Blog
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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……
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How do you decide on which networking event to attend?
When you are self employed or run your own business there are many hats to be worn: selling, marketing, networking, accounting….and that’s even before you do the day job! All these aspects need attention, are equally important and need to be undertaken on a regular basis. They are like pieces of jigsaw which fit together……
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Put the boot on the other foot: develop a niche
Last week I bought a pair of trainers via the internet for the very first time. I have been buying the same Asics Kayano Gel make and model for the past 4 years. They were £40 cheaper than buying them from my local running shop of which I am keen supporter of. Having netted a bargain, I……
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What does an empty boat and a group of golliwogs have to do with emotions?
On a foggy morning on a narrow river, a man is mooring his boat up the river and out of the fog he sees another boat hurtling downstream towards him. He shouts and screams at the other person to look out, get out of the way. However the boat continues to approach without changing course,……
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Baby on Board: 6 coaching tips to help women at the top
Climbing the career ladder whilst looking after your family often results in great conflict for many women. Finding a healthy balance and maintaining and managing this delicate equilibrium is a constant challenge for most career women. This is cited as the biggest barrier to women getting senior jobs (‘What Holds Women Back?‘ Opportunity Now, Business……
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Coaching clients in midlife and transition
Middle aged and loving it. This week I will be celebrating my birthday and it got me thinking about ‘midlife’ because I think I have already lived half of my life time! So what is midlife? I have a vivid memory of attending a 50th birthday party at the age of 22 years. I remember……
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Reclaim your creativity! 5 ways to help you
“Even if we don’t have the good fortune to discover a new chemical element or write a great story, the love of the creative process for its own sake is available to all” (Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi) Over the past week, I have had the opportunity to make connections and meet with 3 people who use creativity within their……
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Top 10 tips for initiating successful change
Challenges of growth, economic downturn, competitive pressures, shifting and global markets and tougher trading conditions are some of the factors that cause organisations to change. This may result in the changing of focus, expanding or contracting activities and rethinking products and services that are offered. Leading and managing change requires the objectives of the change……
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Transitions
The last few weeks have been eventful. My trip to India has been postponed to a date that I cannot make in April. As this was the third change of date I have decided to withdraw from the challenge completely. This has been such a disappointment as I was really looking forward to going to India and……
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How does coaching support team working?
How does coaching support team working? This was the question that my research sought to find out and which I will be presenting at the 7th Annual Coaching and Mentoring Research Conference on Thursday 20th January in Oxford. Why teams? The contribution that a team can make to an organisation’s goals can be far greater……
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Planning for success
In my last blog I talked about setting personal goals and resolutions. Buisnesses also need to plan where they are heading, what they need to do to get there, how they will monitor their progress and evaluate success. Whilst one cannot predict the future, one can anticipate and plan for what lies ahead. A strategic plan will help you……
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8 tips to help you achieve your goals / New Years resolutions
Why might you want to set goals? Goals can excite, stimulate, inspire, energise, help you to develop and stretch yourself, change old habits and behaviour and the journey itself is transformational.. The start of the New Year symbolises new beginnings, a fresh start, and an opportunity to be or do something different and is often……
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8 Secrets to creating a motivated workforce
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 it’. What you can do is to provide the conditions that will foster motivation in the workplace. Last week I have been tweeting on ways to create a motivational climate……
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Masterclasses for women and Sponsorship
Having got to grips with some of the technology I am now concentrating my efforts on raising some funds for my trip to Vasavya Mahila Mandall Creative masterclasses specially designed and priced for women Planning for success in 2011 An opportunity for business owners to raise their heads above the daily grind and to have the time to think, reflect……
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The social revolution
I knew that this would be a steep learning curve but never expected it to be a vertical one! First up was getting to grips to social media, a topic which I knew nothing of. It was if it came, took over the world and where was I? Obviously not taking any notice of this……
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Vasavya Mahila Mandali
The organisation that I will be working with is called Vasavya Mahila Mandali (WMM) which serves a population of 2 million in Andhra Pradesh, India in the areas of: Children – shelter and counselling for street children and support from trafficking families Community-based health – HIV, AIDS, tuberculosis; sanitation; safe drinking Women and adolescent development – so that……
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Women Leadership Challenge
I was on the look out to participate in a physical challenge when one of my colleagues came across a request for women leaders : “Pepal launches the Women’s International Leadership Challenge in collaboration with the Leadership Trust. The programme provides a unique opportunity for women executives to share their knowledge and expertise with women community leaders……
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Welcome to Vera’s blog
Hello and Welcome I first started blogging in November 2010! At the time I had just started my consulting company, Edimo Coaching, providing executive coaching, leadership, team and career development solutions with leaders across sectors.