Category: Coaching

  • Difficult conversations – mistake #3

    Having difficult conversations Mistake #3 Muddying your message Perhaps you’ve avoided procrastinating about holding a difficult conversation with a third sector colleague or direct report. (Congratulations!) Maybe you’ve been crystal clear about the changes you’d like to see. (Well done, it’s not always easy) But then, you blow your advantage by muddying your message with…

  • The inner game of… tennis

    Unfreakability is the state of having a calm, clear mind which allows you to observe things exactly as they are, and take sensible action. It’s exactly what Andy Murray needs to reach his goal of holding up the Wimbledon trophy on Sunday. It was first used in the book, The Inner Game of Tennis, written…

  • Work-life balance in a nutshell

    Work-life balance (or life-balance as it’s becoming known) is everyone’s Holy Grail. But what does it actually mean? In my years of coaching in the charity sector, where life balance can be a challenge, I have come to see it as four related areas. In a nutshell: A satisfactory balance between the hours spent on…

  • Speed coaching gets results

    It’s amazing what 30 or 40 minutes of focused one-to-one coaching can achieve.  Insightful questioning and deep listening from a skilled coach can quickly get to the core of a problem, help someone discover what is really getting in the way,  and come up with do-able actions to move them on immediately. During my last…

  • What makes a great team player?

    Love her or hate her, not many people would say that Margaret Thatcher was a great team player. These days even top leaders recognise they need to be team players to get the most out of their people. Team working really matters. Tensions and conflict from poor team playing wreck havoc on productivity and take…

  • My vision for 2013

    There’s no doubt that 2013 will be a tough year for the third sector. We all know about the 20% fall in donations and that one in six organisations fears closure in 2013 (and not because they are no longer needed.) Yes, it’s going to be a year of struggle, there’s no question. At the…

  • Make it up – make it happen

    The pressure is on me at the moment. And it’s all of my own making! At a recent training day, I challenged participants from the charity I was working with to choose a task they’d been procrastinating on and make a pledge to the group about when they would get it done. I found myself…

  • Why the Olympics is good for the voluntary sector

      This might not be such a great photo – but the moment was a gem – my daughter giving the thumbs up to her day out at the London 2012 Olympics. Who knows what that day did for her, with it’s focus on positivity, team spirit and self belief? There are many reasons why…

  • 21-day challenge

    21 days until the Olympic Games! You can bet your bottom dollar that all the athletes taking part are firmly focused on their medal goals and doing everything in their power to be winners. There’s a lot you can do in 21 days, too, to get a task achieved that you’ll be really satisfied about.…

  • How to thrive in your role and beyond

      I’ve coached some fantastic third sector clients in the past few years. Some have been managers, others leaders, some striving to be leaders. Others have become aware of their leadership potential through coaching. And I’ve coached all personalities too – flamboyant extroverts, quiet introverts, powerful orators, gentle persuaders. Each one of them bringing a…