Our Principles
We are guided by three simple principles:
- Individuals thrive on fundamentals (so we build from firm foundations)
- Organisations are a collection of Individuals (so we apply compatible thinking at an organisational level)
- Conversations are always key (so we listen, engage, consider)
We take our principles into our work with Coaches, Managers and Teams.
1.
Sitting at the heart of what we do is the recognition that individuals thrive on fundamentals. When we talk of fundamentals we mean the right amount of sleep, a realistic optimism coupled with critical thinking, eating a nutritional diet and hydrating, moving constantly, and connecting in meaningful relationships with other humans. Coupled with feeling safe which comes from knowing others have our back, we can thrive.
If these fundamentals are out of sync there is an increasing likelihood that the individual will start to experience a variety of negatives, for example: an increase in stress levels, a downward spiral in work performance or a work life balance that starts to fail. Or all of these, and more.
The furthest point any individual can travel away from their core fundamentals being in sync is the thought or outcome of suicide. We are passionate about working with coaches and organisations in supporting and building awareness in their day-to-day interactions with clients, colleagues, and staff.
Suicide and Thriving are polar opposites – sitting either end of a spectrum. We need to be able to talk about both with equal clarity. Learning to thrive and the skills required help us frame the discussion around being overwhelmed. Any of us could theoretically be at either end of the spectrum. We each have our own triggers and challenges as well as points of optimism and happiness.
Helping individuals reconnect with their own fundamentals, their innate skills and attributes and seeing them flourish is a wonderful thing.
2.
We build on our core principle and believe we should view organisations as a collection of individual humans. Sounds trite and obvious but is it not odd that we see organisations as an entity rather than a coming together of individuals? Yes, people may feel obliged to subsume their own uniqueness into the overall organisational shape and function – but we should recognise this and consider its impact on the person. Can we not define a set of fundamentals for organisations based on our approach to individuals? That to thrive we need safety, and authentic connection with people who care.
What are the processes the organisation has in place? What are its ways of working? How are expectations set and managed? How are people measured? What objectives are set and how? All of these things (and more) impact on individuals and their approach to work. So of course, scaling up they have significant impact on overall organisational performance positively and negatively.
Does the organisation understand its own fundamentals? Does it consider its staff, teams and departments in the round?
Building programmes to help steer organisational health back on track individual by individual, team by team, drives Anne Archer Associates. It’s a key part of our ‘why?’
3.
Without proper two-way conversation, with oneself, between two people, in a team or at an organisational level, nothing evolves, improves or develops over time. External factors may push someone or something in a new direction but both parties have not agreed the shared outcome. It’s a dictatorship, not a democracy – recognition of other people’s needs must always be factored in to any decision. Conversations are always key is our third and final principle.
Learning how to communicate is a skill that can be sharpened. Being clear and precise is just as important as using emotional language and flights of fancy to sweep people away in a story. And again, there is a clear thread between individuals and organisations – having conversations with yourself to check in on your fundamentals up to the C suite team setting a clear path with an understood way of getting there that takes everyone along the journey. Conversations are always key.
Working with individuals and organisations to help improve communication through conversations has been a long-standing driver for Anne Archer Associates. The simplest of human abilities remains at the heart of what we do.
So, how do our Principles help shape our services?
We work with Coaches, Managers and Teams in a tailored way – looking at things holistically, not with a one size fits all, take it or leave it stance. We could work 1:1 or we could work with groups. We can flex to fit into your own structures and around your specific requirements.
Please get in touch to discuss your needs.
Practicing what we preach – helping cause useful conversations
Our work doesn’t fit neatly into a tweet or a hot take. To affect change we need consideration, and then collaboration. In that spirit we are building up our Insights section where we offer, for free, our thinking on our work and the space we work in. We’ve pulled together our existing blogs and podcasts and added a new section called Thoughts. We hope to cause conversations and trigger ideas and thoughts. If you want to use or link to our content, we’d love to hear about it.
Our Thoughts talk around and to our broad thinking:
Why authentic connection is your secret leadership superpower
“My personal view is that Anne’s key strengths are to ask powerful questions; to pick up signals of words unsaid, but crucial for deeper understanding; acting in the moment. There also seems to be a natural flow of conversation and energy I think she’s an outstanding coach especially for executive leadership roles…”
This programme is essential training for all of us and especially for coaches. We were able to share experiences, comfortably discuss complicated, sensitive issues, learn how to help clients and be more aware of our own mental health and how it works. As a coach who often works with clients experiencing a variety of mental health issues, I feel more prepared, confident, aware and educated”
Confidence before: 5.25 / 10
Confidence after: 9.0 / 10
Knowledge before: 5.5 / 10
Knowledge after: 9.25 / 10
Instructor rating: 10 / 10
Recommend the course: 9.75 / 10
I would recommend this course to other coaches without hesitation. The knowledge and insight that Anne brings, as well as her approach, is superb.
Anne made the group feel very comfortable and encouraged questions and discussion throughout. She was a great advocate for the work of MHFA England and really encouraged us all to feel empowered to offer support to people, recognise the early warning signs, and she reiterated the importance of early intervention with mental health issues. I came away feeling more prepared to have conversations around mental health, whilst knowing the boundaries of the role and being aware of my own self-care processes.
Anne was amazing her approach was tailored to the group and worked really well we were all made to feel extremely comfortable, which I think helped our approach as a group to be more unified. The course content was obviously very useful, however I feel that because of the relaxed approach to the training it has helped in ‘sink in’ more deeply and has provided further confidence in how I can approach any situations I come across in the MHFA role. I’m really confident that as a team we will have a great unity in our approach to MHFA within our organisation. Thank you Anne
An excellent course which was delivered in a way that made it easy to follow and never felt to heavy but hit all the points that was needed. Having completed this course I now feel that I can go forward positively and with confidence to support colleagues and the wider community with mental health issues, being there to listen and support appropriately.
Anne was brilliant, she was very understanding, easy to talk to and delivered the course in such a way, it was not too heavy, especially with the subjects we were discussing.
Help join the dots?
If you think we might be able to help with your business or we could work together on a project let’s talk.