Newsletter September 2011

The Mentor Newsletter September 2011

Using NLP in Your Mentoring Toolkit Coaching & Mentoring for Doctors Annual Conference 2011: Mentoring Through Change Mentoring Awards Winners

Inside:

Free I-Resilience Tool

Welcome

News in brief

to the latest issue of our newsletter...

Executive Mentor Development Training

It has been another busy time for us recently; we’ve launched Mentornet; rolled out our new development sessions for mentors and mentees; launched our champions programme to support existing and new members across the region, and of course there was our annual conference!

The Leadership Academy has commissioned the Mentoring Scheme to provide a number of development days for Executive level staff wishing to become mentors. Dates will be published on the website in the coming weeks and can be accessed via the Executive tab on the website. Please contact us on 0161 772 3608 for further details or to register your interest.

It was my first experience of the conference and I was amazed at the commitment that you, our members, show to the scheme. The theme of the day was mentoring through change and if you attended I do hope you enjoyed the speakers and the chance to network – I certainly did! Look out for our network learning events that will be happening in your area.

The scheme, in partnership with Robertson Cooper is offering a half day Resilience for Managers programme. Focusing on psychological well-being and the importance of this when dealing with pressure, this session is a great resource to help you manage the current changes you may be experiencing in your service and within the NHS as a whole.

This issue of the newsletter contains articles that discuss the challenges and opportunities that we as mentors and mentees face in the current climate together with a review of the conference.

As always we would be delighted to hear your thoughts and feedback on them together with your suggestions for future editions.

Partnership with North West Employers

How is Your Resilience?

To book your place on a resilience session, please complete a booking form available on our website at www.nwmentoring.nhs.uk or contact Emma or Amanda on 0161 772 3608. To find out more about Robertson Cooper’s free online tool, please turn to page 9.

The scheme is currently working in partnership with North West Employers which supports employees within Local Authorities across the North West. This established link supports the Scheme in providing inter professional and cross sector mentoring.

Developing these links with other public sector organisations within the region supports the leadership agenda across the organisations involved and enhances the mentoring service the scheme provides.

Enjoy the newsletter!

In this issue...

Rob Robert Booth, Scheme Manager

Total Membership July 2011

2132

752

1380

Mentors

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Page 2 3 3 4, 5 6 7 8 9 10 11

Welcome & News in brief Mentoring theory: the art of listening What does mentoring mean to you?

Annual conference & award winners Coaching & mentoring for doctors Putting NLP in your toolkit Mindful Mentoring Mentoring and coachong tools Our Futures - The NHS transition support portal Calendar of events

Mentees

Mentoring for innovation, integration and leadership

Mentoring Theory:

The Art of Listening

by Rhianon Washington

We have two ears and one mouth so proportionally we should listen twice as much as we talk, but we don’t!

Listening effectively is a conscious, positive skill not a passive act and it needs to be practised. Effectively listening encourages reciprocal behaviour in the talker and engenders greater understanding.

We speak at a rate of 100 to 200 words per minute but our brains process at around 500 words per minute, which provides the temptation for the mind to wander or form responses, develop arguments, consider meanings and do just about anything other than listening to what is being said.

Good listening is linked with emotional intelligence. What is being said can arouse our feelings and we stop listening and focus instead on them. Delaying a response to those feelings and continuing to focus on the speaker allows us to manage our emotions more effectively.

To develop your listening skills: Stop talking!

Develop empathy for the speaker Show and display interest Respond positively until the speaker has finished before offering your opinion • Check understanding by summarising key points • • • •

Try out your listening skills on colleagues, friends and family and see your popularity grow!

Effective listening can: • save time, as there is less misunderstanding • improve efficiency, as the information input is more accurate • increase our standing with the speaker: we all want to be heard, so to find someone to listen to us will immediately elevate them in our estimation

Delegates participating in a listening exercise at a network learning event

Mentor Net - Did you know....?

• If you have difficulty logging in, you can reset your password straight away - just click on the password reminder at the bottom of the log in page and an email will be sent to you immediately!

• You can register as a mentee or a mentor if you are already a member of the scheme - just log in to mentor net and use the link in your profile - leave the rest to us!

• If you are experiencing any difficulites please contact Amanda on 0161 772 3608 and we can work on any issues together.

Please remember to keep your details updated - if your email address changes, email Amanda at nwmentoring@gmw.nhs.uk and title your email “Change of Email Address”.

Following a recent networking event, we asked the question:

What does mentoring mean to you?

“As a mentee, the scheme enables me to be an improved decision maker, problem solver, listener and more than anything to be a better all round me.” Hodan Noor

“The chance to develop my own and other’s leadership capacity as part of a supportive regional mentoring scheme.” Laura Owen

“Mentoring has been life changing, it has given me the opportunity to reflect and grow personally in a safe environment” Adele Markland

“My mentor has helped me to deal with organisational change and manage difficult relationships more effectively by giving an objective view” Penny Barber

We would love to hear your thoughts on what the mentoring scheme has meant to you, please email us at nwmentoring@gmw.nhs.uk with the subject “What Mentoring Means to Me”. We will include as many comments as we can in our next issue.

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Annual Conference 2011

The North West Mentoring Scheme held its 4th Annual Conference Mentoring Through Change: Improving Performance, Services and Leadership in a Changing Environment - on the 9th June at Manchester United Stadium at Old Trafford.

The Scheme manager, Rob Booth kicked things off giving an update on the Scheme and explaining what new and upcoming workshops and events our members can look forward to in the months to come, such as refresher training for mentors and Resilience for Managers workshops.

Session One: Professor Elisabeth Paice, Visiting Professor at Imperial College London and Chair of North West London Integrated Care Pilot.

Lis presented a thought provoking session on Coaching and Mentoring for Doctors in Times of Change, she also discussed the value of mentoring and coaching from a clinical and personal perspective. To read more from Lis turn to her article on page 6.

Session Two: Professor Ivan Robertson, Director of Robertson Cooper Ltd. Ivan’s presentation was titled Mentoring, well-being and resilience in a changing environment. The presentation was well received by delegates and founded many questions for the Q & A session later that afternoon. To understand more about resilience and to test your own resilience turn to page 9.

Lunch & Networking: Lunch provided an ideal opportunity for delegates to take a tour of the stadium and to network with colleagues. With plenty to discuss from the morning’s speakers, lunchtime passed too quickly and before long it was time to move into the afternoon session.

Question & Answer Session: Our panel comprised of speakers from the day, Cathy Bridge, of Bridge Associates and Ivan Robertson, of Robertson Cooper, and of scheme representatives Rhianon Washington, Scheme Trainer and Amanda Nicholls, Perfomance and Communications Officer.

The enthusiasm and passion for mentoring was hard to ignore as the panel were presented with thought-provoking and challenging questions from delegates.

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article on page 7.

The event was a huge success and gave everyone a great opportunity to network. The feedback we have received has been fantastic, and we would like to extend our thanks to all the delegates who attended, and to our visiting speakers and sponsors: Lis Paice, Robertson Cooper, Cathy Bridge, Fink Cards, The North West Leadership Academy and CRB Associates.

Session Four: Cathy Bridge, Director of Bridge Associates.

Following the afternoon break delegates were treated to a wonderful afternoon session where Cathy explained how NLP techniques can be used effectively in a mentor’s toolkit. Further details can be found by reading Cathy’s

The next network event is on the 20th of October at Lace Conference Centre. The theme will be Enhancing Leadership & Performance at Work. To book your place, please visit the calendar of events on our website at www.nwmentoring.nhs. uk and complete a booking form.

This is what our delegates said about the day: “It was a great event and helps you think about your priorities and re direct you to what you are about and what you want to do in the future. Great Event” “Really enjoyed the day, thought provoking, good networking opportunity” “Excellent day, I will be sharing with colleagues and managers” “Well done on a well organised conference day, very useful and enjoyable day” “Excellent event and will definitely attend in the future” “Good venue, great speakers and conclusive to learning” “Useful day, very Motivating”

Thank You to our Photographers: We would like to extend a special thank you to the members of the Whitworth Photography Club who generously donated their time and expertise to capture images of our Annual Conference on film for us free of charge:

“Very Professional, and engaging and interesting. Well organised day” “Really enjoyable and useful day, respite from work, thank you”

Lisa McDowell Jim Mellor Dave Greenwood

North West Mentoring Scheme Annual Awards The North West Mentoring Scheme have established 3 awards to recognise the value and calibre of mentoring in the North West.

The awards are peer nominated and have proven to be a real success in celebrating outstanding leadership and achievements through mentoring. We would like to acknowledge and celebrate the hard work of our members but especially those who have been nominated, and congratulations to all our winners!

Model Mentee: Radhika Rangaraju Wrightington Wigan & Leigh NHS Foundation Trust

Mentor Exemplar: Tracy Brimage Cumbria Partnership NHS Foundation Trust

Mentoring for innovation, integration and leadership

Services to Mentoring: Claire Haigh North West Employers 5

Coaching and Mentoring for Doctors in Times of Change

by Professor Elisabeth Paice

The NHS is going through a period of seismic change, leaving healthcare workers confused and uncertain about their future. For doctors, the very nature of their role and the meaning of professionalism have been changing for some time.

A previously strong emphasis on autonomy, clinical freedom and self-regulation has been replaced by an emphasis on multi-professional team-working, clinical governance, and external scrutiny.

The expectations of patients have risen and meeting them will be an increasing challenge in a time of financial austerity. There is little place for the ‘lonely hero’ style of doctor, as exemplified by George Clooney’s character in ER. We need doctors who can work effectively in teams, both as leaders and as followers, who feel empowered working that way and are motivated to be champions for quality improvement.

Coaching and mentoring can help by encouraging reflective practice, reducing burnout or embitterment, increasing engagement, raising awareness of systems of care, encouraging innovation and building confidence in decision-making.

The evidence is sufficiently strong for several recent DHfunded reports to have recommended coaching and mentoring in enhancing the careers of women doctors, delivering training for doctors in shorter working hours and improving the health of the healthcare workforce.

Given all this evidence, it is tempting to argue that a coach/

mentor should be offered to everyone in the health service.

However, done by people who have not been trained, are not supervised or supported in the role, who are unwilling to allocate appropriate time, and who are not signed up to an ethical framework, these relationships can be ineffective or even have a negative impact. Training is costly but crucial.

When my colleague Dr Rebecca Viney set up the London Deanery service, she invited me to undertake the basic training.

I will admit to a degree of arrogance - I thought I had probably developed all the coaching and mentoring skills I needed, after a lifetime as a consultant and a postgraduate dean. By the end of the first day I was still in two minds, but by the end of the third day, I was a convert. This is powerful stuff! I was listening to people on a new level, and helping them to listen to themselves in a way they had clearly not done before.

The impact on the others going through the training was equally profound. People were coming back and saying the training was having an impact on the way they behaved at home and with their patients. It was enhancing their own confidence and satisfaction at work.

The NHS is going through a tough time. Embedding a culture of coaching and mentoring throughout the NHS would go far to mitigate the impact of some of the changes it faces.

Can we afford to do it properly in a time of austerity? Or should the question be, can we afford not to?

Professor Elisabeth Paice

Quotes of the Month “The greatest good you can do for another is not just to share your riches but to reveal to him his own.”Benjamin Disraeli “We make our world significant by the courage of our questions and by the depth of our answers.” Carl Sagan If you have a favourite quote that you want to share please email nwmentoring@gmw.nhs.uk and title your mail “Favourite Quote”

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Mentoring for innovation, integration and leadership

Putting NLP into your Mentoring Toolkit

F

by Cathy Bridge

irstly, what is NLP? The letters stand for Neuro Linguistic Programming and the definitions are as many and varied as the people who practice it. We might say it’s the art and science of human excellence, the understanding of how we communicate with each other, or the impact of language on behaviours and vice versa, and all of these definitions would be accurate and partly true. One of my favourite definitions is drawn from a New Guinea proverb - ‘all knowledge is merely a rumour until it’s in the muscle’ – in other words, NLP is about what you do, not just what you know or what you say.

So, how is NLP helpful to mentors? Again, let me count the ways… NLP is a vital part of the toolkit of anyone involved in mentoring, coaching, managing or otherwise assisting other human beings. The point with NLP is that it is about increasing choice – your choices as a mentor (you will have more techniques and skills) and more choices for your mentee.

One of the things NLP draws your attention to is your state – the way you are, how you’re feeling, what you’re paying attention to and so on. We transmit states to others because we all have ‘mirror neurons’ – neurons that are spread right through our neurology (it’s not all in the brain – neurons exist in the gut and in the heart as well) and these mirror neurons enable us to copy each other and empathise with each other (Ramachandran, 2011).

So, we need to be aware of our own state before we begin to work with others to help them achieve their outcomes – if we’re not in a resourceful state, what are we ‘transmitting’ to our mentees? There’s growing interest in the art of ‘mindfulness’ (Williams and Penman, 2011) and this is a key element of NLP. Another skill we need to possess and practice, as mentors, is that of ‘holding’ people’s negative emotions. As a metaphor for ‘holding’ I would suggest that our behaviour with babies is a perfect example – we hold young babies for much of the time, and it’s lovely when they’re gurgling and smiling.

But when their little faces cloud over and they begin to cry and wail, we continue to hold them, even though this is more stressful for us – we don’t walk away. And so it is with mentees – they too have difficult emotions and we need to be present with those emotions so that they can experience them fully and work through the changes that they are bringing about.

There are several NLP exercises which enable you to help others (and yourself) work with difficult or negative emotions, among them ‘perceptual positions’, ‘phobia cure’, and the reflective exercise we did during the workshop.

The North West Mentoring Scheme is running NLP diploma programmes so that you too can put some NLP into your toolkit, so for further details please contact Rob, Amanda or one of the team on 0161 772 3608.

Ramachandran, VS, The Tell Tale Brain – Unlocking the Mystery of Human Nature, William Heinemann, London, 2011 Williams, M and Penman, D, Mindfulness: A Practical Guide to Finding Peace in a Frantic World, Piatkus Books, 2011

NLP DIPLOMA AVAILABLE TO SCHEME MEMBERS The North West Mentoring Scheme is delighted to be working with Cathy Bridge to run a second NLP Diploma course.

The next 4 day Course is running 1st to the 4th November.

Limited spaces are still available. Registration and pricing details can be obtained by contacting Emma on 0161 772 3608 or send an email to emma.porter@gmw.nhs.uk titled “NLP Diploma” Mentoring for innovation, integration and leadership

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Mindful Mentoring & Self-Regard ‘Mindfulness’ is a psychological technique much used in therapy with origins seated in Buddhist theories of meditation.

Based on ‘present-centred awareness’, or put simply ‘being in the moment’, it involves acute awareness of self and circumstance; an elevated consciousness.

The many benefits enjoyed by mindful individuals include a healthy work-life balance as opposed to those with poor self awareness who may remain oblivious to the intensifying demands of their job until they find themselves answering emails on Sunday morning rather than enjoying the newspapers.

Mentors are uniquely placed to generate mindfulness in their mentees through the adoption of powerful questions stimulating cogent insights and deeper understanding.

Successful mentoring demands the procurement of sufficient expertise to be mindful, possess emotional intelligence and self-regard and to be congruent with mentees. As Johnson & Ridley point out in their book, The Elements of Mentoring (2008), congruent mentors are not afraid to say ‘I don’t know’, a notion that sits well with the developmental mentoring model where mentee goals and issues are addressed as a team rather than by mentor instigation.

Mastering high levels of self-regard can deeply influence the mentoring process. By embracing acceptance of themselves the mentor may foster reciprocal sentiments in their mentee.

We know that mentoring creates reflective space so allowing adequate opportunity for such reflection in our fast-paced lives is vital. Stop, reflect and appreciate your job or family.

Such scrutiny forges awareness which creates the knowledge that generates power – the power to harmonise the separate facets of our lives while allowing them to flourish independently.

Slowing down to smell the roses also significantly reduces stress levels, improves coping strategies, allows us to make thoughtful decisions and enjoy a self acceptance and appreciation impacting on both ourselves, within and outside work, as well as the people we come into contact with. Mindfulness can help us identify our values and focus our goals so that we may align our lives with those values.

There are numerous mindfulness exercises, many to do with meditation and breathing exercises. My favourite involves

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Rhianon Washington

food! Our busy lives often entail rushing our food confining the pleasurable experience of eating to the subconscious. So try mindfully eating as follows:

•Arrange to eat in a quiet environment away from distraction.

•Take time to look at your food, smell it, be aware of any pleasure gained from this – is your stomach rumbling in anticipation?

•Put a bite in your mouth and hold it there for a moment to gauge any physical reaction - are you salivating?

How does it taste and feel?

•Be aware of the sensation of swallowing and how it feels in your stomach.

•Repeat until the plate is clean. Do you feel full? Base this on your internal feelings and not the sight of a clean plate.

•Compare how you felt before you ate with how you feel after.

Attaining such depth in our observation and sensory perception is mindfulness and the principles can equate to any situation.

In her book Happiness at Work (2010), Pryce-Jones reminds us that being mindful should embrace the highs in life as much as the lows. Savouring the moment and enjoying the here and now heightens experience, increases motivation and energises you. To seek contentment in your work be mindful; step back and examine your situation, consider your feelings and their triggers, remember that other people can affect you just as you can affect them. How you deploy this knowledge can positively impact on your life.

Mentoring for innovation, integration and leadership

Mentoring & Coaching Tools Fink Cards Free online i-resilience tool from Robertson Cooper Employee resilience plays a pivotal role in today's working life- easing the management of change, supporting employee morale and engagement, while improving health outcomes and reducing stress.

It is particularly important right now, at a time when many organisations are facing significant change.

Robertson Cooper’s model for developing resilience identifies four key components of natural resilience: • • • •

confidence purposefulness adaptability the need for social support

Resilience is influenced by our unique personality and we each draw upon different combinations of these elements when we need to be resilient.

What’s key is that our resilience is not fixed and these areas can all be developed.

couldn’t agree with her more, our company philosophy is quite Lisa Warner simple, great conversations start I was delighted to attend with a high quality question. the North West Mentoring We were blown away with the Annual Conference, it was positive feedback we received a excellent day. Fink Cards about our products and delighted have recently launched a new that so many people wished us range of products especially well in our mission to improve for use within organisations the quality of conversations in and the conference offered the workplace. a wonderful opportunity to Our new titles consist of showcase our new titles and Powerful Coaching Questions to gain valuable feedback from Achieve Goals, mentors. *Building High Performing It was wonderful to talk to Teams so many delegates and hear how the scheme works, it was *Enhancing Peoples Performance at Work and also good to hear how many people valued their mentoring * Working Through relationship and how they felt Organisational Change it benefited both the mentor Each edition contains 48 and mentee. excellent questions to get the conversation started.

Professor Elisabeth Paice stressed the importance of asking quality questions during her talk about Coaching & Mentoring for Doctors in times of Change and we Access these exciting features direct from your desktop or laptop:

i-resilience is a free tool that businesses and individuals can use to develop and manage their resilience -it can form a valuable part of the blend of approaches you use to manage health and wellbeing in the workplace.

To use i-resilience simply complete an online questionnaire and then, receive your personal resilience report.

The report provides tailored suggestions of different strategies available, depending on the situation that is threatening well-being.

The tool also opens the door for managing and improving resilience at an organisational level.

North West Employers have launched an innovative new online tool in July called NorthWest Connex.

Developed in conjunction with the North West Improvement and Efficiency Partnership, the Connex platform is available to members of the scheme via the internet.

Register and start using the region’s new virtual communications platform by visiting:

• on-line access to conferences, events, training and briefings • view presentations and participate in Q&A sessions in both in real-time and ondemand • regional social networking tool for developing and maintaining networks • join-in with chat sessions with other online users • develop relationships with others who share common interests • visit a virtual marketplace with participating organisations

To download your free i-resilience report please visit:

http://www.robertsoncooper.com/ iresilience

https://northwestemployers.6connex.com/ portal/northwestconnex/login

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Transition Support Portal ‘Our Futures’ is an online transition support portal for all NHS employees experiencing change due to NHS reforms and organisational re-structures.

The site offers advice on managing both personal and organisational change including; • Tools that enable personal/professional reflection and enhance confidence • Tips on applying for jobs, attending interviews and assessment centres • Advice on becoming self employed and setting up a business

• Rights, entitlements and benefits as an employee • Managing your finances during redundancy, resignation or early retirement • Executive Leader Support, diagnostic tools and competency frameworks

The site was commissioned and developed by the NHS North West Leadership Academy and NHS North West on behalf of its members. NHS Trusts and organisations across the country are also encouraged to use the website to support their local change and reform strategies.

For further information on the site or for comments or feedback please contact us info@nwacademy.nhs.uk or 0161 625 7348.

www.nwacademy.nhs.uk/ourfutures 10

Mentoring for innovation, integration and leadership

Calendar of Events The North West Mentoring Scheme currently provide the following training events for our members: The Mentor Development Day The Mentor Development Day is a practical workshop, providing an introduction to the Scheme, training on developmental mentoring, and an explanation of our bespoke matching system, Mentor Net all combined with practical exercises and the tools needed to start mentoring.

Please note that this training day is available following registration with the Scheme.

Mentor Refresher Session An afternoon session provided for mentors already registered with the Scheme, who would like to revisit their original training and work on their skills in this interactive workshop.

The Mentee Awareness Session An informative afternoon which serves as an introduction to the NW Mentoring Scheme and what our mentees can expect from a mentoring relationship.

For the Resilience Workshop, NLP Workshop and ILM Certificate, please contact the Scheme for further information at nwmentoring@gmw.nhs.uk.

September 08/09/2011 21/09/2011 22/09/2011 27/09/2011 29/09/2011

9.15am-4.30pm 12.00pm-4.30pm 9.15am-4.30pm 9.15am-4.30pm 9.15am-4.30pm

ILM Day 1 Cohort 1 Mentee Awareness Session Mentor Development Day Mentor Development Day Mentor Development Day

Prestwich, Manchester Warrington, Cheshire Blackpool, Lancashire Chorley, Lancashire Preston, Lancashire

October 06/10/2011 05/10/2011 11/10/2011 12/10/2011 17/10/2011 18/10/2011 20/10/2011

9.15am-4.30pm 12.00pm-4.30pm 12.00pm-4.30pm 12.15pm-4.30pm 9.15am-4.30pm 9.15am-4.30pm 12.00pm-4.30pm

ILM Day 2 Cohort 1 Mentee Awareness Session Mentor Refresher Session Resilience Workshop Mentor Development Day Mentor Development Day Network Learning Event

Chorley, Lancashire Prestwich, Manchester Chorley, Lancashire Chorley, Lancashire Crumpsall, Manchester Liverpool, Merseyside Liverpool, Merseyside

November 03/11/2011 9.15am-4.30pm 01/11/2011 9.15am-4.30pm 02/11/2011 9.15am-4.30pm 03/11/2011 9.15am-4.30pm 04/11/2011 9.15am-4.30pm 09/11/2011 9.15am-4.30pm 10/11/2011 9.15am-4.30pm 22/11/2011 12.00pm-4.30pm 30/11/2011 9.15am-4.30pm

ILM Day 3 Cohort 1 NLP Diploma Day 1 NLP Diploma Day 2 NLP Diploma Day 3 NLP Diploma Day 4 Resilience Workshop Mentor Development Day Mentee Awareness Session Mentor Development Day

Prestwich, Manchester Chorley, Lancashire Chorley, Lancashire Chorley, Lancashire Chorley, Lancashire Egremont, Cumbria Egremont, Cumbria Chorley, Lancashire Warrington, Cheshire

December 01/12/2011 9.15am-4.30pm 06/12/2011 12.00pm-4.30pm 13/12/2011 9.15am-4.30pm 14/12/2011 12.00pm-4.30pm

ILM Day 4 Cohort 1 Mentor Refresher Session Mentor Development Day Mentee Awareness Session

Chorley, Lancashire Liverpool, Merseyside Prestwich, Manchester Liverpool, Merseyside

All bookings can be made online by visiting our events page on the website at www.nwmentoring.nhs.uk and completing a booking form.

(Please note that registration is required if you are not already a member of the scheme)

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The North West Mentoring Scheme Harrop House Bury New Road Prestwich Manchester M25 3BL Telephone: 0161 772 3608 Email: nwmentoring@gmw.nhs.uk Web: www.nwmentoring.nhs.uk