Time to Think Foundation Course, Oxford, 12&13 November 2012

With Time to Think Specialists Linda Aspey & Ruth McCarthy

"The Thinking Environment® has a profound effect on the quality of people’s thinking; Linda Aspey and Ruth McCarthy are among the finest Thinking Environment experts in the world.”

Nancy Kline, Time to Think

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Would you like to help people to transform the quality of their thinking & discussions?

Do you, like many people, spend most of your time at work in meetings, and yet sometimes find them unproductive and uninspiring? If so imagine that you – with simple yet profoundly impactful skills and tools that built upon your existing expertise – could transform meetings so that people come away feeling energised.

And what if, through applying these skills and tools, you could also deliver more engaging, more impactful presentations, could deal productively with conflict, and could bring out the best in people’s group problem-solving and creative abilities?

This is what you will gain through the Time to Think Foundation Course, grounded in the Thinking Environment, the unique and powerful framework for generative thinking developed by Nancy Kline of Time to Think. This quietly powerful way of being is supported by a growing body of neuropsychological research* that demonstrates how and why the quality of one or more person’s attention determines the quality of another’s thinking. Attention is indeed an act of creation.


What is the Time to Think Foundation Course?
It is a two day intensive, experiential course exploring the theory and practice of the Ten Components of the Thinking Environment and its use in a variety of contexts. You will explore and use the four “Building Blocks” to generate thinking, facilitate groups, transform meetings, deliver winning presentations, and more.

During the course you will be learning from each other as well as from the two consultants. Working in pairs, small groups and the large group gives real depth and breadth to your development experience.

Who is this course for?

This is vital expertise and exceptional professional development for coaches, mentors, psychologists, therapists, managers, HR and OD professionals, facilitators, and consultants  - in fact all those who want to develop their capacity to create conditions where people’s thinking can flourish.

Course aims and objectives:

· To explore and experience the Ten Components of the Thinking Environment and its applications

· To examine and practise the ways in which communication within a variety of contexts can be transformed into clear-thinking, invigorating, positive experiences

· To enrich your interpersonal style by listening to ignite rather than listening to respond

· To begin to introduce confidently the principles of the Thinking Environment into your life and your work with clients, colleagues, stakeholders, and others.

Comments from previous participants:

“Inspiring, thought-generating and energising.”

“I found the course so empowering!”

“Among other things, this way of running a meeting seems both disciplined and democratic.”

“I feel more confident about my ability and ready to take more risks!”

And from a client who uses the Thinking Environment:

“In team meetings, I often talk too much and feel responsible for starting discussions when no one else will. Using the Thinking Environment gave me permission to keep quiet and encouraged everyone to speak, so unusually we heard from everyone and got more ideas on the table than I could have dreamt possible. We never knew we could be so creative and so open, fearless even. It also gave me the space to be more reflective and more impactful when I did speak. “

Course details
Dates	Monday 12th and Tuesday 13th November, 2012
Times	10.00am -5.30pm
Venue	Oxford Thames Four Pillars Hotel, Henley Road, Sandford on Thames, Oxford OX4 4GX www.four-pillars.co.uk
Places	A maximum of 12 participants.
Fee	£525 (+ VAT), inclusive of course manual, refreshments and buffet lunch on both days. Optional overnight accommodation is available for an additional £115 (incl. breakfast and VAT).

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About the Facilitators

Linda Aspey is a Fellow of BACP, a BACP accredited counsellor / psychotherapist, an APECS accredited executive coach, and has a Masters in Strategic HR Management. As MD of two companies - Coaching for Leaders and Aspey Associates - she has 20+ years’experience in organisation development and executive coaching. In 2009 Linda began training with Nancy Kline, qualifying as a Time to Think Coach, Facilitator and Consultant; all her work is now underpinned by the principles. She delivers Thinking Environment events across many sectors including media, travel, healthcare and charitable sectors.

Ruth McCarthy’s career began in UK book publishing and journalism. She trained in the mid 1990’s as a coach, took a Masters in Critical Thinking in 2000 then qualified as a Time to Think Coach, Facilitator and Consultant. From her coaching consultancy Think it Through, (www.thinkitthrough.co.uk) Ruth delivers in-house Thinking Environment development days and leads Thinking Environment courses in London and Dublin. For the last three years Ruth has been working intensively with Nancy Kline, absorbing the cutting-edge ‘freshest thinking’ that is the hallmark of the Thinking Environment way of working and being.

To Book a Place on the Course:

Word Document: Please go to http://tinyurl.com/c2n2nlr to download a Booking Form along with Terms and Conditions.

PDF version: http://tinyurl.com/d7nzrtp

If you have any questions please contact us at timetothink@coachingforleaders.co.uk

You can read more about the Thinking Environment here:

Developing Leaders magazine:

Time for a Rethink - New Pathways for Executive Development

Therapy Today:

The Art of Coaching - Thinking Partners

AICTP - The Association for Integrative Coach-Therapist Professionals.

I am delighted to have been invited to, and accepted, the role of Honorary President of AICTP - The newly launched Association for Integrative Coach-Therapist Professionals. AICTP has been formed to embrace the concept and practice of integrating coaching with therapy.

Debra Jinks, the founding Chair says, “AICTP aims to offer support and guidance to practitioners who combine the theory and practice of therapy and coaching. We want to offer coach-therapists a grass-roots environment where they can share ways to improve their practice, gain increased security, safety and support in the way they choose to work, and a sense of community – we already have 200 members of our Linked In group which shows even at this early stage that there is interest out there. Right now we’re not intending to be a standard-setting body – we just want to get people talking about what they’re doing and what it means for clients”.

With Keren Smedley as Deputy Chair and Jayne Hildreth as a fellow founding director, plus Gordon Jinks and Nash Popovic taking on key roles and projects, AICTP will be holding its first open forum - world café style - on October 3^rd at the University of East London (Stratford Campus) from 4-7pm, in which anyone working as a coach-therapist is welcome to participate.

As former inaugural Chair of BACP Coaching (the coaching division of the British Association for Counselling and Psychotherapy)  it's a subject close to my heart and I'm pleased to support them in any way I can.

Integrative practice has been going on for some time in the UK and Europe (as far as we know, not in the US because of licencing laws). This is borne out by research and anecdotal evidence from coaches, counsellors and therapists alike - yet because there has been so much debate about “the differences” it’s masked the reality out there. Many just see their clients’ needs as being on a continuum, and so that’s how they work. There is much to explore around the ethics and the practice from many angles, and with integration at its core, AICTP aims to lead the way in this important arena. It's a very exciting development.

For more details about AICTP contact Debra Jinks or Keren Smedley at support@aictp.org.uk

Coach-Therapist: An emerging profession

Some of you may have heard the term Coach-Therapist and wondered what it means.

I created the term "Coach-Therapist" (and Therapist-Coach) early in 2011 when I was inaugural Chair of the Coaching Division of the British Association for Counselling and Psychotherapy to describe a professional practitioner whose skills, experience and training spans both.  At the time I wrote:  "We are the Coach-Therapists and Therapist-Coaches who seek to integrate aspects of both disciplines into our work, carefully, ethically and effectively, for the benefit of our clients".

Since then '''Coach-Therapist''' has, I'm pleased to see, fallen into common usage amongst practitioners who combine the two disciplines. 

At the moment anyone can call themselves a Coach and anyone can call themselves a Therapist. I and several of my colleagues believe that there is a real need to develop a proper profession of Coach-Therapist, with a body of theory, defined standards of training and professional practice, an ethical code, and an evidence base to prove efficacy. This is already starting to happen, and I'm delighted by it.

So what if you are thinking of working with a Coach-Therapist for yourself?
Bearing in mind there are no defined training standards, firstly you'd be well advised to check their existing training and qualifications. If they have completed a Diploma in Counselling and have several years of counselling experience that's a very good start. They should have a strong CPD record (Continuous Professional Development) that shows a progression of knowledge. And they should have undertaken some coach-specific training over a period of time (I'd suggest at least a year as a minimum). In time we will find more training available that combines the two disciplines, but at the moment, they are relatively separate. Their experience and training should show some relevance to your context (i.e. if you want a coach to help you in your work as an executive, you may not get what you need from a life coach, and vice versa).  And they should have regular supervision to ensure that they maintain high standards of practice and client care.

What are the benefits of working with a Coach-Therapist?
Well firstly we have a solid foundation of training and usually experience in working with a range of clients with a range of needs. Secondly, we generally know how to support and help people to recover and achieve when they are faced with setbacks and challenges. We understand the whole system, and take an holistic view, whether that's of an organisation and its culture, or of the context in which someone is living and their relationships.  We understand the impact that the past can have on the future, and don't dismiss it in favour of focusing purely on the future. We've been trained to understand the importance of what's being said as well as think about what's not being said. We've usually done a good deal of personal development work on our ourselves   so we know what it's like to be a coaching or counselling client. We understand the subtleties of boundaries and how what we say and do can impact on the client and the relationship. And we can recognise and manage stress and mental health problems, knowing if, when and how to refer on - with care - to a specialist.  

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Many coaches already do all these things to a very high standard. With a Coach-Therapist you generally get that additional reassurance of depth and breadth of training and experience, built on solid foundations.  

To find out more contact me at linda@aspey.com

The Best is Yet to Come

As I was thinking about the year end and new year, a book title came to my mind: “Your Best Year Yet”. And then I heard Michael Buble on the radio singing that classic “The Best is Yet to Come”. Inspired by both, I penned 12 questions that I thought I’d share.

If your best is yet to come what will it look like? Click here to download 12 Questions that just might inspire you too!

You might enjoy doing this exercise alone, with your partner, family, team or even your whole organisation. Or you can pass it onto your teenager, a friend or anyone who’d like to think about their purposeful direction for 2012.

Wishing you every success for 2012.
Linda

Tips for Productive Teleconferencing

Teleconferencing is rising in popularity, and no wonder. Why spend hours travelling when you can be doubly productive working from your desk whilst engaging with your colleagues or clients? However, getting teleconferencing meetings to be as productive as good face to face meetings requires a little more thought.  If you want people to do and share their finest thinking you have to create an environment where that can happen gracefully.

Here are a few things that I find helpful on phone meetings – I don’t always use all of them all the time, but when I do, they help! Some of them are from Nancy Kline's inspiring ideas around “Transforming Meetings“.  I hope you find them useful. 

• I prepare agenda items in the form of questions, because questions open up thinking (whereas lists close them down) and I ask people to read the agenda and come with a couple of thoughts to begin to answer the questions – that helps to get things flowing early – eg rather then  “Budgets”  it would say, “What do we need to consider in relation to the budget?" or similar.
  
  
• Once I know who is coming, I send round a list of “order” as if people were in a circle around a room. They then know who they are “sitting” next to.  It seems to help with flow.
  
  
• Others need to know who is on the call and who is not so as people arrive in, if I am Chair I say very clearly –“Everyone – can I just let you know that Fred Blogs has arrived" - and I say, "Welcome Fred” – I do this for each person joining for about the first 3-5 mins. In my pre-meeting email I ask that if people arrive more than 5 minutes into the meeting they stay silent and then I will introduce them at the end of the first “round”.
  
  
• As Nancy Kline would say, “people haven’t arrived till they have spoken”, and sometimes people don’t say much more than hello so they haven't really engaged. So once we feel that the meeting should start (after waiting, as above, for 3-5 minutes) I do a quick “round” with an open question like, “ Can you say your name and then tell us something that’s currently going well for you in your life or work?” or “something that’s going well on this project?” or “something that has made you smile recently?” This gets the pleasant hormones, brain waves and thoughts flowing nicely.  I ask them to go round as per the order I have sent them  (e.g. please go to the right) or go next down the list if I’ve sent a numbered list.
  
  
• Everyone is reminded to say their name before they speak.  And that if they don’t contribute to the conversation they will rob us of their gifts! I ask them to “be abundant” or "generous with their thoughts" and it often works beautifully.
  
  
• One of the hardest things is to get people to pay the same attention as they would in a face to face meeting. If it’s a new group and I think the meetings might need some good boundaries to kick us off the first time, I will ask at the start – “can we think for a minute about the things that drive us mad in other telemeetings we’ve been to? “  Typically they will say things about people not listening, multi-tasking, typing or reading emails, leaving the meeting and not coming back, interruptions, background noises, etc . I then ask – "So how can we make this meeting different?" The ideas will flow and flow. And from that we can agree some ground rules / "a contract" that will make the meeting quicker and more effective. (I personally have to turn off my computer screen otherwise I am tempted to read mails!) These "ground rules" can become the norm for subsequent meetings.
  
  
• When we come to an agenda item, we do a round and each person says something about it. If they want to miss their turn they can, so it goes to the next one but they have to say “I’ll skip for now”. If everyone has said what they want to say I will ask anyone who skipped if they’d now like to say anything. If not we move onto next agenda item.
  
  
• Interruptions are seriously avoided and we make that clear in our contract, but in exchange for not being interrupted, people are asked to be succinct. When they have finished talking on a subject they are asked to say “I’m done” so we know they have finished and someone else can speak.
  
  
• If thinking stalls completely I suggest a break of 10 minutes and ask people to come back on the EXACT agreed time (otherwise we have to start the whole thing again with latecomers!)
  
  
• I personally don’t explicitly tell people they can use the mute button on their phone because if they do, they might then think it’s OK to multi-task because they cannot be heard typing or doing something else. If they do multi-task, the meeting will definitely take longer. And people will not feel as if they have been listened to, which is key to creating an environment where everyone contributes their finest thinking.
  

Just a few ideas, and I hope one or two might be useful for you!

Time for a Rethink - New Pathways in Executive Development

In the ongoing search for ways to help leaders and managers to initiate and manage change, some may feel that there is little that is new out there. But just once in a while, something comes along that has the potential to reshape the way we think and how we work as development professionals. 

How can executives create followership? Or be decisive when swimming in a sea of uncertainty. As development professionals we need to help them to create synchronicity in themselves and with others. The emerging science of neuroleadership offers a new and very exciting perspective ... click here to go to my article in Developing Leaders magazine, October 2011

Mental illness - why is it still a source of amusement for some?

I received an email inviting me to attend the opening of a new trendy bar/venue in town. I didn't know the organisation and they don't know me so I must have got on a list somewhere because our office is in the area. It looked pretty cool so I was initially tempted but then on reading further down the page it said that they had 3 private areas for hire - "The Doctor’s Waiting Room", "The Ward with Padded Cell" and "The Shrink’s office".

I did a double take. Padded Cell?  This is in such bad, cruel taste. "The Shrink" was not exactly funny either, but it wasn't offensive.  But millions of people have suffered with mental health problems and still do, and in times gone by those who were deemed to be mad enough to be forcibly locked up in a padded cell were often deeply anguished and massively distressed, drugged against their will, and treated like criminals.  

I'm generally not one to sound off but this really got my blood boiling. So I wrote to them declining to attend and saying why. They probably thought I should just take a chill pill, but I asked them, would you have a room themed “the leprosy clinic” or the “cancer ward” or the “torture chamber”? I've not yet heard back. 

It left me wondering - whoever thought this up?  Was this a brainstorming session by the creatives that just went a bit too far? Were they trying to be really edgy? Was it a deliberate attempt to get some publicity (no such thing as bad press - which of course in writing this I am adding to!). Whatever their reasons, I'm not sure they were really thinking.  

At least 1 in 5 people in the UK experience mental illness – some research says it's 1 in 4 - during their lives. One in 3 families is affected by it. And people with serious mental health problems are 12 times more likely to commit suicide than others, according to research published by Kings College London. 

Making mental illness a source of amusement or entertainment is not helping anyone, even if it's not intended to offend but just to be quirky. It is a massive issue affecting millions of people and it's likely to rise as times get harder. Organisations cannot be allowed to get away with and profit from cheap publicity ploys when so many others are working so hard to remove the stigma attached to mental illness. 

So if you're  reading this and thinking about what you or your organisation could do to help others out in these times of austerity and anxiety for people, have a look here and find out more about some of the great work being done in this field:

http://www.rethink.org/how_we_can_help/campaigning_for_change/stigma_and_discrimination/index.html

References:  Need to Talk Campaign
http://www.mind.org.uk/assets/0000/9311/We_Need_to_Talk_campaign_for_psychological_therapies_briefing.pdf

Kings College -  Suicide Research

http://www.iop.kcl.ac.uk/news/?id=479