Happy New Year - even if it's a little belated.
As January 2018 started much quieter than in previous years I wonder if I’d drained my blogging juices with a post a day in December 2017 introducing a range of tools I use in coaching, facilitation and problem solving?
It was also a sign of a quieter blogging year here on Purchasing Coach with the publication of my book Can’t see the wood for the trees in August and all things landscaping Your Life (LYL) that accompanied that, and then the death of my father in October resulting in posts here not being as frequent as in previous years (see 2016 year in blogs). Nor perhaps as controversial as I’m starting 2019 blogs talking about changing the buyer/supplier paradigm (out on 21st).
That said, there’s a few blogging highlights I’d like to
share and they cover the topics I love to talk about:
- Words having Power
- Procurement
- Soft skills and Self Awareness
- Coaching
Words have power
Interestingly I started the year with one of my favourite subjects ‘the power of words’. That is, the power for words we use to contain the kernel of a solution within them.
Interesting with how the year ended that it started with a post over on the LYL blog on solutions for when “life gets in the way” with other posts here covering:
- Being on the same page as others
- Juggling balls and spinning plates (the solutions being a personal favourite this year)
- No pain no gain over on LinkedIn about the counter productive use of these words
- Getting your head above the parapet
Procurement
A letter that outlined that procurement needs to get back to delivering real value and not just the cost savings they think that organisations want that actually diminishes the relationship between the two. That is, it could be a match made in heaven and yet often feels like a one night stand or friends with benefits! One element of the letter was expanded upon over on my Landscaping Your Life blog and touched on what happens when we've exhausted the low hanging fruit.
In November my interview with Phil Ideson at The Art of Procurement aired – discussing all things procurement, soft skills and with a
little Landscaping Your Life throw in for good measure.
As I do every year on metal health awareness week I invited
procurement to consider mental health in procurement within our own
organisations and that of our suppliers.
Other procurement posts written for Future Purchasing, a procurement consultancy I'm an active associate for covered:
- What do the Great British Bake Off and Category Management have in common
- Process and toolkit - and why they're not things to be avoided
Soft skills and self awareness
As ever, soft skills was a frequent topic in training and
coaching sessions and an index of soft skills posts was posted for clients to dip into
topics we’d discussed.
Other posts on this subject included:
- The impact the roles we use to describe what we do has on the outcome we achieve, and the impact of simply changing the description can have. (Although wonder of this is really a words have power post :-)). After all procurement isn't just all about fire fighting!
- Taking your rose coloured spectacles off – notes from a presentation I did at a CIPS local branch meeting on self awareness being the key soft skill that would have greatest impact on personal and organisational success
Coaching
As a coach I’m often asked about the benefits of coaching
and also realise there’s some myths too that stop people considering coaching
as a means of them achieving more in their personal and working lives. I wrote
2 posts to help shed more light on what to expect from a coaching relationship.
Although if you’d rather not have a human as a coach
my recently published book Can’t see the wood for the trees provides insight on how to have nature
as your coach.
The book uses a process (LYL) I first developed over 20 years ago to help managers understand why suppliers needed to be managed, and how it was the same as looking after your garden ie I discovered that gardening was a great metaphor for supplier management. The process then expanded to using landscapes as metaphors for our lives.
You’ll find more about the LYL process using #landscapingyourlife on Instagram, Facebook, Twitter and YouTube. There's also in index of LYL highlights for 2018 including notes from a session on planning for success in 2019.
Here's to a fabulous 2019. I can guarantee I'll be continuing to share here what excites, inspires and challenges me.
You know where I am - alison@alisonsmith.eu +44(0)7770 538159
Alison Smith
The Purchasing Coach
The book uses a process (LYL) I first developed over 20 years ago to help managers understand why suppliers needed to be managed, and how it was the same as looking after your garden ie I discovered that gardening was a great metaphor for supplier management. The process then expanded to using landscapes as metaphors for our lives.
You’ll find more about the LYL process using #landscapingyourlife on Instagram, Facebook, Twitter and YouTube. There's also in index of LYL highlights for 2018 including notes from a session on planning for success in 2019.
Here's to a fabulous 2019. I can guarantee I'll be continuing to share here what excites, inspires and challenges me.
You know where I am - alison@alisonsmith.eu +44(0)7770 538159
Alison Smith
The Purchasing Coach
Inspiring change inside and out
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