Life provides us with plenty of warning signs when it’s time

to slow down

Virtual workplaces are here to stay, whether employers like it or not.

I’m listening to a couple of businessmen chatting and one of them has remarked “I don’t know why it’s so hard for people to communicate with respect and professionalism”.

Richard Branson says communication is the most important skill a leader can have. I’ll go one step further and say it’s the most important skill a human can have. Communication encompasses so much more than merely telling people what you want them to hear.

One of the things I’ve noticed during Covid is that I’m appreciating spending time outside a whole lot more than I ever used to.

In my last blog, I wrote about Jumanji and how it’s full of life lessons. This week I’m continuing with my Jumanji love! #nospoilers

Over the weekend I puppy-sat Max, my brother’s beautiful 18-month-old labradoodle. He had asked before and I’d declined for two main reasons – I know nothing about dogs and I’m allergic to a long list of animals.

Are you also glued to Twitter each day for the commentary around Victorian Premier Dan Andrews daily media conference? 

When I first started working from home about 14 years ago, I promised myself I would take a proper lunch break every day. Which means one of my favourite daily habits quickly became sitting on the couch while having lunch with Oprah, and after a few years, with Ellen.

As many of us start to return to traditional ways of working and, in some cases, reopen for business (lots of love if you’re in Victoria and heading back into lockdown), it’s critical that we communicate and connect in a way that genuinely engages our employees and our customers.

Brené Brown tells us that “authenticity is a collection of choices we have to make every day. It’s about the choice to show up and be real. The choice to be honest. The choice to let our true selves be seen.”

In my recent post Are you asking the right questions?, I explored different types of questions, how to ask personal questions, and why we need to ask them.

Asking questions can stimulate ideas, solve problems, develop trust and build your relationship with your team, even when working remotely. In this blog, I share my thoughts on the kinds of questions we should be asking to show support for our team members and how we can approach asking them.

One of the things I’ve noticed over the last few weeks is that some organisations are very aware of what their people (staff, stakeholders, suppliers and customers/clients) are going through and some are most definitely not.

Ten days ago I was in Melbourne getting ready to walk on stage at ConnectingUp’s annual conference to deliver the closing keynote. Delegates had spent three days learning how to ‘’Transform” their organisations using technology and best-practice.

I used to be a yes girl. I’d say yes to everything.

It’s been ten years, 163,346 tweets and 10,341 followers since I joined Twitter.

People do business with people they know, like and trust. And yet, too many leaders forget the most important people they are doing business with are those who make up their workforce. They forget they need to be connected at work.

I’ve been thinking a lot about kindness lately. And how a small, kind gesture can make such a mammoth difference to someone’s life.

One of the biggest challenges CEOs and other business leaders tell me is that their workforce is not as engaged as they would like them to be.