We don’t all like all of the people all of the time. And this is difficult, because I really want to like everybody! I’ve come across people that no matter how hard I’ve tried, I’ve just not liked. Some people I’ve had to accept it was a battle not worth fighting....
Dr Nia Thomas
Civility, Respect and Self-Awareness
How do we improve civility and respect in the workplace? I’m convinced that if we improve people’s self awareness we can improve their level of civility. But it’s not just about improving self awareness. We need to work on improving it when the chips are down, stress is high and emotions are frayed. It’s then that we’re in real danger of falling short of our own standards of kindness. Access my conversation with Radhika Nair on The Knowing Self Knowing Others Podcast
Faith in the Process
In my career of over 20 years in the public sector, I’ve seen people go through some difficult, challenging, painful and harrowing things. I’ve seen and been a part of dignity at work processes, competency processes, grievances, redundancies, staff suspensions,...
Hopes for future working
Going to the office is a bit of a treat. It’s the day I buy coffee from a shop, eat sushi for lunch and sometimes stop for an ice cream on the way home. I get to chat with people I rarely see and pop to the shop with people I like. Organisational leaders will have...
The Pen is Mightier than the Sword!
I do a lot of writing and often forget that not everyone is tasked with writing reports and papers in their roles. Lots of people are taking care of patients, teaching children, putting out fires and catching criminals. But me, I write. And in lieu of any other super...
The Art of Problem Solving
Today I was introduced to a problem solving methodology that the influential Reg Revans is said to have developed. Who knows about it?Who cares about it?Who can do something about it? I immediately liked it. I like a guiding structure and I like simplicity. I...
What’s in a name? Part 1 – Soft Skills
A few times over the last week I’ve read posts talking about how unhelpful the term ‘soft skills’ is. It really doesn’t conjure the complexities of relations based interactions, does it? You’ll already know my view by now, that soft skills are the hardest to acquire....
The A to Z of Self Aware Leadership
A is for Authenticity To be an effective leader we need to behave in an authentic way and to be authentic, we need to know what we think and feel about our values and strengths B is for Behaviour When we are self-aware, we are aware of our behaviour, how others view...
Have a restful long weekend!
Let the day go on and on!Let it stretch into the yonder!Let the red sky linger longer,Let the blue and yellow wander…. Let the day go on and on!Let the mountains far be closeLet the waves crash and engrossLet the wide sky and narrow road juxtapose Let the day go on...
Making it up as we go along!
People will have often heard me say, ‘I’m just making it up as I go along!’ I use the phrase consciously & purposefully, so that everybody knows the achievement isn’t unobtainable. Everybody has the potential to be a manager, lead a conference, get that job, do a...
Facilitate, Ideate, Narrate, Activate!
It’s so easy to forget that we don’t have to have all of the answers all of the time. Today I was reminded about the benefit of drawing on other skills and appreciating that problem solving isn’t the only one you have to drawn from! When you don’t have all of the...
Value Everybody!
When people show an interest in the things that interest you, it’s a real buzz. It feels exciting and exhilarating to discuss and debate those topics that interest you with people who are interested in them too. So how then, do we make people feel acknowledged and...







