Resilience in the Classroom

It was interesting to see a report in this week’s Evening Standard regarding an initiative to train teachers to help support their pupils become more resilient. The article suggests that the reason for such an approach is that our children have somehow gone ‘’soft’’ and don’t know how to cope with failure. This is an interesting take on resilience and although the elements of the programme detailed make absolute sense I do hope that the initiative helps address long term development of resilience which for me also includes wellbeing.

From what I can understand the training will support students to set clear goals, encourage optimistic thinking and help manage emotions. These areas fit well into the headings of ‘Structure’ and ‘Attitude’ which underpin the SAW system developed by myself to coach clients through ‘The Resilient Leader’ programme. Clear goals, developed from a having a sense of purpose provide individuals with a meaningful and realistic framework upon which they can achieve future aspirations. Changing key personality traits is problematical however developing behaviours and attitude through building an individual’s self esteem, pragmatic optimism and regard for others is realistic and very achievable.

Walking back from a coaching session today it was interesting to note the activities of passing children enjoying their half term holiday. A number were congregating outside a takeaway enjoying chips and burgers whilst a couple were having a smoke, ironically outside a ‘Health’ centre. Now I guess my Reticular Activating System was aroused sufficiently from reading the article to note these finer details and admittedly I did see a number of children cycling around enjoying themselves. The question I ask myself is around the opportunity to engage children in the basic art of healthy living and ‘Wellbeing’. Now you may be thinking I need to lighten up a bit and let kids enjoy themselves and address ‘health’ issues when they hit full on adulthood. However it is a statistical fact that an obese adolescent is likely to have obese parents. 

I firmly believe that taking a proactive approach to our wellbeing is a fundamental component of building individual resilience, providing  higher grade ‘fuel’ to drive the bodies engine when tough terrain is encountered. This analogy may give the impression that I’m talking only about diet and exercise, however it’s so much more than this. The quantity and quality of sleep are vital components of wellbeing yet I know from firsthand experience that many teenagers stay up until the early hours. Brain stimulation is another area that shouldn’t be neglected especially at an early age. Mastering a musical instrument or artistic pursuit were often ways of expanding the mind, however I wonder whether the same expansion occurs when sat with an I pad on the lap? Technology is a wonderful thing; however, I admittedly struggle to remember the last time I did some rudimentary maths in my head.

I wish everyone involved with the ‘Young Foundation’s Resilience Project’ the very best and hope the model is taken up outside of the London pilot. I also hope that The Department of Education also ensures that pupil Wellbeing remains high on the curriculum.

For a free copy of my guide to the seven steps that can improve your company’s competitive advantage please click here.

Gotta be 'kerfing' for resilience

It’s been a busy couple of week for me which has impacted on the time I’ve had to blog. I’ve been working hard to finish updating ‘The Resilient Leader’ programme which will be ready for launching in the New Year.

It’s been a good example of where you really have to focus in on a priority to achieve a specific goal within a fixed timeline. Like most people in business I believe I can improve and know I need to effectively manage the time I give myself to manage my emails and other communications. The first step is ‘habitulising’ the discipline of only working on emails at fixed times, whilst managing expectations of those who assume that a response will be immediately forthcoming. I’m getting pretty good at this, however I do need to work on keeping the amount of time set aside for emails down to a minimum.

Focus is a key part of ‘The Resilient Leader’ programme as it provides you with a clearer structure to your working day that allows the cut through to complete key tasks.

Structure is one of the three components of the S-A-W (Structure, Attitude, Wellbeing) system that I work through with clients. 

Whilst researching the programme I came up with a interesting word which I’ve never come across before.

The word is ‘kerf’

If you look at the section of a traditional hand saw you can see that the teeth flare out alternatively allowing the blade to cut through the material without getting jammed.

The total width of the flared teeth is known as the ‘kerf’ of the blade and is critical for a saw to perform effectively.

I really like the word and thought about how I could use it as an acronym that summarises the benefits of adopting the S-A-W system.

I came up with the following....

Keep...

Energised – taking action to fuel both mind and body (Wellbeing)

Related – to self and others (Attitude)

Focused – to achieve desired outcomes (Structure)

So I will keep ‘kerfing’ to ensure that normal blogging service is resumed!


For a free copy of my guide to the seven steps that can improve your company's competitive advantage please click on the link below


http://www.martincrisp.com/freebook/

Resilient reflections from a hospital bed

In the grand scheme of things I really wasn't expecting to be reflecting on what an emergency admission to hospital can teach us the resilient leader however hear I am on the 7th floor of my local hospital looking across the West London skyline.
So what have been the three big learns for me over the past couple of days?


How would you react to the unexpected?


Four days ago I was completing a two day workshop on how building relationships support effective leaders. The group were excellent and it was a pleasure to be around such highly motivated individuals. During the second day I noticed that I was getting an increasingly painful ache on the right side of my abdomen. By the time I got home I could barely get out of the car. After finding little relief from taking some painkillers my wife and I took a taxi to our local A & E. Various consultations were leading towards the options of constipation, kidney stones, gall bladder and finally appendicitis. After various tests the latter was confirmed and within 24 hours I was in the operating theatre.
So how did I react?
Well quite philosophically in that I immediately thought through the implications of being out of action for a short period of time.
I did have an important meeting the next day however a text and a phone call from my wife  was met with total appreciation of the situation and a future date tbc.
It is times like this when it's easy to think of all the negative implications of the unexpected however a useful exercise to do is answer the 5 'worst case scenarios' questions that come to mind. It's amazing how potential solutions arise which demonstrate how enterprising we can become at times of challenge.


Stay positive and flexible


Being creatures of habit, imposed change can always be challenging, however this experience has taught me that even the more undesirable experiences offer up opportunities. For example the time in hospital has given me some valuable thinking time to work through the next three months in my mind and map them out on my iPad. I also had some time to read through a book I had wanted to work through which probably would have been pushed back to later in the year.
The power of the blackberry helps keep us in touch with family and friends and it has been so positive to receive so many warm wishes of support. The power of the iPad means my wife and I have been indulging in our scrabble addiction during visiting time.
And finally I was able to read the weekend papers thoroughly without distraction or guilt which has been a real treat.
So I'm certainly not coming out of the experience thinking I've wasted four days of my life.


Be prepared


The good news is that I am writing this posting with a view to being discharged after three days of surgery. Many of the patients sharing my ward are here for the longer term. I do believe that maintaining good health in your everyday life does hold you in good stead for when emergencies happen. It has got to be the ultimate health insurance that we all need to invest in.
For a free copy of my guide to the seven steps that can improve your companies advantage please click on the link below

http://www.martincrisp.com/freebook/

Have fun giving back

Mark Twain suggested that 'work and play are words used to describe the same thing under different conditions.' Employees don’t necessarily associate the workplace as a ‘fun’ environment however companies can consider ways of creating energy and interest into the business without compromising productivity.

Stress in the workplace is becoming an increasingly challenging issue which is borne out by a recent report that suggested that the use of anti-depressants had increased by 40% in just the past four years.

If you go back to the ancient times an investment in humour, courtesy of a court jester, was considered a necessity. Some American companies have even introduced a ‘Director of Mirth’ to co-ordinate fun in the workplace. Now this maybe a step too far for UK companies but I believe it is useful for senior management teams to introduce humour and fun where appropriate as research has shown an improvement in creativity and productivity where successfully implemented. John Cleese suggests that a sense of humour moves us from a closed to an open mode faster than anything else. Humour is also good for customer relations as a shared moment of amusement is one of the quickest ways to build good relationships.

Humour can have a positive impact on your employees’ health as research has shown that laughter ultimately relaxes the body, lowering heart rate and blood pressure by promoting deeper breathing.

Giving something back gives people satisfaction and a sense of purpose. Many successful companies encourage their employees to enjoy working together to fundraise for local or national good causes.

Some actions for your consideration

1. Introduce an element of fun to the Monday morning briefing. A very simple way to do this is to introduce a competition between departments to predict the weekly sales or profit performance.

2. Consider ways of improving presentations to engage employees. Starting a presentation with a question or mini quiz stimulates interest. Use of images that are totally unrelated to the subject in hand can be effective as it creates inquisitiveness. For example, I used a popular TV quiz show format to help the audience appreciate the targets we needed to hit to great effect.

 3. Icebreakers are often used to warm colleagues up at meetings or conferences and it can be a challenge to come up with something a bit different. The best ones I've used involve people working in small teams to achieve a task. When sensing a drop in energy levels, initiate an impromptu massage session with each participant massaging the back and neck of the person next to them.

 4. Add some light-heartedness to meetings. During breaks, consider introducing a fun game. It could involve doing something physical such as throwing balls into a waste paper basket or a mental challenge such as listing all the songs with a particular word in the title. It’s even better if the word relates to a particular challenge that the group is working on. Saying that I can’t think of many songs that have the word ‘productivity’ in the title!

5. If innovation is an essential requirement of your business, why not create a room to stimulate the creative juices? This could be as simple as painting the room a different colour or colours and introducing a large white board to capture ideas. Replace traditional office furniture with coloured cubes or exercise balls to create a totally different environment.

6. Get involved in a charity event. You don’t need to create your own charity event. Find out what charitable events are already planned for your area which your company could support. For example, the British Heart Foundation organises a variety of sponsored activities (hiking, swimming, or jogging and even parachuting) throughout the year and across the country. http://www.bhf.org.uk/get-involved/events.aspx

7. Raising money doesn’t need to involve completing a marathon or carrying out a three-peak challenge. It can simply mean wearing a particular piece of clothing for charity such a 'jeans for genes day' or a pink shirt for breast cancer awareness. Last year, I took part in a ‘Movember’ fundraising event and grew a rather dodgy Seventies-style moustache to raise money for The Prostate Cancer Charity. http://uk.movember.com/?home

More ideas and thoughts around helping businesses become Fit for Business can be found in my free book. Just click the link below.

http://www.martincrisp.com/freebook/

Post holiday wellbeing commitments

As we leave the summer months behind I have no doubt that whilst taking a well deserved break many of you were considering committing to some kind of improvement activity. Many of us find the relaxing time spent on a beach an opportune time to reflect on the things we really do need to try and start doing. It's almost like a going back to school mentality where starting the autumn term was defined by new uniform, new teacher and shiny new pencil case.

And it's funny when considering how we can improve our wellbeing that the very thing right in front of us is often disregarded. I'm talking about water, whether it be the sea or pool and the art of swimming.

Now I’ve never been a particularly good swimmer historically and would struggle to complete more than a couple of lengths at a time without pausing for breath. A couple of years ago my brother came to stay with us and suggested going swimming one afternoon. Since then I have steadily worked away at improving my technique to a point where I recently completed a one mile sea swim to raise money for the British Heart Foundation.

So why am I so passionate about swimming?

Well…

Fundamentally swimming is a great way to exercise so many different muscles in your body. It is also is a low impact activity which is great if you suffer from a bit of osteoarthritis. For me I like the fact that my body doesn't overheat in the way it often does when carrying out over cardio activity. 

And there’s more..

for the reason why I personally love swimming is the calming benefits it has on the mind. I often find I can go into an almost trance like state after a short period, finally leaving the pool feeling totally refreshed, re-energised and calm.

I have also found swimming excellent when needing to work through an issue in my mind and for some reason I seem to gain a greater clarity of thought with better options emerging. I'm aware that there is some science behind this however I'm not going to explore this in detail right now.

So if I have inspired you to at least consider trundling off to your nearest leisure centre pool here's a few ideas and advice for you to consider.

 - Have a go and see if you genuinely enjoy swimming. It's not for everyone.

- If you do enjoy it then consider having a few lessons early on to improve your technique.

- An interesting swimming technique often used by triathletes is called ‘Total Immersion’ which was developed by Terry Loughlin. This option is also favoured by ‘4 hour week’ author TImothy Ferris and is described in his comprehensive guide ‘The 4 Hour Body'.

- When practicing focus on one particular element of your technique and really master it. For example getting the breathing right will make a huge difference to both the quality and duration of the swim.

- Buy yourself some good googles... I've tried many and the best by far are the Aqua Sphere Kaimen brand which simply doesn’t leak. Another huge advantage is you can adjust them without removing them from your head.

- Don't swim in your baggy shorts. I did this for the first year not realising how much resistance they produce. Opt for a streamline speedo trunk cut off just above the knee cap (not the tiny trunks unless you really want to) and save the shorts for holidays.

- If you can start practicing in a smaller, shallower pool as it's easier to focus on your technique.

- Many leisure pools offer discounted bulk sessions

- Don't swim on an empty stomach. Most people know not to swim just after eating however you aren't doing yourself any favours if you swim on a totally empty stomach. Have a light snack about 30 to 60 minutes prior such as yoghurt, fruit , or some hummus and vegetable crudités depending on the time of day.

So there you go.. Give it a try and see if it works for you.

If you would like a copy of my free book 'Fit for business' then please just click on the link below

http://www.martincrisp.com/freebook/