Facing new conditions

February 13, 2009

I went mountain biking today in the Pentland Hills, just outside Edinburgh. There’s still a decent amount of snow on the ground up there – crunchy, a bit icy in places, with a dusting of fresh snow on top so you can’t always be sure what’s underneath. Adds another dimension to the ride, you could say.

You could also say it makes it a lot easier to crash, especially when you get to the downhill parts. Things aren’t what they normally are. What if something you’re not prepared for happens? What if something that seems solid collapses?

Is this sounding familiar, in a metaphor-for-current-times sort of way? I thought so.

I noticed a couple of other things. It was surprising just how easy it actually was to ride in the snow. It was different, I had to watch what I was doing. But as I got used to the conditions, I discovered a new way to ride. It wasn’t just about coping – new things were possible. And guess what – it was brilliant fun.

The way things are just now means we need to do things differently. But as I discovered today on my bike, that doesn’t mean it’s all about struggling to survive. By being aware of the current conditions you can adapt, even take advantage of the situation. You might even have some fun. It’s doing what you did in the past, before conditions changed, that results in you hitting the trees.

Maybe that’s what they mean when they say “We live in interesting times.”

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Posted by marklister

Business Lounge Launch Party!

February 9, 2009

The Business Lounge Launch Party is on March 3rd, 7pm at The Grape Wine Bar in central Edinburgh. We’re celebrating, so come along and join us for a glass of wine.
There’s a special offer too – if you register on the night, there’ll be no joining fee.
Just click here to download your invitation!

It’s free to come, but please let me know so I can keep track of numbers. Tell all you freelancer friends!

Business Lounge is the program I’ve been developing for entrepreneurs and freelancers who want to boost their effectiveness. Innovative and affordable, it’s a unique combination of quality business coaching and active networking. You can find out more about how it works here.

I’ve been working on it for quite a few months now with a trial group, and it’s now ready for its official launch. The program itself will roll out in April.

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Posted by marklister

Your problems are your gold

February 6, 2009

A client of mine often says to people “Mark’s the only coach I know who actually listens to you.” I find this at once gratifying and shocking. A lot of people, including some coaches, seem to think of “coaching” as primarily remedial, a problem-solving tool. I think this is a shame, because while coaching will certainly help you solve the problems you see in front of you, there’s a lot more available to you than that.

So here’s what I want to get off my chest.

At its most basic level coaching is about clarifying where you are, where you want to get to, what you need to do to get there, and being accountable. That’s essentially getting a to-do list in place and making sure it gets done, thus achieving the goal. This is in itself a valuable thing, and some coaching models focus mainly on this.

But the really juicy part of coaching comes in when you get stuck with any part of this process. Getting clear about things can itself be a big challenge. Thinking about what you actually want rather than why you can’t have it can be a big shift. Then there’s the myriad ways we hold ourselves back and trip ourselves up, stopping ourselves getting there. Coaching can help you deal with these rather than continuing to avoid and work round them.

And why is this so juicy? This is where the gold is, because

THE SAME THING WILL BE HAVING A NEGATIVE IMPACT ELSEWHERE IN YOUR LIFE.

Maybe even quite a few places. It’s just the start. So I regard problems as the way in to a whole realm of possibility. This is where the listening my client referred to comes in.

In this sense, problems are your friend. They show you the way.

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Posted by marklister

A little world of success…

December 12, 2008

One way of looking at success is that it’s completing something you set out to do. That being so, I recently had the privilege of witnessing a brilliant success. I was waiting at a bus stop, when up pulled a white van. A guy jumped out and began changing the bus timetable notice. Out with the power tools to open the timetable housing, rip off the old timetable.

“That’s some job,” I said. I was thinking, this is one of those things we depend on being done, but don’t usually see. What if he didn’t do it?

“Aye,” he replied. “There’s 2,600 bus stops in this town, and this is my second last one.”

“WOW! You must be ready for a pint!” I quipped.

We shared a laugh, he put up the new timetable and finished up. The bus came, I got on and sat in the front of the top deck. And then, as the bus proceeded down the road, I saw him at the next stop. He finished the last one and stepped back, looking very pleased. That was a real moment of fulfillment, completion and happiness, and I got to witness it. It felt warm.

The thing is I could so easily have missed it. That says to me that there’s moments like that all around, all the time. It’s not important to see them individually – just know that they’re there. (Hey, maybe some of them are yours!) Then suddenly you’re in a world of success and fulfillment. How cool is that?

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Posted by markthecoach

John Peel, voice-bringer

November 30, 2008

In my teens and early twenties I was an avid fan of John Peel’s Radio 1 program. I recently got a CD of tracks he played in the period 1977-87 – just the time I was a listener. It brought back a lot of memories. Not just of people and events and first snogs, as teenage records are supposed to, but of ideas. John Peel was a colossal and lasting influence on me, not least in the way I think. I admired his openness to hearing what anyone had to say musically. He gave a lot of people a chance to be heard, and a lot more the inspiration to get out and be heard.

That’s very valuable. Being heard is something we all need. That’s not about having everyone listen to you. Top 20 records were getting played over and over on everyone else’s shows, but the more I heard them the less I wanted to listen. It’s about being part of a conversation. If you were played on John Peel’s show, you were really part of something. You were expressing something. Just listening to his show made you part of the conversation. That’s being really heard – being part of a community of listening. Because you can’t be heard without other people’s engagement.

John Peel demonstrated that listening and being listened to are inseperable. His show was listened to devotedly. Why? Because of all the listening he constantly did to all the records and demo tapes bands (including mine!) sent him. Listening to his show inspired me to listen and to express myself – and to do it authentically, because otherwise it wouldn’t be me that was being heard.

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Posted by marklister

Resistance is…

November 19, 2008

Mountain biking is my exercise of choice. I get out when I can, and when I can’t, I’ve a turbo trainer which converts my bike into a static exercise bike. I’m also an enthusiastic heart rate monitor user – it really lets me see exactly how hard I’m working.

There’s been a fly in the ointment of my fitness though. The bottom bracket – the axle which goes through the frame, around which the pedals rotate – is worn out. This adds friction, but I’ve put up with it. I’ve even made a virtue of it – the extra resistance will make me fitter, I’ve told myself. The truth is though, when I’m out on the trails, it just slows me down. I work just as hard and get less enjoyment.

So I finally changed it, and today took it for its first spin on the turbo trainer. I got quite a surprise. Doing my regular routine, my heart rate was consistently 4-5% lower than usual at any given point. Sounds terrifically geeky, but the point is, by attending to the resistance, I made life easier for myself. That 5% could mean reaching the top of the hill panting, rather than with my heart trying to smash through my ribcage. That in turn would make the whole ride a lot more fun.

This got me thinking – where else is there resistance in my life? And what would be the knock-on effects of doing something about it? Resistance always points to a need, like the resistance on my bike telling me the bottom bracket needed changing.

So there’s a useful exercise here. Try this:

1. Notice something you’re resisting (eg. applying for a job you’d love)

2. Ask youself what the really difficult part is (eg. you’ll feel stupid if you don’t get it)

3. Ask yourself what you need (eg. reassurance, support, encouragement, recognition)

4.Think about the impact of overcoming the resistance (eg. hey, perhaps you WILL get it! That’ll lead to fulfillment, maybe more pay or better conditions, working with great people. Even if you don’t, you’ll feel better for having tried – it NEVER feels bad to get over a hurdle! It’ll be good practice, you’ll get round to updating your CV, you could get some useful feedback, you’ll have the opportunity to learn something)

5. Get what you need (eg. from a friend or colleague – someone you’ll trust and listen to)

6. Go for it.

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Posted by marklister

Shift happens!

November 6, 2008

So Obama did it. Erm…  YAAAYYYYY!!

I always thought he would, but for me the scale of his victory’s significance took all of yesterday really to sink in.

It’s an amazing expression of the fact that anything’s possible, and triggered a tsunami of positivity around the world. That’s the real juice of this event – it flagged up a global paradigm shift. The world is tired of the old way. Of kow-towing to vested interests. Of saying “Yes that’s all very well but it’s not that simple to implement.” Of living in a rut. Of stagnation.

Obama’s being compared with Martin Luther King. I think the joy is in the difference. Dr King was a campaigner for change, whereas Obama’s a figurehead of and catalyst for change. King fought for change, Obama lives it. Each is a vital figure, in their own context and time. Obama is a measure of King’s success. A reflection of what people can achieve when they choose not to be stopped by the usual crap.

Which raises the question – what could YOU achieve, if you chose not to be stopped by all the usual crap?

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Posted by marklister

Shock horror!

October 31, 2008

It now seems almost a month that Ross and Brand’s “shocking” Andrew Sachs-related phone mischief has been dominating the BBC news, though I’m sure it’s only a few days. They certainly caused a stir. Are we being prudish and reactionary if we don’t laugh at Russell Brand?

No. What shocks me about Russell Brand in particular is just how unshocking he is. He watches himself so hard – always keeping a weather eye out for getting a reaction. It’s cool to be revolutionary – it pisses people off. Something gets destroyed, something gets created. It makes things change. That doesn’t mean that if you piss people off you’re being revolutionary. Without the substance, it’s just getting up somebody’s nose like a schoolkid trying to get your attention.

So don’t worry about causing a stir in others – cause a stir in yourself. That’s when you really get to do something great.

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Posted by marklister

It’s all gone different shaped.

October 17, 2008

Today I felt a very, very real and concrete sense that the world has changed. In the midst of a multi-lateral complex of crises there’s something to get very excited about: the world is embracing and getting on with change. Previously we’ve left arcane market forces to sort things out. We’ve trusted the City to pull itself up by its hand-tooled bootstraps through some mysterious process of fiscal self-medication.

I want to say that I’m proud of Gordon Brown. He’s leading the world. He’s galvanising and pulling other leaders together. He’s leading the drive for radical transformation of the whole financial system. Think of that – a man standing up and saying “The entire global business system doesn’t work. Let’s build a new one.” Wow.

It seemed like today was the day when it really sunk in. And it was there all day for me. My clients were all really getting on with dumping what’s not working for them and creating something new. I’ve even noticed myself doing it. I’m discarding systems that don’t work for me and making new ones that function as I want them to. Today I created a couple in the area of preparing for the day ahead, for example. They definitely made the day run a lot smoother.

The politicians and the money men are the scapegoats of last resort when we’re looking for someone to blame for our own inertia. Even they are making radical changes. So what better time could there be for us to do the same?

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Posted by marklister

Time for fun!

October 14, 2008

A client of mine’s been working lately on managing his time. Like many of us, he found himself beset with those feelings of being overwhelmed with stuff. It always seemed there was too much to do and not enough time. (Sound familiar?)

He’s had some big breakthroughs. He’s finding that just by thinking and planning ahead a little, he’s much more on top of things. Where he used to feel a constant low-level panic, he now feels clarity and space. He’s doing more, being more effective, and also feels happier. The thing that often stops us being organised is thinking planning’s not enough, and will just rob us of valuable time. Actually, as my client found, the time spent planning pays dividends. And it’s simple.

Having taken care of his work life, he turned his attention to his own time. And suddenly he realised that – guess what? – planning could help him have more fun too.

It can seem that while being organised is fine at work, scheduling your fun is frankly a bit sad. Arrant nonsense. Managing your time is simply about being in control of it. Isn’t that even more important to have in your own time? As my client said, “Being spontaneous is all very well when you’ve got nothing to do.”

Maybe doing nothing is what you want to do. That’s cool – scheduling stuff doesn’t mean you have to be saving the world or training for a marathon. It’s just about being clear about what you want to do, and doing it. That way you can relax and enjoy it. Instead of spending your time in a last-minute rush, worrying you’ve forgotten something.

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Posted by marklister

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