The Importance Of Taking Regular Breaks And Making Small Changes In Your Environment

Yesterday, something amazing happened in Amsterdam.

After months of cold and rain, suddenly the mercury hit 18 degrees โ€“ very rare for a day in March. ๐ŸŒž

This beautiful weather had a remarkable effect โ€“ it completely changed the city’s vibe. People were smiling more, looked happier, and seemed more energetic.

It reminded me of how much a change in environment can impact your mood.

I often see the same during coaching, where even moving to a new spot in the room can change your mood, perspective or feelings.

Let’s connect this to how many of our days look; spending hours behind screens.

Apparently, and I only stumbled upon this mind-blowing fact recently: Zoom didnโ€™t exist 20,000 years ago ( ๐Ÿ˜ฒ!!).

Our brains havenโ€™t yet evolved to deal with Zoom-a-thons.

What can you do?

Create several of these mini-spring moments throughout your day.

Every few hours, go for a short walk outside.

Or put on your favorite song and dance.

Or do some stretching.

Anything that gets your body moving.

These changes in the environment work like resets for your brain.

As the picture below shows: your brain needs to recharge – you can’t win all those Nobel prizes on an empty battery.

(The test person at the bottom, the one whose brain doesn’t look microwaved, took short breaks between calls.)

Training, Mentoring And Coaching – When To Use What?

Letโ€™s look at one tool from the leadership toolkit: training, mentoring and coaching your team. ๐Ÿ› 

Demystifying the use of ๐˜๐—ฟ๐—ฎ๐—ถ๐—ป๐—ถ๐—ป๐—ด, ๐—บ๐—ฒ๐—ป๐˜๐—ผ๐—ฟ๐—ถ๐—ป๐—ด, and ๐—ฐ๐—ผ๐—ฎ๐—ฐ๐—ต๐—ถ๐—ป๐—ด.

All three are essential skills for any manager.

Use the right skill at the right time to maximize your teamโ€™s development.

So, when to use what?

๐—ง๐—ฟ๐—ฎ๐—ถ๐—ป๐—ถ๐—ป๐—ด: ๐—Ÿ๐—ฒ๐—ฎ๐—ฟ๐—ป๐—ถ๐—ป๐—ด ๐—ป๐—ฒ๐˜„ ๐˜€๐—ธ๐—ถ๐—น๐—น๐˜€ ๐ŸŽ“

Perfect for beginners, training is directive and instructional, focusing on knowledge transfer to lay a solid skill foundation. Usually short-term.

“๐˜๐˜ฏ ๐˜ต๐˜ฉ๐˜ช๐˜ด ๐˜ต๐˜ณ๐˜ข๐˜ช๐˜ฏ๐˜ช๐˜ฏ๐˜จ ๐˜ด๐˜ฆ๐˜ด๐˜ด๐˜ช๐˜ฐ๐˜ฏ, ๐˜โ€™๐˜ญ๐˜ญ ๐˜ต๐˜ฆ๐˜ข๐˜ค๐˜ฉ ๐˜บ๐˜ฐ๐˜ถ ๐˜ฉ๐˜ฐ๐˜ธ ๐˜ต๐˜ฐ ๐˜ฅ๐˜ฐ ๐˜Ÿ, ๐˜ , ๐˜ก.โ€

โœ… ๐˜›๐˜ช๐˜ฑ: verify, in a supportive, non-controlling way, if the training was successful and the desired skills were learned.

๐— ๐—ฒ๐—ป๐˜๐—ผ๐—ฟ๐—ถ๐—ป๐—ด: ๐—ฅ๐—ฒ๐—ฐ๐—ฒ๐—ถ๐˜ƒ๐—ถ๐—ป๐—ด ๐—ด๐˜‚๐—ถ๐—ฑ๐—ฎ๐—ป๐—ฐ๐—ฒ ๐Ÿงญ

Suited for mid-level to senior team members, mentoring offers guidance and wisdom from personal experience. Guide your team members on their professional journey. Longer term.

“๐˜๐˜ณ๐˜ฐ๐˜ฎ ๐˜ฎ๐˜บ ๐˜ฆ๐˜น๐˜ฑ๐˜ฆ๐˜ณ๐˜ช๐˜ฆ๐˜ฏ๐˜ค๐˜ฆ, ๐˜ฉ๐˜ฆ๐˜ณ๐˜ฆ’๐˜ด ๐˜ฉ๐˜ฐ๐˜ธ ๐˜ ๐˜ต๐˜ข๐˜ค๐˜ฌ๐˜ญ๐˜ฆ๐˜ฅ ๐˜ด๐˜ช๐˜ฎ๐˜ช๐˜ญ๐˜ข๐˜ณ ๐˜ค๐˜ฉ๐˜ข๐˜ญ๐˜ญ๐˜ฆ๐˜ฏ๐˜จ๐˜ฆ๐˜ด. ๐˜ž๐˜ฉ๐˜ข๐˜ต ๐˜ด๐˜ต๐˜ณ๐˜ข๐˜ต๐˜ฆ๐˜จ๐˜ช๐˜ฆ๐˜ด ๐˜ฅ๐˜ฐ ๐˜บ๐˜ฐ๐˜ถ ๐˜ต๐˜ฉ๐˜ช๐˜ฏ๐˜ฌ ๐˜ค๐˜ฐ๐˜ถ๐˜ญ๐˜ฅ ๐˜ธ๐˜ฐ๐˜ณ๐˜ฌ ๐˜ง๐˜ฐ๐˜ณ ๐˜บ๐˜ฐ๐˜ถ?”

โœ… ๐˜›๐˜ช๐˜ฑ: the relationship is essential in mentoring – take a genuine interest in your mentee.

๐—–๐—ผ๐—ฎ๐—ฐ๐—ต๐—ถ๐—ป๐—ด: ๐—ฃ๐—ฒ๐—ฟ๐˜€๐—ผ๐—ป๐—ฎ๐—น ๐—ฎ๐—ป๐—ฑ ๐—ฝ๐—ฟ๐—ผ๐—ณ๐—ฒ๐˜€๐˜€๐—ถ๐—ผ๐—ป๐—ฎ๐—น ๐—ด๐—ฟ๐—ผ๐˜„๐˜๐—ต ๐Ÿš€

Ideal for more senior team members, coaching is an equal partnership that promotes self-discovery and maximizes their potential. No advice or instructions are given.

Through questions, help your coachee discover what they want, and how theyโ€™ll get there. Only effective if coachee is motivated to be coached.

“๐˜ž๐˜ฉ๐˜ข๐˜ต ๐˜ฐ๐˜ถ๐˜ต๐˜ค๐˜ฐ๐˜ฎ๐˜ฆ๐˜ด ๐˜ข๐˜ณ๐˜ฆ ๐˜บ๐˜ฐ๐˜ถ ๐˜ข๐˜ช๐˜ฎ๐˜ช๐˜ฏ๐˜จ ๐˜ง๐˜ฐ๐˜ณ ๐˜ต๐˜ฉ๐˜ช๐˜ด ๐˜ฒ๐˜ถ๐˜ข๐˜ณ๐˜ต๐˜ฆ๐˜ณ, ๐˜ข๐˜ฏ๐˜ฅ ๐˜ฉ๐˜ฐ๐˜ธ ๐˜ค๐˜ข๐˜ฏ ๐˜บ๐˜ฐ๐˜ถ ๐˜ข๐˜ญ๐˜ช๐˜จ๐˜ฏ ๐˜บ๐˜ฐ๐˜ถ๐˜ณ ๐˜ข๐˜ค๐˜ต๐˜ช๐˜ฐ๐˜ฏ๐˜ด ๐˜ต๐˜ฐ ๐˜ข๐˜ค๐˜ฉ๐˜ช๐˜ฆ๐˜ท๐˜ฆ ๐˜ต๐˜ฉ๐˜ฆ๐˜ฎ?”

โœ… ๐˜›๐˜ช๐˜ฑ: a good coach is a good listener โ€“ practice active listening and ask open-ended questions.

Every team member, regardless of their role or seniority, might find value in training, mentoring, or coaching, tailored to their unique needs at different times.

Which of the three did you benefit the most from in your career?