Blog
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What can you learn about leadership from parenting?
This weekend my eldest child begins her training for her expedition to the Amazon and Andes. It seems like only yesterday that she was a helpless and dependent infant. As I reflect back on my journey as a parent I am humbled by the mammoth learning that I have gained from it and how it……
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9 ways to help you build your resilience
Resilience is an essential attribute for leaders, who need to remain flexible and adaptable during today’s rapid and continuously changing environment. Building resilience has been topical during my work with a group of managers of an organisation which is undergoing a period of difficult transition and significant changes. Although we cannot control what happens to……
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Getting to the top: women in senior management
Last week I met Sarah Day who is the head of Finance and Projects group at DLA Piper, Leeds which has been providing legal services for over 200 years. I asked her what helped her to become the first female Managing Partner and elected member of DLA Piper’s International LLB Board. Her response was that……
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Decisions Decisions: Oh why do I have to make them?
Last week I started to work with a team of lawyers who are all partners in a firm. It was apparent quite quickly that making decisions in a timely manner and acting upon them was a challenge. Business leaders and managers face many challenges one of which is the ability to make effective decisions. Information……
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Women who inspire from Yorkshire and beyond: International Women’s Day
To commemorate International Women’s Day, myself and Janet are bringing together women from across Yorkshire and beyond to celebrate, share and connect with each other through the stories that we have collected. We are uniting through virtual connections and bringing to life the everyday stories of ordinary women who have and are making a difference.……
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Trust, leading change and storytelling
In my last blog I posed the question, ‘What does Trust have to do with communication and feedback?’. Here’s my take on the role of Trust in leading change. Trust plays an important role in organisational performance and has been shown to have positive commercial benefits when it has been built, developed and maintained (Searle……
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What does Trust have to do with communication and feedback?
Enquiring about ‘Are you doing anything special tonight for Valentine’s?’ to a colleague yielded the response, ‘I went out yesterday, it’s awful being in a restaurant and seeing couples there who don’t seem to have much to talk about’. I began to think about the times when we are together as a group,……
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How are you influencing those who matter to you the most?
It was my intention to write this week’s blog on influence and leadership within an organisational context. However a remark by my eldest child yesterday about ‘not waving her off on her way to school anymore because I am always Tweeting instead’ has made me change my context. As a family, we have a limited……
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What does being a change agent have to do with me?
This was the question raised when addressing a group of medical professionals last week. The medical curriculum has changed acknowledging that whilst technical knowledge and skills are crucial and fundamentally important, they are not enough on their own (equally relevant in world of business). Changes are afoot within the NHS as it seeks to address……
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Shift the way you think about networking to magnify your profile and influence
The word networking has connotations within a business context. We don’t ‘network’ at parties and such gatherings but ‘socialise’. Is the two very different? In our social lives we ‘network’ constantly. Just look at what happens in the school playground – it is usually full of parents chatting and sharing stories whilst waiting to collect their children. ……
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Don’t be like me: Demand more from yourself
Life has been ticking along for me over these past few months. Usually it is hectic, organising people and events, stretching myself, taking part in a challenge…Then somewhere along the way it became stagnated and comfortable with ‘it’s been a hard year, time for a rest’. Blog writing came to standstill due to a busy……
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Be brilliant at networking
Networking is a way of connecting with people of similar interests for the purpose of identifying new business opportunities, sharing experiences, good practice, and information. It’s about getting to know people and building relationships. Over 70% of new business is gained through word of mouth and therefore networking should be an integral part of the……
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Unearth your personal brand and use it to develop your business
Many people can instantly recognise the big brands and what they stand for. I am a big fan of Waitrose and the John Lewis Partnership. Their ‘never knowingly undersold: on quality, service and price’ slogan, products that will endure, their employee- owned business ethos and the way they treat their suppliers and customers fits in with my……
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Crafting a polished and focused response to ‘What do you do?’
Are you able to give a polished answer when someone asks you what you do? Does it roll of your tongue and leaves the listener wanting to know more? When I first started out in business, and people enquired about what I did, my answer was, ‘I am a coach’. This was often met with……
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Woman’s work: A light hearted rant at modern day life
This being the holiday season, my usual work blog is having a rest. ‘A woman’s work is never done’, I muttered to myself as I emptied the dishwasher at 1030 pm before going to bed. Why is it that women have an in- built radar which send them in the direction of picking things……
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The world’s your stage: What roles are you playing?
I am writing this as I sit under an olive tree in the Andalusian mountains taking refuge from the hot sunshine. Holidays are great for relaxing, for stepping off the treadmill, for re-energising and for me an opportunity to really reconnect with myself and my family and to take in all that is around me……
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5 ways to engage with your staff to impact on business success
Engaged staff are more productive, better at engaging customers, have higher morale, support organisational change and are less likely to leave. Studies have shown that engaging with your employees can have significant benefits for your organisation: impacting on your bottom line, customer satisfaction, productivity and reducing employee turnover. Engagement happens when there is an alignment……
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Be different or your business will go bust
Your competitive advantage is what helps you to stand you out from the pack. It is what differentiates you from everyone else whose services or products are similar to yours. It is the reason why people choose to do business with you rather than your competitors. It is what makes you unique. Why is it……
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Why bother with appraisals when no one likes doing them?
Conducting appraisals is one aspect of performance management utilised to manage performance and is seen as a ‘must do’ within the workplace. Surprisingly however, most business owners and managers dislike doing them and often appraisals don’t get done or are conducted in such a way that has it little benefit for either party. My reason……
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2 biggest mistakes that coaches and those selling professional services make
Starting up in business within the professional services industry can be challenge for many as their skills and expertise lie in their professional knowledge. Many think that this is enough for them to be successful in running a profitable business. However, this is often not the case and I am going to share 2 of……
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It’s your job to hold people to account: Managing tough conversations
It’s your job to hold your people to account Tough conversations within a business context are inevitable and no business owner, leader or manager enjoys engaging in a difficult conversation with their staff. Dealing with poor performance, attitude, behaviour are some of the types of conversations that people often dread. Many avoid these because they……
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Not confident in some situations? Retrain your brain
Confidence is an asset which is prized in the business environment and evident in people who are successful. It has an impact on daily life: from how you see yourself, the way others perceive you, the relationships you form, the decisions you make and the actions that you take. Confidence is not the same as self-esteem,……
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A matter of time
In today’s 24/7 society, time is an increasingly scarce resource. It is something that we all strive to have more of. But will a 30-hour day solve the problem? The answer is no, because it doesn’t matter how much time you have, there will never be enough time to do all the things that you……
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Wished you have said something but didn’t have the confidence to?
Have you ever been in a situation where you wanted to say something but didn’t ? Can you recall situations where you wished you had behaved differently? For example: Said ‘yes’ to requests from your boss, colleagues, friends when really you would have liked to say ‘no’ Felt like you have been taken advantaged of……
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8 top tips to get the best out of people
You can’t motivate people. A good analogy would be the old adage, ‘you can take a horse to water but you can’t make it drink ’. So what can you do? You can provide the conditions that will foster motivation in the workplace. Whether you run a business, lead a team or manage a group of……
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Women Ahead:Bradford
This week sees the second of my Thinking Big vision becoming a reality. Part of the Quest that I have set myself this year is to positively affect the lives of women in my community. I have started to achieve this through my voluntary mentoring work with women business owners and women who are moving……
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Bringing you an inspiring line up of speakers for Coaches Connect Day:Yorkshire and the North
I am pleased to announce that the Coaches Connect Day:Yorkshire and the North taking place on the 22nd July at the Mint Hotel, Leeds has an inspiring line up of speakers and workshop presenters. These include: Clive Wilson: Dzukani – transformation in coaching Dzukani is taken from Chichewa, the language of the Malawian people. It……
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Thinking BIG: Turning vision into reality
Working as an independent coach I have been struck by the lack of shared learning, collaboration and interaction between coaches from the different affiliations and sectors. I then began to think what it would be like…. if we all came together and shared our practice and experiences so that we can learn from each other, extend……