Dip Don't Dazzle is the Key to Surviving The Christmas Party says Life Coach Carole Ann Rice

The fog of body spray, the miasma of hair lacquer and the clouds of high anxiety emanating from the Ladies loos can mean only one thing – it’s office party season. The tension and excitement has been building for months; dresses planned, bodies dieted and de-toxed into size 10 submission and strategies devised to pull a real cracker for Christmas.

Fast forward three hours later. You’re on your third pint of Malibu and pineapple, your outfit has turned into a transvestite’s worst nightmare, there’s a hint of the Tim Burton about your make-up and suddenly Kevin from accounts is beginning to turn from duff to buff. Who would’ve thought it?

This wasn’t the high gloss Vogue shoot you imagined this glittering occasion to be and with defences down and spirits up it can also be a place of high voltage danger and regret. You may be in the festive spirit with your colleagues and partying like there’s no tomorrow but you can be sure that your boss will on sober as the day they interviewed you.

Similarly with family and friends it’s wise to beware the potentially toxic cocktail of excess alcohol, heightened emotions and unrealistic expectations that can turn any situation incendiary.

Tempers, tears, tantrums and torrid gropes could lose friends, alienate people and could well end up all over Facebook the next day.

Of course we want to let our hair down and have fun. We want sequins, silks and feathers not hair shirts, sack cloth and ashes. But there’s a fine line to be drawn between riot and ruin. So here are a few tips on how to survive the office party and seasonal gatherings with your respect and reputation intact while still having a good time and happy memories thereafter.

• If it’s the office party decide your drink limit before you go out. Two alcoholic drinks are fun after three there could be loss of control so don’t risk it. Keep topping up with water. There’s no need to tell colleagues what you are doing. They may try to force your hand.

• Don’t wear revealing, trashy or provocative clothes to the office “do”. You need to maintain your professional reputation and you will be remembered for your sequined basque rather than your presentation skill ever more.

• If out with family and friends and you want to razzle dazzle them also consider how your outfit will look when you dance, have had a few drinks, travel on public transport, have a curry etc. Will it hold up to the wear and tear of the evening?

• With colleagues and managers do not get drawn in to gossip. Either change the subject or move away. What is loose talk over drinks could end up with you being implicated by association.

• Similarly don’t say, do or act in any way that you would not do in the workplace. The pictures passed around the office next day could mean the difference between promotion or passed over.

• For legless Lotharios be polite and move out of their way. Giving in for a bit of fun could mean you’re the subject of gossip the next day. Is it worth it?

• Even if you have a secret crush on a colleague don’t let on. Some companies operate a no-fraternisation policy so watch out.

• Everyone’s spirits are high at Christmas so beware the lowered defences, play safe and don’t get carried away with the moment. Allot a friend as protector too.

• Don’t assume colleagues or your manager are friends. Refrain from giving away personal details or grievances about the job in this seemingly relaxed environment. It could boomerang back.

• Do however keep your ear to the ground for information about staff morale and office politics.

• For the office party or family/friends gathering remember you don’t have to stay until the bitter end. Set yourself a time limit and slip away when you are ready. Also it adds to your mystique that you had “better things to do”.

• Use office parties an as opportunity to network, introduce yourself to people from other departments and learn insider knowledge. This can give you a competitive edge.

• It’s very important that you plan upfront how you are going to get home and either book a cab in advance or have a range of licensed cab numbers with you. If your budget doesn’t extend to a taxi then familiarize yourself with local bus/train routes and timetables and find out if you can share the journey with someone trusted. You don’t wand to be left alone, vulnerable and stranded.

Have fun, be safe and enjoy the party season with relish not regret. Happy Christmas

Carole Ann Rice is a life coach. Find out more http://www.realcoachingco.com/

How to Make 2011 YOUR Best Business Year Yet!

What’s your Resolution for 2011?

Eat less? Exercise more?

Can we show YOU one that’s much more enjoyable? How about this for a resolution?.

‘I resolve to attract more clients, make more money and build a business I love, with less effort, more ease and FUN!

Don’t believe it? We can show you how.

Join Susan Tomlinson and Carole Ann Rice, Real Coaching Solutions, at our next Business Building Breakfast. A fresh way to grow your business, meet like-minded people and start your day with energy and enthusiasm.

Why wait until the New Year to plan for success? Find out......

How to Make 2011 YOUR Best Business Year Yet!

By attending this breakfast workshop you will learn....

Simple steps to grow your business in 2011 and beyond.

How to manage your mindset so that you attract more clients and make more money

Ways to remove obstacles and blocks to your ultimate success.

Your ticket price covers tea/coffee and continental pastries, includes the workshop, and the opportunity to mingle and make new contacts with other like-minded business folk, in the sublime surroundings of the elegant St Stephen’s Club.

For further details please contact Sarah Moorhouse sarah@realcoachingsolutions.co.uk
'"I have attended a couple of events organized by Real Coaching Solutions in the recent past. I had a great time meeting like minded people, who share the same passion - healthy and sustainable business.

I believe that Susan and her company have a fantastic package for small business owners - empathy, integrity and hands on advice, which helped me to crystalise my thoughts and ideas related to my relatively new business, quite effortlessly.

I would like to recommend Susan's services to others who are looking for innovative support and fresh ideas for their unique business."

Jana Stanton

http://www.westminsterhypnotherapy.eu/

A Case For Coaching by Life and Business Coach Carole Ann Rice

A Case for Coaching - Carole Ann Rice

Why in the world would anyone use a coach? It’s a good question. Still considered a “new” profession here, coaching has its devotees across the world along with a fair degree of cynics who see it as another unnecessary US export.


But just as personal trainers in the 90s were considered a luxury fad for the lucky few, now we all know someone who is using or has used a fitness guru to tone their bones and get them fit. In the near future you too will have used a coach or know someone who has.

Coaching is rapidly becoming the most essential training tool that leaders and individuals use to run successful organizations and to create extraordinary lives.

It is not surprising that many global organisations such as IBM and Dell employ legions of full time coaches to work with managers or teams to increase performance, productivity and profits.

Yet for many coaching still carries therapy/new age connotations despite the fact that coaching principles are based on sound theoretic and academic processes. Unlike mentoring, coaches don’t necessarily have to work within the same sector as the client or have had personal experience of the profession or role they are coaching around. Whether scientist or sales exec the coach seeks to unlock the individual’s potential and unhook them from whatever is preventing them from achieving the success they have within them.

We look at the limiting beliefs the individual may be holding “I’m not management material”/ “I feel like a fraud” and see what lies behind them.
We also analyse what is currently standing in their way whether it’s a communications or confidence issue or perhaps a past grievance that has them stuck. Taking a holistic view of how the person is leading their lives; diet, relationships, work/life balance and five year plan, we have found also has an impact on how they perform in the workplace.

Unlike therapy coaches don’t want to wallow in the painful past but focus on the here and now and set achievable goals to teleport them into a powerful future.
For organizations this means greater awareness and understanding, which creates cohesive and directional teams; where the talent is nurtured and the weak points exposed and managed.
Corporations are also beginning to believe that coaching helps retain employees and that the financial investment is far less than replacing a key player.

Just as some large city firms may offer “perk” coaching to valuable employees, who voice dissatisfaction despite hefty bonuses, to prevent them from leaving, similarly some find it equally beneficial if staff head happily for the door post coaching too.
Increasingly organizations are opting to develop in-house coaches out of their own teams where managers are taught coaching skills in order to effectively manage their workforce.

Tanya Clemons, Vice President of Global Executive and Organizational Development at IBM said: “We’ve done lots of research over the past three years and have found that those leaders who have the best coaching skills have better business results.”

We rest our case.


Carole Ann Rice of The Real Coaching Company www.realcoachingco.com

Away Day or No-Way Day Carole Ann Rice looks at the Pitfalls of Team Development.

For the singleton it’s an opportunity for romance or expense account booze up and for those with kids it’s a nightmare of childcare arrangements and disgruntled partners. The team away day or residential development event can build morale and create an inclusive, motivated workforces or it can simply divide, disengage or downright disillusion the reluctant team player.

From solving faux business dilemmas to psychometric testing, where individuals are divined as either Earth Mothers or Warriors, the away day can be a minefield of bruised egos and battered expense budgets. When a team is pulling in different directions, blame and scapegoating is the culture and there seems to be an issue around shared goals and outcomes, time out and training can solve the issue.
But how many times have you seen folk return from these events flying high and geared up for change to find it dissolves into the same old routine?

Donna from sales may have been the high wire heroine abseiling her way to team glory in the badlands of Shropshire last week, but is back to being as obstructive as ever as soon as her heels hit the office Axminster. Something appears to have been lost in translation from away day to work day.
To ensure that a team away day really does do more than bond a disparate group of people but have real and sustainable effects it might be worth considering these pointers.

• Be very clear from the outset what the desired intention of the event is. What exactly is it you want to achieve? How will that be done? What needs to be in place? What benchmark with you use to know you’ve got there?
• Make sure you will be able to measure results and take away accumulated data (contributed by the teams) that you can use effectively thereafter.
• Don’t assume everyone wants sporting terminology and Will Carling-esque motivation exercises; that people like to be physical, extrovert or do things that get them out of a comfort zone and straight into the psychiatrist’s chair.
• Inform the team what you would like them to get out of the event and invite them to make suggestions to as to what they would like to achieve, learn and contribute to the exercise.

• Use psychometric tests from the outset so that they can identify theirs own strengths and weaknesses and learn about the qualities of their colleagues too and how best to work and interact with them.

• Work, rest and play – make sure the event has its highs and lows and at the end there is a social time in the bar or restaurant to socialize, de-brief and consolidate what has been learned.

• Check in with the team a week later to see if what they have learned has been useful and put into practice.
• Avoid death by away day. Too many psychometric tests and physical challenges could lead to confusion and burn out. Remember, this is training and development not the Apprentice.


Find out more about Carole Ann Rice http://www.realcoachingco.com/