I constantly keep reminding myself of this. It was the mantra of an old “Boss” of mine, which was his way of saying never give up, or keep the flame burning . Easily said, but not so easily done. Even as an experienced professional coach, I have to constantly keep
Time poor – How do we maintain performance in the VUCA world ?
There are plenty of articles around time management and managing the complexity of life. As a coach, one of the areas I spend significant time is around helping leaders and executives maintain focus. There are so many distractions form work and media channels which make it less possible to focus on a daily basis. I […]
Truly Not Judging
I have posted many times about the theory and practice of non-judgement. I talk about the importance of not judging individuals. In my view judgement is OK for circumstances, events and situations but not people. I fear that in a very politicised and polarised society judgement of people is becoming way more prevalent. I have […]
Unseen Gender Bias ?
I was lucky enough to see a fascinating film “Red Joan” on the plane back from Qatar last week, chronicling the life of Melita Norwood, a Cambridge Science Undergraduate, who ended up working for the allied nuclear effort, and was befriended by communist political activists, being controlled by the KGB.
Short Interval Control & Coaching
Not necessarily a title you would expect to see in a coaching blog, but something I have been giving a lot of thought to recently. I am fortunate enough to do a lot of work as part of my consulting work . This generally includes an amount of group and or team coaching as well […]
Not Being Shy – Let’s Keep Talking
We live in interesting and uncertain times. As I referenced in my recent paper around having impact in hostile environments, we are far from self-actualised. Through the nineties, companies were working hard, to be more open, engaging and collegiate, but
Giving Feedback
I was interested to read an article in this months HBR (Harvard Business Review) about giving feedback. It starts to question whether that giving feedback is one of the better tools in the management armoury. There is no doubt that giving a appropriate feedback can be very powerful in the right hands.
Coaching in Times of Great Uncertainty.
There is no doubt that we are in a time of great uncertainty with the geopolitical state in constant flux. I cannot recall a more dynamic situation in my lifetime. I am not going to talk about the VUCA world as I have touched on this before.
When is Coaching not Coaching ?
I often get asked what is the difference between coaching and other forms of performance related interactions? There are many ways in which we can have a positive influence on our clients. We can train them, where we are sharing information and validating their understanding in such a way that they can execute new work, […]
De-cluttering in a complex world.
To most people de-cluttering means removing physical items, either at home or at work. This could also be a process we do with our brains or minds. However, I got to think about this a different way, having read a recent article in the New York Times about freelancing. A staggering 47% of millennials are […]
Coaching in a Factional Culture
Life is getting more complex, with the rise of factionalism. I have referred to this in recent blogs. The geopolitical climate is generating more polarisation, and tribalism, which we see clearly on social media. This of course will filter down to business and the workplace. In turn this factionalism will reduce authenticity and create a […]
Minds Losing out to the Heart – Really ?
There was an interesting article in The Times this weekend by Max Hastings bringing to our attention the steady decline of deep thought. The tenet of his article, is around how we are “dumbing-down” with respect to deep research, academic rigour in respect to thoughts opinions and articles. He cited, the quick access/answer society, […]
Keeping Your Best Employees.
This is an often talked about subject, and there is no doubt that the sands are shifting in terms of what employees want. It is quite clear that it is not all about money and financial benefits, certainly with the younger generations.
Peaks & Troughs
I was in an interesting conversation with an associate the other day. She had explained that her business was going well, but she was experiencing some extreme “mood” swings to use her words. However, I had chance to reflect on this, and actually think what she was experiencing was rapid fluctuations in energy. As I […]
The Devil Is In The Detail – It Certainly Is
Having coached numerous leaders and executives over the years, there is a clear pattern of top performance. The most effective leaders can clearly differentiate between when detail is required and when it isn’t. I find this is analogous between either looking from the perspective of being in the helicopter, or looking from a position where […]
Having Powerful Conversations
It was a real pleasure to be given the opportunity to speak at the BWN (Business Women’s Network) in Colchester last week. The group was lively, interactive and hungry to learn. The subject matter was not about how to sell or gain business, but use both your cognitive and emotional skills to structure a conversation […]
Connecting Multiple Dimensions
We can’t underestimate the importance of connections when we are coaching for transformation, whether it be individuals, teams or groups. We will never achieve sustainable transformation, by only working on one dimension. All successful transformations have key multiple dimensions. As I have mentioned in more detail within the link, cultural transformation can only properly delivered […]
Change Management
I just delivered a 3 day module for an eMBA course, on ” Change Management” and it had me really thinking. Firstly the levels of engagement were really high from all the students. I have talked about VUCA , and the rate of change numerous times before, but the changing world is real and is […]
Personal Expectations Misalignment
I read a recent article from the US. It was written from a “Faith” background and was discussing the thorny subject of marriage failure. There were the usual discussion points around money, sex, at the high levels, and other disagreements further down the order. However it postulated that the main reason for marriage failure was […]
Team Coaching Reflections
I am currently involved in a large consulting engagement that involves a significant level of coaching at senior levels. It also involves some local coach training, both individual and group. I thought I would share some reflections on these types of coaching because away from the specific coaching techniques, ethics and confidentiality, there are some […]