Recognising the Right Time…

BrainShop Solutions is a talent identification and leadership development consultancy specialising in working with FTSE250 companies. But how do you know when to call on a consultancy like BrainShop? Is there a right, or a typical time, when someone should reach out and how do you recognise this?

Listen to our Podcast below…

Recognising the right time for professional development

Sandra Bertoli is the Director of BrainShop:

“Very often what we see is an individual coming to us when there is a problem. The problem could be that they have not been promoted or they’ve missed an opportunity and there is a level of frustration or disappointment, or they are in a crisis in a negative way. They come and they ask for support. But, it is certainly an aspiration of BrainShop to change this dynamic and instead see people who are thriving, in their life and their job, to come to us as well. Because if they are thriving, they can develop even further.”

What is the best time for a team to develop?

“Teams are very interesting systems which constantly evolve. So, teams will typically come either as a regular check-up - as you would go to the doctor or take your car for its MOT. And at these moments we are looking for what’s working well or where there are opportunities which might not have been identified yet and we can do even better. But a team will also come to us when they need to change something in their dynamic. Either people have left or joined, or the leader is leaving. This can be disruptive for a team and it is a good moment to have someone objective to look with them at their opportunities or the fine tuning which they can do.”

How about at the organisational level?

“At the organisation level, typically we see an annual cycle. For example, the annual promotion cycle after annual appraisals or the cycle of launching a leadership or high potential program. But we want to challenge organisations actually because there are so many more occasions where organisations could use the opportunities of having a third party helping them. Looking with a fresh pair of eyes with the perspective of developing high potential individuals and enabling the next generation to be ready on time, and there is no right time for that. It is there and then, when a new opportunity or role arises, that’s the moment where you want to be very agile as an organisation to be able to leverage on that opportunity. That’s when an organisation should seek the moment.”

So should we not seek out support when we are struggling or when we have a problem?

“It is a good moment to reach out when you have a problem because when you are in the fog there is a moment when you are more vulnerable or fragile and it is an interesting point to have someone alongside you who will help you take things back into perspective and help you reconnect with the reality and give you back your self-confidence. But there is also an interesting moment to consider, when you are at your best and you are performing very well, this is when you can go even further in using that potential that you have.”

But for many of us that moment is often a comfort zone, when we’re happy and not looking for more, how do we recognise this and the need to get out of it?

“Indeed, a comfort zone by definition is comfortable. There is however the idea of thinking where do I see myself next? What do I have in terms of long term aspirations? And it goes beyond the individual as a professional, it’s very much the bigger picture as a human being. When we are in our comfort zone we must keep in our perspective – where do I want to see myself continuing to develop. And what would be the best time to develop?

“I am a very keen cyclist and I am very passionate about that – so taking that analogy – the comfort zone is when you are in a race and you are in a group which you can shelter behind. They are pulling you along, you use very limited energy, but you could go on and on for a very long distance. Isn’t that the best time when you can produce that extra effort that will make you sprint? Which you couldn’t do last week or last month. This is the moment where you try to achieve what you want to aspire to achieve, where you need to constantly engage that extra effort. Yes potentially it is going to be a little bit uncomfortable but when I compare to my aims it is so worth it.”

Tell us a little about executive coaching in these situations and how trendy it is now – you are challenging this idea?

“For years now executive coaching has been the go to solution, and I often have clients come to me and say that they want to be coached. But when you start a conversation about what it is that person wants to work on, you realise that coaching is not the ideal solution.

“At times people like to learn from others. To learn by sharing experiences, hearing about each other’s experiences, being on a journey of development with other people. At times they even come with a challenge they want to work on which is not the key challenge which me, from a distance, I think they should be dedicating time to. An executive coach at that time might not be the ideal solution.

“So we run various solutions at BrainShop. One being our Learning Circles where we have seen people absolutely thriving because there is this dimension of sharing or learning with others. Maybe a colleague might talk about something they didn’t realise was also a challenge for them. So this is really an eye opener and a safe environment that has proved to be a really interesting service for many people.”

We’re learning more and more aren’t we about the different ways in which we each likes to learn?

“Yes. For instance our ability to be challenged and how we go about being challenged. Some people don’t want to be challenged by themselves, they really need to see themselves for example through role play in our Development Centres. This is really creating stress in the person’s life and we record them and we simply watch this recording together – we listen and we observe – what we see but also what we don’t see, and what we would like to see. It is really tough, it requires courage but is effective.”

Do you have guiding beliefs or principles as to how you like work on someone’s development?

“In the industry this is where we see ourselves adding something which is really important to us. And we really treat individuals, teams and client organisations with ethics through autonomous systems.  They aren’t broken, they are here because there is a moment where they want help - they are also in the fog. And you just want someone to help you reveal why you are in the fog. What has created this fog so that we will put you into a position where you can avoid that fog going forwards. We see them as smart people – they are resourceful and we are here to help them access these resources that they can’t by themselves. And this is absolutely a guiding principle in anything we do.”

What about some tips for what to develop – how to recognise what I should be developing?

“This is an interesting question because it relates to a lot of people who come and say I want to work on something – and you realise it’s not the area they should be working on. It’s not the piece of work which will make a difference to their life.

“The key tip that I am very keen to share is to develop towards something. I know it sounds naïve almost, but you would not believe the number of people who come to us wanting to develop something out of nowhere. You should really develop towards something, and that something varies. For some people it is a professional aspiration – so a role they would like to achieve, in the short or long term. For others an aspiration is a good work life balance. For others an aspiration towards integrating their professional career into their overall life. It really depends where you are in that cycle. And once you have that clearly identified – and mind you, that’s already a big chunk of work, clarifying that aspiration – then you work backwards. What do I need to get closer to that aspiration?

“That is something which BrainShop can help people to identify what it is that matters for them in their life and as such what would be the key steps which you could undergo in order to achieve that.”

Find out more about BrainShop’s Learning Circles and Development Centres here.