Introducing Our New Blog Series: Group Coaching…
We had a brilliant time on the Isle of Mull last week and the beautiful scenery, amazing wildlife and company of a large group of friends and family was a brilliant tonic. We hired a lovely large house on the edge of a cliff over looking the sea, with our own beach. Over the last couple of weeks, the WhatsApp group was pinging with excitement, with comments about the possible weather and questions about who was bringing tea towels! We all took responsibility for a meal, and Tesco click-and-collect in Oban did pretty well out of us... Being a group meant we could share responsibilities and support each other so everyone got a break. We’re all different levels of fitness and experience so we all benefitted, from those conversations with each other, and the practical tasks we did with and for each other, and we grew even closer together with shared experiences we will reminisce over in the future.
Group coaching is a little like this experience, albeit usually being on zoom it’s quite different! And over the next couple of blogs we’re going to unpick what is involved and the benefits of group coaching in terms of leading ourselves as a foundation to leading our teams.
Before we get to what is involved, it is important to say that all those involved obviously have a desire to develop themselves and their practice in some way. For that reason alone, everyone has a common purpose, even if their goal is quite different. Despite not knowing each other in advance, that purpose together builds trust quickly, and participants start to support each other in their experiences. Leaders need to build that clarity of vision and sense of purpose for their teams, and that is what we focus upon in the first couple of weeks, understanding our own goals, our purpose and vision for ourselves, without which we can’t be as authentic, and therefore convincing, a leader as is possible.
So what is involved? Each session starts with us sharing some good news – this gets the mind ‘set’ in the right frame and is uplifting. Celebrating the small wins, gratitude practice, call it what you will, is proven to improve mindset and productivity. It brings people together and lightens the mood. Try it in your meetings! I then propose some thoughts around a theme to set the scene. Deliberately challenging, thought provoking and designed to get us thinking, I introduce models, ideas and concepts, and then challenge with some questions to get us reflecting. We so often reflect upon our day to day, but not on the fundamental building blocks of our leadership practice – looking at our ‘being’ as leaders, not just our ‘doing’. This coaching challenges that, and the personal and professional are interwoven.
The personal reflections upon those questions are then taken into smaller groups for discussion to get clarity over what resonated, and what didn’t, and most importantly what actions need to be taken as next steps… Clarity over thought without any action is strategy designed and never implemented – a dream. We take those dreams and make them into reality, plotting the small steps to get us closer to our goal.
Finally, we bring those ideas and discussions back into the main room and really commit to those future steps, knowing that we will be holding each other to account, with support, moving forwards. A camaraderie builds. Understanding that we are all facing, even struggling with, challenges is somehow reassuring – not that we wallow in the struggle, rather that realisation that we are not alone in this and can, together, find a way back to balance, in support of each other, relieves the emotional burden we carry. Many of these friendships continue on – a WhatsApp group provides an easy way of connecting together.
The work and support doesn’t stop there though. Each week I put the recording, the slides and any supporting materials onto my Podia learning platform for the group, together with further reading suggestions. A self-reflection sheet is posted there to enable real clarity to develop around what came out of the session, and provide a further incentive to take action. I recommend putting another 30 minutes into your schedule to allow you to do this reflection - although hard to find it pays real dividends. The real work then comes in taking action from that reflection…
So, in my week away we had this sort of collegiality. I had the time and space to give me greater ability to see challenges with a different perspective, to think big and differently, while being inspired by the scenery, natural history and fun company. The next step will be taking action from those reflections and, having had a long journey back from Mull to London at the end of the week, I’ve now got a really clear ‘to do’ list to take these dreams to reality. Next step… take action!
Reflections:
How do you ensure you reflect on the ‘being’ of your leadership as well as the ‘doing’?
What might your next steps be to further develop your reflection and turn it into action?
Who on your team might benefit from group coaching?
Contact us to find out more. Senior leaders starts Tuesday 3rd September at 4.30pm, Middle Leaders Wednesday 4th Sept 4.30pm. Join us or please pass this on to someone you think might benefit.