The end of the year is always a good time to reflect. My 2025 was a year of growth and adventure, but also challenges. Here are some questions I am asking myself. I hope you find them useful, too. Looking back on 2025 The here and now Looking ahead to 2026 Bonus questions I can’tContinue reading “Reflective questions to review and plan your year”
Category Archives: leadership
On the power of not teaching
This week my coach challenged me: “Thierry, you just said ‘maybe’ three times.” “Did I? Wow… Maybe I need to commit!” “You just said it again!” I was dumbfounded. And something clicked. First, I had just had a major insight about a personal issue I was discussing with my coach. Second, only a day earlierContinue reading “On the power of not teaching”
Helping a team rebuild the habit of listening
This week I was in London to run a team coaching workshop for the senior leadership of a 350-year-old institution. The brief: help the team understand how they could communicate and collaborate better with each other – in one day. After a period of significant change, this team of passionate and well-intentioned leaders had begunContinue reading “Helping a team rebuild the habit of listening”
Simple, but not easy
This week I had the privilege of running a client-centred leadership programme with the top team of a billion pound business – the most senior group I’ve worked with on this programme. Admittedly, I didn’t sleep well beforehand. I never do. Every engagement is different and pushes my comfort zone a little further. That nervousContinue reading “Simple, but not easy”
Seeing with new eyes
“How will you look after yourselves this week?” our coaching supervisor asked. It was a fair question. My co-facilitator and I were about to deliver a client-centred leadership programme at a hotel by an industrial estate outside Birmingham. It’s a full week with few opportunities to venture further afield. This is difficult for me asContinue reading “Seeing with new eyes”
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”
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:
Outstanding leaders ignored due to their gender or background
Case no. 97865737248 — spotted at Lyme Regis, Dorset.
True Horizon Coaching 