Different industries require subtle differences in style and how leaders impact their teams and results. As part of our occasional series chatting with industry leaders, we recently spoke with engineer and senior leader, Wes Davis. His story is an interesting one, with Wes focusing much of his time and development on the topic of leadership within engineering, rather than simply learning and applying the technical aspects.
Tag Archive for: Relationships
We all have multiple roles, responsibilities and relationships, both in and out of the workplace. Understanding how your various roles interact and affect each other can make a genuine difference in your life.
“It’s all about the levers”, I said. My client looked at me like I had gone barmy. “Maybe you are feeling an imbalance and that you are having to compromise your core values and some of the things that matter most to you”, I suggested. I knew this would require a little more explanation and detail. Once we discussed the topic further, however, it became clearer I was hitting the mark with my coachee.
Since this discussion some years ago, it is now even more evident how important this concept is to almost all of us. Attitude, prioritisation and self-awareness are always critical attributes and skills, even more so at the moment. This blog will explain the concept of choice, time and our various and many roles. A concept that has resonated and contributed to many of my client’s satisfaction, sense of control and comfort as it may for you.
We all have levers in our lives. What does this actually mean?
There is logic to the concept of levers. Each of your roles can be thought of as a separate, yet interconnected lever. Each role could be as a parent, employee, boss, friend, hobby or member of the local sports team as examples. In fact, it could be any aspect of your life that is important to you and you dedicate time to. Consider each role as being represented by a single lever.
Each lever can be adjusted, as required, aligned to how much time, effort and mental energy you dedicate to it.
Each adjustment is also reflective of how much importance you place on the role at that particular point in time. These focus tweaks are often in response to a perceived or real need to better balance your life or respond to some other stimulus. This can be either extrinsic (i.e. originating externally) or intrinsic (i.e. driven from within). The tweak may be required because of the needs of others. Maybe someone close to you expresses frustration or disappointment that you are not spending enough time with them. Or, you may recognise this need for change yourself.
Possibly you are spending too much time at work. Maybe you feel this yourself or there is pressure from your spouse and family to be home more or earlier. Or, you have stopped going to the gym, or taking regular walks and your fitness and mental well-being are negatively impacted. Is it that you recognise that your friends are being neglected? The triggers can arise from anywhere and are generally feeling-based. They can also be managed and influenced.
No matter the trigger, it often feels like something is missing or there is an imbalance in your life.
We all have the same amount of time to spend or allocate to our many roles. However, this time is finite – it has limits. The choices about where to spend this time and allocate to your many roles has a direct and ongoing influence on your overall satisfaction and contentment. It also impacts those you care about the most.
At this point, it is worth looking at where you are prioritising your time and whether this balance works for or against you. Referencing the great work of Stew Friedman, this 4-Way Views assessment will give you clarity regarding where you spend your time and satisfaction as a result.
Let’s extend the concept. I mentioned earlier that each of your roles can be thought of as a separate lever, yet are interconnected. This is true, however every time you adjust a lever or aspect of your life, all your other levers or roles are also impacted. Each lever is connected via an imaginary cable. It is often a small adjustment of maybe 5-10%. Deciding to spend more time at home, for example, will have a natural and direct impact on all of your other levers or roles. To add time and energy to one role, there is a reduction of focus and time in one or more of your other roles. Remember, your time is finite. That’s why your choices and what you prioritise are so important. There are 2 key elements to consider.
Firstly, it is important that you have enough levers.
I have seen many examples where a person has only 2 or 3 roles. These may be work and home, for example. This is a challenge when work or home is not providing positive input or going well. Devastating when both are not going well. Additional roles (maybe 7-8) provide alternatives and options to fulfill your life when one or more roles are not as positive as you would like. I am not suggesting that there is an ‘ideal’ specific number of roles. We are all different and have a variety of needs, capacities and preferences. However, like most things in life, too few or too many are extremes and offer more challenge than your individual, optimum number of roles.
Challenges and difficulties in life are common. How you react and respond to these challenges is critical.
No one lives the perfect life where all of their roles are being fulfilled at the same time. Having enough roles and different levers to adjust and provide a sense of balance is one of the keys. Not work-life balance, but a more holistic and psychologically fullfilling balance. However, it is possible to have too many roles.
Stretching yourself thin and trying to meet the needs of around 10 or more roles can also be a challenge. Imagine trying to fulfill a dozen roles and the allocation of time required? To be fair, I have seen this done. However, the strong relationships and capability to manage this time and roles effectively is rare.
Perspective and resilience are very important traits, particularly in today’s world. Taking control of your time and various roles and consciously adjusting your ‘levers’ as required, can make a significant difference to how resilient you are and in seeing life more clearly. One of the many insights I have learned when coaching and mentoring hundreds of clients over the last decade continues to resonate. Those who struggle with life generally, often do not have enough levers and/or feel they have little choice in what is happening in their life. They see things as happening ‘to’ them, not ‘with’ them. Being in control is not about being controlling. Control is about you – this is good. Being controlling is more about you and others – this is often misplaced and damaging.
Understand your own levers. Reflect on your many roles.
What roles do you have? Where are you spending most time?
Where could you spend more or less time that would suit you better?
Do you feel happiness and satisfaction with this mix? What can you do to find a better and more rewarding balance across all of your roles?
What will you do to feel you are in control and on most days feel happy with what you give and what you receive?
For the most part, you have the same choices, time and ability to influence your life as other people do theirs. Thinking about what you are compromising and what gives you the most joy will lead to change and greater satisfaction. Taking action as appropriate to adjust your levers adds value and lets you meet your core values.
Your life, your choice!
Few managers and leaders are conducting useful one-on-ones and when they do, often miss the mark in making them effective and productive. There is value in learning how to facilitate a one-on-one that provides value for all involved.
Two of the most important, yet under-rated skills for managers and leaders are listening and questioning. To be present and focused and know what key question to ask at the right time add value to any relationship and discussion. They are particularly important during one-on-ones with your employees and offer a couple of great examples of development opportunities. Yet, there are many more growth areas that can be learned and practiced as a leader through focused, individual time spent with each team member.
One-on-ones are a tool and a process. When conducted well they are an incredibly useful and effective part of leadership and developing effective relationships. The opposite is just as true. When avoided, gaps and misunderstandings often exist as a direct result. Your willingness to learn how to conduct one-on-ones effectively will have a direct impact on your team and your results. Outcomes and benefits include; each team member will be more engaged; trust is increased; the leader an employee earn the right to be heard; influence improves; and you both earn the right to discuss relevant, meaningful topics.
The most effective one-on-ones are action-oriented and holistic in their approach. This means that all aspects of the employee’s performance and mindset are discussed.
If you aren’t having one on ones with your team, you’re missing out on an incredible motivating, problem solving, pressure relieving opportunity to help and grow your team. But even if you’re totally bought into starting them, it can be intimidating to actually get started. Like the first time for many things, when you start, it’s easy to feel unsure what to do. When you start, there can be many questions like:
- What do I talk about?
- What do I say to my team?
- How often should I have them?
- What if my team doesn’t want to talk to me?
- When should I schedule them?
- …and many more. (3)
All good questions that are addressed in this blog. But, first things first.
It is of great interest to me how few managers bother with meeting formally in any capacity on a regular basis with their team members. Taking this one step further, it is a shame how many managers avoid this key part of their role. It is too easy to get caught up in the operational and tactical aspects of management. Being a leader compels contact and connection with your direct reports. Although many fail to make the time for this, it is in fact an obligation of being a leader. To feel the many benefits and rewards requires a conscious plan to engage and persist whilst practicing the skill-sets that make it work.
To see time dedicated to each team member as somehow negotiable misses the point regarding being a leader.
Worldwide, the percentage of adults who work full-time for an employer and are engaged at work — they are highly involved in and enthusiastic about their work and workplace — is just 15%. That low percentage of engaged employees is a barrier to creating high-performing cultures. It implies a stunning amount of wasted potential, given that business units in the top quartile of our global employee engagement database are 17% more productive and 21% more profitable than those in the bottom quartile.
Businesses that orient performance management systems around basic human needs for psychological engagement — such as positive workplace relationships, frequent recognition, ongoing performance conversations and opportunities for personal development — get the most out of their employees. (1) If spending time with your team members is not your key priority you are missing one of the most valuable aspects of your role as a leader.
Communication, clarity, context, expectation setting, checking for understanding and similar key requirements form part of this discussion.
Consolidation and reinforcement occurs in between formal sessions, during ad-hoc catch-ups. They are extremely valuable and important. However, there needs to be a formal, established rhythm where real and honest discussion can take place. This should be done in a private setting where both the leader and employee can feel comfortable to raise any relevant points. These discussions form the basis for most performance reviews and development opportunities. The chance to reduce or remove assumptions is also of great benefit.
An effective one-on-one is a discussion with purpose. It has two-way communication and feedback; invites self-assessment; invests in the relationship; and has actions and outcomes.
10 Ways Leaders Aren’t Making Time for their Team Members (Infographic): Blanchard LeaderChat
There is something to be said, however, about occasionally changing the setting. Some of the best one on one discussions I have had occurred during a walk around the block or at a cafe’.
As with all relationships, it is important to know your team members well enough to know what their preferences are.
Clearly, going for a walk with an employee with health issues might be challenging and potentially do more harm than good, for example.
I often hear statements from managers like, “my door is always open”. The assumption that this style creates opportunity for meaningful discussion is flawed.
Not all of your team members will approach you proactively to raise all of their issues and successes. Quite often the key few will ‘pop into your office’ to vent or raise concerns.
Regularly the same employees will chat about the same challenges and points, visit after visit. Reactive conversations based on specific issues become the norm.
Of course, not all of your team will approach you just because you ‘offered’, One-on-ones provide the alternative options. Personal and professional points are discussed.
You need to give these meetings a fair amount of time to make sure you really dig into issues that are bothering them, fully explore ideas with them, and have a good opportunity to coach them when needed.
You’ll also build their confidence and trust in you that when they come to you with a problem you will not only listen, but help them do something about it. (3)
One-on-ones are proactive in nature, identifying and addressing things before they escalate.
The ‘door is open approach’ is reactive and covers the select few issues that your team members choose to raise – it assumes too much and is quite a lazy approach. It is often an approach based on the manager – their fears, self-doubts and lack of confidence to manage the conversations. The one-on-one should be mostly about the employee. Conversely, relationship-based one-on-ones are proactive as they delve and discover opportunities that may not have been identified without facilitating and questioning.
The discussion is meaningful in that it maintains flow and momentum in actions, progress and meeting goals.
The ironic part of this mindset is that a focus away from your team rarely ends well. The most relevant and impactful way to be able to influence outcomes and results is via the effectiveness, capability, competence and confidence of each team member. This takes focus and development. To assume that this growth will occur without your guidance and assistance as their immediate manager/leader reflects inexperience or avoidance. Related to this, emphasis on results and outcomes without understanding the inputs and contributors drives managers towards the wrong focus. This could appear as an unsupported challenge or even worse, a threat or coercion.
I have already touched on a few key benefits of one-on-ones. However, the most important element references the risks if you don’t formalise these discussions.
What causes some people to fully commit to the team and give their max effort while others don’t? It’s trust. In research conducted by The Ken Blanchard Companies and Training Magazine, over 60% of respondents say the most important factor influencing the effort they give to a team is how much they trust their fellow teammates.
Having high trust in your teammates frees you up to focus on your own contributions without worrying about others following through on their commitments. Trusting your team gives you freedom to take risks, knowing your teammates have your back and will support you. Team trust allows you to have open and honest dialogue and healthy debate that leads to better decision-making, and conflict gets resolved productively instead of people sandbagging issues or sabotaging the efforts of others. But developing trust in your teammates doesn’t happen by accident; it takes an intentional effort to proactively build trust. (2) It is a very similar factor when considering the relationship between a leader and direct report…but, more impactful in most cases.
Trust cannot be built from afar or in spite of the effort to develop effective relationships. Regular one-on-ones provide that opportunity.
When you have scheduled the sessions, commit to them. Cancelling or constantly moving the one-on-ones sends a very clear message about your priorities. Remember, most leaders have around 160+ hours / month to accomplish their work. Focusing on the single greatest impact on the success of that work (hint: your team members) for 10-20 hours / month seems like a pretty solid investment! Let your team know you want to have one on ones to help them. If they’ve never had them before, they may not know what to expect, so it helps to give them a little background before the first one. (3) Over time, you can shift the accountability of scheduling and agenda-setting to your employee.
Regular conversations that contain actions and outcomes create a baseline for development. The CoachStation REOWM Leadership Accountability model provides a solid framework to assist in your one-on-ones. Access a copy of the REOWM model and explanations for each of the 5 steps here.
It is important to spend a few minutes preparing for each one-on-one.
Leadership expert, Kevin Eikenberry correctly states that: the best meetings have agendas, and while your one-on-one meetings likely won’t have a formal agenda (although they could), for them to be most effective and productive, both parties need to be clear on the expectations, goals, and outcomes for these meetings. Since you are likely having these meetings already without this clarity, make this a topic of conversation the next time you meet.
As a leader, don’t just assume others know what you want from these meetings – talk to them and share your needs and goals for your one-on-ones.
As a team member ask for what you need. If you are hoping for/need something from these meetings (like more direction, for example), ask for it. (4)
I have found that a consistent agenda containing 3 key elements works well in establishing a standard, expectations and agreed outcomes:
Agenda:
What’s on your mind?
What would you like to discuss?
Progress:
How have you gone since we last met?
Did your actions work?
What did you learn as a result?
How do you know they worked?
Actions:
What do you need to do to reinforce and consolidate recent learning and actions?
What have you taken away from today’s one-on-one?
Are there any new potential actions?
There is value if your team member takes control of the meeting. It may take a couple of one-on-ones for them to get comfortable and understand your expectations and how best to apply them, but it is their time, so your employee should own it. Support them into this though, being fair and clear about how this looks and what they should do.
Too often the one-on-one meeting becomes tactical and just about day to day issues and tasks.
Access additional great examples of coaching questions you can use in any discussion – 50 Power Questions
Self-assessment and reflection is generally more useful than solely providing feedback. You will find that through asking the right questions and listening well, there is much to learn about each person. You can then provide your own thoughts and feedback throughout the discussion, in response to your employee. It may seem subtle but is actually a significant shift in accountability and ownership. It also makes the session easier for the leader as they quickly learn that they don’t have to have all the answers. These details are important, but if you want to have more effective and valuable one-on-one meetings, think bigger picture.
As a leader, be observant, and make coaching and feedback a part of the list of things you routinely talk about in these meetings. Consider asking for feedback on your performance too.
As a team member, if you want more feedback in general, or specific guidance on a situation, ask for it. The one-on-one meeting is a time you will have your leader’s attention, so use it to get the feedback you need. (4) Regular follow-up and development of accountability provides momentum and progression.
Monthly meetings are ok, however fortnightly is best in my experience. It is generally better to conduct fortnightly one-on-ones of 45 minutes in length compared to monthly sessions of an hour or longer.
This does depend on the number of direct reports, employee tenure and competence, amongst other judgements you must make. Finally, a good rule-of -thumb to follow is to make sure that each one-on-one covers 3 key categories. Assuming a 60 minute session is scheduled, break the session into thirds or 20-minute segments:
- 20 minutes: Tasks = Focus on results, tasks and operational work i.e. the things that your employee does.
- 20 minutes: Self = Self-reflection and discussion regarding the employee themselves – how do they feel? What is going well? What isn’t?
- 20 minutes: Others = Feedback and self-assessment regarding their relationships – with you as their leader; with their peers; with their direct reports; other relationships e.g stakeholders.
The timing of 20 minutes for each segment is indicative and obviously can be altered, depending on the conversation and flow. The critical aspect is that all 3 elements are covered during each session.
Without a doubt the biggest challenge for most managers is to conduct a one-on-one at all.
Feedback I receive is that most managers don’t conduct one-on-ones and if they do, they are not that useful because they focus solely on segment 1 – results, KPI’s and tasks. Greater improvement and objectivity is gained when the leader focuses on how the results are achieved. You cannot influence a number or historical result. This information is important to identify insights and trends, leading to potential actions. But, in itself, it offers little direction or future action. Identifying why the results are what they are has purpose and potential for goal establishment.
One-on-ones are a critical aspect of leadership. This time together provides opportunities that do not present themselves to the same depth through casual, ad-hoc discussions. If you are a leader and have read this far, I encourage you to reflect on the progress and effectiveness of your one-on-ones and your team.
It’s a problem to be unaware of this aspect of your role. However, it is negligent to gain awareness and continue to miss the opportunity. As always, it is your call, but your team members will ultimately thank you for meeting your responsibilities and assisting them via facilitating useful, engaging and purposeful one-on-ones.
Resources:
(1) State of the Global Workplace 2017: Gallup Global Report
(2) The 1 Factor That Determines How Hard Your Team Works: Blanchard LeadershipChat
(3) Manager’s Guide: How To Start One On One’s With Your Team: Lighthouse
(4) 5 Ways To improve Your One-On_one Meetings: Kevin Eikenberry, Leadership Digital
Trust is the key to meaningful leadership, relationships and influence.
Most of us know this, but how do we develop trust in the workplace and at home?
Source: pmtips.com
It is fascinating to see people grow and develop. Like many in my industry, I do what I do because of a deep need to contribute and make a difference when coaching and mentoring. This continues to hold me in good stead as a coach, mentor and consultant. However, developing trusted relationships was also a core belief when I was leading people directly. Now, my goal is to help others learn why and how to apply these skills and attributes to influence and lead their team members.
One of my favourite and most effective tools relates to helping my clients understand their personal values. The process of prioritising an extensive set of value statements and words down to 20 primary and ultimately, 7 core values is always interesting.
A continuing trend is that trust forms a part of the vast majority of people’s primary values.
Based on many other personal and professional conversations, I am confident this is a consistent need for most people. Elements of trust that are identified throughout these discussions show that most people can feel whether trust exists. Fewer can explain specifically how it is built or established. At the end of my Personal Values workshops or coaching process, I ask participants to reflect and act upon several questions. One of the most important is:
How well do you establish and maintain a culture where most people get to fulfil this need most of the time? This is important if trust is so inherently important to so many people, including members of your own team.
I also ask that they reflect on all core values in a similar way. How regularly and effectively are your core values being met at work and at home? The answers to these questions can provide great insight into why things ‘feel’ as they do…both good and bad, positive and negative. Critically, it is what you do with this new learning that matters. However, trust is strengthened or weakened readily depending on your behaviours and demonstrated actions. What you do, what you say and how you say it has a bearing on how well you connect with people.
Connections with purpose and meaning build trust.
- Do What You Say You Will Do: This is the ultimate way to gain people’s trust. It means following through with what you say you will do.
- Trust & Nurture To Develop: To gain trust we need to trust others. It is a two-way street. We need to be patient and give them the time to grow and develop instead of forcing the issue.
- Do The Right Thing: Regardless of whether or not anyone is watching you, integrity cannot be compromised. It takes many years to establish your credibility, but it only takes a few minutes to ruin it.
- Care For Your People: Before we ask our people to do something for us, we must appeal to them and touch their heart.
- Serve Your People: When we serve our people, we ensure that their interest is taken into consideration. By doing so, we don’t focus on who gets the credit. Our focus shifts to getting the job done. (1)
When employees are not having their core needs and values met, they may look elsewhere.
A powerful way to establish trust is to employ one of the mind’s most basic mechanisms for determining loyalty: the perception of similarity. If you can make someone feel a link with you, his empathy for and willingness to cooperate with you will increase. (3) It is much easier to do this when you have a natural affiliation with someone. It may be a shared history; aligned values; similar belief systems, or other form of alignment. This link is key, but don’t think it can be easily faked.
People can see and feel any superficiality a mile off. Even if they can’t explain it.
Sometimes this is described as ‘just not feeling right’. When their is alignment is it often stated that it ‘simply feels like a strong connection’. This cannot always be easily explained or articulated. Yet, the feelings we have about others is powerful and drives many of our decisions, particularly surrounding our relationships.
First, leaders that place people ahead of profit (which leads to more profit, imagine that!) will work hard to promote trust. That means that they create an environment where risks are taken, where employees feel safe and motivated to exercise their creativity, communicate ideas openly, and provide input to major decisions without reprimand. Because there is trust there. But trust is a two-way street. So leaders trust and believe in the people that they lead as well. And when you value people by trusting them, you treat others with dignity and respect.
But trust in this social economy remains a baffling stigma. In 2014, the American Psychological Association published the findings on their Work and Well-Being Survey.
Nearly 1 in 4 workers say they don’t trust their employer and only about half believe their employer is open and upfront with them.
While almost two-thirds (64 percent) of employed adults feel their organization treats them fairly, 1 in 3 reported that their employer is not always honest and truthful with them. But the great news is that workers who feel valued by their employer are more likely to be engaged in their work. In the survey results, employees were significantly more likely to report having high levels of energy, being strongly involved in their work, and just plain happy about what they do. Ninety-one percent were likely to say they are motivated to do their best (versus 37 percent who do not feel valued) and 85 percent were likely to recommend their employer to others (versus 15 percent of those who do not feel valued). (4)
It’s clear that a culture that feels valued, that promotes openness, honesty, transparency and trust are key to high-performance.
When considered as a sum of its parts, the Trust Equation (highlighted below) has much merit. I like the idea that the model highlights the four elements of who we are: words; actions; emotions; and, caring. Once understood there is greater potential to apply these elements and establish greater levels of trust in practice. Check yourself against the four criteria and see where you might be able to strengthen your trust-building skills.
Source: Building Trust – Kristin Anderson. 2015
Research conducted by The Ken Blanchard Companies using its Employee Work Passion Assessment has found significant correlation between positive work intentions and a leader’s ability to build trust, use coaching behaviors, and create an engaging work environment. This environment includes high levels of Meaningful Work, Autonomy, Growth, Fairness, Collaboration, and Feedback, along with six other factors. (2)
I see trust being taken for granted in many workplaces. As with any relational aspect, it takes effort to develop trust.
I regularly state to my clients, “whether you like someone you lead is not the point”. As a leader you have little choice in making it all about who you like or dislike. In your leadership role you are obligated to influence, develop and assist your team members. In fact, one of the most rewarding aspects of leadership is seeing improvement and growth in those who initially you may not have affiliated naturally with. Trust is built on many things. Moving beyond likeability to deeper traits such as respect and honesty influence trust more than simply being liked.
The Inc article highlighted in this blog makes several great points about engagement and trust. It is worth reading in full. I particularly appreciate the final paragraph which summarises the essence of valuing employees and building trust, described as the ‘most counter-intuitive part’.
More studies are coming out saying that if you trust and believe in your people first, and in return they reciprocate by believing in you as a leader, they will give their best work.
In other words, although conventional thinking says that people have to earn trust first, in healthy organizations, leaders who put high emphasis on meeting employees’ needs are willing to give trust to them first, and they give it as a gift even before it’s earned. Now that’s valuing people. (4)
As highlighted earlier, the question really is a simple one. Does the environment and culture you are building as a leader foster and develop trust in others and to be trusted yourself?
Take on the challenge of reviewing where trust sits for you. Reflecting on this is one great way to understand yourself and your team members better. It will also be a meaningful way to develop a deeper sense of trust and relationships in practice.
Resources:
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This is the best leadership program I have undertaken.I have been in a management role for over 10 years and completed various management courses, however nothing has provided me with the leadership skills and abilities like CoachStation’s coaching and mentoring program. The coaches are so approachable and take the time to understand the needs of the individual leader. CoashStation also provided coaching and leadership training for new leaders in our organisation and this was so valuable to help them begin their journey in their new roles.I have seen significant transformation in both my own abilities as well as our new leaders through this program which has resulted in significant improvement for the organisation as a whole. Since completing the program I am a much more confident and effective leader, able to support my team to reach our goals. I would absolutely recommend CoashStation’s services to all organisations wanting to achieve superior leadership within their team, whether for long term leaders or those who are new to their leadership role.
Steve is a great mentor and coach and has helped me immensely in both my professional and personal life. His approach is very personalized and relatable that it made it easy to build a relationship from the start with a strong foundation of trust. He genuinely cares about your development and goes above and beyond to help whenever there is a need. This was evident from the way he answered my call at an unscheduled time and the way he provided guidance, encouraging me to reflect on my core values, answer my own questions, and come to the realization of the actions that needed to be taken. Steve challenged me, made me feel accountable, and made me discover a side that I haven’t explored. His unique way of coaching goes beyond the tools and materials he provides and brings about positive changes and results. I am very grateful to the time spent, especially meeting Steve at a time that was crucial for my career and personal growth. I would not hesitate recommending Steve as a mentor and coach to anyone who is pursuing positive changes in their personal and professional life.
I highly recommend this program with Steve, the skills, experience and understanding on how to be a good leader I have gained throughout the program have already made a strong and positive impact in my abilities as a leader. I began this program at the same time I was promoted into a new leadership role, I was struggling with time management and self confidence in new role which was hindering my abilities to perform to a high standard for the business and my team; I needed some coaching and guidance. Steve immediately built a great rapport with me making me feel comfortable speaking with him openly and honestlyBy building such a strong foundation early we really were able to make good progress. Steve shared his expertise and experience which I could relate to and with his guidance he encouraged self-reflection which gave me so many insights into my skills, my progress, an understanding into my areas in need of improvement. We collaborated well and implemented strategies into my time management and my day to say roles as a leader, I immediately noticed a huge improvement which benefited myself, my team, and the workplace. Over the course of the program a learnt a lot about myself both personally and professionally noticing growth in both areas. By feeling more comfortable and confident in my role I was able to decrease my stress and improve overall as a leader. I thoroughly enjoyed my time with Steve and would recommend anyone wanting to take their career as a leader to the next level to work with Steve.Thank you, Steve, for providing me with lifelong skills and understanding that I will be able to use personally and professionally.
Simply put, if you are looking for a professional performance coach to help you grow your self-awareness, be a better leader and learn practical techniques to immediately improve team or individual performance then look no further than CoachStation.Having worked with Steve over the last year I can confidently recommend him to you. With Steve’s expert coaching and mentoring I’ve been able to take practical steps to be a better leader to my team, while gaining the perspective necessary to navigate the transition from sole-contributor to leading a department. While I’ve only just begun my journey Steve’s tried and tested approach has left with the tools to climb the steps I need to get to where I want to be. He has helped me to recognise and understand my personal values, motivators and strengths. Empowered with this knowledge, I’ve been able to create a plan for my professional development that extends well past the formal coaching period and has the right ingredients to help me achieve my personal goals, build relationships and take the next step in my career.Whether it’s performance coaching, mentoring, professional development or business strategy, Steve from CoachStation, can and will help you.
I met Steve at Coachstation at a time in my career where I was at a crossroads and facing difficulty in seeing past the next few years.. possibly months. I felt invalidated and broken and I think that is how I opened the conversation. I have now spent 12 months working with Steve, refocussing my thoughts and identifying new goals to push into a different framework for success and most importantly change.Steve has been invaluable in my journey to identify what was holding me back. He is part strategist, part thought provoker, and part cheerleader. Steve helped me to identify my values and where these values aligned and how to invoke the skills to bring out a clarity of purpose and desire that is often hard to pinpoint on your own. Steve was a safe place to talk about challenges and a calm voice to steer me when I was not seeing issues clearly. Steve gave me confidence, focus to rewrite the narrative and has culminated in a change of career direction.I am so grateful to have worked with Steve during a challenging period professionally and highly recommend his services to anyone who is looking to transform their career or even just gain clarity for their professional development.
My experience with Steve has been one of self reflection and growth. Steve has a fantastic insight on what it takes to be a great leader. His method is very conducive toward introspection which results in inspiring change. The overall experience has helped me personally identify my strengths and weaknesses and specifically how I can tackle the latter via my personal leadership style. His coaching is fully tailored and personalized and there has been a great attention to detail in the approach. I think every up and coming and established leader will greatly benefit from Steve's coaching in order to take their leadership to the next level.
Since starting at my current company, I have had the distinct pleasure of working with Steve, both in a formal capacity and informally.First and foremost, Steve is people-centric. He is a uniquely gifted communicator, able to convey difficult, sometimes hard to hear feedback in a way that means you’re still happy to have a beer with him at the end of the day.Steve has played an immense part in my professional development over the last 5 years. As my role has adapted during this time, he has proven an invaluable voice of reason and experience.Having had the benefits of Steve’s coaching from an early point in my professional life, he has helped foster self-awareness, leadership and empathy: all key factors for the success that I have seen so far.For anyone invested in themselves and their career, I could not recommend CoachStation any higher. Steve’s passion for inspiring development creates an engaging and personal coaching experience, the fruits of which I believe I will be seeing for years to come.
I was lucky enough to introduced to Steve's program through my employer. I have never been a big believer in coaching or mentorship however I have come to realise and appreciate the impact it can have after my experience working with Steve over the last 12 months and now see it as invaluable.Steve helped me understand myself and how I interacted with others and it has really helped me to me to grow and improve as a person. From a work perspective is has really helped me to get the best out of myself and my team.Best of all Steve has challenged me and held me accountable to what I have committed to and been an invaluable sounding board when working through challenges. Thanks for all of the support Steve!
I had the opportunity recently to participate in the Coaching and Mentoring program run by Steve from CoachStation. This program run over a 12-month period focuses on developing and enhancing skills to create more effective leaders both professionally and personally.Early on in the program it was clear to me that Steve had a great style, and we were able to create a genuine and authentic working relationship. At the end of each of our 1 on 1 sessions I walked away with new skills and tools and renewed motivation that has allowed me to continue to develop on my leadership journey.At the end of this course, I have a much clearer understanding of my core values, my leadership style and how I can adjust and tweak my approach to get the best out of my people. I would highly recommend Steve for anyone that is looking to develop effective leadership skills.
If you are looking for a motivational program filled with feelgood taglines, this is probably not the program for you. If however you are looking to make change or develop your competencies and is willing to be challenged, be vulnerable, open to feedback and putting in the work, Steve will take you on a journey that can change your life, personally and professionally.Steve is first and foremost a people person, with extensive commercial experience, who clearly has a deep passion for working with people and bringing a better version of you to the fore. In our 15 month relationship, he helped me break ingrained habits and implement strategies and practice ideas to address areas where I could do better. Understanding what my value system is, is impacting not just how I approach things and interact with people, it is also guiding me in my longer term goal setting.I highly recommend this program. Thanks Steve!
I was fortunate enough to be nominated to Steve's Coaching and Mentoring Program in early 2020. Unfortunately in May 2020 I had a serious health issue followed by the COVID lock downs so I had to post pone my coaching & mentoring program until 2021. Steve was brilliant, incredibly caring, truthful and insightful. Steve made me think about what my true values are. I never really understood or appreciated the power of mentoring but after my sessions with Steve I have never looked back. I have used the lessons learnt from my mentoring sessions to be a better leader and have meaningful discussions with my team. I strongly recommend Steve for anyone wishing to improve their leadership style or wishing to develop their relationships with their staff, peers or leaders.
Steve has been an excellent coach for me over a period of two years. I commenced with CoachStation while transitioning from being IN a sales team, to managing that same team. Over the course of the coaching I shifted from simply managing, to truly leading, and have successfully navigated a number of challenging situations with Steve's support. Steve both supported and challenged me through this period and has assisted in setting me up for success in the future. His methodology of values / passions alignment, and significant real leadership experience means he has many things to draw from to support you in any phase of your career. I would recommend CoachStation to anyone that cares about their career and is willing to put in the effort to grow.
I have known Steve since 2017 and been part of his coaching program for four years. Steve is a rare individual who understands people and instantly makes you feel safe and secure when you are working with him. I have held a few roles whilst working with Steve and he has assisted my thinking, self-awareness and attitude towards my career but ultimately they are life skills that can be used every day.I truly believe that Steve has lifted my capability as his techniques and approaches are realised subconsciously which makes the learning easier to apply.Steve has become a true business partner and friend of mine in which I am forever grateful of meeting him through coach station. I highly recommend Coach station for anyone wanting to develop themselves.Thanks Steve.Neil Peters
I never realised the impact a coach and mentor could make in both my professional and personal life until I met Steve.After working for a big corporate firm for the last 13 years, I thought I knew myself and how I worked. Moving into a smaller professional company and into a completely different role, has opened my eyes to new methods of how more effective and efficient I can be in the workplace. Steve has helped me learn to tap into my strengths, understand my core values and focus on areas where I have the potential to grow.It was and continues to be, eye opening during coaching sessions with Steve. What we discuss has most definitely resonated with me and changed the way in which I see myself and how I think both in my personal and professional environments. I value and look forward to our coaching sessions! Steve is professional, honest, approachable, poses good thought provoking challenges and is willing to listen.I am so grateful that I have had the opportunity to meet Steve via my current employer who understands the significant impact and value coaching and mentoring can have for their staff.
Steve's coaching has been the most beneficial experience in my working career and I have developed skills that I will take with me as my career grows. He changed the way I thought of coaching from a results driven approach to a journey of self development and realization.Within the first session, I felt like I was able to trust him and open up. He provided insight into my communication behaviours that I was not aware of and how that would effect how people receive my message. As I was having issues with training a new employee, Steve's was able to provide a framework of knowledge, run through examples of difficult conversations and guide me through areas to focus on. I was able to convert my uncertainty to useful planning which helped me manage those difficult conversations. Every session was tailored to my developmental needs and there were action points after each session for me to work and reflect onI would highly recommend Steve to anyone as the skills developed can be transferred to any aspect of your life.
Working with Steve over the past two years has been a journey of self awareness and personal development. As a newly appointed Manager in our our organization, I'd had limited experience with managing others and Steve's coaching has helped me navigate the challenges that come with that - such as having difficult conversations with staff who were once your peers. The coaching program was well paced, thorough and worked on identifying existing strength of character but also identified areas of opportunity for self development. Whilst there were some self awareness observations Steve made throughout the sessions, his feedback was always supportive but candid. I thoroughly enjoyed working with Steve, the lessons I have learnt will serve me well in my career now and in the future.
