Self Leadership Coaching Blog

My blog today is inspired by my wife Zurina Bryant.

At our self leadership programs we emphasise the importance of turning ideas into action or closing the ‘knowing-doing’ gap. Zurina is the embodiment of this principle and once again she has demonstrated her commitment to transform thoughts into reality.

Zurina loves taking photographs and one year ago decided that she would like to make her passion a career – not a new concept but the difference is how she executed this idea. In April 2009 she charged for her first professional shoot, today (12 months later) she is a busy photographer and is having her first gallery exhibition, ‘Shades of Pink’. Continue Reading »

In a previous post I talked about surviving the recession by developing yourself and to be congruent I have coached myself to do the same.

As I write this blog I have a sense of relief and excitement as a package has just left my hands in Singapore, and headed to Australia via the post office. The package contains evidence of my professional development for accreditation by the International Federation for Professional Speakers (IFFPS). The accreditation of Certified Professional Speaker (CPS), should I be successful, will in some way validate the work I have done as a professional speaker in the last 10 years – But most importantly the process of accreditation forced me to look at my competencies and business practices and make sure they were of the highest standard. Continue Reading »

Quick pop quiz: In the last 48 hours have you experienced significant levels of frustration, fatigue, muscle tension, irritability, anger, cynicism, negativity or a feeling of being out of control?

All of these are signs of STRESS.

Success in today’s fast-paced and ever-changing environment requires the ability to effectively manage our own stress in the face of an increasing number of stressors. Continue Reading »

I am writing this post on a rush hour train. I am in Sydney, Australia at the moment doing some work for a client, and am taking a 30 minutes commute.

As I engage in one of my favourite past times (people watching), I notice how different passengers handle the compression of their personal space. Continue Reading »

Life and work are not always a bowl of cherries, particularly at during the current financial crisis.

Some years ago I wrote an article on  self-leadership strategies to manage yourself during tough times and thought is appropriate to post it to this blog.

Let me know by your comments if you find it useful.

1. Differentiate between self-esteem, self-confidence

Self-esteem is not a thing! It is a process. Self-esteem is not fixed it is dynamic. Self-esteem is a judgment on your esteeming or valuing. How do you value yourself as a human being? Continue Reading »

We often lead and manage others whilst paying little attention to how we manage ourselves.

As a wake up call to all of us I thought I would post  13 ways to mis-manage your health and seriously reduce your happiness and life expectancy. Continue Reading »

Have you ever been in the position where you have said, “on the one hand I want to do this but on the other hand I want to do that”?

This is commonly called being in two minds. You might be in two minds about your career, your work/home balance, a business decision or a romantic commitment. Being in two minds is certainly not a productive or even comfortable state to be in, nor is it demonstrating self leadership.

We do not in fact have two minds, but one mind that has two functions; conscious attention and unconscious processing. When we are torn between two choices, it often means that we cannot consciously process a conflict that exists in the unconscious functions of our mind. Continue Reading »

Do you sometimes feel frustrated when someone is clearly doing something that dis-empowers them? Or do you often feel hurt by what others do?

If the answer is “yes” to either of these, chances are you have been feeling responsible FOR other people.

A key component of  self-leadership is healthy responsibility in relationships.  I am talking about relationships with; loved ones, friends, colleagues, employees, bosses, etc. Continue Reading »

“We live in an age of unprecedented opportunity: if you’ve got ambition and smarts, you can rise to the top of your chosen profession, regardless of where you started out. But with opportunity comes responsibility. Companies today aren’t managing their employees’ careers; knowledge workers must, effectively, be their own chief executive officers. It’s up to you to carve out your place, to know when to change course, and to keep yourself engaged and productive during a work life that may span some 50 years.”  – Peter Drucker (HBR 1999)

Self Development is intrinsic to self-leadership as leadership and learning are inseparable. So as Drucker says, we must take responsibility for our own growth and success – we must be the CEO of our own mind and body. Continue Reading »

Has it ever happened to you that you put off doing a difficult task? Or that you postponed taking an important decision until you would feel more prepared to take it?

Well, if the answer is yes to any of the two questions, you have probably fallen in the same trap so many people fall every day…the trap of Procrastination! Continue Reading »