Blog

Energy - It’s the hot topic at the moment. Our current energy crisis has shone a light on how important energy is in our world. It's the one thing we know we all need to make sure we have, the thing we feel the most when it’s not there. It’s what keeps us alive, fuels our ability to move and interact, keeps us warm in the cold, allows us to see when it’s dark, to travel to places so far away we couldn’t walk. It is the basis for a fulfilling life.  It’s foundational because without it we don’t feel good, we don’t thrive.   It is...

This can be a grey area. But most of my clients self-fund their professional development, at least when it comes to personal coaching to help them move forward and better their career. Why? Because a lot of them don’t want their employer to know that they are having issues at work or they are already thinking about leaving their job. They don’t want buy in from their employer to help with their professional development because they don’t want their employer to know they’re receiving help at all. It’s private, it’s personal and they...

How is your maths? Let me show you a simple career equation….   Being heard means being seen.    +   Being seen means getting noticed.    +   Getting noticed means others know who you are and that you are good at what you do.   =   Getting meaty pieces of work, being named in succession plans, being considered for new leadership roles during restructuring and promotion rounds, being front of mind when looking for trusted opinions.   Why?   Because you are front of mind. Because you are...

Last week was one of the most challenging of my life.   I had my mum come to stay with me. I know for some of you that may in itself be challenging but my mum has dementia and she also needs 24 hour care.    It was a big one to take on.   So I needed some help. But I couldn’t fully rely on my husband as it just so happened that his ageing parents had their completion date come through and they were moving to our home town the same week.   But I didn’t panic. Why?   Because I knew I had my network to support...

A few weeks ago I felt like a bit of a failure. Why? Because I bailed. From a networking group that I’d paid to be in.   Everything was fine on the surface. The people in the group were lovely, I’d made some great connections, all was seemingly going well. But I kept getting this feeling as the monthly meet ups arrived. I was feeling resistance and increasingly feeling resentful of having to be there. It felt like hard work.   So I took a deeper look.    I was feeling time starved. The penny finally dropped that I...

Boundaries, that old chestnut again. You see, I hear and use that word a lot because for so much of the work I do with women, boundaries are fundamental. To our wellbeing, our ability to perform well and our ability to prioritise what’s important to us.   Boundaries are all to do with the levels of comfort and space we feel comfortable with when we interact with other people, so they form the basis of healthy relationships with others in our personal, family and professional life. They’re relevant everywhere.   They can also be more...

I often get asked by women, how do I become more confident? Confidence underpins how we feel about ourselves and motivates us to step into our power, to take steps to develop ourselves, take risks and challenge ourselves. When we’re confident we trust ourselves and take the action that leads us to grow. It helps us go further, and rise in our careers. In the workplace it can be the vital component to succeed , especially in those moments of doubt. But it can be elusive for so many women, especially when it can sometimes feel like...

When I started out as a lawyer 20 years ago, before I got my training contract, I was taken on as a paralegal in a small music law firm. I felt like I’d hit the jackpot after finding it really challenging to get my training contract.   It was just a small firm with three partners and a trainee who was about to qualify and I’d been told at interview that there was a good chance of getting a Training Contract if I did well as a paralegal. So I was a bit surprised to see another paralegal in my office when I arrived on day one. It...

This week we’re celebrating the Queen’s platinum jubilee in the UK. Hoorah! Let's get the bunting out, take a few extra days off and sit back and relax. Or maybe you don't feel like celebrating her at all, maybe you're no royalist, but whatever your take on the Queen and the Royal Family, you can't get away from the fact that we're actually celebrating a career delivered, over 70 years. Whether you're a fan of the Queen or not, she has certainly invested in her career and given it her all over a time period that most of us will...

What if I told you that in order to get ahead in your career you need to do more?   How would that feel?   You might be considering taking a swipe, especially if you’re already at breaking point, feeling snowed under with the sheer volume of work, the constant stream of emails that you’re battling and the long hours you’re already putting in. More, you say?   Well yes…but not necessarily more, in the way that you think.   For a lot of women I work with, they think the answer to progression in the workplace is to...

This time of year is all about re-setting. Vowing to do things differently, better. Most common is the talk of setting new resolutions but for a while now the concept of being resolute about changes you want to make has been rejected in favour of the softer concept of setting intentions. The idea being that if you’re not so fixed on the things you should or shouldn’t be doing then you are less likely to “fail” in sticking to them.  Me, I’m a fan of the intention. It fits well with a feminine leadership approach and is more fluid,...