What we're thinking

A question I sometimes hear from participants in Zoomly’s workshops is ‘How can I convince someone to step up?’ When we explore this it’s often the case that the person in question seems to lack confidence – even though their manager sees them as very capable. For example, they: Seek approval for every step of… Read more

  Your colleague – maybe your best work buddy – just got promoted, and you didn’t. As well as feeling pleased for them, for some of us it’s natural to feel a pang of envy too. But don’t let this feeling get the better of you. Get jealous and it could sour an important working… Read more

Whenever I lead Zoomly’s ‘How to coach your people’ workshop, there are a few things we need to clear up early on. For starters, what coaching is – and isn’t (for example, mentoring, counselling, consulting to name a few). After that, a perfectly reasonable question always comes up: When on earth am I supposed to… Read more

At this time of year I have many conversations with people about helping them to a) set their goals for the year and b) stay on track for getting them. Often I find that setting the goals is the easier bit – we’re all pretty good at coming up with a list of what we… Read more

Sometimes people ask me this question in the same way I’d imagine they ask their friends if they should get a tattoo. Just because your friend’s got one, just because you’ve read a bit about it, and just because they’re out there doesn’t mean you should get a mentor. Not until you can articulate two… Read more

It’s depressingly well documented that when a woman makes demands, challenges the status quo and generally speaks up, there is often a backlash from those around her. And that backlash isn’t just from men; there’s a great deal of research supporting the dismal view that both men and women penalise the woman who dares to… Read more

Image by Ron Harvey/Deposit Photos The ‘10,000 hours’ theory often comes up when I’m running workshops and the discussion turns to practising and applying learning back at the day job. Many participants have read or heard of Malcolm Gladwell’s ‘Outliers: The Story of Success’ (2008), or Matthew Syed’s ‘Bounce: The Myth of Talent and The… Read more

Image by vectorlab (Pavlo Syvak) Ouch, that’s a tough one. If it’s any consolation, you’re not alone. Yes really, many of us (me included) have had a stinky review or two. Sending you a virtual hug now. Take a few deep breaths. Don’t do anything rash. Stop and think – and consider these prompts that… Read more

  Ah, yes. The old ‘you need to speak up more in meetings’ edict. A comment that is often casually tossed towards someone who has: asked for feedback on their performance, dared to discuss their promotion prospects, asked for advice, discussed their appraisal – or all four. It’s not all that helpful is it? You… Read more

1. What’s your understanding of ‘coaching’? Maybe you know someone who’s worked with a professional coach; it may have been on an aspect of their personal life, or to focus on their performance and success at work. As the ‘coachee’ (clunky word, but we know what it means) told you how it was working for… Read more