Happy Friday,
This weeks insights include:
You're Not Listening 👂
What is Coaching? A Practical Guide For Managers 💬
Biased: Uncovering the hidden prejudices that shape our lives 🧠
If you enjoy this edition, please do share with your network.
With Gratitude,
Toby
You're Not Listening 👂
Listening is hard. I often fall short of being a great listener. It's easy for the mind to drift or to assume you know what the other person is talking about. I also struggle to find people who can listen well.
This challenge is the focus of Kate Murphy's book: You're Not Listening.
I particularly enjoyed how it explores listening to opposing views. When you listen to view, in conflict with your own, your brain responds like its being chased by a bear!
To listen does not mean that you agree with someone. It simply means you accept the legitimacy of the other person’s point of view and that you might have something to learn from it.
Kate's advice is in the moment you feel you are going to react with hostility toward those who disagree with you, take a breath and ask them a question, not to expose flawed logic but to truly expand your understanding of where they are coming from.
What is Coaching? 💬
My learning journey with video creation continues. This week I published a video to answer the question: "What is Coaching?"
Coaching is seen as an essential leadership skill yet many leaders are unclear about what coaching is.
This video shares my simple definition.
There are coaching skills and there are coaching conversations.
Both can be helpful. For a leader, it's the coaching skills which I think are most important.
To help you become a better coach I created Switch.
Within just 5 days you'll have practical ways to lead, empower and inspire your teams.
Biased by Dr Jennifer Eberhard 🧠
February is Black History Month in USA.
Bias negatively impacts Black people in almost all parts of society. Housing, Education, Criminal Justice, Employment etc. The bias is built into the system.
This is the focus of Jennifer's great book: Biased.
It's full of research and stories about how Bias impacts people in all walks of life but especially the Black people in USA.
Jennifer shares several suggestions on how to handle bias.
Bias is not something we exhibit and act on all the time. It is conditional, and the battle begins by understanding the conditions under which it is most likely to come alive.
Among those conditions, speed and ambiguity are two of the strongest triggers of bias. When we are forced to make quick decisions using subjective criteria, the potential for bias is great.
Your insight: Be on extra alert when you are most likely to be biased.
Quote of the week
“The greatest teams or any organisation is the self-regulated. The members of the team drive the team it's not the leaders who drive the team.”
- Eddie Jones. England Rugby Head Coach
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