The riskiest behaviour I’ve engaged in – and I bet you have too
I don't think of myself as much of a risk taker. I'm generally fairly cautious - no high risk investments, Vegas holidays or adventure sports for me. But recently I've noticed just how risky some of my behaviour can be. I guarantee some of yours is too. To illustrate, let me tell you about my garden. When we moved into our house 20 years ago, the small garden was very basic - a scrappy lawn with some flower beds round the edges. Despite being a novice gardener, I wanted something grander. I wanted a stately home garden in a matchbox. ...
How should we address climate change at work? Part 1 – thinking about it.
This is the first of a two part series on the key topic of our age, the climate crisis. Specifically, looking at it in the context of work. Your immediate reaction might be "Really, do I have to? It's bad enough when it's on the news and I have got quite a lot on right now". I get it. I feel similar. But here are two reasons why I think it's worth looking at the subject: It will affect you Over the next decade or so, maybe sooner, climate change is going to affect everything - geopolitics, the global and ...
Who do you think you are?
I'm not issuing that as a challenge, more an invitation for some gentle introspection. The way we think about our identity - the way we describe ourselves to ourselves and to others - has an impact on the way we operate in the world. This is particularly true in our working lives and sometimes that impact is not helpful. So this month I want to look at five situations where it might be useful to think about the way you think about yourself. 1. When you take a step up If you move into something bigger - promotion, higher profile ...
What do we mean by resilience? A conversation with a CEO
Resilience. There's a topic that's had loads of airtime over the last year. How resilient are you? How do you improve your resilience? I wrote about it myself just a few months ago. But what do we really mean by resilience – and might some definitions actually be unhelpful? This month's blog was inspired by a conversation with an experienced CEO and non-exec director, Andrew Manning, who contacted me as he has a particular interest in resilience. It's a little different from my usual posts in that it takes the form of a conversation where we explore the topic. Caroline ...
Resilience: 8 tips for getting through the next few months
Well here we are again. Back in lockdown and somehow, this time it feels harder, probably because it's the middle of winter. There is light at the end of the tunnel but we've suddenly realised that the tunnel is longer than we thought and has a murky difficult section we hadn't anticipated. So how do we get through the next few months? Here are eight suggestions, some of which are mindset shifts, some practical tips and some refer back to previous articles. 1. Work out what's difficult about this for you The pandemic poses different challenges for different people. That ...
Are you in control of your destiny?
How much do you feel in control of your own destiny? Do you see your successes as the results of your efforts? What about your failures? This month I’m going to look at a concept that psychologists call ‘locus of control’ – whether you see control of your life being internally or an externally driven. This is something which is on a continuum but let’s look at the two extremes. High internal locus of control High external locus of control Believe you have agency in your life Believe you have little control over your destiny, may believe in ...
COVID-19: What next? Who knows? Living with uncertainty
So here we are, tentatively venturing back out into the world and wondering what life will be like. There is no shortage of commentators predicting the business, societal and political changes which will result from the pandemic. I am not one of them. What I want to look at is how we handle the level of uncertainty we are facing. Here are six observations. 1. Predictability vs uncertainty One of the overlooked aspects of the pandemic is the weird juxtaposition of massive uncertainty alongside monotonous predictability. On the one hand, you know what your days are going to look ...
Self-compassion, not self-indulgence – Looking after number one
My intention this month was to write about compassion. Lord knows we could all do with some of that right now. But then a post on LinkedIn caused me to rethink. It bemoaned the number of articles exhorting us to "Be Kind" when actually many people are at the end of their tether. Someone added in the comments "I can't pour from an empty cup". I had planned to include a lot in this article about self-compassion but I've decided to make it the main focus. Now, depending on your personality and values, you may have a strong reaction to ...
Seven psychological tips for making change that lasts
Last month, you may recall, I wrote about how to feel better about yourself if you hadn't achieved all you wanted to as we approached the end of the year. This month, as we contemplate a new decade and you might want to do things differently, I'm looking at what psychology tells us about making changes that stick. 1. Focus on actions not outcomes Many people set very high level resolutions for change - get fitter, be happier, have a better work/life balance - which fall by the wayside because they have no tangible actions attached to them. I ...
And so this is Christmas – and what have you done?
Another year over, a new one just begun. I've been living with this song for weeks as the choir I sing with rehearses for Christmas. I don't know about you but the line 'another year over' tends to leave me with a slight feeling of existential dread. It's worse this year, as another decade is over and what have I done? There are so many aspects of our lives to keep track of: Career/business - did you meet your targets? Are you doing interesting work? Did you get promoted? Are you fulfilling your potential? Does your work have purpose? Financial - ...
The riskiest behaviour I’ve engaged in – and I bet you have too
I don't think of myself as much of a risk taker. I'm generally fairly cautious - no high risk investments, Vegas holidays or adventure sports for me. But recently I've noticed just how risky some of my behaviour can be. I guarantee some of yours is too. To illustrate, let me tell you about my garden. When we moved into our house 20 years ago, the small garden was very basic - a scrappy lawn with some flower beds round the edges. Despite being a novice gardener, I wanted something grander. I wanted a stately home garden in a matchbox. ...
How should we address climate change at work? Part 1 – thinking about it.
This is the first of a two part series on the key topic of our age, the climate crisis. Specifically, looking at it in the context of work. Your immediate reaction might be "Really, do I have to? It's bad enough when it's on the news and I have got quite a lot on right now". I get it. I feel similar. But here are two reasons why I think it's worth looking at the subject: It will affect you Over the next decade or so, maybe sooner, climate change is going to affect everything - geopolitics, the global and ...
Who do you think you are?
I'm not issuing that as a challenge, more an invitation for some gentle introspection. The way we think about our identity - the way we describe ourselves to ourselves and to others - has an impact on the way we operate in the world. This is particularly true in our working lives and sometimes that impact is not helpful. So this month I want to look at five situations where it might be useful to think about the way you think about yourself. 1. When you take a step up If you move into something bigger - promotion, higher profile ...
What do we mean by resilience? A conversation with a CEO
Resilience. There's a topic that's had loads of airtime over the last year. How resilient are you? How do you improve your resilience? I wrote about it myself just a few months ago. But what do we really mean by resilience – and might some definitions actually be unhelpful? This month's blog was inspired by a conversation with an experienced CEO and non-exec director, Andrew Manning, who contacted me as he has a particular interest in resilience. It's a little different from my usual posts in that it takes the form of a conversation where we explore the topic. Caroline ...
Resilience: 8 tips for getting through the next few months
Well here we are again. Back in lockdown and somehow, this time it feels harder, probably because it's the middle of winter. There is light at the end of the tunnel but we've suddenly realised that the tunnel is longer than we thought and has a murky difficult section we hadn't anticipated. So how do we get through the next few months? Here are eight suggestions, some of which are mindset shifts, some practical tips and some refer back to previous articles. 1. Work out what's difficult about this for you The pandemic poses different challenges for different people. That ...
Are you in control of your destiny?
How much do you feel in control of your own destiny? Do you see your successes as the results of your efforts? What about your failures? This month I’m going to look at a concept that psychologists call ‘locus of control’ – whether you see control of your life being internally or an externally driven. This is something which is on a continuum but let’s look at the two extremes. High internal locus of control High external locus of control Believe you have agency in your life Believe you have little control over your destiny, may believe in ...
COVID-19: What next? Who knows? Living with uncertainty
So here we are, tentatively venturing back out into the world and wondering what life will be like. There is no shortage of commentators predicting the business, societal and political changes which will result from the pandemic. I am not one of them. What I want to look at is how we handle the level of uncertainty we are facing. Here are six observations. 1. Predictability vs uncertainty One of the overlooked aspects of the pandemic is the weird juxtaposition of massive uncertainty alongside monotonous predictability. On the one hand, you know what your days are going to look ...
Self-compassion, not self-indulgence – Looking after number one
My intention this month was to write about compassion. Lord knows we could all do with some of that right now. But then a post on LinkedIn caused me to rethink. It bemoaned the number of articles exhorting us to "Be Kind" when actually many people are at the end of their tether. Someone added in the comments "I can't pour from an empty cup". I had planned to include a lot in this article about self-compassion but I've decided to make it the main focus. Now, depending on your personality and values, you may have a strong reaction to ...
Seven psychological tips for making change that lasts
Last month, you may recall, I wrote about how to feel better about yourself if you hadn't achieved all you wanted to as we approached the end of the year. This month, as we contemplate a new decade and you might want to do things differently, I'm looking at what psychology tells us about making changes that stick. 1. Focus on actions not outcomes Many people set very high level resolutions for change - get fitter, be happier, have a better work/life balance - which fall by the wayside because they have no tangible actions attached to them. I ...
And so this is Christmas – and what have you done?
Another year over, a new one just begun. I've been living with this song for weeks as the choir I sing with rehearses for Christmas. I don't know about you but the line 'another year over' tends to leave me with a slight feeling of existential dread. It's worse this year, as another decade is over and what have I done? There are so many aspects of our lives to keep track of: Career/business - did you meet your targets? Are you doing interesting work? Did you get promoted? Are you fulfilling your potential? Does your work have purpose? Financial - ...
