Jennifer Frahm Collaborations

Hi folks - just want to bring your attention to some opportunities for professional development coming up …

 1) Change Management Professionals Victoria - a fledgling professional support group is starting up. There’s a group of us who have been thinking it would be good to have something a little more formalised by way of a professional change management community of practice. Thinking always leads to action, so May 14th 5.30 - 7.30 we shall have a catch up in the back bar of Softbelly (Little Bourke St, Melbourne city). If you work in change management in Melbourne, drop me a line. At the catch up we will be releasing the results of this survey: we would love you to do it.

Please do send on to colleagues who work in the space. The more responses the better the data.

2) IABC Victoria is running its next Be Heard on April 15th also at Softbelly (no, I don’t have shares in it, just found a great little venue, why make my life harder?) I digress. The theme is Should You Blog. More details here. Kindly sponsored by Cropley Communications, thank you Adrian.

3) And finally, May 5 & 6th I am keynoting for the Ark Group and running a workshop on change management in Sydney at their Change Management Conference. Love to see you there…details attached: changesydney_bd.pdf

 Alright, in one more sleep I am officially on holidays. Make sure you behave yourselves…

Aaah. Grasshopper. When the student is willing, the teacher arrives.

Had an insightful and amusing moment this week. I’m currently working with a team within an organisation to build the change management capability. Basically, they had noted that to do their jobs effectively they needed more skills at creating behavioural change.  So together we developed a formal program of development: baseline workshops on change management 101, targeted seminars on specific topics of interest, evaluated each team member’s change capabilities, worked through goals, and developed an accompanying individual change coaching program.

I have been very blessed with this engagement - the team members are so committed to the process, and terrific people to work with. And the organisation is extraordinarly committed to learning and development.

 Coaching is a very effective way of building change capability. You take complex activities and ‘chunk’ them down, and provide a safe space to play with new skill sets. I see my role as coach as one where I encourage the exploration within a structured framework. Together we look at barriers to learning and identify new ways of trying new skills. I provide feedback on how they are executing new skills, and suggest modifications to skills play that may assist in building change efficacy (confidence in ability to change behaviours).

So imagine my delight/surprise, when one of my coachees wouldn’t let me leave a session when it was done this week.  In our initial session, the coachee has mentioned she had an aversion to goal setting. I said, so sure no problem, have a look at my earlier post - I work with themes. She had seen this, and kindly offered a suggestion the following week on how I may improve my Zen-like practice. Spend 30 minutes a couple of times of week just sitting and clearing your mind.  She had asked again about progress in subsequent sessions - I deferred, been too busy etc etc.  But this week she stood her ground.

 Jennifer - I just want to check. Did we talk about how much time you might want to try sitting and doing nothing?  I’m concerened your reluctance to try this may be because it is overwhelming. This week I would invite you to try for just 10 minutes. How does that sound?

Wow. Coached by the coachee. Identifying the barrier, suggesting modifications, encouraging and inviting.

 Typically, I wrap up an engagement with a post-course evaluation. I’m not sure I will need to. I suspect, my work is done! I am reminded of another favourite quote, which I first heard from the magnificient Iyanla Vanzant on Oprah (doesn’t matter where you get the learning, it’s that you get it!)

As I teach, so do I learn. As I learn, so do I teach.  

  Yes, I said just pull the chair out. Oh, you didn’t hear the question? You’d be one of a few.  It’s the one that has been banging around the comms gatherings for a little too long now. Getting asked a way too much for my liking.

How do you get a seat at the Big Table?

And I know this sounds harsh, but I’m thinking if you have to ask the question, you are just not ready to be there. But that’s flip, and not particularly constructive. I’m just really concerned that by giving the topic so much energy, we draw attention to the less developed and mature aspects of the communications profession. But, hesitations aside, here’s some more constructive thoughts about how you end up being involved at an executive level, not just an operational function. If it’s being asked a lot, it is resonating for many.

Advocacy.

What are you doing to advocate for your profession among others. In December, Company Director, the monthly journal for the Australian Institute of Company Directors ran some great articles about the need for diversity on boards, and how communication with internal and stakeholder audience will be critical in developing resilience for the upcoming year. This provided me with an opportunity to talk up IABC and the need for accredited communications professionals on companies’ boards. The letter to the editor (below) was published last month. The point here, is it is not just the IABC that should be advocating, everyone has a role to play here. Speak up.

Personal power & influence.

What are you doing to build your own personal power (reading, coaching, counselling). Not having a seat at the Big Table is an indicator that you may be lacking in confidence. It’s why I say ‘pull the seat out’ - don’t wait for an invitation. It’s better to ask for forgiveness, than beg for permission. Let your wisdom and insight shine.

Play the politics.

If you seriously want a seat at the Big table, you need to be thinking instrumentally, strategically, and politically. If this makes you queasy, you are not ready for the conversations. Engaging in politics is not a dirty quest, it can actually be fun. Find yourself a mentor that can assist you with translating the moves if it is new for you.

Be Bilingual.

Stephen Covey in “7 Habits of Highly Effective People” says “seek first to understand then be understood”. In order to have influence at the executive level, you need to understand and be conversant in the language of economics, accounting, management, and strategy. Do whatever you have to do to understand the fields (read or further study, join other networks). If you can’t evaluate your communication strategies in terms of a financial Return on Investment, then you are not ready to be at that table.

Prepare a compelling case.

Have instant recall of companies and cases where decisions poorly communicated = increased bad PR, decreased morale, increased sick leave, lower share price. Have the good cases ready to. Jealousy may be more effective as a motivator than fear ( I want to be like them v that could never happen to us).  Make a time to see the Snr Mgt / CEO and make a case for why you should be at The Table.  Hone your craft. Malcom Gladwell in ”Outliers”,  tells us that those really successful in their field have clocked up a minimum of 10 000 hours in their area of specialisation. Spend some of those hours compiling cases, trawling through IABC Gold Quill winners.

Move.

 If you are doing all of these and just not getting anywhere, then move. Find a new organisation to work for, one where a seat at The Table is one of the conditions of the job negotiations. Yes, I can hear the collective groans from here, yes, this is a challenging time to be switching jobs. But, it’s better to be clear about your future intent, and actively pursuing your vision of the best possible career, than using the GFC as a reason why you still don’t have a seat at The Table.

Finally, the Table is only a metaphor, it’s not always real. You can have a seat at the Big Table, without physically being there. Think laterally, instigate small, influential conversations at all levels of the organisation.  But that could be another post…