Yesterday, I spent the morning at my local grammar school engaging in mock interviews for the students who will be heading off to university next year. The school organises interviews to help support students’ applications and to offer them valuable practice interview experiences. They ask people in the local community for help and then match…
Author: verawoodhead
Are your beliefs holding you back?
Last night on a rare occasion I decided to watch some TV and came across BBC4’s The Cursed Valley of the Pyramids. The film centres on the Lambeyeque valley in Northern Peru where the ruins of 250 pyramids lie. It tells the story of why the Lambeyeque were obsessed with building pyramids and unearthed a culture…
Crowdsourcing, crowdworking: the future of work?
NaBloPoMo Blog 2 In July of this year whilst engaging with the HR/OD Twitter community I noticed a Tweet from @dds180 (David D’Souza) about crowdsourcing a Book of Blogs and a call for contributors. Having never been involved in such a project I thought it was a novel idea and sent in my contribution, ‘No…
Taking up the NaBoPoMo challenge
Blog 1 I have decided to take up the National Blog Posting Month Challenge to post a blog every day for the entire month of November. There are no themes, rules or word count. I am already 3 blog posts late and have further challenged myself to make this up by writing 2 posts on…
Don’t just sit there: 9 tips to help women find their voice in meetings
Earlier last week, I was in a meeting and was conscious of being the lone female voice, despite there being 2 other women around the table. I knew that they shared similar perspectives to mine when I chatted with them earlier, yet neither of them spoke up to express those views. Since then I have…
Is creativity inherent in your leadership? 9 ways to harness
My group is drifting into the first day of a leadership development programme. As they pass the tables laid out with an array of creative materials I could hear some mutterings of delight and also of ‘oh no I can’t draw, I am no good at making…’ I try to use a number of creative…
You can teach an old dog new tricks
This summer I have been sharply reminded of my need to continue to learn and to adapt to the changes that are taking place around me. This can sometimes be a challenge when you are older with ingrained habits and entrenched mental models. It was time to move out of my comfort zone and keep up with the pace of…
Mindless distractions
Today I went running on the moors, not having been there for a week due to my hay fever. As usual I started off being very mindful – noticing that my stride had lessened in length as I climbed the hill and that my breathing was getting quicker as I was running against the wind.…
A tale of 2 leaders: same organisation different leadership cultures
Last week I donned my NHS governance hat and visited 2 hospital wards. They belonged to the same organisation, were in the same building, yet the difference between the 2 was so prominent they could have been in 2 different organisations. Whilst both were clean, tidy, patients cared for, looked after….it was their style, attitude…
17
Today, 17 years ago my life was changed forever and has shaped who I have become. My eldest daughter came into this world prematurely. To say that I wasn’t prepared, was an understatement. There was not even an item of clothing, let alone a cot or a basket! Weighing just more than a bag of sugar and with…