#HD12

Posted on: 31-12-2011

On The Big Bible Project this morning we ran a story about the hashtag we’re seeking to get going, #HD12, which stands for Hopes & Dreams for 2012.

2011

2011 has been a difficult year. In February 2009 I qualified as a Life Coach, aspects of which have affected much of my practice within work, but also my life itself. Two quotes which stuck with me from the sessions:

“There’s no point painting the wall if it needs knocking down”.
“Sometimes you have to go through the shit, it’s just a case of finding a way of landing in 3ft, rather than 6ft of shit”.

Shortly afterwards I was put on antidepressants (yes, I know we’re not supposed to talk about that, but how are we supposed to support people in dealing with it if we don’t accept that it’s an illness that needs treatment), and started to meet with a counsellor to talk through how my life is the way it is…

Who gets depression?

It’s partly because I have been told so many times “you’re the last person I would have thought suffered from depression” that I thought I’d write this …

This Christmas I picked up Christopher Cantopher ‘The Curse of the Strong‘, a book that many others had identified as particularly helpful and this assessment of the ‘personality type’ that he identifies as most likely to struggle is striking (not the ‘should pull their socks up’ kinda person):

(moral) strength
reliability
diligence
strong conscience
strong sense of reliability
a tendency to focus on the needs of others before one’s own
sensitivity
vulnerability to criticism
self-esteem dependent on the evaluation of others (I’m not so sure about that one)

He identifies how depression, so often classified as a ‘mental disorder’ can actually be identified as a physical disorder, with the synaptic nerves in the limbic system under so much pressure that they snap … and need time to heal:

http://www.uniview.co.uk/acatalog/info_8_1057.html

Things need to heal properly before putting too much pressure back on … otherwise relapse, potentially worse, will occur… Currently, I’m still on mine… it allows me to continue to be Bex…

Failing Well

A couple of great quotes from Cantopher’s book:

Now, what’s really hard but correspondingly rewarding is to fail well. This means taking on a range of tasks, experiences and challenges, understanding that you will win some and lost some, forgiving yourself your failures and learning from them. This way you develop a life that is rich in texture and free from fear.

followed up by:

While I had succeeded in avoiding failure, he had embraced it, with the result that he had a new skill, at which he was clearly having a great time. In order to achieve success that is worthwhile and wide-ranging, you must first learn to fail well. Every happy person I have met has achieved this. It doesn’t though, mean making your life a struggle to achieve the impossible.

Making Decisions

On my Christmas/New Year holiday in Egypt last year I knew I had to make a big decision… not as a New Year Resolution (I don’t make those, if life coaching has taught me anything else, it’s that we need to make changes when the time is right, not at some random time in the calendar, although time off in the New Year can help us take time to think) … but moving forward… I’ve made huge steps in 2011… but I’m not good at congratulating myself! In many ways, I should congratulate myself that I managed to have nearly 6 days doing ‘nothing’ over Christmas, but instead I’m looking at what I still haven’t finished for 2011, and stressing about 2012!

So, what ARE my hopes and dreams for 2012?

Anyway, this was the original plan for my post… so what do I know I have to look forward to in 2012:

Getting my paperwork (physical and digital) sorted… including my websites…
Move PhD towards publication (with help from Martin Polley), along with other writing (including a book with @MarkHowe)
Get lots of people involved in #BigRead12 with Tom Wright for Lent
Working with @adamswbrown in getting the @bigbible site sorted, incorporating @biblefresh
The Great South Run (October) and having fun down the gym
Berlin with Erika, and seeing lots more of my friends, and working out more fun travel!
Speaking engagements with CofE, in Dresden, with #DigiLocal (see here)
Housegroup: Walks, The Scillies, Paralympics
Greenbelt (August Bank Holiday)
Conferences (they are fun!): Thinking Digital, PELECon12, ALTC12, CNMAC12, JISCEL12 (see 2011).
Enjoying my Winchester work: JISC projects, training, teaching

I’ll probably remember more, but for now… let’s get some fresh air!!

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Is it worth ‘teacher coaching’ at University?

Posted on: 29-10-2011

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Category : Academic, Career, Coaching

Tags: @timeshighered, Coaching, PGCLTHE

http://www.sxc.hu/photo/667183

Is ‘teacher training’ at Higher Education level worthwhile? Well, as someone who’s in the Learning & Teaching Development Unit, clearly I think so! I completed my PGCLTHE earlier this year, and found it great to challenge my thinking on the way that I teach, and it’s changed my practice hugely. There’s plenty of comments on this story in the Times Higher Education:

Where academics were instructed on how to teach better, Dr Robson said, peer review of their lectures could be used, although this would only be right for staff that had received “long-term training”.

Dr Robson added that self-evaluation could be useful, with lecturers asked to provide examples of how their training did or did not improve their teaching.

They could also use National Student Survey scores to show improvements, she argued.

Other areas could be assessed more simply (whether staff had absorbed basic health and safety training could be ascertained using a simple questionnaire, for example). But leadership and development coaching needed something “more detailed”, Dr Robson said, such as appraisals by line managers three to sixth months after completion.

Where staff took on much more “intensive” training, scores could be given on performance, which could then be used to calculate the return on investment.

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Coaching in Higher Education? Yes Please…

Posted on: 28-07-2011

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Category : Academic, Coaching

Tags: Academic, Coaching, Life

Corporate coaching has spread rapidly from the US across the world, with the business sector happy to buy in such support for employees they are grooming to be high flyers. The higher education sector, in contrast, would appear to offer a less obviously lucrative, and perhaps more sceptical, market. Yet coaches in the US, and to a lesser extent in the UK, are working with an increasing number of academics, helping them to confront not only the challenges they share with many other professionals (notably the sheer lack of hours in the day) but also the pressures specific to the sector.

Nathalie Houston, associate professor of English at the University of Houston, has just begun to offer coaching to academics outside her own institution. In addition to her full-time tenured job teaching and researching Victorian literature, literary theory and the history of the book, since 2009 Houston has been involved in the ProfHacker blog, where a team of more than a dozen writers offer “tips about teaching, technology and productivity”.

“I write about time management and work-life balance,” she says, “topics I’ve been interested in for a long time.”

Recognising that she often provided informal coaching to colleagues, friends and students, Houston decided to gain a formal qualification and set up a practice that she hopes to extend to about 15 clients.

She “meets” them, either for 30 minutes three times a month or 45 minutes twice a month, by phone or by Skype – mostly, she says, “on Fridays, when I don’t teach or have university meetings, and on Saturdays, so it’s compacted into a certain section of my week”.

The basic principles are simple. “While therapy tends to look to the roots of the problem, to trace it back to some dynamic or trauma,” explains Houston, “coaching is about what you can do now to change the situation.

“As one well-known coach said, if a stick in a river gets stuck, you don’t ask what made it stuck – it just needs a nudge to go on floating down the river. Coaching focuses on the nudge. It’s action-oriented, and present- and future-directed.

Read full story, and I’m ahead on this one, thanks to The Kerslake Company! We have been in discussions recently within the LTDU at the University of Winchester, re bringing together a group of people who are interested in coaching, which you can see from my PGCLTHE assignment, I am.

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A great talk hosted by @psychologiesmag, with @lucyberesford and Sadie Jones, hosted by @louisechunn

Posted on: 05-05-2011

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Category : Coaching, Event, Inspirational

Tags: @psychologiesmag, Coaching, procrastination

Wednesday evening, I popped along from working on The Big Bible Project, to check out the first event of its kind held by Psychologies Magazine. Aside from snapping my calf muscle en route (2nd time in 2 weeks), I turned up in time for wine (sure it’s a great pain killer!), and had a chance to chat to some of the team from Psychologies mag – always nice to know more about the people who are writing what you’re reading! I’ve got every edition of Psychologies, although I’ve not necessarily read them all (yet!), and it was great at the end of the event to chat to some more of the team, and there may be an opportunity to write some materials! So, I guess… watch this space… I guess it depends how much I procrastinate about it

I would go to the bottom of these images and read up…:

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Top 10 tips to beat fatigue (well, I’d call it 5… I should try some!)

Posted on: 28-01-2011

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Category : Coaching

Tags: Health

Essential advice on how to avoid tiredness

How do you beat fatigue? We’ve all been there: those days when you wake up shattered, can barely drag yourself into work, and then struggle to keep your head off the desk. More often than not this is because you had a particularly late night which has left your body crying out for more sleep.

On the other hand, sometimes you may be getting to bed in good time, thinking you’ll get a good night’s sleep, and yet when the morning arrives you still feel like every waking thought and movement is a real effort.

So, how can you beat fatigue, regain your verve and put the spring back in your step? Simply check out the following realbuzz.com top 10 tips — which aim to help you beat fatigue and ensure you get the most of yourself and your day!

Get enough sleep
It may be stating the obvious, but to avoid tiredness you should ensure you get enough sleep! Remember that your body needs sleep in order to recharge — and staying up and watching a movie which starts at midnight isn’t going to help! If you are having any trouble sleeping, then aim to have a better sleep routine such as going to bed and getting up at the same time. You could also improve your sleeping environment by making sure your bedroom is quiet, dark and comfortable. Also, by using your bedroom for sleep alone, your body will come to associate it with sleeping rather than reading or watching TV.

Try to avoid stress
Stress is one of the most common reasons for feeling tired — so beating stress will naturally help to alleviate your tiredness. There are several ways in which to tackle stress, but the most important thing to do is identify what is causing your stress in the first place. It may be work that is the main cause of your stress — perhaps because of bad work relationships, long hours, or an unfulfilling job. If that’s the case, then look at your options about how you can improve the situation. Also, make sure you switch off from work in your leisure time, and try out some relaxation techniques such as having a massage, taking a hot bath or listening to some music.

Eat well
Your diet can have a big impact on how you feel. Without a proper, balanced diet you can start to feel a bit sluggish and are likely to become fatigued — so ensure that you eat healthy meals and at the correct times. Skipping breakfast will ensure you start your day on the wrong footing and force you to run on empty until lunchtime! Eating ‘little and often’ can work for some people, as it means that they’ve got something to sustain them rather than going for longer periods between meals — which will help them to avoid the feeling of being hungry and tired prior to their main meals. Keeping blood sugar levels stable is also important to avoid fatigue — so make sure you eat enough carbohydrates.

Avoid caffeine in the evening
While caffeine might be great for giving you a boost in the daytime, and while some people just can’t do without their early morning wake-up cuppa, by the evening time you really need to start thinking about laying off the caffeine unless you want to get a restless night’s sleep! Caffeine — contained in things such as tea, coffee, chocolate and cola drinks — can cause restlessness and sleeping difficulties, which will only add to your tiredness the next day. It may also result in you needing more caffeine to keep you going — so it’s best to try and break the cycle by cutting down on the amount of caffeine you drink.

Slow down
People frequently get in the habit of trying to do too much. The demands they are putting on themselves may leave them feel fatigued — and if there are not enough hours in the day to juggle their job, family and friends, then they may end up not getting enough sleep either. On the other hand, having a more balanced lifestyle, making some time for yourself, and learning to relax and slow down sometimes will mean you’ll be more able to function efficiently. Think about what you could change to give yourself more time for relaxation. It’s also best to have realistic expectations about what you can achieve rather than running yourself into the ground!

Taken from realbuzz.

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Find your S.H.A.P.E.

Posted on: 14-11-2010

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Category : Career, Christian, Coaching, Personality Profiling

Tags: S.H.A.P.E.

See more information on the SHAPE course via Rick Warren’s site. It’s SO important that people understand that every time we talk about “Ministry”, that we see this in the widest context… it’s not about what role you can find to do within your physical church, but what God has designed you for in the global sense, to be the best: physically, emotionally and spiritually!

S: Spiritual Gifts (which have you been given?)
H: Heart Motivation (what do you love to do?)
A: Abilities & Talents (appreciate natural talents you have)
P: Personality (God-given temperament)
E: Experiences (how have you been prepared for your unique ministry?)

1 Corinthians 12:12-27

My Score: S

Having undertaken an 138 question survey, we each produced a unique list of those specific ‘gifts’ that we excel at (recognisable in my past history)

Leadership (24/24)
The special ability the Holy Spirit gives to recognise and communicate the vision of God’s purposes, and to accomplish it through the motivation and direction of a group of people.
Hospitality (23/24)
The special ability the Holy Spirit gives to make people feel welcome, accepted and safe in their home and in a variety of settings.
Organisation (21/24)
The special ability the Holy Spirit gives to perceive the way an organisation works, and to conceive and implement procedures that maximise the church’s ability to function, and release people – especially leaders – to fulfil their calling/gifting.

My Score: H

I am motivated to lead/be in charge; help; persevere.
I would most like to encourage others to be the best they can be (but they need to be willing to engage with me).
I would most like to help those who want to help themselves, and who want to learn
The issues I feel strongly about are Education and Communications Literacy
I am therefore likely to be able to make the most significant contribution tutoring/mentoring in groups.

My Score: A

I have particular experience in research, teaching and writing, and project management.
I have specialised abilities in researching, managing, (teach/interview/write/promote?).
I am most likely to be used in Christian Service in social groups, training in digital communications.

My Score: P

For this exercise, I thought that I would come out as PEOPLE/UNSTRUCTURED, but I came out as TASK/UNSTRUCTURED (maybe that explains why I haven’t seen enough of my friends, as I always feel that I have to have completed my task before I can go out!), although to be fair although I was ‘maximum’ unstructured’, I was borderline on people/task, and some questions could have fallen either side!

TASK/UNSTRUCTURED people like:

General guidelines
Helps wherever needed
Versatile
Likes tangible tasks.

Require roles with a degree of creativity and adaptability in order to produce the best results.

PEOPLE/UNSTRUCTURED people like:

Spontaneous situations
Relates well to others
Very conversational
Tends to be flexible

Require roles that give you the freedom to respond to people spontaneously.

My Score: E

A great number of experiences have shaped my spiritual journey, and the ones that came to mind on the day (and I am prepared to share publicly) include:

Billy Graham Mission
Taking voluntary redundancy, going travelling, and learning to lose some of the expectations of others (not finished yet)
Going on retreat (taking time out in any way)
Oak Hall leadership
Social group leaderships (I throw a great party, given half a chance!)
Academic world – skills, enthusiasm & challenge

I would like to challenge others to take time out from formal ministry roles, and not to get stuck in roles. We need to find roles to fit people, rather than people to fit roles!

I just love to encourage people to share, and try out new things!!!

Feedback

We are given the opportunity to ask others for feedback. All comments are moderated, so if you want to say something off the record, or I’m not comfortable publishing it, it will be held – but I will see it!

What spiritual gifts do you think I might have?
(3 from: Organisation, Celibacy, Counselling, Deliverance, Discernment, Encouragement, Evangelism, Faith, Giving, Healing, Hospitality, Intercession, Interpretation of tongues, Leadership, Mercy, Missionary, Pastoring, Prophecy, Service, Teaching, Tongues, Voluntary Poverty, Wisdom)
What do you think I’m particularly good at doing?
What areas of my like seem to be ‘fruitful’?
What 3 words best sum up my personality?
What qualities do you particularly admire?
What can you see stopping/hindering me using God-given gifts?

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Daily Diaries of Lecturers @timeshighered

Posted on: 14-10-2010

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Category : Academic, Coaching

Tags: Life, teaching

Do you ever wake up in the middle of the night worrying about work? Feel that you have really “earned something” only after a session teaching? Or think about the learning process over the washing-up?

If so, you are not alone, according to a series of accounts academics have written about their daily lives.

To inform Share, a research project that is investigating the ways in which academics around the world represent, share and change their teaching practices, university teachers are being invited to keep a diary on the 15th day of each month over the course of a year.

The first batch of diary entries – extracts from which have been published in a newsletter to contributors – reveal what was on participants’ minds on 15 September.

For one, the day began at 4am with sleep broken by “worrying about the tsunami that is the new academic year that is going to hit us in two weeks”.

Other diarists blur the boundary between home and work, “checking emails while in my nightie” or “answering emails from my sofa” at 6.45am.

Read full story.

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Daniel Pink: Motivation

Posted on: 07-07-2010

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Category : Coaching

Tags: Daniel Pink, Motivation

Great wee mind-map there…

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Screw Work, Let’s Play by @johnsw

Posted on: 23-05-2010

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Category : Career, Coaching

Tags: John Williams, Scanner Central, Screw Work Let's Play

I’m chuffed to say that I’m ahead of the game on this book… it’s not yet out, although I’m looking forward to receiving my signed copy as soon as it’s available!

How did I meet John?

In 2007, having taken voluntary redundancy from the University of Manchester, I was trying to work out where next, and came across one of Barbara Sher’s books, which I found very revolutionary! I started to hunt around for something similar in the UK, and came across Scanner Central, run by John Williams, who had been on one of Barbara’s retreats (see a recent blog entry as to how he has made his ‘career path’, or should we say career hop, skip & jump, so successful). To be honest, I’m not sure whether I braved a Scanner’s Night ‘cold’, or whether I had already been chatting to @johnsw on Twitter… ah look, a previous blog entry tells me that it was the pull of a talk on social media that pulled me up to London! I have since been to several events (even made it onto the video here), and look forward to more (and wish I’d blogged about ALL the events I’ve been to..), but here’s one more from the event re: “getting yourself on TV“.

Screw Work, Let’s Play

Since taking that redundancy, I’ve been ‘playing’ with various ideas, and in training as a life coach, realised how much I wanted to recapture that sense of ‘fun’ in whatever work I did, re-injecting life with colour. I have been experimenting with various things to see where I want to take it next, and so far have discovered that I love teaching (especially when I can inspire others to think differently) – especially groups, although I enjoy one-to-one mentoring also, that I can’t stand a 9-5, that I want to work with many different people, on many different projects (all informing each other in sometimes interesting and surprising ways), and that I am a real ‘Digital Resident’ (but that I very much want to find ways to ensure that I am in charge, rather than the digital life taking over!) – really enjoying developing community and communication (hence my PhD, and why I enjoyed being a tour leader so much). For years, as I’ve played around in the online world, I have produced material that others have found helpful, so in April 2009, I decided to rethink my ‘Web Consultancy’ ‘Mydesigna’, and focus it more towards social media (I’m more into structure, content and community, rather than programming or design – although I know what looks good!), creating http://digital-fingerprint.co.uk/.

Screw Work, Let’s Play

In January 2010, John offered a few places on a 10 week teleseminar course (plus reduced entry to Scanner’s Night), which, despite an already over-heavy workload (which I want less of in the future… hence why I seized the opportunity), I decided to seize. I am looking forward to 5 weeks time, when teaching/marking comes to an end, and I can start to find some space to go back over the material, and consider where I want to develop some more thinking! The first activity we undertook was to determine our wealth dynamics profile (included as part of the course) – apparently I’m a “star”. I’m always fascinated by any kind of personality profiling (and would like to train in administering some!), whilst also determining what we were going to focus upon on this particular course – which I decided would be developing Digital Fingerprint. I plan to be back in the summer with more illustration of how I have developed since this course, but for now, it’s back to that pile of marking!! I’ll let you disappear off to read the blog for more, and order the book (recommended in today’s Sunday Times as one of the six hottest self-help books around – see image above)!

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PGCLTHE: Coaching Assignment

Posted on: 22-04-2010

(3)

Category : Academic, Career, Coaching, drbexl

Tags: Academia, Coaching, PGCLTHE

Below is the introduction to an essay I have just had returned from the module “Examining Professional Practice” for the PGCLTHE. The presentation, which I didn’t really have enough time to prepare for, gained me 55%, and the COACHING in Higher Education Essay 66%.

“Since the 1990s the field of coaching has grown in professionalism, and now affects most business sectors. As Parsloe and Leedham outline in their first chapter, coaching and mentoring have moved ‘From Marginal to Mainstream’ for anyone interested in people development. As the profession continues to evolve, professional bodies are emerging, including The Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development (CIPD) and the International Coach Federation (ICF).[1] Having taught in Higher Education (HE) since 1998, I encountered professional coaching at a CIPD event,[2] and trained as a life coach in early 2009.[3] This assignment offers a reflective consideration of implementing coaching practices within learning and teaching practices in HE. With a particular interest in facilitating group work in seminars, the presentation considered how exploiting learning and personality styles, and offering encouragement, improves student engagement with the process. (Read the entire essay in Word.doc.

[1] Parsloe, E. & Leedham, M. Coaching and Mentoring: Practical Conversations to Improve Learning 2009 (2^nd Ed), pp. 3-11

[2] Minter, T. ‘Personal Effectiveness’, CIPD, 2007

[3] Kerslake, D., Boyce, R., O’Donnell, A., Fogarty, C., Professional Coaching Certification Programme, ICF Accredited, The Kerslake Company, 2008-9″

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#HD12

2011

Who gets depression?

Failing Well

Making Decisions

So, what ARE my hopes and dreams for 2012?

Is it worth ‘teacher coaching’ at University?

Coaching in Higher Education? Yes Please…

A great talk hosted by @psychologiesmag, with @lucyberesford and Sadie Jones, hosted by @louisechunn

Top 10 tips to beat fatigue (well, I’d call it 5… I should try some!)

Essential advice on how to avoid tiredness

Find your S.H.A.P.E.

1 Corinthians 12:12-27

My Score: S

My Score: H

My Score: A

My Score: P

My Score: E

Feedback

Daily Diaries of Lecturers @timeshighered

Daniel Pink: Motivation

Screw Work, Let’s Play by @johnsw

PGCLTHE: Coaching Assignment

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