The Law Society’s Post

‘What do you know already?’ This might just be my favourite opening asset-based question in almost any setting when someone is facing a challenge of some kind. - whether it’s my friend who wanted some HR advice - a colleague who is trying to navigate a workplace system - or more relevantly, in our workshops and support work, across geographies and housing situations, with people struggling to make ends meet and for whom we’re striving for a better outcome and to get it keep a home That these approaches, values and techniques have changed my own personal relationships is something others can now experience. Once embedded, they unlock a relationship of equals - where no-one individual has all the power and answers that they choose to bestow on someone else. This patronising and Victorian approach remains too often across the third and housing sectors and frankly, just gets people’s backs up, they disengage and we label them ‘hard to reach’. So the cycle continues. Asset-based questions and other transformative approaches developed at Your Own Place CIC can now be brought into your team to help you support others. Thanks to our ten years of testing and our flexible Train the Trainer packages there’s something for you no matter where in the country you are. Read Emily’s blog to find out more, drop her or me a message with any questions and book your July place now. https://lnkd.in/eR9-J4eQ #values #trainthetrainer #housing #support #tenancy #rent #supporteshousing #moveon #training #housingassociation #charity #norwich #norfolk #socialenterprise #booknow #safeandsecurehome

Is there such a thing as a truly selfless act? After Pheobe Buffet posed this philosophical question in Friends over two decades ago (I know 😮), I’ve returned to it again and again. Would I do this job if I won the lottery? Yes I would. My Friends, when I was fresh out of uni had very fancy and VERY well paid jobs. By inference they projected onto me that I must be a good person to do the work I do. I’m not and it made be very uncomfortable and it was important to point out that this work is certainly not a selfless act. The truth is that I’m good at my job, it rewards me in the difference I can make (however modest) and money has never been my driver. I’ve generally had enough. It’s always been about the relationships I have built - the teams I have worked with as well as the partners. But the relationships that really float my boat are those with the people I’ve supported during my 25-year career. Meeting people outside your own experience and bubble is so refreshing and joyous and brings as much to me as (I hope) it does to them. Without this skill, like any, honed during my career, there would be no business, team or turnover. Or impact. So I’ve another question for you: Is your skill and ability to build a relationship the most important part of your job? *and if the answer is yes, let us help you develop those skills on our upcoming Train the Trainer training in July* - because relationships are we do at Your Own Place CIC Sign up here: https://lnkd.in/ecwycXcG #relationships #career #skillsdevelopment #training #workshop #people #trainthetrainer #housing #housingassociation #charity #supportedhousing

If you struggle with articulating what you do, then I highly recommend you attend David Julian Price’s next workshop. I’ve been to one of his workshops and I left with the best pitch ever. #pitch #businessnetworking #smallbusiness

Memberships - are they worth it? I've just rejoined CharityComms as an Individual Member. I found great value being an organisational member in my last role, and wanted to stay integrally involved in the charity comms sector in the UK. With the move to freelance, it can be easy to forgo professional memberships. And I am aware of the cost involved, and for some that is a barrier to entry. But I've taken huge value from memberships, particularly CIM | The Chartered Institute of Marketing and CharityComms. Are they essential? Not at all. But it's an accreditation stamp that shows you're an experienced professional, committed to continuous learning. And more importantly, also a great source of inspiration and networking. I've also found real value in being part of the mentoring programme at both organisations - as both a mentor and as a mentee. Memberships - what do you think? If you're not sure, I'd say give it a try. #charitycomms #ethicalcomms #professionalmemberships #CIM #marketing #communications #professionaldevelopment

I’m going to strongly focus on building Coaches! 101 A NJ Nonprofit and stop trying to appease these culturally biased Human Resource Departments. I have a bachelors in communications; and a masters in legal studies, two certifications in legal services from New Jersey plus New York with an emphasis on notary public policies. These HR departments are culturally biased, with unrealistic qualifications for the jobs they are posting. A lot of these low demand jobs, are asking for high demand qualifications that don’t pay for the wage requirements on the jobs that they are posting. Stop asking for CEO requirements for and paying less than $55k. Its unfair and criminal. Respect the process, if someone has a master’s degree, be prepared to pay them $75k to $100k. Why because the amount of money, they had to dish out in order to achieve that experience is not worth filling out the application?

Succession planning in a small charity with a tight knit staff team is fraught with risk. So when HiH Mentoring Manager Hannah Whitehead announced she was moving out of London and from HiH for family reasons, with a f/t post that leads on a standout part of our work, that risk intensified. Since December 2021 Hannah has generated a quadrupling of our employability mentor volunteer base and overseen 135+ mentor mentee partnerships that occur over a six month period. The possibility of a f/t hire going wrong made us look at increasing Youth Officer (originally HiH Intern) Rose Oruma’s post from 4 to 5 days per week, discover that HiH girls boxing coach Sansha Goddard had previous relevant experience in the City with PwC and time for a p/t Mentoring Manager role, and ask Hannah to consider a 6 month appointment as HiH Mentoring Executive Consultant. We may need a f/t manager in the future but managing this team change through upskilling and increasing responsibilities for existing (and proven) staff will help safeguard the gains of the last few years and give stability whilst planning for further growth. I’m really interested in what others have experienced and handled in similar situations, as staff recruitment and retention is such a key and recurrent task we all need help to improve on. #hopeinharingeymentoring #employabilitymentoring #haringeycharity

𝙇𝙖𝙬 𝙛𝙞𝙧𝙢𝙨 𝙝𝙖𝙫𝙚 𝙖𝙣 𝙖𝙬𝙛𝙪𝙡 𝙡𝙤𝙩 𝙤𝙛 𝙧𝙚𝙨𝙤𝙪𝙧𝙘𝙚𝙨 𝙖𝙩 𝙩𝙝𝙚𝙞𝙧 𝙙𝙞𝙨𝙥𝙤𝙨𝙖𝙡. 𝘼𝙧𝙚 𝙮𝙤𝙪 𝙩𝙖𝙠𝙞𝙣𝙜 𝙛𝙪𝙡𝙡 𝙖𝙙𝙫𝙖𝙣𝙩𝙖𝙜𝙚? Someone recently said to me that they would rather fee earn for an extra couple of hours than attend a training session. I get that. They like doing deals. They don't want to fall behind with client work or billables. But the flip side is what valuable learning will they miss out on by not going to the training session? Knowledge management / Professional Support lawyers make sure that precedents stay current and relevant. They are the people who are making sure that teams are aware of changes in law, or new cases, or developments in law, and these are often lawyers who are highly technical. They can be great go-to people when you need assistance on a technical point or in negotiating a contract. They probably drafted the precedent in the first place and know the importance of retaining certain clauses in a contract. We often talk to senior lawyers about how they can get to partnership and what they can do to build a practice. Most big law firms have very sophisticated BD and Marketing teams and our first question to senior lawyers is: " Have you engaged with your BD teams to help you with a personal BD plan that also works with your team's overall BD plan? What firm initiatives can they help get you involved in?". Most law firms also have great pro bono initiatives and do an awful lot of work with charities. If this is your passion, it's easy to get involved through your firm. There is obviously a whole lot more to add here but the point is, are you using all the resources a firm has to offer you?

What problems is your charity or social enterprise facing that we could help with in the New Year? Get those New Years Resolutions written now to tackle those niggling issues head on. We can design an intervention specifically for your needs. We offer a free no-obligation briefing call so that we can get to know you better, as well as the needs of you and your team. Often, it may be that a small adjustment of an already available workshop is needed, or sometimes, the problem you have may need a different solution to what you initially think. These calls help both you and us find the right approach to your problem, and find options that fit any budget. After the call we’ll send you a short proposal, with full costings and options for you to discuss with your wider team. We’re always happy to adjust and adapt these where we can. Find out more about our approach and book a call today - Let us get your organisation running as well as it can to free time and save money in 2024. https://lnkd.in/eEJuzYFK #training #workshop #charitysupport #learninganddevelopment

Reflecting on a comment by Carla Harris the author of the career development book "Expect to Win" "if you expect to be easily identified or quickly rise through the ranks within an organization, consider volunteering in other areas or activities within the organization during your available time" Why? You need a sponsor aside from your boss that can quickly spot your abilities. A sponsor is someone within an organization that has a voice on the decision table, that can put in a word for you during discussions about opportunities in your organization. He/She is Interested in your growth because you have shown capacity and they can trust you to be able proof yourself when opportunities are given to you. One of the ways that sponsors can feel your impact is when you are visible and not confined to your primary roles. Most times, your work in an organization often times ends on your bosses desks. One year into my career, starting as a Finance Officer, I was asked if I would like to be a treasurer to the Company’s cooperative and I smiled, like I will be treasurer to millions. Why me? I thought for awhile, and I quickly noticed they needed someone with book keeping skills and an unfamiliar person to handle requests from members and partners. I gladly accepted and performed the tasks during my spare time and weekends without any expectation to be compensated. A position I held for over 3 years. I even did a training with Accounting Yard on how to create an accounting system using excel because none was in existence, I also added other skills I had to carry out the task while I was still performing well on the primary job I was paid to do. Of course with the consent of my manager. This volunteer helped me hone quality skills more than I could get in my actual role. We were able to grow the net worth of the cooperative from a single digit million Naira to a double digit million Naira within the space of three years. ✅️ I learnt useful communication skills. ✅️ Low-High risk revenue generating opportunities available for cooperatives and risk management. ✅️ Stakeholders management. ✅️ Stewardship. ✅️ Patient and ability to take calculated risk. ✅️ Cash planning. These are skills you would not easily get as a junior officer. Again, a friend I met at a conference working with a big 4 firm also gave an insight on how he used his design skills to gain visibility within a short time at his organization, prompting early promotion and other interesting opportunities at his work place. The take home is that, volunteering to act in other responsibilities even if you don't get paid for it can often times help you secure either the needed visibility enough to be considered for more opportunities within the organization, someone can like the quality of work you put in the volunteer and be your voice in that room where you can't speak for yourself or and you can learn and gain new valuable skills. For me the latter was my case.

"You can do something about it or hide in a corner all of your life" Words that still hold true with me today. I stammer, always have done and always will - it's part of me but doesn't define me. I'm proud of the thing which makes me different. As a kid (and as an adult) bullied, ridiculed.... So how the hell did I end up in senior learning and development roles delivering training to hundreds of people for over 15 years? Not easy but I was never going back to my 'corner' Some ways I've managed my stammer: 1. Speak to others about it - don't hide it - get out of that corner, you have something important to say 2. Seek guidance from great organisations (www.stamma.org) 3. You are you and you are unique 4. Some days are good, some days are bad - but we all experience that If you have a stammer and fancy a chat, work with someone who does and want to know more then DM me "You can do something about it or hide in a corner all of your life"