Why Change a Habit of a Lifetime?

Our Response to Change is Neurological

I've worked in many organisations that have been undergoing change and have often wondered what's going on inside of us that makes change seem so daunting.   Well, now I know!

How I Remembered That Change Is Personal

Change is Personal

Last month I changed my car. Why am I telling you this? Well, as you know I specialise in behaviour change and have experienced a lot of change in organisations and seen and heard first hand how it can affect people.

So you’d think that I would know how people process change and what might happen as they transition through the process. Well, even with all my knowledge and experience it was only when I made the decision to change my car – a mazda RX8 - that I realised how emotionally attached I was. I know, emotional attachment to a car sounds bizarre.

What’s Important To Me?

It all started back in January this year when I was reminded of a technique to elicit clients’ values. I watched as the process was demonstrated on a willing volunteer. As they went through the process I started to think about what I value in a car – and more importantly why I value my car.

How Do You Behave In A Team?

Teams exist to get a task or tasks done – their sole purpose is achieving outcomes. This might seem straightforward enough but not all teams work together well.

The model above on team development and behaviour was developed by Dr Bruce Tuckman in 1965 to help understand what high performing teams need to do in order to achieve their outcome. Adjourning was added in c1975 and recognises that closure is needed to move from performing in one team to forming another team.

So let’s have a look at each stage in detail

How to Survive and Thrive in your Job Without Losing Your Integrity
Over the weekend I watched one of those 'girlie' flicks about a weather girl. The crux of the story: would she give up being who she was to earn lots of money and fame? Or, would she go back to waiting on tables and stay with her true friends and the man she loved? I am sure you can guess the ending!

What Do We Get As A Reward?

One of the many benefits clients tell me they experience from coaching is the opportunity to talk through and have someone listen attentively to their progress - both what's going well and not so well.

Clients really appreciate the time to think about things and take stock. Sometimes when we take action and get great results we don't always feel like we've achieved anything. We look for the gold star to validate our success and make us feel good.

Creating A System For Change

Creating a System For Change - Organisations That Lack Self Awareness Find It Harder To Do Things Differently

You often hear that change begins at the top. Why is that? Well, think about something you've tried to change recently. The thing that you wanted to change, was it totally under your control? If not, how successful were you in making the changes you wanted?

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!

So what is all the fuss about being passionate in business?

So many people these days talk about being passionate about their business. It got me thinking about all the people I've met and what passion in business actually means.

I guess that passion is really about getting excited and motivated by something, whether it's an idea, product or organisation.

Have you ever wondered what happens when people become so passionate about this stuff that it goes over the edge?

3 Tips on Marketing For Change

So I’m sitting here wondering if you know what a mind meld is. For those of you into “Star Trek” you’ll already know it’s a technique used by Vulcans (that’s an alien life form) to join minds with another person. I apologise to all non Star Trek fans. Bear with me though – this article isn’t about Star Trek!

My Day At The NLP Conference

On Sunday I went up to London to attend the annual NLP Conference at Regent's Park. It was my first time and I wasn't sure what to expect.

For those of you who may wonder what NLP is it's an acronym - Neuro Linguistic Programming. In layman's terms I would describe it as the 'Creation of habits through thinking, words and being'. This is my definition, so for any seasoned NLPers reading this blog, if you have a better way of describing it then please let me know.