Continuing the Mentoring Conversations Model

As I've mentioned previously, Randy Emelo, CEO/President of Triple Creek Associates, and I have been writing a series about Mentoring Conversations.

This new model suggests the conversations that are necessary to guide anyone from orientation to decision making on an issue. Randy and I wanted to provide a tool that could be both diagnostic and prescriptive.

The fifth issue of our six part series introduces the partial confidence.

Take a look at the series. When you finish our series, I recommend that you read Randy's back catalog of newsletters.

Le Grand Tour D'Asia: Day 8 of 58

Friday, January 15th

Learning Moment: Singapore

I probably do my best work when I'm traveling. Today, I finished teaching a Situational Leadership II workshop that went really well.

In addition, I finished seven more pages of a workshop I'm designing, gave feedback on two slide decks, and coached three different employees on issues that they are facing.

That's a good day.

To reward myself, I took Angie to Chijmes for dinner.

Oh, who am I kidding? I would have done that anyway.

It was a beautiful night - warm with a tropical breeze. The pizza and mojitos were tasty, and the surrounding architecture (it's a former convent) is interesting.

No wonder I do my best work on the road.

Mentoring Conversations Model

I've been fortunate to work with Randy Emelo, CEO/President of Triple Creek Associates, for the past few months on a writing project.

We're writing a series about Mentoring Conversations. This new model suggests the conversations that are necessary to guide anyone from orientation to decision making on an issue. Randy and I wanted to provide a tool that could be both diagnostic and prescriptive.

The first issue of our six part series introduces the model. Each of the following articles will explore the conversation zones in detail.

Randy is a smart, smart guy with a lot of expertise in mentoring. I highly recommend that you read his back catalog of newsletters!

Situational Leadership II Brochure

In the past four years, I've learned two tools that changed my perspective on management - DISC Profiling and Ken Blanchard's Situational Leadership II (SLII).

If you have any interest in development, you find the SLII model invaluable.

Do yourself a favor, go to this link right now and download the brochure.

Read it, read it again, sleep on it, and then read it once more.

There is not a day that passes where I don't use the SLII model.

Download it now and thank me later.

Situational Leadership II: Diagnosing Your Development Level

I'm a D4 at Fake Surfing

I led a Situational Leadership II (SLII) workshop last week.
I always enjoy being present for the 'aha' moment that the attendees experience.
In fact, that's my fuel. I love facilitating an experience that is designed to trigger an 'a-ha' moment and then watching it happen.
But that's a post for another day.

Today, I want to discuss SLII - more specifically, I want to discuss Development Levels.

If I had known about this development model when I first started working (or even sooner), my life could have been a lot more productive.

The SLII model proposes that there are four development levels a person goes through when they learn a new goal, task or skill. The levels are defined by the amount of competence and commitment possessed by the person executing the task.

Wherever I have taught SLII - from India to Israel to Singapore to Japan to yes, even Texas - most people have learned to ride a bike. So, I use this as my example.

Growing up in my home, we were most likely to get our first bike as a Christmas present. We'd ask for a bike and our parents would say, "Maybe if you're good all year, Santa will bring you a bike for Christmas..."

So, we'd try to behave all year (and try to hide it when we didn't...) while looking forward to Christmas.

• D1 - On Christmas morning, I woke up and ran down the stairs to find a big (bicycle-size) box under the tree, with my name on it. I didn't want to eat breakfast. I ran upstairs and woke everyone up. I couldn't wait to get that box open. Though I had no idea how to ride a bike - I desperately wanted to ride it. My commitment was high. My competence was low. In the SLII model, I'm described as an Enthusiastic Beginner.
  
• D2 - I opened the box. I didn't care about my other presents or about seeing my siblings open their presents... I wanted to ride! You can probably guess what happened next.
  We got the bike assembled. I took it outside. I got on it.
  I headed down the driveway....
  And....
  Yep, I fell. I fell pretty hard, actually.
  Suddenly, my commitment fell to a lower level. I wasn't so keen to get back on the bike.
  Simultaneously, my competence had gone up a little. I didn't know it, but I had learned a few things about gravity, balance, brakes, and the sting of gravel.
  In the SLII model, I'm now described as a Disillusioned Learner.
  The bloom was off the proverbial rose.
• D3 - By spring, if you'd passed by the Hughes household, you'd have seen me riding in circles around the driveway. I could turn left, turn right, shift gears, stop. I could even pull a few 'wheelies'. I was enjoying myself. This was fun! My competence was quite high.
  You wouldn't have seen me leave the driveway, however. Riding in the road intimidated me. It didn't sound fun. In the driveway, sure, but not in the road. My commitment was variable.
  In the SLII model, I was a Capable, but Cautious Performer.
  
• D4 - By the summer, I was riding everywhere. In fact, my parents threatened to take my bike away a few times. I was having too much fun. Anyway, my competence was high and my commitment was high.
  I had reached the High Achiever stage.

This development model repeats throughout our life.

It doesn't matter if its going to college, becoming a parent, learning a language or sport, starting in your first job, or having sex for the first time (this is actually the best example - think about it). The pattern is predictable.

• D1 - You're excited to go try this new great thing. You've imagined how great it will be. What could go wrong?
• D2 - It's harder than you think. You're uncomfortable or embarrassed. You fail an early test of competence.
• D3 - You've adjusted your expectations and worked through the difficulties. You can do it now, but you're a little hesitant. You stick to the skills you know and don't take chances. You don't raise your hand and volunteer for new opportunities or difficult assignments.
• D4 - With perseverance, and hopefully a little help, you become confident. People now come to you for help. You make your own decisions or even take lead.

So, why is this model important?

We all have the same goal - we want to get from D1 to D4 as quickly and painlessly as possible.

But a D2 at Real Surfing...

Knowing the model will help us do that. Realizing that D2 is a normal stage that most people go through on most tasks is reassuring. It allows us to seek help.

Here's your homework - List three tasks, goals, or skills you're working on.
Pick a discrete task that be written as a procedure - not "I want to be an engineer" or "I'm managing a project".
Being an engineer or managing a project requires many tasks or skills, so pick a few of those - like 'learning boolean algebra' or 'creating a schedule for the project'.

Once you've written your tasks, diagnose your development level.
Is your competence high, medium, or low?

Is your commitment high, medium, or low?

Next week, I'll talk about getting the help you need (or giving the help someone else needs) to progress through the development model.

Links of Interest

• Ken Blanchard Companies - Situational Leadership II
• Leadership and the One Minute Manager
• Self-Leadership and the One Minute Manager
• The Leader Within

offerings@huesworks

Glenn delivers the learning profession's most highly regarded programs - such as Situational Leadership II®, The Leadership Challenge® Workshop, and Six Thinking Hats® - around the world.

The offerings in Glenn's toolbox can be mixed and combined to create comprehensive programs.

SMART as Hell!™

SMART as Hell™ teaches individuals how to take control of their own success in work and life. Anyone who writes goals or is asked to meet goals needs this workshop.

Sessions include:

• A step-by-step process for writing goals that are SMART as Hell!™
• The SMARTometer - the worlds first tool to measure how SMART a goal is.
• Case studies from a variety of organizations including businesses, the military, the public sector, and even the Obama campaign.

CultureCoach™

Today, business challenges are often synonomous with cultural challenges.

• Worried about your first business trip to Asia?
• Getting ready to live overeseas?
• Having problems with business cross-culturally?
• Need assistance getting the most out of your global team?

These are just a few of the scenarios that Glenn coaches his clients through. Whether it's a single session to prepare for a meeting tomorrow, or extended coaching for working cross-culturally - Glenn will help you get results.

CultureCoach™ is also available as a workshop for cross-cultural teams.

Glenn is a graduate of Coach U and a member of the International Association of Coaching.



DiSC Profiling

Ever wonder why your boss, your employees, your peers, or your customers behave the way they do? Ever wonder what you can do to help them accomplish their goals?

DiSC is a model that shows you how to understand normal human behavior - for yourself and others.

With this tool, Glenn helps you build work relationships, customer satisfaction, and stronger team dynamics.



Edward de Bono's The Six Thinking Hats®

Productive group thinking is a rare thing. Conflict or debate are more common, and rarely produce optimal results.

Glenn is a certified instructor of Edward de Bono's Six Thinking Hats® - a simple, effective parallel thinking process that helps people be more productive, focused, and mindfully involved. Six Thinking Hats® yields stronger ideas in less time.



Global Presentation Skills

Some people will tell you that there are no shorcuts in life.
They're wrong.
Poor presentation skills will destroy the best plans, and strong presentation skills will give you an advantage over your peers.

If you want to create change, you'll need to communicate that change and communicate it globally.

This workshop - built around the premise that people want 'conversations, not presentations' - will provide you with the tools to communicate your message in a format that will be successful around the world.



High Performance Teams

Have you ever enjoyed the 'buzz' of being on a great team?
Glenn relishes the challenge of facilitating a team to the next level, and utilizes his wide range of experiences in team environments.

• Sports - coaching baseball, playing football, hockey and volleyball
• Water Expeditions - In Baja Mexico and Utah's Green River
• The Asia workplace - Which has a special perspective on what 'team' means
• Corporate Management - building and coaching teams

In customized High Performance Teams sessions, Glenn guides teams through a discovery and identification process and then facilitates the team to create an actionable roadmap for championship performance.

Innovation Workshop

Looking for a spark?
Creativity is not magic. It is a game with clear rules. Unfortunately, most organizations don't know those rules. Even when they do, they're unlikely to follow them.

Glenn often is called on to create an environment where even the most 'uncreative' team can produce new, business-ready ideas.

As someone who has designed dozens of released offerings and must be ready to improvise in any setting, Glenn is uniquely suited to help teams produce innovative results. Glenn also exercises his creativity through music and photography - some of which appears on this site.



Managing & Leading Globally

There are only two types of management skills - navigational skills and survival skills.

When you don't have navigational skills, you need to develop survival skills. When you have great navigational skills, you may not have developed survival skills for when they're needed. To be a flexible leader, you must first have both of these skills

Glenn works with individuals to develop the navigation and survival skills necessary to be a great manager. Then, Glenn guides them through the self-reflection necessary to be a great leader.



The Leadership Challenge® Workshop

Approaching leadership as a measurable, learnable, and teachable set of behaviors, this proven leadership model proclaims Leadership Is Everyone’s Business.

The workshop, combined with the Leadership Practices Inventory - a validated 360-degree tool - provides the framework to become a better leader.

Glenn is a Level I Facilitator of The Leadership Challenge® Workshop.



Maximizing Customer Relationships

How strong is the link between you and your customers?

Maximizing Customer Relationships shows that 'caring' is not a soft skill - but rather a tangible component of the service experience. In the workshop attendees see how 'care' can be measured and delivered to customers - providing greater returns for everyone.



Problem Solving the 7-Step Way

Problem solving is the most fundamental of business skills, but many of us are poor at it. A review of most problem solving efforts will show that they take more time, money, effort, and rework than was necessary.

Root cause analysis is the most effective method for permanently solving problems.

Glenn leads teams and individuals through a 1-day workshop, with a case study, to learn the 7-step methodology. He also provides coaching and facilitation to assist in reinforcing the skills.



Situational Leadership II® Workshop

Ken Blanchard Companies' Situational Leadership II® is the most comprehensive method of managing and developing people in the world.

Glenn is a certified instructor for this 2-day session.

More importantly, he is a passionate user of the model - with his clients,
students, employees, and himself.

Glenn can be reached at glenn_hughes@hotmail.com.

Putting the Support back into Technical Support

I led a workshop today at our office in Yokohama, Japan.
The workshop is called, "Coaching for Technical Support Engineers".

In the class we discuss the Situational Leadership Model, which points out that there are four stages of development.
Without explaining the model (go here for some details), a coach needs to provide varying levels of direction and support, depending on what stage of development the coaching target is at.

Typically, in our company, we excel at 'Directive' coaching, and do less well at 'Supportive' coaching. The problem with that scenario is that many of your employees won't grow to self-sufficiency.

What's interesting is that our field offices really feel this conflict.
They feel that they are at a level of development where they require support, not direction, from HQ.
Unfortunately, our culture (along with the natural inclination to want to control things that are far away) drives us to over-direct.

The answer? Well, we need to train the coachee to say, "Wait. I don't need direction here. I just need your support."

Then? Well, then we have to support them...