Heather here. Covid-19 is making itself felt more strongly again here in the UK, with varying degrees of lockdown back in force. Talking to clients around the globe, I know that many are also experiencing the sense of one step forward, two steps back brought on by this most insidious virus. Back at the start of September, I had planned to move away from writing on the subject. Leaders I spoke to were looking forward after the summer period; there ...
How many Zoom calls have you had this week? Actually, Microsoft Teams seems to be the mode with most of my calls recently although, I must admit, I much prefer Zoom. I really like the breakout-rooms facility – check it out if you use Zoom and haven’t come across it yet. A great feature, in my opinion. But, the benefits of Zoom vs Teams isn’t really the point of this email. After all, the technology’s just the route to the ...
Heather here. Sorry I wasn’t in touch last week. I was fully engaged in childcare duties. I was staying with my niece and her husband who have recently added a baby daughter to their family of three. I spent much of the week entertaining a three-year old who deeply resents having a little sister taking attention away from him. It’s tough being three and a newly minted big brother. And whew! Hats off to everyone who’s balancing working from home ...
Way back in 1997, one-hit wonders Chumbawumba sang ‘I get knocked down, but I get up again. Cos you’re never gonna keep me down’. In more prosaic terms, I’d call this resilience. Dictionary.com defines resilience as: the power or ability to return to the original form, position, etc., after being bent, compressed, or stretched; elasticity.ability to recover readily from illness, depression, adversity, or the like; buoyancy. Most dictionaries have similar definitions. I’m going to stick my neck out here and challenge all these ...
Heather here. According to BBC Radio 4 this morning, Next (the multinational clothes and homeware retailer) has reported one of the downsides of home-working as ‘missing the cauldron of creativity’ that happens when people are together. I don’t know if ‘cauldron’ is the reporter’s term or if this is the actual word Next used. Either way, I’m not sure that the image of ‘witches brew’ that it evokes quite works. Nonetheless, the report captured one of the hot debates around ...
September! With the summer period behind us in the northern hemisphere, there tends to be re-newed focus as we prepare for the final four months of the year. For sure it feels different this time and there’s trepidation as Covid-19 continues its unpredictable path, but we’re still energised to achieve some big goals before the festive season arrives.For leaders, this applies to our organisations, as well as to personal and family goals. This is a time when we take stock and ...