Tuesday 6 December 2011

Learning Journeys


Living in Norfolk, I’m well used to commuting by train for work or conferences.  So I’ve found myself in the lucky position of having plenty of time for reading, writing, working & reflecting.  I can’t sleep on trains I’m afraid...

Today I got up at 05:15 and will get back home around 15 hours later.  I’ll have spent over £130 and 7 hours of my day on trains.  I won’t earn a penny  from it.  Why?  To learn of course!

Learning School
The reason for today’s trip was Sheffield Hallam Business Schools Coaching & Mentoring Research day.  Each quarter, they run a 6 hour learning day using Open Space.  It’s a very inclusive affair so look them up if you have an interest.

The wonderful thing I find about Open Space is that it never fails to please or surprise me.  Today was no exception and after wonderfully rich discussions, it’s left me with a few thoughts around coaching & mentoring :

Social Media & Coaching/Mentoring
So, is there any application for coaching or mentoring using social media?  Perhaps but maybe what is more meaningful is what method(s) and frequency of engagement do clients (coachees) find most relevant and supportive?  How is this expectation changing generationally?

E-Mentoring
This segues into the above but if you want to run a mentoring programme, what are you trying to achieve?  It’s easy to develop tools and lose sight...  How can you provide the system & process for groups & communities to engage in a way that is meaningful to them?

Pricing & Value in Coaching & Mentoring
It’s funny how little external coaches & mentors discuss pricing together – what prevents them?  What does it say about the profession?  Beyond that, how do we best demonstrate the value of either as a paid for professional service?

Disclosure in Coaching & Mentoring relationships
You wouldn’t think one little word could mean so much...   What we disclose to our clients has potentially enormous implications on the success or failure of the coaching or mentoring.

These themes give you a sense of the discussions I participated in – there were at least 8 others that I missed.  Over the coming days I’ll try to blog about each individually.

In the meantime, I’d love to hear your thoughts or reactions on these subjects.

On the subject of Learning Journeys, what would you would do with 7 hours of uninterrupted time at a table on a train?

5 comments:

  1. Thanks for commenting Jon - great to have you here!  Great point about the practice of preparing for "how you want to be" - all too often we only focus on the what we're going to do.

    Looking forward to sharing/discussing more on the longer follow up blogs.

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  2. You've got me thinking about the generational point.  There's an idea to link back into the school mentoring programme and see how the students have adapted it to include their social media.  I lay odds they have, though doubt it will have been included in the planning

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  3. Great to see you here Nicki!  Love the idea of linking back into school mentoring - we can learn from all generations not only those have gone before.

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  4. David,

    Your post really got me thinking - especially as l have heard so many people say "The secret of successful people is self-development". For me, "Learning Journeys" is about maximising learning opportunities and this is critical for self- development.

    Thanks for a great post.

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