Monthly articles on career success, leadership and productivity
Feel free to share them with your networks, citing the source. Complete the form to receive them, or email me and I’ll add you to MailChimp
Coaching the Superstar: When Confidence becomes Arrogance
What adjectives come to mind when you think of a high flier? Confident, whip-smart, ambitious, resilient, hard-working, charming? Golden alphas tick all these boxes. These are your prize-winners, your top talent; you encourage...
Return to the Office: have we all gone a bit feral?
Now we have proved we can work from home, why should anyone bother to return to the office? A new ‘hybrid’ culture is predicted – two or three days a week in the office, the rest at home. Some people will slip gratefully into this new rhythm. Others may...
Are we there yet? Why virtual working is a struggle now and what to do about it.
The end to the latest lockdown is in sight but we aren't there yet. Here's how to plough on: Give yourself a break Workers in the UK have increased their hours by more than 25% in the pandemic according to research by NordVPN Teams. You are no good to...
Do you take time or make time? Lessons from Einstein on managing anxiety.
It’s a new year and you are probably full of great intentions, or at least you were until the latest lockdown. Me too. I’m making my own kefir. Let’s see if that’s still happening by February. How can we build our reserves of positive energy so we can cope,...
Getting the most out of 2021
As Christmas is the busiest time of year for a vicar, new year is the busiest time for a coach like me. It's peak annual kick-off, objective-setting, lessons learnt, where are we going, what do we want, reboot, state of the nation (don't go...
Victims and Drama Triangles
Last week’s dramatic election shenanigans reminded me of a tool frequently used in psychological coaching to explain conflict and power plays. The Karpman Drama Triangle maps out destructive relationships using three roles: the Victim (‘one down’ on the...
Can’t see the Wood for the Trees?
Coach yourself out of the overwhelm with just one question. Clients are telling me that they feel particularly overwhelmed and weighed down at the moment. ‘Struggling to see the wood for the trees’ is coming up a lot in my sessions. I don’t want to add to the...
Will you still get ahead if you choose to stay working from home?
As schools reopen today, the UK government has launched a media campaign encouraging us to go back to the office. The CBI have warned of our city centres becoming ghost towns if people continue to stay away: save Pret etc. Yet many people are well in the...
Are you frightened of your Boss?
The choice of how and when to return to the office after lockdown will be giving some people sleepless nights right now. Home working has been a welcome respite from anxiety. It's not the commute, the virus or their colleagues that's...
Does Email squeeze the life out of you?
The way we use emails is chocking our productivity. Email has become an invasive intrusion, binding us to our screens: the japanese knotweed of work. Researchers say we spend about 28 percent of our time actively managing email, that’s over a quarter of...
Virtual Influencing – How to influence on Zoom
How to Influence on ZoomBusiness partners, leaders, trusted advisors, sales people, collaborators, experts - every one of us needs influencing skills. We want people to buy into our ideas, take our advice, follow our lead, call us first and trust...
Keeping your team engaged and motivated: banana bread, monkey brains and boundaries
Now that we are in the groove of remote working, our challenge is to maintain motivation, focus and connection. What’s working? Here’s a list of home truths from people I’ve canvassed: take a breather to skim through it and share it with your managers:Zoom Zombies...