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

At different times and in different situations I’ve been fortunate to benefit from the wisdom of mentors – and been privileged to have mentored others. I also help clients get their mentoring programmes working well. For a mentoring relationship to flourish and deliver the desired results it needs to be more than ‘just a chat’… 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… Read more

Winding down? Or still working at full throttle? Either way, I hope you find something thought-provoking and useful from some of my favourite sources as we near the end of 2020 – and wonder what 2021 has in store. 2020’s most popular TED talks If you want to catch up on TED, take your pick… Read more

  Note: if you’re new to mentoring, let alone how and where some tools may be helpful, I suggest you first take a look at my tips and tools for getting the mentoring process off to a strong start. In this post, I want to focus on tools for getting down to work in the… Read more

When the nights draw in and the temperature drops, so can our mood. Some souls are profoundly affected. Some of us notice a little less spring in our step, a little less energy and enthusiasm for what we do day in, day out. And, just maybe, some of us may be aware we use Winter… Read more

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

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