To inspire your people, hire a muse
Who was your most inspirational teacher at school?
Close your eyes and think about your best teachers. The ones who inspired you and made a difference. 10 seconds. Done? Easy?
Now, close your eyes again and think about the best trainer you ever had in your career. 10 seconds. Done? More of a struggle?
How can we transfer the school inspiration into the corporate world? If you are looking for a trainer to help embed policies, make a difference to your team, and help them make an impact, what should you be looking for?
At school, we had four different types of teachers:
- Imposters. Don’t know their stuff and don’t earn respect. I’m thinking here of my physics teacher in college. To stump him, just look a few pages ahead in the textbook and ask a tricky question. To help our memories, we’ll call him Albert Newton.
- Brains. Exhibit: my organic chemistry teacher: deep expert and published author. But ironically no personal chemistry. She’s Bérylle Valance.
- Clowns. Some great teachers are super fun. They see their job as comedian, not educator. You remember them, not their content. Exhibit: geography was one of my favourites – not because I liked it, but Ms Grimaldi made class time fun.
- Muses. I did Latin at University. No one in our class had to do Latin. We were there for curiosity, but our teacher, Ioan Caws, a crazy comedic Welshman, made it fun, entertaining, and inspiring.
In corporate training there is arguably a higher proportion of brains and imposters, only a few clowns and hardly any muses.
Why should this be?
Brains? You want an expert to train you. She should know her stuff and have the answer to anything. Unfortunately, she comes with the curse of expertise: what is obvious to her is not obvious to participants.
Imposters? If you are rolling out a large corporate programme, not all your trainers will be topic experts. They might know the ‘script’ but nothing else. To stump them, just advance a couple of pages in the slides and ask a tricky question.
So: how do we get more corporate Muses? Here are two ideas:
First, Muses work well by using variety. Prof Caws made us listen to the news in Latin, learn swear words, or watch movies with Latin content. Lesson: use different approaches to get your learning across. Perhaps not Terpsichore but maybe Clio, Thalia or Euterpe can help you: they help us.
Second, great learning is about the whole brain. To ensure effective learning, you need to engage different parts of the brain: through neuroscience; our ‘play-learn-do’; and giving people a chance to try skills in a safe environment.
What can you do to get the most from a muse? Here are some tips:
- Be clear on your learning objectives, outcomes and behaviour change you would like.
- The programme is not about you, it is for participants.
- Let the muse do their job – let your trainer be flexible and use different techniques.
Delivering learning, and creating behavioural change is hard. Which is where we come in. Next time you are thinking about embedding a policy or rolling-out a programme, call us. We’ll help you ‘muse-ify’ your teams.
What we learned in the World of Learning
As promised, here's a summary of our experience at the World of Learning 2023. But, of course, you know how we work and wouldn't expect us to share our thoughts without a metaphor, would you? So in true Archetypical form, let us take you on a tour of our days at the World of Learning as if it were a beautiful Victorian Manor House.
So if the conference were a Victorian Manor House, let us describe some of the rooms we visited.
The first reception room focused on making learning stick like glue. According to David Sales from Emergenetics, UK companies spent a massive £500 million on Learning and Development last year. But most of it ends up as clutter in the attics of our brains. David's tip: trim the fat and tailor learning to suit the learner's taste buds, preventing the cognitive overload maze. He gave us the AGES model, where attention, generating insights, emotions, and spaced learning and repetition are the pillars of successful learning – a bit like the intricate details on the manor's walls.
In the next room, the Great Hall, we met Fergus Flanagan and Neb MacIver, the learning magicians. They had one word – confidence! They schooled us on quality born from quantity, and how us humans are suckers for a bit of mystery. It's like the grandeur of Victorian craftsmanship – the more you delve, the richer the treasure trove.
Then, we stepped into the kitchen, the domain of the 'Learning Pirate' Lauren Waldman. She shared swashbuckling secrets of the mystical world of neuroscience. She wanted us to shake out the energy, yell a bit for the adrenaline rush, and find focus in visual moments. It was like uncovering hidden spices at the back of the cupboard of our brains; reminding us that behavior change takes time, multiple inputs, and new mental blueprints. (Music to our Plan-Learn-Do repeat ears!)
But that's not all! How do you get from kitchen ingredients to results? Our Victorian mansion has a dumbwaiter to deliver. Nowadays, we have something different to do the heavy lifting: guru Stella Collins joined forces with AI to show how artificial intelligence can do lots of heavy lifting for us and free up our time and resources (and our clients!) so we can focus on the fascinating complex contradictory universe of humans.
And let's not forget one last room – the garden of diversity and inclusion. Lou Banks from Rising Vibe passionately told us to wake up to what it's like to be on the fringes, how painful constant marginalization can be, and what we can all do about it. This theme echoed throughout the conference, like a renovation project in our manor; it is imperative that we all make the workplace an inclusive place.
Remember our blog on inclusion and diversity? It was great to find resonance to our journey, our own experiences, and what we've learned in five years of working with our amazing clients. The conference has lit a fire under us to continue designing genuinely inclusive sessions with and for them; it’s like a fresh coat of paint throughout our grand educational manor. If you want to know more or wish to book a private tour of our imaginarium, please get in touch.
Inclusion and diversity in learning: lessons from a tennis court
Call her Coco Champion. Coco Gauff is a grand slam winner and a teenager breaking barriers, triumphing in the elitist world of tennis. The corporate world is no different. So, indulge us, we have applied tennis metaphors to share what we at Archetypical have learned in five years of developing inclusive learning programmes.
Learning, like tennis, is a game of back and forth. So let's break it down, game-set-match style!
1. Serve and Return: Flexibility is your main weapon
Inclusivity starts with a powerful serve, just like a tennis match. As learning professionals, our "serve" is our flexibility. We launch the game by recognizing that every learner is unique, just as every tennis opponent has their style. We serve up various learning options allowing each participant to return the ball their way – be it visually, auditorily, or kinesthetically. Introverts? Extroverts? We cater to them all.
2. Game of Advantage: Check Your Privilege
In this inclusive game, privilege is a bit like the advantage point in tennis. So, before the game begins, take a moment to "check your privilege." Just like a player inspects their racket, analyze your own background and biases. By doing this, you level the playing field and prevent any unfair advantages.
3. Surprises and Gentle Backhands: Challenging the Status Quo
Tennis matches can be full of surprises, be ready for them. It's like delivering a gentle backhand shot, challenging the status quo. Shake things up by introducing diverse perspectives and content. Just as a tennis match evolves with every shot, your classroom should evolve with each challenging idea anyone brings to the fore. Allow yourself to be surprised and stay curious and be ready for the unexpected.
4. Rally and Evolution: Adapting Your Program
Inclusivity isn't a static state; it's a dynamic rally. Keep that ball (or lesson plan) moving. Listen to feedback, switch up strategies, and make adjustments. This rally is the heart of inclusive teaching, keeping everyone engaged and involved in the game.
5. Match Point: Calling In and Calling Out
The climax of a tennis match is match point – a crucial moment. Similarly, in inclusivity, there are moments when you must decide whether to "call in" or "call out." "Calling in" is like a friendly, one-on-one chat with a participant who needs guidance. "Calling out," on the other hand, is like challenging a questionable line call. When signalling behaviour that fails to include others you turn exclusion into a teaching moment. Use both tactics wisely to maintain a fair and respectful game.
Inclusivity demands checkpoints. Regularly check-in with your learners, just as the score is checked in a tennis match. Seek feedback to ensure everyone's on the same page. Then, like a post-match analysis, check-out, reflecting on what worked and what can be improved.
In this grand game of corporate learning, creating an inclusive environment is like a thrilling tennis match, complete with serves, returns, rallies, and match points. By being flexible, checking your privilege, introducing surprises, evolving with your programme, and knowing when to call in or out, you'll create a match-winning experience for all learners.
We develop fun learning experiences for our clients, to talk to us if you would like to know more.
Microlearning: should you make it part of your organization’s learning feast?
We all love a snack. Food trucks are fantastic, providing a great pick-me-up and a burst of energy. They offer a yummy lunch and often lead to a sugar rush, leaving you feeling energised and motivated in the short term. They can even help your longterm health.
Digital learning, e-learning, and microlearning are excellent. This is snack-based learning: delivering information in small, easily digestible chunks or snacks, making it convenient for learners to access and retain knowledge. Think Duolingo: quick micro-lessons that enable you to learn Portuguese, Inuktitut, or Nahuatl. It's fantastic for cognitive learning during your commute to work.
But how long does it last? We are increasingly learning that the quality of the food we eat makes a difference. The same applies to learning programmes.
In 2019, UK companies spent an average of £1,500 per employee on training*. The Employer Skills survey further estimates that the average employee receives 6.0 days of training a year, much of it focused on induction and health & safety. Much of this training is remote or delivered in bite-size chunks, akin to snack-based learning. We know that digital and e-learning were already on the rise, and Covid accelerated this trend. Microlearning is also gaining popularity.
Are microlearning snacks good for you… or your organization?
Yes, if you want cognitive learning. If there are specific things you need people to know, it's perfect. They can learn in bite-size elements and have a learning snack between other activities. It actually helps with long-term learning of complex processes.
But if you want to change behaviour, it might not be enough.
So why do more and more organizations assume that snack-based learning is the one and only answer? We believe there are two reasons, both invalid.
First, everyone is busy. No one has enough time. Training is often viewed as a distraction from 'real work.' Let's get it out of the way as quickly as possible, and then we can all return to our core responsibilities.
Second, it is easy to deliver. It makes training departments look good, delivers on KPIs, and can always be included in the annual report to please shareholders.
We believe this type of thinking is misguided and misses the point. It's misguided because it focuses on outputs rather than outcomes. It misses the point because training does not exist solely to produce a KPI for the training department – it's for the learners. If you are delivering training programs solely to spend your budget or meet KPIs, then you are focusing on the wrong audience.
Snacks are cheap and easy to arrange. A full meal takes more effort but is much more satisfying and nutritious.
A healthy lifestyle is important, and so is a healthy training lifestyle. Invest in proper meals: three courses with a good dose of vegetables and ingredients that suit everyone. Add in high-quality snacks to reinforce the learning and nourish the learner. And don't underestimate the power of pleasure: it's always more enjoyable to have a shared experience around the communal table than independent learning at “al desko”.
People learn in different ways, so you need ingredients that cater to all. How do you adapt your programs to cater to different tastes while achieving the best outcome for learners and your organization?
This is where Archetypical excels. We work with our clients to deliver training that is motivating, entertaining, fun, and enjoyable. We accompany them to ensure the learning sticks. We create memories and change habits. Talk to us to find out how.
How to be Coach Beard
How to be Coach Beard
Earlier this month we were working with HR team of a client in the North of England and we were talking about why the team didn’t get enough attention from senior leaders.
In fact it is a perennial question: senior functional experts (such as HR, legal, communications, market research, etc.) often complain that they don’t get enough C-suite attention. In short, they don’t feel they are a business partner to senior leaders; and would like to be.
The problem is, though, that most of the ‘complainers’ are expecting an asymmetrical partnership with the business leader: they want the senior leader to invest in time with them, but they don’t invest in the senior leader.
Think about our friend Coach Beard, from Ted Lasso. He is the ultimate strategic adviser: an expert in his topic (he knows more about football / soccer than his boss) and translates this into terms Ted understands. Always there for him, just when his advice or support is needed – even if Ted doesn’t know it himself. He knows how to create value.
But in our experience, very few HR people, very few communicators, and very few people in functions generally have developed a really strong sense of business acumen of how the organization creates value for customers and shareholders.
It’s rare to meet a HR manager who can read a balance sheet. It’s rare to meet a communication person who understands the value chain. And we’ve yet to meet a corporate lawyer who meets with customers on a regular basis. No doubt a similar thing could apply to other functions.
The trouble is that playing in one’s own professional sandbox is too much fun. It’s great to meet people who have the same challenges, and get excited about the latest developments in your own professional field. And of course one never has any time to meet real customers, read the financial newspapers about competitor movements, or invest time in research to find out what is really going on. Or read your own company’s annual report.
Worse, as you get more senior, your stakeholders have no way of independently assessing the quality of your expert technical advice, they can only judge whether you behave and act in such a way that you add value, you act as a counsellor, and whether you demonstrate understanding of their part of their business and their challenges.
They don’t care if you can do a stakeholder map, calculate statistical significance, understand the latest legal precedents, or have a qualification. They only want to know: can you add value to my business?
If I’m a senior business person, why should I partner with you if you haven’t taken time to understand my part of the business, my key challenges, the promises we’ve made to shareholders, etc?
Why should I partner with you if you don’t demonstrate consulting skills, invest in relationship-building, link your solutions to my problems, and articulate quickly how you are going to add value?
Compare Coach Beard to Nate Shelley. Nate knows his stuff, for sure, (he’s Nate the Great!) but he fails to translate that into practical guidance and fails to develop a business partner relationship.
So, how do you play outside your sandbox to add value? There’s far less mystery about this than you might imagine. Let me give you three examples.
Be bushcrafty. Recently Mike Pounsford and I worked on the concept of Bushcraft for Change. We wanted to give change and communication professionals some news tools and approaches they could use to make an impact. So we looked around at other professions and borrowed some approaches from Accounting, Psychology, Market Research, etc. We went and played in some other sandboxes and found some new things which we repurposed and then brought back for HR, communication and change professionals.
Be liminal. We once gave a talk at the RSA where we explored the theme of operating at the edge of your comfort zone. Liminalty is where knowledge and experiences are made: too much in your comfort zone and there is nothing new. Too far adrift and you have no anchors for your new knowledge. This is based on the ideas developed by Vanessa Rutherford and Ian Pickup, of University College Cork, Ireland.
Be rhizomatic. The two French philosophers, Gilles Deleuze and Félix Guattari developed the idea that knowledge isn’t linear and explores in different directions, via curiosity, multiplicity, and nomadic. Here is a link (in French). Your career is not a linear path.
Go and play in someone else’s sandbox. For example, a few years ago we ran a Corporate Snakes and Career Ladders simulation at Farleigh Dickinson University, in New Jersey, USA. This session was aimed at professional communicators who wanted to become business partners. One of the participants, though, was Financial Wealth Management professional, having studied Economics and Sustainability. So why did he come to my workshop? He wanted to expand his horizons, play outside his comfort zone and meet new people. This finance professional came to a communication event: when was the last time you went to a finance conference?
Of course, a bit of bushcraft, a ladle of liminality, or a ration of rhizomes isn’t going to change the world, but every little helps.
I don’t believe asymmetrical partnerships can exist, but I do believe that functional experts who ‘complain’ about access or not being taken seriously, should look to themselves and their own behaviour before passing the blame to others.
Be more Beard.
A shared language for a new generation
by Casilda Malagon
"Optimistic people play a disproportionate role in shaping our lives. Their decisions make a difference; they are inventors, entrepreneurs, political and military leaders."
Daniel Kahneman
In that list, Daniel Kahneman could have well included the bright young minds of the Royal Holloway, University of London, BSc Psychology programme. We recently worked with this clever cohort learned a lot ourselves. Amidst a golden light-filled morning, Stephen Welch and I got a chance to engage with them to discuss, dissect, and develop our RECIPE model of influencing for change as a part of the Occupational and Organisational Psychology Module. Thank you to Dr Michal Chmiel for the invite.
RECIPE, as our regular readers will know, is a model of six influencing styles and their archetypes. At Archetypical, we originally developed this for UK civil servants as part of our work with the Cabinet Office and now we teach it in multiple organisations to help executives identify and apply different influencing styles. Our original model is built around icons such as the Bill Gates and the Beatles, but today it got a fresh of breath of fresh air when 40 bright third-year psychology students looked at the model, learned it, and improved it by developing their own set of archetypes. Let’s call it a shared language for a new generation.
So, out went Bill and the Beatles; in came Rishi Sunak, Elon Musk, Volodymyr Zelensky, and Yves Chouinard. Our co-creation exercise was spiced up with a deep discussion of behavioural economics, neuroscience, and trauma-based psychology; peppered with discussion on the transactional approach to M&As and rebranding. It was at times closer to an MBA discussion than a psychology one. This speaks to the fluid mental models of today’s students. And their voracity for knowledge.
For Stephen and I, working with the students was inspiring and humbling in equal measure. Archetypical has good foundations and the generations behind us are strong, ready and able to help us change the world. And transform the culture of learning.
“We love seeing this cross-fertilisation between academia and practitioners; seeing that the theories our students learn in the classroom are then translated to real life business applications is incredibly motivating”, said Dr Michal Chmiel, of the Department of Psychology. “The RHUL Psychology programme is one of the best in the country. We love working with Stephen and Casilda because they bring theory to life, make it fun and engaging and never lose sight of the academic rigour we need, while also helping students consider how they can apply their knowledge in their future careers."
We can bring the new RECIPE to you, just get in touch. casilda@archetpyical.org or stephen@archetypical.org
What will you learn from today’s students?
A cocktail of strategy, team building and fun.
Our own Stephen Welch interviews Siobhan Hammond, Head of Communication and Change Consulting at Gallagher.
Gallagher is one of the world’s largest insurance brokerage, risk management and consulting firms. They are a global leader in creating better outcomes through employee benefit communication, internal communication and employee engagement. Archetypical recently worked with Siobhan, who leads a team of 30 delivering for clients. The highlight was a team event we facilitated.
Stephen: Hi Siobhan. Thanks for chatting. As the team leader, tell me more about your goals for the project we worked on together.
Siobhan: It’s a relatively new team, with lots of new people. We wanted an event where we could talk about our strategy, and get to know each other more.
Stephen: Yes, post-Covid, we’re working with a few teams who want to re-connect and re-align.
Siobhan: Indeed. A key part of what we wanted to achieve was about sharing the vision and strategy and getting people to work together to explore what the plan means in practice. Your facilitation helped us create the conditions for success. We’ve since developed plans to focus on delivery of the strategic drivers, to build momentum.
Stephen: What does that mean in practice?
Siobhan: Based on the discussions we had with you, we’ve since organized regular sessions to track progress on the key strategy areas. We’ve also focused on improved collaboration to keep the momentum going. Your experience and expertise was a helpful contribution to our thinking around how to make this happen.
Stephen: Glad to help. As you know, I’ve had roles similar to yours in the past so it was nice to share ideas and experiences. You mentioned also that part of the objective of the day was for people to get to know each other more and have powerful constructive conversations.
Siobhan: Yes, it was good to spend the afternoon playing Corporate Snakes and Career Ladders. The game gave people a chance to connect and learn new approaches and ways of thinking and working. For example, we’ve been using the Types of Adviser restaurant analogy a lot since: it’s been helpful to frame conversations and develop mutual understanding.
Stephen: Good. I noticed you completed the self-assessment questionnaire, so I’ll write up your report. In the next few days.
Siobhan: The team were buzzing after the session, and I just wish we’d had more time together to just chat and network. We’ll do this next time.
Stephen: From conversations I had, team members seem to like the mix of strategy work, personal development, and fun. We know from psychology that you always learn more and remember more when you are having fun. Here’s what a couple of them said to me:
“It was a really fun day”
“Thank you for putting on a fantastic event and for keeping us all engaged. The feedback from everyone in the team was very positive.”
Siobhan: That’s nice feedback. Let’s keep in touch and hope that we get a chance to work together in the future.
Stephen: That would be nice. Bye for now.
A childhood favourite gets a professional overhaul
Guest post from Katharine Pierce CMP, Director of Professional Development for IABC Canberra.
When I took on the role of Professional Development Director for IABC Canberra this year, I wanted to find fun, challenging opportunities for our members to help them develop their communications careers, especially in the area of strategic advice.
This area is one communication professionals don’t often get the opportunity to ‘practice’. Exercises to help build confidence engaging with executive leadership, developing advisory skills, or responding in situations of organisational crisis are often limited to very specific scenarios, like a natural disaster.
This is where Corporate Snakes and Career Ladders bridges the gap between theory and practice, by using role-play to navigate a series of increasingly complex – and diverse – scenarios to make strategic decisions for the benefit of a large, fictional multi-national organisation called Globocorp.
“Board game on steroids”
In July IABC Canberra was fortunate enough to host a Corporate Snakes and Career Ladders workshop facilitated by Australia's leading Alignment Strategist Zora Artis GAICD, SCMP, FAMI, CMP. Zora is the Australia lead for Archetypical, the company behind Corporate Snakes and Career Ladders.
Fellow IABC Canberra board members who had previously done the workshop described their experience as a “board game on steroids” and, much like the original classic, your goal is to move through the board avoiding the snakes and hoping you land on one of those fortuitous ladders.
Instead of dice you are presented with a series of scenarios you respond to in the role of Carmen Spinoza, Communications Director of Globocorp. Your answers to the scenarios determine how you move forward in the game.
“Working as a team”
My team for the workshop was made up of communication professionals from the public and professional sector which meant discussions related to each scenario were debated and considered through a number of diverse lenses.
I found it interesting to see the differences in decision rationales made by colleagues in the public sector. Recognising these distinctions, Zora created a workshop specifically for those who work in Government communications.
“Watch out for those snakes”
Throughout the game you are thrown curve balls in the form of wild cards that can influence the final results. You may also make a decision that sees you move forward but ultimately end up falling backwards because you landed on a pesky snake. The decisions, and their subsequent results, also capture the nuanced details of interpersonal relationships through the awarding, and deduction, of ‘influence points’.
One memorable result was when we lost influence points with a colleague due to their jealousy of our success - an unfortunate, yet occasionally realistic, scenario than can occur in the workplace.
“Communications is a critical business function”
Working as Carmen you not only have to make strategic decisions in response to different scenarios but consider the way you show leadership through your relationship with the CEO and other members of the company c-suite.
The workshop gave me an insight into a number of advisory styles and how I can use them to feel confident in the decisions and advice I give to senior executive. It also tested my ability to consensus-build under pressure, give insights into my own behaviour and cement how important it is for communications to have a seat at the c-suite table.
To find out more about how you help your team improve their skills, get in touch with Zora direct: zora@artisadvisory.com or +61 410 565625. www.archetypical.org.
Katharine Pierce CMP is an award-winning strategic communicator with more than a decade of experience in digital and corporate communications, project management, stakeholder engagement, public relations and marketing.
She has a particular interest in the role growth hacking plays in the start-up sector and currently supports communications professionals in the Canberra region through her role as Director of Professional Development for IABC Canberra.
In addition to working in the government and education sectors, she spent many years volunteering for TEDx Canberra, pursuing her interest in supporting people to bring their passion and ideas to life on stage.
Leaders gain precious insight from play
In this guest blog, Monika Lancucki, reflects on the value of play for strategic thinking.
Based in Melbourne, Australia, Monika advises her clients on governance, corporate affairs and strategic planning. She can be reached on mon.l@hotmail.com
Late last year I took a contract opportunity to lead an external communications team in a large and reputable Australian federal government agency. Whilst I had worked with many public sector clients and held in-house leadership in various types of organisations, I had not worked in-house in the public sector. So, when the opportunity to take part in Corporate Snakes and Career Ladders tailored for the Public Sector came up – I jumped at the chance.
While it may be tempting to dismiss game-based play and simulation workshops as aimed at early career professionals, I would caution against being too hasty to do so.
I had participated in a corporate version of Corporate Snakes and Career Ladders at a global conference several years ago so knew this was a chance to test my strategic thinking in a new operating context.
Given it is a team-based workshop, I also knew it would provide the opportunity to better understand how those who work in the public service reason, think, and discern the best, most strategic way forward.
I was not disappointed.
Simulation-based play provides an opportunity to test strategic thinking and decision-making in a safe and fun way, and not just for early career professionals. It offers leaders and experienced practitioners precious insight into the assumptions, motivators and thinking of people in different markets, organisations, or stages of their career.
Whilst there is a lot of rhetoric about “fail fast and iterate”, many organisations are still unforgiving of failure. For those who might be branching out into a different operating environment, from corporate into public sector or vice versa, this is a way to test out their understanding of the complexities of the sector in a safe sandbox.
Decision-making is not so much about choosing between “right” and “wrong” but about discerning the best of several “right” answers
Unlike a test or exam, there is no single “right” answer in Corporate Snakes and Career Ladders. The game places players in teams and then the teams deal with a series of hypothetical scenarios with possible decision options. These options come with impacts on stakeholder relationships, professional integrity, and substantive implications. The choice isn’t so much between right and wrong, but rather based on ethics, best practice, commercial and practical considerations, which is the best of several possible choices. And it is in the opportunity to hear your team members’ reasoning as to why they would make a particular choice that the true value lies.
Win or lose – don’t lose the insights
Of course, Corporate Snakes and Career Ladders is a game and in games “winners are grinners”. But for leaders and experienced practitioners, the benefit of the exercise is less about proving how clever you are by leading your team to victory, and more about gaining insight into how your colleagues think and reason. Why does the team choose a particular way forward? What factors did they consider? What did they miss? Did they take in different perspectives to find creative and innovative ways to navigate these challenges?
In a real-life work context, we have deadlines and a bias to execution, and a focus on decisions and recommendations rather than reasoning is often the priority. Too often you don’t have the time to delve into why team members take the approach they do.
As a leader, you may find the insights from Corporate Snakes and Career Ladders help you identify potential development ideas for your team, and test your own assumptions as to the motivators, drivers and understanding of colleagues.
Acquire a deeper understanding of stakeholder organisations
Hearing from other practitioners also provides the opportunity to discern how individuals from other organisations – of the kind with which your organisation may have dependencies – approach scenarios, again providing valuable insights to take back to the workplace. You can test your own assumptions and offer ideas about other ways to tackle complex challenges.
There is a saying that “win or lose, don’t lose the lesson”. When it comes to Corporate Snakes and Career Ladders, particularly for more experienced practitioners, you might rightly add “don’t lose the insights”.
Who knows, you may also have a bit of fun along the way.
Monika participated in a half-day Corporate Snakes and Career Ladders post-conference workshop delivered virtually by Australia delivery partner, Zora Artis GAICD SCMP and Canada delivery partner Sharon Hunter SCMP. Tailored public sector or corporate sector workshops are available for in-house teams, events or conferences for communication, engagement and HR professionals.
First job? Here's three winning insights to kick off your career.
In this guest post, Yulia Zaytseva, Media & Communication Professional shares a Generation Z perspective on her Corporate Snakes and Career Ladders learning experience.
New professionals often find it hard to navigate the corporate environment. Without experience, corporate politics and etiquette can often make aspiring executives feel like they are taking one step forward and two steps back.
Experts predict Generation Z will work 18 jobs across six careers in their lifetimes[1], so it made sense for me, as one of them, to invest in my professional development and seek my own answers as a new professional.
In 2020, I attended the Corporate Snakes and Career Ladders workshop in Sydney organised by IABC NSW and hosted by Zora Artis, CEO of Artis Advisory and seasoned IABC leader. Knowing Zora from previous IABC events, I simply couldn't miss the opportunity to learn from her expertise in the communication industry.
Lesson 1: Aim for the moon and you will reach the stars
Corporate Snakes and Career Ladders training participants took on the role of Carmen Spinoza, Communication Director at Globocorp, a fictional multi-national organisation. Even though Carmen's position was much more senior than mine, I saw great value in exposing myself to various high-level challenges she had to face as a leadership team member.
Junior staff members don't usually get a chance to sit in strategic sessions, so taking part in Corporate Snakes and Career Ladders can teach a lot about the nature of boardroom decision-making, strategic thinking, and corporate networking.
The insights and experience we get from such training sessions and talking to more senior workshop participants can help as we advance in our careers.
Lesson 2: We look forward to the "ladders," but it's the "snakes" that create life's greatest opportunities
Mastering the art of informed decision-making and maximising the options available to us is essential to success.
Our decisions are significantly impacted by the environment, such as workplace culture, work colleagues, leadership structure, etc. In the game, like most things in life, we win or lose points with every decision we make because every decision has its own set of consequences.
Experienced communication advisers are good at managing risks and calibrating their decisions based on the current climate, facts, and data, while also following ethical communication standards.
Participating in simulation activities can be beneficial for practicing calculated decision-making. When we impersonate a fictional character, we are exposed to new ideas, different situations, and unfamiliar scenarios that challenge us and push us to think outside the box.
Lesson 3: Thinking two, three, four steps ahead
Strategic thinking is one of the most valuable skills communicators can have. Pausing to think strategically before acting will pay off time and again. Strategy underpins all good decisions, whether it's mapping out a global communication campaign, manoeuvring corporate politics to achieve career progression, or living a balanced, happy, and fulfilled life.
Planning one move at a time is fine for beginners, but if you want to work with the best in the industry and climb the career ladder, you need to be able to plan two, three steps ahead and adapt your strategy on the fly when things don't work out as planned. That's what Corporate Snakes and Career Ladders training helps you to practice.
The game challenges you to bring the bigger corporate picture into focus to make strategic recommendations that help you gain reputation points with the executive team and position yourself and your team in the best possible situation to win. Mastering these skills in real life will ultimately help you advance your career and gain recognition as a truly strategic adviser.
#careeradvancement #strategicadviser
[1] https://mccrindle.com.au/insights/blogarchive/gen-z-and-gen-alpha-infographic-update/