Practical tips. Prompts to get you thinking. The odd rant.

When your manager gives you a task to do and you don’t know where to start, what can you do?

  It’s not unusual for teams to experience conflict: in team sports it can get physical, in rock bands it can end in smashed guitars and in the workplace, conflict can lead to poor performance. Ultimately, conflict within teams can see some members shown the exit. Not all conflict is A Bad Thing – it… Read more

Q. Why do mentors and their mentees need tools? A. Because in a professional context, mentoring isn’t ‘just a chat’: it’s a process through which people gain clarity, insights and self-knowledge, enabling mentees to achieve goals. If you’re a newcomer to mentoring (mentor or mentee), I recommend you read my posts ‘Essential questions mentors need… Read more

There’s a great deal written about how to lead teams, and a great deal written about sporting teams (which may or may not translate to organisation teams). But what if you’re a team member rather than the leader? Seems to me there’s not much out there to help you navigate that particular workplace challenge. So… Read more

When I facilitate ‘How to delegate effectively’ workshops, something participants need help with early on is their reluctance to delegate. This can show up as self-imposed obstacles that get in the way such as, “I don’t want to overload them”, “I’m not sure they’ll get it right”, “I’m too busy to delegate properly” and of… Read more

Time flies…this year’s World Mental Health Day falls on a Saturday. The theme for this year is ‘mental health for all’, with a goal to increase the investment in mental health, widening accessibility. However, providing mental health services is even more challenging right now, as the World Health Organization‘s research reveals that 93% of countries… Read more

Regular readers will know that, from time to time, I scour posts and articles about psychology, particularly in the workplace. It’s an interesting time – and one that psychology can really help us with. Are we happy all our lives? It seems our happiness levels change throughout our lives. The Society for Personality and Social… Read more

Your relationship with your boss (or bosses) will most likely be one of the biggest influences on your career. I’m very grateful to the different bosses I’ve worked for over the years, having learned valuable lessons from them all. OK, some of those lessons may be of the ‘what NOT to do’ kind, but good… Read more

    Q:What is resilience? A: it’s a term for how well we can respond and adapt to adversity, whether that’s a major event or a tough day at work. This isn’t about putting our fingers in our ears, loudly repeating “La la la” and hoping the nasty thing will just magically disappear. On the contrary,… Read more

    Q: ‘Why strengths?’ A: Because when we identify and apply our strengths, we’re energised, engaged, more effective  – and more likely to do better work. When all team members are aware of their own and their team-mates strengths, they are more likely to apply these assets to the team’s performance. Q: ‘Doesn’t that… Read more