Bloggertone

I think I’d say no. I may have more knowledge, but very often it is that knowledge that holds me back.  I have a four year old that lives every day believing anything is possible and any obstacle in his way is in fact a tool which he can use to create something positive.  I believe children make great inspirational business coaches. So I have a new business coach and he is only 4 years old, so cheap fees of Chocolate Buttons and trips to the park is all I need commit to.  He constantly…

Read more »

How many of us “like ourselves”?  How many of us have poked around our warts and owned up to the things we hate about ourselves, counter-balanced it out with a list of our strengths and decided that, on the whole, we still like ourselves?  In Emotional Intelligence terms, this is termed having “functioning Self-Regard”.  Translated, that means knowing our strengths and weaknesses and still liking ourselves anyway. Part of being an effective Leader (and Manager) is being able to…

Read more »

My horse gambling career started when I was 15 and finished that same year to the great disappointment of Paddy Power. I lack patience and didn’t think backing horses was a quick enough way to lose my money . Backing horses is gambling and gambling is defined as placing money on an event with an uncertain outcome with the primary intent of winning additional money. To me gambling is risk-taking as you are taking actions that might have unpleasant or undesirable results. This article is not…

Read more »

Every winter we see the ads on the TV, asking us to remember the elderly during cold snaps, call in regularly to your neighbours and make sure they are alright. There is a lovely old couple that live next to me that I frequently check on. They rarely leave the house and weeks can go by without seeing them. Yesterday evening I called around and checked on them and when I walked away I smiled as I thought of the warm welcome I received and how much they seemed to appreciate my efforts. This got…

Read more »

This is something I have been banging out about for a while, but what the feck! happened to Leadership in this country? OK, so we tightened our belts, Yippee! We can all exhale a collective sight of relief cause we are not as far down the toilet as some of our EU colleagues and their crumbling economies. Call me big headed, but is this now the very best that we can hope for? Let’s call a spade a spade here, we messed up and we messed up big time. We had money and we had opportunities to use…

Read more »

The topic of commission only and work from home jobs came up in conversation this week and sparked an interesting discussion. I have started to notice an increase in adverts offering crazy money for seemingly very little. It reminds me of the late 80s. In fact the first two job interviews I went on were a pyramid scheme where I could make thousands of pounds monthly and a door to door sales job selling unsellable children’s books that no one had ever heard of.  I did in fact take the door to…

Read more »

It is clear from my previous post that there are a relatively consistent set of actions that leaders have followed when transitioning into new roles and while they might not all be used in every situation, they can provide us with a template for taking on a new role. Look, Listen, Learn: Talking to the management team was the primary source of information for all new leaders – listening to what people had to say and trying not to jump to any conclusions – iteration, synthesis and…

Read more »

This blog post is particularly geared towards women, but I know that there are some men out there who may also feel the same about the suggestions below – do let me know your opinion! Are women more affected and concerned with having a healthy work/life balance? Or are men as equally affected? Throughout our lives we are constantly trying to juggle everything in the air, desperately trying not to let anyone down. This is a huge task and something that all female business owners strive to…

Read more »

Two and a bit years ago, I had an idea for a business based on a perceived market need from my own experience as a professional services manager. I did some market research and had that need quantified sufficiently that I felt it was worth investing the time (lots of it) and cash (not an insignificant amount) to turn that idea into a reality. I had a goal, a purpose and a vision of what I wanted to bring to the market. All was going well, but early in January this year, I started to feel…

Read more »

Lent began on the 17th February. This period of 40 days and 40 nights has always represented giving up and sacrifice for me. For years I gave up chocolate, sugar, alcohol and even inappropriate language . This year I have set myself a different challenge. I feel there would be no better way to celebrate Lent than by giving up “giving up”. Not being able to “give up” or quit for 40 days and 40 nights will be a huge challenge as “giving up” is an easy choice. I class myself as a…

Read more »