• Should it be?

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• Do you just not have time?

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• To busy trying to take on the world?

​Did you know journaling can help you achieve your goals?  

Journaling is a great way to empower reflection time within your daily, weekly or monthly routine. There are so many different options to journaling and if you find another way that works for you then that is fantastic! Just make sure you share it with others so they can benefit from your knowledge too!

What’s the point?

In todays’ world we spend so much time focussing on the next action, the next deadline and rushing to achieve the majority of individuals have mislaid their routine in reflecting on the day, week or month without the intention of doing so.
Remember (for some) those days where you left your computer at work, as it was attached to the desk and there was no Facebook, google or meta verse whilst that whole concept makes me feel quite old, the majority of people were able to disconnect because there was no mobile connection. That enabled people to take the time to think about their day, what went well, what didn’t, what could be changed, what we wanted to achieve.

These days the majority of us are constantly connected and because we react to the connect we don’t get that downtime. Therefore for me journaling because a necessity as we proactively plan time to reflect, a way to consider what we are doing and why we are doing it

What are they different ways to journal?

• Have a journal that captures the weeks ahead and what you plan to achieve over a set period and then gives you an opportunity to reflect on what you did achieved and how it felt.
• Journal but only when it suits you - this is for those that like the freedom to decide when they use their reflection time rather than having a specific time or day to reflect, if you do this and find it empowering then that’s fantastic I know for many colleagues it works wonders but for me, if its not on my ‘list’ then I will struggle to action it.
• Jar journaling. I have managed to do this one for a whole year as part of a self finding project - the idea is that you get a jar, large enough to keep all your notes and then either on a set day or as an ‘as and when’ basis write short sentences on note paper and place it in the jar. The idea is to reflect and read through all your notes at the end of the year. When I tried this it was really freeing to see at the end of the year the types of reflections I’d made though some where just too short to make any sense of!
• Free-writing. This is where you don’t think about what you are going to write and you don’t take the pen off the paper you just write whatever comes into your mind, it doesn’t need to make sense, be formatted etc and the contents once finished may not be a reflection on the week but I imagine your mind will feel clearer and reflection will have occurred - whether you know that or not.
• Overwriting. This is similar to free writing in the sense that you just write what comes into your head however with overwriting instead of writing down the page, you continually write over what you have already written. Yes it will ineligible when you are finished and its probably best not to try and read it but its good way

But Why?

Well as mentioned it’s a great way to ensure you reflect whether that is on your emotions, relationships, experiences, skills or all you see, hear and do. After all every day we are having new experiences which shape how we see and understand the world around us. As quoted in NLP (Neuro Linguistic Programming):
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​If you find journaling or reflecting a challenge, keep with it as it can take time to form a new habit, just the same as when you sign up at the gym - if you don’t keep going you lose the pace and slowly find yourself stopping! 

At Be You Consultancy & Coaching we can support you by developing a coaching or mentoring program tailored to your needs, after all its your journey!  

If this is something of interest then please contact us to find out more! 

​If you consider that traditionally leaders/managers were ‘one style fits all’ and the employees had to flex to meet their leaders style rather than the other way round this is quite a change. 

For some leaders situational leadership will be a ‘new world’ approach.  I imagine traditional managers could find a transition to this ‘new world’ a challenge.  
 
Situational leadership was developed by Paul Hersey and Ken Blanchard in their 1969 book Management of Organisational Behaviour, initially, it was called the “life cycle theory of leadership” then during the mid-1970s it was renamed to “Situational Leadership Theory”. It was then adapted further when Hersey and Blanchard went on to create their own models;
 
Hersey created the “Situational Leadership Theory”
Blanchard et al created the “Situational Leadership II Model’.
The fundamentals of the models were that

1. There was no single “best” style of leadership
2. Effective leadership is “task-relevant”
3. Most successful leaders are those who adapt their style to the “performance readiness (ability and willingness) of the individual/group and the task that needs to be accomplished”

 
After reading the above you may be thinking... if it was introduced in 1969 initially why isn’t this necessarily a common practice amongst leaders?
 
Good Question!!! 
 
My thoughts are that for leaders to adopt this style they need to be confident in their abilities and have the necessary skills to adapt. It takes a leap of faith to be able to adapt your style, going from what you have experienced yourself and how you can transition and apply your learnings, knowledge and leadership to any situation.

​What are the pros and cons? 

What skills are required?
 
According to Martin Luenendonk situational leaders require the:

• Ability to diagnose both the task at hand as well as who in the team is most suitable to work on the task.  This includes both their developmental opportunity as well as their readiness to complete the task successfully.  
• Adaptation of your skill set in leadership.  Adaptation can be improved by your experience and knowledge but also your energy.  This means its important to ask questions and listen to hear, not listen to respond!   
  • Remember that your team are always watching you and they will, usually without being consciously aware, mirror your behaviour, language and tone.  
• Communication If you are adapting your leadership style in orfder to retain the engagement of your team you must have advanced communication skills that are tailored to the needs of the team.  You will need to use your skill in order for your team to join you on the journey whilst you are showing empathy, authority and clarity but driving engagement and motivation
• Ability to advance  Successful leaders, no matter their style have the ability to advance work to ensure completion however this is essential when working within situational leadership as you will need to consider at each stage which leadership style is the best to ensure the project/work is advanced!

 
​How do you decide which leadership style is the best for the situation?
 
Your decision will likely be based on multiple factors including, but not limited to:

• Your knowledge
• Your experience 
• Whether the task is straightforward or complex
• Stakeholders involved
• Risk v Return
• Relationship with the team
• Readiness of the team and their developmental opportunities  

Did you know that Be You Consultancy and Coaching offers a program to individuals including leaders on situational coaching.  The purpose of this is to develop a mindset around situations, and to prepare the client to get the most out of each situation!   If this sounds like something that could be of benefit to you then please contact us.