FIRST WEEK BACK AT WORK – MAKE IT A GOOD ONE

For many people this will be the first day back at work after a 2 week Christmas break, and you may find it hard to be motivated. Let’s think of ways to get you through the day, and you can do this on the days to come Set some objectives What do you need to […]

Christmas – time for a technology holiday?

As you get ready for the break from work, and for many this will be for a couple of weeks, I’d like you to think about taking a holiday from technology. Rosabeth Moss Kanter wrote a great article in the Harvard Business Review – The Imperfect balance between work and life. She writes that we […]

Career Success – Talent, Drive and Luck

Last night I was at the Cheltenham Everyman Theatre Association Christmas Dinner and the after dinner speaker was Maurice Gran. He writes with Laurence Marks and has written wonderful series such as Holding the Baby, Holding the Fort, Shine on Harvey Moon, The New Statesman and Birds of a Feather and has written for people […]

Active Listening – 20 ways to improve relationships

We are taught how to read and write, but not how to listen, here are 20 key tips for how to improve – see the benefits quickly if you put these into practice.   Leave your own concerns to one side.  You can’t focus on somebody else if you are also thinking about your problems, to […]

Attention and Focus – Oh Look Shiny!

Do you get distracted? I do. Whether it’s the ads when I’m looking online (which I hate but they do catch my attention) or thoughts that come into my head there is so much competing for my attention, and it makes it hard to focus on what is really important.   In almost every situation […]

The Christmas Party – 10 top tips to enhance your career prospects

Not long to the Christmas party season – here are 10 tips to help you use office party to enhance your career prospects   It is tempting to stay with the people you know but it will be beneficial to introduce yourself to people from other departments. People are always more likely to help those they […]

The CDI Conference, Orlando 2013

I’m recently back from spending 3 days in America at the Career Directors International (CDI) 13th Global Career Summit. This was a huge commitment, both in terms of cost and time. I had to fly out to Orlando but professional development is important to me and the chance to network with colleagues from another continent […]

Professional development through literature

Professional development is much more than going on a course, and I’m always looking out for ways to help my clients.     I’ve spent much of the past 10 days at Cheltenham Literature Festival, both volunteering and attending sessions. Many of the speakers had books to promote. Some such as Oliver James and Office […]

Setting Career Goals, part 1

Setting Career Goals – How our thinking affects our action Many of you know of my weight loss journey, and despite numerous set backs I succeeded in losing 10 ½ stone in weight. But, as with so many others, I put weight back on. It drifted up and then I lost a few pounds but […]

Career Management and Goals

Half Way Through the Year, For Effective Career Management, Time to Review Your Goals.   Yesterday was midsummers day, the middle of the year. I only realised late last night reading my newspaper on my iPad. A bit late reading my newspaper as I was focused on work tasks yesterday.   It got me thinking […]