Development

A photo of a person with a box over their head labelled "brain" and a hand putting the word "idea" into the box

The Best and Wisest Piece of Advice I Ever Received

Reading Time: 5 minutesBack in my early 20s, I was given a piece of advice, and told that it works in every situation that humans face.  I initially couldn’t (or rather, wouldn’t!) accept the idea that it could apply in every context. And I tried really hard to imagine a situation in which it wouldn’t work… but even […]

The Best and Wisest Piece of Advice I Ever Received Read More »

A diagram of the 5 principles of Appreciative Inquiry

The Link Between Appreciative Inquiry and Strengths

Reading Time: 4 minutesAppreciative Inquiry is a method for solving problems and implementing change by focusing on the positive. It emerged from the work of David Cooperrider and Suresh Srivastva in the late 1980s, and has since been used by businesses, teams and organisations around the world. The Ai (1) approach is perfectly aligned with the strengths-led approach,

The Link Between Appreciative Inquiry and Strengths Read More »

A cartoon of a person walking a dog. The person's thought-bubble is full of music, other people, cars, work etc, while the dog's thought bubble shows only the scene they are walking in.

Leadership toolbox: how to build self-awareness

Reading Time: 8 minutesSelf-awareness is a key life and leadership skill. At its most basic level, self-awareness is about developing your knowledge and understanding of yourself, and being able to access that knowledge and understanding in real-time to help you better navigate your life. Its benefits include: greater self-confidence heightened sensitivity to thoughts, emotions and feelings improved critical

Leadership toolbox: how to build self-awareness Read More »

A crumpled piece of paper on a dark background. There is a large question mark on the paper.

Why we need to ditch certainty and embrace uncertainty

Reading Time: 8 minutesCertainty is highly prized; so much of what we do and say revolves around creating certainty for ourselves, or projecting an aura of certainty for others to see. We avoid and even despise uncertainty. Part of this is because our brains are wired to prefer certainty. The problem is not uncertainty itself, but our unfamiliarity

Why we need to ditch certainty and embrace uncertainty Read More »

Diagram of football (soccer) field strategy

If you want to be good at something, first you’ve got to be bad

Reading Time: 5 minutesThere’s a simple truth in life that I have encountered too many times to count… If I want to be any good at anything, first of all, I have to be willing to be bad at it. Learning and skill development are processes, not instant-gratification. So, instead of giving up on something if I don’t

If you want to be good at something, first you’ve got to be bad Read More »

A young boy dressed in a cape and sunglasses, with arm outstretched to the sky.

Focus on your strengths, not your weaknesses

Reading Time: 6 minutesIf you’re like me, you have sat in countless training sessions or performance reviews being told to identify your weaknesses and develop strategies to compensate for or overcome them. Did anyone ever tell you to focus on your strengths? It seems to be a totally foreign concept in most workplaces. But focusing on strengths will

Focus on your strengths, not your weaknesses Read More »