As the weather has turned colder, I’ve spent a bit more time this week reading, and particularly re-reading some of my favourite books that I recommend to my clients. I think it’s important that I make sure that I refresh my memory every so often, if for no other reason than I am always learning […]
Habits
Charisma
Charisma. It’s such an important concept in leadership, but it can be quite difficult to pin down exactly what makes someone charismatic. I guess it’s a little bit like the judge trying to describe pornography, who claimed that he couldn’t possibly define it, but “I know it when I see it”. We all know charisma […]
The Reading Habit – 7 Habits of Highly Effective People
Another recommended book for your personal development. The grandaddy of them all in many ways and as relevant now as it ever was. Stephen Covey’s work literally changed my life and opened up avenues of possibility in the world of coaching and people development. In today’s broadcast I isolate one of the elements of Habit […]
The Reading Habit – Zen Mind, Beginner’s Mind
Here’s the first in a new series of short videos about ideas, concepts and skills that you can take from these books or just as a reflection on my experience with them. Today’s book is ‘Zen Mind, Beginner’s Mind’ by Shunryu Suzuki
Tell Me Lies, Tell Me Sweet Little Lies
So, I’ve had the song Little Lies by Fleetwood Mac stuck in my head for the last few days. Yeah, ok. I’ll let you get the laughing at my old age out of the way before I carry on. Ready? Here we go. The idea of asking someone to lie to you because it’s less […]
Retracing Your Footsteps
I’ve been thinking lately about change, and whether we always notice changes within ourselves. Like a lot of runners, I have a number of favourite runs that I like to do. While I’m running, I sometimes wonder why I don’t take the opportunity to explore more areas and to keep finding new, different runs. I […]
The Art of Creative Laziness
I’m a huge fan of harnessing the power of your default. If you can make your default decision or action the one that’s most helpful to you, life becomes easy. This is really the reasoning behind my obsession with creating good habits. A good habit is, by definition, a default situation that gets you the […]
Structured Spontaneity!
Following on from my thoughts about capacity last week, I wanted to talk a little bit about spontaneity today. One of the reasons that I’m so enthused about habits and structure is that they free up mental energy and decision-making power for the things that really matter. One of the most common reactions from clients […]