Meet Helen Brooks
2023 continues to be an exciting year for Motion Learning, with another new member to introduce.
Helen Brooks is based in Melbourne, Australia, and balances a busy professional life with some deep thinking, unofficial taxi driving and wine tasting!
1. So, what are you up to this week?
This week I am doing a particular dive into wellbeing and looking at how different dimensions of personal and professional wellbeing can interplay to increase or reduce overall wellbeing. I regularly use wellbeing scales in coaching but this week my focus is on accreditation with a leadership focused wellbeing scale.
As leaders we have such a responsibility to manage our own wellbeing not just for our benefit but so that we can be our best, and role model well, for our team members.
2. What’s the most exciting project you’re working on at the moment?
I love working with my parental transition coaching clients – whether the client is about to start leave, on leave and preparing their return, or settling back in at work after their leave finishes. It is such an exciting time but also one that can be stressful or unnerving for people. Working with my clients to help them constructively manage expectations of themselves and others, and seeing how people grow and surprise themselves with their insights into how they can manage a family and career is really rewarding.
3. How are you finding your clients are coping with 2023?
A key area of focus continues to be adaptation to blended home and virtual working. Organisations are adopting different stances when it comes to optimising connection and engagement. Leaders are increasingly recognising the importance of connecting with individuals – this can be virtual or face to face as long as the focus is on the individual as a person and beyond transactional exchange about job content. I see some organisations and leaders managing it better than others which results in various levels of employee wellbeing – a topic that continues to be highly relevant post Covid. I’m seeing a mix of positivity at hopefully moving on from Covid but uncertainty from geo-political unrest and climate change which is why the connections between organisations and their people are so important.
4. How do you help them?
There are two key dimensions to focus on here. The first is on management of boundaries both personally and professionally. A flip side of virtual working and the flexibility that comes with that is a blurring of home and work boundaries which can result in diminished wellbeing. I encourage clients to consciously work through where they benefit from putting boundaries in place and how they manage them constructively with others personally and professionally.
The second dimension is around what is in the client’s gift to control. If something is in their control then I work with them on the actions they can take. If something is outside their control we instead focus on how they can respond in terms of feelings and outlook to minimise adverse impacts. Often a combination of action and managing response is beneficial.
5. Tell us a bit about your own background and experience
I have a psychology degree, followed by over 23 years as a management consultant working across a range of industries and sectors where I worked with senior clients on some of their most challenging transformation activities. I also have an MSc in Applied Positive Psychology and Coaching Psychology.
6. How do you draw upon it when coaching?
My experience in consulting has given me a strong understanding of the challenges and opportunities of the working environment to relate to my clients’ situations. I have first hand experience of the components of organisational effectiveness to help my clients unpack their thinking in key areas.
Through my psychology training I have deep insights on theories and research on major topics such as resilience, wellbeing, impostor syndrome and motivation. I draw on these to help my clients get real clarity and awareness to help them define practical next steps.
7. How would you describe your coaching style?
My coaching is client-led in that my clients choose their topic and are accountable for any actions they identify. My style is supportive while also bringing in constructive challenge to enable my clients to get deeper insight and understanding. I tune in closely to the said and unsaid. I like to spend time understanding the current situation but my main focus is forward-looking to outcomes and next steps. I encourage clients to think how insights they gain can apply beyond the immediate topic to have more lasting benefit.
8. What do you get up to, away from coaching?
I seem to spend a lot of my time outside work being a taxi to my two sports-mad daughters! I like running and find it fantastic for clearing my head. Here in Melbourne I’m fortunate to live near the beach and even when weather is chilly it’s great to get out on the foreshore. I like yoga for more gentle escapism, with the occasional trip to a local winery to really help me relax!
9. What are you looking forward to most?
I’m looking forward to some more travel especially now that my kids are getting older. Next stop is skiing in New Zealand – as a Brit I can’t get my head around skiing in July but hopefully it will be fun!
10. What’s the one secret you think everyone should be aware of?
That we all have an inherent negativity bias is not a secret, but it’s something that isn’t talked about enough. If we could all recognise a natural tendency to focus on the negative, we could spot ourselves doing it more and get in the habit of pausing to appreciate the positive - keeping more balance.
This applies to individuals, teams and whole levels of society. Something as simple as pausing, checking the direction of our thoughts and perspectives and doing a bit of a reset can give huge rewards not just to ourselves but to those around us.