‘A man’s life is not made up of the things that happened, but by his memory of them and the way in which he remembers.’ (From Where My Heart Used to Beat by Sebastian Faulks) This is important because our interpretation of memory informs our outlook and behaviours – constantly...
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Mannnnny Moons ago my Coach advised me that: ‘The problem the client brings to the call is never the real problem”. She has proved to be endlessly right. What to do. Start from a position of enquiry and curiosity that the person has not fully dug down to the source...
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Either in casual conversations, or, the more formal type of which I get paid, I hear men talking of their discomfort and confusion around women in the workplace. I empathise. I occasionally have those feelings too. The discomfort stems from being not sure what to say or do around women;...
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Could you change the Western Culture in your lifetime? Fat chance. How about European culture? Less fatter chance. How about British Culture? A 400 year project for the Romans. (Cue – what did the Romans do for us...?) How about an industry culture? (A work in progress since Latham’s Constructing...
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Picture the scene. The room full of constructions male finest. The speaker extolling the virtues of soft skills capability for the new generation, for collaborating, for bringing woman into the industry for adding value and cutting costs. I despair when soft skills are mentioned. It’s like Pavlov’s dogs. Stimulus –...
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I have had some awesome advice over the years, some of it I even acted upon… The ‘trouble’ with me is I really take advice to heart when I’m ready for it and I ask for it – versus being told what to do or lectured with “you don’t wanna...
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…and the award for the most spectacularly overlooked and misunderstood Project Team irony goes to… “To avoid conflict, you have to confront issues ( with unbending rigour).” Conflict is a function of the formula: Contentious issues not handled + elongated time = conflict zone. Whereas, Conflict free zone =...
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A case to be made for the value of our demons? The nagging voice of our inner doubts can either provoke propulsion or inertia – depends on your self management choices. “Bloody hell, one day they are going to find out I’m just a standard bloke from Tyneside who has...
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