Learning from victories

November 11, 2022

If you do an LMI programme, you’ll see every single one has a tab (or a file if you have a digital version) labelled ‘Accomplishments’. Over the 13 years that I’ve been working with these programmes, this has consistently been the least-used part of the whole system.

Setting goals, planning days weeks and months, using communication tools, identifying areas for improvement and practicing coaching conversations have all been routinely embraced, but not this little section at the back of the manual.

It seems that reflecting on our successes doesn’t come naturally to most of us. Like anything that’s good for you, it’s something to be practiced. And doing this is certainly good for you, I think for two major reasons:

  • It’s great to enjoy, gain satisfaction and be motivated for the future by what we have achieved
  • Those accomplishments are great for informing us about what we should be doing more of.

A little more on that second reason.

When we routinely and systematically keep an accomplishments log, whether individually or as part of a team, it provides loads of great information that can help us plan for the future if we take the time to reflect.

What did I/we do (if anything) in order for that to come about? How can we do more of that? What similar actions might lead to similar positive results? The end result points us back to the origins of those outcomes.

We are taught from childhood, and rightly so, to learn from our mistakes. Maybe it’s just as important to learn from our victories as well.

Leave a Comment » | Goal Setting, habits, Journal, Leadership, Motivation, Planning, Results | Tagged: , , , , , | Permalink
Posted by nick howes

Live deeply. Lead well.

March 26, 2020

In clearing things out yesterday, as many people are doing these days, I came across this plaque that my dad received in 1986. He worked for the Digital Equipment Corporation (DEC) for all of my childhood, I think about 25 years in all, starting his own businesses just a couple of years before he died in 1991.

Dad_DEC In our home I remember we had DEC towels, DEC pens, DEC bags and we went on DEC holidays! Occassionally we still come across some old DEC merchandise in an old cupboard!

As I mentioned in my post yesterday, my goal is simply to write each day, not knowing exactly where it will go but practicing the discipline and building routine. I see this post going down two distinct paths.

Firstly, the personal one. We lost my dad when I was 16, he was 49. Not ill, just gone suddenly due to undetected heart disease. There are many times over the years when I would have especially loved to be able to chat to him, this being one of them. My response it to be grateful. My family are well. We are restricted in what we can do but the five of us are well and in the same house. We can talk. Let’s make sure we do that. Live deeply. Connect. Don’t just exist in the same space and look back one day wishing we had lived deeper. The very precious gift of time and proximity is not to be unappreciated.

The second is the Leadership pathway. DEC is a tragic story in many ways, from the world’s second largest computer company when I was a kid, to rapid decline and extinction in a very short space of time. There’s a good review of the story here.

Simon Sinek also talks about the DEC decline in one of his books. I can’t remember it was Start With Why or The Infinite Game (both are excellent reads by the way). Fundamentally, it seems, that DEC leadership failed to adapt to a changing world with a clear vision of their part in the future. I would love for that company to still be around and to feel proud to own DEC stuff – a tangible connection to our family history. They had the opportunity and resource to be a key player in the new and emerging digital world, but they failed. It reminds me also of the Wright Brothers story compared to their well-funded rivals at the time to launch the first successful manned flight. Passion, purpose and commitment trumped ‘corporate wealth.’ In my business now, as with every other, as leaders we need to lead well. Be clear. Inspire. Take brave decisions. Communicate clearer than ever. Be human. Empathise. Set direction. Exude passion and purpose.

That’s all for today. More tomorrow. Have a great day.

Leave a Comment » | Attitude, Change, communication, empathy, Family, General, Leadership, Personal Leadership, relationships | Tagged: , , | Permalink
Posted by nick howes

Reflective Practice

July 4, 2018

A large part of my current work is with people currently on management apprenticeships. These are not the classically perceived ‘just out of school’ apprenticeship, rather people who have been with their current employer for some years, hold a management position and are undergoing some very practical management/leadership development via one of the new apprenticeship standards.

As part of this, managers have to produce a portfolio of their best work evidencing learning and application across broad areas of management – finance, operations, leading people etc. One of the best ways to evidence this learning is through reflective log. Essentially, this is a journal of experiences as they go about their work reflecting on what happened, what they’ve learned from it and perhaps what they would do differently next time. As many of us are too busy to always have time to stop and write these reflections down, a great way to record this journal is using your phone to make a quick video.

I definitely buy into the ‘lead by example’ and ‘don’t ask others to do something you’re not doing yourself’ (* perhaps with a few exceptions!) school of leadership. so thought it may be a good idea to use my blog to record my own reflective log!

Leave a Comment » | Apprenticeships, General, Journal, management, Reflective Log | Tagged: , , , | Permalink
Posted by nick howes