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Find out
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Please check out my presence
on
ecademy.com too -
you can join the clubs that I lead there and join in the debate.
Sign up to my
Yahoo Group
Each
month, I hold an 'informal drink with Graham' in Oxfordshire - the
next is on Monday 26th January from 18:00 to 20:00 in The Royal Oak, on the
Woodstock Road, just 200yds out from St Giles, in Oxford.
Anyone is welcome. |
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Welcome |
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For 15 years, I've worked with the leaders of
organisations, and their people, helping them create a vision of what their
world could be like, and then to achieve it.
Believing in the enormous potential of people,
I love to see them discover and tap into it in every aspect of their life.
While I am a futurist and strategist, my work
began with a PhD in behavioural science, has its roots in organisation
development and is shaped by my training as a psychotherapist, sports coach,
and minister.
I work in four ways:
conversations with
leaders,
engaging with organisations,
regular
leadership-related writing, and through
public speaking.
Hopefully you'll find something of interest here, or will ask
me if you think I can help!
Best wishes
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Conversations with
leaders |
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Nurturing Leadership talent...for
the future: If you aspire to greater things, then
I could be the person to help you achieve them. My clients are usually
frustrated in their present role - perhaps they've outgrown it and they'd
like to do more, perhaps they feel their organisation hasn't recognised what
they have to offer, perhaps they've encountered a ceiling and need to break
through it.
If this could be you, then I may have the answer. Monthly, one-to-one
conversations, typically lasting 1½ to 2hrs, held in complete confidence,
for leaders (actual, aspiring or potential) from a wide range of different
organizations and industries.
Drawing on my own corporate experience, professional background in the human
side of organizations, and training as a behavioural scientist and
psychotherapist, I help you look at your role, yourself, your drivers and
attitudes, your impact on those around you, constraints you impose on your
success and the potential you could aspire to. We deconstruct
situations and use a variety of models to help you understand yourself and
evolve alternative strategies for the future.
Working in this way for over a decade, most of my clients see our
conversations as a significant part of their ongoing personal and
professional development. Naturally this depends on creating the right
sense of trust and confidence. New clients find me almost entirely by
personal referral.
Trust is most important if we are to work together effectively. To
help this begin to develop, I always offer the first session together at no
cost. It is an opportunity for you to assess whether I am going to be
able to offer you anything. You have nothing to lose and a lot to
gain; give me a call NOW. |
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Engaging with organisations |
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Helping to
create better places to work: After 15 years of
working as a mainstream management 'consultant' in organisation development
(OD), usually providing the human dimension to a multitude of change
initiatives, I began to work primarily one-to-one with key leaders in
industry.
This was far more rewarding to me, as it meant that I was engaged for the
long haul rather than one off, ad hoc, projects and so got to see the impact
of the work I was involved in. Then, out of the blue, Sodexho UK, asked if I
would take on the role of Group HR Director on an interim basis - that
became two years! Again, I found the longer term nature of involvement far
more satisfying.
Born out of the same melting pot as humanistic psychology, OD differs from
OB (the science of managing change through people) in that it has certain
premises about the kind of workplace you are trying to create. (For a more
detailed explanation, check out my article on the topic
{HERE}.)
So today, I work on a retained basis supporting OD initiatives in a very
small number of organisations at one time. The two roles that I have at the
moment are:
4 Workplace Chaplain and Joint
Coordinator of Chaplaincy Services - QinetiQ, Farnborough.
4 Leadership development counsellor
- Stockholm Environment Institute, Oxford.
I would like to add
another role to this aspect of my work, and am always interested in
discussing creative ways of working together, so if you think you have an
exciting opportunity, I would be very pleased to chat. |
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Leadership-related writing |
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Over the years, I have
written several books and a couple of hundred articles on
various management-related topics. Instead of providing copies of 'slides'
to accompany talks, I produce short Executive Guides. To support my
OD interventions, I often provide case studies, and briefing notes.
Every few days I add more
material to my
blog.
In recent months, this has moved towards more researched and in-depth items. These
materials are always
FREE and carry no advertising.
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Click here to go to a list of some of these items,
FREE articles.
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Click here to go direct to my blog,
minorquestionsoflife.blogspot.com.
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If, every month or so, you would like to be told what is new,
just sign up to my
Yahoo Group. |
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MY MOST RECENT BLOG ENTRIES |
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DEC 10, 2008
Emotional Literacy
I don't like the term 'emotional
intelligence', or EQ, for several reasons, preferring the educational
psychologists' term 'emotional literacy' - which I see as a fundamental
stepping stone to social intelligence. So how do we develop our emotional
literacy? ...
DEC 16, 2008
The Myth of Positive Stress
At some time in the late 1970s, a well known
TV scientist put forward the idea that there was a certain level of stress
that was optimal for performance. He had no evidence to support this 'claim'
but asserted it with sufficient authority that it was widely accepted and
adopted into a lot of 'stress-management' literature. It continues to
resurface today, often in management literature, and is particularly popular
among the "positive psychology", "psychology of achievement", and some
goal-oriented coaching communities. ...
DEC 11, 2008
Developing Social Intelligence
In 1933, Vernon provided the most wide-ranging
definition of social intelligence. In this short essay, I look at ways in
which social intelligence can be observed and how to develop it. ... |
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Public speaking |
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WHAT KIND OF SPEAKER AM I?
The feedback I receive is very positive. I love giving people inspiring examples of how things can be different!
"BRITAIN'S ANSWER TO TOM PETERS"
At the time it was flattering, but now it's a little embarrassing to say so, but that is how one reviewer described me! My presentation style is certainly lively, sometimes controversial and always passionate.
High calibre professional - challenges perceptions
| Passionate about his subject - delivers from the heart
| Illustrates and informs – using anecdotes and facts
DIFFERENT ANGLES ON CONTEMPORARY THEMES
One of my skills lies in pulling together seemingly disparate themes and helping people see the connection between them. Over the years I've been asked to address a wide range of topics. My approach is generally the same; I research the area, draw on a wider perspective than many people closely linked to it, interpret what I have discovered and then speak with passion about the significant conclusions, ultimately helping my audience see things from a different stance. Depending on the subject, this may reinforce their own tentative conclusions and prompt them to action, or it may start the process of questioning that is vital for change to happen. Unlike some 'professional' speakers, I do not follow a well worn script - each session is researched, interpreted and then delivered.
UNUSUAL EXPERIENCE - UNUSUAL THINKING
Creating amazing places to work - 15yrs real world experience of behaviour at work in blue chip companies
| Professional Futurist – CREATES CLARITY IN A WORLD OF UNCERTAINTY (CEO & Research Director, The 2020 Vision Project;
Former Convenor, World Future Society - UK & Ireland) | Coach & Psychotherapist
– NURTURES ORGANIZATIONS & INDIVIDUALS | Author
– BRINGS MEANING TO A WEB OF IDEAS (Seven books in a dozen languages & 200+ articles)
| Speaker – ENLIGHTENS AND ENTERTAINS (Regularly gets 90%+ satisfaction ratings)
| Minister of Religion – INSPIRES PASSION, CONTAINS ANXIETY, PROMOTES HARMONY AT WORK
FOR A HOST OF PURPOSES
Mid-session speaker to management development gatherings
| Facilitator of strategy workshops |
Conference presenter and chair |
Keynote speaker to professional associations
HOT TOPICS THIS YEAR
Empowerment and engagement
| Radical change -
climate change |
Portfolio Working
| Better Networking
| Emotional Literacy
| The Authentic Leader
| It's your career -
manage it! |
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"Stuff happens" |
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Kind words from my clients |
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"I don't think you really know what an impact you have!" JS, HRD
"Profound. Almost taught me
too much!" TY, MD
"I would gladly give you a reference any time. Our 'chats' were on the
mark every time. Your observations astute. And, even when I put you on the
spot, I knew I could trust you." DF, CE
"You're a one, you really
are! A real challenge at times - and it was tough, but what an outcome. And
I'm sure we've not stopped yet." MS, CE
"Your way of looking at things, and way of feeding them back, baffles me.
You manage to make me aware of home truths, but I feel encouraged at the
same time." PW, MD
"At the time, we did some
really good work together. You brought vision and insight, and helped me
challenge myself. But the real impact is happening now. Quite simply my life
and relationships are totally different." RM, CEO
"I was ready to give up. Frankly, I had. I never expected to look back
after five years and see how much more I could achieve and how my life has
unfolded." JT, TD
"A friend. But one who
doesn't get angry when things don't go the way you know they could, but
instead is there to keep things gently moving forwards." BS, S
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Charities |
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I am involved in a number of
charities on a voluntary basis and get enormous pleasure from this work.
Before taking on a role, I usually ask myself what I can bring that the
existing team (whether management or trustees) would appreciate and don't
already have. There's no simple answer, but enthusiasm, vision, strategy,
business focus, and an interest in the people within, confidence and
boldness are often mentioned.
The role that I am asked to
fulfil varies, though in most I am either a Trustee or Chair of the
Trustees. If you feel I might be able to help you, there's nothing
lost in us having a informal chat. |
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Royal Life-Saving
Society (Surrey Branch)
Helping to make Surrey a safer place - as well as water-based life-guarding,
Lifesavers train teachers, sports coaches, new parents, and members of the
public in life-support and rescue skills. Our clubs and affiliated centres,
prepare young people for competitions, the Duke of Edinburgh's Awards, and
GCSE in PE. These are 'skills for life' and we have a vision of ensuring
that every child in Surrey will be capable of saving a life by the time they
leave school. There are three obstacles to this: the lack of sufficient
volunteers to manage and deliver such an ambitious programme, and sufficient
pool-time (pools are costly facilities and much in demand). Our ambition is
to employ a permanent out-reach worker who can make the dream a reality. |
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The All Hallows
House Foundation (The Wren Clinic)
The
Wren Clinic was established some years ago in the converted tower of a Wren
church in the heart of the City of London. It aims to make available to all
who work in the City, the resources they need to help them cope with the
stresses and strains of daily life, in as natural way as possible. The
demand for their services is constantly growing, the contribution they make
to City firms is clear, and they serve a broad cross section of the City
workforce. However, the operating costs of the Clinic are high. We hope to
raise sufficient funds to support a part-time fund raiser and to create a
small buffer for their monthly costs. With the stability that this should
bring they hope to extend their work in the area. |
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South Central
Ambulance League of Friends
Every
day, at any time, we can call for an ambulance and know that within a few
minutes these extraordinary men and women will arrive. They are dependable,
highly skilled, and incredibly supportive. Their presence alone diffuses
fear and brings a sense of safety. Most people also know that the NHS is
desperately short of cash. The League of Friends was established in 1984 to
provide the resources to allow the Ambulance Service to invest in lifesaving
equipment that would otherwise be unavailable. Today, the League supports
the South Central Ambulance Trust and especially their Community First
Responders. |
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An ongoing list of writing
(with links to
the originals)
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