Celebrating Munni: Senior Manager Electoral Sector

“I value my time a lot more. I’ve got the tools. I am more effective in what I do. I have increased my productivity. All the challenges that I think are mine, are actually shared. I found comfort in that. In The Possibility Community there were people who did completely different jobs that had similar challenges. I am not alone! Have an open mind. Listen and take it all in! Remember that your brain can be retrained.”

Munni

Gitanjali – High Definition You Coach

Hi, it’s Gitanjali here from high definition you and I am thrilled today to be bringing you the success story of Munni. Hello Munni. Can you tell us a little bit about what you do in the world?

Munni

Yeah, so I work for a company that supplies elections on a third-party basis. So we are the advisor, we do auditing, we are the independent scrutineer and work across all business types.

Gitanjali – High Definition You Coach

And you’ve got a team as part of that you’re quite busy. I think that’s fair to say, were we when we first started working together, what we struggled with what to live and work, look and feel like,

Munni

yeah, so although we knew each other for many years, we started formally working together just as we went into the COVID 19 lockdown. And I guess the struggle is we, like you said, working with a team. Not just the team that I managed. But there are also other sorts of teams that you have to sort of feed work into.

There’s CEO, expectations, sales, Director expectations, and I think where I was feeling, not so much, you know, is working from home, and suddenly from an office environment being deployed to okay, this is how you now work.

There are strong personalities that I work with. And I almost felt there was a bit of a clash of the titans to say politely where people have their expectations from you, you have your own expectations, and I think and I know this for certain that I was struggling with that balance of how best to deliver what I needed to deliver.

Gitanjali – High Definition You Coach

And when you were thinking about working together, because we started working together on the group coaching program, what if any resistance showed up for you in terms of committing to working together

Munni

I didn’t have any restriction, you know, any resistance. I think, for me, maybe it’s my culture, asking for help is seen as a sign of weakness. So I’ve got this, I’ll struggle with you. And that was more the recognition, I have to ask for help to be able to perform differently, respond to things differently, and manage my own health and well being. I know your style, and we know the knowledge of the work that you did. So I knew that I’d be able to sort of fit in and carve my way into that. And it’s been a great journey.

Gitanjali – High Definition You Coach

So tell me, what does it look like? Now you know, what’s changed for you since we started working together?

Munni

Some key learnings where I value my time, a lot more. The power of actually saying no, practising saying that it has been, again, it’s expectations of whether it’s family or your career, the way it’s been passed out is by saying no to something, you’re, oh, you’re not able, you’re not capable?

We’re actually saying no because this other thing needs more attention, or more of your time, or capacity, whatever it might be. So yeah, so that was one thing. And then just noticing, noticing what you’re saying, how you say how things are being said to you, how you respond. So that’s one thing that I would definitely say has changed on this journey. For me, where it whether it’s home life, or work life really going, Oh, what’s my reaction to this? Huh?

Gitanjali – High Definition You Coach

And what’s been the effect of that? Do you think in terms of maybe your leadership style with all of those, you know, those three maybe in mind as well?

Munni

What has changed? I personally feel I am more effective in what I’m doing. So one of the exercises was about multitasking and whether we are able or not, and my innate answer would be yes, absolutely. I’m a great multitasker. I can do everything. And in reality, we’re not great multitaskers as humans and really working through things going, right, well, I’ve started something. So either finish it or put a line in the sand with a summary and come back to it and do something else.

I’m not trying to do too, and I’ve found that it’s actually increased my productivity and getting to tasks faster and that procrastination that I do on some tasks building in time for it has made them actually turn out there’s one, not the most natural sort of creative writer. And there are two times that I’ve been sort of putting off and putting off and putting off, and then pencilled it in and went right an hour here an hour there half an hour here.

And it’s now turned into an amazing marketing piece, which the rest of the team can actually use. And I feel quite proud that I brought this little baby to life. Well, which, historically, you know, past money would have gone all to fear fall and there was no shaming going, right? I’ve got it to a structure where I think it’s workable, can someone else now take it forward?

And someone else did. And it came back to me and that’s that bit of relinquishing power, I guess, is something that I probably would have struggled quite hard with, even two months ago, three months ago.

Gitanjali – High Definition You Coach

I love that. In fact, you might have answered the next question that I wanted to ask you, which took me to the moment when you really realised that the coaching was working?

Munni

Yeah. I don’t think there was a penny drop moment. It’s that noticing where you’ve got these like channels in your brain that someone says something, and you have an automatic reaction to which, with the pause, allows you to think and give a different answer, or approach it in a different way. And I have this tendency of if something isn’t going my way, it’s a nought to 100.

Spark to not dive straight into that point and go, yeah, yeah, it’s not my thought, but get to work. And then progressing past that. And then maybe reflecting in hindsight going oh, yeah, it didn’t actually turn out as bad as I thought it might have. And, yeah, I would have done it this way. But this way works, too.

Gitanjali – High Definition You Coach

So what is it about the way that we work together? Do you think that was really enabling you to get those results?

Munni

So at our level, as you know, you go through lots of courses and be a good leader and learn how to do a good, you know, objective setting. And I know that this has worked for me because of the exercises that were set, and the focus on small stepping stones up to where I am now.

And it’s that practice. And without that, I think it would have been less successful. The practice, practice, practice, practice, practice thought about it has made me go, oh, changing habits, changing the reward structure in my brain. Maybe that was a lightbulb moment.

Gitanjali – High Definition You Coach

Maybe, yeah. As part of this process, because it was a group coaching program that you’re a part of, what’s really surprised you or delighted you about that?

Munni

I surprised myself with how open I was. I’m not normally. So in touch with my emotions. So that surprised me. And the other welcoming part of the whole course was all the challenges that I think are mine are actually shared.

So hearing other people voice the same frustrations or talk about the same challenges as it shouldn’t find comfort in it, but you do. Because you think oh, I’m not standing here alone, shouting at the edge of a cliff trying to get my voice. I’m sorry about that, they have come for me, they have found me.

Gitanjali – High Definition You Coach

Yeah, there was so much nodding on the group coaching there. And yeah. And shared.

Munni

And shared. There’s a thing where you don’t choose your family, you choose your friends. And when you’re speaking with your friends, there’s a common ground that you always have that synergy.

In work life, there are people from all sorts of walks of life and experiences and different jobs they’ve come from, and you don’t often you know, it’s not always that you have the set, you’re on the same page that fell in the possibility community, there were lots of people who did completely different jobs who had the same challenges and you’re thinking, Oh, I don’t even have this in the environment I work in so I’m not alone. Yeah, I’m not alone in this way of thinking.

Gitanjali – High Definition You Coach

And I saw so much growth from you as we did with everyone in the group over the last few months. If you had to summarise it somehow going from, you know, at one particular state to another. How would you summarise them?

Munni

I joined the session, a place where I really felt that I had a crisis in confidence, and through the different thought processes, different exercises, recognising styles of people working and recognising my own journey as well, where I was addressing things that still affect my thoughts today that happened in the past.

And today feel resilient and should be proud of it, to say, Oh, I’ve gone on a journey in my life on this experience, and feel that’s probably the journey I’ve come on from being really out on a limb to yeah, I’ve got the tools, I just haven’t looked for them in
I love it. I want to hear you say I am resilient.

Munni

I am resilient. I am, I looked myself in the eye in the camera. And said so

Gitanjali – High Definition You Coach

You know people will be watching this and hopefully being inspired by your story when you What would you say to them, if they’re making the decision about starting a coaching program?

Munni

Commit to it, commit to the program and turn up for the session. Not physically, but you know what I mean, the turnout for the sessions as bringing in your own realisation of where you think you might need improvement may not necessarily be where you need improvement, is having that open mind and going, I’m just gonna listen and take it all in practice some of the things I read the exercises I’ve done, I’ve taken on board some of you, reading materials as well and visited that and seeing some articles.

And just having that open mind is what I would say is, yeah, there are lots of things that are discussed that you might not do naturally. And you have to push past that.

Gitanjali – High Definition You Coach

Yes, in that wonderful sort of way that we built that community so that we all support Yeah.

Munni

It is a very trusting community. And that’s the thing is you, we, there’s no judgement, there’s no fear to say something that you might feel in that moment, is very supportive, and good advice gets pushed through the channel of communications, good material is shared. So yeah. It’s been great. And I’m going to continue and keep growing and remembering that your brain can be retrained.

Gitanjali – High Definition You Coach

That constant evolution. Well, thank you so much for sharing your story, Munni. It’s been an absolute privilege to work with you for the last few months. And I’m excited to continue on our journey likewise, and get you to the next level.

Munni

Lovely, thank you Gitanjali thank you