This is a book I have just finished reading and I thought you would appreciate a summary of the ideas and practical tools that are particularly relevant for teachers.

I have also included some questions from the book that you can ask yourself straight away.

In a busy school where virtually every member of staff is working, at least, at 110%, this book sets out a clear simple and practical set of steps we can all use to get much more done in less time.

If you think of your most important goal/task, often the one that you are most likely to procrastinate on. When will you actually do it?
Brian Tracy suggests that you 'brand' this task as a frog, a big ugly frog. Then eat it - immediately. If you can eat your biggest and ugliest frog first thing in the morning then this is probably the worst thing that will happen to you all day long - how great would that feel?

Questions for Reflection

• Which one project or activity, if I did it in an excellent and timely fashion, would have the greatest positive impact on my life?
• What one skill, if developed and did in an excellent fashion, would have the greatest postive impact on my career?
• If you had an enormous amount of money, perhaps due to a lottery win, what work would you choose?

Hear for yourself - What is a frog and why eat one for breakfast?

Why should I read this book?

This book will save you time.

Personal and Professional Development are the best time savers there are.

A major reason for delay and procrastination is a feeling of inadequacy, lack of confidence or inability in a key area of the task. The steps in this book help you to conquer procrastination really effectively.

I want to remember

Get clarity on your goals and objectives by 'Thinking on Paper' in 7 simple steps:

1. What
2. Write
3. Deadlines
4. Activities
5. Plan
6. Act Now
7. Everyday

Prioritise your 'To Do List' daily with the ABCDE Method:

Click here for the full mindmap (drawn using iMindMap)

Significant learning for busy teachers

Eliminate tasks that are no longer relent to you or to anyone else, often something that you continue to do out of habit or because you enjoy it. (i.e. create yourself a 'Stop Doing List')

As a visual learner I love discovering new ways that describe the previously indescribable.

This is what my 'Guilt Chip' looked like.

Three years ago I found an image to describe the feeling of guilt that was at my core. It was amazing! As soon as I found an image I was able to describe so much more about the feeling and what was associated with that feeling.

I have tried out several talking therapies and it was in a Hypnotherapy session that I came up with this image. I didn't write any notes during the session, but was compelled to draw a mind map of what I had articulated, felt and thought.

It did the trick and got me out of the hole I was in and the mind map stayed on my office wall. It was only three years later did I realize that I had started talking about my 'guilt chip' in the past tense. This prompted me to look again at that mind map with fresh eyes. I realized that although my 'guilt chip' had now stopped being a major driver for my thoughts and feeling, the drivers that I had described in the session were still very much in evidence. I have come to realize that an imbalance in my approach to life was getting me into holes that were hard to get out of. This was one of the triggers that helped me to decide to embark on a learning journey to increase my self awareness, challenge automatic responses, and ultimately to

'replace the operating system in my head'.

(Thank you Derek Sivers suggesting this phrase in the July 2011 "Anything You Want" Duct Tape Marketing Podcast.)

Albert Einstein famously said:

"Insanity = doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results."

And this is what I had been doing over and over again, focusing on getting out of my hole rather than really understanding what got me in the hole in the first place.

I have made a choice to approach life in a different way and it is already making a huge difference to how I see myself and how I respond to others, I am looking forward to learning more about what makes me me as I continue to craft a new operating system in my head over the coming months.

Since 1989, the Prisoners Education Trust has been providing access to broader learning opportunities for prisoners, to enhance their chances of building a better life after release.

They do this through a grants programme which assists over 2,000 prisoners each year to study distance learning courses in subjects and levels not available in prison, along with advice and support.

The Trust is the featured BBC Radio 4 appeal this Easter Sunday, 24th April,  Made by Lord David Ramsbotham, former Chief Inspector of Prisons and patron of the Trust, The OCM would like to encourage people to listen to the appeal (at 7.55am and again at 9.26pm on Easter Sunday). For more information or to support the Prisoner's Education Trust, please go to www.prisonerseducation.org.uk.  

Hi there! Finally decided to bite the bullet and to put some information about our fun, interactive and practical course tailored to meet the needs of managers who work with children and families. It will equip them with the tools and skills necessary to become highly effective coaches. Coaching helps to create a more open organisation, one that values people, it is a quick and effective method of developing members of staff. Good coaching seeks to empower individuals and leads to self-motivation and a reflective attitude that is oriented towards continual improvement in performance.  

Who is this course aimed at:
This course is for professionals in a managerial role who work with young children and families. It provides an overview of the coaching process and the key skills required to become a coach and implement coaching conversations in the workplace.

Areas covered:
Define what coaching is and explain it’s role in the workplace
Explain the managers role in the coaching process
Explain how to create a positive coaching environment
Follow a specific procedure for coaching success using established models
Show you how to use coaching communication skills to good effect
Identify coaching opportunities and appreciate which style of coaching to use.

This course will help you:
Conduct successful coaching conversations
Build special relationships where colleagues are treated as equal partners
Learn from failure, or what went wrong as well as success
Get results by doing rather than simply talking
Empower others - by sharing skills and experiences as well as values
Plan an on-going relationship rather than a one off event

For further details contact sandra@bernardchasecoaching.org  or visit www.bernardchasecoaching.org

Hi all,

just a quick post to flag up what I am sure is a scam email, that I received via my coachvine account, from dora.ture03@yahoo.fr.  I get this sort of thing fairly frequently in my spam email, but was surprised that someone must have infiltrated coachvine.  Just be aware, in case of viruses or other.

Cheers & hope everyone is well.

Reb

For many teachers, performance management reviews have come and gone for the year. Consider your responses to these questions:

Who is in control of your learning choices for the coming year?
If not you then who is and what can you do to regain control?

I learn best when I am control and I chose what I learn, when. However, left to my own devices, I would apply a ’scatter-gun’ approach and end up starting many different learning strands and not finishing any of them satisfactorily.
It helps me to be accountable to someone, but for me to have made the decision for my direction is very influential on my motivation to achieve. Don’t you just hate being told what to do?
I stay in control of my learning by:

Create a Personal Learning Goal
Sharing this goal with someone that I respect and trust (perhaps by agreement at a performance review)
Write out the first steps to achieve my learning goal (action plan) and allocating a reward for achieving each step
Stick the action plan above my desk and review it monthly.
Reward myself for achieving the big and little steps.

In practice, the step I most struggle with is planning my learning. I am great at learning, it is one of my strengths, but like any achievements, I am poor at setting the direction.
Rewarding myself is also a struggle unless I allocate a reward in advance, i.e. in step 3. It helps me to jot down my favourite rewards.

What parts of this process are you doing now ?
What parts are you avoiding?

Coaching4Teachers.com has more tips for planning you learning.
If you liked this article you can sign up for e-mail updates on my latest musings at BlueKiteCoach.com

Do you have your top 10 Twitter dos and do nots?

Here are ones that I put together after a Twitter workshop with Diane and Nigel of MorganPR in Newbury this morning:

1. DO use Twitter to build relationships
2. DO reTweet (RT) regularly and generously
3. DO use groups in TweetDeck
4. DO decide on an approach and use it consistently
5. DON’T ask too many questions in Tweets because threads can be difficult to follow
6. DO log onto twitter.com once a week to ensure you catch all direct messages
7. DO add pictures and videos for instant attraction
8. DO monitor what people are clicking using the analytics in Tweet Later
9. DO create short links directly in bit.ly so you can track these from their website
10. DO consider having a daily tips tweet loop

Reproduced from The 360 degree on 360 feedback blog....

This post is very much about my own experiences of using 360° feedback as a coaching tool and I don’t profess to be an expert. I would be very interested to read views on alternative approaches, so if you do read this, please don’t refrain from adding a comment and enhancing the post with the benefit of your own experience. It would be appreciated.

I think that feedback gathered using a 360° process is a wonderful thing. If you get the process right then you will receive feedback that is fast, confidential, targeted and benchmarked, creating a powerful picture for the individual on how they are perceived by a range of their colleagues.

This feedback picture can be vivid, nuanced and full of insight, but it can never be the truth. The feedback that colleagues give to the individual will always be subjective, it will always be open to bias and some respondents will never have the time and inclination to give feedback that is honest and specific. No matter how much attention you give to the design of your questionnaire, if you are running the process for more than one individual then you will not be able to completely bespoke it for each of those individuals, tailoring each question to the specific demands of their job roles. The point I am trying to make is that the 360° process gives the individual this fantastic feedback picture, but it should not be presented to them as the truth.

This is the first point in my mind when I use 360° feedback as the basis for a coaching session, however that doesn’t mean that I feel wary about how the session is going to unfold. Instead, I feel excited, as I believe that this kind of feedback represents a powerful opportunity for the coach and coachee.to generate insight and self-awareness.

Self-awareness is very rarely easily achieved, especially in relation to how we are perceived by those around us and it is not surprising that we shy away from examining how our behaviour impacts on others. Even if we are prepared to put aside our fears of being judged, then collecting meaningful feedback from our colleagues can be an awkward process, for instance, walking around the office asking each person in turn ‘so then, what do you really think about me?’ is just going to make you feel more odd, rather than enlightened.

The 360° feedback will provide a powerful, if imperfect, picture of how an individual is perceived by their colleagues, focusing not just on their areas for development but also their qualities and their particular talents. This gives the coachee a rare opportunity to generate powerful insights into their behaviour and raise their levels of self-awareness. It is worth reminding them however, that this all within the context of their working environment. They are not being given feedback on their worth as a human being, rather they are being granted insights into say, what the people they manage think about their ability to set meaningful objectives, or what their own manager thinks about their strategic skills.

Here lies the rub. For many of us, the tendency when we’re presented with this vivid picture of feedback will be to pick out the negative points, the stark scores or statements that stand out and prick at our pride. Sure we’re happy that our colleagues value our open and positive communication style, but we CANNOT BELIEVE that they don’t think we’re quite so hot on delivering projects on time. How DARE they! It’s natural to indulge in some self-flagellation, but it isn’t going to get us any further down the road. So this is where I think the coach needs to work really hard to ensure that the 360° process remains a useful process for the coachee.

I feel that if I’m coaching someone through a 360° feedback session, I need to ensure that we have a really strong and robust structure to our conversation. At the beginning, when we set our ‘contract’ together, I’ll be sure to let them shape their outcomes for the session and the areas that they want to explore, but I’ll also be a little bit directive and establish that as well as taking a look at the areas where they feel they want to develop, we’ll be exploring what the feedback tells us about their key strengths, their qualities and the talents that their colleagues feel they bring to the workplace. I will propose that we take a forensic approach to all the feedback that has being generated, establishing which is strong, honest, accurate and focused – the stuff that we can work with and which can be of use to the individual. That’s the good stuff we want to pick out the key themes from, getting us closer to the truth. The rest will be of no use to the coachee and they can take the decision to discard it.

I will be clear that some of the feedback will be of no surprise to the coachee and that it may be more beneficial to focus on the themes that contain fresh insights and new understanding, rather than treading on old ground. And I will also offer the idea that you cannot please everyone all of the time, that there maybe aspects of the coachee’s behaviour or work-style that don’t go down well with some individuals, but that those choices are made for the sake of the organisation and shouldn’t lead to knee-jerk reactions.

Finally, I will emphasise the context within which the feedback has been created, reminding them that the 360° process is powerful yet imperfect and does not represent the truth, rather it represents an opportunity for the coachee to find their own truth.

These are the kind of parameters that I want to build into this kind of session. They underpin the conversation and help provide a supportive and positive space within which the coachee can explore all the marvellous feedback that has been collected for them. With any luck, they will gain new understanding, recognising where they might build on their existing strengths and where they might try new ideas and strategies in their drive for self-management. As the coach in this kind of session, I would be seeking to understand what learning needs the coachee had identified for themselves and the opportunities they would grasp in order to meet those needs.

My final thought around using 360° as a coaching tool is that I would be surprised if you can tie up all the themes that emerge in just one session. After such a powerful barrage of feedback, the coachee is going to need some time for reflection and let these new insights and ideas settle into the mind and it may take one or two follow-up sessions before they’ve really absorbed everything that has been handed to them by their colleagues.

To conclude then, I believe that the 360° process is a powerful coaching tool that if handled carefully, can enable the recipient to reap some rich rewards in terms of self-awareness and new insights.

Over to you. What do you think?

Having taken a look at the concept of sanctuary, it's now time to get cracking with the second of my three 'mini-projects', which was also inspired by reading 'The Mentor's Book' by Mike Pegg. I want to take a closer look at the following idea:

Creating a compelling picture of perfection.

This is a technique that I encountered throughout the time I was studying for my coaching diploma, that the individual is much more likely to achieve their goal if they take the time to transform that goal from a simple statement into a fully-formed and fleshed out vision for success. That may sound a bit corny, but it's something I've seen work in practice, both in myself and when working with people I've coached. It's not a complex process, it requires nothing more than exercising your imagination in a way that is fun and rewarding.

I'm tempted here to launch into a detailed definition of this process, as I see it, but instead I'll hold back from that and let my thoughts develop, allowing myself be influenced by others as I build a much fuller understanding of what the phrase above means to me. I do however, have a clearer idea of how I'm going to go about building that understanding. To begin with, I'll shoot a short video, where I will attempt to explain why I find this conecept so interesting. Then, I will attempt to use social media to collect some input from others. Rather than opening it too wide, I'm going to see if I can target a few people whose thoughts I'm really interested in and see if I can co-erce them into making a short video for me. I'll ask them three core questions:

1. What tools do you use to create a compelling picture of perfection?
2. What process do you follow?
3. How have you used the pictures that you've created?

Next step would be to see if I can take what I've learned from these people and see if I can improve the way I create my own pictures of prefection. I'm also toying with the idea of drawing some of these pictures and asking a wider selection of people for their own examples, but I'll see about that when I get to it. I feel quite excited about this one, as I'm hoping that I will get a lot out of it. We. Shall. See.

Reproduced from my own blog...

My deadline for the first of my three ‘mini-projects’ is the end of August, so true to form, I’m pulling this all together on the last day of the month. There’s nothing like a bit of self-imposed pressure to get the juices flowing again is there? Truth be told though, this isn’t at all feeling like a chore. Instead it feels like one last chance to have a paddle in all the thoughts and ideas generated by my original question:

Where do you find sanctuary?

Eleven people sent me an answer, using a variety of methods, and this is what I feel that I learnt from them about where people find sanctuary.

Place

This was the answer that I was most expecting, as from the outset the link between sanctuary and place was foremost in my mind. Still though, it was very enjoyable to see the variety of places where people might find sanctuary, from offices to gardens to the seaside. Some clear themes emerged, the most prominent being the importance of re-connecting with nature and the sense of calm and privacy that can be found in your own home. It was interesting how two people both mentioned how being outdoors gave them a sense of perspective:

“By the sea. At the top of a hill. Anywhere that I can get some perspective.”

“Out walking and especially on top of a hill, mountain, fell etc somewhere where I can see for miles.”

It is nice to be reminded that a view of the larger natural world opening up in front of you can quickly place your own troubles and concerns in perspective and perhaps not so insurmountable.

Three of the respondents told me about how they had decorated their places of sanctuary to suit their needs, using either soothing blues, bold colours or references to a zombie apocalypse to create the bolthole of their dreams. This got me thinking about how you might design your own sanctuary, which is a concept I’m going to return to later.

Two last fleeting thoughts about place. Firstly, the word ‘journey’ popped up a lot in the responses, which made me wonder if for some, travelling to your place of sanctuary, undressing yourself of your everyday trials and tribulations along the way, is just as important as getting there? Secondly, I really need to go and visit Oxwich Bay.

Being

My preoccupation with the link between sanctuary and place was soon shattered through the introduction of a range of ways in which the respondents found their own version of sanctuary. We had activities (walking, rowing and reading), emotions (humour) and just interacting with the people you love. There was a strong emphasis on family here, as well as sharing time with people with similar passions or ideals.

I was now thinking that sanctuary was not solely dependent on your physical environment, but could just as easily be found through spending your time with the people who mean the most to you, or doing the activities that mean the most to you. Sanctuary was not just about seeing, it was about touching, hearing and most importantly, feeling.

A thought just popped into my head. I read ‘Playing The Enemy’ recently, within which John Carlin explores the links between Nelson Mandela capturing the hearts and minds of white South Africa and the Rugby World Cup of 1995 and I remember reading about how Mandela’s most cherished texts within prison were the Greek classics and the works of Shakespeare. So this man was trapped within a physical environment designed to break him down, but his ability to read, an activity which kept his mind alive, was absolutely his sanctuary.

All in the mind

The next idea that I was reminded of was that sanctuary is something that can be totally removed from the physical realm, as it is a place that you can travel to in your own mind.

Jackie spoke of finding sanctuary in her own imagination, a place where she has the space and time to reflect and create. Mike talked of a specific mind-set, an attitude which helps him guard against complacency and Ken and Karyn relate how they find sanctuary in their own minds, Karyn through prayer and Ken through a process he feels is akin to meditation.

So again, I’m now thinking that you don’t have to BE somewhere to find sanctuary, you don’t even have to be DOING anything in particular, you just have to be ready to travel there in your own mind.

The design and discipline of sanctuary

By now, having absorbed the answers I’d received and played around with them a little on paper, I was coming to some conclusions. What really struck me was that the people who had got back to me were not finding their own places of sanctuary by happy accident. Instead, they were exercising both design and discipline in creating a sanctuary that really worked for them, be it a place, an activity or a state of mind.

They were crafting their own sanctuaries and creating the design of their choice, either physically (decorating the office space or family room) or mentally (Ken visits the Arctic when he’s stuck on a sweltering tube carriage). These individuals had made the choice to be the architects of their own sanctuary.

And they were exercising discipline in making sure that they were able to reach their states of sanctuary. They had recognised where they were, how to get to them and that they could recognise when they needed to access them. I had a real sense that they were willing to work to ensure that their sanctuary gave them the most positive impact possible.

What I’m wondering now is, of the people who saw my original question, did some of them look at it, draw a blank and move on because they’d never thought enough about where they find their sanctuary? Perhaps not enough of us have exercised that design and discipline in identifying our sanctuary? Which would mean we would find it harder to get there and thus take longer to recover from setbacks or the problems that have been plaguing us.

I would guess that highly effective people, whatever field they might work in, have a very good handle on where their sanctuary is and can access it pretty swiftly. From a coaching angle, I think that I would enjoy working with people to help them identify their own sanctuary and recognise how they might access it when they need it.

Methods

Finally, a word on the methods I used for the first of these mini-projects. Basically, I really like using these social media tools. People could answer my question in a short sharp tweet, expand a little in a comment on my first post, or go hell for leather and write a blog post of their own, using pictures or video to add colour and insight. It’s powerful stuff and I’m keen to continue to play with it. If I’m going to get better at it though, I need to continue to build a meaningful network based on two-way communication. Twitter is based around the concept of the more you give, the more you get, which means that if I expect more people to respond when I throw out a question, I need to make sure I answer some more of their questions.

Thanks very much to all those who got back to me – much appreciated.