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Kitchens, Coridoors and Life Long Friends

December 29, 2015

Why is it that most parties end up in the kitchen? After speaking with a few people about this very few of them have the same opinon. Some say its because that’s where the food or drink is, some say they like the noise and some say its because it’s a ‘doing’ place and if you are occupied with cooking or cleaning you don’t have to talk to anyone.

I believe its because it’s the only place in the house where you can actually be yourself. Even Prince William and Kate had a private kitchen built in their london home because they said they wanted to feel like a normal family. I personally love it when my friends pull up a stool in the kitchen and banter with me while I rattle those pots and pans (and share the odd glass of wine) its extremely relaxing. 

When I am consulting or training I always seek out the kitchens and time out spaces of my clients because that is where I have met and meet the most diverse group of employees. These spaces allow you to meet people that you wouldn’t usually meet during your time there. Most of all they allow you to learn so much more about the organisation; who the go to people are, how they function, their processes, interesting facts, issues and ideas and make life long friends.

The rest of my time inbetween the working hours are spent arranging to meet for a quick coffee or having a catch up with someone I have passed in the coridoors. Being able to walk past people you know, that quick nod, smile or hello has such an inclusive feeling. I can quite confidently say I have met people from all levels of their organisation from reception to the leadership team some of which are now life long friends.

As the New Year is just around the corner I would like to give you some food for thought in amongst the mince pies and odd glass of wine (theres that wine again). If you havent already maybe you should make some extra time in your day to visit the company kitchen or coffee room, you never know who you will meet and just what you will learn. If your company is going through some sort of significant change it’s the ideal place to gauge how teams and individuals are feeling about what is happening and you will then learn how to support them better.

I wish you all the very best wishes for the forth coming New Year. New Years arent just about new beginning, they are about fruition of planned goals, growth in your businesses and a wealth of opportunities. 2016 is going to be an amazing year of change.  

 

Including Disruptive Talent In Change

December 28, 2015

Managing someone with ‘disruptive talent’ characteristics can be quite a perplexing task for any leader or manager day to day. Overseeing someone with these behaviours during change can be a challenge unless you understand what you are dealing with. Once you learn how to master and manoeuvre their customary routines it will be extremely rewardi...


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People protest outside of high street store for free bags

November 4, 2015

Ok you’ve got me the title isn’t actually true but there have been similar headlines like this all over the country since the introduction of the five pence charge to carrier bags.  Some of the most recent have included Tesco’s adding security tags to their ‘bags for life’ to prevent theft, Iceland adding poles to their trollies because shoppers prefer to take a trolley rather than pay the extra five pence and apparently when Oba...


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Extending Corporate Responsibility To Out of Hours

October 17, 2015

Last Friday evening (9th October) I attended the Slough Business Community Partnership (SBCP) Conference to gain knowledge of the organisation, meet some of its members and learn how I can get involved. They work with a number of businesses to better serve local communities by actively improvi...


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Making Change Happen Through Communication

September 9, 2015

Last week during some review time I decided to make a list of the relevant questions I have been asked since August last year about what I believe to be the most common pitfalls during the implementation of change. I have always been consistent in my reply. Communication, COMMUNICATION, Communicat...


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Written In Your Face

August 5, 2015


Whilst on a train back from London on Monday I sat next to a very charming older couple who were discussing what their newly acquired phones (passed down from their grandchildren) could do.  The lady was telling the gentleman that she very rarely used words when messaging someone called Ellie beca...


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How does your garden grow?

July 6, 2015


One of my favourite timeouts is to potter around the garden checking the flowering bushes and tidying up our home grown vegetable project. ‘Nipping it in the bud and dead heading’ are old sayings and you soon learn they are imperative to the accomplishment of your garden and crops overtime.  Both processes if not performed will prevent the effect...
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Straight from the horse's mouth

May 31, 2015


This month I visited the Great British Business Show at the Excel with my nineteen year old nephew Aaron. He is currently considering his options for University after taking a gap year to set up a small fashion design business which he can continue to maintain. I believed this would be a great opp...


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This is not a party political...

May 6, 2015

Two months ago you were successful in a bid for a contract to implement change to an up and coming retail business. Your task as a new manager is to get your clients onsite team to work together to implement the changeover from a manual procedure to a new computer based system and processes (for example Fashion Master).

After struggling through t...


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Words We Rarely Use In The Corporate World

March 30, 2015
Given the recent occurrences in the news over the past few months I feel this blog has a duty to highlight some of the words we rarely use in the corporate world. Words like stress, anxiety and the most evil of all depression.

Let’s give you some facts. The total number of cases of work-related str...


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Making Change Happen Through Communication.pdf Making Change Happen Through Communication.pdf
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wirtten in your face.pdf wirtten in your face.pdf
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how does your garden grow.pdf how does your garden grow.pdf
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straight from the horses mouth.pdf straight from the horses mouth.pdf
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this is not a party political broadcast.pdf this is not a party political broadcast.pdf
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words we rarely use in the corporate world.pdf words we rarely use in the corporate world.pdf
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imagine your imagination.pdf imagine your imagination.pdf
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Curiosity Revives the Cat pdf for website.pdf Curiosity Revives the Cat pdf for website.pdf
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