Tag: charity

  • And another five questions

    Part four of my series for third sector managers in one-to-ones. Finally, five questions to wrap things up:     1. So, what will you do next? When? (help them to get really specific) 2. What strengths do you have that will help you? 3. How committed are you to overcoming obstacles, on a scale…

  • More great questions for managers

    Here’s Part Two of your ‘Listen more, talk less’ guide to third sector one-to-ones. Today, I’ve got five more super-powerful questions for line managers. These explore progress with a current project and will help you steer clear of doling out advice straightaway after “what have you done so far?” 1. What’s not happening for you?…

  • Five incisive questions for managers

    Got a one-to-one coming up with one of your team? Line managers don’t have to do all the talking. Here’s five super-powerful questions to help them set goals they’ll want to achieve: What will achieving this goal give you and the organisation? How will it get you closer to your bigger, overall goal? If you…

  • 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…

  • 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…

  • Blue Monday – how to avoid it

    It’s Blue Monday today, apparently the most depressing day of the year. I’m not sure I really believe in in – it must be different for everyone, surely…? but here are ten ways to make sure that it’s not blue for you and your third sector colleagues. Some take just twenty seconds but could change…

  • Learning at Work Day giveaways

            Today is Learning at Work Day. To celebrate I’m giving away lots of free coaching to charities. If you think your charity would benefit from one of the services below totally free of charge DM me on twitter @katieduckworth or email me at katieduckworth@mac.com (if we’re not already following each other.)…

  • What are Aung San Suu Kyi’s values?

    I was talking to a third sector coaching client yesterday about the stunning victory of Aung San Suu Kyi’s party, the National League for Democracy, in Burma’s recent byelection. We’d just finalised a list of her unique set of core values and wondered what Suu Kyi’s values might be? Patience, we could only presume. She…

  • It’s all about people

    Reading the new Third Sector/nfpSynergy State of the Sector report on a crowded rush-hour tube recently, I was struck by the answers to the question ‘what makes for an effective charity?’ Not surprisingly, ‘quality of work and/or services’ comes out top. This is after all what we are all here for. But ‘ability to attract,…