Complaints are part of every workplace, but when one person constantly complains, it can drain energy, damage trust and undermine performance. This guide explores why people complain and how leaders can respond in ways that build ownership, accountability and engagement rather than defensiveness.
Defensiveness can derail feedback conversations. This article explores why people react defensively, what behavioural science reveals, and how leaders can respond. From practical models to self-awareness practices, discover strategies to turn defensiveness into growth, build psychological safety, and create a culture where feedback strengthens rather than divides.
When one person dominates meetings, valuable ideas are lost, engagement drops and frustration rises. This guide offers practical facilitation strategies to balance participation, engage quieter voices and create meetings that work for everyone.
Hybrid work has changed how teams connect. Learn how to build trust, create equity, and design simple rituals that foster belonging in remote and hybrid teams.
Discover how workplace wellbeing drives sustainable organisational performance. Explore behavioural, systemic, and relational strategies to prevent burnout, boost engagement, and build resilient, human-centred workplaces.
A practical guide to reducing distraction at work by redesigning how teams focus. Through four pillars: connection, environment, system, psychology. it shows leaders how to protect attention, cut interruptions, and build shared commitment, with actionable tips, micro‑stories, and reflection questions for sustained team focus and performance.
When team members regularly avoid team events, it is often a signal that gatherings are not meeting real needs. This guide explores how leaders can redesign team events to rebuild belonging, ownership and genuine commitment.
Many leaders struggle with cameras staying off in virtual meetings. This guide explores practical ways to build presence, trust and engagement in remote and hybrid teams rather than relying on camera rules.
Recurring performance issues in teams can frustrate leaders and lower standards. Learn how to handle recurring problems constructively through the Five Lenses of Performance, giving feedback that builds accountability, strengthens trust, and even works when you lead without formal authority.
Leading across cultures means adapting to very different expectations about communication, feedback, leadership, and time. Drawing on Erin Meyer’s Culture Map, this article explains the eight dimensions of cultural difference and offers practical tips and reflective questions for managers of global teams. By developing cultural intelligence, leaders can turn diversity into a strength and build more effective, collaborative teams.
Many leaders struggle to say no without upsetting others. This article explores why saying no feels so hard, how culture shapes our responses, and practical strategies to set boundaries while preserving trust and respect.
Discover how to run a Future Search that gathers every key voice, explores the past, creates a shared vision, and commits to action in just three days.
Accountability is not about keeping score, it is about connection and choice. In this article, we explore the shift from leader-enforced rules to a culture where the team holds itself accountable. Includes the top barriers, enablers, and five self-coaching questions for leaders.
An Appreciative Inquiry Summit brings the whole system together to imagine its best future and design strengths-based change. This guide explains how to run an AI Summit and turn large gatherings into spaces of shared vision and committed action.
Discover how to run an Open Space: a dynamic large-group facilitation method that hands the agenda to participants and sparks self-organising action. This practical guide explains the process, principles, hosting tips, and real-world examples so you can create events where energy, ownership, and collaboration thrive.
World Café is a powerful large-group facilitation method that helps organisations and communities surface collective insight and shared ownership through meaningful conversation. This step-by-step guide shows how to host a World Café, craft powerful questions and design conversations that lead to lasting change.
Yesterday saw the fith and final session of the Connecting for the Common Good series by Peter Block and friends. Here is my summary of the session:
The book in 3 sentences Peter Block challenges the dominant “business perspective”, built on scarcity, consumption, and institutional control, and offers a new story: the common good perspective, where citizens reclaim agency through trust, local action, and relational care. He argues that real change happens when neighbours gather, share power, and co-create community well-being, rather than waiting for systems to fix [...]
Stewardship by Peter Block is a foundational work on shifting leadership from control to service. This practical summary highlights the ideas that support trust-based partnership, shared accountability and long-term responsibility in organisations.
This is a hub of resources around mentoring. Within it you will find a range of links and recommendations that may help you on your journey to become a mentor or being an even better one. If you have any additional resources you think I should share, please let me know. A short selection of books that are worth [...]
Research around whole brain thinking and a simple coaching tool to support right brain thinking.
Joining the Drawify team - A quick look at what it is.
Blog piece on Virtual collaboration lessons learnt as an OU student
A hub of resources related to Design Thinking
Slide deck showing what is covered each week in B329
Sketchnotes from chapters 1 to 13 of Flawless Consulting
A simple sketch note on key ideas from Peter Block's Flawless Consulting "Discovery process"
A short presentation delivered to Nedja Petranovskaja's Remote Cafe Session on Face to Face versus Remote Facilitation?
This is a curation of Visual Templates I have found: either by being sent them or on my travels on the internet
My very brief thoughts on what makes a canvas
Notes written as I listened to Tuende Erdoes on "Integrative presence: Debunking the myths and realities around coaching presence and goal attainment"
Notes written as I listened to Teresa Pool on "Get off your Coaching Couch!"
Notes written as I listened to Judith Duhl on "Conscious Competence to Unconscious Competence: The leap into mastery"
Notes written as I listened to D Ivan Young on "Creating intimacy and trust with your client. The Empathetic path toward the Generational Moment"
A sketchnote from a session by Pierluigi Pugliese
Notes written as I listened to Ihab Badawi on "Coaching Wholeness: Creating Deeper & Sustainable Impact"
Notes written as I listened to Fran Fisher on "Calling Forth Greatness: Who I am Being Empowers My Coaching"
Notes written as I listened to Diana Ideus on "No One Listens Like Coaches Listen"
Notes written as I listened to Cherie Silas on "Introduction to systems coaching: What is it and how is it different than coaching individuals"
Notes written as I listened to Dr Ben Koh on "Transcendent - Coaching in the Moment"
A double sized document to help trainers and facilitators get the best out of Zoom
A series of sketchnotes from a session by Ia Brix on designing and using visual templates.
A sketchnote on the role of fear in facilitation from the book The Collaboration Code
A sketchnote on the role of trust in the process of facilitation
The Scan Focus Act facilitation model in a sketchnote summary - Taken from The Collaboration Code book series
A sketchnote on how to do solid co-facilitation from the book series The Collaboration Code
A sketchnote on an approach to facilitation outlines in The Collaboration Code book series
A series of sketchnotes on the role of the physical environment in facilitation and how to design for its use
This "hub" page contains a range of resources around habit change. In order you will find sketch notes, book summaries and then articles - all denoted by different icons I have been a big fan of BJ Foggs work for quite a few years now and have written blog posts on his ideas previously. He has recently launched a [...]
Resources for effective collaboration
