Unconscious bias is having social stereotypes about certain groups of people and forms outside of conscious awareness. Everyone holds unconscious beliefs about various social and identity groups, because humans like to organize and categorise to make sense of the world. Natural survival of the human species has been determined by our ability to recognise friend […]

What I love about running a workshop is when a delegate comes up with a great challenging question. On the working with ego workshop recently, I was asked how do we tell between perceptions and reality? This led me to do some research and run a couple more workshops to explore this topic further. Despite

For many large and global companies, leading virtually with remote teams is nothing new. However, for smaller businesses, the covid pandemic of 2020 has forced them into a strange new world. This step change would normally have taken years to bring about in ‘normal’ times. The shift has been colossal and not without opportunities and

As we go into another lockdown and an uncertain winter, our mental wellbeing is under threat, so we need a SCARF to help us through. SCARF is a model developed at the Neuroleadership Institute, based on neuroscience research. It represents the interpersonal primary rewards or threats that are important to the brain. Status – Certainty – Autonomy

“How do you battle with ego?” was a question I was asked recently by a delegate. This immediately raised two further questions for me. Should we be battling with ego or working with it; and whose ego are we talking about, theirs or ours? The response I got to the latter question was ‘Theirs of

More employees are coming in from furlough as restrictions are eased. In this instance, I have not used the term ‘back from furlough’, as it is unlikely that things are ‘back to normal’. A new normal now exists with many changes having to take place. So how do leaders handle motivation, teamwork and mental resilience

More and more people are talking about pandemic fatigue. We speak about fatigue in materials when there is a weakness or a wearing out from overuse. The human mind can also become overused when constantly in a stressed situation for long periods. No one would doubt that this has been a stressful time with anxiety,

If we are thinking about change, the world has had to cope with massive changes in the last few months. Many of these would have seemed impossible six months ago and there are many more on the way. Every business and individual has been touched by these changes in some way and have reacted to

It is natural to feel worried in these difficult and extraordinary times, so coping with worry is even more important now. Our brains are designed to predict danger and threats. This has helped us thrive as a race for millions of years as our minds and bodies have evolved to cope. The issue is when

A frequent question I get asked by delegates is ‘How do I talk to the younger generations?’ These may be labelled as Millennials, Gen Y, Z or Alpha. Isn’t this a question that every older generation asks? Did our preceding generation not worry about what television, free love, and rock and roll was doing to

Giving great presentations of any kind, is an invaluable skill to have. It was with pride that I achieved my Advanced Communicator Gold award at Casterbridge Speakers this week, as part of the Toastmasters International programme. There has been much learning as I reflect on my journey to this point, which I would like to

There has never been a more relevant time for values-based leadership. Corporate scandals, terrorist threats, office politics, fake news and broken relationships have created low trust in our everyday lives. The increasing gap between stated values and implementation is leading to growing cynicism about integrity and huge uncertainty for the future. If we ignore our