Dear , Hello, greetings from Trowbridge (near Bath) and welcome to this final full
edition of "To Be Clear..." of 2024 - a refreshing sip of regular coaching clarity in
your inbox where I share a couple of brief ideas which I hope that you can apply in your work life. I've been super encouraged by the responses to the last issue of "To Be Clear...", both in terms of running your own race and
on reflecting rather than ruminating as the year comes to an end. It's always great to hear what's been resonating with readers and I've really appreciated all of you who have got in touch, forwarded the newsletter to others and even posted it on LinkedIn. This nearly year end
issue addresses one key to real clarity as the year draws to a close and one big encouragement as resources feel more and more depleted.
Having had a big injury last year, I just wrapped up my last session with my physiotherapist, Sam. It's been quite a journey and this was not only our last session together but one of Sam's final weeks as he moves to a new country to start a new
chapter in the new year. Sam is a brilliant physio - an amazing advert for the best of our health service in the UK - exceptional at the technical side of his job but also kind, a great listener and an all-round delightful person. Most of all, Sam has gone above and
beyond, ensuring that I was not only able to return to everyday mobility (which happened months ago) but to full athletic activity which he knew was important to me. His commitment to my desired Outcomes has been amazing and a huge motivator to keep doing the work required for recovery. He has challenged me, encouraged me and motivated me at all the right times and in all the right ways. As I was thanking
Sam, I mentioned that he had not only facilitated my physical recovery but stretched me mentally, building my confidence at every stage of recovery; he smiled, tapped his head and said, "It's all about mindset..." I'm telling you all this because what is
true for physiological recovery is true as I work with clients to achieve their desired Outcomes. Although many of the results my clients see are external, the work always starts and has an impact internally whether I'm working
with teams, individuals or whole organisations. Any client who works with me is working on the basis that success is possible, which means they come to embrace the principles of progress and agency which make such a difference, That
doesn't mean every client comes to me bursting with #positivevibesonly; some come to me depleted and a bit despairing, having tried various other solutions, but the fact they have come at all means that they have some element of hope.
Sometimes that hope is just a little kernel but it's there and it's my job to create the space and co-create the conditions for it to grow and turn into the positive clarity and momentum which drives their work or business forward - and that often means a change of mindset. As Sam astutely pointed out, when it comes to achieving your desired
Outcomes, mindset matters. This is true whether you're a team, individual or organisation, because your mindset drives everything you do. Mindset matters and it's why it's so helpful to have an external eye and voice - someone who is, as I like to describe my coaching, onside but outside, to help you to see your current mindset and -
where necessary - to shift it. I think of one client who, after some coaching with me to get him ready for a new role, told me about the profound impact of the insights we had generated. He said, "Ranti, after our session, I went into the office and realised that, in the
past twelve months, I've become a negative, aggressive version of myself at work. What I saw in our coaching session helped me to be aware of my mindset and to change it. Now, for the first time in a year, I feel like I am back in my own body again." That remains amongst the
most touching testimonials I've ever received. Feeling like he was back in his own body was not on the list of this client's desired Outcomes at the start of our work together but, in the end, it turned out to be key to him
achieving those Outcomes, including that new role. All of this became possible - and then real - as he became aware of, and then changed, his mindset.
I can think of another client - the leadership team of a scaling multimillion pound tech business - at a point where market conditions and pressure from their investors had affected the team's mindset to a point which felt perilous for the
business. As someone working onside but outside with the leadership team, I was able to offer this observation to the CEO, who called a team meeting facilitated by me and focused on allowing the leadership team to surface honestly their concerns, challenges and current mindset. Once the team had
done that, we focused on building a collective sense of hope and agency in terms of what they could achieve once things improved and how they were going to support each other in the meantime. Later that day, a key member of the leadership team emailed me to tell me what a
hugely positive difference that meeting had made to his mindset and, by extension, the mindset of the critical team which he leads. It allowed my client to navigate a tricky time as a business not with battered hearts and gritted teeth but with hope for the future. Looking back with the CEO some months later, we both agreed that that mindset-focussed meeting had a transformational impact on retention, focus and innovation at a crucial time for the business. Mindset matters; it's why I referenced Professor Martin Seligman's Learned Optimism in the last issue of "To Be Clear..." and will be writing more about it in the new year. Mindset matters; it's why ONION®
is designed to mitigate the negativity bias that so often keeps people stuck and to help build clarity, momentum and agency in every layer. Here's an example below the Now layer of the ONION® deck:
As you get to the end of year, it may be worth checking in on your mindset and that of your team and colleagues. Inevitably, at this time of year, people are tired and that affects mood and morale but a key question when it comes
to mindset is, "As I/we look ahead to next year, do I/ we feel more or less hopeful?" You may want to ask, "On what is that hope - or lack of hope - based?".* As the card above says, sometimes your current mindset is based on outdated, unsupported and untrue assumptions about yourself or others and so, changing your mindset is about changing that narrative. Mindset matters and I hope that you close out the year with greater awareness of your mindset and how
it affects your clarity and effectiveness at work and enjoy a chance to reset your mindset over the Christmas break. As always, let me know what you discover or get in touch with any questions. Next up a key to unlocking resources at a stretched time of year.
Some of you will have come across this old Irish joke: a man approaches another man on the street and asks, "Could you tell me how I'd get to Kilkenny?" and the other man responds, "To be sure, if I were going there, I wouldn't start here." Clients often come to me because they have an idea of something new and ambitious that they are trying to do as a team, business or an individual but need help getting clear on how to do it. Interestingly, one of the first things many of them do is to start with everything that's wrong with where they are now; they do this by setting out what I think of as a lack
list - all of the things that they currently don't have, whether that's the right expertise, time, resources, skills, funds or information. Inevitably, I tell my clients to put their their lack list on hold for a moment and instead begin
with getting clear on the future situation they would like to build - their desired Outcome - the first layer of ONION®. Getting clearer on
that desired Outcome has a positive impact on the lack list because it renders some of those lacks less relevant. But it's in the next layer of ONION® - Now - that your lack list is tackled in earnest. As you consider your current situation in Now, rather than starting with what you don't have
and how you might get it**, ONION® helps you to consider not just what you already have (Step 1) but also - and this is key - what resources you
currently have available but have not yet used. Time and time again, this part of the process proves to be a game-changer.
The fact is that, however stuck or under-resourced you feel, everyone has access to untapped resources - be they people, information, finances, support or time - which can help achieve desired Outcomes. I think of one of my clients from a few years back, trying to move from one career to another. Once she'd clarified her Outcome and then identified the sort of role she wanted, we discussed how she might be able to build a network and connections in this highly competitive new
industry. My client told me unequivocally that she had very few contacts in the industry and had already contacted the ones she had. I then suggested that she might have more untapped resources available than she thought and gently challenged her to
uncover them by telling as many people as possible in her personal and professional network what she was trying to do. She looked at me a little askance but - being a humble, open and diligent person who genuinely wanted change - she went away and did it. She arrived at our next session
buzzing. "You know when you said I had more available resources than I thought and suggested that I let as many people as possible know what I was looking for, regardless of how relevant I thought they were?" I nodded. She continued "I was pretty sure I'd exhausted all the avenues already but it turns out my great aunt knows someone in the industry, she introduced us and I've had a really helpful meeting with him." A great aunt (!) - an unexpected, untapped, unrealised resource my client had available under her nose the whole time which she almost missed for lack of asking. That contact who ended being a key part of her ultimately succesful journey into a new industry. On the organisational side, the CEO of another client, keen to develop a new product was telling me last year how budget restrictions were currently preventing them from hiring the tech talent they needed to develop the product. After a conversation with me which included an encouragement to consider untapped resources, they discovered that a key member of their current team had exactly the skills and experience needed from a previous role. An untapped resource right under their nose which they almost missed because they were convinced that the solution was an external hire. That new product has now been developed and
launched, bringing additional value to the company. Untapped resources are all around us and within us but often busyness, overwhelm, pressured time and increasing tiredness (especially at this time of year) blind us to what they are. People often talk of an abundance mindset but I would go one step further and encourage you, as you head into the last stretch of the year, to develop an availability mindset (you heard it here first!). As you seek to gain deeper clarity on the big challenges and opportunities ahead at work next year,
operate on the basis that you have more available to you than you think even if some of those untapped resources are currently invisible because you have yet to look, listen or ask in the right places. The key is to be
creative and take a step back. In my experience, working out what's available to you and where you have untapped resources is best done as a team sport - it's definitely an exercise in which two - or more - heads are better than one. It works to do this as a team and/ or to involve someone outside of your work but with some sense of what you do. An outsider who gets what you do will often bring fresh eyes which help you to see where untapped resources may be hiding. "As I/ we seek to get to my/our desired Outcomes, what untapped resources are available to us
right now?" might be a good question to ask as a team or an individual as you close out the year. As you ask that question, you might discover some budget or funds you can still (re)allocate or access, someone you can ask for help, some information to which you have access, maybe even some time you can free up by rescheduling some of the non-urgent activity that often piles up at this time of year (see this very popular previous issue of "To Be Clear..." for more on
that topic). One as yet untapped resource that you still have available - at least for the next 24 hours - until noon GMT tomorrow (18th December) is the opportunity to book an ONION® Review & Renew session to help you to prepare for the year ahead; to get into the right mindset and to help you to unlock as yet untapped resources which could make all the difference to your clarity and performance at work or in your business in 2025.
Do get in touch if you want to know more and, don't forget, signups close soon. So, there you have it, two ideas for greater clarity and more resources as you close out the year at
work.
I'll be in touch briefly next week and the week after with Christmas and New Year wishes and in the new year proper to share more ideas for greater clarity at work in 2025. In the meantime, wishing you a clearer week ahead. As ever, Ranti * - A good gauge of your mindset is to ask what you think is possible
for you at work or in your business in the next year - with hard work, determination, the right circumstances, the right support and even a bit of luck - but possible nonetheless. ** - Working out what you still need is step 3 and, by that stage, you have a much more
accurate sense of what you actually need and where you might find it.
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