Creating Safe Learning Environments

August 16, 2012 By 2 Comments

With the new school year quickly approaching, I’m taking the liberty of re-posting a blog from earlier this year.

“Tell me and I forget, teach me and I may remember, involve me and I learn.” Benjamin Franklin

This has always been a favorite quote of mine and I think predominantly because it is a direct reflection of the way I learn. There is no question that we are all different in our learning styles and what works well for one person, may not for another. The ability for a teacher, leader, or parent to appreciate these different styles is paramount to the success of the learner. I’ll use myself as an example. Although I have a decent memory, it’s simply not the way I learn. I learn by doing which is in direct  alignment with experential learning theory (Kolb, 1984). In order to learn by experience however, we need to know that we are in a safe environment. One where we feel comfortable to try new things. One where we feel confident that we won’t be ridiculed for trying. One where we know we can try repeatedly and fail until the penny drops. And when that penny drops, there is no sweeter feeling!

The fascinating thing about creating safe learning environments is that it is transferable in many aspects of our lives. Whether at school, at work, at home, in social settings, and especially in a coaching session. We want to know that the level of trust that is present will support our level of perceived risk. We want to feel supported. We want to be in a position to trust others and to be trusted. In his study on the psychological conditions necessary for employee engagement to occur, researcher Kahn (1990), found that “supportive, resilient, and clarifying management heightened psychological safety”.  Although Kahn’s work was focused on individuals in a leader / follower context, I believe these same characteristics hold true in any learning environment. Take a parent child relationship for example. If you make your child feel supported, encourage resilience in order to bounce back and make feedback very clear, your child is going to feel safe and trust the process of learning. I believe that we can take any of these examples of relationships and use this same formula to create safe learning environments.

To Benjamin Franklin’s point, involving a learner by allowing the process of learning to unfold through engagement can only be a good thing. While others don’t “give us” courage to try new things, what they can give us that is even more powerful is support and encouragement without judgement. As my clever friend and colleague, Dominique O’Rourke from Accolade Communications reminded me of recently, courage is embedded in encourage. There is likely a reason for that!

So the next time you are looking for a safe learning environment to try something new out in, surround yourself with those who will support and encourage you. If you are looking to create a safe learning environment for others, be one of those people who involves others. Trust them to learn in their own way and at their own pace. Trust the process of learning.

Whether you are a leader in an organization, a teacher, a colleague, a parent, or a friend, we all have the ability to step into a supportive coach position to enable learning. What are some of your examples where you felt very supported to learn?

Yours in learning, Glo

(C) 2012 – True Bliss Coach Gloria Higdon

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Collaborating with Connections Creates Communities

July 10, 2012 By 2 Comments

“A community is like a ship; everyone ought to be prepared to take the helm.” ~ Henrik Ibsen

For some reason I’ve got the word community stuck in my head lately. It’s rolling around in there doing flip flops. It used to be that the first thing that would pop into my mind when hearing the word community was my neighbourhood. This is no longer the case. When I think of community now I think in broader terms: work, school, and play to name just a few.

Strong communities are such powerful forces for supporting individual and collaborative efforts. They are an opportunity to be social and to engage. They create space for people to belong and share in meaningful discussions and outcomes. In an organization when people from different work groups come together to brainstorm and generate new ideas, they are creating a community. At school, when students work on group projects and join various teams and organized groups, they become part of a community. For people who have hobbies, often it is through the connections which are made at meetings and organized events that a community evolves.

 What about the communities which form and don’t fit into any of the scenarios above? What about the people you meet during professional development training sessions that you are in regular contact with long after the training has finished? I see this example with my coaching colleagues and the community of like minded people it attracts who continue to support one another. What about social media? It certainly has the power to create some pretty strong and engaging communities. Ask any parent who has a child or children in competitive sports or in any organized activity about community. Often times, the parents are as connected to one another by the end of the season as the kids are.

After all, who doesn’t want to be a part of something meaningful? Communities provide us with an opportunity to collaborate, to share in learning and in success, to support one another, to laugh together, and to grow individually and collectively. There are many key factors to creating strong communities. Of the communities that I’ve been privileged to be a part of, the strongest ones typically had shared goals, were diverse, embraced challenge, demonstrated respect, and trust.

Goals:  Having a common end goal is critical to the success of a community. Even if you don’t necessarily agree on how to get there at the front end, sharing a purpose is so rewarding and moves us forward.

Diversity:  Different pools of knowledge and learning get thrown into the pot in a diverse community. This creates even deeper insights resulting in a very rich cultural feast.

Challenge:  Some of the most rewarding experiences come from times when we’ve been the most challenged. Allowing ourselves to be open to the process of inviting feedback may create multiple wins for the community as a whole.

Respect:  Valuing the opinions of others without placing judgement is not always an easy task. Deep down we all want our voice to be heard. Strong communities have big ears and respect flows like a river.

Trust:  Without trust, a community is nothing more than a group of people. With trust however, a community can create change, achieve goals, identify and cultivate individual and collective talents.

What types of communities do you want to belong to? I vote for the type that uses collaboration as a tool to generate creative ideas and positive outcomes which lead to building strong communities of purpose.

Best wishes, Glo

(C) 2012 – True Bliss Coach Gloria Higdon

 

 

 

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Safe learning environments

June 10, 2012 By 2 Comments

“Tell me and I forget, teach me and I may remember, involve me and I learn.” Benjamin Franklin

This has always been a favorite quote of mine and I think predominantly because it is a direct reflection of the way I learn. There is no question that we are all different in our learning styles and what works well for one person, may not for another. The ability for a teacher, leader, or parent to appreciate these different styles is paramount to the success of the learner. I’ll use myself as an example. Although I have a decent memory, it’s simply not the way I learn. I learn by doing which is in direct  alignment with experential learning theory (Kolb, 1984). In order to learn by experience however, we need to know that we are in a safe environment. One where we feel comfortable to try new things. One where we feel confident that we won’t be ridiculed for trying. One where we know we can try repeatedly and fail until the penny drops. And when that penny drops, there is no sweeter feeling!

The fascinating thing about creating safe learning environments is that it is transferable in many aspects of our lives. Whether at school, at work, at home, in social settings, and especially in a coaching session. We want to know that the level of trust that is present will support our level of perceived risk. We want to feel supported. We want to be in a position to trust others and to be trusted. In his study on the psychological conditions necessary for employee engagement to occur, researcher Kahn (1990), found that “supportive, resilient, and clarifying management heightened psychological safety”.  Although Kahn’s work was focused on individuals in a leader / follower context, I believe these same characteristics hold true in any learning environment. Take a parent child relationship for example. If you make your child feel supported, encourage resilience in order to bounce back and make feedback very clear, your child is going to feel safe and trust the process of learning. I believe that we can take any of these examples of relationships and use this same formula to create safe learning environments.

To Benjamin Franklin’s point, involving a learner by allowing the process of learning to unfold through engagement can only be a good thing. While others don’t “give us” courage to try new things, what they can give us that is even more powerful is support and encouragement without judgement. As my clever friend and colleague, Dominique O’Rourke from Accolade Communications reminded me of recently, courage is embedded in encourage. There is likely a reason for that!

So the next time you are looking for a safe learning environment to try something new out in, surround yourself with those who will support and encourage you. If you are looking to create a safe learning environment for others, be one of those people who involves others. Trust them to learn in their own way and at their own pace. Trust the process of learning.

Whether you are a leader in an organization, a teacher, a colleague, a parent, or a friend, we all have the ability to step into a supportive coach position to enable learning. What are some of your examples where you felt very supported to learn?

Yours in learning, Glo

(C) 2012 – True Bliss Coach Gloria Higdon

Filed Under: Coach, Leadership Tagged With: , , , , ,

Full Engagement

June 4, 2012 By 6 Comments

What does it mean to you to be fully engaged? We hear the terms engaged and engagement so often these days. This can refer to employee engagement in an organizational context, student engagement and participation in learning, and more generally, being fully engaged in the moment. When I was doing research for my paper on coaching for engagement, it was specifically in reference to employee engagement. What I have since realized however, is that it almost doesn’t matter what the environment or context is. One on one, group setting, work, school, family or play, being fully engaged allows us an opportunity to be fully present and to be contributing at a very deep level creating meaningful experiences. Whether you are thinking, speaking, listening or doing something, being fully engaged makes us feel alive. Even more, being fully engaged can make the other party we are with, feel valued.

One question this poses is, who do you believe is responsible for your level of engagement? With the theory of Rotter’s (1954) locus of control, we know that people with an internal locus of control believe that their actions strongly influence their outcomes and external forces are not a major factor. Whereas, people with an external locus of control believe that outside forces influence their outcomes for example; fate or other people. If this is the case, who is responsible for your engagement? You or the people you are working with or for or learning with and from? Interesting question worth exploring.

Playing devils advocate I can see that an internal might believe they are 100% responsible for their own engagement and if so, what might be some of the actions an internal would take to ensure full engagement? What might be some of the ways that even an internal can make appropriate use of external influences? What might be some ways in which engagement can be further enhanced through external resources? For example, is receiving challenging work assignments or school projects under your control? How can you make it so? Perhaps by demonstrating to others that you are capable of doing more and then simply asking for it?

For someone with an external locus of control, what might be some ways to look at internal influences for a change? What questions might you ask yourself or actions might you take which would demonstrate your own personal level of responsibility in the outcome? Just suppose that even though you believe in fate, you were to believe that you were master of your fate for a day? How might you think about this differently? What might you do differently? Perhaps the person you are working with doesn’t seem into the work and so it makes it boring for you too. What might you ask that person to increase their engagement in the task at hand? How might their increase enhance yours leading to an upward spiral?

What this all means is that we have choices to make when it comes to our level of engagement. Whether it is at work, school, at home with our spouse and kids, or at play, we choose if we play a small role or if we play the game full out and reap the rewards associated with it. Engagement is a two-way street with plenty of lights and stop signs amongst the stretches of long open road. Full engagement can lead to deeper and more meaningful relationships, higher levels of performance and, connectivity to self and others.

Regardless of where you are, create environments where people feel valued, trusted and able to engage fully. You and everyone around you will benefit.

Best wishes, Glo

(C) 2012 – True Bliss Coach Gloria Higdon

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Learning environments: Online or F2F?

May 16, 2012 By 4 Comments

I’m always curious to hear what preferences people have for learning environments. Do you prefer online, face to face or a mix of the two? Perhaps it depends on the subject matter or duration of the course itself. Maybe decisions are made differently for one-time training sessions versus higher education. Differently again if there is an opportunity to apply what you’ve learned on the spot versus a presentation of material. And maybe your values come into play as well in this process. If you value freedom for example, the online environment may be more appealing to you. Although I believe there will always be a place for both, with advances in technology today, there are so many options and advantages for online learning. It is great to be able to embrace both and discover the many advantages of each.

Depending on the type of learning environment, online may offer more flexibility to your busy life. For example, you may be able to go to school and work at the same time. Online learning can be synchronous where everyone is online at the same time learning in real time via a webinar or listening to a live lecture. It can also be asynchronous, where the online learning experience is used to share information regardless of time of day or location. People can jump on when it suits their schedules and participate in the discussion or listen to a pre recorded lecture or webinar. One thing that I’ve noticed about the online environment is that I find people who don’t typically feel comfortable participating in a face to face environment, will contribute openly to online discussions. It may be the distance factor which may help to alleviate some fear and insecurities therefore creating a safer environment. Some may be encouraged by the ability to take their time to formulate and provide an appropriate response. Online learning typically opens doors to learning from more people with diverse backgrounds because the world suddenly becomes much smaller. Anyone with an internet connection can attend and participate.

Face to face learning is always synchronous in that it is always in ”real time”. There are many advantages to this environment as well. Getting to know one another tends to happen faster in a face to face environment.  If you want to know if your audience is present, it is often easier to determine that in a face to face environment. There is no delay in time so decisions can often be made faster. Many people find it easier to connect through the non verbal cues and body language only seen in person. Some people find it easier and more effective to engage in person than via written text as is often the case with online environments. Completing classroom work may be more effective in person where the instructor is readily available to answer questions.

I can fully appreciate the value in each. One thing I will say from experience in doing my coach training and my M.A. Leadership, is that a mix of the two for a longer duration program certainly provides the best of both worlds. Developing meaningful relationships can also happen in either environment, provided the learner is open to it. Engagement is less about environment and more about meaningful learning outcomes built on trust.

What might be some of your favorite things about each of these learning environments? I look forward to hearing your thoughts and experiences.

Yours in learning, Glo

(C) 2012 – True Bliss Coach Gloria Higdon

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2012 Growth. Learning. Opportunities. Diversifying.

December 31, 2011 By 4 Comments

For some strange reason, WordPress is not allowing me to post the photo for this blog at the top of the page as I “usually” do. I’ve always used this format because I am a visual person and so I like the visual right up front. This has never happened in two years of having a blog. My initial reaction was frustration but it’s New Years Eve and my main goal for 2012 is to diversify in many key areas of my life. So, now I’m thinking there is a reason for this new look in my last blog post of the year.

Many seeds have been planted during 2011 and many major milestones have been achieved. It has been a great year! There is much to celebrate and so much to look forward to!

Growth. Learning. Opportunities. Diversifying.

Photo Source

Often times it seems as though it is far too easy to be linear in our thoughts and actions. We use our existing skills and talents and map out our lives according to a straight line. But I must ask you, has your life to date represented a straight line?  What might happen if we learn to diversify a little more? Branch out. True growth and learning happens when we learn new skills and challenge our existing patterns. Uh oh! This may cause our straight line to get kind of curvy with twists and turns. There is risk involved in this because we may fail. But there is always reward too, no matter the outcome. The reward is that just like this plant above, we are growing and with growth comes new opportunities.

2012 is the year to diversify and broaden my reach. I will coach and teach. I will be a student and a teacher. I will enjoy my existing relationships and develop new ones. I will read for fun and for knowledge. Most importantly, rather than choosing between either/or, I will be open to both/and.

“We will open the book. Its pages are blank. We are going to put words on them ourselves. The book is called “Opportunity” and its first chapter is New Year’s Day.” ~ Edith Lovejoy Pierce

Best wishes to you for an AMAZING 2012!  When we openly share our goals, there is more liklihood to reach them because publicly sharing establishes a sense of accountability. It also provides us with the opportunity to receive support and encouragement from others, and to stay motivated to achieve. Care to share some of your goals?  I’m very interested…please leave me a comment!

Glo

(c) 2011 – True Bliss Coach Gloria Higdon

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Oops!!

August 30, 2011 By Leave a Comment

Photo Source

“The only real mistake is the one from which we learn nothing.”

John Powell

Today I’ve been thinking about the implications of failing forward…or not.  This quote says so much.  Where is the learning if we put so much pressure on ourselves to perform that we leave no room to breathe let alone learn?  What is the value in that approach? What about others and their expectations of us?  How do we manage those and yet still maintain a healthy approach to learning? 

Creating a safe environment for both ourselves and others so that we may trust the process of learning is so critical to moving forward.  Surround yourself with people who care about you and support your intentions. Be open to feedback…and breathe deeply…

Why be a shoulda, coulda, woulda person when you can live a be, do, have life? I vote for making mistakes in life and learning from them. It sure beats never trying anything new!

(C) – True Bliss Coach Gloria Higdon

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