The sculpture is already complete within the marble block before I start my work. It is already there. I just have to chisel away all the surplus material - Michelangelo The Opera del Duomo – the committee in charge of decorating the cathedral in Florence – had an unfinished project on their hands. A document … Continue reading What’s your news?

The meeting paradoxMost meetings are unnecessary, badly run, involve the wrong people, the wrong things, are dominated by loud people, or are just boring. But the interesting thing is that some of our most creative and productive work comes when we collaborate closely with others. Meetings absorb more time and drain morale more than almost anything … Continue reading Running better meetings

‘To dare is to lose one’s footing momentarily. To not dare is to lose oneself.’ Soren Kierkegaard We met with our headteachers a couple of weeks ago and ‘Have Courage’ was the theme of my reflection. Right now it’s a tough time being a school leader trying to be courageous. I thanked people who had … Continue reading Have Courage

The purpose of a difficult conversation is to honestly address a colleague’s performance, behaviour or relationships, so that you can help them improve. Done well, it is a timely, professional and a kind conversation, which provides an opportunity for reflection and impetus for changed behaviour. As I wrote in my series on confidence, school leaders … Continue reading Leading Difficult Conversations

This is the final post in the series about building my confidence. The good news we learned in Steps 1-6 is that our degree of confidence is neither predestined, nor permanent. It’s a skill rooted in a set of behaviours we can learn and habits we can build, which help us become more confident. Here, … Continue reading Finding My Vocation

This is the sixth post in the series about building my confidence. The good news we learned in Steps 1-5 is that our degree of confidence is neither predestined, nor permanent. It’s a skill rooted in a set of behaviours we can learn, and there are practical steps we can take to build habits which … Continue reading Making Confident Decisions

"There is nothing to fear but fear itself" - FD Roosevelt This is the fifth post in the series about building our confidence. The good news we learned in Steps 1-4 is that our degree of confidence is neither predestined, nor permanent. It's a skill rooted in a set of behaviours we can learn, and … Continue reading Facing our fears

This is the fourth post in the series about building my confidence. The good news is that our degree of confidence is neither predestined, nor permanent. It's a skill rooted in a set of behaviours we can learn, and there are practical steps we can take to build habits which help us become progressively more … Continue reading Knowing our own strengths

This is the third post in the series about building my confidence. We’ve learnt that our degree of confidence is neither predestined, nor permanent. It’s a skill rooted in a set of behaviours which we can learn, and there are practical steps we can take to build habits which help us become progressively more confident. … Continue reading Being more assertive: speaking up in meetings

This is the second post in the series about building my confidence. We learned in the last post the good news that our degree of confidence is neither predestined, nor permanent. It’s a skill rooted in a set of ideas and behaviours which we can learn and apply. There are practical steps we can take … Continue reading Improving my public speaking