blog: news and opinion

The neuroscience of wellbeing, stress and mindfulness

20th February 2014

Our next neuroscience event, with academic researcher and qualified coach Dr Geoff Bird,will take place on Thursday 19th June 2014 13.30-17.00, and will explore the neuroscience of wellbeing, stress and mindfulness. Delegates to our workshops to date have included coaches, consultants, trainers, Learning and Development specialists, HR professionals and financial advisors. Further workshops (on the neuroscience of learning and performance and the neuroscience of leadership) - and a session on practical application, will take place during 2014 and early 2015.

Career strategy: purpose and meaning, values and strengths

6th February 2014

New Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella has pinpointed meaning at work as a fundamental goal because that’s ‘what makes the best work happen’. In my career development coaching with executives and senior managers, questions of meaning and purpose, values and beliefs, drivers and obstacles, emotional awareness and a capacity to situate yourself in your systems, are core to career focus or refocus.

The coaching contract: what does it mean for the client?

27th January 2014

Lindsay’s article on what really goes on in contracting has been published in Coaching at Work magazine, January-February 2014 issue. The article explores the fact that, especially for coaching clients new to coaching, the meaning of the contract only becomes clear once they're experiencing the coaching and its impact. Perhaps the contracting process itself would benefit from being more reflective.

The multi-generational workforce - and diversity of pace

23rd January 2014

In most organisations baby-boomers (and older) work alongside Generations X and Y. Their attitudes to pace can divide them: Xers and Yers often resist the idea of slowing down long enough to reflect while the baby boomers are more inclined to reflect. The generations are most effective when they’re aware of and respect others’ assumptions and world views - and coaches are most effective when they can enter the client’s world.

Teams, listening and connection

9th December 2013

Leaders are sometimes solitary and lonely figures, disconnected from their team . Leaders who who listen to their teams see in return greater engagement, better retention rates and bigger, more long-lasting results.

Extremes of uncertainty in coaching

29th November 2013

Lindsay's article on extremes of uncertainty in coaching has been published in Coaching at Work magazine, November-December 2013 issue. The article explores what works when clients find themselves adrift, or when the foundations of their careers or their lives have seemed to disintegrate.

Optimism: a route to high performance

11th November 2013

Humans tend to overestimate the likelihood of positive events, and underestimate the likelihood of negative events. Optimists work harder and longer hours than pessimists, which may account for their higher pay - and optimism has been linked to achievement in education, business, sport and electoral politics. This doesn't seem to fit with our society's tendency to drive for perfectionism, condemn mistakes, and focus on what's gone wrong.

Resilience, the bottom line and Ordinary Magic

30th September 2013

Research has shown that engaged organisations experienced 11.74% quarterly revenue growth compared to a 6.30% decline in revenue at organisations with less engagement - and resilience helps build engagement. resilience is often the backdrop to my executive coaching, Success isn’t about travelling a smoother road but rather about climbing out of the pothole and bouncing back – and the key to being able to do that isn’t just to keep going, but to keep learning. Also relevant is the work of Ann Masten, on Ordinary Magic: children’s resilience is linked to: connection with competent and caring adults, cognitive and self-regulation skills, positive views of the self, and motivation to be effective - just like leaders in many ways.

Article on coaching that's free of the coach's ego

26th September 2013

When I’ve been truly present, when I’m delivering a deep level of listening, when I’m in a relationship of ‘connected separateness’ with my executive coaching clients - without an attachment to the coaching objectives, albeit holding those objectives in focus - the quality of their development and transformation has sometimes been startling.

Self-awareness: the heart of executive coaching

9th September 2013

My belief is that leadership is about creating momentum for a better world by inspiring and engaging other people: in other words, enabling human flourishing. If leaders are to get things done through other people they need to create and nurture trusting, vibrant relationships, to inspire with a vision, to persuade and energise, and to engage with other people’s perspectives. This ability to connect with others is crucially dependent on the ability to connect with self: to become aware of one’s own behaviours and thinking, drivers and blockers. Equipping a client to become deeply self-aware is at the heart of executive coaching.