June – the month of clear blue skies (at least some if you were in the UK), course development, webinars, and family birthdays past and present. Here is my round-up for June as a career coach, writer, and human being.
You want to become a Leader Who Coaches – How Do You Do It?
I am looking forward to being part of this panel alongside @JennyGarrett, @LisaLeonce and @GeethaRamachandran for what promises to be an insightful and practical session. A lot is happening around leadership, and what this means in our new world, so this intervention feels timely.
I will be taking the opportunity to celebrate the managers and leaders from my past who coached long before it became a thing, and yes, I am giving my age away ????.
A recording of the event held on the 30th of June is right here:
When you can’t always see the wood for the trees
These are the times when I find it best to step away and come back another day. This week I have been finishing up the design of two programmes to be delivered later in the year. Now I’ve reached a point where I need another pair of eyes to look it over, another person to walk through it with me. Help with the obvious and not-so-obvious things I might have missed/overlooked. And luckily, as this project is a team effort – I have those people available. But what happens when you don’t?
Then you take some time out – allow your brain to reset and return to your project with a fresh set of eyes. Leave it as long as you can manage without endangering your deadline. Trust that your brain will continue working on it, but it probably needs a break. It is generally better to stop ‘banging your head against the same bit of brick wall.’
And in case you are wondering, the image I have chosen is the closest I could find to a Congreve Cube from the film Mr Magorium’s Wonder Emporium. It plays a pivotal role in restoring the protagonist’s self-belief as she discovers her sparkle.
Tumbleweed posts
I can never quite figure out which posts will fly and which will barely cause a ripple. Over time I have learned not to take it personally – sometimes you hit gold with LinkedIn, and sometimes you don’t.
The important thing is to be consistent and keep going. I probably don’t post as often as I should – the latest figure I seem to be seeing on this is two/three times a week. But in all honesty, I don’t have the time or the energy for this, so I generally publish one post on Friday mornings.
If you can do more and it works for you and your work/business, then go for it.
However, I do engage with other people’s posts daily, either with a comment or at least a like. If I can genuinely find something to say – I am more than happy to comment on someone’s post.
Though I would love to see a greater variety of people posting on LinkedIn and engaging – I haven’t done the maths, but I suspect only a tiny percentage of my connections post anything.
So, for those who are a bit quiet on LinkedIn, what would it take to get you posting?
A letter to the Queen
Because it is the Platinum Jubilee weekend, I could not quite resist sharing this again.
However, you choose to spend the weekend – I hope you enjoy it.
Until next month
Janice
