Taper - Stefan’s Week-Notes 15/11/2024
Inspired by the weeknotes of friends and coachees including John Fitzgerald, Steve Messer and Nour Sidawi - I thought I'd give it a go.
Inspired by the weeknotes of friends and coachees including John Fitzgerald, Steve Messer and Nour Sidawi - I thought I'd give it a go.
Here's a dive in to the happenings of the past week. I start with what I’ve been up to, to frame the week and then the successes.
Why? Because it's easy to look into the dark rather than the light; isn't it?
Hope you enjoy it; comments, observations and thoughts welcome.
What have I been up to?
(Question inspired by @James_ Arthur_Cattell week notes). It's been a busy week.
It's been a busy week; twisted with a trapped nerve and painkillers.
I managed a 1 hour bike ride earlier in the week, but couldn't get near it later in the week.
It's horrid but I've lived through worse; send flowers.
Digital Boost Mentoring
This week was a week of mentoring session on the Fabius digital boost programme I co run with the brilliant @Benwhitaker and @MikeWalker for the equally wonderful @AngelaMclleland.
Sessions included:
Tender and Bid Writer - Connecting brands with a golden thread.
Language School - How to ‘not go after it all once’.
Artist - Enlisting support
Website and app designer - Making choices and leaning into your skillset
Marketing and Brand Manager - Delegating and teaching people what you ‘just’ know.
Hardware Store Owner - Helping people see the real value you add.
Coaching, Mentoring and Inquisitive Sessions.
Design leader - Creating self propelling teams
Elite Endurance Athlete - Branding, Purpose and Self determination.
Executive and leadership coach - leaning in and tapering down.
Workshop Delivery
Digital boost - 1 day group mentoring on your why, how and what - for a group of business owners.
Meeting
Meeting with @IanBoyd of @artecology and @Matt_Greg on the topic of a thriving island within a UNESCO Biosphere Reserve.
This Weeks Writing
This week I just managed to get my weekly journal over the line; writing on my 4th pillar Sustenance.
Entitled “Sustenance - How Good People Sustain Themselves…” the journal entry looks at what you do to prevent and pull yourself back from the brink of burnout.
I’ve already had a couple of messages about how useful it is; I hope it serves you or someone you know well. Heres’s an excerpt:
“Desperate to make a difference, placing too much on their own shoulders, they had simply burned the candle at both ends for too long and had burned out. Not only did they need many, if not all of the 7 types of rest, they needed to find some ‘in the moment’ strategies - to deal with what the labelled as “feeling on fire”. And I don’t mean in a good way”.
You can read it HERE
Also…
A video post, by me, on how to OVERCOME DISAPPOINTMENT - Here
HOW TO CHOOSE A COACH - I also wrote apiece on how to choose a coach here:
NEWSLETTER - If you enjoyed reading that piece; consoler signing Up for my BE THE WAVES newsletter here:
Testimonial
It was wonderful to receive this testimonial from Alison this week; juggling a consultancy as well as fabulous Woodland Retreat - she has a heart of gold and the drive to match.
This line in particular grabs me “….insightful approach gave me the confidence to navigate a field I was unfamiliar with” - thats coaching right there.
What's been good about this week?
I thoroughly enjoyed enjoyed my mentoring sessions this week and the digital boost course I delivered.
Such a great group of business owners, marketing managers and entrepeneurs, leaning into the questions - why do I do what I do? how do I consistently deliver for my customers? what is it I do well? and who is my client and what do they need and want?
So open, so wanting to do well. If only all of us could be that open and inquisitive.
We can; we just need to right setting and culture.
What am I grateful for?
Friends who have checked in on me this week as I've really struggled with pain and sleep this week with my trapped nerve.
So the saying goes:
“There are friends, there is family, and then there are friends that become family” -
UNKNOWN
Social media gratitude…
This week I am grateful for some wonderful new connections here on linked and this fabulously useful post from my friend @Adam_Bedford who shared some fabulous reading choices for us - here.
Likes, comments shares and signs ups make these 3 main differences:
They help me get seen on linked and on instagram by ‘leaning into’ their algorithms.
They mean that others, outside of my immediate network, get to see my work, know I exist and contact me to find out more about my work, chat about the great thing they are leading, or wish to lead, and just maybe ask me to coach them.
They makes me feel valued and motivates me to do more.
Thank you all for helping me to do more of what I love.
What could have gone better?
A friend of mine is going through a tough time. And it’s been tough to realise this week that I can’t be the one to support them through it. They’re in my prayers and there are a number of ‘deeper’ posts this week that have been informed by that ‘pain’.
I have written one for next week entitled ‘HOPE’ - keep an eye out for it.
I’ve decided to call the image I have started to create of the late Linkin Park frontman Chester Bennington - Hope; sending love and hope to all who need it.
What am I reading?
This week,
This week I read a brilliant article on Decision-making in the “Broadening perspectives on risk” article from the British Psychological Society.
What particularly stood out for me within the context of decision making and preventing group bias were these bullet points; starting with the role of a critical friend to Psychologist, Supervisors and Leaders within the workspace:
“Once again, there are some strategies for preventing groupthink.
Allow someone to take the role of critical friend or questioner.
Facilitate discussion of group processes (this may need an external assistant) to guard against processes such as deindividuation.
Prevent bullying/scapegoating by having clear ground rules and policies about this.
Have a culture where people are trained to be active (rather than passive) bystanders.
Encourage a reporting culture where it is safe to raise concerns without negative consequences (as opposed to a culture where staff are afraid to speak up, which can result in silence and secrecy). Be responsive to concerns being raised.
Train staff how to be active bystanders who intervene when they see poor practices.
what kind of learner they are
what their strengths and weaknesses are
how they react to feedback
how they react to being wrong
how they deal with conflict
how they react under pressure”.
Which I cant help but share as I think there say so clearly what we need to be in place and the discussions we need to have in place to stop group think and create psychological safety.
I also like this paragraph about the importance of reflective practice within Psychological practice, for the practitioners.
“Reflection is important in reviewing the judgements and decisions which psychologists make, and should occur during the ongoing process of formulation (and re-formulation) of cases. It is helpful to consider a framework on which to base such thinking. Kolb’s Experiential Learning Cycle provides a helpful overall learning cycle for psychologists, which shows how reflection should be embedded into learning in order to improve performance at any task”.
Replace the word psychologist with leader and the same is true.
In reality I think we provide too little support, coaching and mentoring to leaders at all levels.
It’s a tough job and that’s why I coach.
What am I wishing for?
It goes without saying that I'm wishing that my trapped nerve will release itself. I'm desperate to get back to riding my bike.
The hours I ride are great for my health, my rest from multiple work based stimuli and generally regulate the number of hours I spend working.
After my breakdown I'd realised that I needed to build life around what gave me well being. So much so, that I book my rides into my week and then work around them.
I've really found this change to be life changing for me and many of my clients whom have found the bravery to do something similar have shouted about the benefits of doing this too.
You can read more on my take on ‘LIFE’ and ‘WORK ROCKS’ and how to plan your time here:
What will I do to effect this going forward?
I'm going to block the time out next week for rides, and even if I can't ride - I will give myself that time to do something else helpful to my health, rest and sustenance.
I love my work but as the albatross said to the little boat “sometimes you have to rest from the things you love, before you stop loving them”.
A Last Word - Taper
This week, I’d like to leave you with the word Taper.
When I was younger I wanted to master all, lead everything and change the world.
As I'm getting older I'm now using the wisdom that granted me to taper.
The definition of taper that resonates with me is "...to grow gradually lean". Doesn’t it feel good to be lean?
The word Taper is the label I will be placing on the year ahead. Tapering the:
Scope of my work, who, what and why - leaders of leaders, coaches of leaders and athletes. Retained org coach.
The responsibilities I have - Home, Children, Coaching, Endurance Riding, Friends and Gamily.
Whom I support - choose a charity or organisation to advocate for l.
It’s likely that you’ve read me say “start less, finish more” and i’m determined to ‘finish’ some biog things next year.
What could you do with tapering?
Stefan
Thank you for reading my week notes.
For now, let me leave you with 7 questions, based upon the final word - TAPER. I hope they are useful.
What would benefit from tapering?
What would you ideally taper from and to?
What difference would doing that make for you?
What difference would doing that make to those closest to you?
What support would you benefit from, to take these steps?
What challenge would you benefit from? (Sometimes we need it).
Who would be best to help you do that for you?
If you’d like some help answering those questions get in touch via my contact page here; or via stefan@stefanpowell.co.uk
Have a great weekend and love to you all
Stefan
Enjoyed reading this? Consider doing one of these:
Get in touch - If any of this topic resonated with you and you have something you’d like to share with me or if you’d like to discuss working with me on this topic - stefan@stefanpowell.co.uk works really well for me.
Connect with me on linked in and read my long form posts on the rotating topics of Work, Rest. Play, Sustenance and Love every Thursday
Sign up to my newsletter ‘Be The Waves” here - which collates each weeks long form post on a monthly basis and you’ll get to read it later in the month
I’ll continue this in 4 to 5 Thursdays time when I continue the topic of ‘Rest” in my Thursday Journal.
Book an inquisitive session with me to find out more about what I do and how I do it or run a challenge or thought you have passed me.
For now; thank you
I am…
An executive coach who specialises in helping good people lead great things.
Good people care about others, our planet and beauty. Great things are changes for the betterment of society and all that lives within an around it.
It sounds big and fun - it is.
I'm also an endurance racing cyclist and a go. getter.
You can read more about me and what I do; how I work here