For as long as I remember, I have had an interest in art and drawing. However, without any proper tuition (art was never taught seriously in school), I have never really progressed beyond occasionally doodling and some fancy writing. Recently, I started learning to sketch and as part of my
I recall reading ‘The Business Battlecard’, a book by Paul O’Dea, a few years ago as I was working through a business strategy process with a not-for-profit organisation that I was involved with at board level. It is a short book, written from the experiences of someone who has consulted
One of the biggest challenges I faced when I was first introduced to coaching was trying to deal with keeping silent when someone was sitting in front of me asking for my help. I, like most people, was brought up with the understanding that if someone came to talk or
I don’t know about you, but the idea of sitting through a monthly meeting where you mundanely go through a fixed agenda makes my blood run cold. I have even been in meetings, especially after hours, where people have actually fallen asleep – I kid you not! There is an
I watched a TEDx Talk recently by Graham Shaw, a cartoonist and facilitator, who gave his talk at TEDx Hull UK under the title ‘Illusions’. He began by posing a question to the audience, “How many of you can draw?” Not surprisingly, the positives were only about 2% of the
In coming up with ideas for this week’s piece, I kept returning to a book that I read some time ago that shared a message which I found really helpful and thought that it would be perfect to share with you. The book, ‘The Obstacle is the Way’ by Ryan
Have you ever had to terminate someone’s employment or end a business relationship with a partner or a supplier? If ‘Yes’ is your answer, then you will no doubt agree that it is not an easy thing to do. So much so in fact, that we often allow such situations
I used to be a keen golfer and follower of the sport on TV. It has always interested me to see how players deal with the pressure of competition whether they be amateur or professional. Personally, I recall having often crumbled when standing over a 3-foot putt or sent a
Some people complain of being very busy but never getting the time to do the stuff that moves their business forward. Typically, they start each Monday by jumping straight into finishing off what was left over from the previous week, updating To-Do lists and just reacting to whatever issues arise
Expectations and assumptions are the source of many conflicts and disagreements in business. An example of where this conflict arises is when we hire someone to do a job and then, without any real explanation as to exactly what we require, we let them get on with it until we