Blogs and insight
Resilience Resources Round Up
In the first few days of 2020 I was pulling together a resilience workshop and around me the news headlines were beckoning an apocalyptic start to the decade: conflict, bush fires and excessive coverage of a couple who had seemed resilient to the demands of their...
Adventures in courgettes or working out what’s really important
Do you get stuck making choices between A and B, forgetting that there are many different paths? Some of which are more overgrown with weeds than others. Soon after we moved back to Sheffield in 2016 we put our name down for an allotment. With a 9 month and 2 yr old...
Leadership development: what is it and do I need it?
I've not posted for a while, because I've been beyond busy. I know that's a kind of badge of honour in 2019, 'how are you?', 'oooh I'm so busy?', with the subtext being that being busy gives us worth and makes us feel important, useful, needed (or insert whichever...
Is 2019 the year for a mindset shift?
Many of my clients are achievers. They enjoy being good at stuff and being in control of their lives. They may be known at work as the person who will deliver on complex projects. They might be the person who drafts the last minute board paper or the one the CEO calls...
This is my dance space, this is your dance space
What does coaching have in common with classic 80s movies? There are some amazing lessons in 80s teen movies: not just 'don't judge a book by its cover' (Breakfast Club) or 'be true to yourself and not try to be something you’re not '(Some Kind of Wonderful). The...
Does your team need an email charter
Many of my leadership coaching clients cite email overwhelm as a key source of their stress. Not only that, but in an organisational culture which equates being on top of your emails with effectiveness, it can impair their ability to focus on what really matters. I...
Leading third sector teams in 2018
This spring I was asked to write a blog for Third Sector Cafe, a fantastic organisation in Sheffield who supports organisations in the region with workshops and networking. We were discussing running a workshop on tools we might use to help us adapt our leadership...
Five exercises which will transform your career
Are you feeling stuck? Do you need a change? Have you ended up in a job, or organisation, which isn't right for you? Maybe you got the job of your dreams, but five years on you’re ready for something new. I've been talking to clients about career issues, whether in...
Have you reached peak change?
'The only thing that is constant is change', said Hericlitus, the Greek philosopher. Two thousand years later, post financial crisis, with technology advancing far quicker than we can keep up with, most of us are grudgingly starting to agree. As individuals we feel...
In praise of listening
How well do you listen? I mean REALLY listen? As anyone knows, whether they be coach, client or the most casual watcher of soap operas, we work things out when we talk about them.When I’m in the coaching room, it’s not me working things out, so it’s not me doing the...