JUNE 2014
CELEBRATORY EDITION 25 Years of Inspiring Greater Impact ALSO IN THIS ISSUE: Changes in Learning and Development Did Coyness Kill The BBC? Collaborative Working Activating Audiences in Presentations Courageous Conversations at Cancer Research UK Social Intelligence Leadership Impact and Ethics Training Films at Willis Executive Coaching for High Performance Engaging Talent Client Engagement
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INTRODUCTION Welcome to the anniversary edition of Spotlight, the magazine that provides stimulating articles, interesting case studies and information about our open courses. This edition has coincided with our Breakfast Seminar at the Arts Theatre – INSPIRING BUSINESS – Impact and Engagement.
As we entered our 25th year, we decided to revisit our purpose so that we could simplify, focus and distil what we do. We asked some of our clients if they could sum up what we did for them. What did they think we excelled at? They said that we:
‘INSPIRE GREATER IMPACT' They were more specific. They identified three areas of impact where they felt we added exceptional value: greater leadership impact, greater team impact and greater individual impact. Our mission remains the same as it has for the last quarter of a century: to promote humanity, vitality and meaning in the workplace. We actively pursue this campaign in many ways, through our work with clients, by being part of the Engage for Success movement, and forming alliances with other like-minded organisations that are committed to producing sustainable performance.
Edited by Managing Director Stuart Mackenzie
How to improve impact and engagement Prologue
ACT 3: Inspirational Performance
Bringing the Script to Life: Theatre is transformative. The director and cast of a play work hard to transform words on paper into a thrilling experience in the theatre. Like a theatre script, a vision or values statement needs leaders to engage people in it, bring it to life and inspire them to turn it in to a real life drama. Speaker: Michael Maynard
Inspiring Commitment - Reach for the Stars – No theatre ensemble ever commits to a merely competent production. They always strive for something exceptional and inspirational. Likewise, today’s leaders need to aspire to the outstanding, rather than the ordinary. Forum Theatre: Phil Peacock and Siobhan Stamp
ACT 1: Impact and Engagement in Business
Theatre works because it brings people together for a human experience that is inspired with possibility. The same can be achieved in business.
Involvement - The success of the production requires best performance from all the talent involved, not just the stars. So it’s vital that everybody in the drama feels they have an important role to play, and are not simply bit-part players in someone else’s production. Speakers: Vicky Scard and Martin Hess
Epilogue
As well as our guest speakers, this event will be featuring the full cast and crew of Maynard Leigh.
ACT 2: Impact and Engagement in the Performing Arts Creative Teamwork: Theatre depends on people with very diverse skills and personalities working collaboratively in order to deliver something special. Theatre directors know how to build these teams fast, in order to get the show on the road. Speaker: Lesley Nicol
Vicky Scard Head of Employee Engagement M&S
Lesley Nicol Mrs Patmore Downton Abbey
Martin Hess - VP of Enterprise Services Sales of HP UK&I HP
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In 1989, nobody had heard of mobile phones, DVD recorders, iPods or speed cameras. Blackberries were a fruit, Amazon a river and Oysters were shellfish, not travel cards. There were no celebrities in the jungle, on ice or doing ballroom dancing, and Big Brother remained a concept in a George Orwell novel. So what’s changed in the world of Learning and Development (L&D) over that time?
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What’s in a Name?
E-Learning - Boom and Bust?
In the not so good old days, L&D was called training, sharing the term with army recruits and animals. The process was only just emerging from the classroom and people who ran workshops were instructors, trainers or tutors.
At the end of the 90’s people were excited by new technology. “When people spend so long at their computers, why on earth would you take them away to another environment to take part in a development course, when they can do it all online.” With the advent of smartphones, m-learning became all the range. Now there is a plethora of virtual learning platforms, webinars, online classrooms, podcasts and more – all promising to offer a cheap alternative for those holding the budgets.
The idea of facilitators, coaches, and workshop leaders had not been established yet. And participants (that is people who actually take part in a workshop) were still referred to as ‘delegates’ (people who are mandated to represent the interests of others).
Experience Despite the fact that Kolb’s learning cycle had been around for a few years, there was still an emphasis on ‘chalk and talk’, mainly expressed through the glories of the overhead projector. Acetate heaven! Workshop leaders were consumed by keystone effects, slide pouches and how to make scribbles on a plastic film look good. Over the subsequent decade, the lecturing tradition continued and simply used the new technology of PowerPoint hell. This still involved somebody delivering information from the front of the room, whilst delegates filled in workbooks. Over the years some enlightened and progressive organisations have embraced the notion of experiential learning. Here, participants learn through experiment and experience and discover new ways of being and acting. The focus is on developing people, so that they are best equipped to face the future, rather than training them to cope adequately with fulfilling some current task.
However, it didn’t take long before people realised how brain-numbingly boring techno-learning can be. In the end, many people realised that you can’t change behaviour or really develop high levels of skill on the computer. Though technology can, of course, provide a brilliant mechanism to support or complement progress that is made on live events.
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Jargon & Fads
Drama-based Development
The world of L&D is subject to the same striving for innovation as any other industry. It is, therefore, subject to the same rush of new thinking – some good and some simply the re-packaging of older ideas.
Maynard Leigh pioneered the use of theatre techniques in the domain of management development. In 1989 companies were already using role-play in their training courses, but hadn’t yet started using professional actors in the way they do now. Conversations we had at the time with clients about the use of drama might provoke the response, “Oh, yes, we show the John Cleese Video Arts programmes. They go down well.”
The last 25 years has seen the emergence of Accelerated Learning, NLP, Open Space Technology, Emotional Intelligence, Competency Frameworks, Servant Leadership, Life Coaching, 360 Degree Feedback, Brown-bag sessions, Systems thinking, Neuroscience, Blended Learning, Appreciative Inquiry, Game Theory, Mindfulness, LinkedIn Interest Groups, PDP’s, KPI’s, LMS’s and hundreds of ways of profiling people’s preferences, personalities and capabilities, or perhaps we should say “Psychometrics”. This is a function of organisations that are always seeking new ideas, and often stimulus, from outside their industry sector. So they turn to sport, music, sailing ships, charity projects and art for team-building activities, and, increasingly, theatre.
There was certainly no idea that the actor’s skill set might be transferrable in terms of the craft of presentation, team-working, leadership or coaching. Since then, there has emerged a drama-based movement with hundreds of companies now offering everything from performances of workbased plays, interactive or ‘forum’ theatre, role-play to our own approach of unlocking people’s potential by using drama-based exercises.
Where Are We Now? Organisations are becoming much more strategic and sophisticated in their analysis of people’s developmental needs and in finding the right solutions appropriate to their situation. Time and budget still forces them into seeking quick learning solutions, a move towards exploring ways in which behavioural change can be sustained over time. There will always be the striving for new ideas and approaches. Yet, many L&D professionals are more interested in forming partnerships with suppliers who can work in-depth in their organisations. And whilst there is a danger that bureaucracy will contaminate that relationship, as more and more centralised procurement departments intervene in the process, there is a feeling that L&D can really contribute to organisational success. It is no longer a fringe activity for away-day jollies, but a crucial part of growing a business.
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What Happened in 1989? - The Berlin Wall came down. - Pro democracy demonstrators occupied Tiananmen Square. - The last Soviet Union armoured column leaves Afghanistan. - The Communist Party of Czechoslovakia agrees to give up its monopoly on political power. - Ronald Reagan leaves office January 20 leaving a U.S. budget deficit of $155 billion. - Sky dishes were being erected everywhere! - Frank Bruno versus Mike Tyson fight. - Nintendo Game Boy was born. - A 300m diameter 'near-earth' asteroid missed earth by a mere 400,000 miles. - The Poll Tax was introduced into Scotland. - France celebrated the 200th anniversary of the French Revolution. - Football fans were crushed at the Hillsborough disaster. - Grammy Award went to Bobby McFerrin for his song 'Don’t Worry, Be Happy'. - New Kids on the Block were the new kids on the block. - Kylie Minogue and Jason Donovan had their first number 1 hit. - Rain Man won the Academy Award for Best Picture. - A computer cost £4,954. - The Prime Minister was Margaret Thatcher. - Unemployment rate was 7.2 per cent. - Inflation rate was 7.8 per cent. - Interest rates were 15 per cent. - The average wage was £7,975 ($13,681). - The average property price across UK was £36,284. - The average price for a loaf of bread was 48p. - The average price for a pint of beer was 87p. - A litre of petrol cost 41p. - The most popular car was the Ford Escort. - Nick Faldo the golfer was BBC Sports personality of the year.
- Maynard Leigh Associates began trading.
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DID COYNESS KILL THE An insider’s take on the digital disaster by Michael Maynard
Senior BBC executives were full of apologies at the recent Public Accounts Committee inquiry into the disastrous digital project that was abandoned by the BBC at a cost of nearly £100million to licence payers. It was a project that had spiralled out of control and nobody seemed able to make sense of exactly what had happened, how it had gone so wrong and why it cost so much money. When confronted with the complexity of it all, the newly appointed Director General, Tony Hall, simply decided to pull the plug. There will no doubt be reams written on one of the biggest IT projects ever to fail, but here’s a surprising take on the whole issue, based on my own personal experience. In 2007, Maynard Leigh was asked to run a team workshop to explore how the collaboration between the BBC and Siemens (who where then the technical suppliers) could work better. The two groups were quite divided in their approach and the way that they worked. If they were a team, you would say that they were dysfunctional. However, they weren’t an actual team; they were two groups of people trying to collaborate on a very complex project.
I worked with the group and we did some intensive relationship-building exercises in the hope that, by understanding each other better, they would be able to work together more effectively. I encountered quite a lot of stubbornness on behalf of the leadership, with people protecting their territories, not willing to compromise and unable to let go of control. So was this the root of the disaster? I don’t think so. By the end of my session, I thought we had made some progress. There was dialogue, curiosity, exploration and the basis for agreeing some collaborative work. So what was the cause of the downfall? Well, I then witnessed a planning session. They were
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using a technique that you may well be familiar with, in order to allocate responsibility and accountability. It’s often referred to as the RACI model. “R” stands for who is responsible, “A” for accountable, “C” for who needs to be consulted, and “I” for who needs to be informed. We, too, have used a similar model with many clients, except that we reversed two of the positions. It seems obvious to us that you need to start with Accountability. However, this would lead to an acronym spelling “ARCI”. Seemingly, the business world all over prefers to be racy rather than arsey, but such coyness blurs reality. So, I found it rather interesting when Margaret Hodge MP, the head of the House of Commons Public Accounts Committee, said that she had
encountered many people who accepted responsibility for what had gone wrong, but nobody who would hold their hand up to being accountable. So, what did I witness in the room, as they worked their way through the RACI process? Yes, of course, they had to put somebody into the box marked accountable, and it might be ridiculous to suggest that a simple ordering of spelling could lead to a lack of ultimate accountability. However, that’s what I witnessed. Lots of people in the room were absolutely willing to put their hand up for responsibility for doing the job, for making it happen, but very few wanted to be the one holding the buck when it stopped. So, whilst it might sound a little crude, it confirms my belief that the process has to start with an “A”. Margaret Hodge also commented on the overwhelming levels of bureaucracy that characterised the project. Any planning structure – whether it’s ARCI, RACI or anything else – is only as good as the people operating it, and the relationships that they have with each other. Some years after I worked with the two groups, Siemens were jettisoned by the BBC who felt that they could then run the project perfectly well themselves internally. Sadly, that was not the case. I’m not advocating authoritarian leadership with a huge, ego-bound ‘As’ at the head of it all. Leadership is certainly about accountability, yet good leadership is absolutely about engaging and building healthy relationships with all those concerned. The BBC seemed to fail on both counts. Perhaps, if they were brave enough to tell it as it is, and willing to be a little “arsey”, all us licence payers might be just a little less poor.
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THE THEATRE OF
C LLABORATION
Life without tea would be unbearable for many people and yet the traditional “cuppa” faces multiple threats. These range from climate change and water shortages to rural de-population and low wages.
Last year, the US Bloomington Animal Shelter saw a record low in how many animals it needed to rescue. The 4000 creatures it helped was the lowest annual intake in the 36-year history of the shelter’s record keeping.
A freight ship carrying Hamburg' Ballet’s original costumes was delayed by a massive storm. This derailed the Chicago shipment date and threatened the following week's muchanticipated planned performance.
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“UNLESS WE CREATE A GENERATION OF TRULY COLLABORATIVE LEADERS WE RISK REPEATING THE MISTAKES OF THE PAST,” SAYS DAVID ARCHER, AUTHOR OF A DETAILED ANALYSIS OF BUILDING RELATIONSHIPS, HANDLING CONFLICTS AND SHARING CONTROL. (Collaborative Leadership, D. Archer and A. Cameron, Routledge, Second edition 2013.)
All three situations posed serious challenges for the respective organisations and their leaderships. Bitter tea rivals Unilever (the owners of Lipton, Brook Bond and PG Tips) and Tata Global Beverages (which owns Tetley, Twinings and Finlays) are setting aside their differences. They plan to work together to protect the long-term future of their business. The low level of intake at the animal shelter arose because it was willing to share the problem by forming a new partnership with the Monroe County Humane Association. The latter began providing vouchers to low-income residents to neuter their animals and offering low-cost neuter surgeries. And what could have been a disaster for the ballet company was averted when the Paris Opera ballet, which happened to be in the region, provided its costumes inventory to its US colleagues. Increasingly, success at anything in our complex world stems from taking advantage of the three C’s of Connection, Communication and Collaboration. Of these, collaboration proves the trickiest to achieve well. It places a huge demand on leaders to re-frame problems and, quite literally, to start thinking in new ways.
The technology of sharing by using electronic means provides an important stimulus for how people can work together. So beguiling are these developments, it is easy to lose sight of what really makes collaboration work, namely effective leadership. We need ways to recognise and develop leaders who are good at collaboration and like doing it. For example, the first encouraging sign to look for is a genuine interest in the whole prospect of collaboration. The second sign to watch for is evidence of an open-minded and curious person, and thirdly someone willing to speak their mind, even when it’s an unpopular view. If you are a leader who thrives on a dog-eatdog approach to competition, you are likely to increasingly lose out to those who see the bigger picture. These are leaders who accept we live in a complex, inter-connected world. They realise the best way to run a successful business is to often foster collaboration, sometimes even with rivals. As Archer points out in his book, setting up these collaborative situations can be highly demanding. You often wonder whether all the effort is worth it, given the time and effort it takes to build trust and the amount of compromise required.
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What else makes collaboration succeed? From our theatrical background, we also identify several important collaborative principles to use for making a joint arrangement succeed. 1) Accept and Build This is a favourite of actors who improvise together and demands a “Yes and…” approach. The method differs from the more common response of “Yes but…” which can make collaboration so tedious and time consuming. Using “Yes and…” requires those trying to collaborate to keep building on the contribution of others. Rather than finding obstacles along the way, “Yes and” stimulates a constant creative push towards a desired joint objective. 2) Make The Other Person Succeed Collaboration creates relationships. These gradually become inter-dependent – you need the other party in order to make something new happen.
In this collaborative technique you focus on the other person and become committed to their success, not just your own. The challenge is to keep finding ways to put the other person or group in the limelight. You try to let them shine and take centre stage. It’s not a favourite of narcissistic leaders! 3) Understand Others Actors have to ‘get in the skin’ of the characters they play. It demands a process of close observation and enquiry. The same applies when trying to understand your collaborators. By being curious rather than judgmental, you can uncover and appreciate many aspects of the people you are working with. 4) Learn from Mistakes When improvising, actors realise that any mistake is in fact an opportunity for more creativity. Working together you can innovate out of what appears to be a failure. This demands an approach that defines everything that goes wrong as a springboard for improvement.
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It’s Risky There are many booby traps along the way that create obstacles to effective collaboration. The predominant one is the false belief that you can avoid difficulties by putting in a mass of bureaucratic controls. As actors involved in improvisatory performances – such as ‘Whose Line is it Anyway’ and “The Comedy Store” – know, creative collaboration is a step into the unknown. You really can’t control everything, and the same applies in any collaborative project. This includes any attempt to rely on legal contracts to remove all relationship risks.
“THE MORE A LEADER TRIES TO CONTROL THE DETAIL OF THEIR PARTNER’S WORK THE LESS LIKELY THAT PARTNER WILL BE TO TAKE RESPONSIBILITY FOR THE RISKS INVOLVED,” WARNS COLLABORATION EXPERT DAVID ARCHER. Given the purpose of any collaboration is to become more than the sum of your parts, it demands a commitment from both sides to take risks together. Then there is the possibility of outstanding results.
About Improvisation “Some people misunderstand improv… It seems that improv is all about being funny. But it is not. Improv is about being spontaneous. It is about being imaginative. It is about taking the unexpected and then doing something unexpected with it… The key is to be open to crazy ideas and building on them. And funnily enough, this is exactly what is needed if we are going to make our enterprises more creative and agile.” – Paul Sloane The Leaders Guide to Lateral Thinking Skills (in Gotts and Cremer, n.d.).
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HOW TO ACTIVATE YOUR AUDIENCE. It's not just PowerPoint that can cause your presentation to snuff it prematurely. Here are some tips to keep your audience on the edge of their seat.
We all know how easy it is to bore an audience and send them to sleep. Having watched thousands of presentations over the years, I can tell pretty quickly when I’m about to experience all signs of life draining from my body. However, most of us also know how to rapidly improve a dire presentation. It doesn’t take much. Whether you focus on content or delivery, it’s not that difficult to make a few interventions and rescue a disaster. The bigger challenge, however, arises when even good presentations end up making the audience docile and passive.
So what are the alternatives? How do you actually make your audience active, so that they feel part of the experience, rather than simply a witness to it? Here are a few tips::
I saw a brilliant tour de force the other day that started off thrilling the audience and engaging them completely. The people watching were, indeed, on the edge of their seats. However, the longer it went on, the more the audience started sitting back. Then they started feeling bombarded, until finally they surrendered in submission; admiring the presenter but not actively engaging with his ideas and sentiments. Of course, the length of a presentation is key in creating dangers of this kind, but there are other factors that need considering as well.
Get Them Talking You might raise an issue and ask them simply to turn to a neighbour and discuss. If the seating is flexible you can put people into groups of threes or fours and they can have a more in-depth exploration of the topic.
Ask Questions Of Your Audience Obviously, if it’s a large crowd then you might need to have a show of hands in response. If it’s a smaller group, you can actually have a conversation and listen to some of their replies. Taking instant surveys, canvassing opinions, or asking for experiences have an immediate impact.
Turn The Lights Up Audiences who sit in the darkness immediately feel passive and will behave as if nobody is watching or relating to them. If you’re not presenting immediately, go to the back of the hall and observe people’s behaviour while other
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speakers are presenting. If you notice that they are busily engaged with their smartphones or laptops, put up the house lights when you’re on. Make sure they’re seen. Set Them A Challenge Set little exercises or tasks within the presentation, occasional things to do or take part in. For example, responding to something you have shown on a screen or set as a process. Just because it’s a large audience, doesn’t mean you can’t create a working environment. Get them engaged in problem solving. Use Interactive Technology There’s a lot of technology around that allows you to encourage audience involvement by inviting them to vote or input information, which is then computerised and shown on a screen, etc. This is a good technique for collating audiences’ opinions or creating instant survey results. Film Them Have a camera on the audience and transmit it on the screen in front of the audience, so that people can see themselves. If they know that a camera can observe them at any time, they will tend to be more alert. Get Physical If it’s a long session, get them on their feet and have a stretch, perhaps even physicalise an idea that you’re demonstrating. Revitalise their energy by asking people to take three deep breaths, reach their arms up towards the ceiling and shake them out, and then jump up and down. Colour-coordinate Groups You might be able to give people a coloured dot or ribbon on their name tag. Then, at a certain time, you could ask people to move around in the presentation and form different groups, according to their colour or other categorisation.
Move Amongst The Audience Get out there! Deliver the presentation whilst walking around the auditorium. This is particularly useful when there is a cabaretstyle layout. If you’ve got a radio mic on you can move from table-to-table or speak from different areas. Plant Information In advance of the presentation, you might stick certain information under the chairs of some of the audience. Then, at a certain moment, you could ask them to look and see. Whoever has an envelope can share the information inside it. Have Roving Microphones Again, if it’s a cabaret-style setup with groups sitting at round tables, then they can all be involved in feeding back ideas to the rest of the audience. This makes the presentation more of a workshop, rather than something that they just sit and listen to. The key issue to remember is that a presentation is actually a conversation – a relationship between the presenter and those in the audience. It needs to be alive and so you need to think about various techniques that you can use to keep everybody engaged throughout.
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COURAGEOUS PERFORMANCE CONVERSATIONS
Two lines in and we’re already in a tricky conversation, with uncomfortable feelings kicking in. In most organisations, conversations about performance – whether informal or part of a formal PDR process – bring up many emotions, and few of them positive. Yet, if handled well, they have the potential to really accelerate engagement, motivation and performance, both for the individuals involved and the wider organisation.
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In September 2012, Cancer Research UK launched its new brand identity externally, with the vision of bringing forward the day when all cancers are cured. The charity recognises that to realise this vision requires outstanding performance across the whole organisation. It’s vital then, that all people managers are able to have truly courageous performance conversations with their direct reports. As in all organisations, they need to stretch and motivate those who are already doing a great job and meeting or exceeding expectations, as well as addressing any concerns. Managers at all levels in CR-UK were really committed to having good quality performance conversations with their team members, but a recurring characteristic was one of tentativeness and caution in many of the conversations. This often stemmed from the manager not wanting to upset or de-motivate someone who was working really hard, but not necessarily as effectively as they might. In line with their bold vision and new brand identity, CR-UK wanted a learning event that was completely fresh and different from what managers had experienced before. The focus was to be more on building confidence, commitment and courage than on pure skills development. They chose to partner with Maynard Leigh Associates to design and deliver some exciting, entertaining and engaging two-and-a-half hour events, which blended sketches, open discussion and highly topical forum theatre scenarios to stimulate managers at all levels to:
• Recognise the need for honest feedback and truly courageous performance conversations • Appreciate how their own behaviour in this area impacts on the organisation’s ability to realise its bold vision • Experiment safely with different approaches to the real challenges they face in their teams • Build on previous and current initiatives to improve their motivation and ability to have brave performance-based conversations Amy Shepherd, the Learning and Development Manager, who managed the project for CRUK, and who was the main internal facilitator at the events, says, “Maynard Leigh’s unique approach to learning, combined with their theatrical expertise and in-depth knowledge of our culture, meant they were the perfect choice for creating this event.” The events were run at Maynard Leigh’s studio space, and the managers who attended were universally positive about both the format and the content. Elizabeth Sideris, Executive Director of HR at Cancer Research UK, said: “I attended one of the events with a range of Directors and Heads and thought it was really effective. The forum theatre was incredibly insightful, enabling our people to really get involved in how they would approach the conversation, but without putting them on the spot. Maynard Leigh have provided invaluable insight and perspective and have enabled managers from across the organisation to feel more confident in having truly courageous performance conversations”.
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Amy captured people’s learning points and their solutions to many of the common barriers that managers face when trying to having great performance conversations, from which she created a learning resource on CR-UK’s intranet. She also followed up with managers in the weeks and months after they attended the events, and was delighted to find how much people had taken away, both in terms of their renewed motivation and the practical tools that they were applying. The reflections below were typical of the managers’ responses.
“[PRIOR TO ATTENDING THE EVENT] I FELT NERVOUS ABOUT OFFENDING OR DE-MOTIVATING THE INDIVIDUAL WITH CONSTRUCTIVE FEEDBACK. NOW I FEEL INSPIRED TO HAVE THE CONVERSATION TO HELP THE INDIVIDUAL’S PERFORMANCE.” “I FEEL MOTIVATED AS I CAN NOW THINK ABOUT THE BIGGER PICTURE, AND RECOGNISE HOW NOT SAYING SOMETHING ACTUALLY HAS MORE OF A NEGATIVE IMPACT THAN HAVING THAT CONVERSATION” “I CAME LOOKING FOR IDEAS TO IMPROVE MY APPROACH, AND NOW FEEL BETTER PREPARED FOR DIFFICULT CONVERSATIONS”
Some months later, when follow-up sessions were announced to the network of managers who had originally attended, they were booked out within two days. Both the Learning and Development team at CR-UK and Maynard Leigh project team relished the creative collaboration involved in developing and delivering the events. But perhaps the last word is best left to one of the managers who attended:
“WITHOUT DOUBT THIS WAS THE MOST ENJOYABLE TRAINING SESSION I HAVE EVER HAD – THE INTERACTIVE THEATRE, OPEN AND WELCOMING FACILITATORS AND WARM ATMOSPHERE ALLOWED REAL DISCUSSION WITHOUT JUDGEMENT AND INSPIRED ME TO GO AWAY AND ACT UPON IT.”
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NOW HERE ARE SOME TIPS FOR HANDLING DIFFICULT CONVERSATIONS I am concerned that if I raise the issue the person will disintegrate into tears.
I’m under so much pressure, I simply don’t have the time.
People are often more robust than you think. Raise the issue in a supportive manner and it’s unlikely the person will collapse. However, performance can be a sensitive issue so keep looking for emotional signals and allow the person to have their feelings and express them.
Sadly, avoiding these conversations actually takes up more time in the long run, so it’s better you do something sooner rather than later. By addressing performance issues as a continual dialogue, you can do it quickly and it will save you time down the line.
The person is performing well. I don’t know how to motivate them, given there are no prospects for promotion.
It’s my boss who needs some feedback. Somewhat “career limiting”, I would say.
Be honest about the situation. Together, work out how they can develop their skills and take on more responsibilities, even if they can’t step into a new role. Honing skills increases employability wherever they are. Also, there may be opportunities elsewhere in the organisation, so you could offer to support their networking skills. The person is very tetchy and defensive. As soon as I give any feedback they snap back. Allow time for a proper conversation, without distractions. Be very specific about the feedback that you give – avoid generalisations. Focus on particular instances and specific behaviour, rather than the person as a whole. You may also need to let them know your feelings about their defensiveness.
Not necessarily. Everyone depends on feedback to improve their performance and, if done in the right spirit and with constructive suggestions, most people can hear it, no matter what level they are. I now manage somebody who was a colleague in the team and we’re pretty good mates. Approach the conversation as a partnership between two adults, both striving to improve the situation. You shouldn’t have to pull rank to make this conversation productive, but you do need to have the courage to tell the truth as you see it. I simply can’t face the disruption. If I leave it, perhaps it will resolve itself. Unlikely. Burnout happens because we’re solving the same problem over and over. Tackle your toughest challenge immediately and clear your mind to deal with other issues.
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SOCIAL INTELLIGE NCE What ? drives them
Do the their f y express bottle eelings or them u p?
What’s their background?
How theatre techniques can be used to help us to understand and improve our social skills. Have you recently experienced rudeness, bullying, road rage, wounding comments, disregard, soured friendships or the depression of toxic a relationship? Quite possibly. The workplace is increasingly full of narcissistic, insensitive bosses who leave emotional wreckage in their wake and colleagues whose idea of team-working is cynical banter and casual insults. A recent survey from the Mental Health Foundation shows that one in three of us experience “uncontrollable anger”.
We live in an age of increased connectivity through cyber technology and yet research shows that people feel more isolated and lonely than ever. However, those who are emotionally and socially intelligent seem to be able to have the impact and influence they want, nurture those around them and produce team spirit. Having healthy and rich social lives, demands social skills that can be applied to friendships, customer service, parenting, managing,
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meaningful collaboration and working in teams. How do we develop such emotional maturity and social intelligence? Schools are compelled to emphasise the teaching of reading and writing skills, even though we spend far more of our time talking and listening, for which there is little help. Society expects us to conduct healthy relationships, but education policy provides little support in mastering the techniques that are needed. There is a flurry of interest in the concept of social intelligence, stimulated by the research of Daniel Goleman and others. Yet the ideas were fashionable back in the 1930’s with the publication of Dale Carnegie’s bestseller, ‘How to Win Friends and Influence People.’ The book provided tips and strategies for effective interpersonal communication and became incredibly popular. Now we are at an exciting time with the meeting of minds between social scientists and neuroscientists, and we can technologically explore what’s going on in our brains. Social intelligence has become ripe for a rethink, as neuroscience begins to map the areas that regulate interpersonal dynamics. It’s clear that we are wired for sociability. Our daily encounters with parents, spouses, bosses and even strangers shape our minds and affect cells throughout our bodies, down to the level of our genes. As Goleman says, “We are constantly engaged in a ‘neural ballet’ that connects us, brain-to-brain, with those around us.”
Meanwhile, research by the psychologist John Gottman into healthy long-term relationships has highlighted the two key factors for success: respect and affection. He points out how “trivial moments provide opportunities for profound connection”. Gottman’s research also warns against the “Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse: criticism, defensiveness, stonewalling and contempt”. Whilst academic research is of great value, there is a lot to be learnt about social intelligence from the acting world. When an actor plays a character in a play, they have to work hard to get inside the role by understanding how the person ticks and putting themselves in their shoes. They have to find elements of the person’s characteristics in themselves. This is the process that produces authentic and truthful acting, rather than pretence.
“EVERY CHARACTER I’VE EVER PLAYED IS ME, BECAUSE THERE ARE ABOUT 40 PEOPLE INSIDE ME AND I JUST TAKE 39 OF THEM AWAY IN ORDER TO PLAY A PARTICULAR ROLE” ANGELINA JOLIE.
Dale Carnegie’s 6 Ways To Get People To Like You 1. Become genuinely interested in other people. 2. Smile. 3. Remember that a person's name is to that person the sweetest and most important sound in any language. 4. Be a good listener. Encourage others to talk about themselves. 5. Talk in terms of the other person's interests. 6. Make the other person feel important - and do it sincerely.
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And this can be applied to ordinary everyday relationships. However, it is not easy. Understanding other people can be a mysterious process, as we tend to see people through our fog of interpretations, assumptions and prejudices. So, what do actors do to get under the skin of a character? They become detectives looking for facts. You can try it yourself by asking a series of questions. If you want to know what it’s like to see the world from the other person’s point of view, and want to know what it’s like to think, feel and act like them, here are just some of the many questions you might pose:
• • • • • • • • • • • • •
“BEING AN ACTOR YOU SOMETIMES HAVE TO ASK YOURSELF QUESTIONS YOU DON’T EVEN WANT TO KNOW THE ANSWER TO” KEVIN SPACEY “A LOT OF WHAT ACTING IS, IS JUST PAYING ATTENTION” ROBERT REDFORD
What’s their background? What drives them? How do they approach problems? What does the voice/s in their head say to them? What do they value or care passionately about? Do they express their feelings or bottle them up? What are they frightened of? Are they optimists or pessimists? How do they move (speed, direction, mannerisms)? What’s their appearance (image, style, care)? What was their greatest achievement? What level of energy do they use? What is actually happening in their lives right now?
Eventually, through this investigative procedure, you build up a picture of the other person’s inner and outer life and develop empathy. And once you’ve completed the process with a number of characters, you start developing a social intelligence that can be extended to all relationships.
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Another key way theatre can help to increase our social skills is in the area of chemistry. What makes exciting drama is when an audience is witness to stage chemistry. This occurs when there is something happening between the actors. It’s what makes the best reality television compelling to watch. You don’t know what’s going to happen next and you want to find out. However, with performers in a play, this is a conscious process as they enact a prepared script. The key techniques that actors use are:
a) presence b) listening c) reacting “ACTING IS ABOUT LISTENING AND REACTING. IT’S ABOUT BEING THERE WITH THE OTHER PERSON. IT’S NOT A TRICK; IT’S A REALITY. YOU CONVERT YOURSELF FROM A PERSON WHO’S PRETENDING, INTO A PERSON WHO IS. BY HONESTLY BEING THERE.” HARRISON FORD So, despite the stereotype of the selfcentred prima donna, actors know that to be successful they have to focus their attention on their fellow performers. By being present and ‘in the moment’, and really listening to others, the actor is able to respond truthfully. This is when you get chemistry on stage or on screen.
This level of awareness and awake-ness is something we can all do. It certainly takes practice. Yet, if you think about the people that you’ve met who have made a powerful impression on you, it is likely to be because they have given you their undivided attention, and you were fully present with them. There was some chemistry between you. And this, above all, is social intelligence in action.
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The Vital Element of Ethics in Business by Andrew Leigh Even if they do not always recognise them, all business leaders face moral dilemmas so what is new? First of all, there’s the rising demand to build ethics into the core of companies’ strategies. Not only do regulators expect this, so does the rest of society. These days "society" can make its voice heard more forcefully than in the past. For example, when the board of Mozilla, the open source software company behind the Firefox web browser, appointed a new chief executive in March 2014 the result exploded in its face. The board had knowingly hired someone who openly opposed gay marriage. This proved unacceptable to many of the liberal-minded techies, who saw this as an ethical, not managerial issue. The resulting social media reaction morphed into commercial retaliation; within weeks the new CEO had resigned. Secondly, companies need to embed ethics into the management culture. Only when this happens can leaders be sure most people will perform with integrity. There are no short-term fixes. Each firm must arrive at its own way of doing this, rather than just going through the motions. In the end, the choices seem endless, even unmanageable. This is where the five pillars of ethical leadership in business come in handy. They are Commitment, Relevance, Positive Value, Influence, and Means not Ends. Used together, they can help leaders to set an ethical direction and establish the essential ethical tone.
Commitment The first pillar is an essential starting point. It requires a leader to show a wholehearted and public sharing of their ethical position. Only through a personal willingness to fully engage, will each leader make an impact within their own organisation, let alone play a part on a wider stage. This may seem obvious. Yet too many business leaders seem to believe they can spout about ethics, without ever demonstrating a real conviction of its importance to both themselves and their business. Relevance The second pillar provides a guide to leaders, ensuring that ethical concerns connect to their business, either directly or indirectly. A legitimate leadership concern is therefore: “How do ethics affect my business” Across the world there are growing pressures on all businesses to act responsibly and make a positive, rather than negative contribution. However, the choices can seem confusing, as there are so many ways that a business can pursue ethical values. This second pillar therefore encourages a leader to ask: “Is this ethical choice relevant to our business?” A key to this is encouraging employees to have a voice and speak up about ethical issues, so that they are brought to the surface throughout the organisation.
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Add Positive Value The third pillar prompts leaders to look for ways to add positive, rather than negative value to what their companies do. Presented by some leaders as a business constraint, ethics can offer many unrecognised opportunities. There is now evidence, for example, that acting ethically is strongly linked to: • • • • • • •
Improved financial performance Reduced operating costs Enhanced brand image and reputation Increased sales and customer loyalty Raised productivity Reduced regulatory oversight Improved access to capital
These are positive benefits that only the most ethically tone deaf will choose to ignore.
“TAKEN TOGETHER, THE FIVE PILLARS HELP THINK THROUGH AND CLARIFY THE APPROACH TO ETHICAL LEADERSHIP IN BUSINESS.” Means Not Just Ends The fifth pillar requires a focus on means and not just ends. This is when a leader shows concern with how their organisation achieves its goals, not just the goals themselves. Siemens built all the nuclear plants in Germany, a country that used a lot of nuclear power. In 2011 the company withdrew from the nuclear energy business, but it didn’t quit because of market conditions and potential lack of revenue.
The fourth pillar concerns Influence and prompts leaders to ask the following question about any particular ethical concern: “How can we influence through our ethical actions?"
Instead, Siemens said it was ending its work in nuclear power because of a clear shift in society. It chose to avoid any future involvement whatsoever in a technology that’s only purpose was to be used in nuclear energy. Its decision reflected an ethical choice, rather than a simple market calculation.
When it comes to influencing, business leaders face many choices, including support for numerous good causes. Each will have its own emotional trigger or special appeal.
This Fifth Pillar encourages a macro view, to look beyond the financial bottom line at the social, environmental, economic and ethical implications of what the company does.
Influence
For example, when IBM decided to use its computer skills to develop a system that could help in disaster situations, it was focusing its influence on an area where it was most likely to make a difference.
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Five Pillars, Countless Ethical Positions Taken together, the five pillars help leaders to think through and clarify the approach to ethical leadership in business. In combination they require companies to go “beyond compliance”, which is still the main focus of most of today’s leaders, and focus attention on organisational culture. The pillars are also a source of inspiration for leaders, who can find the issue of ethics personally challenging. They are a useful framework for what we have elsewhere called Vital Leadership – that is leaders who bring fresh energy and spirit to their organisations. If you would like to find out more please visit: www.ethical-leadership.co.uk To read the full 5 Pillars White Paper go to: http://tinyurl.com/kvytcba
“IF YOU WANT TO LEAD, HAVE THE COURAGE TO DO IT FROM THE HEART.” GAIL MCGOVERN, PRESIDENT AND CEO OF THE AMERICAN RED CROSS.
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ENGAGING
TALENT In 2009 David MacLeod and Nita Clarke published their paper ‘Engage for Success’, which collated research and showed the undeniable link between employee engagement and organisational performance. Put simply, it revealed that organisations with high engagement can outperform others by 20%.
Yes, a lot has happened since then. The Department for Business Innovation and Skills funded the follow-up work as it was determined to improve engagement in the UK. A task force was established, bringing together companies and organisations, including BAE, Virgin, BT, Lloyds, CBI, Whitbread, ACAS, Unipart, Boots, PwC, Marks and Spencer, GKN and the TUC. The task force is supported by what is known as the Guru Group, which includes Maynard Leigh. Of course, engagement isn’t an end in itself. Workers know better than anyone how the firm they work for can grow, innovate and succeed. A committed and involved workforce that is all pulling in the same direction is essential for any business or organisation. As Ed Davey, the minister at the time, said, “This isn't just about ending ‘them and us’ attitudes. It's about a better way to work. Employee engagement is essentially about growth.”
Further research has been conducted in order to ‘nail the evidence’ and the Engage for Success movement is now flourishing and having an impact on many organisations. This reflects the desire to improve the relationship that staff have with their companies, so that together they can thrive. As Nita Clarke says, “People are at the heart of success for companies and organisations, so whether or not the workforce is positively encouraged to perform at its best should be a key consideration for every leader and manager, and should be placed at the heart of business strategy. Where this happens the results are transformational.” However, research, surveys and measurement are only the start of the process. Someone said, “You don’t fatten a pig simply by weighing it!” Given the vital role managers play, they need help in doing their job more effectively. The leaders we work with in organisations no longer deny the link between engagement and performance – they simply want help in how to do it!
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engaging talent
VIDI from the Latin videre: to see That’s where the Maynard Leigh VIDI framework comes in useful. It reflects our own research, which shows that in order for people to feel engaged, they need to be: Valued: One of the deepest hungers of the human heart is to be seen and to be understood – in simple terms to feel valued. This is particularly true in an era where so many people feel alienated and disassociated from the world around them. In our work on culture and engagement in organisations, we observe that to feel valued, people must feel that their individuality counts. They must actually experience the benefits of positive relationships, and perceive that they are being treated fairly. Involved: Managers often make the mistake of thinking they need to engage their people. Instead, they need to engage with their people. Engagement is often the result of being actively involved in what’s going on, of being part of a dialogue and feeling that you can help shape your working environment.
Developed: As children we can’t help but develop, and there’s no reason why this should stop the moment we hit adulthood. Growing and developing is a natural human drive. To learn, to mature and to extend oneself is evolutionary, so a focus on development is a powerful way of engaging people. Thus managers need to improve their leadership and coaching skills. Inspired: Inspiration is literally to breathe in and to act with spirit, and is an area in which we have immersed ourselves as a company for over two decades. We have seen for ourselves how vital it is for leaders to master this role and observed in many organisations its impressive power to generate high levels of enthusiasm and engagement. Engage for Success talks of ‘providing a strategic narrative’. To achieve this, leaders need to be able to bring their vision and values to life with storytelling and heartfelt communication. There is no guaranteed, mechanistic solution for improving employee engagement. Like everything to do with leadership, it is an organic process and the means should be created by the people involved. It will depend on the culture of the organisation and the personal style of the leaders.
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DO TRAINING FILMS STILL HAVE A PLACE? For many of us, the classic use of drama-based learning is the training film, but people are now increasingly questioning the value of such films to really transform behaviour. The reason is that training films face the same problem as e-learning does when it comes to soft skills development – it’s just plain difficult learning these things by watching a screen.
However, Maynard Leigh has recently produced two films for Willis, the Global Insurance and Risk Adviser. In both cases, the films were used as part of a change process to improve the way people manage performance in the business. The films are often used alongside development programmes on the topic and, given the worldwide nature of the Willis enterprise, get to places that L&D simply can’t reach.
often impossible for people to watch and follow best practice. Willis uses a coaching model, designed specifically by their Group Head Talent Management and O.D., Ronny Vansteenkiste. He played a major part in conceptualising the project, with professional actors enacting real work-based scenarios. Although tightly scripted, the scenes needed to feel natural and recognisable to staff – in short to look totally authentic.
Willis came to Maynard Leigh with a challenge – how could we make these films engaging to audiences who do not have a tradition of learning and development? They will be a tough audience, we were warned, and a diverse one, as the films would be used all over the world.
The films have been used in multiple learning channels, including learning tools, as part of leadership briefings and management development programs, most recently in the US. One American participant said to Ronny, “that’s what I need in my office” after viewing them for the first time, explaining the films would help him to illustrate how leaders can support change.
So we worked together on devising concepts and scripts in close co-operation with the Talent department in the company. The second part of the brief was to show people what it’s like, for example, to run a coaching session – to model behaviour. Coaching can be a very private experience and it is therefore
Finally, in the age of YouTube, it was interesting to hear that one of the reasons Ronny’s team wrote and created this film internally was the complete dearth of really good material available from the web. Most films online are either very specific to a context or not very effective.
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EXECUTIVE COACHING
HIGH-PERFORMERS Coaching is often used for dealing with underperformance. However, it is also the perfect approach to use with people who are already performing well, in order to explore their development and help sustain their high level of delivery. Here are some ideas about what the coach can do and focus on when dealing with high-performing individuals. Recognition First of all, it is really important to acknowledge the person for their success and to make sure that they feel recognised and appreciated for their current level of performance. Some people are driven by never feeling satisfied. Explore their capacity for self-acknowledgement and their ability to value what they have already achieved.
issue of challenge and continual performance improvements. It stands for:
Personal Success Factors Make sure the person knows which elements have allowed them to perform so well. What are the secret ingredients? This awareness will allow them to continue to produce outstanding results in future and to support others.
Inspiration Having been recognised as a high performer, explore how the person can now pass on their skills to others and inspire them to deliver outstanding results.
Sustainability If the person is performing at a high level there is a danger of burnout. Explore issues such as their work/life balance, how they can sustain current levels of performance, strategies for recharging their batteries, etc. Stretching Goals If somebody thinks they don’t have an area for development, they are not setting their sights high enough. Use the SMART acronym, in our amended form, to help them to build in the
S - Stretching M - Measurable A - Agreed R - Recorded T- Time Phased
Legacy How does the person want to be thought of in the future? How will they be leaving their mark on their team/department/company? What stories do they want to be told about them and their tenure? Succession What are the person’s plans for passing on their skills and responsibilities to others? They will need to use their own coaching expertise to develop the people around them and ensure a smooth transition if they are to move onwards and upwards.
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CLIENT ENGAGEMENT DRIVING BUSINESS GROWTH In their book ‘The Experience Economy’, authors Joseph Pine and James Gilmore put forward the argument that “work is theatre and every business a stage”. They make a powerful case for the necessity of providing clients and customers with outstanding experiences. This, they say, will provide companies with a distinctive value proposition and a competitive advantage. We, at Maynard Leigh, have always believed that client engagement and positive customer experiences are a direct result of the way people are managed within an organisation. It’s like a supply chain – treat your people well and they will provide your clients and customers with an engaging experience. For this to work, leaders need to get close to all of their stakeholders.
So, that’s the challenge – how can companies bring their clients and customers closer? What can they do to persuade customers to keep returning, to deepen their relationship with the company, so that they become ambassadors for the brand and refer it to others? This requires in-depth understanding. That is why, some time ago, we teamed up with Grow3, experts in the field of business growth and client research, to provide us with the capacity to offer a holistic approach to client engagement.
Did You Know? • Companies with higher levels of customer satisfaction regularly outperform those with lower levels, as defined by stock prices. This has implications even if you are a professional service, rather than a quoted company. [Harvard Business Review March 2007 reprint F0703H] • Leaders who do not actively work to increase customer satisfaction will be responsible for damaging their organisation’s future earnings and viability. • Teams that build relationships grow their accounts at least twice as fast as regular teams that are just focused on winning business. [How the Best Get Better, Kelly J, (2011) Greenlight Research Institute] • Do you know the key challenge faced by most professional services organisations? They are additional engagements, improving contact and relationship management and managing cross-selling opportunities. [Consulting Magazine Custom Media Solutions, 2008] • Creating a powerful value proposition depends absolutely on having an in-depth knowledge of what your clients need.
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O Next, we’ll help devise a new growth strategy plus plan of action that builds on the findings.
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We start with indepth research into your customers. We thoroughly assess how engaged your stakeholders feel.
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Finally, we’ll help you to implement a programme that inspires all your stakeholders.
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While research is vital, measurement alone is not enough. We aim for actionable insights.
Who Are We? We’ve brought together the formidable research capability of Grow3, a company with worldwide customer and client reach, and the proven methods that have been pioneered over the last 25 years by Maynard Leigh Associates, which affect people’s attitudes, behaviours and their ability to deal with service users.
“WE INSPIRE RESPONSIBLE GROWTH BY ENGAGING ALL YOUR STAKEHOLDERS, THROUGH AN INTEGRATED APPROACH.”
EVENTS CALENDAR WHAT’S ON WHAT’S ON WHAT’S ON WHAT’S ON WHAT’S ON DATES
EVENTS
PRICE
26th - 27th
Performing with Presence
£985
23rd
Personal Impact
£385
30th
Expresso Session - Teams that Work - 8:30am - 10am
£35
31st - 1st Aug
Performing with Presence
£985
25th
Personal Impact
£385
21st
Finding Your Voice
£385
Performing with Presence
£985
25th - 26th
Performing with Presence
£985
15th
Personal Impact
£385
19th
Expresso Session - Leadership Impact - 8:30am - 10am
£35
13th – 14th
Coaching and Leading for High Performance
£985
30th - 31st
Performing with Presence
£985
20th
Personal Impact
£385
22nd
Expresso Session – Team Impact – 8:30am – 10am
£35
20th - 21st
Performing with Presence
£985
28th
Personal Impact
£385
24th
Expresso Session – Individual Impact – 8:30am – 10am
£35
Performing with Presence
£985
JUNE 2014
JULY 2014
AUGUST 2014 21st - 22nd SEPTEMBER 2014
OCTOBER 2014
NOVEMBER 2014
DECEMBER 2014 11th - 12th
For our 2014 calendar, visit our website www.maynardleigh.co.uk
Expresso Sessions are perfect for providing learning and development in easy-to-digest 60-90 minute chunks. Information is explored quickly and easily. The sessions are exciting and involving, with participants being encouraged to actively participate and try things out. This accelerates learning and increases their effectiveness. People leave with new ideas and approaches, and the motivation to implement them.
TEAMS THAT WORK 30TH JUNE 8:30AM – 10AM How to operate effectively in teams. What makes an outstanding team? Learn how to bring teams together, deal with performance matters and establish effective, collaborative working to produce the results you want. LEADERSHIP IMPACT 19TH SEPTEMBER 8:30AM – 10AM To produce exceptional, rather than merely competent performance, leaders need to inspire those around them; by developing their impact on others and the organisation, communicate in a way that inspires people and become a role model for others in the organisation.
“PEOPLE LEAVE ENLIGHTENED, ENERGISED AND KEEN TO IMPLEMENT NEW IDEAS”. TEAM IMPACT 22ND OCTOBER 8:30AM - 10AM What makes an outstanding team deliver exceptional performance? Increasingly, people are asked to produce more for less. Individually, this is often impossible - it is only when people come together and become more than the sum of their parts that they can really raise performance levels. INDIVIDUAL IMPACT 24TH NOVEMBER 8:30AM - 10AM What impression do you want to make? Whether in meetings, interviews or presentations, conducting yourself to convey confidence and deliver your message with conviction is vital. Getting the results you need depends on how you come across and the impact you make. The cost of these 90 minute sessions are £35+ VAT per session per person. This price includes breakfast, all handouts and supporting materials. Location: 3 Bath Place, Rivington Street, London, EC2A 3DR
If you are interested in finding out how to book your place, or how you can run these sessions in-house for your teams, please call us on 020 7033 2370 or via email info@maynardleigh.co.uk
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LEARNING & DEVELOPMENT WORKSHOPS
This is the UK’s most impactful and outstanding presentation event. For the last twenty years, we have helped thousands of people communicate with confidence and speak with passion and conviction. Using challenging and enjoyable methods adapted from the theatre for business, we focus on each person’s unique presenting style. By building confidence, we enable people to express their natural creativity and enthusiasm. There is continual professional feedback, along with constant practice in presenting with energy and conviction. This powerful experience can radically change how people express themselves. Target Audience This workshop is for those with some experience at presentation delivery but who want to increase their impact and become masterful presenters. Learn to: • Deliver your message with confidence and conviction • Unlock your unique presenting style
• Use the five P’s of dynamic presentation • Prepare physically, vocally and mentally • Structure creative and memorable presentations • Field hostile questions Feel: • Confident about presenting • Able to handle nerves • Excited about presenting • Ready to give your best Be better able to: • Improvise and think on your feet • Control your stage fright • Prepare under pressure • Communicate with passion • Inspire, influence and win over your audience
Two day course Cost: £985 + VAT Includes a copy of our book Perfect Presentation, a personalised DVD and five months of free, ongoing support.
If you would like to book your place please call 020 7033 2370 for booking details.
“BY BUILDING CONFIDENCE, WE ENABLE PEOPLE TO EXPRESS THEIR NATURAL CREATIVITY AND ENTHUSIASM.”
“TO IMPROVE THEIR ABILITY TO FORM EFFECTIVE RELATIONSHIPS AT A SENIOR LEVEL AND TO PRESENT THEMSELVES WITH AUTHORITY.”
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LEARNING & DEVELOPMENT WORKSHOPS
BOARDROOM
PRESENCE Whether it is because you’ve been promoted and, therefore, attend regular board meetings or are asked to attend occasionally because you have particular expertise, you need to make an appropriate impact. The same goes for building client relationships at the board level – you will need to present yourself with gravitas and authority. This one day workshop allows you to develop your presentation and communication skills so that you make a favourable impression on other senior executives.
Feel: • Confident about walking into a room full of senior executives • Connected to your own integrity • Equal to those around you Be better able to: • Influence at the highest level • Build relationships with senior people • E xpress your opinions and points of view • Convey gravitas and natural authority
Target Audience This workshop is for those who want to improve their ability to form effective relationships at a senior level and to present themselves with authority.
One day course Cost: £485 + VAT Includes a copy of our best selling book Charisma
Learn to: • Use your authentic leadership style • Clarify the impact you want to have • Be alert to what’s going on around you • Impress and establish credibility
If you would like to book your place please call 020 7033 2370 for booking details.
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LEARNING & DEVELOPMENT WORKSHOPS
The voice is one of our most powerful communication tools, and yet people often find that their voice lets them down just when they need it most, and they don’t know what to do about it. This course is about getting practical, tailored help in developing and improving your voice. Whether you want to have stronger vocal impact, speak with more gravitas or variety or be more clearly understood when speaking English as a second language, this day-long session can help you to take charge of your voice.
Feel: • More assured and able to convey confidence in speech • Clear about what you need to work on and how to go about it • Better equipped to handle difficult speaking situations • More sensitive to others and their communication needs Be better able to: • Further develop and strengthen your voice • Extend your range of expression
Target Audience This workshop is ideal for those wanting to improve the effectiveness of their voice, whether for presentations and meetings or informal situations. Learn to:
• Use your voice more effectively in a variety of situations
One day course Cost: £385 + VAT
• Gain control of your voice and make a greater vocal impact • Develop your voice, improve its tone and give it more life, variety and gravitas • Improve the clarity of your speech • Be more easily understood when speaking English as a second language
If you would like to book your place please call 020 7033 2370 for booking details.
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LEARNING & DEVELOPMENT WORKSHOPS
Discover your power to make a lasting impression by getting your message across and creating the right personal chemistry with your audience – whether it’s one person or a small group. Gain the confidence to tackle selling products or services to individuals, chairing and participating in meetings, interviews, appraisals and briefings and handling social and business functions. Target Audience This workshop is ideal for anyone needing to develop their impact and effectiveness in informal presentations to small groups or in one-to-one situations.
Be better able to: • Convey quality in your personal message • Give effective briefings • Chair and participate in meetings • Deal with business and social occasions • Create personal chemistry and rapport
One day course Cost: £385 + VAT Includes a copy of our best selling book Charisma
Learn to: • Use and be more aware of body language • Understand how best to use your own communication style • Clarify and deliver your message • End encounters positively • Assess the effects of your appearance Feel: • Better equipped to handle group situations • More alert to what happens in small groups • Ready to convey both confidence and conviction • More sensitive to others and their communication needs
”IDEAL FOR ANYONE NEEDING TO DEVELOP THEIR IMPACT AND EFFECTIVENESS IN INFORMAL PRESENTATIONS TO SMALL GROUPS OR IN ONE-TO-ONE SITUATIONS.”
If you would like to book your place please call 020 7033 2370 for booking details.
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LEARNING & DEVELOPMENT WORKSHOPS
COACHING & LEADING
FOR HIGH PERFORMANCE Today’s successful leaders are people-focused and know how to unlock the potential of others. Because they understand people and their motivations, they no longer rely on the traditional command and control style to get things done. Thus, every manager, leader or supervisor has to be a master of coaching skills, as do technical experts and internal or external consultants. Businesses grow by developing the people within them. Coaching is a vital component of leadership, and is one of the strongest tools at the manager’s disposal to achieve such growth and development. We see coaching as two people working together in a dynamic and creative relationship to develop the best performance. Supporting people in their performance requires far more than direction or instruction, and great coaches are willing to invest time in the development of people and their abilities. They use insight – looking at what it will take and what they can do to bring each person towards their potential. This event provides the tools, expertise, and creative stimulus to make your coaching and people management productive. It is highly experiential, using a wide range of methods – and lots of practice and feedback – so that you can build a clear sense of your own personal leadership style.
Target Audience This two-day workshop is targeted at managers and team leaders who need to get the best from their people. No experience is necessary, just the desire to maximise results. Learn to: • Recognise and develop potential in others • Expand your repertoire of leadership techniques • Build more open and responsive coaching relationships • Ask questions to encourage productive dialogue • Use feedback to improve performance • Apply coaching models in meaningful ways Feel: • Greater confidence in using a wide range of leadership styles • Ready to practise coaching in the workplace • Assured in balancing structure and flexibility in your coaching • Equipped to coach on a wide range of issues • More capable of handling difficult situations with clarity and focus Be better able to: • Vary your style to suit the situation • Use coaching as an everyday management tool • Plan your coaching interventions • Offer challenging feedback constructively
Two day course Cost: £985 + VAT Includes: our best selling book, Leading Your Team.
If you would like to book your place please call 020 7033 2370 for booking details.
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LEARNING & DEVELOPMENT WORKSHOPS
Written communication, like all communication, is personal. People have their own styles, habits, approaches and responses. More than any other medium of communication, the written word is wide open to misinterpretation. Thus, positive intentions sometimes produce negative impacts.
Feel: • Confident in your writing • More assured in starting and structuring documents • Positive in your ability to write effectively • Creative in your approach Be better able to:
This inventive and highly interactive one day course unveils the secrets behind better business writing. Designed to take the agony out of the process, the course outlines some simple but powerful methods and principles for producing documents and emails that are more persuasive and more effective. Target Audience If you write documents or emails that need to deliver a clear message, or if you have experienced the horror of miscommunication, this workshop is for you. Learn to: • Persuade through the written word • Consider the effect of your writing on the reader • Use building blocks for effective writing • Structure an argument
• Create a clear and unambiguous purpose • Apply your natural creativity • Convey your desired tone • Write emails that have the desired impact
One day course Cost: £385 + VAT
”THIS INVENTIVE AND HIGHLY INTERACTIVE ONEDAY COURSE UNVEILS THE SECRETS BEHIND BETTER BUSINESS WRITING.”
If you would like to book your place please call 020 7033 2370 for booking details.
Maynard Leigh Associates 3 Bath Place, Rivington Street, EC2A 3DR +44 (0)20 7033 2370 / info@maynardleigh.co.uk www.maynardleigh.co.uk
INSPIRE GREATER IMPACT