Join Fiona and Geoff as we speak with Mike Hickman, Leadership Development and Training Manager at Community First Yorkshire.

Trained as a drama and TV actor, Mike has also had a long and varied career in secondary and tertiary education as a teacher and lecturer. He has had various roles in the mental health, voluntary and community sector - including income generation and working for better mental health - and is now focused on developing people and leadership, through training, mentoring and coaching. Mike still acts and writes, and is currently acquiring a professional qualification in coaching.

Mike and Fiona discuss their personal and professional experiences of ‘working with difference’, and understanding the various ways in which people express their uniqueness. They share powerful examples of the value of understanding how different people relate to the same situations, process differently the same information, and the perils of superimposing normative expectations. Mike speaks openly about his own experiences of mental health and how these have shaped both his own way of being in the world, and his approaches to understanding other people.

The conversation includes:

• The benefits and downsides of being open about mental health diagnoses and labels.
• How Mike’s knowledge and experience of mental health and mental ill-health affects how he works as a leader.
• Mike and Fiona’s experience of challenging norms - as challengers and being challenged.
• False equations - such as why not making eye contact can mean the opposite of “I’m not listening to you”.
• What might be behind the phrase, used in a professional context: ‘You remind me of me.’
• What we can learn from Kate Dean’s insights on the norm of ‘social competence.’
• A conversation with Geoff focused on how Mike manages his inner world when meeting new people and managing energy levels in a busy and demanding environment.
• What we can learn from the concept of ‘psychological safety.’
• And a question to take away - from Mike to the coaches in our listening audience.

Coaching York is in partnership to deliver the CFY mentoring programme, and coaching, for leaders in the North Yorkshire VCSE sector.

Connect with Mike on Linkedin.

You can find out more about Kate Dean’s work at Enable Disability and Inclusion.

Next Episode

Our next episode will be published in the week of July 8th.

About Coaching York and the Podcast

Coaching York is a community of coaches serving various communities, especially in York and North Yorkshire. The Coaching York Podcast is curated and edited by Geoff Ashton in support of Coaching York’s mission to extend the reach of coaching, to enable more people to live its benefits.

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