Be Honest

It's been a really busy few weeks, so much so that I've not had the chance to sit down and write a blog for a fortnight, but fear not - I'm back in the saddle and raring to get stuck into Q2 and see what sort of interesting topics come my way!

I've said before that one thing that always surprises and delights me is the way in which I often find that multiple pieces of work come to me, from unrelated sources, but with a very similar theme, at the same time. Maybe it's change leadership. Maybe it's resilience. Maybe it's embedding a coaching culture in an organisation. Whatever the topic, it's not uncommon for themes to emerge in my work and that can create fantastic opportunities to deep-dive into topics and take learnings and experiences from one business, sector or team into the work I'm doing with another. Of course, confidentiality is paramount and always maintained, but the experience of running a session with one team - how long things take, the sorts of talking points which emerge, the way in which questions are interpreted, etc - allows me to tweak and develop my work for another team and it ensures that I continue to grow and evolve.

Yet another world class AI image, this time meant to represent honestly and authenticity, although I've not a clue how....

The most recent example of this is not so much a topic or a subject, but more a stylistic element. Over the last two weeks, I have been approached by multiple organisations to design and facilitate away days for senior leadership teams throughout the spring and summer, each with a different set of outcomes. That's great! I love this kind of work, helping the business to refine their aims, shaping the agenda, MCing the day and adding value by facilitating some sessions to give a different voice and share an outside perspective.

Of course, there are a MILLION different ways in which you can do this work and a lot of different approaches that you can take as a facilitator in these situations. There's a need to be somewhat of a chameleon, adapting your approach in order to get the best from the situation and the individuals, but I'm very conscious of the need to be authentic and honest and that's where the opportunity has arisen for me lately. You see, despite having spent fifteen years working for a bank, I'm not especially corporate in my approach. (Cue a series of shocked faces from those who worked with me over that decade and a half...!) I can be, if it's absolutely required, but that's not me at my best. And while I read voraciously and love to share what I've learned and recommend resources which can help those I'm working with, I'm not an academic - nor do I try to be. I'm not stiff and prim and proper. That's just not who I am.

In my many years of business, I've not only delivered hundreds of sessions, I've attended hundreds more as a delegate and in that time I've seen a lot of presenters, facilitators and MCs. There have been many absolutely brilliant ones - captivating, motivating, educational, entertaining, funny, heart-wrenching - you name it, I've seen it and seen it done really well. But I've also seen a LOT of absolute shite. Cheesy, corporate, stiff, slimy, insincere, overly fluffy, style over substance. Others who were clearly trying to play a role of what they thought a presenter or facilitator should be, rather than just being themselves. And the more of them I see, the more I'm reminded about the importance of being authentic.

So what does being authentic mean to me and how does it show up? Well that takes us back to the requests I've had recently. Each has come from someone who has either seen me present or who had been directly referred via someone who has seen me present. First hand experience of exactly what I do and how I do it. I love when that happens because there's no navigating what the client wants, stylistically. They want what I do - that why they've got in touch.

My style is honest. It's a little bit gritty and raw. It's empathic and passionate and humour always plays a big part. Because that's who I am. I'm not stiff and overly polished. I cut through the mince that often turns up on organisations and I seek to get to the core of the issues. I ask the provocative questions when I need to and allow the team to really face up to the things that matter. Sometimes that means framing their problems (which I've taken then time to discover beforehand) through an external lens; "Some organisations who I've worked with have faced these types of challenges...do any of those sound familiar...?" - knowing fine well that those are EXACTLY the kinds of challenge which are bubbling under the surface. That allows the energy in the room to direct the conversation to the snakes in the carpet - the things which are out there in every organisation and which are getting in the way of harmony or motivation or productivity or enjoyment, but which aren't being spoken about.

And sometimes organisations aren't quite ready for that level of honesty and candour - so I test the edges and get a feel for where people are, to build psychological safety. That might involve an open leadership Q&A session where before we open questions to the floor, I ask the questions of the leadership that I know are on everyone's minds - taking the pressure off people from having to stick their head above the parapet and showing that the leadership team are open to answering the hard questions. Or it might mean a 121 'fireside chat' type where we humanise the leader and allow them to show vulnerability and talk about the challenges that they have identified and call upon their people for help in overcoming them, galvanising a team behind a mission.

These are simple tools but they're incredibly powerful at starting the process of getting teams unstuck, when there's something holding them back. And if you embrace them, there's no telling what a team can achieve. There are plenty of facilitators out there who are slick and corporate and happy to glide through an away day, focussed on smooth sailing and ticking the boxes. If you want that, let me know and I'm sure I can help you find one. But I'm not that guy. I want people to leave every session I'm involved with - whether it's a training session, a coaching session, a speech I give or an away day I facilitate, feeling like they've got something worthwhile from the experience. Feeling energised, challenged, with ideas and answers and understanding about where they need to go next. And I leave feeling like I've made a difference, which is the best payoff I can hope for!

If that sounds like something that could help, I'd love to hear from you!