Blog
When it's hard to accept help
In a coaching call this week, a client was describing being offered help by someone more senior in her industry, but she hadn’t followed it up. How hard people can find it to ask for help is a theme that’s come up in coaching conversations more than once
A decade of reading differently
Welcome to this week's newsletter. This is where I write about leadership, purpose, and impact. I try to shine a light on the things that make the world of work terrible for too many of us and how to improve them. It's great to have you
Perfect is not the price of entry
I’ve been in three coaching conversations this week and I was struck by one theme which came up in each of them. Not lack of ability. Not laziness. Not people “not trying hard enough”. Perfectionism. In each conversation, the person on my zoom screen was capable, thoughtful and doing
Ending into a beginning
Welcome to my first newsletter of the New Year. I wish you all a happy and healthy 2026. It seems a while ago now, but I do hope you managed some rest time over the break. I'm writing this from my desk with a fresh cup of tea,
Wouldn't it be wonderful if...
I sat down earlier in the week to write an "End of Year" post over on Linked In. Lots of them around right now. People doing great things and all power to them. But whenever I feel some kind of pressure to perform and to conform, I find
Taking buzzwords seriously
When I started my YouTube channel in the summer, I looked at what people actually search for to help me come up with topics. Out of the first few videos I made, one video about bullying at work, got roughly three times as many views as the others. When I
Showing Up
My coaching course at Henley Business School has been excellent so far. One of my main lessons has been how important it is to understand yourself in order to help other people. What are your own triggers, your behaviour patterns, your blind spots? It sounds obvious, but how many of
A reluctant planner
Three full days dedicated to my coaching course and a board paper deadline and some filming ate up all my newsletter time last week. I always have several half-written newsletters in draft, but somehow I'm generally publishing them live, rather than scheduling them, hence no newsletter last week.
Starting over
The idea of starting over later in life can feel overwhelming. Throughout my career, I've navigated major transitions, some through choice, others not so much. I started out in corporate marketing in financial services, moving to fundraising and leadership roles in the charity sector to local politics and
Team members as entrepreneurs
We're in an era where every team member has far more potential to be an entrepreneur within their organisation. With AI tools readily available, building web sites and apps, and creating and testing them no longer requires a whole IT department or a massive budget. All you need