Mandy Williams and Eileen Murphy take us on a deep dive into our ‘Managing yourself and others’ training programme to explain what leaders can get out of it.
INVEST IN YOURSELF
Investing in your own professional development often comes at the bottom of the list of priorities, with time, capacity and resource being reasons why leaders and managers do not invest in themselves.
While it’s admirable to put the development needs of your staff before yourself, there is a danger here. We all know of the well-used analogy of putting on your own life jacket before helping others to put on theirs but there is a lot of truth and wisdom in this.
Often, we come across leaders who are literally on their knees, trying to juggle all kinds of competing demands. In the third sector, we are all called upon to multitask and to be all things to all people.
In her book, Chief Everything Officer, Flóra Raffai, talks about the need to start with yourself: your own wellbeing, your own development, your own sense of direction and leadership.
She says: ‘Remember, perfect is the enemy of good. Know yourself: where you are great, where you are good enough, and where you want to improve.’
PRACTICAL TRAINING
As experienced coaches we understand how tough it is to put yourself first and so we are delighted to recommend some really practical and helpful training for managers and leaders in the development of the Managing yourself and others programme
We offer short (half day) online opportunities for learning practical skills that you can use for your own development as well as helping others to develop. These have been developed from our own experiences of being managers in the voluntary sector. They are skills and tools we wished we had known more about when we were faced with the joys and challenges of leading others.
There are eight modules in total. Together they provide a robust toolkit for managers and leaders, but they can also be accessed individually, catering to your needs and schedule.
THE PROGRAMME
We begin with Developing a growth mindset, that sets the tone for the whole programme. It highlights the important fact that we can all, with the right mindset and hard work, improve our skills and abilities. We aren’t stuck in who we are, we can all change, it’s a choice we make.
There are also workshops which take a coaching approach to management, based on tools that equip us and others to have a positive and strategic attitude to work. Setting goals and values and Leading through change offer both theory and practice on identifying values, developing SMART (specific, measurable, achievable, relevant, and time-bound) objectives and outcomes, and committing to an action plan for change.
Other workshops offer specific tools for line management in Giving and receiving feedback, which includes the principles of effective feedback and strategies for giving clear feedback with confidence. Delegation and the art of saying no challenges managers to relinquish control with responsibility and confidence, recognising that we don’t need to micro manage everything and everyone.
Influencing and organisational politics offers clear advice and strategies for exploring your own influencing style and having a better understanding of organisational politics.
If you manage a team or lead groups, then you might find Team building and Tools for group working invaluable in helping you to effectively develop and get the most out of your teams and other groups. These two courses go hand in hand and offer some really helpful tools and techniques as well as an understanding of group dynamics and team roles.
FIND OUT MORE
So, you no longer need to struggle alone. Come and join us for these practical and informative workshops and meet others who are challenged with similar issues to yourselves. They are a great place to learn and network.
See you soon. Find out more about the programme here.
Mandy Williams is a bilingual, experienced trainer, facilitator and coach who has worked in this capacity across sectors for over 30 years.
Eileen Murphy Consultancy specialises in training and organisational development, facilitation and evaluation for charities, community groups and Public Sector organisations.