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Martyn, I enjoyed your talk this evening.
Systemic Solutions sounds like a great package of services for managers and organizations.
Could you tell me please, is systemic coaching new, and what can companies
gain by your relationship management?
Martyn: The concept is not new -
effectiveness and productivity are not only increased by
technology, but by the relationship skills of managers. Many organizations focus on managing technology but it seems that real relationship
management is still in the Stone Age.
Managers should care about professional relationships, yet
they are often taken for granted and ignored in strategic planning. Systemic
Solutions combines strategic planning
with relationship management. Companies can create a strategic plan consistent
with the owner's or CEO's vision, with relationship management steps to realize that plan,
to prepare for and achieve those steps.
Can you please
explain how can organizations can improve their performance with
systemic solutions?
Martyn: We posted
case histories describing organizations
who benefited from
Systemic Solutions.
Our systemic coaching includes strategic planning and
relationship management. Solving
technical problems is not enough. We investigate the
systemic causes of those problems so that people not only solve relationship problems,
those problems can
become tail-wind towards success.
We resolve individual, partnership, team and
family problems, while focusing on emotional well-being and productivity. Deficiencies
in these areas, especially in the personal histories of the founder, CEO
or upper management, can limit
entire systems - whether families, organizations or countries.
We dissolve emotional and relationship blocks to success; creativity, motivation
or loyalty. We can provide systemic solutions for most conflicts. We improve cooperation by dissolving challenges
such as transference loops and hidden agendas that stop
people working with full energy.
What are transference loops?
Martyn: There are six common ways that people contaminate their
relationships - six common ways in which people react as if another person were someone else. If two
or more people do this
simultaneously, each feeding the other's inner chaos, we call it a "core loop".
What are hidden agendas?
Do you mean
things we want - but we don't want other people to know that we want?
Martyn: Exactly. And sometimes people even hide their real agendas from
themselves. Anyway, our systemic coaching and training programs offer ways to
resolve most of these issues.
What other skills can people develop in your
systemic solutions training?
Martyn: Many
people show significant blocks to developing or even using their own skills. A
common
example is that many people believe that they cannot
change, and this belief limits their chances for success. Yet most people CAN develop their
qualities in a wide variety of areas.
I see what you mean ... so what do we need to develop
NEW skills?
Martyn: Creative people can develop many ways to increase
their skills. Creativity is often an an ingredient for success, but learning
skills strongly reflects
the quality of coaching or training.
When we coach people to learn or improve skills, we focus on
motivation,
information, practice and application. Some people have enough
motivation but not information; some people get the
information but they don't practice; some people practice the wrong skill
for the application.
The lack of any one of these can limit success. We help people
develop deep motivation
for success, and then we provide the needed information. We train
and coach people to practice skills, we provide feedback, and then we discuss when to use or apply those skills. People
learn very quickly this way.
Can you please
say a few words about your background and experience.
Martyn: I joined the Royal Navy to study health physics
and medicine, and I served on nuclear submarines during the Cold War.
I later worked with nuclear generating stations, government
agencies, industries and hospitals - providing radiation safety, nuclear compliance,
environmental monitoring, emergency preparedness and inspection.
During this time I became a professional trainer. I was
fascinated by accelerated learning, expert modeling and behavioral
changework. I eventually became a full time trainer-consultant, providing
accelerated learning and management services. I worked extensively with
individuals, marriage and business partners, families and teams.
When I had enough pieces, I created some models of coaching consciousness and a methodology to help people quickly clarify their emotions
and relationships. I and my colleagues have been fine-tuning these models and the methodology for
over twelve years. We're getting to be pretty good ...
Can you briefly define your
business model?
Martyn: We grow through strategic alliances rather than
by hiring employees or building branches. We are professional, creative and we seek appropriately
experienced people - credible people who already get great results - who want
to participate. We also train people - the training time depends on their
motivation, previous training and experience.
Will you describe some challenges you have overcome.
Martyn: Every case offers challenges. The most obvious
are lack of time, lack of motivation, lack of capital and lack of revenue.
Others include poor managerial communication and poor decision making, which
often reflect a missing or
inappropriate company vision. Another type of challenge are the personal histories of
the owner, CEO and top managers ... many managers bring
their personal problems
to work, and recreate their domestic chaos amongst their
management teams.
What were the keys in bringing
your systemic
solutions to where it is now?
Martyn: Persistence, creativity and mentorship! We continue creating effective
models. And many
people inspire us to continue.
How important is creativity in your success?
Martyn: Creativity is both
innovative and unpredictable. Without creativity, we could only repeat
what others have done. But creative solutions do not necessarily work, and
few are cost-effective. We temper creativity with realism and internal
consultation.
How important is mentorship for
young consultants?
Martyn: Young consultants have the luxury of time - they can make mistakes
and they have time to learn from those mistakes. They can seek quality mentorship and
benefit greatly from the wisdom of experienced mentors. Their
problems include finding appropriate mentors and convincing appropriate people
to mentor them.
Few
people have the values, integrity and experience for
multi-dimensional success. And such
people rarely advertise themselves - those that do advertise themselves often
seem to have
strange deficiencies.
But wonderful mentors are out there, and many are eager to mentor
appropriate people.
Gaining assistance may be simple for people who stay in
their integrity and state their visions clearly. The problem may be getting
close enough to potential mentors to ask - top people often insulate insulate
themselves from visitors.
Where do
you see as the next evolutionary step for your Systemic Solutions?
Martyn: I want us to consult for communities. I want
us to help
community leaders manage and solve community issues - such as integrating families
with different religions, cultural beliefs and traditions, etc. Community
coaching integrates all that we have learned in individual systemic coaching,
family therapy
and management consulting - at a higher
level of complexity. It is fulfilling to consider the services that we can
provide to communities and their leaders.
How do you keep advantages over your competitors?
Martyn: We see most consultants as potential partners - we offer skills
and expertise
that they lack, and vice versa. We provide process competence
- not content expertise such as IT or
accounting. Our advantages are:
-
we specialize in strategic planning, relationship
management and systemic coaching
-
we have a proven underlying philosophy, methodology and
track record
-
we have very wide experience in all manner of planning and relationship
issues
-
we can quickly apply our methods and experience to new
challenges
-
we personalize our services for each client organization
-
we are present and accountable throughout a project
(not common in consulting)
What marketing methods have you used
successfully?
Martyn: We rely on referrals; so we network, we
write articles, we train people and we give talks. Many of our articles are
published in magazines, and are available on the internet.
We speak at conferences and at both public and in-house meetings.
What resources would you recommend for new consultants?
Martyn: Many resources are available at our web sites. New
consultants can ask many people for recommendations and they can keep
digging to find what is applicable to them.
What are the most important things you have
learned about business consulting?
Martyn: To be true to my sense of integrity, and to only work with people who are
true to theirs.
Do you have any advice for beginning consultants?
- Underestimate your first year income
- Overestimate your first year expenses
- Start now - use what you have - earn as you learn
- Remember that if "you fail to plan - you plan to fail"
- Remember that no plan is likely to survive reality
unchanged
- Learn from every action and reflect on every feedback
- Imagine that you have already succeeded - how could you do it
better?
Martyn, thank you very much
...
Martyn: My pleasure - I hope that we meet again.
Online Coaching with Martyn
. Operating Principles
Case 1: Mentorship
in Upper Management . Case 2:
Manage Families in Organizations
Case
3: Manage Conflict in Organizations . Case 4: Entrepreneurial Management in a Bank
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