Once upon a time in a bustling medium-sized city, there lived a woman named Mia. Mia was a dedicated business analyst at a local bank, a mother of two lively children, and a daughter to an aging father with dementia. Despite her seemingly full plate, Mia often found herself gazing out the window of her…
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…
A reflection one year on from Surviving bullying in the workplace I was crouching in the corner of the living room last week and it dawned on me that my old workplace was perhaps the most insincere place I had ever been in, let alone worked in. I wasn’t crouching, crying or scared. I…
“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,…
When I followed through on my career change from organisational consultant to ‘tradie’ (i.e. builder) late 2019, I had no real clue what 2020 had in store (pandemic and all). I would probably still have made the same choice, which is more of a testament to how much I had bottomed out than a reflection…
Apparently, I am difficult. Apparently, people at work ‘walk on eggshells’ around me. Apparently, it’s ‘my way or the highway’, that my team are scared of me, that my clients find me inflexible. That I appear detached at work meetings and do not hang about for drinks and socialise at, or after work. That I…
The ‘pandemic of 2020’ has disrupted our personal and work lives. For some, this disruption has been to be cut adrift, to be untethered, from an organisation or employment. So much daily structure, personal identity, and validation comes from having a job. To be adrift is functionally unsettling: routines are lost; skills are not used;…
I’ve recently read a report on 2020 Talent Trends from Mercer, and I think there’s insight and implications for employees. Mercer is a large HR consulting company. They do research and prepare advice for Executives and HR personnel to apply with employees. One recent form of advice came in their Annual Global Talent Trends Report…
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,…
Self unLimited is not for the faint hearted. It’s a brave step to decide that you will take responsibility for the key decisions that will shape your workscape. Especially if it’s the first time you really feel you have control with those key decisions. And the decision doesn’t have to be ‘quit and start your…
Dear John Pty Ltd Well, this is awkward. I’m not sure how to say this. But things haven’t been right for a while between us. We’ve had some stupid rows over cleaning up the mugs in the staff kitchen and where we should go for the Christmas party, little things like that. We just carry…
