Journal
The Spirit of Belief: Christmas and the Magic of Our Planet
“As the lights twinkle and laughter fills our homes, let’s remember that the greatest gift we can give our children is to cherish the magic of both Christmas and the natural world. We must nurture not only their imagination but also build the legacy of a thriving planet—one filled with wonder and responsibility that will echo through the years to come”.
A Review: Lessons From My Year of Cycling
“The past year has been a remarkable journey, one where I not only challenged my physical limits but also explored the depths of my resilience in the face of trials.
From riding to Cheddar Gorge overnight to conquering Mount Ventoux, right through to recovering from a bike crash and relationship loss, these experiences shaped my year in ways I had never anticipated; guiding my growth both as a cyclist and as a human being”
My 7 Aspirations for Our World - The Essay
“When we acknowledge that we are all from the same ocean, we begin to realise the power of collective action. This concept calls us to work together in harmony, recognising that our individual well-being is inherently tied to the well-being of others. As we navigate the challenges of our world—social injustice, climate change, and economic disparity—it becomes increasingly clear that the solutions we seek must come not from isolated efforts but from collaborative endeavours that embrace the richness of our shared experiences”
The Personality Styles of Work Place Play - The Essay
“Dr. Stuart Brown identifies eight distinct "play personalities," each contributing unique qualities and preferences to the workplace. By recognising these personalities—such as the Joker, Kinesthete, Explorer, and others—leaders can tailor activities to boost morale, engagement, and collaboration”.
The Personality Styles of Workplace Play - The Exec Summary
“Dr. Stuart Brown identifies eight distinct "play personalities," each contributing unique qualities and preferences to the workplace. By recognising these personalities—such as the Joker, Kinesthete, Explorer, and others—leaders can tailor activities to boost morale, engagement, and collaboration”.
Rest - How to get a 25% increase in happiness.
“Spiritual rest is built upon intentional practices that foster spiritual well-being which come from connecting what we do with our hopes and aspirations and clearing our mind of the ‘noise’ which holds us back and keeps us awake at night.
How do you create spiritual rest?”
Essay - Letting Go In Leadership (and life).
“From my perspective, leadership is not just about holding a title; it’s about the ongoing responsibility to foster an environment that encourages innovation, growth, and success for the entire organisation. As I’ve progressed through various stages in my career, I’ve recognised that letting go of certain responsibilities or familiar ties is essential for my development and that of my team.”
Opinion- 7 Reasons Your Strategy Days Aren't Working.
“Drawing from my experiences both in facilitating these sessions and my own professional journey, including my narrow loss on a recent strategy bid, I’ve identified seven key reasons why strategy days often fall flat.
In this blog, we’ll explore not only the reasons behind ineffective strategy days but also how insights from leadership thought leaders—Simon Sinek, Alain de Botton, Brené Brown, and Jacinda Ardern—can inform a better approach”.
Tools- 3 steps to Work AND Life Balance
“You only find balance; by leaning into and deciding upon the balance you want. Plain and simple.
What follows are the three elements which I see consistently help my coachees to find greater balance between work and homelife; between - work, rest, play and sustenance”.
Work - Do you have a cause?
“A cause swirls like a rising ocean, connecting every action, meeting and strategy session to a longer term ambition. It makes decisions easier. And the most successful clients I work with feel their cause within their bones.
A role that is not attached to a cause larger than a bottom line, Is a number”.
Opinion- We need more female leaders.
“It's time to dismantle the barriers that continue to hinder women's progress in leadership. Let us advocate for policies and practices that promote gender diversity and inclusivity in decision-making processes. The power to create a more balanced, just, and prosperous world lies in our hands, and together, we can cultivate an environment where all leaders—regardless of gender—can thrive. “
Opinion- Is fear killing leadership?
“We are seeing too many ' at the top', the 'showbiz execs' - parading as leaders - but doing nothing more than 'managing' things.
This is not because they are managing people - if only. No; it's because all they are doing is 'managing the status quo'.
If fear is what stops those with influence from acting, let's change the definition of management, to recognise what we are seeing.
Let the dictionaries and role profiles be amended; I say and let it be writ large, that:
"Management is”
Sustenance - How Good People Sustain Themselves…
“My client could not have envisaged how much of difference and how revived they could feel after only re-introducing some of the sustained elements, they needed. All it took was ‘Just’ enough for them to get started, see some results, no matter how small and have someone with them to help them keep leaning in - gently at first”.
Play - Good People Play Games too.
“Quite simply, games are being played in work, which effect the delivery of great work by good people. Now, I don’t mean ball games, backgammon or chess or hide and seek as I saw branch teams use as pre opening energisers, in the building society I worked for. No, I mean the political games needed to get ahead, which create the opportunity for good people to lead great things and change”
Work - Good People Have CAUSE.
"The Good People I see who affect the most change, are clear on and can deliver on their C.A.U.S.E. My role as a coach is to help bring this about”.
Sustenance - What’s that then?
“To understand and be understood is to be free” says Daniel Johnson and in my experience he is free. How do we become understood? We invite questions - from ourselves and others. How do we understand? We honour others by asking them questions too. “
What do you want to be known for? Coaching Examples
"Even more importantly you can use (the question; what do you want to be known for?) 'it' to drag yourself out of a hole, overcome procrastination and even imposter syndrome when you recognise you ARE being that and/or ARE doing what is needed, consistently, to be that (no matter the reason at this stage).
And YOU CAN celebrate deep down to your core when you are being and doing what is needed and known for that which you 'seek'"
Play - What’s that then?
"Part of helping good people lead great things sometimes includes looking at how they introduce play back into their weekly and monthly routines. A number of my client work involves working out their ideal bi-weekly and monthly patterns and mapping activities into their diaries.
That planning might sound like ‘hell', but my oh my, it works."
Rest - What’s that?
"...like the bike races I do, leadership and change are an endurance race and those, like leadership aren’t won in the first pedal strokes, but can be lost by over ‘egging it’ and ‘burning brightly’ too soon".
Work - What do I do and Why?
"Good people implicitly or explicitly believe in the principles of social justice - access to resources, equity, participation, diversity, and human rights - in all the work they do.
If someone is working towards creating these organisationally, sector wide and or nationally and internationally, then I am in; with both feet"