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…

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…

Should the young be taught leadership?

I was heartened to read Jack Zenger’s HBR article ‘We Wait Too Long to Train Our Leaders’ as it echoes much of my own perspectives and beliefs. I shared these in my blog ‘Everyday leadership’ where I posed a few questions around leadership becoming more mainstream, leadership in our everyday daily actions and introducing leadership…

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…

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…

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…

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…

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…