I was advised by a personal coach the other day that you can 'find your own champion inside yourself' - in other words, don't wait around for others to fix things for you or to come riding in on a white charger. The ability to change your life and your outcomes lies, mostly, within your own control.
External factors notwithstanding, there is a lot we can do to promote our own champions - one example given to me by a business coach was to 'find an alter ego' - build a self image based on someone or people you admire. Take their positive qualities and embed them in your alter ego.
Then, when you need that courage, ability or confidence, think of that person you have given all those wonderful qualities to (including being YOUR champion) and become them for the time you need them.
Eventually you will find that the qualities of this alter ego rub off, and you can be who you admire. Learn to love yourself, admire yourself, and accept the help that your inner champion can give you.
Friday 15 January 2010
Thursday 22 October 2009
A career development option - non executive directorships
Becoming a NED
Acronyms, don’t they drive you wild? NED is, simply, a non-executive director. Perhaps I’d better introduce properly what an NED is and what it means. According to Wikipedia:
“A non-executive director (NED, also NXD) or outside director is a member of the board of directors of a company who does not form part of the executive management team. He or she is not an employee of the company or affiliated with it in any other way. They are differentiated from inside directors, who are members of the board also serving as executive managers of the company (most often as corporate officers).”
There are NEDs in both private and public sector organisations. An NED has influence, and may handle even be directly responsible for budgets. In the case of the health sector, for example, NEDs may be involved in the commissioning of services worth millions –the results of the NEDs recommendations and actions have a direct effect on a community or organisation.
Tell me more...
I found out about NEDs at a seminar the other day, chaired by Angela Peacock. It was held in the city with a group of women from the finance world and an amazing panel of experts (an impressive line up from Cranfield University, The Appointments Commission and a well known lawyer in the private sector). The majority of this audience was female and the seminar aimed at looking at financial careers and career development, but the advice applies across the board whatever you do, whatever your industry and even if you are not working. The more I heard, the more I wanted to know.
There were some frightening statistics about how few women there are on boards at all in the UK (around just 12% - but even that is an improvement over just 7% ten years ago) and how we compare to other countries (42% in Norway, less than 1% in Portugal).
The benefits of taking a non-executive position crept out as the discussion continued, with each panellist (all earnest champions of NEDs) giving their point of view and suggestions. The more diverse the components of a board, in the panel’s opinion, the more effective it was. Everyone has something to bring, and they were open and honest about the challenges that being an NED presents.
Firstly there is the commitment – though a position may only require 2 days a month for example, the NED must be committed to understanding the business or organisation they are working with and give it their full attention in that time. Many of the panellists had more than one NED, and full time careers. Understanding the level of commitment required is very important.
There are many ways to get into NEDs, and though the panel had used headhunters, on the whole they said that people came to their attention in very many ways. Whitehall, for example, is regularly looking for NEDs and publishes a list weekly in the Sunday Times. Local authorities and PCTs will advertise locally and nationally.
‘Don’t wait to be asked’ – the old school ties days of waiting to be tapped on the shoulder by a cronie are gone. The public sector, especially, has to be completely transparent about their recruitment process for all executives, including NEDs. It’s not quite so much ‘who you know’ any more, but what you can do is build your network to find out about opportunities that may interest you.
The benefits of becoming an NED are huge – not only the experience that you can gain from joining an organisation with a different perspective to your employer or usual day-time occupation, but you can also fulfil social responsibility ambitions and add something to your CV that will give you a great advantage over others. Even if it’s not a short cut to board positions, the simple development opportunities you will gain from the experience are immense.
There are plenty of resources on the internet about how to become an NED, some are companies offering search and select services, or to sell you ‘inside track’ information, or even offer training on becoming and NED. Lateral thinking will find you what you are looking for – whether it’s to pursue a personal interest in aviation (and be an NED of an airline) or to help your local community (support the local authority) or to follow something that is very close to your heart (a charity, for example), then go out and look for an appropriate NED.
The panel were reticent about there being many career advantages to being an NED for small local charities, but their advice remained consistent that taking on any NED is a great self-development opportunity.
The panel gave some advice on how to get appointed – the first of which is confidence. It doesn’t matter that you are an accountant applying for an NED. The second bit of advice was not to give up – if you don’t get appointment, go back and ask for feedback so that you can hone your talents for the next one you apply for.
The ages of NEDs range from late 20s to 80s! The right age is when you choose, not a pre-determined threshold. By becoming an NED you will gain cross-sector experience and widen your skill base. In fact, becoming an NED could be the best thing you do.
Resources:
Appointments Commission: http://www.appointments.org.uk/
How to become a non-executive director (Times article): http://business.timesonline.co.uk/tol/business/management/article6513325.ece
Acronyms, don’t they drive you wild? NED is, simply, a non-executive director. Perhaps I’d better introduce properly what an NED is and what it means. According to Wikipedia:
“A non-executive director (NED, also NXD) or outside director is a member of the board of directors of a company who does not form part of the executive management team. He or she is not an employee of the company or affiliated with it in any other way. They are differentiated from inside directors, who are members of the board also serving as executive managers of the company (most often as corporate officers).”
There are NEDs in both private and public sector organisations. An NED has influence, and may handle even be directly responsible for budgets. In the case of the health sector, for example, NEDs may be involved in the commissioning of services worth millions –the results of the NEDs recommendations and actions have a direct effect on a community or organisation.
Tell me more...
I found out about NEDs at a seminar the other day, chaired by Angela Peacock. It was held in the city with a group of women from the finance world and an amazing panel of experts (an impressive line up from Cranfield University, The Appointments Commission and a well known lawyer in the private sector). The majority of this audience was female and the seminar aimed at looking at financial careers and career development, but the advice applies across the board whatever you do, whatever your industry and even if you are not working. The more I heard, the more I wanted to know.
There were some frightening statistics about how few women there are on boards at all in the UK (around just 12% - but even that is an improvement over just 7% ten years ago) and how we compare to other countries (42% in Norway, less than 1% in Portugal).
The benefits of taking a non-executive position crept out as the discussion continued, with each panellist (all earnest champions of NEDs) giving their point of view and suggestions. The more diverse the components of a board, in the panel’s opinion, the more effective it was. Everyone has something to bring, and they were open and honest about the challenges that being an NED presents.
Firstly there is the commitment – though a position may only require 2 days a month for example, the NED must be committed to understanding the business or organisation they are working with and give it their full attention in that time. Many of the panellists had more than one NED, and full time careers. Understanding the level of commitment required is very important.
There are many ways to get into NEDs, and though the panel had used headhunters, on the whole they said that people came to their attention in very many ways. Whitehall, for example, is regularly looking for NEDs and publishes a list weekly in the Sunday Times. Local authorities and PCTs will advertise locally and nationally.
‘Don’t wait to be asked’ – the old school ties days of waiting to be tapped on the shoulder by a cronie are gone. The public sector, especially, has to be completely transparent about their recruitment process for all executives, including NEDs. It’s not quite so much ‘who you know’ any more, but what you can do is build your network to find out about opportunities that may interest you.
The benefits of becoming an NED are huge – not only the experience that you can gain from joining an organisation with a different perspective to your employer or usual day-time occupation, but you can also fulfil social responsibility ambitions and add something to your CV that will give you a great advantage over others. Even if it’s not a short cut to board positions, the simple development opportunities you will gain from the experience are immense.
There are plenty of resources on the internet about how to become an NED, some are companies offering search and select services, or to sell you ‘inside track’ information, or even offer training on becoming and NED. Lateral thinking will find you what you are looking for – whether it’s to pursue a personal interest in aviation (and be an NED of an airline) or to help your local community (support the local authority) or to follow something that is very close to your heart (a charity, for example), then go out and look for an appropriate NED.
The panel were reticent about there being many career advantages to being an NED for small local charities, but their advice remained consistent that taking on any NED is a great self-development opportunity.
The panel gave some advice on how to get appointed – the first of which is confidence. It doesn’t matter that you are an accountant applying for an NED. The second bit of advice was not to give up – if you don’t get appointment, go back and ask for feedback so that you can hone your talents for the next one you apply for.
The ages of NEDs range from late 20s to 80s! The right age is when you choose, not a pre-determined threshold. By becoming an NED you will gain cross-sector experience and widen your skill base. In fact, becoming an NED could be the best thing you do.
Resources:
Appointments Commission: http://www.appointments.org.uk/
How to become a non-executive director (Times article): http://business.timesonline.co.uk/tol/business/management/article6513325.ece
Non-executive directors (Guardian article): http://www.guardian.co.uk/money/2003/jan/05/wageslaves.careers
Angela Peacock, conference and event chair: http://www.angela-peacock.com/
For a much more detailed, in depth review of the actual event I attended where I learned about this, please read 'Skirting the Boards'
(C) Carolyn Sheppard 2009
This article may be reproduced with permission from the author as long as all links and references are kept intact.
Here's an example of something else you may consdier, being a Trustee for a cause you support:
http://www.durrell.org/About-Durrell/Durrell-News/THE-SEARCH-IS-ON-DURRELL-NEEDS-YOU/
Thursday 8 October 2009
Abuse
Abuse is a sensitive subject, but in a recent article in the Times, they featured one of the least talked about areas of abuse: the abuse of children by women.
They called the article, and the accompanying radio programme on BBC Radio 4, 'Breaking the Silence'.
The reason I listened to the programme is that one of the interviewees is a friend of mine. I learned more about her in that short interview than I ever knew before. I knew she had suffered abuse, but no more than that. And she is not the only person I know who was abused as a child by a female. So, in my limited experience, I know two people who have survived this.
One of the things the article covered was the fact that this is such a little known area of abuse. Though indeed statistics show that only 20% of reported abuse is by women, what does that mean in real terms of actual abuse? And how much more unreported? I can't begin to imagine.
So why am I putting this in the Self Development blog? Because we all have different issues to overcome and, sadly, abuse (of many types) is a huge one in many peoples lives.
Esther Ranzten (founder of the Charity ChildLine, now part of the NSPCC) said something on the lines of 'if we are supposed to learn about love, trust, respect and affection from our parents, and we learn instead shame, unhappiness and self-loathing, it's no wonder that these create life-long problems'.
But the term used for those people who suffered abuse is 'survivors', not victims. That is key in moving on from any kind of abuse, I believe. The good thing is that there is help for people, whether through the NHS, independent therapists or charities such as The Aurora Health Foundation.
The point of this post is not to offer any opinion or great solution, just to raise awareness and let people know that if they are a survivor, they are not alone, and there is help out there.
They called the article, and the accompanying radio programme on BBC Radio 4, 'Breaking the Silence'.
The reason I listened to the programme is that one of the interviewees is a friend of mine. I learned more about her in that short interview than I ever knew before. I knew she had suffered abuse, but no more than that. And she is not the only person I know who was abused as a child by a female. So, in my limited experience, I know two people who have survived this.
One of the things the article covered was the fact that this is such a little known area of abuse. Though indeed statistics show that only 20% of reported abuse is by women, what does that mean in real terms of actual abuse? And how much more unreported? I can't begin to imagine.
So why am I putting this in the Self Development blog? Because we all have different issues to overcome and, sadly, abuse (of many types) is a huge one in many peoples lives.
Esther Ranzten (founder of the Charity ChildLine, now part of the NSPCC) said something on the lines of 'if we are supposed to learn about love, trust, respect and affection from our parents, and we learn instead shame, unhappiness and self-loathing, it's no wonder that these create life-long problems'.
But the term used for those people who suffered abuse is 'survivors', not victims. That is key in moving on from any kind of abuse, I believe. The good thing is that there is help for people, whether through the NHS, independent therapists or charities such as The Aurora Health Foundation.
The point of this post is not to offer any opinion or great solution, just to raise awareness and let people know that if they are a survivor, they are not alone, and there is help out there.
Thursday 9 July 2009
It’s all about passion
I spent a half hour on the phone today to a new potential partner – they sell a great on line business simulation game for schools. The Director of the company had looked at our website, seen some potential synergy and we exchanged emails and arranged the conversation.
He told me about his product, and he was enthusiastic and knowledgeable. It sounds really good – an interesting and useful business game that would be great for our teachers, education contacts and even for training companies who work with young employees.
He transmitted his passion and I understood the product offering and target market quickly. Sounds like the sort of person I like doing business with. In return I told him about our site, about our markets and about how we contact prospects and send out newsletters and write articles etc.
At the end of the conversation he confessed that he was ‘more excited’ about our potential partnership than originally envisaged. There are opportunities to be far more than just ‘one more product on someone else’s site’ and he obviously picked up my passion for the business. We are now meeting face to face next week in London at the IoD to explore more widely the potential for doing business together.
It really is about passion. Anyone can set up a website and ‘sell stuff’* but a sustainable business, even when it is ecommerce based – is still about people.
And I firmly believe that people with passion do better business.
* half the affiliate programme promotions on the web seem to be based around this and making yourself an ‘internet millionaire overnight’. But are they people businesses, or just playing a numbers game? The most successful of these businesses are those that engage with their audience and sell ‘to’ them instead of ‘at’ them. But that’s a whole other article....
He told me about his product, and he was enthusiastic and knowledgeable. It sounds really good – an interesting and useful business game that would be great for our teachers, education contacts and even for training companies who work with young employees.
He transmitted his passion and I understood the product offering and target market quickly. Sounds like the sort of person I like doing business with. In return I told him about our site, about our markets and about how we contact prospects and send out newsletters and write articles etc.
At the end of the conversation he confessed that he was ‘more excited’ about our potential partnership than originally envisaged. There are opportunities to be far more than just ‘one more product on someone else’s site’ and he obviously picked up my passion for the business. We are now meeting face to face next week in London at the IoD to explore more widely the potential for doing business together.
It really is about passion. Anyone can set up a website and ‘sell stuff’* but a sustainable business, even when it is ecommerce based – is still about people.
And I firmly believe that people with passion do better business.
* half the affiliate programme promotions on the web seem to be based around this and making yourself an ‘internet millionaire overnight’. But are they people businesses, or just playing a numbers game? The most successful of these businesses are those that engage with their audience and sell ‘to’ them instead of ‘at’ them. But that’s a whole other article....
Thursday 25 June 2009
Leadership?
I often wonder about myself as a leader - you see it's hard to analyse your leadership style when you work mostly on your own.
Several years back I took a leadership survey that showed I was a 'coercive' leader. I know precisely why! The band I was in needed coercion to rehearse, to gig, to do anything basically! And though the band was supposedly a collective, I had to take the lead or nothing would have happened.
Interesting, because when I applied my work profile, I came out very differently indeed. I was an affiliative leader - and that makes sense to me. I want people to follow me because they trust me and have faith and confidence in my decision making. I want to lead through example and through good practice.
I've never been that good at being authoritative except when I am very confident about my subject - so as a leader that's probably something I should look at. I may not know the answer, but I am sure I know someone who does, so I should use that resource.
There's lots of writing on leadership, lots of academic study, but the best thing I read on leadership the other day was 'learn from good leaders you know, don't try and copy them'. You have to be authentic, to be the kind of leader you are.
So though I know it would be good to be a stronger leader, like my previous boss, I also know that I cannot copy their methods and be a successful leader. I have to be the leader I am, and be true to myself. Authenticity, surely, deserves the respect of those who would follow you.
I took an Emotional Intelligence test yesterday. It said I had a score of 75 (average is 50, best is 100). I answered some questions the way I genuinely react in a situation, realistically - even though I knew they weren't the best answers on offer. I was, in fact, authentic.
Several years back I took a leadership survey that showed I was a 'coercive' leader. I know precisely why! The band I was in needed coercion to rehearse, to gig, to do anything basically! And though the band was supposedly a collective, I had to take the lead or nothing would have happened.
Interesting, because when I applied my work profile, I came out very differently indeed. I was an affiliative leader - and that makes sense to me. I want people to follow me because they trust me and have faith and confidence in my decision making. I want to lead through example and through good practice.
I've never been that good at being authoritative except when I am very confident about my subject - so as a leader that's probably something I should look at. I may not know the answer, but I am sure I know someone who does, so I should use that resource.
There's lots of writing on leadership, lots of academic study, but the best thing I read on leadership the other day was 'learn from good leaders you know, don't try and copy them'. You have to be authentic, to be the kind of leader you are.
So though I know it would be good to be a stronger leader, like my previous boss, I also know that I cannot copy their methods and be a successful leader. I have to be the leader I am, and be true to myself. Authenticity, surely, deserves the respect of those who would follow you.
I took an Emotional Intelligence test yesterday. It said I had a score of 75 (average is 50, best is 100). I answered some questions the way I genuinely react in a situation, realistically - even though I knew they weren't the best answers on offer. I was, in fact, authentic.
Wednesday 10 June 2009
Job hunt? The changing market
A couple of years back I signed up to the Marketing Week job emails - and I still get them. I am not looking for a job, but I haven't unsubscribed from these notifications. And I've noticed something.
In the past there were jobs for 'Marketing Manager' or 'Marketing Director' and details of the job, the company, the product or service, yada yada... now the jobs advertised are far more specific:
'Channel marketing manager with experience in communications software'
'Research marketing manager in pharmaceuticals'
In other words the day of the general job description have gone. It is an employers' market so they can be very specific about the skill set of the people they want. And this is true of all industries and roles, not just marketing. Individuals who are job hunting have to really tailor their CVs and applications to match as closely as possible the requirements for any job they apply for.
For example, I looked quickly on a regional job site and saw an ad for an administrative assistant for a Government scientific department. Applying for that job with outstanding administrative skills will, of course, be the first stage - but what the employer is going to look for is perhaps an administrator with an interst in their area of science, maybe even with specific experience. So the job application should not just extol their talents and virtues as an administrator, but their personal interest in the subject and anything else they can use to make their application more relevant to the role.
Is that expecting too much for an administration job? Not at all. In the town where I live the Somerfield store has been closed with a Morrisons opening in six weeks' time. There were 45 jobs advertised. They had over 400 applicants for those 45 jobs. How would you choose who to appoint?
There are many resources on line for helping individuals to help jobseekers but it can be a bit of a minefield. Watch out for sites that will charge you to improve your CV, many of the services offered on line can in fact be found for free at your local JobCentre in the UK, or from other Government agencies. That doesn't mean you shouldn't employ the services of professionals, but be sure to research all the options before handing over any cash!
In the past there were jobs for 'Marketing Manager' or 'Marketing Director' and details of the job, the company, the product or service, yada yada... now the jobs advertised are far more specific:
'Channel marketing manager with experience in communications software'
'Research marketing manager in pharmaceuticals'
In other words the day of the general job description have gone. It is an employers' market so they can be very specific about the skill set of the people they want. And this is true of all industries and roles, not just marketing. Individuals who are job hunting have to really tailor their CVs and applications to match as closely as possible the requirements for any job they apply for.
For example, I looked quickly on a regional job site and saw an ad for an administrative assistant for a Government scientific department. Applying for that job with outstanding administrative skills will, of course, be the first stage - but what the employer is going to look for is perhaps an administrator with an interst in their area of science, maybe even with specific experience. So the job application should not just extol their talents and virtues as an administrator, but their personal interest in the subject and anything else they can use to make their application more relevant to the role.
Is that expecting too much for an administration job? Not at all. In the town where I live the Somerfield store has been closed with a Morrisons opening in six weeks' time. There were 45 jobs advertised. They had over 400 applicants for those 45 jobs. How would you choose who to appoint?
There are many resources on line for helping individuals to help jobseekers but it can be a bit of a minefield. Watch out for sites that will charge you to improve your CV, many of the services offered on line can in fact be found for free at your local JobCentre in the UK, or from other Government agencies. That doesn't mean you shouldn't employ the services of professionals, but be sure to research all the options before handing over any cash!
Tuesday 9 June 2009
Emotional Intelligence
About two years ago I went on a skills update day about Emotional Intelligence. It was very good, and I learned about how it is applied 'scientifically' and how useful it is in recruitment. EI needed to have some sound basis for practical application for me to 'buy in'. Certainly the statistics showing that the US military had a greater success rate when they applied EI to the recruitment process was a pretty good example.
We have a couple of EI books on our site and a free questionnaire to help you get started on the 'road to emotional intelligence'. I always thought I was pretty well self-aware about emotional intelligence, but even filling in this quick questionnaire gave me pause for thought when I reflected on my answers.
The author of the questionnaire and one of our books is Maureen Bowes, and she's done some neat videos - snippets of which you can see on her site. They are long enough to give you something to 'take away', so worth a visit if you get the chance:
www.peopleintelligence.com/coaching.html
We have a couple of EI books on our site and a free questionnaire to help you get started on the 'road to emotional intelligence'. I always thought I was pretty well self-aware about emotional intelligence, but even filling in this quick questionnaire gave me pause for thought when I reflected on my answers.
The author of the questionnaire and one of our books is Maureen Bowes, and she's done some neat videos - snippets of which you can see on her site. They are long enough to give you something to 'take away', so worth a visit if you get the chance:
www.peopleintelligence.com/coaching.html
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