When things start to get harder for leaders, it isn't usually because of a lack of skill or effort. It is usually because the system around them has changed. Now systems are always changing and often they balance out, but, at some point they get out of balance and we don't know why. Decisions get harder. Deadlines get missed. Meetings lose their purpose. And the instinct is to wonder, "who is to blame?" But if leaders can take a step back and look at what's changing in the circumstances they...
5 days ago • 1 min read
The word retreat has been on my mind a lot over the last few days, and for two different reasons. There’s retreat in the sense of withdrawing from the day-to-day. Stepping back to reset, recharge or escape circumstances we don’t like. This is the kind of retreat you hear about a lot in the personal development world. Creating calm spaces for people who are tired, stretched or overwhelmed. I have a lot of respect for that work. But it isn’t really how I’m wired. My default response to...
6 days ago • 2 min read
Do you dislike watching yourself on camera? Or hearing the sound of your own voice? I'm the same, but mostly I get over it when I need to do something for my job. Like editing a video for social media, or a lesson for my program. I'm writing this on Sunday evening to send to you all on Monday morning and I can't look at myself 🫣 so I am wondering if some of you might do it for me? Yesterday a podcast interview with me and Tom Dickinson from Tom's Talks went live on YouTube, Spotify and Apple...
9 days ago • 1 min read
Do you ever get frustrated with yourself that you just bounce from task to task, email to email, and meeting to meeting without ever doing anything substantial? If so, you are not alone. How to do Deep Work is the topic for my group session today for people in my coaching program. I'll be teaching the group how anyone can get better at doing work that really matters. Cal Newport defines deep work as: “Professional activities performed in a state of distraction-free concentration that push...
12 days ago • 1 min read
I struggle with gathering and using client feedback. Even though I know that it is one of the most effective ways of giving people confidence to work with someone like me. The main reason for this is that, for me the sanctity (I choose that word carefully) of the coaching relationship is my priority. I want my clients to know and to feel that, once they have bought my services, I am literally at their service. I am there to serve them, using my skills, time, attention and presence. If I was...
13 days ago • 1 min read
Hello Friends, I just had a thought. Most days when I write to you I share tips about the things I find helpful or that might help other people. But I do that assuming you have a clear idea who I am, and what I do. So, I thought I'd remove the assumption and tell you. My Background Before becoming a coach, I spent 30+ years in leadership positions. First in the software industry, then in health research. I've held team, site, regional and national management positions. Along the way I also...
14 days ago • 2 min read
We had an interesting discussion in one of my group sessions yesterday. The peerless Katie, who is no stranger to smashing big goals (or wearing fancy dress), chose not to share her annual goals with the group. Manuel, who is one of Europe's up-and-coming uber entrepreneurs was happy to share his. And they are both right. You see, some of us thrive on external motivational cues. If other people are watching us work towards a goal, we find extra effort to prove ourselves to them. Others, like...
15 days ago • 1 min read
I have twice in my life come face to face with a majestic cat. Both times it was in a zoo, but, because of that, I got closer than I ever could have in the wild. The first time was a lion. He was in London zoo and pacing up and down his enclosure angrily. One of the female lions was in heat and they were being kept separate, but he could smell her. The pent up animal desire was something you could actually sense in the air. At one point he paced right up to the glass where I was standing and...
16 days ago • 1 min read
Most organisations today care deeply about wellbeing. They all invest in programmes, training, mental first aiders, and support services. And yet absence rises, managers feel a bit lost, and good people still leave. In my experience, the problem isn’t a lack of care or commitment from managers. It’s a failure of capability at the point of contact. It goes wrong the moment a manager sits down with someone who is struggling. Senior leaders will recognise the pattern. I hear about it all the...
19 days ago • 1 min read