The Johari Window

The Johari Window is a great model for understanding about feedback   Giving and receiving feedback is how we can understand how others see us, and let people know how we see them. For many years I’ve used the Johari window with individuals and groups. It is a simple way to describe how we can […]

The right sort of help

What sort of help do you want? What sort of help should you offer? Many people say – I treat people like I’d want to be treated myself. I challenge this and remind people that instead we should treat people how they want to be treated. Bruce Feiler, in his research on transitions has identified […]

Learning from regrets

Throughout life we have regrets. Some of them are for things we did do, and others for things we never did. I recently did an online training session with Dan Pink where he spoke about his research: The World Regret Survey,  and book – The Power of Regret. The global research identified the top four […]

Is now the time for a life audit?

There are a number of transition points in where you leave one phase behind and embark on another – leaving school and getting a job; getting married and settling down – and the one as we enter our 60s. The difference now is you’ve got decades of experience behind you. At milestone age points, such […]

Crystallized Intelligence and Wisdom

Crystallized Intelligence. This week I want to talk about intelligence. There are some who think our brains are in decline as we age. I’m more of a believer of whether you think it is, or not, you are right. Looking to history, Both Charles Darwin and Johann Sebastian Bach were highly gifted but as they […]

Character Strengths

At all ages we can learn much from going deeper inside, to understand more about the person we are. This can be through a personality assessment, values exercise and more. Something I’ve been reminded of recently is Character Strengths. There are 24 character strengths that we all possess, in varying degrees. What is interesting is […]

The 6 human needs that drive us in life

The six human needs. Psychologist Cloe Madanes has written about how our behaviour is motivated by the fulfilment of six basic human needs that everyone needs to fulfil. These lead to differing actions and can be why we overeat or overspend, take drugs, crave attention … Knowing about these different needs is useful at all stages […]

Can you be your authentic self?

Hi, it’s Denise. Not sure I’m looking at my best today, down the woods, as I tend to do, and it’s raining, but at least I’ve got my poncho. And it’s just stopped raining which is why I decided to start filming.   Transcript And I’m interested in the question “who am I?” and “who […]

Receiving Feedback

Talking with a client yesterday about getting some negative feedback and helping her make sense and move on made me realise that you may find this helpful too. Be observant The cues are often there, people can tell us what they think of our work in an ad-hoc and informal way. Be sensitive to this […]

Who we are isn’t the same thing as what we do?

With my research into meaning after fulltime work, one of the areas is around identity. So much of the conversations we have when we meet someone is around our work. The first question many people will ask is ‘so what do you do?’ And we tell them about our work, or more specifically. I’m a […]