"It is a paradoxical but profoundly true and important principle of life that the most likely way to reach a goal is to be aiming not at that goal itself but at some more ambitious goal beyond it."
Arnold Toynbee - English historian & historical philosopher (1889 - 1975)

Have you ever had the experience where you've been using a tool for years (e.g. a technique, a program or even the onboard computer in the car.) and then you suddenly realise there's a far better, easier or more elegant way of using that tool? I had one of those moments recently and like the last tip, it harked back to my original coaching training in 2001.

When facilitating, my associate Waqar and I often talk about 'serving the need in the room'. Meaning, it's more important for us to be clear about the needs of the people we are working with and serving their need rather than prioritising the process or model we are using.

I was doing just this, 'serving the need in the room', when it came to me...... Read More...

Tags: Coaching, challenge, management

I’m sorry that it’s been so long since I’ve published a tip. I have developed quite a severe back problem which means that it is very painful to sit down and it’s amazing the impact of an inability to sit down has! I used to do all my coaching tips whilst sitting on the train so, even when busy, I could still get them out. I've also found out that not only does chronic back pain impact your short term memory, it destroys your grey matter at the rate of 1cm³ per annum - so thinking has been harder!

I’ve now got a desk I can stand at and have the pain more under control so hopefully I'll get back to more regular tips. Thanks for your patience. Read More...

What resources do you have available to you that you're not currently using?

"The real voyage of discovery consists not in seeking new lands but seeing with new eyes." Marcel Proust

In the very first training I had in coaching, I was introduced to the GROW model by David Hemery, the Olympic athlete and, for those of you old enough to remember, part of the cast of the original Superstars in the '70s.

To introduce the model, he simply got us to pick an issue we had that we wanted to work on - an area of our professional or personal lives where we wanted to improve. He then simply asked the questions in the GROW model in sequence, giving us time to write the answers down for ourselves...... Read More...

“There are risks and costs to a program of action. But they are far less than the long-range risks and costs of comfortable inaction”
John F Kennedy

What a strange world we live in. On the 150th anniversary of Darwin’s ‘Origin of the Species’ our understanding of evolution is so much more advanced. What is still confusing is how we have managed to develop a society where, in order to perform at the highest levels, we have to work against the biology, neurology and psychology that evolution determined for us.

I can’t remember how I came across it but Seth Godin published an insightful article (FAST Company Magazine 2003) which is just as relevant today. The article was called “A Brief History of Hard Work, Adjusted for Risk” In the piece he contrasts the hard, physical labour our many of our forebears endured with the modern workplace - and a very different type of hard work that this quote demonstrates: Read More...