).

I’m torn between mild irritation and as I progress through life – curiosity, you see, I also haven’t met anyone else called Pippin. But in the lexicon there’s an apple and a character from the Hobbit that are Pippin.  So the perception filter makes sense and remakes my name.  Somehow whilst uncommon - Pippin is more familiar.

I wonder what this means; it appears to be unconscious reconfiguring of the letters to fit some sense making need. 

A redesign of a name – it’s easy to see what’s happened.  I can correct it.

This is making me very curious about all the other reconfiguring we do that is outside our consciousness; reorganising, relabeling – people, situations, experiences, to fit our perceptual expectations.  We can’t correct those.

What are our perception filters protecting us from?

What is buried in us that we don’t know informs how we perceive each other, what truth we see and a flood of other questions?

What are we making in organisations when we talk about leadership, when we talk about talent, when we talk about management?

Where is this leading?  I don’t know.  But I’m curious, and I learn that the more we seek certainty, the more we are somehow rejecting important truths.   There are things we can never know; but there is something at play that substitutes an I for an E to make sense, or a you for a me to feel safe.

Substitution
(with thanks to Japanfanzz for image)

I was telling a friend how much this irritated me, when I’d recently been to a large event where everywhere I was a Pippin for a day, and a life for those who met me once.  We had fortune cookies – know what mine said?

“Write your name on your heart, not on marble”.

Oh what a lovely coincidence.

What you call me doesn’t matter.  It’s what I know about me that matters.  That was my interpretation. 

But I’m still left with an I for an E and wondering what it means.

Old postcard from 1904