Blog Posts

Coach - Consultant - Programme Designer

July 26, 2023

I recently worked with a team of 30 first time leaders. They’re keen, energetic, all have good track records of being successful in previous roles and are now leading teams. … Continue Reading

Why learning to pause helps you be a more effective leader

July 26, 2023

Being a leader who listens  Leadership life is busy, really busy. We talk about our heads ‘buzzing’, ‘multi-tasking’ and ‘managing distractions’. We all know listening is important, but focusing on … Continue Reading

Why listening lies at the heart of impactful leadership

May 25, 2023

Cornish Flowers – Niall Woodward I recently read an interview with James Taylor where he talked about ‘the precarity of our emotional lives’. Nearly twelve months into a global pandemic we’re all … Continue Reading

Navigating Moods and Emotions and the Peril of Positivity

April 7, 2023

It was January and my new baby was four weeks old. I was besotted and so happy to be a mother of a beautiful baby boy. I’d started my MA … Continue Reading

Five things I wish I’d known before I started leading a team (and five things that helped me!)

March 10, 2023

I’ve had good reason to reflect today and gone back to a question I was asked a few years ago by a year 5 child at a school in Salford. … Continue Reading

Are you who you want to be?

January 27, 2023

Many of us with careers in education came into the work expecting we’d always be in teaching or education leadership. Our passion for teaching and learning, alongside the knowledge that … Continue Reading

Moving on from Headship: Where do you start?

January 10, 2023

“Leadership and learning are indispensable to one another.” John F. Kennedy neatly lands his point. Why? Well, because the success organisations and their ability to learn, adapt and grow is … Continue Reading

Leadership and learning are indispensable to one another

September 2, 2022

I recently saw Steve Huffman co-founder and chief executive of the online discussion forum Reddit sharing three tips for success.  ‘Really the job is all about time and stress management more than … Continue Reading

New year, new term, time for a new habit?

September 1, 2022

The Heart Aroused is a great read for anyone grappling with what it means to keep humanity in the daily experience of work; what David Whyte calls the ‘preservation of … Continue Reading

Good Reads: The Heart Aroused by David Whyte

May 3, 2022

Earlier this year I was asked by Slava Kremerman, CEO at Zen Educate to be their new and first VP of People. I hadn’t been looking for a permanent role. … Continue Reading

VP of People – The First 100 days: Using a Design Process for Planning

November 22, 2021

The Art of Innovation by Tom Kelley with Jonathan Littman. Jono Hey, Chief Product Officer at Zen Educate mentioned this book during a ‘Lunch and Learn’ for the team a … Continue Reading

Good Reads: The Art of Innovation

August 30, 2021

Successful leadership is about the impact we have on those around us, and the extent to which we enable those we lead to be the best possible version of themselves. … Continue Reading

Five Books I Wish I’d Read Before Leading a Team

April 21, 2021

There’s a Chinese saying; ‘Because the fish are the last ones to know about the sea’. The writer alerts us to the complacent state we can all occupy. Once immersed … Continue Reading

Why global connections and overseas professional development matter

September 17, 2019

Someone wise once said, ‘We can be certain of two things, you will die and you will pay taxes.’ Not quite everyone does the latter it seems, but I get … Continue Reading

Strategic or scenario planning? Which do you need when?

July 13, 2019

A message popped up on LinkedIn from Amir Zeid, Professor of Computer Science at the American University of Kuwait. ‘I’m the curator for a TEDx at the University – would you like … Continue Reading

Speaking at a TEDx – the learning, wonder and joy!