Help wanted: Seeking help effectively

Much is written extoling the virtue of helping others and how to do this. All useful stuff. This article is about seeking the help of others: Because others don’t always know if and when you need or want help; or know what help would be useful to provide. It’s a useful skill to develop in…

How I finished my book project

“If you think you can, or can’t – you are right.” – Henry Ford, 1947   I thought my first draft of my book was terrible, and I probably would have stopped there if it wasn’t for Stuart. I have written many words over the years in my various blog posts, and I had been…

Finding a way to do it all

When you’re ambitious with stacks of things you want to achieve, it’s common to try and do everything all at once. To set big goals for multiple areas of your life at the same time, then get frustrated with yourself when you can’t nail down any of them. This usually leads to that well-known feeling…

I’m not doing email, I’m relating with people

I’m not new to digital technology for communication. I’ve been on social media now for at least 15 years. Starting with Facebook in Feb 2006, followed by LinkedIn in 2008, blogging, Twitter and then Instagram. I’ve had a personal email account since about 1994, and I’ve been using email in a work context since about…

The perks of being unavailable

“The perks of being unavailable” is the title [1] of a podcast episode in the series, What’s Essential by Greg McKeown. Greg and his work came to my attention last year when I read his book: Essentialism, The discipline of doing less. A key takeaway for me from the book was about boundaries. In particular,…

The need for self-care in your workscape

Care needs to begin with self – just like the putting on of a mask in an airplane. When flying we are reminded to attend to our own oxygen masks first – to take care of ourselves – before assisting with others. There’s a clear reason for this, we can only give appropriate care, if…

Cultivating the most important skill in life

A few years ago, whilst I was in an L&D leadership role at a large organisation, a graduate approached me in the kitchen. She got straight to the point, “I’ve been here for nine months and I haven’t had any learning” she said. I asked what she meant. What transpired was she hadn’t been sent…

Saying No

No. It’s a small word. It can have big impact. Are you using it effectively?   Me saying No to Others I say “No”. I say “No” to honour my values; to uphold my boundaries; and to focus my precious resources, and my intentions on what’s important. Earlier this year, I picked up a great book,…

Learning to share; sharing to learn

What do you do with the knowledge and insights that you have? I’ve recently come to value a habit or practice of mine that I thought was normal but now realise is unique. I’d like to share it with you and invite you to join me in a world-changing behaviour! Can you recall a moment…