Are you using your smartphone too much?
Photo credit where due, it’s not mine. I have been thinking about my phone. A lot. Too much. I’ve been thinking and touching it so much that before our family holiday I’m seeking to get things back in proportion. In this post I’m sharing possible solutions to my imbalance because I know many other bright, capable people are thinking too much about theirs too. Come to... Read More
Flexible Perfectionism
‘Flexible perfectionism’ is a phrase a coachee used last week to describe how she intends to approach stepping into a promotion with ten direct reports whilst continuing to realise one of her top strengths; pride. I wonder if you too are a flexible perfectionist or would like to be? That’s what I’m exploring in this post and my thinking is informed by a paper... Read More
Managing different styles at work
What a fabulous picture - no name to be able to credit. New to line management? Been doing it a while and not getting the best out of some of the people in your team? I produced these tips for getting the best out of different styles as part of a leader’s toolkit for a well-known brand. Whilst I’ve offered the tips as a dichotomy, we all know that line management... Read More
Flourishing at work? Free tool
How safe do you feel at work? A trio of happenings has prompted me to ask, one of which was a thoughtful chap (who looked disconcertingly like Derren Brown) thanking me for creating a ‘very safe learning environment’ last week. Although we were 16 storeys up in a room with floor to ceiling glass overlooking the City, he was of course talking about psychological safety.... Read More
My mothers & guilt piece for the Guardian
** First published on www.theguardian.com on Thursday 29th May 2014 ** I’m fed up with the mothers and guilt rhetoric. This week, Emma Bridgewater, the pottery designer, admitted at the Hay Literary Festival that she struggled with guilt while building up her business and raising her family. She said she felt guilty about her family when she was at work, and guilty about work... Read More
Are you too grateful?
Do you ever gush with gratitude towards clients, colleagues, friends or family? Or inwardly feel so thankful for what you have that you tell yourself you’d be mad to rock the boat? I’ve pedalled the psychology of gratitude on several occasions over the last five years (it’s an important factor in subjective measures of happiness and wellbeing) but in this column I’m... Read More
Bravery & Bouncing Back
One thing I love about our uber-socially-technologically connected world is the ability to make contact with people who might once have been out of reach. This month I’m bringing you an inspiring* interview with Kate Wilson, esteemed publisher who appeared on BBC Radio 4’s The Bottom Line programme with Evan Davis (Feb, 2014) discussing her firing in 2010. She’s a brilliant... Read More
Mothers on Boards - research request to the FTSE 100
You have a voice and if you work in a FTSE 100 company it would be terrific if you could use it to support a research request I made recently. On March 2nd 2014 I wrote to the main media contact for each of the FTSE 100 companies (the biggest 100 companies by market capitalisation listed on the London Stock Exchange). Land Securities Plc was the first to respond. Today, Sunday 14th... Read More
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’... Read More
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. You might like to download this post to share or digest later (pdf). The question comes... Read More
