Mark Curphey – SecurityBuddha.com

We have a management coach helping our team be more effective. I have had training from management coaches before and not been impressed but this is really different. Why? Because the coach is engaged, engaging and provides tangible and practical advice on dealing with real world problems. It’s laptops down, phones off and focus which is brilliant. He is actually making a difference to the way we work now and not just teaching us that we have room to improve. He does a lot of work with teams at Microsoft and I thoroughly recommend him (if you are at Microsoft or not). His name is Neil McCarthy and his company is McCarthyConsulting.net.

The way it works is that we have a series of half day team sessions over a 6 month period and then bi-weekly individual 1:1’s to discuss specific things and get feedback. You have to be thick-skinned to deal with some feedback but once you are over the initial shock of admitting your inadequacies it’s quite enlightening!

I made some notes from the last group session we did;

This poem was introduced in the context of trusting your work colleagues and trusting yourself to try new things;

“When we walk to the edge of

All the light we have and take

The step into the darkness of

The unknown, we must believe

That one of two things will

Happen- there will be something

Solid for us to stand on, or

We will be taught to fly.”

– Patrick Overton

This was my quote of the day’

We are all professional communicators and meeting goers. If we were a baseball players we would be having constant coaching on batting, feet positioning and running style. How come this is a novelty?

Other quotes of note;

The conversations you have, determines your fate

Stress changes your reactions

The path to better self management;

• Self awareness
• Self management
• Social awareness
• Relationship management

80% of many teams dysfunctional is due to lack of active listening

We know and judge ourselves by our intentions, while we know and judge others by our interpretation of their actions.

Don’t Assume as you make an Ass out of U + Me