Articles (Current) Archives - Aware Leadership

Trust As A Coach – Game Changer!

Heeellloooo…..so here I am with my musing #3 about one of the key challenges that, in my experience, coaches or mentors can often face in the wholehearted endeavour of their practise. The theme of this article is the much coveted subject of trusting oneself to respond, engage, give feedback and most of all be yourself. For me this means your capacity, capability and most of all gut instinct, sense or intuition. This is by far the most common theme and topic that arises with my coaching supervision clients – not as a presenting piece but manifests often as holding back, giving much more ‘support’ than ‘challenge’ and/or struggling to stay present.

The ‘Sweet Spot’ of Coaching Conversations…

I work very much as a coach aligned with my ongoing commitment of continuing to aim for the ‘sweet spot’ in coaching conversations. And this ‘frame’ is predominately what I work with as a supervision tool with my coaching clients. This is the purpose of always aiming for this beautiful, delicate balance of: the self (bringing myself 100% to the conversation), the other (being aligned 100% with who/where they really are) and the context (purpose, wider context/systems, current reality and any agreements). For me this matters because:

Self – if I don’t fully ‘show up’ I’m not being real, open, honest with my client and thus my falseness/pretence shows up instead. This means how I ‘present’ is a false persona engaging in the conversation, not the real me. The consequence of this is that the conversation may not be based in ‘reality’ and not addressing what’s really going on. I’m also significantly more likely to behave in ways that serve my pretence, not my client;
Other – if I’m unaware of what’s going on for me (as above) or I am under the illusion that I know how my client should be or behave – I am not aligned with the reality of who, how or where they actually ARE. The consequence of this is that again my pretence or judgements/illusions are now running the show. Again I’m significantly more likely to behave in ways that serve ME and my idea of how they ‘should be’, not the actual client in front of me;
Context – if I’m unaware of what’s going on for me (as above) and go off on my own trajectory or I forget or avoid upholding contracting agreements (including boundaries, wider objectives, client objectives) – I am thus missing the reality of the context. I’ve gone off on a different path, potentially not in partnership or agreement with my client and again my focus may become serving my purposes rather than the client.

I have found the wonderful thing is about this aim is…this is an ongoing dance of self mastery and skill to balance. Plus life or events that evolve in coaching conversations will always let us know if something is ‘off’ in this delicate balance. This could be our client behaves differently, disengages, we feel uncomfortable or off balance and/or an issue of some sort arises. For me this IS the graceful and beautiful flow of the coaching conversation and highlights the crucial important of self-awareness/development for coaches.

Master and Know Thyself

I’ve found over time that my ability to hit the mark or this sweet spot is very much dependant on my ability and willingness to master my ‘self’. This means continuingly letting go of any notions that I know how anything should be and being with things as they really are. ‘Real’ reality as my coach calls it. As above, this is in terms of my (self), client and the context. This still applies even if I’m challenged, uncomfortable or disliking what I’m seeing/hearing.

At the crux of this self mastery is my willingness to keep challenging, learning and being open minded – and most importantly open hearted. And the essential to this mastery I’ve found is the willingness to trust me, my instinct, sense, gut feeling. I have found even if my instinct isn’t bang on, my willingness to trust it can dramatically open up a conversation. This focus on not holding back has included challenging, supporting and the heartfelt acknowledgement of the other soul I see in front of me – doing their best. This has also included me feeding back what I’m seeing even if this is uncomfortable. Or indeed if this may lead to results that I don’t like or want. I’ve found the most transformational, powerful and connecting coaching conversations I have had occurred when I’ve said what seemed fearful, silly or obvious.

What’s on Offer for You as a Coach or Mentor?

Here my 3 trusting thyself ‘I’s’ to self-reflection on and be courageous in actively practising:

Intuition/Sense – we all have this, for some its more of a ‘sense’ of something…however whatever this is for you and when you get that urge to say what’s popped into your head or heart…Go for it! There may be a discernment of course as to whether this is in alignment with the purpose of the session or context of coaching, however even if it wasn’t I suggest you’ll find out pretty quickly from the results you get. Be brave!
Instinct – now for me this can be a different beast, sometimes it literally is a feeling in my gut and at other times it’s a sense of/intuition for what’s needed, wanted or evolving in my clinet’s behaviour or the context. Again there may be a discernment, either way TRUST IT/YOU;
Interpretation – now this is the one that I find can be more of an art and takes a higher degree of self-awareness and willingness to challenge oneself. This is the art of separating the ‘data’, (i.e. what you heard your client actually say or do) and your interpretation of this. This is important because it can be a very human thing to ‘add on’ meaning to what is said/done. So do take time to notice any differences here because this will highlight a golden nugget for you – any beliefs or stories you may have created (from your own experiences).

I hope this musing ignites, evokes or resonates something in you and for you.

Please do let me know your thoughts, feedback…I’d love to hear them!

By Nicci

Boundaries In Coaching – Do You Show Up?

Loving Being a Supervisor!

So…..I’ve been a practising executive coach for over 16 years now and a coaching supervisor for at least 7 of those years – informally. However after immersing myself in a supervision qualification, I’ve now been more formally providing coaching supervision over the last 12 months. And I absolutely love it!!! Digging deeper, immersing myself in the growth context 😍.

Thus I’ve decided to write a series of articles about the key challenges that, in my experience, coaches can face in the often wholeheartedly passionate endeavour of their coaching practise. All of the coaches I’m supervising care deeply about their practise and want to empower and be the best they can be for their coachees.

The ‘Dance’ of Coaching Conversations…

In providing supervision one of the key elements or models that I refer to is how coaches are serving the coaching conversation – which is really where the magic happens. This may be prior to or within the coaching sessions themselves, it’s all playing its part in the ‘dance’ of coaching. What I’ve found is key is the art of balancing the ‘self, ‘ (coach), the other (the coachee)’ and the ‘context’, (purpose/objectives/current reality). This context may include various stakeholders, particularly the organisational context or purpose/ROI for internal coaches.

One of the predominant areas that arises frequently in supervision is a certain piece about contracting – and that is ‘boundaries’. And within this usually, three different areas of boundaries:

Initial Contracting – did I make clear agreements with my coachee, including logistics, terms and how the relationship with work, objectives/measures, where my skill set and/or style is, any exclusions or other terms etc
Ethical – when something came up that was a conflict or an ethical challenge for me, my client or the context: was I clear and open about my perspective, openly addressing the challenge, collaborating and/or agreeing a way forward. Was I upfront and transparent about my skill set and/or anything else that was part of the context…
Presence – this for me is the big one that often gets overlooked and can come up in the coaching conversation and/or within ethical challenges. How did I actually uphold my own boundaries, our agreements or that of the organisation? Did I speak up when they were crossed, when I noticed a conflict? Did I have an open, honest conversation about what was really going on…did I (self) really show up?

Crucial Contracting…

As we all know as coaches, the boundaries identified in contracting are vital to define and agree to be able to then uphold them in the coaching context. Often my supervisees bring a challenge to supervision that highlights the consequence(s) of not doing so. There can be much self condemnation about this, although my perspective is this the beauty of learning and growing as a coach. One way or another what’s revealed in the reality of coaching conversations is always letting us know what may have been missed. And this provides the fertile ground in which we learn the power of self-reflection and to adapt, adjust to better serve our coachees.

An example: I’ve had a few supervision clients who’ve had the challenge of their coachee talking, talking, talking. Being unclear, flitting about, not focused on one particular topic/goal for the session. Commonly there’s a reluctance to step in, speak up and be the one to stop the conversation and re-purpose. For some this has highlighted ‘loose’ contracting in terms of setting clear objectives/outcomes and for others this has highlighted an opportunity to build confidence and trust in the ‘self’ as a coach. And crucially stay with the ‘context’ of the role of a coach. For some this has also highlighted that more clarity is needed on what their ‘role’ is, this is especially true I’ve found for newer coaches.

Presence – When Your ‘Self’ as a Coach Doesn’t Fully Show Up

So there’s a big impact to not fully showing up in the ‘dance’ of the coaching conversation. As above, our coachee may get lost and not have clarity about their purpose for coaching. This may highlight contracting discrepancies, and most vitally miss the context of the purpose of the coaching conversation. I’m being dramatic here about the ‘miss’ to demonstrate impact, however if our intent as coaches is to best serve our coachee and meet the coaching outcomes – how can we do this if we lose our ‘self’ in the conversation? I remember for myself this is something I’ve worked on for many years, still do at times! I am always asking myself or noticing where I’ve held back or didn’t fully commit to being both fully present and real in the conversation. For if I am not real, not telling my coachees or supervisees the truth…who am I really serving?

The Courage and Willingness to ‘Show Up’

It strikes me that the essence of my own presence and willingness to address, challenge ethics or other elements of the conversation is really about being open. Being open, transparent and bold to have whatever dialogue is necessary. This may be to name what I’m seeing, be vulnerable and collaborate to resolve this WITH clients. The most transformative skill I’ve learnt as a coach and as a supervisor is self-trust. Trusting my gut, instinct and heart to say what is so for me and encourage, open the conversation for my coachees/supervisees. For me this is even more important as a supervisor as I see my role partly as role modelling effective ethics, boundaries and contracting. In this being aware of my own values and limits is vital to be able best serve any ensuing dialogue in the supervision (or coaching) conversation.

The Beauty of Practising Greater Presence

And remember folks, I may be musing over this in a coaching context, for coaches – however in my experience the behaviour pattern of not initiating, holding or speaking up about boundaries is something we are likely doing in the rest of our life! What a golden nugget, however we grow as a coach – our whole life gets the benefits – in our relationship with ourselves and others. Joyful!

What’s on Offer for You as a Coach?

So here’s 3 self-reflection steps to tune into what’s on offer for you in your coaching practise:

Reflection on ‘Self’ Trust – where do you hold back, not trust yourself…your gut, intuition, instinct in coaching conversations. Is there any pattern to this?
What’s Holding You Back – what stopping you from speaking up or feeding back to your coachee? What are you afraid will happen if you say what you are seeing, hearing or challenge something that has come up? Be honest and specific about this…what are you believing will happen, worse case?
Be Brave, be IN the conversation – what will it take for you to be brave, be bolder, be open and real? Is your fear of what may happen the reality? I suggest as worse its ‘unknown’ and only you can choose whether to take that plunge into the unknown. The choice is yours…

Please do let me know your thoughts, feedback…I’d love to hear them!

By Nicci

Leadership Development – What do YOU stand for?

I’ve worked with many clients, particularly public sector, who want to transform their stakeholder engagement results, predominantly staff engagement. They want a higher performing culture – a culture where staff are much more empowered, forward thinking and engaged. They want this to transform their organisation, solve their retention or HR issues and lead to significant improvement of services. The ‘golden alchemy’ if you will.

What I’ve noticed is that there’s a big piece missing for me in how this goal is tackled or even debated. I see a kind of flatness, blandness, sometimes a lot of resignation and particularly individual leaders with-holding their individuality. I rarely see a leader truly engaged in their own strategy – where’s the passion, where’s the emotionally compelling vision for a transformed future? For me sometimes there’s a big disconnection in HOW the vision and strategies are put forward. I want to see leaders take a stand. I want to see leaders authentically sharing what they stand for and engaging me into a compelling vision for the future – because they are engaged and fired up themselves.

As with all hopes for change, this starts at home – in all of us as leaders. How are you being? What do you stand for?

In the same respect, I have huge compassion that this may not be the ‘done thing’, showing one’s self in this way. It takes courage and the willingness to stand out. It’s more common to portray a ‘persona’ or a culturally accepted norm – to maintain a conscious or unconscious consensus. Completely understandable .

My question is, how can you as a leader expect your teams to BE something which isn’t role modelled in your own behaviour? Isn’t that confusing and incongruent? The most powerful way we can engage and transform is to role model the courage and willingness to do this ourselves. Engage yourself first, transform your attitude first.

I hear a lot about different organisational development strategies, all brilliant initiatives that will be part of this or improvement journey. I am a passionate believer however that creating a coaching culture is one of the most effective and sustainable ways to transform cultures, particularly for organisations that are going for higher performance, empowerment or engagement.

This is something I have a great deal of experience in. Some years ago I created a ‘coaching for culture’ programme with an awesome educational client. This was a powerful way to not only develop leadership and teams but also create a more purposeful, open, empowered culture where the emphasis shifted from ‘telling’ to ‘learning’. The starting part of course is to role model this through the executive team – through their own journey of empowerment and development. Who knows what’s possible after that!

So here’s my four key steps to creating an empowered coaching culture:

– Live it – have your own coaching, be empowered, see how this transforms your own performance or engagement. This could even be the purpose of your coaching

– Creating a Vision and Purpose – intentionally create a powerful, compelling vision and purpose that engages YOU and sets the context for coaching

– Coaching Strategy – underpinned by your vision and purpose, create a strategy or framework that is going to bring about your coaching culture

– Tipping point – be clear about the ‘how’ in your strategy, how are going to create a tipping point in coaching culture? Who are you going to enrol into your vision, how are you going to engage internal and external stakeholders, how are you going to create the context which will bring about your results (particularly how staff will keep practising and keep their learning going).

There you are. Go create!

By Nicci

3 Crucial Steps to Engage Your Team

I have many conversations with clients and others about how important it is to enrol your team into your leadership – and ultimately – YOU.

After all, as a leader you are engaging your team and others into you and your vision. They are looking to you for leadership albeit even at a basic level for a role, a task, a purpose. Even as a parent you lead in this respect.

Its well know these days that an empowered, connecting and common purpose is a fundamental motivator for a high performing, well engaged workforce.

I’ve heard many complaints over the last month about how teams don’t speak up, aren’t proactive or don’t think for themselves. They should know how to just get on with things right? Why do they keep taking up your time by asking questions – even worse the same questions!

Or the other popular complaint: team members not speaking up in team meetings, or indeed at other crucial times when something is going on. There is big consequences to that of course – you want better client relationships, quality of service, client satisfaction – they may be hiding poor service, mistakes or withholding potential golden information about client opportunities.

You are frequently hearing the sound of your own voice…complaining or saying the same spiel to keep things moving and it can be pretty lonely in that place.

Now, where is your part in this? Check in with yourself and ask the following:

Realness – now this is a biggie. How REAL are you being with your team? Yourself… truthful…open & honest about your frustrations or purpose. Its very common (some may say human nature) to put up a facade, persona at work – especially in leadership. This usually comes down to concerns about being ‘found out’ or believing we need to look ‘competent’, ‘strong’ or my personal favourite ‘all seeing, all knowing’. It’s a very different mindset to be in partnership with your team
Communication – have you communicated not just tasks but the bigger picture? Especially if you are noticing some dis-engagement. Its so important to communicate vision and INTENT as well as the practical stuff. How else do teams know what the purpose is or what they are going for? I hear a lot of clients assuming that their purpose or expectations are known
Open Your Ears and Your Heart – its all very well saying, ‘I want to hear from everyone’ in a team meeting but do you REALLY? Do you listen and seriously allow your team to speak freely, put ideas forward – even if you don’t agree with them? Do you ask questions, get curious? And are there other ways in your day to day behaviour that you dismiss comments, concerns or ideas? There is usually a much bigger cultural picture that stems from patterns of behaviour. You may be all ears in a team meeting but do you dismiss day to day comments outside of this? I’ve seen this happen many times!

This is no-ones fault of course, if your team aren’t responding or being as proactive as you would like. Its just as it is right now. That’s what I am passionate about – that leadership is always learning, growing. There’s no right or wrong to how things are – it just is what it is.

What’s more important is whether your current behaviour is working, serving you and your organisation well. Not just in terms of numbers but the quality of day to day work life. If you want something different from your team or the context has shifted – something different is required from you and them. Herein lies your golden opportunity.

How great is that! Some of our greatest challenges or changes can be a huge fertile ground for growth…

‘When you change your behaviour you can transform your experience and how people respond to you’

By Nicci

Present or Panic?

Now if you are anything like one of clients, making a presentation to a fairly small group – known or unknown can be a terrifying experience.

I’ve been through this myself when I first started training and facilitating nearly 10 years ago. I remember the first time I stood in front of a group of people all looking at me to lead and guide them. I was terrified, so uptight at times that I couldn’t think clearly.

How do you truly connect with people and take them on a journey that will end up with them being engaged with you and your topic?

I’ve been to a few presentations this week that were great, informative and clear – however the presenters didn’t always connect with their audience. They didn’t check-in with them to see how they are doing or notice people yawning, shifting in their seats.

Questions during the presentation were sometimes met with dismissal – it seemed as if the presenter was more focused on ‘getting through’ the slides and finishing on time than engaging with their audience.

Well for some of my clients, even those who have jumped in through sheer determination, the experience of presenting is not always an enjoyable one.

Some of the most common fearful scenarios I have come across are:

Presenting to a potential client (particularly if unsure of the client or content
Presenting a topic that is not your area of knowledge or expertise
Presenting a session about something outside of work (i.e. sharing about yourself)
Presenting to staff (particularly to motivate, engage or share information), peers or indeed others in your profession

And some of the common concerns are…

I have to know my topic inside out
I have to know what to say and when, be prepared
I have to get through all the content on time
I’ll make a mistake, miss something, forget something
I’ll look silly, unprofessional, incompetent, stupid
I’ll be ask questions I can’t or don’t want to answer

Result = stress, tension, disconnection, panic, insomnia, time consuming checking/research to prepare

Here’s my 4 top tips for you:

BREATHE – take 3 conscious breaths and remember you will, most likely, do your best and that’ll be enough
Check-In with yourself – with those expectations you have in yourself…often we make judgements or assumptions about what’s expected of us or others. Is it true, generally speaking, that you are unprofessional or incompetent?
Check-in with your audience – are they yawning, shifting in their seats, distracted? Check-in with them, ask them how you are doing. Ask if they have ideas or examples to discuss – this is essential to bring the topic to life and make it real. They are there for a purpose right? Because they want to get something from your presentation – so check in with them to make sure this is happening
Learn to love the Don’t Know – you can say ‘I don’t know’ when asked a question. It is allowed! You don’t know what you don’t know and that’s ok. Nobody knows everything. The important thing here, as a leader and presenter, is to respond – acknowledge the question and offer a solution or follow up

And…One More Thing…

Be yourself! Speak from the heart…show your passion…enthusiasm…

By Nicci Statham - Aware Leadership

The Most Common Leadership Challenge for Legal and Finance Leaders

I am very experienced with personality/communication styles – and I work regularly with finance, property and legal professionals. One of the key themes I started noticing was that there was a range of common challenges. Essentially there seemed to be a predisposition that those in these professions were more likely to be systematic, methodical, goal orientated thinkers (a huge asset of course) and this meant that they had a preference for guidelines, rules, frameworks, planning. Then you know where you are, right?

This preference however doesn’t always translate well when one is building genuine connecting relationship with clients, staff and peers. And, as I am sure you know, communication and the ability to connect is vital in a leadership role. In this context we are dealing with a completely different skill set which sometimes not only required, but hugely advantageous. This advantage translates into the willingness and ability to be successful at (and more importantly at ease with) wining new clients, adding value, managing conflict, motivating employees, developing innovation, taking responsibility and ownership…and much more.

Actually in the bigger picture as a director or partner: if you want teams/peers that think for themselves – those who are proactive, passionate, creative, take the initiative, highly engaged with clients – then the attitude and behaviour more likely to create this is one of empowerment, openness, honesty and trust. This results in significantly more productive and engaged people, mainly because they know that they and their contribution matters.

So one of the most common challenges is: Delegating and/or Sharing Responsibility – this may be played out in one or more of the following scenarios:

- Workload overload, too much on your plate and too little time

- Staff/peers constantly coming to you with questions

People only completing what they are asked (and sometimes not even that!), lack of initiative or stepping up for teams/peers

Common concerns

It’ll be quicker to do it myself
Staff or peers don’t have the knowledge or aptitude to do it right
Their mistakes will reflect badly on me
I won’t get the credit when things are done
I have to get everything done or else I’ll be a failure

Result = stress, overwrought, insomnia, poor work/life balance, little time to spend strategy or business development, making mistakes. Distracted and/or working when at home with loved ones…

Here’s my 3 Tips on practising overcoming this challenge:

Purpose – now this may be a humdinger, consider what your purpose may be for holding out on delegating or asking for help? Do you like to be a martyr? Like to be useful, wanted even? These are all perfectly understandable; however does your behaviour really serve you in your life, your team or the growth of your company? Check-in with yourself and be honest with yourself about what is holding your resistance in place
You’re Human – we are all human, fallible – including you. IF you delegate there is of course the possibility that things won’t be completed as you would have done them yourself. This may be a reality. There is also, I suggest, the possibility that things may be done better, differently or even in a way that adds value. There is much to be gained from an attitude of ‘we are in this together’ as opposed to ‘lone ranger’. This encourages you to stretch and let go – and encourages your staff/peers to grow their skills. Question is: are you willing to trust, never knowing the outcome?
Worst Case Scenario – consider what the worst case scenario is and identify how you would handle it (if it did). Now you have a plan! You can of course have as many worst case scenario’s as you like – at least until you get used to letting go (and trusting that) ,whatever happens, it can and will be resolved

So there you are!

As ever I encourage you to get in touch if you have any comments or feedback – I am always glad to hear them…

By Nicci Statham - Aware Leadership

3 Transformative Steps to Leadership Growth

I’ve been working on (for some time now) a new ‘edge’ for me – by this I mean stepping out into new ways of being and behaving that in the past have been a significant challenge for me and my leadership.

I realised a few months ago how much more determined I am and, of course, my results are remarkably different. I had a tendency to be impatient, getting agitated and/or extremely frustrated when things didn’t go my way. I’d spend copious amounts of time over thinking, generally trying to work out what had happened, moaning, ranting, getting frustrated and then ultimately blaming and beating myself up.

The last few months have been an amazing (and also challenging!) roller-coaster at times and I now am starting to see how different my world is when I trust myself and whatever is or isn’t happening. There is an ebb and flow when I trust and keep getting back to aligning myself with the reality that I do not, (nor do I want to these days), control anything. I can ask questions, reach out, be open hearted, open minded – however ultimately I don’t know what the future holds. There’s an openness, an allowing and powerful synergy in play when I surrender to what IS. So I have been learning a different level of patience, trust, openness and in some ways vulnerability.

I am truly grateful for this very forward looking perception of growth. The knowing that whatever I find challenging, even the little things, is an opportunity for me to grow. It’s never negative in the long term, even if the events or moments seem so at the time. I now see this as a spring board to access MORE of me or to take a stand on what’s important. There’s always an opportunity to develop a new or existing quality or to remind myself that my current frame…my current beliefs or state can be changed. All it takes is willingness to step into the unknown and practise.

As I type this I feel a building excitement in my chest and stomach because of the possibilities for myself and others when this part of ourselves is accessed. The part that is willing to loosen our grip, willing to risk, willing to be creative, willing to trust. I mean what’s the worst that can happen? I feel an awe and solidity in my backbone that is hard to describe but is putting a big smile on my face.

AND the other great thing is I get to work on this with clients too: how can their current challenges be an opportunity to learn, to grow rather than a fault to be fixed or to condemn themselves with. Those opportunities can be powerful stepping stones to propel them forward in their leadership. Frequently the very things that they find challenging are offering a golden opportunity to be MORE of the leader that they want to be – and that they are truly capable of. Then it’s all about practise, practise, practise – and self compassion of course when things don’t go as planned.

There is always a ‘tipping point’ – those little changes that over time will make a big difference.

Today’s big question is…where do you demand that you know how things ought to be in your leadership, your team and your life?

So next time you are challenged, reflect and focus on these 3 transformative steps to propel your growth:

The Demand – check-in with yourself. How are you insisting that you, others or the situation ought to be? Get off your own omnipotence and take the blinkers off
The Openness – open your eyes to how you, others or the situation actually IS rather than how you think it should be. Therein lies a realm of other possibilities…
The Offer – what is on offer to you in your leadership growth with this challenge, at this time. What quality can you develop that will propel you forward?

Learn how to release demands those on yourself and others, trust more and change your behaviour – for the long term. Step into the unknown and commit to finding out how those little changes can make a big difference in your leadership.

By Nicci Statham - Aware Leadership

Breaking the Mould – Technically Savvy to Relationship Builder

I’ve had many conversations over the last few weeks with many people, including existing clients, who want to develop their people leadership skills. The discussions were around how to focus on the crossover from being very technically good in your field to becoming a leader – managing, motivating people and building relationships. I work with many clients who have this challenge…solicitors, accountants, finance experts, IT or digital consultants.

I have a huge empathy for this journey! I started out as an accountant years ago and the skills I developed were predominantly technical, back office, in the background completing the technical stuff or writing systems reports. And the outputs in many ways were clear cut…there were set formats, ‘right’ answers, clear frameworks, regulations to check or follow.

These days the skills and, more importantly, ways of being I lead with are completely at the opposite end of the spectrum. I have much compassion for clients who are making this transition in skills (and the accompanying confidence) to operate successfully at a higher level in their businesses. This can be immensely daunting – and terrifying.

If you are a leader or manager in a company or indeed a partner or owner…a large part of what is required now as you move to the next level is relationship building, generating connections and new business, leading and motivating people, handling staff challenges or conflicts.

What’s required is completely different, and for some, way out of their comfort zone! Now you’re no longer dealing with rules, regulations, research, data, optimisation, frameworks, plans, sets of accounts…now there’s a great deal of letting go required…less doing, less direction, more empowerment.

Now your realm is a huge set of unknowns…in the mix with all those different personalities and reactions, and of course, the unpredictability of humanity.

So as well as getting yourself out there to connect and build relationships with existing or potential clients, you now need to grow you as a leader WITH your team.

Skills and qualities you may not have exercised much before such as trust, intuition, clarity, vision, purpose, being visible, openness, having honest conversations, saying no, delegating, patience, emotional resilience, compassion…are calling you out on a daily basis.

So let’s say for instance you’re in a meeting or an event and you’re way out of your comfort zone. Here are 3 tips to support you to bridge the transition:

Listen In – to your thoughts…how are you telling yourself you need to be? And what are you expecting the outcome to be?
Check-In – with those expectations…and assumptions…often we make judgements or assumptions about what’s expected of us or others. Or we can hold a ideal expectation of ourselves based on what we see as the ‘perfect’ person or solution. How do you know that these assumptions or expectations are true?
Be Yourself…Be Curious! – be courageous and be yourself, let go of expectations. Interact as you normally would, ask questions, be openly curious about others or the situation. This is especially important if you have a team. What’s their take, what do they want? What do they think the solution(s) are?

Let me know how it goes!

Learn how to transform your willingness to be courageous, get past those expectations about yourself and others. Step into the unknown and step up to the next level in your leadership. And learn how to develop skills that will transform you from uncomfortableness to curious excitement.

Join me in a FREE 1hr 1:1 coaching session to discover how to make this powerful and empowering transition.

I can’t wait to hear from you…

Book FREE 1:1 Coaching Discovery Session

Bye for now…

Nicci