Trevor Sherman – The Leadership Coach
An ideas exchange about what makes leadership at all levels in an organisation really work.
Emphasis on Coaching Leaders
In order to prove to yourself what you are capable of doing, you need to step out your comfort zone, otherwise you are limiting yourself and you will never grow.
“In order to prove to yourself what you are capable of doing, you need to step out your comfort zone, otherwise you are limiting yourself and you will never grow”, sounds familiar?.
You automatically push success away when you don’t believe in your capabilities and abilities. If your mind doubts your actions will not follow and you will not get the expected results, as simple as that. Continue reading “Doubting yourself: Why actions not always lead you to results”
In the short time since I last submitted a blog it seems the world has taken another step along the path to crazy. The scandals of Weinstein, Westminster, and Spacey et al say nothing good about the world in which we live…
In my youngsters days I felt uncomfortable when someone told me one of these five phrases. I’ve now learned how to act upon them.
In my youngsters days, at some point, I felt uncomfortable when someone told me one of these phrases, and even though I’ve learned how to act upon them, these for me are the top 5 things no one enjoys listening to and I want to share them with you. I’m pretty sure you will even agree with me on the reasons why.
Great leaders aren’t afraid to embrace peoples differences – and my grandma has a genius way of remembering why!
My Grandmother, may she rest in peace, had a saying: “If everybody liked the same thing, everybody would have fancied your Grandad!”
I mention this only because I’m struck by the continuing belief that in order to be a great leader you must treat all your people the same – and a fear that if you don’t you’ll be castigated in the name of equality.
This was brought sharply into focus for me recently whilst watching a training session where the group was asked if it was ever acceptable to discriminate in the workplace. After a slightly awkward silence the group responded dutifully that it was not – only to be told by (the fantastic) Chrissi McCarthy, of Constructing Equality, who was leading the session that, not only is it okay, but that they’re already doing it…
The shock was palpable…clearly this was some kind of mistake. This was a group of seasoned professionals with many years’ experience and a great deal of success under their belts. We wouldn’t – we couldn’t – possibly discriminate…except that we do. As professionals we are paid to make discernements and differentiations all the time.
We follow the fortunes of a senior leader in the shipping industry in China over a five year period as she learns and applies her coaching skills in progressively more senior job roles. She changes companies and ends up Head of Commercial for mainland China and Hong Kong.
I started working with the Top Team at Maersk Line East China Cluster (PRE) in Shanghai when I visited them in April 2011 to kick off the Coaching Master Class program. Cynthia Li was Customer Service General Manager and starting out on her coaching journey.
Here she reflects on that five year journey. In 2013 Cynthia was promoted and moved from Customer Service to sales as Key Client General Sales Manager. In 2016 Cynthia jumped ship (pun intended) and joined Swire Shipping in Shanghai as Head of Commercial for mainland China and Hong Kong. What has Cynthia learned from her broad experience as a senior leader in the shipping industry? What can we learn from her coaching journey?
Quiet people have the loudest minds. What can you learn from quiet people?
We live in a society where being introvert – or ‘quiet’ – is often labelled as a limitation. After many years of working with teams, I have reached to the conclusion that this statement is so far from being true. What most people fail to acknowledge is that every team need their fair share of ‘quiet’ players. These are the ones that think and follow an introspection process before reacting. This virtue is so crucial in the planning part prior to executing. Quiet teachers that allow students to express and pay attention to their needs instead of following a standard ‘one size fits all’ script. These are the true ambassadors of the ‘do more and talk less’ principle so commonly found in over achievers. In most recent times, I have had the opportunity to learn from a few outstanding ‘quiet ones’.
“I want more leaders in this Company join this great journey; once and forever this will change our way of leading people and managing business. As a coaching ambassador and trainer, I aim to help more people become professional leaders, to use these great tools in their daily life and become great coaches”.
I first started working with the Top Team at the Far East Asia Liner Operations Cluster (FEALOC) in Shanghai when I visited them in January 2013 to kick off the Coaching Master Class program. Michael Han was a member of the senior management team and had already made a start on his coaching journey.
Michael turned out to be one of the bright stars of the coaching work I did in 2013 in eight different worldwide locations. He is a great coaching ambassador and trainer. His humbleness meant he often used to hide this brightness. Here is an example. In one of our coach-the-coach sessions I gave Michael positive feedback on the great results he was achieving with his coaching. Then came the humble bit from him: “OK Trevor – that’s all bright side. But what can I do better?” In another example I observed this characteristic again in group sessions where he instinctively held back from offering his views on a topic to allow others to contribute. He was making sure others were able to shine.
Michael became a facilitator for Coaching Master Class program and rolled it out to the next leadership level in China and in Japan. He is a bright shining star for coaching in the Far East.
Here Michael reflects on his journey three years on. I took Michael through four stages of his coaching development journey to find out what he has discovered along the way, and what can we learn from his experiences.
Continue reading “Leadership Interview: Michael Han ‘My Coaching Journey’”
Once the team/people have helped crafting the plan, they feel accountable for executing it. The more people are involved in the plan, the more they are aware of the expectations from them and the more is achieved. If you as the leader own the ‘WHAT’ of execution then your team must be the owners of the ‘HOW’. Using your leadership coaching approach ask how, specifically are they going to achieve their goals. Speak simply and directly about this.
We have now reached the fourth and last post of coaching elements (“Belief-Dream-Plan-Execute”) using lived experiences.
In my last post, I wrote about the importance of devising a strong plan so you can revisit your goal/dreams on a daily basis, ensure you (your team) are on track and heading in the right direction. Also made the analogy to a ship – the crew prepares a voyage plan before departure and, during EXECUTION, external factors and (involuntary) conditions may force them to constantly alter its route but the destination is kept as a goal.
Continue reading “Great plans don’t materialize by themselves. You have to execute them!”
“I believe that a successful manager in the 21st century needs to have coaching for performance as a tool in their leadership toolbox”.
I have known and worked with Keith Svendsen since 2010. I’ve had the opportunity to observe him in a series of progressive leadership roles over a number of years. He is an enthusiastic advocate for his business and for his company. He has a strong business vision and has always been focussed on developing people, giving people space to work and delivering results. I caught up with Keith recently for one of our rare face-to-face meetings. I took the opportunity to ask him about how he sees coaching linking to leadership success.
Continue reading “Leadership Interview: Keith Svendsen ‘Linking Coaching to Leadership Success’”
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