Blog
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A tale of 3 leaders
Once upon a time there lived William, the owner of a company called, Allsorts. He had 3 children and bestowed an equal share of the company to each. His wish was that they use their share for the benefit of Allsorts and the people that work there. He gave them free reign, promising to return……
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Get the most out of your team: Stop micromanaging & start coaching
“I couldn’t possibly let him close the deal on his own. What if he gets it wrong or can’t answer a question, I have to be there”, says Gary. I am in a room with 11 sales directors who have been identified as ‘not able to let go, not letting their sales reps develop, taking over their……
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Telling stories: to inspire future leaders
Everyone loves a good story and most of us would have been captivated by stories in our childhood. Good stories grab our attention, touch our hearts, inspire us and enable us to vicariously learn through the other person’s experiences. Stories can be used in any aspect of communication to create a journey of imagination in……
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Learning to lead through adaptive challenges
I am listening to my group of participants as they share their updates on their leadership projects. Their projects are scoped from the challenges that their teams and organisations are facing. Leadership skills cannot be tested out in the classroom. It must be developed, practised and honed in real life, real time situations. There is……
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Getting into the leadership pipeline: advancing women in leadership
Earlier this week, the Royal bank of Scotland set a target for one third of its top 600 management roles to be held by women by 2020. The world we live in and in which organisations operate are diverse and senior management positions should reflect this. A world in which women make up about half……
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Women, lead without losing yourself in the process
Do you believe that ‘you’ are your greatest asset? It is your ‘self’ that others connect with, trust and get inspired by. Yet we do not acknowledge and harness what we innately have, to leverage success. Instead we try to impress, to act and be like others because we want to fit in, to meet……
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Invest in your career, whether you are staying put or seeking promotion
Have you ever been complacent or comfortable at work? Perhaps on autopilot? That was me at one stage in my career. With my children, a great job, good salary…life was rosy. I was coasting along. And then I started to notice that my peers were moving on and changes were happening around me. The landscape……
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Harnessing the leadership power within you
“My biggest challenge was getting comfortable with the notion that I am a leader; I don’t line manage a team of people which in the past to me seemed a pre-requisite for leadership. I’m quiet, I have a natural preference to work collaboratively rather than compete with others. How can I lead?” This is the……
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The best is yet to be
As the year rolls to end, it presents a timely opportunity for reflection and taking stock. One thing that has stood out is that given that the life expectancy of women in the UK is 82.5 years, I have lived more than half of my life! And in a couple of years I would have……
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Fill up on success; Goal setting for the New Year
Are you one of the throngs of people that make New Year’s resolutions only to find that they fall by the wayside? Perhaps some of these popular resolutions have been on your list? Doing more exercise Losing weight Improving your diet Saving more money Pursuing a career ambition In a survey of 1937 British adults,……
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Women, it’s time to stamp out the naysayers
In my previous post, I made a call for Women, it’s time to Be Bold. As part of my own Be Bold journey, I am running my first London marathon on 26 April. At aged 48 and with a dodgy left knee and hip, it pales in comparison to the parathletes at the Paralympics……
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Women: It’s time to Be Bold
Last Friday I was invited to attend the Forward Ladies Women in Business awards. One of the speakers was Rachel Hannan, who co-founded Gatenby Sanderson, a leading executive recruiter and now a business adviser and angel investor. As she shared her entrepreneurial journey, citing Angela Coutts as a role model, her message was for women……
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Be Bold in 2015
“Be bold and mighty forces will come to your aid”, Basil King Join me and a small group of like-minded women as we find the courage, commitment, support and help to achieve the results, success and fulfilment that we desire On the 26th April 2015 I will running my first London Marathon for Children with……
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4 ways to boost your confidence and self belief
Have you ever been in a situation in which you did not perform as well as you could or something untoward happened which has resulted in your confidence being blown away? If like me and many others, just thinking about it fills you with dread and a reluctance to put yourself in such situations again?……
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Getting to aha moments with your staff
There is nothing more magical than observing a client harnessing his creativity and inner resources to generate that ‘aha’ moment. Oscar, one of my clients entered the room, appearing to be carrying the world on his shoulders which are hunched, a look of weariness on his face and fatigue in his body. He had been……
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Go beyond your limit
“Set some goals then demolish them” ( Nike) Have you ever been in a situation where you have felt so overwhelmed by the task ahead or where you have set a goal which seems so mammoth, that you go into panic mode and spend your energy being in a nervous state? This has been me:……
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Are you Thriving at work?
Last week I organised and spoke at the Thrive Yorkshire Business Growth Conference. I facilitated a discussion on Thriving. I deliberately chose to focus on ‘the self’ as often in our busy 24/7 lives we tend to forget about the most important asset –ourselves. We can learn new skills, acquire knowledge about marketing, sales and how to be……
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Eeh by gum, that was Grand
When the world’s biggest cycle race came to Yorkshire, it did so with a big bang last weekend. Saturday 5 and Sunday 6 July were a climax after events across the county in the 100 days leading up to the Grand Depart. I am not a cyclist nor am I a cycling fan. However I……
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Rejoice in being a Quiet leader
“From the start, with a quiet demeanour, Vera has provided robust input and challenge at board meetings…” and so goes my board appraisal (my first with this organisation) last week which was an excellent one, exceeding expectations. As I read the above, I wondered if there was some inference that by being of ‘quiet demeanour’, I……
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Where has my mojo gone?
These past few weeks have been mentally and emotionally challenging for me. I was uncertain as to whether I should ‘bare/ expose’ myself by sharing a personal story. After much contemplation and cogitation, I have concluded that life has it ups and downs and it would be inauthentic to just focus on the……
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6 ways leaders can build their resilience
Change, uncertainty, complexity and ambiguity can be found in most workplaces today. In such environments, leaders are required not only to cope with the resulting adversity, emotional ups and down and stress but at the same time, support their people and help them move forward in these challenging times. This requires leaders to be resilient.……
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Whose on Board?
It is 8.20 am and I have taken up position in the corner of the boardroom waiting for the meeting to start. I am here to observe the board meeting of a not for profit organisation as part of helping the board with its development and performance. My initial observations include: Of the 11 people……
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Storytelling in leadership development
This week I was facilitating a new leadership development programme with a group of directors. For the past couple of years, the company has been going through some challenging times due to being acquired by a large global organisation resulting in changes, restructuring and shifts in culture. There was a feeling of powerlessness and a……
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Failure, success and life
Earlier this month I took on the National Blog Posting Month challenge of writing a blog each day. I started out well, writing daily, full of ideas on what I could post and then life got in the way. Committing to the time to write was always the challenge. I could have written less words,……
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Who ‘does’ leadership? You, me, everyone?
The term ‘leadership’ has become something bigger than us, something removed from the grasp of the ordinary people and seem to be reserved for those who have been given the title, run a company or a business or lead a team. Such people are deemed ‘leaders’ because of their position or title. Whilst formal leadership……
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Growth and development is ageless: 5 nuggets to becoming a better you
I often get asked to speak at schools and universities about my journey. Afterwards, many of the professionals feedback that they have also found it stimulating. This has made me realise that some of the fundamentals of growth and development is ageless. Here are 5 nuggets which I share with a younger audience and believe that they are……
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How your stories of leadership can help develop future leaders
Everyone loves a good story and most of us would have been captivated by stories in our childhood. Good stories grab our attention, touch our hearts, inspire us and enable us to vicariously learn through the other person’s experiences. Stories can be used in any aspect of communication to create a journey of imagination in……