LATEST LEAPS
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We’ve been exploring with several clients recently the positives of a portfolio career and how to make it work well for them as so many more people are finding this a great option for them.
It has linked in well to our other work in this month’s professional development module for members around the impact and benefits of a learning and growth mindset.
We talked to one of our learners James Turner who has stayed in touch with us as an affiliate Leapfrog Mountain member about his journey:
We talked to one of our learners James Turner who has stayed in touch with us as an affiliate Leapfrog Mountain member about his journey:
JJ: James you have a really exciting and varied career covering such a variety of roles. It would be great to share this here in your own words.
JT: That’s a tough one as there is a lot on! To start with, it would be good to talk about my full-time profession. I work at Karrek Chartered Financial Planners in Newquay, Cornwall. We provide a high-quality service to clients in the community and I find my role in the company very rewarding; I take real pride in the integrity of what we do.
My background though is as a martial artist which is my first love. I am both a competitive Kickboxer and a martial arts instructor. I am currently furthering my studies in fitness training with plans to provide personal training services in the near future.
Martial arts and fitness have always essentially been “two halves of the whole” for me, so I am passionate about both.
I have been involved in performing arts for most of my life and have worked as an actor and a singer. I have some professional performance projects this year in that regard too.
JT: That’s a tough one as there is a lot on! To start with, it would be good to talk about my full-time profession. I work at Karrek Chartered Financial Planners in Newquay, Cornwall. We provide a high-quality service to clients in the community and I find my role in the company very rewarding; I take real pride in the integrity of what we do.
My background though is as a martial artist which is my first love. I am both a competitive Kickboxer and a martial arts instructor. I am currently furthering my studies in fitness training with plans to provide personal training services in the near future.
Martial arts and fitness have always essentially been “two halves of the whole” for me, so I am passionate about both.
I have been involved in performing arts for most of my life and have worked as an actor and a singer. I have some professional performance projects this year in that regard too.
JJ: Yes, you have quite a lot on here, James! So please share with us how you try and balance all of these?
JT: I try and approach life overall with the perspective of it being one cohesive whole. I consider myself a martial artist first and foremost. I grew up idolising legendary martial artists and I was inspired to follow in their footsteps.
The way I approach tasks and obstacles in all aspects of life, I have focus and discipline that I’ve learned from the martial arts.
For example, I make sure to practice my singing every day, whether I’m in a professional musical setting, or in the car. I treat my voice like my fighting technique and my physical fitness; you use it, or you lose it.
JJ: So, James it’s clear you see the martial arts disciplines as really important to you so please tell us more about what they mean and how they fit into all your life.
JT: The martial arts have a long history of traditions. Through generations, people in various circumstances and living situations basically developed an effective way to live. An example would be the Samurai Warriors in Japan.
They lived by a code of honour. Today, the modern martial artist, if he really “gets it”, is integrated with the world he’s living in; adaptable and flexible to ever changing circumstances, but he is also integrated with those traditional values.
You are a man of your word, you respect yourself and you respect others and you always set out to achieve your goals – you have self accountancy.
I approach every day with a disciplined mindset with regards to what I want to accomplish.
You have to be adaptable to unexpected circumstances, but it’s important to keep your mission in mind. I start my day with my 5-mile run, and this is my first “victory” of the day; it sets the tone for productivity.
I set long and short terms goals, relating to whatever I’m working on at that time.
My overall mental approach is consistent. In any field, you are going to experience some setbacks. As a fighter, you have setbacks, mistakes, injuries and roadblocks.
With financial services, it’s just the same. I may aim to prepare a certain number of client information packs and I don’t, whether it’s due to circumstances out of my control, or poor planning on my part.
The important thing is that I learn from the experience. I try to learn from any setbacks and aim not to put myself in that position or make the same mistakes again. I then move forward with newly gained knowledge. An “indomitable spirit” is an important characteristic of the martial artist.
JJ: With achievement being so important here how do you deal with your feelings with any setbacks?
JT: I initially feel very disappointed because what I do means a lot to me. For example, in Kickboxing: losing fights, missing opportunities to compete due to illness or injury, or my opponents being unable to compete for the same reasons.
In these situations, I’ve recognised that my setbacks weren’t through a lack of sincerity or effort, so the positive I could take from the situation was that with my passion and desire, I knew that I would do what it took to bounce back and win my next fight.
I’ve always learnt something from any setback, in any area of my life. Little by little, I’ve learned to get rid of the worry and anxiety and look at situations logically, which is important to be able to do when it’s something you’re passionate about. In those situations, emotions are liable to take too much control if you let them, so awareness is key.
JJ: You have clearly gained great personal development and self management disciplines through your martial arts. What would you say the top three martial art disciplines are that you’ve been able to use in the world of business that may also help other business people?
JT: I try and approach life overall with the perspective of it being one cohesive whole. I consider myself a martial artist first and foremost. I grew up idolising legendary martial artists and I was inspired to follow in their footsteps.
The way I approach tasks and obstacles in all aspects of life, I have focus and discipline that I’ve learned from the martial arts.
For example, I make sure to practice my singing every day, whether I’m in a professional musical setting, or in the car. I treat my voice like my fighting technique and my physical fitness; you use it, or you lose it.
JJ: So, James it’s clear you see the martial arts disciplines as really important to you so please tell us more about what they mean and how they fit into all your life.
JT: The martial arts have a long history of traditions. Through generations, people in various circumstances and living situations basically developed an effective way to live. An example would be the Samurai Warriors in Japan.
They lived by a code of honour. Today, the modern martial artist, if he really “gets it”, is integrated with the world he’s living in; adaptable and flexible to ever changing circumstances, but he is also integrated with those traditional values.
You are a man of your word, you respect yourself and you respect others and you always set out to achieve your goals – you have self accountancy.
I approach every day with a disciplined mindset with regards to what I want to accomplish.
You have to be adaptable to unexpected circumstances, but it’s important to keep your mission in mind. I start my day with my 5-mile run, and this is my first “victory” of the day; it sets the tone for productivity.
I set long and short terms goals, relating to whatever I’m working on at that time.
My overall mental approach is consistent. In any field, you are going to experience some setbacks. As a fighter, you have setbacks, mistakes, injuries and roadblocks.
With financial services, it’s just the same. I may aim to prepare a certain number of client information packs and I don’t, whether it’s due to circumstances out of my control, or poor planning on my part.
The important thing is that I learn from the experience. I try to learn from any setbacks and aim not to put myself in that position or make the same mistakes again. I then move forward with newly gained knowledge. An “indomitable spirit” is an important characteristic of the martial artist.
JJ: With achievement being so important here how do you deal with your feelings with any setbacks?
JT: I initially feel very disappointed because what I do means a lot to me. For example, in Kickboxing: losing fights, missing opportunities to compete due to illness or injury, or my opponents being unable to compete for the same reasons.
In these situations, I’ve recognised that my setbacks weren’t through a lack of sincerity or effort, so the positive I could take from the situation was that with my passion and desire, I knew that I would do what it took to bounce back and win my next fight.
I’ve always learnt something from any setback, in any area of my life. Little by little, I’ve learned to get rid of the worry and anxiety and look at situations logically, which is important to be able to do when it’s something you’re passionate about. In those situations, emotions are liable to take too much control if you let them, so awareness is key.
JJ: You have clearly gained great personal development and self management disciplines through your martial arts. What would you say the top three martial art disciplines are that you’ve been able to use in the world of business that may also help other business people?
JT: Three important values that come to mind are:
Discipline – This relates to being accountable to yourself; ranging from the trivial, such as making your bed in the morning and keeping the car clean, to your important personal goals, such as obtaining a qualification or winning a competition.
Discipline “across the board” becomes a habit, and you then hold yourself to a high standard. I’ve learned from fighters, athletes and business people who are older and more experienced than me, that success is often dependant on doing things on a consistent basis that many people don’t want to do. I’ve learned that this kind of discipline over the long term is worth it’s weight in gold.
Integrity – Having a moral code means you’ll take pride in what you do. This gives you a sense of self worth and a feeling that you’re making a difference. It’s about acting as you’ve set out to, even if no one else would know.
For example, I do my early morning runs and my Kickboxing trainer wouldn’t usually know if I had or hadn’t, but it’s important to my goals that I do it, so I do. In financial services, we put clients needs first at Karrek.
Yes, any business needs to make a profit; it’s just a matter of doing it with the client’s best interests as priority. That’s not always the case in the business world, but by having integrity, you know that you’re “one of the good guys (or girls!)”, and this serves as a constant motivator to stay on track.
Care – I care about what I do, and I strive for quality. I also believe it’s important to take care of yourself so you’re able to do what you set out to do. We need to look after our minds and bodies, because we only get one of each!
That’s not selfish as it’s integral to our success. I often see driven people in the business world who will sacrifice their own health and well-being as long as they’re achieving their professional goals. However, in the sporting world, we recognise that taking care of yourself is critically important to long term success.
Business tenacity is great; it’s just that I see with some business people that they are not functioning optimally as they have unhealthy food habits, they don’t exercise, or they have poor awareness, and this means both their health and businesses suffer in the long run.
JJ: As you know James I totally agree with the principles here and interestingly as I am most certainly not from a sports background I train these principles in both our leadership and our energy work. It’s a key question to me though with all your hard work and focus as to where your off switch is here to relax?
JT: Over the past few years, I’ve paid more respect and attention to scheduled rest and recuperation to gain more benefit from the work I put in. I am still learning the best ways to do that for me personally.
I now take Sundays off from my Kickboxing training to let the muscles heal. I train six days a week in the morning and the evening and pay attention to good sleep, nutrition and rest between my workouts. It’s good and even beneficial to your goals to enjoy time with friends and family.
“Chill out” time is about moving slower and enjoying that downtime in itself to recharge.
At the end of the day, that means I run better on a Monday morning – it just took me a while to learn this the hard way!
JJ: We have both worked in family businesses so know the unique benefits and challenges that brings. What have you found especially important here to make it work?
JT: It needs managing with care in a professional environment to work well I think. Any parent likes to help their child on their way and it can be a great opportunity.
I’m lucky here in that I have a positive close relationship with both my parents in and outside work. They are great people and I was brought up in a loving supportive network and when they realised martial arts was important to me, they backed me.
I can’t say enough about my parents; they’re the best. Dad’s business ethos has been a big influence on me, alongside my martial arts influences; there are many parallels between the two. He has real pride and integrity in what he does.
I think to make it work well in a family business, it’s important to not take the opportunity afforded to you for granted. Go in with your nose to the grindstone, be polite and don’t have any preconceived notions of superiority because of your family ties; this is a poor attitude. You’re fortunate to get the opportunity, so work hard and leave your ego at the door.
JJ: So, James with all your plates spinning what are your next plans?
JT: Well with my Kickboxing I look forward to more competition, training and passing my knowledge on to others; it’s a whole lifestyle.
With Financial Services I have been working with the advisors, so they have extra tools to support clients and I want to do more of that, so right now I’m expanding my horizons significantly, and learning more skills to benefit the business, and this year will reflect that.
I’m currently studying for further fitness qualifications and I look forward to establishing a Personal Training business within the next 12-18 months.
The performing arts area of my life has both music and acting projects in the pipeline this year. I’ll schedule and prepare for each challenge thoroughly, with the hopes of gaining valuable life experience and becoming a more rounded person.
JJ: You’ve shared here some fantastic goals James. We both know how critically important it is for someone to have a sense of purpose. How would you describe yours linking to those goals?
JT: It’s ongoing in that I want to work at each area of my life as best I can. I take pride in what I do, and I get satisfaction from giving it my all.
When I’m teaching martial arts, I enjoy seeing the students adopt this positive mindset as well. It’s great to have positive influences in your life. I’m lucky that I’ve spent time with the person who inspired me to become a Kickboxer, Don “The Dragon” Wilson, who of course is a legendary World Kickboxing Champion and Action Movie Star.
This was great for me as I’ve looked up to Don as a role model since my youth. I hope to have the kind of positive influence on people that I have experienced myself. I started teaching martial arts in my teens and seeing others develop in terms of not only their skills, but also their confidence, is just so rewarding.
JJ: You have a taken part in a huge range of learning opportunities through sport, business and college. How did you find working with Leapfrog Mountain?
JT: I attended the SME Marketing course 9 months ago as I was invited by our sister company Karrek Accountants.
I thought at the time it would be great to listen to an enterprise specialist. It really resonated with me as there was a lot of respect for both modern and old, new and in-development areas, plus I enjoyed the holistic approach to life and business in respecting people.
I’m someone who cares a lot about the mental approach and overall philosophy of any training and I am a big fan of Leapfrog Mountain’s mission statement.
JJ: If anyone wants to get in touch with you where is best to find you?
JT: For financial services, it’s Karrek Chartered Financial Planners, and for accountancy services, Karrek Accountants. www.karrekfinancial.com and www.karrekaccountants.com
For martial arts, you’ll find me at Koncept Gym which is family friendly studio for kids, adults and competitors. www.konceptgym.com
My email is Jamesturnermartialartist@gmail.com
Linked In – James Turner
Facebook- James Turner
Discipline – This relates to being accountable to yourself; ranging from the trivial, such as making your bed in the morning and keeping the car clean, to your important personal goals, such as obtaining a qualification or winning a competition.
Discipline “across the board” becomes a habit, and you then hold yourself to a high standard. I’ve learned from fighters, athletes and business people who are older and more experienced than me, that success is often dependant on doing things on a consistent basis that many people don’t want to do. I’ve learned that this kind of discipline over the long term is worth it’s weight in gold.
Integrity – Having a moral code means you’ll take pride in what you do. This gives you a sense of self worth and a feeling that you’re making a difference. It’s about acting as you’ve set out to, even if no one else would know.
For example, I do my early morning runs and my Kickboxing trainer wouldn’t usually know if I had or hadn’t, but it’s important to my goals that I do it, so I do. In financial services, we put clients needs first at Karrek.
Yes, any business needs to make a profit; it’s just a matter of doing it with the client’s best interests as priority. That’s not always the case in the business world, but by having integrity, you know that you’re “one of the good guys (or girls!)”, and this serves as a constant motivator to stay on track.
Care – I care about what I do, and I strive for quality. I also believe it’s important to take care of yourself so you’re able to do what you set out to do. We need to look after our minds and bodies, because we only get one of each!
That’s not selfish as it’s integral to our success. I often see driven people in the business world who will sacrifice their own health and well-being as long as they’re achieving their professional goals. However, in the sporting world, we recognise that taking care of yourself is critically important to long term success.
Business tenacity is great; it’s just that I see with some business people that they are not functioning optimally as they have unhealthy food habits, they don’t exercise, or they have poor awareness, and this means both their health and businesses suffer in the long run.
JJ: As you know James I totally agree with the principles here and interestingly as I am most certainly not from a sports background I train these principles in both our leadership and our energy work. It’s a key question to me though with all your hard work and focus as to where your off switch is here to relax?
JT: Over the past few years, I’ve paid more respect and attention to scheduled rest and recuperation to gain more benefit from the work I put in. I am still learning the best ways to do that for me personally.
I now take Sundays off from my Kickboxing training to let the muscles heal. I train six days a week in the morning and the evening and pay attention to good sleep, nutrition and rest between my workouts. It’s good and even beneficial to your goals to enjoy time with friends and family.
“Chill out” time is about moving slower and enjoying that downtime in itself to recharge.
At the end of the day, that means I run better on a Monday morning – it just took me a while to learn this the hard way!
JJ: We have both worked in family businesses so know the unique benefits and challenges that brings. What have you found especially important here to make it work?
JT: It needs managing with care in a professional environment to work well I think. Any parent likes to help their child on their way and it can be a great opportunity.
I’m lucky here in that I have a positive close relationship with both my parents in and outside work. They are great people and I was brought up in a loving supportive network and when they realised martial arts was important to me, they backed me.
I can’t say enough about my parents; they’re the best. Dad’s business ethos has been a big influence on me, alongside my martial arts influences; there are many parallels between the two. He has real pride and integrity in what he does.
I think to make it work well in a family business, it’s important to not take the opportunity afforded to you for granted. Go in with your nose to the grindstone, be polite and don’t have any preconceived notions of superiority because of your family ties; this is a poor attitude. You’re fortunate to get the opportunity, so work hard and leave your ego at the door.
JJ: So, James with all your plates spinning what are your next plans?
JT: Well with my Kickboxing I look forward to more competition, training and passing my knowledge on to others; it’s a whole lifestyle.
With Financial Services I have been working with the advisors, so they have extra tools to support clients and I want to do more of that, so right now I’m expanding my horizons significantly, and learning more skills to benefit the business, and this year will reflect that.
I’m currently studying for further fitness qualifications and I look forward to establishing a Personal Training business within the next 12-18 months.
The performing arts area of my life has both music and acting projects in the pipeline this year. I’ll schedule and prepare for each challenge thoroughly, with the hopes of gaining valuable life experience and becoming a more rounded person.
JJ: You’ve shared here some fantastic goals James. We both know how critically important it is for someone to have a sense of purpose. How would you describe yours linking to those goals?
JT: It’s ongoing in that I want to work at each area of my life as best I can. I take pride in what I do, and I get satisfaction from giving it my all.
When I’m teaching martial arts, I enjoy seeing the students adopt this positive mindset as well. It’s great to have positive influences in your life. I’m lucky that I’ve spent time with the person who inspired me to become a Kickboxer, Don “The Dragon” Wilson, who of course is a legendary World Kickboxing Champion and Action Movie Star.
This was great for me as I’ve looked up to Don as a role model since my youth. I hope to have the kind of positive influence on people that I have experienced myself. I started teaching martial arts in my teens and seeing others develop in terms of not only their skills, but also their confidence, is just so rewarding.
JJ: You have a taken part in a huge range of learning opportunities through sport, business and college. How did you find working with Leapfrog Mountain?
JT: I attended the SME Marketing course 9 months ago as I was invited by our sister company Karrek Accountants.
I thought at the time it would be great to listen to an enterprise specialist. It really resonated with me as there was a lot of respect for both modern and old, new and in-development areas, plus I enjoyed the holistic approach to life and business in respecting people.
I’m someone who cares a lot about the mental approach and overall philosophy of any training and I am a big fan of Leapfrog Mountain’s mission statement.
JJ: If anyone wants to get in touch with you where is best to find you?
JT: For financial services, it’s Karrek Chartered Financial Planners, and for accountancy services, Karrek Accountants. www.karrekfinancial.com and www.karrekaccountants.com
For martial arts, you’ll find me at Koncept Gym which is family friendly studio for kids, adults and competitors. www.konceptgym.com
My email is Jamesturnermartialartist@gmail.com
Linked In – James Turner
Facebook- James Turner
- Published on
I had a practical demonstration of a few valuable lessons about training whilst I was in the lovely Indian Ocean last month. Thanks to the brilliant support & refresher dive training from Colin Stratton @liquid.ocean I went scuba diving again. I’m a relatively novice diver with just 40 dives in 3 countries.
I’ve passed my PADI advanced which I simply took to try and improve my skills and confidence as I still get a bit nervous each time. So off I go again and on dive number four. I was at last fully relaxed exploring the beautiful coral reefs with Nemo’s popping out of swirling anemones and shimmering shoals of fish 40 feet under.
We then got to a slightly narrow channel so my buddy went ahead in front, suddenly all I knew was I had no air and just water was pouring into my mouth.
All my training flew past my mind and I just managed to pull myself together, stay calm and decide my best option was get to my buddy who was by now quite a way in front to get access to both help and his emergency air.
Very shakily I later got onto the boat and found my regulator which is the air supply had simply broken and the front part had come off.
The next day would have been my last dive and it took me some determination and breathing exercises to go back in again. I did and was rewarded with a wonderful dive with the highlight being a beautiful large green turtle swimming straight towards me. And how does this relate to training and mentoring?
Today on meeting one of our private clients, a senior risk director in Financial Services, for a session, we were discussing the importance of a training project they were working on and it really made me think. My dive ‘trauma’ here really shows the essence of great training, mentoring and life principles:
Behaviours - Training is about helping people behave and think rather than learning a process.
Yes, I didn’t remember exactly the best way to hold my buddy’s arm whilst using his air tank, but all my original training plus refresher training with Colin had taught me: “Don’t panic there are options and if you stay calm you will find the right one.” This means behaviour based training gets the best results and needs to be a natural ongoing part of getting business and personal results rather than adhoc interventions.
Feelings – Fear is a powerful emotion that needs to be taken into account. It can prevent people learning, prevent them reaching their potential and make them give up at the first sign of failure. Feeling fear is OK - it’s how you then decide to react to it.
The more you face fear the easier it is to do it again. Fear can arise from anything someone perceives so it can be something that can be quite minor to someone else. Great training builds in support and encouragement and builds it in at every stage.
Thoughts - The original decision I made several years ago to learn to dive despite being very scared has been life changing for me. I now feel that if I have the confidence to take off my mask and take out my air on the sea bed, which is part of the safety training I had to do then
I can do anything.
It’s been a powerful thought which has helped me navigate through a number of challenges. If you decide you want to learn then that thought, and that focus will get you through.
I’ve seen this so much over the years especially when I was teaching overseas students in Financial Services. It was learning difficult subject areas in a second language to them however the desire to improve their career and support their family made those students extremely hard working and focussed.
Support - Training needs back up. Refreshers and updates are essential in any sector to keep the training alive, relevant and practical to an individual’s circumstances. It’s often in that training follow up where it all just ‘clicks’ for someone and their learning comes to life. That’s why we always offer ongoing professional development modules after our training.
Challenges - Training isn’t about getting it right. The right training is about accepting there will be obstacles and helping the learner know that they are simply that – obstacles and that they are still on a great journey to achieve what they want. In having this kind of mindset, it means you learn from mistakes and take the positives from them and move on rather than replay what went wrong.
Community – Training has greater impact when you are surrounded or have access to people who are on a similar learning journey even if they are way behind or ahead of you. Our membership programme really helps people with that.
On the dive boat one very experienced diver just simply took the time to chat it through with me. A lesser experienced one knew enough to see I was very tired and helped me with unloading my equipment. All said they hoped to see me on the dive boat the next day with jokes about dolphins being my potential reward.
Inspiration - Training needs excellent trainers who build confidence. Colin did exactly that for me. Confidence building is the biggest gift a trainer can share.
Whatever your ‘trauma’ investing in great training and mentoring will help you overcome it. In business and in life, knowledge is not enough, it can be a move in the wrong direction if that does not translate to a cool head in potentially life-changing, or even life-ending, situations.
Mentoring and training create the essential bridge between good theory and good practice through support, positive challenge, insights and guidance.
Wishing you all great training experiences and hopefully I’m moving on to trauma free fun diving from now! If you are interested in our mentoring and training programmes then please have a look at our "How we can help" pages.
I’ve passed my PADI advanced which I simply took to try and improve my skills and confidence as I still get a bit nervous each time. So off I go again and on dive number four. I was at last fully relaxed exploring the beautiful coral reefs with Nemo’s popping out of swirling anemones and shimmering shoals of fish 40 feet under.
We then got to a slightly narrow channel so my buddy went ahead in front, suddenly all I knew was I had no air and just water was pouring into my mouth.
All my training flew past my mind and I just managed to pull myself together, stay calm and decide my best option was get to my buddy who was by now quite a way in front to get access to both help and his emergency air.
Very shakily I later got onto the boat and found my regulator which is the air supply had simply broken and the front part had come off.
The next day would have been my last dive and it took me some determination and breathing exercises to go back in again. I did and was rewarded with a wonderful dive with the highlight being a beautiful large green turtle swimming straight towards me. And how does this relate to training and mentoring?
Today on meeting one of our private clients, a senior risk director in Financial Services, for a session, we were discussing the importance of a training project they were working on and it really made me think. My dive ‘trauma’ here really shows the essence of great training, mentoring and life principles:
Behaviours - Training is about helping people behave and think rather than learning a process.
Yes, I didn’t remember exactly the best way to hold my buddy’s arm whilst using his air tank, but all my original training plus refresher training with Colin had taught me: “Don’t panic there are options and if you stay calm you will find the right one.” This means behaviour based training gets the best results and needs to be a natural ongoing part of getting business and personal results rather than adhoc interventions.
Feelings – Fear is a powerful emotion that needs to be taken into account. It can prevent people learning, prevent them reaching their potential and make them give up at the first sign of failure. Feeling fear is OK - it’s how you then decide to react to it.
The more you face fear the easier it is to do it again. Fear can arise from anything someone perceives so it can be something that can be quite minor to someone else. Great training builds in support and encouragement and builds it in at every stage.
Thoughts - The original decision I made several years ago to learn to dive despite being very scared has been life changing for me. I now feel that if I have the confidence to take off my mask and take out my air on the sea bed, which is part of the safety training I had to do then
I can do anything.
It’s been a powerful thought which has helped me navigate through a number of challenges. If you decide you want to learn then that thought, and that focus will get you through.
I’ve seen this so much over the years especially when I was teaching overseas students in Financial Services. It was learning difficult subject areas in a second language to them however the desire to improve their career and support their family made those students extremely hard working and focussed.
Support - Training needs back up. Refreshers and updates are essential in any sector to keep the training alive, relevant and practical to an individual’s circumstances. It’s often in that training follow up where it all just ‘clicks’ for someone and their learning comes to life. That’s why we always offer ongoing professional development modules after our training.
Challenges - Training isn’t about getting it right. The right training is about accepting there will be obstacles and helping the learner know that they are simply that – obstacles and that they are still on a great journey to achieve what they want. In having this kind of mindset, it means you learn from mistakes and take the positives from them and move on rather than replay what went wrong.
Community – Training has greater impact when you are surrounded or have access to people who are on a similar learning journey even if they are way behind or ahead of you. Our membership programme really helps people with that.
On the dive boat one very experienced diver just simply took the time to chat it through with me. A lesser experienced one knew enough to see I was very tired and helped me with unloading my equipment. All said they hoped to see me on the dive boat the next day with jokes about dolphins being my potential reward.
Inspiration - Training needs excellent trainers who build confidence. Colin did exactly that for me. Confidence building is the biggest gift a trainer can share.
Whatever your ‘trauma’ investing in great training and mentoring will help you overcome it. In business and in life, knowledge is not enough, it can be a move in the wrong direction if that does not translate to a cool head in potentially life-changing, or even life-ending, situations.
Mentoring and training create the essential bridge between good theory and good practice through support, positive challenge, insights and guidance.
Wishing you all great training experiences and hopefully I’m moving on to trauma free fun diving from now! If you are interested in our mentoring and training programmes then please have a look at our "How we can help" pages.
- Published on
Well yesterday was an amazing experience for me! After receiving the surprise letter earlier in the year from the Cabinet Office saying that I was to be recognised for my services to training and people development to now has been a lovely journey….
To be appointed as an Officer of the Order of the British Empire (OBE) has been an inspiring experience and I am still totally blown away to have been recognised this way.
This award means so much to me especially as I hope to use my award as an opportunity to encourage more individuals and organisations to recognise the importance of mentoring as a practical tool in the overall critical need to invest in people development.
The day started the night before with travel to London. With a 9.30 start it was the only practical way to arrive in time from Cornwall! Great evening celebrations with husband and parents followed by an early night and a nightcap of green tea instead of cocktails in view of the day ahead.
We walked to the Palace mistakenly thinking that as it was 10 mins from our hotel and sunshine it would be a more relaxing way to arrive. As Mum & I then clutched hats in the breeze that just appeared as lots of overseas tourists happily snapped us arriving thinking we were VIP’s the plan didn’t seem quite as good 😊 My lovely hat thanks to Joanne just about stayed in place.
The lovely welcome we received from the police and palace staff was really appreciated. Suddenly just inside the entrance I had a wave of emotion hit me. I simply couldn’t believe I was there. A few shaky walks later not helped with gravel and heels and we arrived at the beautiful full entrance fully (well almost!) composed.
The Palace was simply stunning. I had been lucky enough to have visited previously for one of the Queens Garden parties and this time I saw even more of this special building.
The staff quickly organised us all and I was led up a large elegant staircase apart from the family to the room where the other award recipients were waiting. I really enjoyed talking to Amma Asante MBE about her film work and was very grateful to her pouring water for us both before I spilled any, Lee Hough MBE about his front line healthcare work and Catherine Ashley OBE about her holocaust promotion work.
Onto our instructions which I simply couldn’t take in. It probably didn’t help that I ended up near the back of the room and at 5 foot 1 couldn’t see the actual curtesy example. Frantic memories from 30 years ago ballet exams didn’t seem to help much either.
We then all went in line to receive our awards. It was lovely to be near other recipients sharing stories including Natasha Kaplinsky OBE who brilliantly distracted me on my curtesy worries through chatting to me about everything else.
Then onto the big moment and I felt so pleased HRH Prince Charles presented me with my medal. He has been a true champion of mentoring through many aspects of his work and especially through his patronage of the charity Prime Cymru in Wales. I have been privileged to meet him before and he has a special gift of making everyone feel what they have to say is interesting to him. No mean feat as he welcomed and awarded so many people that day.
It felt great then to sit and see others receive their awards and I had lovely chats too with Susan Hawks OBE for services to politics and Vassie Pascale OBE for services to education.
Finally we all managed a very late lunch and just got the parents onto the train home in time thanks to a lovely military family whose name we didn’t catch letting us go in front of them for the official photos.
What a fantastic experience and one I will always treasure.
It made me really reflect on my belief which I try and share through all Leapfrog Mountain’s work that holistic investment in helping people understand who they are and how they can be on the path to become the best can be is true investment. Any investment in yourself and your people is the most powerful, impactful and rewarding investment there is for both individuals and organisations.
I feel very lucky to have worked with so many great people and organisations and I have learnt so much from all of these experiences. Working together is really important to me as any growth for business and life means effective collaboration. The work I do with creating mentoring programmes is the perfect example of great collaboration. When programmes are created and led brilliantly it means community/client impact, business and personal development are fun, positive and relevant which achieves fantastic impact for everyone involved.
We work with a fantastic range of individuals and organisations that believe in the same key ethos. To find out more please do have a look at the organisations we support here.
One great example is our charity partner SOHK, School of Hard Knocks, who are a social inclusion charity. They work with at-risk and vulnerable people and passionately believe in human potential.
I have been supporting the charity for 5 years with mentoring, supporting the creation of their mentoring programme and being one of their ambassadors. To help or find out more visit schoolofhardknocks.org.uk.
A very special thank you is for the whole of the SFEDI group and the Institute of Enterprise and Entrepreneurs. As Leapfrog Mountains’s awarding body and our collaborative partners on key projects they have been simply brilliant. Without their support, we simply wouldn't be achieving the work we have. Their focus on enterprising excellence is always there and their expertise and breadth of impact across the UK and beyond is brilliant.
A big thank you is shared with all our team, clients, suppliers and collaborative partners for working with us on these important agendas and being a critical part of our longer-term journey to help more people. We simply couldn't have achieved our impact without them. Britta Hoffmann for our website, Kate Flores for our designs and Liz Frost and Felicia Castiglione for our office support have all been totally fantastic.
These organisations include longstanding support from extra special clients who have been with us since day 1. Ranging from Cornish professionals Karrek Accountants, investing in their clients’ growth, Scottish Chambers of Commerce leading enterprise mentoring across Scotland, Royal Institute of British Architects supporting career mentoring to invest in their industry ongoing success in the UK and beyond, the British Bankers Association investing in volunteer enterprise mentoring to help SME. Pearson investing in enterprise education and Proversity creating digital education that’s built around real business needs and outcomes worldwide.
This journey has meant great support from special individuals too:
A huge thank you to my close friends & family for all their support, especially my husband Paul who has always been there for me. His practical support in actually getting me across the UK and beyond on my various trips at the right time and heading in the right direction has been invaluable (morning alarms are still not my favourite thing!) Special thanks too for his ongoing patience, ideas and insights when I excitedly share that I have yet another great idea.
Thanks to all my good friends who have been there for me. Three friends especially have used their mentoring expertise to support me over an interesting journey these last few years and their support and encouragement has been so important to me. They have really enabled me to go on and support more people and organisations to help others.
People truly being there for you adds so much value, so I thought I would share my thanks and experiences so you can see the brilliant impact that sharing through mentoring can have.
Ruth Lowbridge MBE – Executive Chair SFEDI Group - Ruth’s amazing breadth of knowledge coupled with her great pragmatic and insight skills really helped me to see different points of view at critical points and focus in what I can do rather than what I can't. An inspirational leader who champions enterprising attitudes at every turn.
Lord Laird – The Lord Laird of Artigarven - Lord Laird’s intellect, depth of experience and focus on personal development blended with humour worked miracles on my confidence. One of the most positive people I know, a gentleman who believes in seeing the best in people.
Adam Shaw – The Heart Guy - Adam’s expert guidance and training in the areas of resilience and wellbeing at a time when these areas had pretty much fallen off my to do list has given me invaluable tools for life. Adam’s insights too into deeper areas of communication helped me make sense of challenging situations.
A huge thank you too you all!
We have a Great country with Great people! By focusing on all our special talents and sharing them I really believe we can all make a Great difference together.
To be appointed as an Officer of the Order of the British Empire (OBE) has been an inspiring experience and I am still totally blown away to have been recognised this way.
This award means so much to me especially as I hope to use my award as an opportunity to encourage more individuals and organisations to recognise the importance of mentoring as a practical tool in the overall critical need to invest in people development.
The day started the night before with travel to London. With a 9.30 start it was the only practical way to arrive in time from Cornwall! Great evening celebrations with husband and parents followed by an early night and a nightcap of green tea instead of cocktails in view of the day ahead.
We walked to the Palace mistakenly thinking that as it was 10 mins from our hotel and sunshine it would be a more relaxing way to arrive. As Mum & I then clutched hats in the breeze that just appeared as lots of overseas tourists happily snapped us arriving thinking we were VIP’s the plan didn’t seem quite as good 😊 My lovely hat thanks to Joanne just about stayed in place.
The lovely welcome we received from the police and palace staff was really appreciated. Suddenly just inside the entrance I had a wave of emotion hit me. I simply couldn’t believe I was there. A few shaky walks later not helped with gravel and heels and we arrived at the beautiful full entrance fully (well almost!) composed.
The Palace was simply stunning. I had been lucky enough to have visited previously for one of the Queens Garden parties and this time I saw even more of this special building.
The staff quickly organised us all and I was led up a large elegant staircase apart from the family to the room where the other award recipients were waiting. I really enjoyed talking to Amma Asante MBE about her film work and was very grateful to her pouring water for us both before I spilled any, Lee Hough MBE about his front line healthcare work and Catherine Ashley OBE about her holocaust promotion work.
Onto our instructions which I simply couldn’t take in. It probably didn’t help that I ended up near the back of the room and at 5 foot 1 couldn’t see the actual curtesy example. Frantic memories from 30 years ago ballet exams didn’t seem to help much either.
We then all went in line to receive our awards. It was lovely to be near other recipients sharing stories including Natasha Kaplinsky OBE who brilliantly distracted me on my curtesy worries through chatting to me about everything else.
Then onto the big moment and I felt so pleased HRH Prince Charles presented me with my medal. He has been a true champion of mentoring through many aspects of his work and especially through his patronage of the charity Prime Cymru in Wales. I have been privileged to meet him before and he has a special gift of making everyone feel what they have to say is interesting to him. No mean feat as he welcomed and awarded so many people that day.
It felt great then to sit and see others receive their awards and I had lovely chats too with Susan Hawks OBE for services to politics and Vassie Pascale OBE for services to education.
Finally we all managed a very late lunch and just got the parents onto the train home in time thanks to a lovely military family whose name we didn’t catch letting us go in front of them for the official photos.
What a fantastic experience and one I will always treasure.
It made me really reflect on my belief which I try and share through all Leapfrog Mountain’s work that holistic investment in helping people understand who they are and how they can be on the path to become the best can be is true investment. Any investment in yourself and your people is the most powerful, impactful and rewarding investment there is for both individuals and organisations.
I feel very lucky to have worked with so many great people and organisations and I have learnt so much from all of these experiences. Working together is really important to me as any growth for business and life means effective collaboration. The work I do with creating mentoring programmes is the perfect example of great collaboration. When programmes are created and led brilliantly it means community/client impact, business and personal development are fun, positive and relevant which achieves fantastic impact for everyone involved.
We work with a fantastic range of individuals and organisations that believe in the same key ethos. To find out more please do have a look at the organisations we support here.
One great example is our charity partner SOHK, School of Hard Knocks, who are a social inclusion charity. They work with at-risk and vulnerable people and passionately believe in human potential.
I have been supporting the charity for 5 years with mentoring, supporting the creation of their mentoring programme and being one of their ambassadors. To help or find out more visit schoolofhardknocks.org.uk.
A very special thank you is for the whole of the SFEDI group and the Institute of Enterprise and Entrepreneurs. As Leapfrog Mountains’s awarding body and our collaborative partners on key projects they have been simply brilliant. Without their support, we simply wouldn't be achieving the work we have. Their focus on enterprising excellence is always there and their expertise and breadth of impact across the UK and beyond is brilliant.
A big thank you is shared with all our team, clients, suppliers and collaborative partners for working with us on these important agendas and being a critical part of our longer-term journey to help more people. We simply couldn't have achieved our impact without them. Britta Hoffmann for our website, Kate Flores for our designs and Liz Frost and Felicia Castiglione for our office support have all been totally fantastic.
These organisations include longstanding support from extra special clients who have been with us since day 1. Ranging from Cornish professionals Karrek Accountants, investing in their clients’ growth, Scottish Chambers of Commerce leading enterprise mentoring across Scotland, Royal Institute of British Architects supporting career mentoring to invest in their industry ongoing success in the UK and beyond, the British Bankers Association investing in volunteer enterprise mentoring to help SME. Pearson investing in enterprise education and Proversity creating digital education that’s built around real business needs and outcomes worldwide.
This journey has meant great support from special individuals too:
A huge thank you to my close friends & family for all their support, especially my husband Paul who has always been there for me. His practical support in actually getting me across the UK and beyond on my various trips at the right time and heading in the right direction has been invaluable (morning alarms are still not my favourite thing!) Special thanks too for his ongoing patience, ideas and insights when I excitedly share that I have yet another great idea.
Thanks to all my good friends who have been there for me. Three friends especially have used their mentoring expertise to support me over an interesting journey these last few years and their support and encouragement has been so important to me. They have really enabled me to go on and support more people and organisations to help others.
People truly being there for you adds so much value, so I thought I would share my thanks and experiences so you can see the brilliant impact that sharing through mentoring can have.
Ruth Lowbridge MBE – Executive Chair SFEDI Group - Ruth’s amazing breadth of knowledge coupled with her great pragmatic and insight skills really helped me to see different points of view at critical points and focus in what I can do rather than what I can't. An inspirational leader who champions enterprising attitudes at every turn.
Lord Laird – The Lord Laird of Artigarven - Lord Laird’s intellect, depth of experience and focus on personal development blended with humour worked miracles on my confidence. One of the most positive people I know, a gentleman who believes in seeing the best in people.
Adam Shaw – The Heart Guy - Adam’s expert guidance and training in the areas of resilience and wellbeing at a time when these areas had pretty much fallen off my to do list has given me invaluable tools for life. Adam’s insights too into deeper areas of communication helped me make sense of challenging situations.
A huge thank you too you all!
We have a Great country with Great people! By focusing on all our special talents and sharing them I really believe we can all make a Great difference together.
- Published on
We are delighted to be supporting National Mentoring Day as an official partner for the third year running since its start in 2015. This year it’s on Friday 27th October. I hope you can use the day to share your own mentoring achievements and celebrate the importance of mentoring with us across all the UK. Visit nationalmentoringday.org for more information. There are loads of resources on their site that you can use for your celebrations. #MoveMountains #LeapHorizons
So why is mentoring so important?
Well, it makes a greater difference to the individuals involved, any organisations involved and the wider UK Plc than the intervention itself.
It’s a powerful self development tool that really adds true value through 7 key ways:
Sharing Knowledge
Insight, knowledge and experience all shared within a trusted relationship on the mentees agenda mean that knowledge isn’t wasted. It also means knowledge grows as it’s only used in mentoring as a tool to help the mentees reflection and journey not to advise. This means their insights help give extra meaning and applications of that knowledge to the mentor too. This often leads to greater insights that benefit all involved especially in an employer setting.
Building Emotional Intelligence
The greater skills we all develop in this critical area mean greater harmonious relationships in all areas of our lives. Mentoring gives the space for these skills to develop. Interestingly we see through our training and programmes that these skills equally develop in both mentor and mentee. That’s great for business overall as well as for individual benefit.
Creating Positivity
I’ve yet to meet a mentor who doesn’t enjoy mentoring with a passion. It is meaningful engagement with people, whether it’s volunteering or on a professional paid basis. The most often cited benefit for mentees is that they grow in confidence which also increases positivity. As we all know positivity spreads and makes a huge difference to everyone around. It’s much more fun and useful to have positive energy and mindsets around you. Find out more in our Energy Skills Programme.
Showing Human Value
I often talk about the human return on investment which is just as valuable as financial return on investment. Any organisation that invests in mentoring programmes is investing in the growth of their people and organisation. It’s a proven tool to increase the engagement and skills of all involved. I think the 3 pillars of sustainable growth are relevant here too. All three are needed for great growth:
People – The heart of every organisation
Planet – The wider community, stakeholders as well as the pure planet
Profit – To ensure investment and operations can continue
And they are needed in equal respect and balance to enable sustainable business growth.
Developing Collaboration
One of a mentor’s skills is having a wide network of people that they know and trust from various areas, not just their area of expertise. This means mentors are focussed on collaborative working which generally fosters that thinking in their mentee. One of the important points of the mentoring code of practice is that a mentor will not operate beyond the bounds of their areas and will wherever possible signpost or introduce to other support. This means natural collaborative attitudes are developed through mentoring. A powerful tool for both organisations and the individuals involved.
Learning a Growth Mindset
Mentoring explores issues and what can be fine to improve perspectives and/or outcomes which develops breadth of view. Critically too having a growth mindset where you learn from issues and mistakes rather than brew over them helps create a strong resilience. String resilience means less stress and more productivity. With the mentors too we explore a lot of work in our training on reflective practice as a tool for both self development and improving mentoring quality.
Respecting Inclusion
To be a great mentor means mentoring with an open and non-judgemental mind. That’s a great place to start to understanding and respecting people that are totally different to yourself in any way. If you support mentoring external to your workplace too then one of the key benefits is meeting people from a different walk of life to yourself. This gives valuable insight and respect for other’s views benefitting us all.
Happy Mentoring 😊
If you would like to know more about Mentor Training courses or how we can support your organisation, please get in touch.
So why is mentoring so important?
Well, it makes a greater difference to the individuals involved, any organisations involved and the wider UK Plc than the intervention itself.
It’s a powerful self development tool that really adds true value through 7 key ways:
Sharing Knowledge
Insight, knowledge and experience all shared within a trusted relationship on the mentees agenda mean that knowledge isn’t wasted. It also means knowledge grows as it’s only used in mentoring as a tool to help the mentees reflection and journey not to advise. This means their insights help give extra meaning and applications of that knowledge to the mentor too. This often leads to greater insights that benefit all involved especially in an employer setting.
Building Emotional Intelligence
The greater skills we all develop in this critical area mean greater harmonious relationships in all areas of our lives. Mentoring gives the space for these skills to develop. Interestingly we see through our training and programmes that these skills equally develop in both mentor and mentee. That’s great for business overall as well as for individual benefit.
Creating Positivity
I’ve yet to meet a mentor who doesn’t enjoy mentoring with a passion. It is meaningful engagement with people, whether it’s volunteering or on a professional paid basis. The most often cited benefit for mentees is that they grow in confidence which also increases positivity. As we all know positivity spreads and makes a huge difference to everyone around. It’s much more fun and useful to have positive energy and mindsets around you. Find out more in our Energy Skills Programme.
Showing Human Value
I often talk about the human return on investment which is just as valuable as financial return on investment. Any organisation that invests in mentoring programmes is investing in the growth of their people and organisation. It’s a proven tool to increase the engagement and skills of all involved. I think the 3 pillars of sustainable growth are relevant here too. All three are needed for great growth:
People – The heart of every organisation
Planet – The wider community, stakeholders as well as the pure planet
Profit – To ensure investment and operations can continue
And they are needed in equal respect and balance to enable sustainable business growth.
Developing Collaboration
One of a mentor’s skills is having a wide network of people that they know and trust from various areas, not just their area of expertise. This means mentors are focussed on collaborative working which generally fosters that thinking in their mentee. One of the important points of the mentoring code of practice is that a mentor will not operate beyond the bounds of their areas and will wherever possible signpost or introduce to other support. This means natural collaborative attitudes are developed through mentoring. A powerful tool for both organisations and the individuals involved.
Learning a Growth Mindset
Mentoring explores issues and what can be fine to improve perspectives and/or outcomes which develops breadth of view. Critically too having a growth mindset where you learn from issues and mistakes rather than brew over them helps create a strong resilience. String resilience means less stress and more productivity. With the mentors too we explore a lot of work in our training on reflective practice as a tool for both self development and improving mentoring quality.
Respecting Inclusion
To be a great mentor means mentoring with an open and non-judgemental mind. That’s a great place to start to understanding and respecting people that are totally different to yourself in any way. If you support mentoring external to your workplace too then one of the key benefits is meeting people from a different walk of life to yourself. This gives valuable insight and respect for other’s views benefitting us all.
Happy Mentoring 😊
If you would like to know more about Mentor Training courses or how we can support your organisation, please get in touch.
- Published on
Since receiving my OBE for services to training and people development, I have been totally blown away with the number of lovely messages I have received.
A huge thank you to everyone who has been part of my journey and supported me here. I have really appreciated your encouragement and comments.
It has been so great this month to be interviewed by three leading organisations.
Firstly an interview with the Institute of Enterprise & Entrepreneurs for their Think Enterprise Magazine. The IOEE support enterprising people and organisations across the UK and beyond and are the awarding body for Leapfrog Mountain accredited courses and qualifications.
Then onto a podcast interview with NXD who support SME by providing expert support through Non Executive Directors and Board Mentors/Advisors. I work with NXD to lead their membership in the South West.
Femnesty interviewed me around how people especially females can help themselves to get where they want to be. We work collaboratively with Femnesty as they are a network that connects women from all around the world. It exists to help women recognise and unleash the potential in their own personal and professional lives.
I hope that this extra profile will really help encourage people and organisations to recognise the importance of people development.
It's been a key theme for us this month with running courses for growth entrepreneurs on 'Leading Yourself and Others' and with our Membership offer this month's professional development module is on Personal Strategy.
One of my favourite quotes here from the amazing philosopher Winnie the Pooh :
“You are braver than you believe, stronger than you seem, and smarter than you think"
So often we all just need a little help to see that and that's why people development is such an important area for business and for life.
So with my OBE now I am just waiting for the next update which is the palace date and then of course the delights of finding a hat that will stay on and learning how to curtsey properly!
If you would like to more about Leapfrog Mountain and how we can help your organisation, take a look at our programme page or get in touch.
Best wishes to all,
Jackie
#LeapHorizons #MoveMountains
A huge thank you to everyone who has been part of my journey and supported me here. I have really appreciated your encouragement and comments.
It has been so great this month to be interviewed by three leading organisations.
Firstly an interview with the Institute of Enterprise & Entrepreneurs for their Think Enterprise Magazine. The IOEE support enterprising people and organisations across the UK and beyond and are the awarding body for Leapfrog Mountain accredited courses and qualifications.
Then onto a podcast interview with NXD who support SME by providing expert support through Non Executive Directors and Board Mentors/Advisors. I work with NXD to lead their membership in the South West.
Femnesty interviewed me around how people especially females can help themselves to get where they want to be. We work collaboratively with Femnesty as they are a network that connects women from all around the world. It exists to help women recognise and unleash the potential in their own personal and professional lives.
I hope that this extra profile will really help encourage people and organisations to recognise the importance of people development.
It's been a key theme for us this month with running courses for growth entrepreneurs on 'Leading Yourself and Others' and with our Membership offer this month's professional development module is on Personal Strategy.
One of my favourite quotes here from the amazing philosopher Winnie the Pooh :
“You are braver than you believe, stronger than you seem, and smarter than you think"
So often we all just need a little help to see that and that's why people development is such an important area for business and for life.
So with my OBE now I am just waiting for the next update which is the palace date and then of course the delights of finding a hat that will stay on and learning how to curtsey properly!
If you would like to more about Leapfrog Mountain and how we can help your organisation, take a look at our programme page or get in touch.
Best wishes to all,
Jackie
#LeapHorizons #MoveMountains
- Published on
The amazing letter from the Cabinet Office saying that I was to be recognised for my services to training and people development arrived as a complete surprise.
To be appointed as an Officer of the Order of the British Empire (OBE) made me feel very humbled indeed and I am totally blown away to have been recognised this way.
It means such a lot to me especially as I hope to use my award as an opportunity to encourage more individuals and organisations to recognise the importance of people development.
To be appointed as an Officer of the Order of the British Empire (OBE) made me feel very humbled indeed and I am totally blown away to have been recognised this way.
It means such a lot to me especially as I hope to use my award as an opportunity to encourage more individuals and organisations to recognise the importance of people development.
I believe and share through all Leapfrog Mountain’s work that Human Return On Investment (as opposed to the traditional ROI measure) is the most powerful and rewarding investment there is.
I have been privileged to work with so many great people and organisations and have learnt from all of them. Collaboration is really important to me as any growth for business and life means effective collaboration. My favourite growth solution of mentoring is the perfect example of great collaboration. When this skill is working well it means business and personal development are fun, positive and impactful which is great for everyone.
I feel very lucky to have worked with such a fantastic range of individuals and organisations that believe in the same key ethos. To find out more please do have a look at the organisations we support here.
One great example is our charity partner SOHK, School of Hard Knocks, who are a social inclusion charity. They work with at-risk and vulnerable people and passionately believe in human potential.
I have been supporting the charity for 4 years with mentoring, supporting the creation of their mentoring programme and being one of their ambassadors. To help or find out more visit schoolofhardknocks.org.uk.
A very special thank you is for the whole of the SFEDI group and the Institute of Enterprise and Entrepreneurs. As Leapfrog Mountains’s awarding body and our collaborative partners on key projects they have been simply brilliant. Without their support, we simply wouldn't be achieving the work we have. Their focus on enterprising excellence is always there and their expertise and breadth of impact across the UK and beyond is fantastic.
A big thank you is shared with all our team, clients, suppliers and collaborative partners for working with us on these important agendas and being a critical part of our longer-term journey to help more people. We simply couldn't have achieved our impact without them. Britta Hoffmann for our website, Kate Flores for our designs and Liz Frost for our office support have all been totally brilliant.
These organisations include longstanding support from extra special clients who have been with us since day 1. Ranging from Cornish professionals Karrek Accountants, investing in their clients’ growth, Scottish Chambers of Commerce leading enterprise mentoring across Scotland, Royal Institute of British Architects supporting career mentoring to invest in the industry ‘s ongoing success in the UK and beyond, the British Bankers Association investing in volunteer enterprise mentoring to help SME. Pearson investing in enterprise education and Proversity creating digital education that’s built around real business needs and outcomes worldwide.
This journey has meant great support from special individuals too:
Huge thanks to my husband Paul who has always been there for me. His practical support in actually getting me across the UK and beyond on my various trips at the right time and heading in the right direction has been invaluable (morning alarms are still not my favourite thing!) Special thanks too for his ongoing patience, ideas and insights when I excitedly share that I have yet another great idea.
Thanks to all my good friends who have been there for me. Three friends especially have used their mentoring expertise to support me over an interesting journey these last few years and their support and encouragement has been so important to me. They have really enabled me to go on and support more people and organisations to help others.
People truly being there for you adds so much value, so I thought I would share my thanks and experiences so you can see the brilliant impact that sharing through mentoring can have.
Ruth Lowbridge MBE – Executive Chair SFEDI Group - Ruth’s amazing breadth of knowledge coupled with her great pragmatic and insight skills really helped me to see different points of view at critical points and focus in what I can do rather than what I can't. An inspirational leader who champions enterprising attitudes at every turn.
Lord Laird – The Lord Laird of Artigarven - Lord Laird’s intellect, depth of experience and focus on personal development blended with humour worked miracles on my confidence. One of the most positive people I know, a gentleman who believes in seeing the best in people.
Adam Shaw – The Heart Guy - Adam’s expert guidance and training in the areas of resilience and wellbeing at a time when these areas had pretty much fallen off my to do list has given me invaluable tools for life. Adam’s insights too into deeper areas of communication helped me make sense of challenging situations.
A huge thank you too you all!
We have a Great country with Great people! By focusing on all our special talents and sharing them I really believe we can all make a Great difference together.
I have been privileged to work with so many great people and organisations and have learnt from all of them. Collaboration is really important to me as any growth for business and life means effective collaboration. My favourite growth solution of mentoring is the perfect example of great collaboration. When this skill is working well it means business and personal development are fun, positive and impactful which is great for everyone.
I feel very lucky to have worked with such a fantastic range of individuals and organisations that believe in the same key ethos. To find out more please do have a look at the organisations we support here.
One great example is our charity partner SOHK, School of Hard Knocks, who are a social inclusion charity. They work with at-risk and vulnerable people and passionately believe in human potential.
I have been supporting the charity for 4 years with mentoring, supporting the creation of their mentoring programme and being one of their ambassadors. To help or find out more visit schoolofhardknocks.org.uk.
A very special thank you is for the whole of the SFEDI group and the Institute of Enterprise and Entrepreneurs. As Leapfrog Mountains’s awarding body and our collaborative partners on key projects they have been simply brilliant. Without their support, we simply wouldn't be achieving the work we have. Their focus on enterprising excellence is always there and their expertise and breadth of impact across the UK and beyond is fantastic.
A big thank you is shared with all our team, clients, suppliers and collaborative partners for working with us on these important agendas and being a critical part of our longer-term journey to help more people. We simply couldn't have achieved our impact without them. Britta Hoffmann for our website, Kate Flores for our designs and Liz Frost for our office support have all been totally brilliant.
These organisations include longstanding support from extra special clients who have been with us since day 1. Ranging from Cornish professionals Karrek Accountants, investing in their clients’ growth, Scottish Chambers of Commerce leading enterprise mentoring across Scotland, Royal Institute of British Architects supporting career mentoring to invest in the industry ‘s ongoing success in the UK and beyond, the British Bankers Association investing in volunteer enterprise mentoring to help SME. Pearson investing in enterprise education and Proversity creating digital education that’s built around real business needs and outcomes worldwide.
This journey has meant great support from special individuals too:
Huge thanks to my husband Paul who has always been there for me. His practical support in actually getting me across the UK and beyond on my various trips at the right time and heading in the right direction has been invaluable (morning alarms are still not my favourite thing!) Special thanks too for his ongoing patience, ideas and insights when I excitedly share that I have yet another great idea.
Thanks to all my good friends who have been there for me. Three friends especially have used their mentoring expertise to support me over an interesting journey these last few years and their support and encouragement has been so important to me. They have really enabled me to go on and support more people and organisations to help others.
People truly being there for you adds so much value, so I thought I would share my thanks and experiences so you can see the brilliant impact that sharing through mentoring can have.
Ruth Lowbridge MBE – Executive Chair SFEDI Group - Ruth’s amazing breadth of knowledge coupled with her great pragmatic and insight skills really helped me to see different points of view at critical points and focus in what I can do rather than what I can't. An inspirational leader who champions enterprising attitudes at every turn.
Lord Laird – The Lord Laird of Artigarven - Lord Laird’s intellect, depth of experience and focus on personal development blended with humour worked miracles on my confidence. One of the most positive people I know, a gentleman who believes in seeing the best in people.
Adam Shaw – The Heart Guy - Adam’s expert guidance and training in the areas of resilience and wellbeing at a time when these areas had pretty much fallen off my to do list has given me invaluable tools for life. Adam’s insights too into deeper areas of communication helped me make sense of challenging situations.
A huge thank you too you all!
We have a Great country with Great people! By focusing on all our special talents and sharing them I really believe we can all make a Great difference together.
- Published on
It was brilliant holding our first Leapfrog Mountain ‘Meet Up’ in Bristol. As part of our membership offer we bring together small networks of like-minded business leaders, entrepreneurs, non-exec directors and mentors.
This time we held breakout sessions with experienced non-exec Nicola Dunne talking about what it means to be a non-exec in practice and with Adam Shaw a communications expert sharing key best practice on pitching and presentation skills. I shared insights on developing and improving your mentoring practice, how to become a non-exec director with a portfolio career and the power of collaboration.
The feedback made it all worthwhile as everyone said they had gained insights, knowledge and great connections. So, the power of collaboration worked!
Our membership includes training, one to one guidance sessions and continuing professional development so there is a lot to help your work and growth aspirations.
We would love to welcome you to our community so a quick snapshot is here:
Affiliate membership - for those that want to stay in touch with the mentoring community & enterprise updates to support their development.
The benefits include:
Develop Yourself – Monthly updates with various development topics including self-assessment tools, which will be recognised and certificated each year
Gain knowledge – Discounted access to our training offers and the opportunity to meet experts from different areas
Stay Ahead – Addition to our mailing list through which you will receive a variety of resources and updates on key areas of interest
Stay Connected – Discounted access to our regular events and talks to meet other members
Joining fee – Nil
Monthly fee - £5.00
Annual fee offer - £60 with 2 extra month’s membership included
Professional membership – For those that want to stay connected and ahead on their growth plans.
The benefits include:
The right to present yourself as a professional member of Leapfrog Mountain.
Expert Support – An hour’s Skype/telephone guidance session in your first year with one of our leadership team covering a subject of your choice from our selection of areas
Develop Yourself – Monthly professional development topics with self-assessment which will be recognised each year
Individual Feedback – Individual guidance on your reflective practice or CPD plans
Stay Connected – Invites to attend a variety of Leapfrog Mountain events, CPD seminars, and informal Meet Ups. This will include at least 4 annual free membership events as well as discounted member rates where a charge applies
Joining Fee - £100 waived for Leapfrog Mountain trained mentors, business leaders, entrepreneurs at Level 3 certificate and above
Monthly fee £15.00
Annual fee offer - £180 with 2 extra month’s membership included
We really hope that you will join us too.
Joining us is easy – simply visit our membership page to register and complete your membership or contact Jackie to discuss your Corporate/organisation membership options.
Here are some comments from our new members:
‘Great initiative and I am now joining your membership’
‘I really enjoyed the Meet Up and am still buzzing. It was a great opportunity’
‘A really good bunch of people and really helpful discussions’
This time we held breakout sessions with experienced non-exec Nicola Dunne talking about what it means to be a non-exec in practice and with Adam Shaw a communications expert sharing key best practice on pitching and presentation skills. I shared insights on developing and improving your mentoring practice, how to become a non-exec director with a portfolio career and the power of collaboration.
The feedback made it all worthwhile as everyone said they had gained insights, knowledge and great connections. So, the power of collaboration worked!
Our membership includes training, one to one guidance sessions and continuing professional development so there is a lot to help your work and growth aspirations.
We would love to welcome you to our community so a quick snapshot is here:
Affiliate membership - for those that want to stay in touch with the mentoring community & enterprise updates to support their development.
The benefits include:
Develop Yourself – Monthly updates with various development topics including self-assessment tools, which will be recognised and certificated each year
Gain knowledge – Discounted access to our training offers and the opportunity to meet experts from different areas
Stay Ahead – Addition to our mailing list through which you will receive a variety of resources and updates on key areas of interest
Stay Connected – Discounted access to our regular events and talks to meet other members
Joining fee – Nil
Monthly fee - £5.00
Annual fee offer - £60 with 2 extra month’s membership included
Professional membership – For those that want to stay connected and ahead on their growth plans.
The benefits include:
The right to present yourself as a professional member of Leapfrog Mountain.
Expert Support – An hour’s Skype/telephone guidance session in your first year with one of our leadership team covering a subject of your choice from our selection of areas
Develop Yourself – Monthly professional development topics with self-assessment which will be recognised each year
Individual Feedback – Individual guidance on your reflective practice or CPD plans
Stay Connected – Invites to attend a variety of Leapfrog Mountain events, CPD seminars, and informal Meet Ups. This will include at least 4 annual free membership events as well as discounted member rates where a charge applies
Joining Fee - £100 waived for Leapfrog Mountain trained mentors, business leaders, entrepreneurs at Level 3 certificate and above
Monthly fee £15.00
Annual fee offer - £180 with 2 extra month’s membership included
We really hope that you will join us too.
Joining us is easy – simply visit our membership page to register and complete your membership or contact Jackie to discuss your Corporate/organisation membership options.
Here are some comments from our new members:
‘Great initiative and I am now joining your membership’
‘I really enjoyed the Meet Up and am still buzzing. It was a great opportunity’
‘A really good bunch of people and really helpful discussions’
- Published on
It was great to be interviewed by the Financing Growth Magazine team around our work and the growth challenges for SME.
It got me thinking about recent conversations with SME and business leaders around being ready for growth so pulling all those insights together here are my top 10 things to consider:
Purpose – Think exactly why you want the growth.
It's your business so it's up to you to decide what you want and need from it. Growth will only work long term if this is considered. There are many different motivations for business growth and it's important to recognise what yours are to make it work for you. Bigger is not necessarily better and growth is not always the answer for everything.
Some common reasons for growth that sometimes cause issues are:
More money – It may not achieve this. Growth can require investment, growth is an unknown quantity and you may possibly be in a market where you can raise prices in certain areas and achieve more money with less sales.
More impact – If it is to gain more market share then your competitors will almost certainly also be thinking this and have growth strategies of their own. Is a greater market share worth it or will a niche market be better for you?
More status – If the reason for growth is because it's expected or to gain status then it is worth thinking about the need to achieve this. A profitable business rather than a large business has a better platform to achieve a longer term sustainable status.
Strategy – Decide exactly which way you will focus your growth strategy:
A common framework for deciding growth strategy is the Ansoff Product/Market mix which shares 4 options:
Market penetration – Selling more of your existing products in existing markets. This would involve greater sales from existing clients, attracting new clients from competitors or persuading non-users to purchase from you. This option is often seen as the easiest one.
Market redevelopment – Expanding into new markets with existing products. This can be geographic new markets or new market segments. This option needs effective and creative marketing.
Product development - Operating in existing markets with different versions of your product. This can be a useful option to tailor products to different segment needs.
Diversification – Expanding into new markets with new products. This is the riskiest of the options.
There is one other consideration this model doesn't cover as it focuses on growth models and that is of withdrawal. A company may choose to withdraw from a market as the possibility of growth doesn't align with their strategy, vision, values or resources.
What growth strategy have you chosen and why?
KSF – Decide what you want to measure as your Key Success Factors (also known as key performance indicators or critical success factors)
KSF are the measures that you decide to use to know whether your strategy has worked or not for your business.
They need to be specific and time framed with full review checks.
Some examples for Key Success Factors are:
These need to have clear review points and tracking.
How are you and your team currently linking and tracking your daily activities to your growth plans?
The Bottom line – Check you are not at risk of overtrading.
This is where your business is growing sales faster than you can finance them. This usually leads to serious challenges with finances with a lack of working capital to finance operations. It often leads to other issues with quality, customer service and staffing morale too.
You are at significantly higher risk of overtrading if:
How well are you checking your bottom line? What help do you need to reduce your risk?
Mindset – Keep your confidence and passion levels high.
If you don't believe in your business no one else will. Analyse your strengths, recognise your development areas and get help.
Asking for help is a sign of strength not weakness and gaining external help and perspective for your business from sources such as training, mentoring, professional advisors and non-executive directors will add value.
What makes your business great?
What external support do you need?
Staying there – Innovation is a growth business imperative.
If your focus stays on the continual improvement of key areas such as:
What are you going to focus on improving?
Staying sane – Maintaining your own balance is the only sustainable growth model there is!
All the research shows that a mind/body balance is needed for optimum performance.
This means:
How are you looking after yourself?
Team – Your team needs to be with you along all parts of the growth journey
A happy motivated and engaged team means all your work is aligned.
They need to clearly understand how their work fits into the overall business goals and feel their contribution is valued.
How well can your team explain the business growth plans?
Operations – All parts of your business need to be aligned.
This may sound obvious however in high growth times it is only too easy for this to go wrong. The sales team can be progressing well with new orders and be totally unaware that their good work has caused a 3-week delay in clients receiving their orders and that the production team are at breaking point.
All teams’ resources need to be considered for any growth and the impact of the growth needs to be carefully checked to avoid team conflict and customer dissatisfaction.
Are your teams’ efforts fully aligned?
Collaboration – Joining resources and skills together makes sense
In any growth strategy you are not alone. Your clients, your industry, your suppliers all play a part. By having a collaborative outlook and looking for opportunities to network and help others you will make the most of your business opportunities and enjoyment.
Many people worry about professional networking and in our courses, we focus on the beliefs and attitudes as well as techniques here. The key is to focus on meeting interesting good people, not to focus on sales.
With other stakeholders such as suppliers or even competitors by thinking in a wider way you may be able to join forces for greater benefit.
How can you improve your collaborative networks?
If you have any questions or would like to more on this subject, I would really like to hear from you.
It got me thinking about recent conversations with SME and business leaders around being ready for growth so pulling all those insights together here are my top 10 things to consider:
Purpose – Think exactly why you want the growth.
It's your business so it's up to you to decide what you want and need from it. Growth will only work long term if this is considered. There are many different motivations for business growth and it's important to recognise what yours are to make it work for you. Bigger is not necessarily better and growth is not always the answer for everything.
Some common reasons for growth that sometimes cause issues are:
More money – It may not achieve this. Growth can require investment, growth is an unknown quantity and you may possibly be in a market where you can raise prices in certain areas and achieve more money with less sales.
More impact – If it is to gain more market share then your competitors will almost certainly also be thinking this and have growth strategies of their own. Is a greater market share worth it or will a niche market be better for you?
More status – If the reason for growth is because it's expected or to gain status then it is worth thinking about the need to achieve this. A profitable business rather than a large business has a better platform to achieve a longer term sustainable status.
Strategy – Decide exactly which way you will focus your growth strategy:
A common framework for deciding growth strategy is the Ansoff Product/Market mix which shares 4 options:
Market penetration – Selling more of your existing products in existing markets. This would involve greater sales from existing clients, attracting new clients from competitors or persuading non-users to purchase from you. This option is often seen as the easiest one.
Market redevelopment – Expanding into new markets with existing products. This can be geographic new markets or new market segments. This option needs effective and creative marketing.
Product development - Operating in existing markets with different versions of your product. This can be a useful option to tailor products to different segment needs.
Diversification – Expanding into new markets with new products. This is the riskiest of the options.
There is one other consideration this model doesn't cover as it focuses on growth models and that is of withdrawal. A company may choose to withdraw from a market as the possibility of growth doesn't align with their strategy, vision, values or resources.
What growth strategy have you chosen and why?
KSF – Decide what you want to measure as your Key Success Factors (also known as key performance indicators or critical success factors)
KSF are the measures that you decide to use to know whether your strategy has worked or not for your business.
They need to be specific and time framed with full review checks.
Some examples for Key Success Factors are:
- Customer satisfaction scores
- Cost of customer conversion from lead to sale
- Business or department net profit
- % of retained customers
- Growth in new customers
- Number of customer meetings/quotations
- Number of visitors to the website
- Employee engagement
These need to have clear review points and tracking.
How are you and your team currently linking and tracking your daily activities to your growth plans?
The Bottom line – Check you are not at risk of overtrading.
This is where your business is growing sales faster than you can finance them. This usually leads to serious challenges with finances with a lack of working capital to finance operations. It often leads to other issues with quality, customer service and staffing morale too.
You are at significantly higher risk of overtrading if:
- You don't regularly check and understand your accounts
- You don't understand the difference between turnover and profit
- You don't know the profit margins of your products/services
- You have small profit margins
- Your sales teams have no guidance on pricing and discounts
- You have late payers
- You hold high stock levels
How well are you checking your bottom line? What help do you need to reduce your risk?
Mindset – Keep your confidence and passion levels high.
If you don't believe in your business no one else will. Analyse your strengths, recognise your development areas and get help.
Asking for help is a sign of strength not weakness and gaining external help and perspective for your business from sources such as training, mentoring, professional advisors and non-executive directors will add value.
What makes your business great?
What external support do you need?
Staying there – Innovation is a growth business imperative.
If your focus stays on the continual improvement of key areas such as:
- Customer satisfaction
- Customer changes
- Staff engagement
- Operational efficiency
- External trends
What are you going to focus on improving?
Staying sane – Maintaining your own balance is the only sustainable growth model there is!
All the research shows that a mind/body balance is needed for optimum performance.
This means:
- Managing your emotions through developing your emotional intelligence
- Managing your working hours as overworking leads to less productivity and more risk of ill health
- Managing your activities as multi-tasking has clearly been proven to increase stress and decrease output
How are you looking after yourself?
Team – Your team needs to be with you along all parts of the growth journey
A happy motivated and engaged team means all your work is aligned.
They need to clearly understand how their work fits into the overall business goals and feel their contribution is valued.
How well can your team explain the business growth plans?
Operations – All parts of your business need to be aligned.
This may sound obvious however in high growth times it is only too easy for this to go wrong. The sales team can be progressing well with new orders and be totally unaware that their good work has caused a 3-week delay in clients receiving their orders and that the production team are at breaking point.
All teams’ resources need to be considered for any growth and the impact of the growth needs to be carefully checked to avoid team conflict and customer dissatisfaction.
Are your teams’ efforts fully aligned?
Collaboration – Joining resources and skills together makes sense
In any growth strategy you are not alone. Your clients, your industry, your suppliers all play a part. By having a collaborative outlook and looking for opportunities to network and help others you will make the most of your business opportunities and enjoyment.
Many people worry about professional networking and in our courses, we focus on the beliefs and attitudes as well as techniques here. The key is to focus on meeting interesting good people, not to focus on sales.
With other stakeholders such as suppliers or even competitors by thinking in a wider way you may be able to join forces for greater benefit.
How can you improve your collaborative networks?
If you have any questions or would like to more on this subject, I would really like to hear from you.
- Published on
I have been delighted to be asked to contribute to International Women's Day by supporting a blog led by Dr Chris Bailey. Chris created the blog and pledges with myself and 16 fantastic Women Leaders on this year's theme of #BeBoldForChange and asked us:
“How will you #BeBoldForChange?”
Here’s what I shared:
"I will champion mentoring as a brilliant tool to support women on their journeys. Mentoring is simply the most powerful, positive, and practical way to make a difference.
For mentees, it improves confidence, performance, and decision-making. For mentors, it improves confidence and skills.
And for any organisation involved, it creates a collaborative, positive, inclusive culture. Confidence is so often the biggest mountain in the way preventing women from achieving what they really want especially when there are changes to be made – let mentoring support you on your journey to find the path that really works for you."
– Jackie Jenks, CEO at Leapfrog Mountain, Enterprise & Mentoring Academy
So I thought it would be useful to explore here too - why does confidence really matter:
True self confidence means that you will benefit in so many ways. In our business confidence course designed with wellbeing expert Adam Shaw we explore how to build confidence, overcome challenges and identify your growth opportunities. The main areas you will see benefits on are in areas that will make a real difference to you.
The top 10 areas that delegates tell us confidence makes a difference to them are:
Results – Confident people achieve what they want. They believe in their purpose and goals and so their focus means they get where they want to.
Resilience – Confident people have a higher resilience to any set backs. They have a sense of purpose and look at any issues they have as learning experiences and build themselves up again from there. Their higher resilience equals increased wellbeing and less stress.
Risk taking – Confident people take the appropriate risks they need to develop themselves and their goals. It doesn't mean they aren't scared or that they are being reckless. It simply means they understand their fears and then focus on what they can do next. Sometimes doing something you are scared of builds confidence in other areas of your life. As a personal example I always wanted to scuba dive but was very scared indeed. After pushing myself through it's been so empowering. Any time I feel less confident I just remind myself that if I can sit at the bottom if the sea and take my oxygen away (which is one of the safety tests) I can do anything!
Learning from mistakes – A confident person will not be personally devastated if things don't go their way. They learn from the situation then they will pick themselves up and focus on what they can now do.
Self belief – Confident people do not need others approval to feel ok. They aren't arrogant as they listen to others views and take them into account. They simply feel comfortable knowing their own skills, knowledge and limitations.
Assertiveness – Confident people know what they want and are comfortable discussing this and asking for help if it's needed. They believe their needs are as important – not more or less important than anyone else's needs.
Authenticity – Confident people like themselves and know who they are. This means they are comfortable being truly themselves which in turn makes them great company.
Collaboration – Confident people like to share and discuss knowledge, skills and insights so they are naturally drawn to collaborative working to get the best results for everyone.
Networking – Confident people look forward to meeting new people and exploring new experiences which gives them great opportunities.
Happiness – Confident people enjoy their life as they know what they want and they feel they are on the path to achieving it.
Let Mentoring support you on your journey to find the path that really works for you.
To find out more about our enterprise and mentoring training options please get in touch
“How will you #BeBoldForChange?”
Here’s what I shared:
"I will champion mentoring as a brilliant tool to support women on their journeys. Mentoring is simply the most powerful, positive, and practical way to make a difference.
For mentees, it improves confidence, performance, and decision-making. For mentors, it improves confidence and skills.
And for any organisation involved, it creates a collaborative, positive, inclusive culture. Confidence is so often the biggest mountain in the way preventing women from achieving what they really want especially when there are changes to be made – let mentoring support you on your journey to find the path that really works for you."
– Jackie Jenks, CEO at Leapfrog Mountain, Enterprise & Mentoring Academy
So I thought it would be useful to explore here too - why does confidence really matter:
True self confidence means that you will benefit in so many ways. In our business confidence course designed with wellbeing expert Adam Shaw we explore how to build confidence, overcome challenges and identify your growth opportunities. The main areas you will see benefits on are in areas that will make a real difference to you.
The top 10 areas that delegates tell us confidence makes a difference to them are:
Results – Confident people achieve what they want. They believe in their purpose and goals and so their focus means they get where they want to.
Resilience – Confident people have a higher resilience to any set backs. They have a sense of purpose and look at any issues they have as learning experiences and build themselves up again from there. Their higher resilience equals increased wellbeing and less stress.
Risk taking – Confident people take the appropriate risks they need to develop themselves and their goals. It doesn't mean they aren't scared or that they are being reckless. It simply means they understand their fears and then focus on what they can do next. Sometimes doing something you are scared of builds confidence in other areas of your life. As a personal example I always wanted to scuba dive but was very scared indeed. After pushing myself through it's been so empowering. Any time I feel less confident I just remind myself that if I can sit at the bottom if the sea and take my oxygen away (which is one of the safety tests) I can do anything!
Learning from mistakes – A confident person will not be personally devastated if things don't go their way. They learn from the situation then they will pick themselves up and focus on what they can now do.
Self belief – Confident people do not need others approval to feel ok. They aren't arrogant as they listen to others views and take them into account. They simply feel comfortable knowing their own skills, knowledge and limitations.
Assertiveness – Confident people know what they want and are comfortable discussing this and asking for help if it's needed. They believe their needs are as important – not more or less important than anyone else's needs.
Authenticity – Confident people like themselves and know who they are. This means they are comfortable being truly themselves which in turn makes them great company.
Collaboration – Confident people like to share and discuss knowledge, skills and insights so they are naturally drawn to collaborative working to get the best results for everyone.
Networking – Confident people look forward to meeting new people and exploring new experiences which gives them great opportunities.
Happiness – Confident people enjoy their life as they know what they want and they feel they are on the path to achieving it.
Let Mentoring support you on your journey to find the path that really works for you.
To find out more about our enterprise and mentoring training options please get in touch
- Published on
About Perfectionism.
‘Being your best’ is an often used comment for business and for life. In corporate life discussions are so often around performance improvements, enhancements, building on prior results, setting the bar high, building the perfect team and in business perfect growth can often be seen as utopia.
It's so easy to see the benefits of this approach and the results that it can achieve so where's the issue?
The challenge is that highly developed perfectionism actually achieves less:
Have a quick think against the following perfectionistic traits and check where you are:
To what extent do you feel the need to live up to certain high expectations?
How many areas of your life do you feel the need to be perfect?
Are you feeling the need to be perfect to meet others expectations?
Do you feel others expect too much of you at home or at work?
Do you set standards for other people that are at any time unreasonably high?
Do you get extremely upset when you feel criticised?
Do you find it difficult to delegate as you worry others won't do it so well?
There are 3 main types of perfectionism and understanding which may be more relevant to your circumstances will help you think it through:
Self-orientated perfectionism
This is where your thinking is naturally driven by your desire to do well. Often high performing people have an element of this thinking as it makes you very self-disciplined goal driven and focussed. Missing a deadline if you feel like this would be unthinkable.
As a team member, this also means the fear of making a mistake can really destroy your confidence and the ability to get the job done well. It hampers creativity and problem solving and it creates an anxious atmosphere.
As a leader, this means decisions can be difficult as you often worry if you have made the right choice. It often affects your confidence as you believe that respect is linked to being seen as perfect.
With this trait, it’s amazing what you demand of yourself when circumstances require it. However unless you can adapt the way you act, it can prevent harmonious relationships with those around you, whether it’s at home or at work.
An example here was ‘Simon’ a small entrepreneur, who was so concerned to get their service offer ‘just right’ that it was permanently delayed in launch. Their perfectionism meant that the service wasn't discussed at any meetings or highlighted in any marketing because it wasn't finished. It held back their business and meant a huge amount of time was invested in minor updates and details which delayed launch and related income streams.
We finally overcame this by engaging key clients in their feedback for the proposed service as well as exploring how perfectionism was holding their business back.
People orientated perfectionism
This is where the perfectionism links to the relationships in your life. The emotions that are linked to this can be very strong and they can cause numerous challenges. It creates a judgemental, critical thinking pattern where you find it difficult to trust others. In turn others often see you as difficult and are not relaxed in your company. You will naturally notice others shortcomings more than their skills.
As a team member, it means you will find it difficult to build relationships and you will often get upset when others don't behave as you expect.
As a leader, you will end up doing everything yourself as you simply won't trust anyone else to meet your standards. This could lead to burn out for you and will definitely lead to a sense of frustration within your team.
An example here was with ‘Patrick’ a gentleman who had a regional leadership role which involved sharing detailed feedback and performance results with the team. He found it highly irritating when his managers didn't show the same commitment as him. On looking at the data he always focused on what could be done better and noticed development areas.
Praise was limited. His team were showing signs of stress and some tenseness was clear. He had warmth and a level of emotional intelligence that had stopped this team tension escalating. The issue was he simply noticed all the things that were ‘wrong’ before anything else.
We developed this by setting targets around positive markers, feedback and recognition. It still didn't come naturally but the heightened awareness of his behaviour made a real difference to the team morale.
Socially oriented perfectionism
This is where you really feel driven to fit in. A lot of your thoughts and behaviours will be driven by worrying what people will think of you. It can mean avoiding confrontation and not being confident in asking for what you want.
As a team member, this can be exhausting as you continually will take on extra responsibilities as you find it difficult to say no at the same time you are balancing a deep need to produce perfect work. Resentment and ill health can often follow.
As a leader, it can lead to more conflict in the workplace as the need to be liked overrides the need to resolve issues. It is also a type of thinking that leads to lower confidence which causes issues.
An example here was 'Lisa' who had a job dealing with complex reporting for the team. She continually missed deadlines and was often ill.
We explored this by looking at the reasons why. She was so concerned everyone had the report looking exactly as they wanted that she was in total conflict. To help another team she had also taken in extra work as she didn't like to say no.
This was resolved by Lisa finally building the confidence to speak to her manager with recommendations for a standard template and reviews and explaining her working hours issues.
So now let's focus on how you can use perfectionism to help you:
Understand yourself – That way you can channel your perfectionism into good results.
Understand your team – That way you can support your team fully and notice when any perfectionist traits are not helping you or the team.
Set boundaries and limits – So that the perfectionism can help innovation and development as well as quality.
And then you can enjoy having a positively perfect team.
Good luck
Jackie
It's so easy to see the benefits of this approach and the results that it can achieve so where's the issue?
The challenge is that highly developed perfectionism actually achieves less:
- Less business results
- Less strong relationships
- Less good health
Have a quick think against the following perfectionistic traits and check where you are:
To what extent do you feel the need to live up to certain high expectations?
How many areas of your life do you feel the need to be perfect?
Are you feeling the need to be perfect to meet others expectations?
Do you feel others expect too much of you at home or at work?
Do you set standards for other people that are at any time unreasonably high?
Do you get extremely upset when you feel criticised?
Do you find it difficult to delegate as you worry others won't do it so well?
There are 3 main types of perfectionism and understanding which may be more relevant to your circumstances will help you think it through:
Self-orientated perfectionism
This is where your thinking is naturally driven by your desire to do well. Often high performing people have an element of this thinking as it makes you very self-disciplined goal driven and focussed. Missing a deadline if you feel like this would be unthinkable.
As a team member, this also means the fear of making a mistake can really destroy your confidence and the ability to get the job done well. It hampers creativity and problem solving and it creates an anxious atmosphere.
As a leader, this means decisions can be difficult as you often worry if you have made the right choice. It often affects your confidence as you believe that respect is linked to being seen as perfect.
With this trait, it’s amazing what you demand of yourself when circumstances require it. However unless you can adapt the way you act, it can prevent harmonious relationships with those around you, whether it’s at home or at work.
An example here was ‘Simon’ a small entrepreneur, who was so concerned to get their service offer ‘just right’ that it was permanently delayed in launch. Their perfectionism meant that the service wasn't discussed at any meetings or highlighted in any marketing because it wasn't finished. It held back their business and meant a huge amount of time was invested in minor updates and details which delayed launch and related income streams.
We finally overcame this by engaging key clients in their feedback for the proposed service as well as exploring how perfectionism was holding their business back.
People orientated perfectionism
This is where the perfectionism links to the relationships in your life. The emotions that are linked to this can be very strong and they can cause numerous challenges. It creates a judgemental, critical thinking pattern where you find it difficult to trust others. In turn others often see you as difficult and are not relaxed in your company. You will naturally notice others shortcomings more than their skills.
As a team member, it means you will find it difficult to build relationships and you will often get upset when others don't behave as you expect.
As a leader, you will end up doing everything yourself as you simply won't trust anyone else to meet your standards. This could lead to burn out for you and will definitely lead to a sense of frustration within your team.
An example here was with ‘Patrick’ a gentleman who had a regional leadership role which involved sharing detailed feedback and performance results with the team. He found it highly irritating when his managers didn't show the same commitment as him. On looking at the data he always focused on what could be done better and noticed development areas.
Praise was limited. His team were showing signs of stress and some tenseness was clear. He had warmth and a level of emotional intelligence that had stopped this team tension escalating. The issue was he simply noticed all the things that were ‘wrong’ before anything else.
We developed this by setting targets around positive markers, feedback and recognition. It still didn't come naturally but the heightened awareness of his behaviour made a real difference to the team morale.
Socially oriented perfectionism
This is where you really feel driven to fit in. A lot of your thoughts and behaviours will be driven by worrying what people will think of you. It can mean avoiding confrontation and not being confident in asking for what you want.
As a team member, this can be exhausting as you continually will take on extra responsibilities as you find it difficult to say no at the same time you are balancing a deep need to produce perfect work. Resentment and ill health can often follow.
As a leader, it can lead to more conflict in the workplace as the need to be liked overrides the need to resolve issues. It is also a type of thinking that leads to lower confidence which causes issues.
An example here was 'Lisa' who had a job dealing with complex reporting for the team. She continually missed deadlines and was often ill.
We explored this by looking at the reasons why. She was so concerned everyone had the report looking exactly as they wanted that she was in total conflict. To help another team she had also taken in extra work as she didn't like to say no.
This was resolved by Lisa finally building the confidence to speak to her manager with recommendations for a standard template and reviews and explaining her working hours issues.
So now let's focus on how you can use perfectionism to help you:
Understand yourself – That way you can channel your perfectionism into good results.
Understand your team – That way you can support your team fully and notice when any perfectionist traits are not helping you or the team.
Set boundaries and limits – So that the perfectionism can help innovation and development as well as quality.
And then you can enjoy having a positively perfect team.
Good luck
Jackie
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