April 3, 2023 • 22 mins
What do you think about professional development? Is it something you look forward to as an opportunity to gain new skills or is it more a requirement you struggle to fit into your working day. This episode explores the benefits of professional development: to your small business, your staff (if you have any) and yourself, and how to find time to regularly fit it in. Among the types of PD we explore, the 1% improvement rule – now that sounds manageable!
Professional development is an important part of being an effective chartered accountant – it helps maintain the quality and expertise of the profession. While it’s a requirement to be a CA ANZ member, can looking at it through a different lens, reinvigorate your approach?
Leadership expert and bestselling author Suzi McAlpine joins Gillian to explain.
Suzi’s blog – The Leader’s Digest
PS. Apologies about the computer pings during the record.
See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
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Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Gillian Bowen, Host (00:07):
Hello, I'm Gillian Bowen, the Australian Manager of Public Affairs
at Chartered Accountants, ANZ, or CA ANZ. This is Small Firm,
Big Impact.
Suzi McAlpine, Leadership coach and author (00:21):
I think perhaps most importantly, when I think about professional development,
it helps you think and reflect and get outside your
comfort zone. And those things are really important for business
and professional success when we reflect, when we pause, it
leads to better decision making and who's not for that
(00:42):
in a business. And I think if you lead even
a really small team, if you're growing and developing, then
you're going to lead better. Think about the smallest amount
that you, of professional development that you could commit to
and make it a habit. Do it for a month
and then see what happens.
Gillian Bowen, Host (01:08):
It's the podcast giving you and your clients the up
to date information you need to do your jobs. And
each fortnight I share resources, tools and expert advice provided
by CA ANZ and a range of people across our profession.
So make sure you're following the pod in your favourite pod app.
And if you've got an idea for the show email
podcast@charteredaccountantsanz.com Today we have leadership coach and author Suzi McAlpine
(01:37):
in the hot seat. The topic professional development. What does
it look like and how to find time. Suzi McAlpine,
welcome to Small Firm, Big Impact.
Suzi McAlpine, Leadership coach and author (01:47):
Hi Gill. It's great to be here.
Gillian Bowen, Host (01:49):
Okay, so why don't you start by telling me a
little bit about yourself, your expertise.
Suzi McAlpine, Leadership coach and author (01:54):
Well, I suppose you could call me a leadership development specialist.
I'm a bit of a self-confessed leadership geek. I'm the
author of the award winning leadership blog The Leader's Digest,
and I wrote a bestselling book called Beyond Burnout How
to Spot It, Stop It and Stamp It Out. And
I've also created a blended leadership program for organisations wanting
(02:17):
to help their emerging leaders with those important leadership skills
called the leaders map. And I'm an executive coach to
chief executives and I live in sunny Nelson at the
top of the South Island (NZ) with my husband and the
last of our three kids, my teenage daughter. Give me strength.
Gillian Bowen, Host (02:38):
Oh, that feels like a great combo of all the
things that we're going to need to have this chinwag today.
So why is professional development important?
Suzi McAlpine, Leadership coach and author (02:49):
Well, I think professional development is a bit like exercise. We
know it's really important, but it can be really hard
to fit in. It sort of fits into that important
but not urgent quadrant of the urgent and important matrix,
if you've come across that with so many business needs
pulling you in, you know, lots of different multiple directions,
(03:10):
it can be really easy to forget ..to not spend
time developing yourself. But professional development is, it's got lots
of benefits. It can help you hone your skills, which
in turn helps you improve your business and your team.
And if you are leading a team, it really helps
you bring those skills that you're learning to them as well.
(03:33):
I think it really helps you better make the challenges
that your business is facing. It can help with career advancement.
I think it's really good for developing your self-awareness, which
is a leadership superpower. It can help you identify blind
spots and areas where you can improve, but also it
can really help you identify and work from your strengths.
(03:57):
I think perhaps most importantly, when think about professional development,
it helps you think and reflect and get outside your
comfort zone. And those things are really important for business
and professional success. And if it involves others, as some
professional development does. It can really help you meet new
people and connect and guard against, you know, isolation, which
(04:21):
I think is really prevalent in a lot of small
businesses and small business owners. So those are just some
of the benefits of professional development.
Gillian Bowen, Host (04:28):
Well, on that, let's dive into that a bit deeper
because we are talking to small and medium sized practices.
So what difference does it make to a small business
that is professional development or, even , if I if
I if I'm working for myself, it's just me. What
difference does PD make for me?
Suzi McAlpine, Leadership coach and author (04:45):
Well, I work for myself. I'm a small business owner.
And I think when it comes to professional development and
small businesses, look, small businesses are facing some pretty big
changes and challenges right now. You might have come across
the acronym VUCA, which is, you know, volatile, uncertain, complex
(05:06):
and ambiguous, which describes the environment in which we're operating
in (sounds like a bad dream) It is. And think it's we're, you know,
it's on steroids at the moment. And so I think
professional development and specific areas can really help you better
meet those challenges. And as I mentioned before, it falls
into that reflective space or type of work that you do.
(05:27):
And we do know from research that when we reflect,
when we pause, it leads to better decision making and
who's not for that in a business and think if
you lead even a really small team, if you're growing
and developing, then you're going to lead better. Okay. And yeah.
Gillian Bowen, Host (05:48):
I didn't mean to cut you off there. Did you
have something else you wanted to add?
Suzi McAlpine, Leadership coach and author (05:51):
Well, the only other thing is that if you are
leading others and you're putting time and effort into your
own professional and personal development, you're modeling what you want
to see in others and think that's a really good way
to influence others in your organisation to also prioritise professional development.
Gillian Bowen, Host (06:08):
Okay. So I think we've, we've really got a good
understanding of the why. I want to now dive into
giving some examples of the sorts of things that you
could do. And I've been poking around in your blog
and I really like the post that you've got up
there about the 1% improvement rule because it felt manageable.
What is the 1% improvement rule?
Suzi McAlpine, Leadership coach and author (06:31):
So I love the 1% improvement rule too. It was
coined by head of British Cycling, Sir Dave Brailsford, when
he applied this theory of marginal gains to cycling with
the UK team. And as a result of that, they
went on to achieve some brilliant results and gold medals.
And he said the whole principle came from this idea
(06:52):
that if you break everything down that you could think
of that goes into riding a bike and then improve
it by 1%, you're going to get significant increase when
you put them all together. It's this fancy concept called
the aggregation of marginal gains. And basically it just means
compounding small gains that are encourages people to continually search
(07:14):
for a tiny margin of a margin of improvement in
everything you do. And this can be really applied to
leadership and professional development.
Gillian Bowen, Host (07:22):
So then how do I apply that to a small
business or a sole practitioner?
Suzi McAlpine, Leadership coach and author (07:27):
Well, one obvious area is process improvement, so it might
be looking at a process in your business that's clunky.
Maybe there's double ups, red tape, bureaucracy, and you might
ask if we improve that by 1% over time, what
would that look like? What would that mean? You could
(07:47):
apply it to sales, for example. You could say if
we could improve sales by 1% each week or each day,
how could we do that? And even internally, with your
own leadership practice, if you wanted to say, Hey, I
want to increase my coaching skills by 1%, you know,
how could I bring in coaching conversations by 1% a
(08:11):
week with my with my team members? So it really
helps us break down what can be really big overwhelming
tasks into the small 1% improvements. And over time, over
a year, that's really going to help.
Gillian Bowen, Host (08:26):
Is that something a small business could do on their own,
or should they bring in someone to help them identify
the sorts of things that they could improve by 1%?
Suzi McAlpine, Leadership coach and author (08:34):
Well, I think it's both. Absolutely. Don't think you need
to bring somebody in. Some of the ways that a
small business could look at that 1% improvement rule is
things like managing non-performance. Let's say somebody is not where
they need to be or want to be in terms
of some aspect of your performance. You could have a
coaching conversation with them and say, if we were to
(08:57):
improve this by 1% every day, what would that look like?
Another way you can really apply the 1% rule as
a small business owner is if you and your team
have this big audacious goal that you really want to achieve,
but it seems a bit out of reach. Applying the 1% rule,
you know, would apply there when you want to improve
(09:22):
continuous improvement, but you want it manageable and not overhaul everything.
Or even when you're teaching somebody a new skill, what
does it look like if they are improving and learning
at 1% rate? So think it's really good if you
or your team are feeling a bit overwhelmed with too
many priorities, you could say, okay, let's look at the
(09:45):
top three priorities. Let's limit it to three priorities over
the next month. What would it look like if we
were making 1% improvement gains in each of those three priorities?
So those are just some of the ways that you
can apply that 1% rule in your own business without
getting somebody in.
Gillian Bowen, Host (10:05):
It sounds really interesting.
And what are some of the useful types of professional
development that if someone listening along was thinking they might
want to consider?
Suzi McAlpine, Leadership coach and author (10:14):
Well, when I think about professional development, it's anything that
makes you think or enables you to learn some new
skills or pushes you outside your comfort zone and gets
you to reflect. Often I think when we think about
professional development, we think it has to be some course
or external training. It can be that, but it can
(10:36):
be other ways. You might have come across the 70
20 10 rule and the 70 20 10% rule reveals that people
tend to learn 70% of their knowledge from challenging experience
or assignments or on the job, 20% from developmental relationships
like mentoring or peer coaching, and only 10% from coursework
(11:00):
or training. When I think about types of professional development,
it can be anything from reading industry or relevant articles.
For me as a leadership coach, my go to is
the Harvard Business Review and some of the research that
comes out of that. So it can be reading an article,
it can be listening to a podcast like this one, right? Yeah.
(11:21):
You know, so if you are listening here today, bravo,
you can tick off some some professional development. Yeah, it
can be training in some specific domain skills that might
be relevant to your job, but it can also be
training in things that are often seen as soft skills
like leadership or resilience. It can be getting a coach
(11:45):
or a mentor, so maybe you might have a mentoring relationship.
It can be attending an industry body event or a conference,
but think often it can also be what's a project?
What's a way that I can take on new challenges
or new or learn new things in my current position?
Um.
It can be doing a new project, particularly if you
(12:07):
include at the end of that project what I call
a retro. What did we do? Well, what do we
do not so well? What could we do next time?
So I think it can be really big chunks, you know,
that five day course. But it can be really what
I call micro moments, little things like putting, you know (sprinklings)
(12:30):
I love that word Gill. So. So it can look
at all of those things.
Gillian Bowen, Host (12:34):
Yes. Well, and because people who work in big firms
would have their firms point them in the right direction
of suitable courses and training. But I'm thinking if I'm
out there on my own or I'm the boss of
a smaller firm, I want to make sure that I'm
pointing myself or my employees to the right sort, of course.
How do I make sure I'm doing that? Where do
I find those?
Suzi McAlpine, Leadership coach and author (12:54):
Well, I'd start with two two things. I'd start with
an outside in in an inside out assessment of where
you need and want to develop. And so what I
mean by that is an outside in assessment might be asking yourself,
if you were running your own business, what are the
skills or areas I need to develop or get better
(13:15):
at in order for me to better meet the challenges
or opportunities that are facing my business right now or
maybe over the next year or so. And so for me,
an example of that was when I first started writing
my blog, Gosh, this was about five years ago. I
knew I needed to get better at writing and I
knew that eventually I was going to write my book,
(13:36):
which is Beyond Burnout. And so one of the first
things I did was get some individual coaching, but also
did some training, some online courses on how to get
better at copywriting. So that's kind of outside in. But
then also inside out assessment means looking at what are
your strengths, you know, what do I enjoy doing and
(13:58):
what am I good at? And where do the two
of those intersect and how can I find ways to
develop those strengths more and work from them? And it
might be looking at feedback. It might be looking at
my strengths and weaknesses and choosing 1 or 2 that
I need to get better at. So once you've identified,
I guess, a topic that you want to develop, then
(14:20):
you do your research. And look, I find that just
some of the most basic things, asking others trusted advisors, peers, friends,
industry bodies. You might look at somebody who's really good
at that thing and reach out to them and say,
How did you get better? You know, heck, even LinkedIn,
you know, saw somebody the other day saying, Look, I'm
(14:42):
really interested in getting better at this. Who can recommend
some courses? Even Google is your friend. So it doesn't
always have to be a really big expensive course, once again,
you might start with some articles or some podcasts or
some mini learning lessons. So those are just one... Some
of the ways that I would say to start, if
(15:03):
you're a small business owner on that professional development journey.
Gillian Bowen, Host (15:07):
Now continuing professional development is important for CA ANZ to maintain
the quality and expertise of the profession, and it's for
this reason that all members are required to undertake continuing
professional development or CPD. So it's equipping you with the
knowledge and the skills that you need to stay up
to date in your field. And like we've talked about
in this episode, it should be flexible. So from the CA
(15:28):
ANZ perspective, that's conferences, courses, workshops, technical discussion groups, webinars,
in-house training, self-directed learning. And what's also relevant here is
your chosen CPD activities are not restricted to courses associated
with accounting or financial topics. So if the activity is structured,
educational or technical in content and enhances your ability to
(15:53):
do your job, that training can also go towards your CPD.
Now there's lots of great information about this and how
to get it verified and authorised on the CA ANZ website,
including details of what's in the CA education store, for example.
And don't forget your CA ANZ membership unlocks exclusive access to services,
(16:13):
tools and resources. So what I'll do is I'll put
a link in the show notes that has all of
this in one great place on the website for you
to easily access. So then the question is what is
getting in the way of PD?
Suzi McAlpine, Leadership coach and author (16:25):
Well, like a lot of things, when you say what
what gets in the way, it's the same when I
ask people what gets in the way of you coaching more,
what gets in the way of delegation or giving feedback?
People will say, what time - I don't have enough time.
What that really means is that we haven't made it
(16:46):
a priority and I think that's okay. If it's not
a priority, let's just be honest about that. I would
say start small, maybe do some of those sprinklings those
micro moments and make it a habit. It's once again,
back to that metaphor of exercise. You're better to do
(17:07):
20 minutes every day or 20 minutes, five a day,
five times a week and make it a habit than
bite off too much. And so I would say start small.
Think about the smallest amount that you of professional development
that you could commit to and make it a habit.
Do it for a month and then see what happens.
(17:28):
That's my way.
Gillian Bowen, Host (17:29):
Yes. No, I like that. And I mean this. My
last question then ties in nicely because you are also
an expert in burnout. And I feel that perhaps the
two of these two things maybe work together in that
we argue we don't have enough time for PD, but
at the same time we're burning out. What is burnout?
What does that look like?
Suzi McAlpine, Leadership coach and author (17:48):
So burnout is a state of emotional, physical and mental
exhaustion caused by either really excessive and/ or prolonged stress
related to your professional life. It's really important that we
don't demonize stress in and of itself. In fact, a
certain amount of stress is not only really good for
(18:08):
our performance, it's really good for our wellbeing. It's when
that stress becomes unremitting, unrelenting, chronic, what I call baked
into the role that you're more likely to get on
to the on burnout on ramp. And I think with
small business owners, it's really important to look at the
six causes of burnout. There are six causes overwork, a
(18:32):
lack of control, a sense of isolation, an absence of fairness,
insufficient reward and a values conflict or a mismatch of values.
And I go into a lot more detail in my
book Beyond Burnout about these, but I think that often with
small businesses, it's probably the first three that you are
most at risk, that overwork, that lack of control and isolation.
(18:56):
And so what you can do is look at what
are some of the root causes that may be at
play for me and then get better at recognizing the
symptoms of burnout, um, chronic exhaustion and sort of an
increased cynicism or depersonalization and a sense of reduced professional efficacy.
(19:18):
And where professional development intersects is. What we do know
is that if people can work from their strengths over time,
if they can have regular breaks and that might be
a ten minute walk around the block during our day,
if we can get better at prioritizing, you know, make
(19:41):
it to don't list as well as a to do list, uh,
then these things can act as, as buffers to burnout.
And the other thing around professional development and where this
interlinked with burnout is one of the major causes is isolation.
And so if you can have some peer coaching, if
(20:03):
you can have a networking event with peers who are
in your industry, if you can attend something that that
means that you feel less isolated, that can also help
to to act as a buffer against burnout.
Gillian Bowen, Host (20:17):
We've got a lot to go away and think about. Our brains,
I'm sure are bubbling. Where to next for those listening along?
Suzi McAlpine, Leadership coach and author (20:25):
Well, I think if you were thinking about, um, professional development,
I would say use micro moments. Micro moments are, um,
are those small moments that are important in leadership. Um, it
might be asking yourself at the beginning of each day,
(20:48):
what's the most important thing for me to focus on today?
It might be reading a five minute blog or listening
to a podcast. It might be prioritizing your development, but
starting small and make it a habit. I have to
practice what I preach. I really I really lean into that.
(21:10):
And I've found that even if it's an hour on
a Friday that I safeguard into professional development, I wouldn't
have written my book. You know, I wouldn't have written
my book if I hadn't done that. So it's, it's, um.
Start small.
Gillian Bowen, Host (21:26):
Taking control of your own destiny. Oh, absolutely. Look at us. Inspiring people. Yeah. Look,
we've covered a lot, and that is all we have
time for. My timer is going off. If you want
to find out more about Suzi McAlpine, you can check
out her blog, The Leader's Digest. I'll put a link
to it in the show notes. And you should also
check out the other episodes from season three. Follow the
pod in your favorite pod app to find them or
(21:47):
the show's page on the Chartered Accountants Australia and New
Zealand website. The podcast has an email, so feel free
to get in touch podcast@charteredaccountantsanz.com Let's start a conversation. Thank
you Suzi McAlpine for being my expert on Small Firm,
Big Impact.
Suzi McAlpine, Leadership coach and author (22:03):
Thanks Gill. Bye bye.
Hello, I'm Gillian Bowen, the Australian Manager of Public Affairs
at Chartered Accountants, ANZ, or CA ANZ. This is Small Firm,
Big Impact.
Suzi McAlpine, Leadership coach and author (00:21):
I think perhaps most importantly, when I think about professional development,
it helps you think and reflect and get outside your
comfort zone. And those things are really important for business
and professional success when we reflect, when we pause, it
leads to better decision making and who's not for that
(00:42):
in a business. And I think if you lead even
a really small team, if you're growing and developing, then
you're going to lead better. Think about the smallest amount
that you, of professional development that you could commit to
and make it a habit. Do it for a month
and then see what happens.
Gillian Bowen, Host (01:08):
It's the podcast giving you and your clients the up
to date information you need to do your jobs. And
each fortnight I share resources, tools and expert advice provided
by CA ANZ and a range of people across our profession.
So make sure you're following the pod in your favourite pod app.
And if you've got an idea for the show email
podcast@charteredaccountantsanz.com Today we have leadership coach and author Suzi McAlpine
(01:37):
in the hot seat. The topic professional development. What does
it look like and how to find time. Suzi McAlpine,
welcome to Small Firm, Big Impact.
Suzi McAlpine, Leadership coach and author (01:47):
Hi Gill. It's great to be here.
Gillian Bowen, Host (01:49):
Okay, so why don't you start by telling me a
little bit about yourself, your expertise.
Suzi McAlpine, Leadership coach and author (01:54):
Well, I suppose you could call me a leadership development specialist.
I'm a bit of a self-confessed leadership geek. I'm the
author of the award winning leadership blog The Leader's Digest,
and I wrote a bestselling book called Beyond Burnout How
to Spot It, Stop It and Stamp It Out. And
I've also created a blended leadership program for organisations wanting
(02:17):
to help their emerging leaders with those important leadership skills
called the leaders map. And I'm an executive coach to
chief executives and I live in sunny Nelson at the
top of the South Island (NZ) with my husband and the
last of our three kids, my teenage daughter. Give me strength.
Gillian Bowen, Host (02:38):
Oh, that feels like a great combo of all the
things that we're going to need to have this chinwag today.
So why is professional development important?
Suzi McAlpine, Leadership coach and author (02:49):
Well, I think professional development is a bit like exercise. We
know it's really important, but it can be really hard
to fit in. It sort of fits into that important
but not urgent quadrant of the urgent and important matrix,
if you've come across that with so many business needs
pulling you in, you know, lots of different multiple directions,
(03:10):
it can be really easy to forget ..to not spend
time developing yourself. But professional development is, it's got lots
of benefits. It can help you hone your skills, which
in turn helps you improve your business and your team.
And if you are leading a team, it really helps
you bring those skills that you're learning to them as well.
(03:33):
I think it really helps you better make the challenges
that your business is facing. It can help with career advancement.
I think it's really good for developing your self-awareness, which
is a leadership superpower. It can help you identify blind
spots and areas where you can improve, but also it
can really help you identify and work from your strengths.
(03:57):
I think perhaps most importantly, when think about professional development,
it helps you think and reflect and get outside your
comfort zone. And those things are really important for business
and professional success. And if it involves others, as some
professional development does. It can really help you meet new
people and connect and guard against, you know, isolation, which
(04:21):
I think is really prevalent in a lot of small
businesses and small business owners. So those are just some
of the benefits of professional development.
Gillian Bowen, Host (04:28):
Well, on that, let's dive into that a bit deeper
because we are talking to small and medium sized practices.
So what difference does it make to a small business
that is professional development or, even , if I if
I if I'm working for myself, it's just me. What
difference does PD make for me?
Suzi McAlpine, Leadership coach and author (04:45):
Well, I work for myself. I'm a small business owner.
And I think when it comes to professional development and
small businesses, look, small businesses are facing some pretty big
changes and challenges right now. You might have come across
the acronym VUCA, which is, you know, volatile, uncertain, complex
(05:06):
and ambiguous, which describes the environment in which we're operating
in (sounds like a bad dream) It is. And think it's we're, you know,
it's on steroids at the moment. And so I think
professional development and specific areas can really help you better
meet those challenges. And as I mentioned before, it falls
into that reflective space or type of work that you do.
(05:27):
And we do know from research that when we reflect,
when we pause, it leads to better decision making and
who's not for that in a business and think if
you lead even a really small team, if you're growing
and developing, then you're going to lead better. Okay. And yeah.
Gillian Bowen, Host (05:48):
I didn't mean to cut you off there. Did you
have something else you wanted to add?
Suzi McAlpine, Leadership coach and author (05:51):
Well, the only other thing is that if you are
leading others and you're putting time and effort into your
own professional and personal development, you're modeling what you want
to see in others and think that's a really good way
to influence others in your organisation to also prioritise professional development.
Gillian Bowen, Host (06:08):
Okay. So I think we've, we've really got a good
understanding of the why. I want to now dive into
giving some examples of the sorts of things that you
could do. And I've been poking around in your blog
and I really like the post that you've got up
there about the 1% improvement rule because it felt manageable.
What is the 1% improvement rule?
Suzi McAlpine, Leadership coach and author (06:31):
So I love the 1% improvement rule too. It was
coined by head of British Cycling, Sir Dave Brailsford, when
he applied this theory of marginal gains to cycling with
the UK team. And as a result of that, they
went on to achieve some brilliant results and gold medals.
And he said the whole principle came from this idea
(06:52):
that if you break everything down that you could think
of that goes into riding a bike and then improve
it by 1%, you're going to get significant increase when
you put them all together. It's this fancy concept called
the aggregation of marginal gains. And basically it just means
compounding small gains that are encourages people to continually search
(07:14):
for a tiny margin of a margin of improvement in
everything you do. And this can be really applied to
leadership and professional development.
Gillian Bowen, Host (07:22):
So then how do I apply that to a small
business or a sole practitioner?
Suzi McAlpine, Leadership coach and author (07:27):
Well, one obvious area is process improvement, so it might
be looking at a process in your business that's clunky.
Maybe there's double ups, red tape, bureaucracy, and you might
ask if we improve that by 1% over time, what
would that look like? What would that mean? You could
(07:47):
apply it to sales, for example. You could say if
we could improve sales by 1% each week or each day,
how could we do that? And even internally, with your
own leadership practice, if you wanted to say, Hey, I
want to increase my coaching skills by 1%, you know,
how could I bring in coaching conversations by 1% a
(08:11):
week with my with my team members? So it really
helps us break down what can be really big overwhelming
tasks into the small 1% improvements. And over time, over
a year, that's really going to help.
Gillian Bowen, Host (08:26):
Is that something a small business could do on their own,
or should they bring in someone to help them identify
the sorts of things that they could improve by 1%?
Suzi McAlpine, Leadership coach and author (08:34):
Well, I think it's both. Absolutely. Don't think you need
to bring somebody in. Some of the ways that a
small business could look at that 1% improvement rule is
things like managing non-performance. Let's say somebody is not where
they need to be or want to be in terms
of some aspect of your performance. You could have a
coaching conversation with them and say, if we were to
(08:57):
improve this by 1% every day, what would that look like?
Another way you can really apply the 1% rule as
a small business owner is if you and your team
have this big audacious goal that you really want to achieve,
but it seems a bit out of reach. Applying the 1% rule,
you know, would apply there when you want to improve
(09:22):
continuous improvement, but you want it manageable and not overhaul everything.
Or even when you're teaching somebody a new skill, what
does it look like if they are improving and learning
at 1% rate? So think it's really good if you
or your team are feeling a bit overwhelmed with too
many priorities, you could say, okay, let's look at the
(09:45):
top three priorities. Let's limit it to three priorities over
the next month. What would it look like if we
were making 1% improvement gains in each of those three priorities?
So those are just some of the ways that you
can apply that 1% rule in your own business without
getting somebody in.
Gillian Bowen, Host (10:05):
It sounds really interesting.
And what are some of the useful types of professional
development that if someone listening along was thinking they might
want to consider?
Suzi McAlpine, Leadership coach and author (10:14):
Well, when I think about professional development, it's anything that
makes you think or enables you to learn some new
skills or pushes you outside your comfort zone and gets
you to reflect. Often I think when we think about
professional development, we think it has to be some course
or external training. It can be that, but it can
(10:36):
be other ways. You might have come across the 70
20 10 rule and the 70 20 10% rule reveals that people
tend to learn 70% of their knowledge from challenging experience
or assignments or on the job, 20% from developmental relationships
like mentoring or peer coaching, and only 10% from coursework
(11:00):
or training. When I think about types of professional development,
it can be anything from reading industry or relevant articles.
For me as a leadership coach, my go to is
the Harvard Business Review and some of the research that
comes out of that. So it can be reading an article,
it can be listening to a podcast like this one, right? Yeah.
(11:21):
You know, so if you are listening here today, bravo,
you can tick off some some professional development. Yeah, it
can be training in some specific domain skills that might
be relevant to your job, but it can also be
training in things that are often seen as soft skills
like leadership or resilience. It can be getting a coach
(11:45):
or a mentor, so maybe you might have a mentoring relationship.
It can be attending an industry body event or a conference,
but think often it can also be what's a project?
What's a way that I can take on new challenges
or new or learn new things in my current position?
Um.
It can be doing a new project, particularly if you
(12:07):
include at the end of that project what I call
a retro. What did we do? Well, what do we
do not so well? What could we do next time?
So I think it can be really big chunks, you know,
that five day course. But it can be really what
I call micro moments, little things like putting, you know (sprinklings)
(12:30):
I love that word Gill. So. So it can look
at all of those things.
Gillian Bowen, Host (12:34):
Yes. Well, and because people who work in big firms
would have their firms point them in the right direction
of suitable courses and training. But I'm thinking if I'm
out there on my own or I'm the boss of
a smaller firm, I want to make sure that I'm
pointing myself or my employees to the right sort, of course.
How do I make sure I'm doing that? Where do
I find those?
Suzi McAlpine, Leadership coach and author (12:54):
Well, I'd start with two two things. I'd start with
an outside in in an inside out assessment of where
you need and want to develop. And so what I
mean by that is an outside in assessment might be asking yourself,
if you were running your own business, what are the
skills or areas I need to develop or get better
(13:15):
at in order for me to better meet the challenges
or opportunities that are facing my business right now or
maybe over the next year or so. And so for me,
an example of that was when I first started writing
my blog, Gosh, this was about five years ago. I
knew I needed to get better at writing and I
knew that eventually I was going to write my book,
(13:36):
which is Beyond Burnout. And so one of the first
things I did was get some individual coaching, but also
did some training, some online courses on how to get
better at copywriting. So that's kind of outside in. But
then also inside out assessment means looking at what are
your strengths, you know, what do I enjoy doing and
(13:58):
what am I good at? And where do the two
of those intersect and how can I find ways to
develop those strengths more and work from them? And it
might be looking at feedback. It might be looking at
my strengths and weaknesses and choosing 1 or 2 that
I need to get better at. So once you've identified,
I guess, a topic that you want to develop, then
(14:20):
you do your research. And look, I find that just
some of the most basic things, asking others trusted advisors, peers, friends,
industry bodies. You might look at somebody who's really good
at that thing and reach out to them and say,
How did you get better? You know, heck, even LinkedIn,
you know, saw somebody the other day saying, Look, I'm
(14:42):
really interested in getting better at this. Who can recommend
some courses? Even Google is your friend. So it doesn't
always have to be a really big expensive course, once again,
you might start with some articles or some podcasts or
some mini learning lessons. So those are just one... Some
of the ways that I would say to start, if
(15:03):
you're a small business owner on that professional development journey.
Gillian Bowen, Host (15:07):
Now continuing professional development is important for CA ANZ to maintain
the quality and expertise of the profession, and it's for
this reason that all members are required to undertake continuing
professional development or CPD. So it's equipping you with the
knowledge and the skills that you need to stay up
to date in your field. And like we've talked about
in this episode, it should be flexible. So from the CA
(15:28):
ANZ perspective, that's conferences, courses, workshops, technical discussion groups, webinars,
in-house training, self-directed learning. And what's also relevant here is
your chosen CPD activities are not restricted to courses associated
with accounting or financial topics. So if the activity is structured,
educational or technical in content and enhances your ability to
(15:53):
do your job, that training can also go towards your CPD.
Now there's lots of great information about this and how
to get it verified and authorised on the CA ANZ website,
including details of what's in the CA education store, for example.
And don't forget your CA ANZ membership unlocks exclusive access to services,
(16:13):
tools and resources. So what I'll do is I'll put
a link in the show notes that has all of
this in one great place on the website for you
to easily access. So then the question is what is
getting in the way of PD?
Suzi McAlpine, Leadership coach and author (16:25):
Well, like a lot of things, when you say what
what gets in the way, it's the same when I
ask people what gets in the way of you coaching more,
what gets in the way of delegation or giving feedback?
People will say, what time - I don't have enough time.
What that really means is that we haven't made it
(16:46):
a priority and I think that's okay. If it's not
a priority, let's just be honest about that. I would
say start small, maybe do some of those sprinklings those
micro moments and make it a habit. It's once again,
back to that metaphor of exercise. You're better to do
(17:07):
20 minutes every day or 20 minutes, five a day,
five times a week and make it a habit than
bite off too much. And so I would say start small.
Think about the smallest amount that you of professional development
that you could commit to and make it a habit.
Do it for a month and then see what happens.
(17:28):
That's my way.
Gillian Bowen, Host (17:29):
Yes. No, I like that. And I mean this. My
last question then ties in nicely because you are also
an expert in burnout. And I feel that perhaps the
two of these two things maybe work together in that
we argue we don't have enough time for PD, but
at the same time we're burning out. What is burnout?
What does that look like?
Suzi McAlpine, Leadership coach and author (17:48):
So burnout is a state of emotional, physical and mental
exhaustion caused by either really excessive and/ or prolonged stress
related to your professional life. It's really important that we
don't demonize stress in and of itself. In fact, a
certain amount of stress is not only really good for
(18:08):
our performance, it's really good for our wellbeing. It's when
that stress becomes unremitting, unrelenting, chronic, what I call baked
into the role that you're more likely to get on
to the on burnout on ramp. And I think with
small business owners, it's really important to look at the
six causes of burnout. There are six causes overwork, a
(18:32):
lack of control, a sense of isolation, an absence of fairness,
insufficient reward and a values conflict or a mismatch of values.
And I go into a lot more detail in my
book Beyond Burnout about these, but I think that often with
small businesses, it's probably the first three that you are
most at risk, that overwork, that lack of control and isolation.
(18:56):
And so what you can do is look at what
are some of the root causes that may be at
play for me and then get better at recognizing the
symptoms of burnout, um, chronic exhaustion and sort of an
increased cynicism or depersonalization and a sense of reduced professional efficacy.
(19:18):
And where professional development intersects is. What we do know
is that if people can work from their strengths over time,
if they can have regular breaks and that might be
a ten minute walk around the block during our day,
if we can get better at prioritizing, you know, make
(19:41):
it to don't list as well as a to do list, uh,
then these things can act as, as buffers to burnout.
And the other thing around professional development and where this
interlinked with burnout is one of the major causes is isolation.
And so if you can have some peer coaching, if
(20:03):
you can have a networking event with peers who are
in your industry, if you can attend something that that
means that you feel less isolated, that can also help
to to act as a buffer against burnout.
Gillian Bowen, Host (20:17):
We've got a lot to go away and think about. Our brains,
I'm sure are bubbling. Where to next for those listening along?
Suzi McAlpine, Leadership coach and author (20:25):
Well, I think if you were thinking about, um, professional development,
I would say use micro moments. Micro moments are, um,
are those small moments that are important in leadership. Um, it
might be asking yourself at the beginning of each day,
(20:48):
what's the most important thing for me to focus on today?
It might be reading a five minute blog or listening
to a podcast. It might be prioritizing your development, but
starting small and make it a habit. I have to
practice what I preach. I really I really lean into that.
(21:10):
And I've found that even if it's an hour on
a Friday that I safeguard into professional development, I wouldn't
have written my book. You know, I wouldn't have written
my book if I hadn't done that. So it's, it's, um.
Start small.
Gillian Bowen, Host (21:26):
Taking control of your own destiny. Oh, absolutely. Look at us. Inspiring people. Yeah. Look,
we've covered a lot, and that is all we have
time for. My timer is going off. If you want
to find out more about Suzi McAlpine, you can check
out her blog, The Leader's Digest. I'll put a link
to it in the show notes. And you should also
check out the other episodes from season three. Follow the
pod in your favorite pod app to find them or
(21:47):
the show's page on the Chartered Accountants Australia and New
Zealand website. The podcast has an email, so feel free
to get in touch podcast@charteredaccountantsanz.com Let's start a conversation. Thank
you Suzi McAlpine for being my expert on Small Firm,
Big Impact.
Suzi McAlpine, Leadership coach and author (22:03):
Thanks Gill. Bye bye.
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