This is what I’m up to at the moment – I’ll be updating this page at random, either when I start something exciting, or I remember that it exists!
Last updated: October 2024
Personal
House and home
I’m working towards a major reclad of my house (including upgrading all the windows to double-glazing). There are SO MANY decisions to be made – but it’s exciting to think about what it will be like when it’s finished.
I’m enjoying the return of the warmer weather, and am looking forward to spending more time outdoors both on my own, and with my favourite people.
Health and wellbeing
I’m three years on from a foot injury, and haven’t yet made it back to running, which I really miss. It’s a great reminder of the value of patience, and to appreciate how lucky I am overall with my health and wellbeing.
Helping out
My volunteering has been on hold with my foot trouble. But two causes that are dear to my heart are:
- Kindness Collective Foundation who run the PJ Project and Christmas Joy Store. They’re all about helping families and communities to live with dignity and joy.
- Everybody Eats is a fantastic organisation tackling food waste, food poverty, and social isolation. There are restaurants in Auckland (Onehunga & Glen Innes) and Wellington – check them out if you’re in the ‘hood!
There are so many benefits to volunteering, from the personal psychological boost, to having a positive impact in the world, to meeting new people and strengthening community ties. I gain so much from my volunteering experiences that I can’t imagine life without them.
Business
New offering for 2025!
I’m excited to be on the verge of launching a new offering: my signature leadership development programme for first-time leaders. It’s called The Lightning Leadership Lab.
It’s the culmination of my 20+ years of experience in leadership as a leader myself, then later as a coach, mentor, and trainer. I’ve done extensive research into leadership development for my next book (see the Products section below), and I know this programme is going to make a massive difference for the leaders who join.
We’re kicking off at the end of January 2025, and I can’t wait to take the first cohort of leaders through the programme!
Products
I call myself an “accidental” creator – I never planned to make a product, but my frustration with some of the well-known strengths approaches led me to create The Strengths Deck in 2021.
I followed that up in early 2023 with my first book, ‘Unleash Your Awesome‘ (available in print, eBook, and audiobook format), and it’s had an amazing response. It’s available from the Store, Amazon and all your favourite eBook/audiobook platforms.
In 2024, I’m working on a new book for first-time leaders. I’ve interviewed established leaders to learn about their leadership journey, and what they wish they had known when they were starting out. And now I’m looking to talk to people who are right there in the throes of their first leadership role – if you know (or are!) someone who is a first-time leader, please drop me an email.
Services
The Strengths Deck
The Strengths Deck continues to go from (ahem!) strength to strength, for my coaching and corporate clients.
I run 1:1 and group Strengths Discovery sessions – why not set up a session for yourself, or get a bunch of friends or colleagues together? I promise that you’ll have plenty of “aha!” moments, and you’ll enjoy the process of clarifying your strengths, weaknesses, and everything in-between. And you’ll walk away armed with powerful, practical strategies to use your strengths to create the life and work you’ve been dreaming of.
Coaching
My coaching clients light up my world! I work with individuals at a variety of career stages – some are very senior leaders looking to hone their practice, others are just getting started and find it useful to have someone they can talk about their challenges and successes with.
From job changes to career progression to delivering sustainable high performance, my clients want to show up fully human and fully awesome, and they’re using their personal strengths to make that happen.
I have some capacity for new 1:1 coaching clients, so book your call if you’d like to talk about how working with a coach can help you get better results with more ease, energy, and fun.
Training & Facilitation
I work closely with several fantastic corporate clients on strengthening their leadership practices and leadership team culture. The workshops are insanely good – we see everything from laughter to tears, and everyone digs deep to consider their impact, hone their skills, and show up as the best versions of themselves.
I keep a strict lid on the number of 1:1 and corporate clients I work with so that they get the very best of me, every time. I currently have space for a limited number of new corporate clients – let’s chat if you want to level-up your leadership team and practice, for sustainable success.
Online communities
I run two online communities for women:
- Personal Mastermind book club (weekly)
- Coaching Circle of Practice (monthly)
In the Personal Mastermind, we read 5 books a year from Feb to Nov, and meet weekly to discuss the 1-2 chapters we’ve read that week. It’s always a supportive, fun, kind, generous, and insightful conversation. If you’re interested in learning more, check out the Personal Mastermind page.
In the Coaching Circle of Practice, we meet monthly to discuss a provocation from Robert Biswas-Diener’s excellent book ‘Positive Provocation‘.* Our discussions are always robust and friendly, as we talk through the different aspects of the topic, and up-level our practice as a result. Find out more on the Coaching Circle of Practice page.
Online communities
I work closely with several fantastic co
Networking
I am always keen to meet more interesting people, so I’m often out and about at networking groups and events.
I’m a member of the Auckland Executive Club, a wonderful group of women from a range of industries who meet monthly for networking, dinner, and a speaker. Find out about our next event here, and if you’re signing up for a ticket, put my name down as the ‘Guest of’ and ‘Seated next to’, then send me an email to let me know you’ll be coming along. We’ll have a grand old time meeting in real life!
Outside of formal networking, I love meeting people online or in real life to share a cuppa and our stories. I’m constantly energised and inspired by the people I meet, and I’d love to get to know you better. Drop me a line if you’d like to book an Auckland-based catch-up, or book yourself a slot in my calendar for an online meeting.
What I'm excited about for 2024
In October 2023, I kicked off research for ‘Help, They Put Me In Charge’, and I’ve lost count of the number of people who have told me “They promoted me because I was good at what I did, but they didn’t teach me anything about leading people”.
I was fortunate that my first leadership role was in a company that was committed to developing all staff, whether in leadership roles or not, and my boss was an amazing coach and mentor.
I want to make it easier for more people to have that experience, so the book will be a practical guide to the skills emerging leaders need to be effective leaders, and will help established leaders to create a solid leadership pipeline, to prepare people for their first (and subsequent) leadership roles.
Other things I’m looking forward to in 2024:
- Rolling out some new training programmes and workshops for my corporate clients
- Developing the keynote side of my business
- Continuing on with my Personal Mastermind book club, and Coaching Circle of Practice. If you’re interested in learning more about either programme, drop me an email.
Why have a 'now' page?
Derek Sivers is the inspiration behind the ‘now’ page movement, and he explains the point of it here better than I ever could!
If you have your own website, why not set up your own ‘now’ page?
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