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One month ago, I left Africa

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Agness

Exactly one month ago today, I got on a plane to leave Zimbabwe.

I got my last glimpse of the Harare sunset.

(You haven’t seen a sunset until you’ve seen an African sunset, IMHO)

For those of you who’ve seen me since my return – and experienced my LET ME TELL YOU EVERYTHING verbal diarrhoea – then, yes, I’m still talking about it!

And likely will for a while.

#SorryNotSorry

For my regular readers who knew I was going, you might wonder why I haven’t been blah-ing on about it.

What can I say…

**Deep breathe**

There’s been a lot of processing, percolating, and rather humongous internal shifts since my return.

I knew it would be amazing and I was not ready for the emotions and the total shift in perspectives about EVERYTHING.

(Did I cry for three days straight once I came home? Yes, I did)

So, there’s only one place to start really…

Agness.

The gorgeous girl I sponsor. I met her. In the flesh!

And from the moment of meeting her my entire body had this visceral reaction of pure JOY.

Apart from her being stunningly beautiful – even more so than in her photos – she’s just deliciously gorgeous in every possible way.

She’s painfully shy.

Her English is very good but she isn’t confident using it.

She’s from Zambia. She’s 10. She was so affectionate and so happy to meet me!

When I arrived we had a little introductory chat and I must say, I held it together…

Until the moment she left when I exploded into ugly-crying as a WHOOOOOSH of emotion came over me.

PULL IT TOGETHER, JO!!

Now, before I went over there, I asked those wonderful people at The Catalyst Foundation to tell me her favourite colour. They told me it was yellow.

So I bought her a little gift pack of yellow-coloured things.

A yellow schoolbag, yellow dress, and other yellow stuff so many of us would just see as everyday essentials… just for her.

SHE. LOVED. IT!

Though she was still quite reserved, she expressed her gratitude with big hugs and big smiles.

#HeartMeltMoment

Yet nothing, and I mean nothing, broke me quite like what happened a few days later…

They offered a catwalk opportunity a few days into my trip.

Agness, to our surprise, wanted to give it a go! Except that first time, she bottled it. Nerves took over and she didn’t feel confident enough to have all eyes on her.

Her little feet shuffled a few steps down the aisle and then she turned around.

Yet she said she would do it again. She said, next time I’ll do it.

AND DID SHE EVER!

There I sat in the audience, clapping and cheering the girls as they strutted their stuff with such sass and rhythm and groove and then I saw it…

A FLASH OF YELLOW!

Out she came with her YELLOW DRESS ON!!

I completely MELTED.

Proper sobbing. Partly because she looked so incredible in her yellow dress but mostly because, only three days earlier, she wouldn’t say boo to a goose.

I couldn’t believe it was the same Agness!

She found the confidence to walk down that catwalk with everyone clapping as she danced and wiggled her little bum.

She came into herself and it was so beautiful.

click here to watch Agness melt my heart

*wipes tear from eye*

Speaking to her teachers the next morning, they couldn’t believe that she volunteered to do it in the first place.

This is what they said…

“I can’t tell you how having someone interested in her has changed her confidence in just three days”

In her home life she isn’t seen, or heard. She doesn’t have a voice. She doesn’t feel like someone of value.

You know, I talk about how we as leaders need to make sure our team members feel seen, heard, and valued.

THIS shows it. THIS is what I need you to understand.

When you are genuinely interested in those around and you give them the support to feel comfortable in their own skin – you will see the change it makes, like Agness.

And that brought me so much joy.

To have this relationship, to see the joy on her face, and yes… the feel good factor of supporting someone.

PRICELESS.

Similarly, when you support your team and watch them grow there is such immense joy and satisfaction in that.

Leaving her was TOUGH.

Yet meeting her has had such an immense and profound impact on me (and hopefully, I’ve had a positive impact on her, too) that despite the days of ugly-crying, this remains one of the best experiences of my life.

And yes, there’ll be many more stories to come.

Here’s to Agness.

Jo

P.S. I of course came away having sponsored her little mate as well because, how could I not?! If you want to support a girl like Agness so she can have a better life in a place where they have so very little, you can donate here.

The answer to ALL difficult situations…

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The_Training_Rock_Jo_Andrews_I_Wish_all_leaders_understood_this (1)

 

So you’re in a position of leadership and *hopefully* you’re chuffed about it.

**CHEERING FOR YOU**

What you don’t anticipate are the sheer volume of (super common) difficult situations you’re presented with.

The ones that truly make you wonder, “How the heck do I navigate this one?!”

Would you believe me if I said that – in its most simplistic form – there is one 2-part approach to them all?

If you’re curious to know what that is, I’ve made a snappy 3-minute video sharing a handful of the most common ‘HOW DO I TACKLE THIS?!’ situations and the solution that applies to all of them.

You can watch it here.

(Short on time? No worries, play the video on double speed!)

You asked for this

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The_Training_Rock_Jo_Andrews_I_Wish_all_leaders_understood_this

 

I’ve been asked over and over and over again…

“Jo! I don’t know if/when my company will bring you in to develop our leaders. But I am ready to do your training now! How can I join as a solo leader?”

That’s right!

People are waking up.

They don’t want to be part of the swarms of leaders who trudge through a treacle of friction for 10 whole years before they get shown how to get the most out of themselves, and their teams.

(Yes, 10 YEARS! That’s how long *most* leaders are in their role before they get any gold-standard leadership training… SCANDALOUS)

If this is you, I have an invitation to make.

**TRUMPETS**

We’re inviting individual leaders to join our next cohort of Take The Lead.

An 8-week battle tested leadership programme to help you become a leader your team chooses to follow.

>>No need to wait for your company to bring us in.

>>No need to battle through years of ‘winging it’.

>>No need to perpetually wonder why some people soar under your leadership, while feeling at constant loggerheads with others.

You can join Take The Lead and take your future as a leader into your own hands.

Now, if you haven’t been through one of our programmes, I know what you might be thinking…

“Pfffffffffft! Once you’ve done one leadership training, you’ve done them all”

**NOPE**

That’s where you’d be wrong.

The leaders who go through our programme don’t just feel ‘much better’ about their ability to lead their teams.

They don’t say ‘it was pretty good’.

They don’t say ‘I suppose I learned a thing or two’.

Their responses are far more full-bodied than that.

It’s life-changing.

Life-changing.

This work… It’s LIFE-CHANGING!

Don’t believe me?

Here are those words over and over again…

👇 (1)

#ItNeverGetsOld

Do you know why?

Because when you’re in a position of leadership, it is everything to be a leader your team genuinely wants to follow.

  • It is everything to feel confident, competent, and capable of both supporting every individual AND challenging non-compliance.
  • It is everything to be an authentic leader who plays to your strengths rather than trying to be someone you’re not.
  • It is everything to take the ‘difficult’ out of difficult conversations and say what needs to be said without breaking trust.

Clients who have been through our training know this.

And the reason they are *finally* able to be the leader they know they can be, and that their team needs them to be, is because here at The Training Rock we do things… a little differently:

  • This is practice, not theory. You’ll learn and *actually* improve through practical application using real-life scenarios. Get your head out of the textbooks and into role-play. No matter how much dread you feel reading those two little words… you’ll be fighting to be chosen for them by week four (that’s a promise).
  • No ‘2-day plaster fixes’. The programme runs over 8 weeks so you don’t just have a ‘quick couple of workshops’ to learn… but also time to IMPLEMENT. Learn, try, feedback, adjust, try again.
  • You will lead differently well before the programme ends. Transformation happens for most during the programme. You’re going to see and feel the difference in how you lead your team long before we say goodbye at the end of our 8 weeks together.
  • The T.R.U.S.T Model. The one model to rule them all (LOTR, anyone? No?). This one communication model can be applied to EVERY behavioural and communication issue in the workplace. It will be your new secret weapon.
  • Lead yourself first. You cannot lead others well if you cannot lead yourself. This training starts by focusing on you. You must understand the lens through which you see the world, as well as the lens through which others see the world.
  • Tailored to you and your needs. These 8 weeks are deeply tailored to each individual despite being held in a group setting. Every touchpoint shows you exactly how knowledge of self and others can be applied to the challenges you face right now.
  • One-to-one support. When the 8 weeks are over, we don’t just say ‘Ta-ta and good luck!’. No, we don’t boot you out the door – dropped and forgotten. You’ll have 3 x 1:1 coaching calls to support you as you put everything you’ve learnt into real-world practice!

So here’s what you need to know…

We start September 18th, 2024.

There are only 10 spaces available.

The nitty-gritty details can be found here.

And…

Secure your spot before August 21st you’ll even get one free 1:1 coaching call to focus solely on you and your needs before we get started, and get immediate access to our most-loved webinar “A human approach to conflict”

(The crowd goes WILD for this webinar!)

Let’s be honest, there are very few who manage conflict well – until they’ve done our training, that is.

Find out more information about Take The Lead, here.

If you’re a leader who is beyond ready to feel confident, competent and capable of leading your team to success, Take The Lead is for you.

Have questions?

Book a call with me and we can talk it out.

In September, we begin!

You’ll be begging for more…

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Do you know what we make time for?

Things we consider to be important.

It’s a no-brainer, right?

“If I see the value in doing this thing… I’ll do it”

Or, more importantly…

“If I understand what I’ll get out of doing it (and I want that outcome for myself)… I’ll do it”

Sort of like when you ask your teenager to set a 7am alarm, ready for school.

You’re often faced with all of the Kevin and Perry grunts.

Yet…

Tell them that if they want to [INSERT SOMETHING COOL HERE THAT THEY REALLY WANT TO DO] then they have to set a 7am alarm and get themselves ready to go at the crack of dawn…

You know they’ll be awake and at the front door before you’ve even had a chance to have your morning brew.

Often, our Team Leadership Training is met with similar resistance.

Understandably so.

Your team is inundated with tasks to do, projects to complete, and deadlines to hit.

You’re a growing business, and growth rarely offers you time to breathe.

So when we tell companies, like yours, that our training requires at least 3 hours of commitment per week over a number of weeks (depending on the length of the programme you choose)…

It can be a shock to the system.

“How can we possibly make time for that?”

You know what the real problem is here?

#HonestTruthIncoming

Those team members don’t yet see the value of this work, and they don’t yet understand what they’re going to get out of it.

That’s okay.

It’s my job to make that clear to you.

#OnAMission

I can always tell you why you need The Training Rock in your life, yet it’s something else entirely to live it and experience it for yourself.

So, I’ll let you hear from those who have…

Last week I finished Team Leadership Training with a cohort of amazing leaders.

They had the same resistance as you might have, right now.

All I will say is that the absence rate for this cohort… was zero.

(One person *actually* dialled in from holiday because they didn’t want to miss the session).

(Alright, fine. There was ONE absence… only because this gentleman had a pre-arranged meeting with the top dogs at his company that truly couldn’t be rescheduled. However, he was devastated to have missed a session AND… he asked for a recording so he could watch and catch up in his own time)

For all the ‘I haven’t got time’ resistance when it comes to professional development…

This lot will tell you that it’s time well spent…

Change happens when you invest the time to make it happen.

So today, I’ll leave you with this thought…

And invite willing changemakers and those dedicated to the development of their teams to book a call with me.

Let’s talk about how this training will be the best time commitment your business ever makes.

I wish all leaders understood this…

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Text Image of: "I'm really pleased that I avoided that difficult conversation and let it fester!" ...said nobody, ever. Jo Andrews, The Training Rock, Leadership Coaching.

 

Can I share with you what I wish all leaders understood?

You have to invest time in developing your communication skills if you want to become better at having ‘difficult’ conversations.

Hands down, this is the biggest struggle leaders tell me they face…

“I don’t like conflict and I’d like to avoid it at all costs. Difficult conversations feel impossible even though I know I have to have them”

At the same time, leaders new to The Training Rock wonder how they’re ever going to find 4 hours a week to attend the training.

They question whether it’ll be worth it.

I understand that.

(If you haven’t experienced it for yourself, how would you know?)

If time feels like your greatest obstacle at the moment, here’s what I want to ask you…

>> How much time do you spend agonizing over that conversation you know you need to have?

It sounds a bit like this, “How do I even begin? How are they going to react? What if they get upset or angry? What if it all goes wrong?!… I’ll leave it for another day”

>> How many of your team members live rent-free in your head because they aren’t performing the way you want them to?

It sounds a bit like this, “Why don’t they understand what I’m asking them to do? We’ve had the same conversation over and over again! I have to tell them that they need to up their game, but how do I even go about having that conversation?”

>> How much time do you honestly spend thinking about those conversations you’re avoiding?

You might not know how to have them effectively (yet)…

So you avoid them at all costs and back away…

And you pretend they don’t exist…

(Even though you spend days and nights worrying about them)

Hoping they will just go away on their own…

Spoiler alert: They won’t.

Our training requires 4 hours of your time every week and leaders get that time back tenfold because they know how to handle difficult conversations.

They stop:

>>Saying the same thing over and over again but never getting through

>>Spending days or weeks ruminating over how to say what needs to be said

>>Going home at night worrying about how to give feedback

>>Wondering why Pam and Stu can’t just ‘do what they’re told’

>>Agonizing over how to challenge non-compliance without losing trust

4 hours per week?

It’s nothing compared to the time you’ll get back when you know how to manage every member of your team, regardless of your differences.

Last month I started our Team Leadership Programme with an organisation I’ve worked with many times before.

>>  This is their 11th cohort.

10 cohorts have already gone through the training and now everyone else wants in.

They’re desperate to join because they’ve heard only great things.

The first thing most of them said on their 1:1 discovery call?

“I’m so glad I’ve finally been invited to join this programme, it sounds incredible!”

They have no hesitation because 10 other groups have experienced the transformation already.

So I understand that you might be sceptical about whether this investment will be worth it.

(These things have to be experienced to be believed, such is the way)

And this is my invitation to you…

If you wonder how this training might look for you and your leadership teams but feel a little hesitant about whether this is your next best investment, please book a call to chat with me.

 

  1. You can tell me about your struggles.
  2. I’ll tell you about The Training Rock Method.
  3. You can decide whether or not it’s right for you.

 

It will be that simple.

No stress. No pressure.

Just clarity.

Book a call with me here.

I can’t wait to chat with you.

 

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