Putting 10,000 Hours Into Perspective
In his 2008 book “Outliers,” Malcolm Gladwell wrote that “ten thousand hours is the magic number of greatness.” The meaning behind this, in theory, is simple. To be considered elite and truly experienced within a certain craft, you must practice it for ten thousand hours. Watching my son Ross dive helped me put this performance […]
Kintsugi & Embracing Renewal Through Life’s Fractures
Kintsugi: The Art of Rebuilding In Japan, there is a traditional repair method known as kintsugi, where broken pieces of pottery are stuck back together with a Japanese lacquer (urushi), the joints are painted and decorated with gold or silver powder, and the pottery continues to be used. Kintsugi is a beautiful metaphor for healing, […]
The Power of Powerful Questions
I love coaching. I love the impact of a powerful question that unlocks new in-sight, a fresh perspective on yourself or the world around you. I love offering great questions to friends and clients, and recently I was reminded of why I love receiving terrific questions. In the last week, I had the privilege of […]
How CliftonStrengths Saved My Life
Over the last 15 years of ups and downs, I have reflected on the power of my strengths and how these have helped me transition from survival, to coping, to thriving through very challenging circumstances.
Crafting Clifton Strengths Curiosity Questions to Lift Client Insight and Performance
Ever since I fell in love with the art of Coaching in 2007 when I read Coaching for Performance by Sir John Whitmore and subsequently trained with the Coaching Academy in the UK, I have held true to the simple definition that a great coach fosters performance by: 1) Asks simple and powerful questions of their client 2) Listens […]
Becoming a Strengths-Based Family!
As a Strengths-Based advocate, enthusiast, and coach, I have been very aware of my potential to get ‘evangelical’ about the Strengths Movement. In particular, I have to tread very carefully with my own family regarding accessing, exploring and thriving using their own strengths. Sometimes a day comes along that just changes things. Last Sunday (9th […]
What Business can learn from the sport of Springboard & Platform Diving!
As a Strengths-Based personal and business coach, I am always looking for ideas and connections that might help me and my clients improve our Success, Happiness or Fulfilment, both in business and in life. In my spare time, I am also a very rough around the edges springboard and platform diver, and love supporting my […]
Oneness vs Separateness – feeding two of our human needs
As I watch the news recently, I am reminded of two of humanity’s key needs which drive our behaviour, our progress and our growth. Oneness can be characterised as ‘bringing things together’, ‘merging’ or ‘making one’ while Separateness can be characterised as ‘separating’, ‘disconnecting’ or ‘dividing into pieces’. Both states of being are essential to […]
Life on a Page
Over the course of more than a decade of business coaching, I have always been inspired and intrigued by the impact of Plan on a Page, a one page document aimed at summarising a company’s strategic plan. Verne Harnish, Stephen Lynch and Results.com all contributed to my own Plan on a Page which can be downloaded from the Resources page […]
Accessing Intelligence
I have always been curious about humanity’s individual and collective intelligence. I admire Howard Gardner (Multiple Intelligences) and Daniel Goleman (Emotional / Social Intelligence) as authors in this space, and have been inspired to simplify and expand on their models of intelligence. There may be an unlimited number of intelligence domains, given the diversity of […]