Ignite Thinking with Coaching Conversations with guest Megan Galloway: Director of thoughtsmiths

09/27/23 • 65 min

Show Notes

In this episode of HR on the Brain, Sheree Comninellis, CEO of Brain eBox, interviews guest Megan Galloway, Director of thoughtsmiths, where she is the Head of the Coach Training School about the topic of igniting thinking with coaching conversations.

Megan is a scientist by training, and in a previous professional life was a diamond exploration geologist working both in the field and in the laboratory. She worked for De Beers as well as smaller exploration companies for nearly a decade. Megan developed an interest in organizational culture, workplace effectiveness and the impact of leadership while working in this environment. She went on to qualify as a coach, ran her own coaching practice, and is now co-owner of thoughtsmiths Pty Ltd where she is currently the Head of Coach Training School. Megan has been coaching for 12 years and training coaches for 8 years. Her style of coaching creates a stretching, insightful and productive experience and her specific areas of expertise include leadership and mindfulness.

In this episode we discuss how Megan made the move from Science to Human Resources, and what sparked her initial interest in coaching. What follows is a thought-provoking discussion on the value of coaching for leaders and organisations, and how it enables leaders to ignite the thinking of their teams.

We had an interesting discussion about whether there is a “right way to coach” as there are so many coaches and ideas of what coaching is out there. Megan distils for us some of the key components of a coaching style conversation to ignite thinking.

For HR professionals, this episode is jam packed with great tips on how you can show your C-suite the return on investment of a proposed coaching intervention, as well as how to encourage team members to get involved in these interventions. We also talk about how you can go about creating a coaching culture in your organisation. You’ll find yourself wanting to get a pen and paper out to take notes as you listen – it’s that good!

What you’ll learn in this episode:

4:43 How Megan got involved in HR & Learning and Development, given her BSc and diamond exploration background and then what sparked Megan’s interest in coaching.

15:12 How can coaching help leaders and organisations reach their goals?

19:18 The benefits of coaching to teams and their thinking.

21:00 How to create a business case for coaching to present to your C-suite?

27:10 How HR leaders can encourage team members to participate in coaching interventions.

35:00 Is there a right way to coach, or can any leader implement coaching conversations.

41:49 How we can use our language to create powerful thinking.

49:47 How HR leaders can build a coaching culture in their company, without bringing in a coaching programme.

58:20 Megan shares more about Thoughtsmiths and how your company can get involved.

Featured in the Show:

Download the ICF White Paper on Creating an Impactful Coaching Culture from the link below. In this guide you will learn how to develop a culture that makes a difference in engagement and profitability and measure the positive impact of coaching in your organisation. Link: https://coachingfederation.org/coaching-in-organizations/create-impactful-coaching-culture
Short article on on measuring and communicating the ROI in executive coaching: https://coachingfederation.org/blog/roi-in-executive-coaching
To get the graphics Megan refers to in the episode, email Meryl Barends to: [email protected]
To get in touch with Megan Galloway, connect with her on LinkedIn; or email her to [email protected] or visit their website: www.thoughtsmiths.com
To get in touch with Sheree Comninellis, visit LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/sheree-comninellis/

Show Notes

What you’ll learn in this episode:

4:43 How Megan got involved in HR & Learning and Development, given her BSc and diamond exploration background and then what sparked Megan’s interest in coaching.

15:12 How can coaching help leaders and organisations reach their goals?

19:18 The benefits of coaching to teams and their thinking.

21:00 How to create a business case for coaching to present to your C-suite?

27:10 How HR leaders can encourage team members to participate in coaching interventions.

35:00 Is there a right way to coach, or can any leader implement coaching conversations.

41:49 How we can use our language to create powerful thinking.

49:47 How HR leaders can build a coaching culture in their company, without bringing in a coaching programme.

58:20 Megan shares more about Thoughtsmiths and how your company can get involved.

Featured in the Show:

Download the ICF White Paper on Creating an Impactful Coaching Culture from the link below. In this guide you will learn how to develop a culture that makes a difference in engagement and profitability and measure the positive impact of coaching in your organisation. Link: https://coachingfederation.org/coaching-in-organizations/create-impactful-coaching-culture
Short article on on measuring and communicating the ROI in executive coaching: https://coachingfederation.org/blog/roi-in-executive-coaching
To get the graphics Megan refers to in the episode, email Meryl Barends to: [email protected]
To get in touch with Megan Galloway, connect with her on LinkedIn; or email her to [email protected] or visit their website: www.thoughtsmiths.com
To get in touch with Sheree Comninellis, visit LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/sheree-comninellis/

Previous Episode

Women Empowering Women with guest Sebe Galawe-Rasebitse: HR Executive at Woolworths F B H

Show Notes

In this episode of HR on the Brain, Sheree Comninellis, CEO of Brain eBox, interviews guest Sebe Galawe-Rasebitse who is the HR Executive at Woolworths F B H about the topic of: Women Empowering Women.

Sebe is an accomplished and experienced Human Resources Director with a strong track record of success across various industries. With over 25 years working experience, Sebe has demonstrated exceptional leadership skills and a keen ability to plan, design, develop and evaluate human resource-related initiatives that align with strategic goals. Her expertise spans diverse areas, including divisional and organizational leadership, talent management, diversity and culture initiatives, change management and transformation processes.

At the start of this episode, we learn more about Sebe’s career through her eyes, and the women who empowered her and guided her through all of the various roles in her career; from her first, entry-level roles, through her career growth stages to where she is today as an HR Executive.

During the interview portion of this podcast, Sebe shares her views on how we, as women, can empower the women we work with. She provides valuable insights on how best to support your female colleagues in the workplace who may be experiencing challenges. She reminds us to remember that each person as a unique individual and that, as a result, empowerment may mean different things to different people.

To truly empower our team members she shares that we need to gain an understanding of what they want, and then as leaders our role is to create the space, a work space, that is conducive to empowerment. We also discuss tips for parents and how we can start to model empowerment of women with our children from a young age. Sheree also shares how Sebe empowered her, in her corporate career, and how these lessons have stayed with her to this day.

We end this incredible episode with a powerful parting thought from Sebe, who shares the importance of our role as HR professionals when it comes to the empowerment of women.

This episode is a truly special one, not to be missed. We are releasing this episode in Women’s month in South Africa, when the topic of women empowering women is extremely relevant. If you’ve been wondering how best to empower the women in your team; or how to seek this empowerment for yourself, in your career, tune in to get some wonderful tips.

What you’ll learn in this episode:

5:17 Sebe’s reflections on women who have empowered her throughout her life, from her youth to the present day.

32:11 The importance of empathy when empowering others, and whether this is a skill that can be developed.

34:53 How to best support female colleagues who are experiencing challenges in the workplace

37:00 The essence of empowerment and how it differs between individuals

38:20 How HR leaders can empower their team members

40:55 Our role in empowerment in creating spaces for people to thrive

41:22 Suggestions for parents when it comes to women empowerment

45:52 How Sebe empowered me in my career

49:18 The importance of humanity in our work and leadership

50:33 Sebe’s powerful message of our role as HR professionals, leaders, mothers and women

Featured in the Show:

To get in touch with Sebe Galawe-Rasebitse, connect with her on LinkedIn; or email her to [email protected]
To get in touch with Sheree Comninellis, visit LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/sheree-comninellis/

Next Episode

How to make the most of your training budget, after budget cuts, with Sheree Comninellis, CEO of Brain eBox

Show Notes

In this episode of HR on the Brain, Sheree Comninellis, CEO of Brain eBox, shares her insights on the How to make the most of your training budget, after budget cuts.

Sheree is a proven specialist in the Education, Training and Development (ETD) space, with a 17+ year track record in Learning and Development. She has worked across industries with businesses both big and small, to help them build competent and engaged teams through the power of skills development.

Sheree founded Brain eBox in 2015 and works as the Chief Executive Officer (CEO), leading the Brain eBox team and focusing on business development. She is passionate about working with companies to create and deliver powerful workplace learning solutions that unlock performance and help their teams thrive.

In this episode, Sheree shares her learnings from her years of experience managing training budgets during challenging economic times. She provides three key tips on how to strategically recalibrate your training budgets after budget cuts. For each tip, she provides examples which will help you to envision how you can apply this learning to your team.

This is an informative episode for HR and Learning and Development Leaders who are facing budget cuts, and grappling with how to handle these changes.

What you’ll learn in this episode:

1:56 The impact of tough economic times on training budgets.

3:00 How to remind top management on the skills needs of the future.

5:20 How to position a conversation with top management on your budget requirements.

6:30 How to consider what your team can bring in-house.

9:12 Some creative ideas for how to handle training requirements that you no longer have budget for, and that you are not able to do in-house.

12:08 Build assets that will give you ROI for years to come.

14:21 A word of encouragement to L&D and HR Leaders facing budget cuts.

Featured in the Show: