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Zen and the art of saving the planet

I am loving this book, which offers a more human path to a sustainable world. Zen wisdom provides a clear case for client-centred leadership and coaching skills for everyone. The book cites the example of Christina Figueres, the diplomat who architected the 2015 Paris Agreement. Getting buy-in from 200 nations seemed impossible. But as anContinue reading “Zen and the art of saving the planet”

Building a coaching culture in a brick factory

I spent this week in a brick factory! With a leadership group keen to build a coaching culture. At the start, one of the managers said: “I don’t do emotions.” He said emotions made him “uncomfortable”. “That sounds like an emotion,” another replied. And that was the first of many lightbulb moments. In a directiveContinue reading “Building a coaching culture in a brick factory”

Take the 1 day challenge

Work is like a gas – it expands to fill the available time. Known as Parkinson’s law, it kills team productivity. When tasks take too long and projects go on forever, we lose focus and motivation. Especially when there’s too much else going on. But what if we turn Parkinson’s law on its head? IfContinue reading “Take the 1 day challenge”

What the latest evidence on coaching means for coaches and clients

This week I came across an interesting paper from Erik de Haan, a renowned researcher and director at the Ashridge Centre for Coaching. We now have scientific evidence that coaching is effective. What’s really interesting in this meta review is that coaching works regardless of the method used – but the best outcomes are mostContinue reading “What the latest evidence on coaching means for coaches and clients”

Meaningful encounters

I love university campuses. I love their youthful energy, architecture, inspiration, and sense of possibility. Today I was in Newcastle to run another leadership workshop for PhD students at the EPSRC Centre for Doctoral Training in Geospatial Systems. As ever it was a diverse cohort displaying passion, deep thinking and maturity — fantastic ambassadors forContinue reading “Meaningful encounters”

When women are at the top

Tomorrow is International Women’s Day – again. Are we making progress? Judging by the state of the world, I can’t help wonder what things would be like with more women at the top. Oh, hang on:

Must try harder!

Really? Your hard work and determination will lead to success. And if you fail, you basically didn’t try hard enough. My LinkedIn feed is filled with this kind of crap. Self-appointed coaching gurus are the worst at this. And they should know better. Our western society places almost all responsibility for success and failure onContinue reading “Must try harder!”

“The best training I’ve ever attended”

Want to develop your human leadership and engagement skills? Last week a senior leader told us this was the best training he had ever attended. Interested? Read on. It’s all about the messy stuff of leading, managing change, and supporting people in a way that is truly authentic and empowering. Universally applicable, at any level,Continue reading ““The best training I’ve ever attended””

Mutual learning in practice

I am writing this having just wrapped up my first leadership development programme of the year for a major aircraft manufacturer. What clearly dropped out for me this week is the necessary dance between leaders and facilitators where each of us are learning from each other. Time and again, I see that the best leadersContinue reading “Mutual learning in practice”

On mutual learning

Yay! I just submitted a 20,000 word assignment reflecting on my work through the lenses of adult learning, humanistic psychology and systemic thinking. Most inspiring here is that I have come to fully realise that my ongoing learning is a necessary condition for helping my clients learn and grow, too. As a coach, facilitator andContinue reading “On mutual learning”