Making a professional pivot
In this post I’m exploring the practical and psychological steps we might need to take to bagsy a bigger or significantly different job to the one we’re currently in. Interested? Come with me for four minutes or squirrel it for when you decide you want to become Director of the British Museum instead of shooting for Head of Audit or to become a freelance wildlife photographer instead of doing PR for an insurance company.
Public speaking rebel
I received an invitation to speak at The Law Society conference earlier this year and a couple of weeks ago I went along and gave my talk “Flexible working – what’s new?”
Hands off managers (and holidays)
Not only do I think Sir Phillip Dilley’s departure from the Environment Agency was wrong, I think it was an incredibly bad decision. Outsiders shaming a person in a position of power into resigning because he or she didn’t return from a holiday when his of her organisation faced one of their biggest challenges is ridiculous. Virtue-signaling (which is becoming tiresomely prevalent in our society) was at the root of this shoddy thinking and poor decision-making.
Better off self-employed?
Have you ever wondered if you’d be better off self-employed? A number of women in substantial jobs have used coaching time to explore this recently and some have approached me about becoming an associate with The Talent Keeper Specialists. Time to tackle it in a column I thought, because self-employment is not for everyone.*
How not to crumble when colleagues criticise
I expect you’ve experienced that sicky-lurching-stomach sensation that accompanies a colleague’s unexpected criticism or undermining of you or members of your team. Last year I asked readers of my ‘Flourishing Female’ monthly newsletter about situations/skills they’d like me to explore in 2014; how to ‘be assertive’ and ‘keep it together in the face of criticism’ came up a number of times.
How to leave work on time and still be seen as committed
“How can I leave on time and still be seen as committed?” In a room of coaches and employers at a seminar we ran at the University of Hertfordshire on maternity comeback coaching recently, this was the subject participants honed in on out of 28 themes marked up for potential discussion.
The science of optimism
In this post I’m exploring optimism – the benefits and how to get them. My daughter reeled off a string of things that have gone well for her recently and it got me thinking about the genetic and learned aspects of optimism. The work of psychologist Martin Seligman and others have shown an optimistic thinking style can be learned, although it requires long-term sustained effort. My daughter could equally have been the stimulus for a post on gratitude, something I’ve covered a couple of times in the last few years.
Women at The Top
Hilary Devey is back in the media today (18/3/13) and so I re-publish this post that was first published on 7th September 2012.
My back is up after three minutes of Hilary Devey on the BBC’s two-parter “Women at the Top” (whaaaaaat?I’m screeching in a restrained, forehead wrinkling kind of way when she makes a throw away comment about women not wanting the top jobs enough or some such) so I press pause and take Hanif Kureishi’s Intimacy to bed with me.
The horse's mouth
“It’s been remarkable – a huge impact on my personal and professional life.” Nicky’s getting better results from her team, she’s confidently approaching difficult conversations and is fulfilling a secret ambition to write a book. Read how Agnes, Dani, Andrea and Emmy say they’ve benefited from a short spell of coaching.
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