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

  How are you doing? Good? And how well are you progressing towards your goals right now? Not this quarter, or even this month, but right now, here, today. If we’re not careful, all that planning (or daydreaming, or wishful thinking) we did way back when the year seemed all shiny and new will come… Read more

Whenever I deliver Zoomly’s ‘How to give effective feedback’ bite-sized workshop, there’s some initial squirming from a number of the participants. Particularly the Brits: we seem to get tangled in skirting around the subject, dressing it up, putting a bow on it – and let’s not forget serving up s*%t sandwiches*. Some of us find… Read more

  “But what if I give someone constructive feedback and it doesn’t work?” This question sometimes comes up in Zoomly’s ‘How to give effective feedback’ workshop. It may be that the participant has given a colleague feedback on their work and has yet to see any improvement in performance. Or, as is often the case… Read more

If you speak English because you were born and raised in the UK, giving feedback can be painful. It’s a culture thing. We’re so concerned about about making everyone comfortable and not upsetting anyone, we can dress up feedback with verbiage, meaningless platitudes and tie ourselves in knots of nonsense in the process. Sometimes out… 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

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

    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

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

If you’re going to progress, you need to delegate. It just doesn’t make sense – professional, financial and for your wellbeing – to be doing the stuff that goes with your old pay grade.

when we’re new in a role, we can default to doing what we’re good at – but that may not be what’s really needed. First, find out what needs fixing – watch out, it may not be what you think…