The Hot Air Balloon Joke

Realising he was lost, the man in a hot air balloon reduced altitude and spotted a woman on the ground below.

As he descended further he shouted over to her, ‘Excuse me, please can you help me? I promised a friend I would meet him an hour ago but I don’t know where I am.'

Because the woman wanted to help she explained, 'You are in a hot air balloon hovering approximately 30 feet above the ground. You are between 40 and 41 degrees North latitude and between 59 and 60 degrees West longitude'.

'You must be an engineer' said the balloonist.

One Year On What Can We Learn From Lehman Brothers?

In an article provided by Hogan Assessments in the USA, Personality and Financial Management*, they look at the personality of the CEO at the time of the Lehman Brothers collapse and point to some of the actions he took which ultimately led to its demise.

10 Top Tools For Coaching

What Is Coaching All About?

On October 3rd 2009 Gillian Jones and Ro Gorell's book 50 Top Tools For Coaching goes on sale. Already on Amazon's pre-order list and featured number 1 latest hot release in their Training section - just pipped to the post this week - we've launched our DVD: 10 Top Tools For Coaching.

If you've ever wondered what Coaching is all about then go to this page

http://tinyurl.com/10tools

and sign up for 10 three minute videos that show our top 10 coaching tools.

The Great Wall Of China

I once commented that a new office refurbishment was like the Great Wall of China; completely negating the open plan concept by erecting three meeting rooms where none had been previously.

It was only when I saw the Great Wall on holiday three weeks ago that I realised how significant that comment was.

What's It Like To Be Coached?

Extreme Coaching Have you ever wondered what coaching is all about? Well now you can see a coaching session in action. Kate Burton, a successful author of 3 books including Neuro- Linguistic Programming for Dummies and Building Self- Confidence For Dummies, agreed to be my client.

What Happens When the Recession is Over?

So a thought occurred to me last week - what happens when the recession is over? At the moment we're still brow beating and looking to blame. Today it's the MPs' expenses that are in the frame. Next week it will be something different.

But all this talk about who's to blame, how deep the recession will get, whether or not house prices have reached the bottom, yadda yadda leaves me wondering if anyone has got their eye to the future. What will happen when we start to see the green shoots of the 'new economy'?

Are You An Independent Thinker?

All of us believe that at some level we are independent thinkers. Well are we really? In many social situations the majority of people will look for someone who is similar or the same or who has shared views and beliefs. This is true in any social setting, whether it's a party, a meeting even seats on a train. We all look for the markers that say "this person is 'like me'".

Conversation In A Coffee Shop

Well, I've just got back from a writing workshop this afternoon and felt inspired to share my musings. We were set a task to incorporate dialogue so let's listen in on a conversation between Kirby Muxloe and Graham Partridge:


"Hey Graham, how's it going?"
Graham put down his coffee and looked up to see his old friend Kirby standing enthusiastically by the side of the table.

"Great, why don't you join me?"

As Kirby pulled up his chair he noticed a colourful book on the coffee table which Graham had surreptitiously closed when he saw him.

What Can a 106 Year Old Woman Teach You?

Listening to the news last week, amid all the usual detritus of negative self fulfilling prophecies about the economy, was a story that stood out. Yes, the story about the lion cub that was brought up by two aussies was heart warming but this story was more imporant for me.

Media Responsibility and Change

I'd like to raise a controversial topic. If you, like me, are left confused by the debate about whether or not the BBC or Sky should post stories about the Gaza appeal then read on. Essentially the way I see it is that this is a great illustration about the degree of difficulty there is in sorting out beliefs from facts. I make no comment about the political or other ramifications of supporting the Gaza appeal. What I find interesting is that both news broadcasters believe that they report the news with impartiality. Is this really the case?

A Time for Change

With the inauguration of the 44th President of the United States of America it's time for a change and all eyes will be turned on one man to make a big difference - Barack Obama. No pressure then!