UCan Training

The power of a vision board.

I’m a big fan of vision boards helping to bring goals to life. This year I encouraged my son Tom to create one too. On his vision board was a picture of an Aston Martin.

Today, the vision turned into reality. A gift from his Godmother - a driving experience at the Top Gear race track. Tom drove an Aston Martin and a Lamborghini round the track.

Will this be my next car? - I’ll pop it on my vision board and we’ll find out. 🙂

Working today in the garden with Melissa, who is responsible for UCan’s operations and administration, on our GDPR policy.

Another first for UCan Training.

Next month, I will be presenting my research about ‘Online coaching for talent development and leaders of he future’ at an international coaching conference in Switzerland.
http://www.coaching-meets-research.ch/Flyer_Coachingkongress_2018_E.pdf

New working practices, digital technology, flexible working patterns, dispersed locations and multi-generational teams are directly influencing the design and delivery of learning. With a move away from focusing on the development of individual leaders and more towards talent development and building leadership capabilities for the future, I will be providing evidence of how combining group and individual online coaching can provide a solution.

If you are looking for a time and cost saving online solution to develop your talent, then do get in touch with me please by direct message, send an email to enquiries@ucantraining.com or give me a call on 01252 792811

I am a self-taught swimmer and over the last couple of years I have been learning and practising front crawl, which has not been easy. I was inspired by one of my tutors Professional Patricia Riddell, a chartered psychologist who teaches and researches neuroscience at the University of Reading, who said that if we are sufficiently motivated, there is little that we cannot choose to learn.

One of the goals I set myself was to change from breaststroke to front crawl and be able to swim round the pond. Getting used to bilateral breathing and changing strokes has not been easy. My brain naturally wanted to revert back to breaststroke but I persevered. The ability of the brain to change itself (or neuroplasticity) enables us to learn new information or new skills. New information is stored in the brain when there is sufficient repetition of the experience. This is achieved through the creation of new connections between the neurons in our brain, the synapses.*

Last year I only managed 100 metres and that felt like a significant achievement. In the last month I have reached a tipping point where I naturally want to swim front crawl. Two days ago, at 6.30am, I swam round the pond, supported by four swimming buddies - an amazing experience.

The brain is truly remarkable. Knowing that with sufficient motivation and effort we can rewire our brains, what would you like to learn to do this year?

Twice a year I catch up with three friends from my studies at Henley Business School. Based in the UK, Netherlands and Ireland, we take it in turns to meet up in different places. This weekend we were in Dublin. The trip is both social and a learning opportunity.

One of the many fun activities included a very enjoyable trip to the Guinness Storehouse - the home of Guinness. I savoured a perfectly poured pint of the black stuff sitting high above Dublin's historic rooftops with 360° views across the city's magnificent skyline. The Guinness Storehouse is well worth a visit if you’re in Dublin.

Our learning, was a supervised action group. Each of us had a 35 minute slot where we could bring an issue to the table we needed help with. After explaining the problem, (5 minutes) the rest of the group can ask us questions (5 minutes). The group then discusses the issue with you in the room, but you are not allowed to speak (15 minutes). The group then writes down on post it notes what suggestions they have come up with (5 minutes). The final step is where you re-join the group and discuss what you’ve heard (5 minutes).

This is such a useful exercise to do. Having several people think about and discuss your issue, coming up with different perspectives and solutions, is invaluable.

Why not think about how you could use this framework with a group of colleagues at work to address different issues. If you would like external facilitation then do get in touch with me please by direct message, send an email to enquiries@ucantraining.com or give me a call on 01252 792811