It's amazing what you can do when you put your mind to it.

In August (2011) I wrote about the charity challenge I'm doing at the end of March (2012), which explained when I started the journey to raise £3800, I quickly realised just how hard it was going to be. I didn't think I was going to do it and nearly gave up. But I couldn't give up. I had committed to doing the challenge. I had made a commitment to myself, the charity and my friends and family around me who are supporting me. That's what helped me succeed.

£316 didn't sound like a lot when I broke it down, and yet I couldn't just rely on a few people for that, I had to put my mind to it. I had to think about how I was going to make it happen. What did I need to do in order to raise the money? Who could I ask for help?

My determination to succeed has helped me do just that. I have reached my target, and more. I couldn't have done it alone though and have asked for a lot of help along the way. I'm very fortunate that I have some great support around me, much of which has come from approaching people, explaining what I'm doing and asking for help. The local pub, Primary School, local businesses and my friends and family all agreed to do just that.

One big thing I learnt along the way, was to only count what I had in my hand and not to rely on those who said they will donate money or get me a raffle prize because it often didn't happen. Don't count your chickens before they hatch; use them to keep you focused. By that I mean consider what you can do just in case you don't get what you're expecting; have a contingency plan.

Now I've reached my target, I have taken a step back from fundraising and stopped pushing to raise more money. Of course, the more I raise the better for my chosen charity (GUTS), and yet I need to focus on what's right for now. As I have raised, and actually received the money I've stopped holding events. No more car boot sales and no more pub quizzes or cake sales. I still have donation boxes scattered around but my focus needs to shift; I need to be physically fit and ready to go. It's going to be hard work and my fitness level needs to increase, and that's what I need to put my mind to and focus on now. That's my next challenge.

When you put your mind to it and add determination to succeed, you will. Be ready to ask for help along the way though; many hands make light work after all.

What's your next challenge? How are you going to make it happen?

What’s the message here for you?

Let me paint you a picture. I completed my NLP Trainer in July with John Grinder, co-creator of NLP, Carmen Bostic St. Clair, partner of John and co-creator of New Code NLP and Michael Carroll, inspirational Master Trainer and the business brain. This training was three weeks with the last week being four days of assessment.

Throughout I felt confident of my ability and was reassured that I do actually know what I’m doing, I do have the ability to use NLP ethically and successfully and I noticed that other learners were coming to me to ask for my support and insight. All this felt very good indeed.

My reason for qualifying is so I can start helping other people experience the magic of NLP, I want other to use it and know its value. I want to qualify Practitioners and Master Practitioners alike. I watched as other people on my course launched into delivering their own programmes and as yet I still have not started mine. Why is that?

For me, I still need to believe that if someone is going to spend their hard earned personal cash with me, that I am going to be the absolute best I can for them. This got me thinking about how I could practice my skills, spread the word that I was now in a position to deliver NLP training and create some momentum. So I decided to start an NLP Practice group. A place where people curious about NLP could come along and find out more. A place where those who already had a Practitioner or Master Practitioner qualification but didn’t really use it very much, could come along and practice. A safe place for everyone, including me, to practice. To try, test, question, experience, learn, share or simply be.

I put the message about among some online groups that I was planning to create a Zest NLP Practice group and would anybody be interested and the response knocked my socks off. The interest was massive. So I pushed ahead and started the group. Our first session was in October and 14 people said they were coming and 14 people turned up! The vibe was great, informal, friendly, welcoming with a little buzz of excitement running through the group.

Our second session was in November and 20 people turned up. Oh my! The word had begun to spread and momentum was gaining. A more challenging session this time for everyone, with great debate and discussion, some quizzical brows and much learning. Again, the buzz on arrival, the anticipation in the air, was visible. The room was vibrating. This particular evening went on much longer that it was meant to, something that I will ensure doesn’t happen again, but it went on because people were curious. When I finally got home my brain was whirring and I couldn’t get to sleep. 1am crept upon me and finally I was able to close my eyes, although my whole nights’ sleep was very unsettled.

Even the next day I still had a nervous feeling in my tummy, a vacant expression in my eyes as I delved into a world inside my head. The question that I was churning around was this, I have been working in Learning and Development for over 14 years, and I’ve worked with so many different types of people and different size groups, that I’m confident in almost all situations. So what was the difference between working with this group of people than all the others? The answer to that finally dawned on me and its two fold.

Firstly, the fact that these people are coming to this practice group because of me. They come because of what I can do and bring. They spend their own money and their own time because they feel it’s worth their while. I feel truly honoured by that and if I’m honest slightly daunted. It puts a level of pressure on me that I haven’t felt in a while, of making sure that I uphold their expectations.

The second difference is energy. On the more corporate side of my business, it is usually my energy that creates the energy in the room. I spark the energy off for others and sometimes people join in, sometimes people power themselves off my energy and sometimes people drain it from me. Yet in this environment I have the privilege of being given other people’s energy. They want to give back, they want to connect, and they want to be part of it.

I couldn’t get to sleep that night because I had been powered up to a level I had never yet experienced. And if you know me already and know how much energy I have myself, times that by ten and it becomes obvious why I couldn’t sleep. If you don’t know me yet, let’s put it like this, I could have illuminated a whole town with the amount of vibration I was projecting. Phew. It took me another day before I was back to being the usual me!

We’re not having a practice group in December (on the one hand I breathe a sigh of relief and the other disappointment not to be connecting) it’s a busy time and falls too close to Christmas. I have however, created a little video for all the practice group members, something fun with of course an NLP focus.

Our next practice group is on January 12th and already there seems to be more people planning to come. Our first guest speaker and an interesting night of meta programmes and time lines, linked to health and well-being. I’m also feeling confident that I am ready to launch my NLP Diploma and Practitioner courses.

So what’s my message or point in this blog? I think there are many. Give out and you’ll get back. Believing is the first step to achieving. Taking action makes all the difference. People are amazing, have faith in them. These are the messages I get. What’s the message for you? I’d be very interested to know so why not drop me a line and tell me? Send me an email with your thoughts nikki@zestlearning.co.uk.

To find out more about our practice group, visit www.meetup.com/The-Zest-NLP-Practice-Group. From the New Year information about Zest and NLP will be on our website www.zestlearning.co.uk. Or you could simply give me a call on 01252 706844. Spaces are limited! We might even have to start a second group in a bigger location. Although after that I might not sleep for a week!

The Anomaly of Talent Management

Over the years I have worked with many organisation and many talented people. Most of the talented people that I have worked with have had a clear idea about what they wanted and where they were going and if they could not get their needs fulfiled by the organisation they were currently in then they would simple move to another.

Portfolio working is so much more the way of things now and people have no hesitation in jumping ship. So how do you manage this talent? How do you keep them? I think this is the wrong way to look at talent management. I think the better question to ask is how we get the best for them while they choose to stay? It starts with a simple conversation. Here’s my steps to getting the best from talented people

Step 1 – Up skill Line Managers: Being able to listen and understand language, have effective conversations and read in between the lines is an essential management skill for spotting and supporting talent.

Step 2 – Show direction: Talented people want to be able to see that their aspirations align with the company; they need to know how they can benefit the company whilst benefitting themselves.

Step 3 – Provide the challenge: Talented people like to be stretched, like achieving and want more. Make sure your company has a diverse range of options for offering stretch, such as sabbaticals, secondments, projects etc.

Step 4 – Demonstrate Value: Talented people want to be valued, and if they for one minute feel used instead of valued, they’ll be off. Remember that different people perceive value in different ways – be clear on what each individual needs to be valued and have the means to give it. This might be financial (although the least required by the talented), recognition, public praise, promotion. For some it is simply confirming their brilliance.

Step 5 – Be Flexible: Certainly for the new generation of talented people they want to be able to do things their own way. If they feel any organisations structure or bureaucracy is too rigid, this will be stifling for them and guess what? They’ll be off. Have faith that, within the bounds of the challenge, they will do what needs to be done to the best of their ability (after all they are talented).

If you can up skill your Line Manager to be able to demonstrate their ability to relate to talent consistently then you have a chance at keeping the talented long term. If a talented person wants to stay for the long term they will, if they don’t they won’t.

So what’s the difference that makes the difference with talent management? Recognising that the talent belongs to the individual, not the company. So how do you keep it – it’s starts with an open and honest dialogue about meeting talented peoples' personal needs – after all, what’s the complication is only conversation!

Zest Learning Takes to the Airwaves

The unstoppable Nikki Bartlett of Zest Learning is spreading her wings into the world of radio.  On Wednesday 19th October Nikki will be interviewed, desert island disc style, by Ola Agbaimoni from Tycoon Women on http://www.playvybz.com/.

It's a fantastic opportunity to hear about what makes Nikki tick, plus enjoy her great music choices.  Find out about her moments of self-discovery, passion and despair and how these have shaped her life and career.  Email in your comments and questions and Nikki will answer them on the show or be brave, call up and ask her live on air.

To be part of this exciting event, listen in at http://www.playvybz.com/ on 19th October between 4 and 6 pm.  Please contact the radio show whilst it is being broadcast by email to studio@playvybz.com, talk live by calling 07866 100766, or text on 07934 540302.

Go on be curious!

Laughter on a Miserable Commuter Train

It's 8am on Thursday 1st September, summer is officially over and autumn is here (actually by 10am the sun is shining gloriously and I'm hoping for an Indian summer!). I'm surrounded by grumpy commuters. Happy on the inside I try my best to blend in.

 

At the next station a Mum gets on with her 3 year old daughter and they proceed to sit behind me. This little girl is just so happy with her life. She's chatting away to her Mum and laughing, pointing things out and being very excited about the whole train journey. They talk about who they might meet for lunch and look at pictures on the Mum's phone. Then the little girl notices a picture of a lady wearing a red dress and proceeds to tell her Mummy how great her Mummy would look in that dress and maybe she could get one too and then they'd both look lovely. Her Mum, a woman who clearly dedicates time and attention to her daughter, suggests that perhaps they could go out dancing together, which receives squeals of delight.

This little girl’s bright, cheerful and excited voice soon had EVERYONE around her smiling. So simple. Let's be clear here, this Mum has got on the train with her push bike laden with two child seats (one on the back and one on the cross bar). She is clearly NOT a yummy mummy who lunches. She's simply a great mother and I am so pleased that she got on the same train as me.

Her daughter brought light and laughter onto that train, a sense of reality and a reminder to everyone that the simple things in life bring us the most pleasure.

Keep following the goal posts; you WILL be able to score the goal you're chasing

My goal posts? Raising £3800 for my charity challenge!

At the end of January (2011) I signed up for the biggest challenge of my life; to trek 250km across Lapland with a Husky Sled in just 6 days. No home comforts, lots of cold and one BIG challenge.
Nothing could have prepared me for the first challenge though...actually raising the money! Just a few weeks ago, after countless car boot sales and emptying the donation boxes I had in various places, I was ready to stop. I couldn't see the goal posts. Someone had moved them so far away it felt impossible.

With a holiday looming I decided to take stock of where I had got to so far and forget about it for 10 days. Time off for me to enjoy myself. I knew there were a couple of things in the pipeline that were going to add to my total so far; a charity cricket match and a pub quiz, so I decided to see how they go.

Having received the news, while I was away, that the cricket match had raised an excellent £230 I was now fresh back from my holiday and I had the pub quiz to think about. I had put the questions together a few weeks before, the pub was virtually full and the auction and raffle prizes were ready to go. It was a success! A great night and amazing support from everyone - over £900 raised!

All of a sudden the goal posts came back into view. I CAN score this goal. It's going to take more hard work and time but with a few other events in the calendar it's looking much easier to achieve.

Our goals can be huge but actually scoring them takes many, much smaller steps. By breaking them down you can achieve your goals.

Risk vs Opportunity

Am I right to take a risk for an opportunity?

This is something I have recently asked myself when considering the move from a global organisation in London to a part-time role with a small (but booming) training company, very close to home. Having a full-time secure role was great; I just felt there was something missing. Opportunity. This is something I wanted and something I couldn't see.

I loathed the two hour each way commute I had to to each day, and knew that eventually this would make me leave my full-time role in London. I also started to question whether Learning and Development was really for me or if I was made to 'just do' admin as this is what I'm good at. It all came down to that word, 'opportunity'. I couldn't see the opportunity so I started to give up. I started to think that I would just get a job closer to home and that would keep me going.

With the renewal of my season ticket looming, I knew I needed to make a decision pretty quick. Do I stay where I am in a secure role or do I take the risk and move? After many conversations with friends, family and my new employer, I decided to make the move...and how pleased I am I did!

First day in me new role...the walk to work was great. Just a 30 second walk across the road and I'm there. Already, I'm feeling more relaxed and optimistic. After the first few hours I can already see the opportunity. That's what I wanted. What a relief. The move was exactly what I needed.

Don't get me wrong, it's been tough. There are a lot of sacrifices that have had to be made. I no longer have 'spare' money and have to be pretty careful when it comes to spending. What I have gained though outweighs the financial loss. I have more time to spend with friends and family, something that had definitely suffered, and I have time to do what I really enjoy.

One thing I learnt very early in my working like was to never burn bridges...one day that bridge you built will lead you to an opportunity. Take it.