Blog
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Doing our work with love and compassion
Today’s guest post is by Jan Brause (@JanBrause) who shares her insights from Coaches Connect. Jan is a performance development consultant, professional coach and coach supervisor with many years successful experience of enabling personal growth and performance improvement through a passionate focus on the individual in an organisational context. There was an inspirational line up……
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Connectedness: relationships for a better future
In my early teens, my older sister and I left our home in Guyana, South America and our parents to live with a spinster aunt in England. Civic unrest and a better future led to the agonising decision of my parents to send their only 2 children to live in a distant land. I left……
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Will the real Mrs W please stand up? Banishing The Impostor in the room
Earlier this week I was working down in London and took the opportunity to catch up with a friend. I inquired how her morning had been as she did not seem her usual bouncy self. She responded that she has had a couple of graduates working with her and went on to say, “You know……
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Culture: connecting home and the workplace
Whilst we tucking into our Sunday roast, the discussion strayed into getting the eldest to keep her room tidy, something which she describes as nagging. ‘We are good children’ she remarked, ‘some of the people at school are just not nice, you could have had them as your kids’. My husband and I simultaneously responded……
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Leading with your gut. Do you trust and use your intuitions?
Whilst out running on the moors last Sunday, I came upon an expansive boggy area where a few strategically placed stones acted as stepping stones. I stopped to look where I was placing my feet when I noticed something brown and well camouflaged within the bog. A closer inspection revealed that it was a lapwing chick.……
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Who’s hiding behind that professional mask? Authentic leadership
Last week I was at a networking event where the format was based around coffee and cake. You turn up, mingle, eat cake, drink coffee and chat with fellow guests. Next was a Question and Answer slot where the guest is questioned by the audience. There is a real mix of audience participation and sharing of……
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What can you learn about leadership from your elders?
Last Bank Holiday Monday, I was helping my eldest to raise funds for her expedition by running a cake stall at a Spring Picnic event. The aim of the event was to raise money to build a sand dam in Ghana. During the hours of 1130 and 1630 hours, in addition to having your picnic……
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Top dog or underdog?
Last week I attended a briefing day for coaches on the BIS coaching for high growth programme. As with these types of events you are not informed about the other participants who will be attending. On entering the room it was immediately apparent that it was filled with dark coloured suits and middle-aged white men.……
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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……