Matt Cavanough Coaching

Equity is not charity - it's getting your needs met when needed. Give AND take in an organisation is 'almost' balanced when individuals are given or take when required. When an individual takes too much or the giver is perceived to give too much, then the pendulum swings in favour of the favoured and no one likes favourites!

What is your worth?
One of the main reasons for unhappiness at work is employee’s perceived level of how their boss or their workplace values them. Value is less about remuneration and more about recognition. 3 ways to increase your value at work: 1. Assert your worth by going above and beyond (show humility but don’t hide); 2. Value others and their contribution (both to you personally and the workplace); 3. Don’t compare to others, compete for attention or become complacent. 3 ways employers can increase the value placed on staff: 1. Tell people they are valued (treat people like royalty and you get loyalty); 2. Recognise when someone accomplishes something noteworthy (achieves a target, reaches a goal, completes a challenge); 3. Know people’s recognition currency and build a value bank account (either individually, in a team, or in front of the whole staff, regularly thank, praise, reward, and prop-up).
mattcavanoughcoaching.com

Start the new year with achievable goals that are short-term, simple and have a laser-like focus. Just like Muhammad Ali says, "don't count the days, make the days count" so you can capitalise on every moment. Let's make 2022 the year of smashing goals and gaining control of the balance in your life!
Here are five simple steps how:
1. Set goals you want to achieve and CAN!
2. Tell everyone about your goals and get others to hold you accountable.
3. Do very small steps each day or so to achieve your goals.
4. Utilise others around you and resources to help you achieve your goals.
5. Celebrate at milestones and often so you can keep replicating success!!

Cultural alignment....
If the culture of your organisation does not fit with your values or beliefs, then you are in the wrong place! Cultural alignment is a two-way street and if you find your efforts to assimilate into a culture that feels unfamiliar or isolating then all your future endeavours to succeed may be futile. The values, attitudes and beliefs you bring to an organisation help shape the culture but if these attributes are counter-cultural you may find any efforts you put in to enculturate yourself are null and void.

GREAT QUESTIONS...
Great questions solicit even greater responses. The type, tone, order and framing of a question will depend on how open and cooperative your conversation will be. The tone of interest and curiosity will create a conversational mood that enables the person being questioned to trust you and share more. How you frame the question will assist the questionee to dig into their thought process to elicit a deeper more meaningful response. A good way to frame a question is to paraphrase what the person has said and ask it back as a question.

DEVELOPING MENTAL TOUGHNESS
There are a number of benefits of Mental Toughness but the main ones involve better performance, improved positivity, greater wellbeing and increased aspirations. Professor Peter Clough, Professor of Applied Psychology at Manchester Metropolitan University and a pioneer on research into mental toughness has identified that mental toughness consists of four components:
1. Control: having a sense of self-worth and the extent to which they can control the display of their emotions;
2. Commitment: goal orientation and ‘stickability’ describes the extent to which someone is prepared to set goals;
3. Challenge: describes the extent to which the individual will push back their boundaries, embrace change and accept risk;
4. Confidence: describes the self-belief an individual has in their own abilities and the interpersonal confidence they have to influence others and deal with conflict and challenge.

change your THINKING…
Where does your thinking lie: above or below the line? When you hold yourself accountable to the choices you make then you become solution-focused rather than problem-based. The greater your priorities and values align with your actions and behaviours, the greater your credibility among peers. When you refuse to blame, find excuses or deny responsibility, you own WHO YOU ARE and what you STAND FOR. It is not how hard or why you fell, but your response to it whilst getting back up.

PERCEPTION and REALITY!
It’s not perception verse reality, rather it’s perception and reality, as our perception is our current reality, until challenged! We all perceive things out of our own lens but if we can look beyond our own feelings and experiences, we can truly connect with others and discover reality (or close to it). Those people who can see multiple viewpoints and even put their assumptions to the test, have a lot of Emotional Intelligence (EQ). A coach’s job is to open up possibilities for potential futures. Many perceptions mask the truth and breed discontent, which unfortunately impedes personal transformation. Thus, a coach’s role is to unjudgementally unmask hidden perceptions and challenge them, while the coachee needs to feel trusted and safe to challenge long held mindsets.

Benefits of developing a coaching culture:
• Builds staff capacity to take greater ownership of their own professional learning
• Develops strong trusting relationships through curiosity and concern
• Ensures feedback is specific, accurate, timely and goal oriented
• Aligns the workplace’s vision and values with professional goals
• Develops reflective practitioners who become agents in their own learning
• Provides time for conversations that lead to higher order thinking and inevitably improved outcomes
• Offers opportunities for support, collaboration, observation, critique and reflection.

AUTONOMY + VALUE = SWEET SPOT!
Combine autonomy with being valued and you have an employee willing to go the extra mile and more! If you are trusted by people above, below and beside you then you feel a sense of freedom. As autonomy and value grow so does your capacity to have a greater impact on your workplace by trying new things, taking risks and even innovating. Impact, effectiveness and efficiency are all prevalent when someone feels valued as a person and in their role, as well how much control they have over what they do and how they go about it.

CULTURE BUILDERS
Some enabling behaviours to help create a positive culture in your world:
1. Initiate taller poppy syndrome rather than tall poppy syndrome - we should be more like the U.S. and celebrate success and fame, as extroversion is okay;
2. Yew rather than boo - follow the surfing culture and “yew” when someone does something great rather than boo as there are enough judges, referees and umpires in the world;
3. Accept rather than judge - we must try to see the world through multiple lenses not merely our own;
4. Live in the now rather than the next - take an extra minute to say ‘hello’, ‘how are you?’, give someone a hand rather than rush to the next thing;
5. Smile rather than frown - smile at someone, anyone, everyone you meet and greet as many people as you can.