Secrets From a Coach - Debbie Green & Laura Thomson's Podcast

Send us Fan Mail Wrangle the complicated world of workplace motivation with us in this third in our 4-part focus on 'The Management Frontier'  - a reference to how vast and evolving the list of topics is that a manager may need to deal with in a working week. This one is all about being a motivational manager. Motivation is the essence that underpins engagement levels - wanting to stay i...

Send us Fan Mail Saddle up and ride along with us in this second in our 4-part focus on 'The Management Frontier'  - a reference to how vast and evolving the list of topics is that a manager may need to deal with in a working week. Managers are human too, and we can only try our best.  This week one is all about having quality conversations - whether handling the challenges of change,  r...

Send us Fan Mail If you are/were a manager and you had 30 mins with a coach what would you ask them? Saddle up and ride along with us on our 4-part focus on 'The Management Frontier' where we answer a selection of real life questions from the edge. From handling internal promotion, to the challenges of change, to starting out fresh, to unlocking the benefits of neurodivergence, the topic...

Send us Fan Mail This is the fifth and final in our Confidence and Self-Belief mini-series  and this one is all about quietening that inner 'imp' which can cause us to feel like we are not able or qualified enough to be doing what we are doing - aka The Imposter Syndrome. A phrase created in the 1970's, plays on our self doubts, worries and concerns which are all part of the human e...

Send us Fan Mail This is the fourth in our Confidence and Self-Belief mini-series  and this one is all about supercharging our self-belief. Which starts with the fundamental question 'what do I actually want?'. This is a shape-shifting decade and being able to access 24/7 news can fill our heads with noise which can derail even the most level-headed of us. For how can we listen to our gu...

Send us Fan Mail This is the third in our Confidence and Self-Belief mini-series where it is all about you and your mind. This one focuses on a hot topic of our time - how to say no, decline an invitation or raise a problem without looking like you are the problem! With continuing change and disruption impacting many workplaces, being able to say no in a positive, can-do way is not only an everyda...

Send us Fan Mail This is the second in our Confidence and Self-Belief mini-series  and this one is all about handling self-doubt so we don't hold ourselves back. Hybrid working  has meant much more solo working than before  - which can reduce the amount of sharing each others 'behind the scenes' moments. It can be easy to think that everyone else is confident and able when you are o...

Send us Fan Mail This is the first in our Confidence and Self-Belief mini-series where it is all about you and your mind. Having an optimistic mindset is linked to all sorts of benefits including health, wellbeing, professional achievements and better personal relationships. Twin studies suggest that an optimistic mindset is 30-40% linked to our genes, with 60-70%  down to nurture. Being optimisti...

Send us Fan Mail  In this final episode in our 4-part Personal Wellness mini-series we are joined by the inspirational Melanie Yea. A long time collaborator and friend, no-one brings the wonders of NLP to life quite like Mel does. She shares her practical tips and strategies for bringing a calmer mindset to the things that can create stress and impact our wellness. If you have yet to discover NLP...

Send us Fan Mail In this third of our Personal Wellness mini-series we are joined by Jim The Coach Guy who shares his tips for restoring life and work boundaries. Rather than seeing it as a simple life or work, he explores how within each realm there are multiple roles that we play- partner/friend/child/parent. It’s complicated! He reminds us of the importance of stopping and reflecting to enjoy t...

Send us Fan Mail In this second of our Personal Wellness mini-series we are re-joined by cognitive behavioural wellness expert Lindsey Thompson-Wright. She shares tips from a Transactional Analysis (TA) perspective on how to keep positive relationship with ourselves and others, especially useful for those working in a corporate environment where life/work boundaries are essential for keeping healt...

Send us Fan Mail In this first of our  Personal Wellness mini-series we are joined by health, fitness and wellness expert Matt Vale. As a coach, he encourages us to remind ourselves to assess progress so far this year and decide what needs to happen next to thrive throughout 2023.  One of the challenges of hybrid working is that many adults are now more sedentary in their working day - sitting at...

Send us Fan Mail Resilience to handle setbacks and challenge continues to be a hot topic, particularly if you are working in an environment where there is ongoing unncertainty or things have turned toxic.  So this week we dip into the bestseller The Obstacle Is The Way: the timeless art of turning trials into triumph written by  Ryan Holiday in 2015.  With a simple change of attitude, what seem li...

Send us Fan Mail Confidence to speak up continues to be a hot topic, particularly if you are flitting between virtual and real world interactions in these hybrid times.  So this week we dip into the bestseller 'How to Talk To Anyone' written by Leil Lowndes in 2013. This book contains 92 tips and tricks for building rapport, making an impact and creating a natural easy interaction with s...

Send us Fan Mail Time management continues to be a hot topic, particularly if you are juggling different aspects at the same time.  So this week we dip into the recent bestseller '4000 Weeks A Time Management Guide for Mortals' written by Oliver Burkeman  in 2022. The title draws from the premise that "the average human lifespan is absurdly, terrifyingly, insultingly short... Assumi...

Send us Fan Mail We learnt a new word this week - Sonder - the German word which has no direct translation but means 'the life-changing realisation that everybody has as vivid and complicated a life as you do'.  One of the quickest ways to reduce blame is to increase empathy. The challenge of hybrid teams is that there is less visibility on workload distribution  and it can be easy to th...

Send us Fan Mail Such a buzz word, the origins of the word 'matrix' are 'the cultural, social or political environment in which something develops'. But how do you know that what is developing is a positive or negative? For matrix working to work, everyone has to be clear on what the overall goal and their role is in achieving that goal. So we just send emails? As we hear from...

Send us Fan Mail In the third part of our 5-part focus on maximising teamship, we focus on the communication challenge for those working in a hybrid formation (in-office, dialling in or a mix of both). The dream of flexible working requires the discipline and rigour of tight communication frameworks. We refresh the Lessons From Geese metaphor  - where each bird is in individual dialogue with surro...

Send us Fan Mail Office politics: does it help or hinder teamwork? We reference Sir Clive Edward who  coached England to its first-ever Rugby World Cup victory in 2003 and believed that success under pressure boils down to creating one element:  Teamship. Creating an environment where teams are motivated, empowered and equally concerned with discipline and standards - not just one leader at the to...

Send us Fan Mail We hear a lot about having ‘difficult’ conversations and how we can avoid these for a 101 reasons -but the challenge often is that we are working with other people who see things differently. So this month is all about the team - and in particular how to create a culture that enables good teamship. Being aware of ‘the Drama Triangle’ and how to shift it to a healthier Winners Tria...

Send us Fan Mail In the final part of our future-proofing series, we focus on the very human ability to be curious. Curiosity is the enabler that brings about caring, collaborative or creative outcomes - just finding out more information with a simple question could unlock a whole new conversation. Thinking machines such as ChatGPT may find it easy to define, but how do we demonstrate curiosity in...

Send us Fan Mail In the third of our future-proofing series, we focus on the very human element of collaboration. Hard to define therefore tricky to automate, not many of the challenges we see in todays workplace can be solved with a solo individual or one team working in silo.  ChatGPT gives a brilliant description but what do those words actually mean in everyday moments?  We’re joined by Dr Tru...

Send us Fan Mail In the second of our future proofing series, we focus on the very human element of creativity. What are the benefits to our every day working and sharing tips for enabling creativity in ourselves and others. Rather than limiting creativity to only being necessary for certain roles and certain people, its remembering that to be human: is to create! We explore the six levels of huma...

Send us Fan Mail In this first of a four-part series, focusing on how we can Futureproof, our career potential and safeguard our wellness. We focus on the very human aspect of caring for each other rather than an annual appraisal. Taking the approach of every day, caring conversations build. Trust establishes relationships and means we can sustain performance and engagement with true connection, r...

Send us Fan Mail Being clear on your vision helps us to keep going through setbacks and enable others to feel hopeful and motivated that things can get better. But if you don't know what's out there, how do you know if your vision for success is big enough, and if you aren't seen, how can you inspire others?  Being visible opens up doors and it can be done in a subtle, low-key way -...