Toxic people are those whose attitudes and behaviour poison the environment. They blame, complain and criticise, put people down, and infect everyone with their pessimism, negativity and bad humour. Some moan about anyone they see as more successful than they are; some are angry; others are bullies who dominate and humiliate anyone they see as [...]

It saddens me to see how so many adults have poor self-esteem and low self-confidence. By the time people are in their twenties, thirties and beyond, life patterns are in place that are hard to change. It would be so much easier if we did not acquire those negative perceptions of ourselves in the first [...]

I’ve been thinking about the week that was and the reactions of participants on my workshops to the Straight Talk process. I’ve been thinking about the patterns of behaviour that I commonly see, and how they affect the ability of people to hold effective conversations that get results and at the same time build better [...]

It starts like this.
‘We need your help. Sam is not performing, seems demotivated, doesn’t follow instructions and has become quite surly toward everyone. Can you come in as a coach to find out what is wrong and to help improve the situation.’
Sam could be anyone at all: an expensive graduate with potential, someone nearing retirement, [...]

Everyone talks about the importance of relationships; in teams, with customers, with your boss, with your staff; in families, with spouses and partners. But mostly what I hear are people holding the kind of conversations that do little to build relationships and are often virtually guaranteed to damage them!
I hear emotional outbursts, accusations and blame. [...]

As I go into the working year I’m trying to identify what must be done, what would be nice to do, and what I should really avoid wasting time on! It seems a good time to focus on the things that will most directly bring results in line with where I want my business to [...]