Author: Katie Duckworth

  • Difficult conversations – mistake #2

    Having difficult conversations Mistake #2. Not being clear about what behaviour you want to see exactly Phew! Thank goodness that’s over. You’ve had the difficult conversation you were dreading. You think the meeting went quite well and your report seemed to take on board what you’d said. You’re hopeful things will start to change for…

  • Difficult conversations – mistake #1

      One of the most challenging aspects of being a third sector manager is that you sometimes need to have difficult conversations with people in your team. This is a recurring issue for my third sector coaching clients. They can see what’s going wrong (poor performance, unreasonable behaviour, and so on) They know they are…

  • The right way to delegate

    Your in-box is overflowing, you have a million unfinished jobs, there’s a huge deadline looming – so, it’s time to delegate a few bits and bobs, right? Um, no… you may feel marginally better about how much you have to do, but this approach is not a great strategy in the long term. How engaged…

  • Managing your time – summer tips

    The sun is shining. The sky is blue. The birds are singing… And you are sweltering in your office wishing you could be outside..? If so, here are three top tips for getting the most out of our last few weeks of summer.  Make every moment in the office work super hard for you and…

  • 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…

  • New leaders – how to flourish in your first 90 days

    The first 90 days in a leadership role are important. This is when you create an impact (or not!) and set the tone for the way you’ll be leading in the future. Whether you’re chief executive or team leader, everyone is watching to see how you behave and what you can do. You want to…

  • Life balance – five ways to help your team

    Over-long hours, not quite enough time or money and super dedication to the cause are common in our sector. I’m sure you’ve seen how they can sometimes lead to burned-out, unhappy and stressed people – obviously not good for the individual or the organisation. So, how can you help yourself and your staff find a…