The coaching question in this podcast might not be as common as others we have covered, but it is one we can personally relate to. Regardless of your role or expertise, there are times when we give it our all, putting everything we have to get something over the line, then we reset to the start and have to go again. Sales targets reset each year, project manager complete their delivery only to get a new project, software engineers get the release out the door, and then start working on a new feature.  Paul promised you a quote: "He who has a why to live for can bear almost any how.” This quote is by Friedrich Nietzsche and is discussed in Victor Frankl's work. Ricky and Paul explore what it takes to reset, sometimes overnight, and find the energy to go again.

This episode continues our series of common topics from coaching conversations.  In this episode, Paul and Graham consider the idea of 'people pleasing' - being helpful to the point of thier own detriment.   From understanding the difference between helpfulness and people pleasing, through to how to say no to the boss, Graham and Paul talk about what might be driving some of these behaviours and shat are the simple strategies that you can adopt to ensure you find the balance between helping and supporting the people around you, and ensuring that you protect your own time and wellbeing.

As we continue our mini-series of common topics from coaching conversations, in this podcast, Ricky and Paul explore why sometimes people feel drained at work, leaving them with an overall feeling of being tired. Clearly, at times, we can all burn the candle at both ends, but in coaching situations, this is often a sign of something deeper going on.  From doing work that is draining to the unintended consequences of the habits we adopt when our workload goes up, Ricky and Paul explore some potential causes and strategies to help maintain us through these peak times.

As part of our series of questions often raised in coaching conversations, in this episode of The Question Is, Paul and Graham explore the often asked, without ever being actually said, question: How do I know if I should change roles? Being ready to move on from your current role can be challenging. From not feeling like you have finished what you needed to do in the role to not feeling ready for the next role, changing jobs can be difficult and anxiety-inducing. There is rarely a good time to change roles, with opportunities presenting in manual ways at inappropriate times. Graham and Paul share their experience and pose the questions you need to ask yourself about opportunity, growth, and passion, which will help you understand when it is time to move, even when that might not have been in your plan.    

Every leadership role you undertake is slightly different.  Different people, different problems, different cultures, maybe just a different time and place.  Our ability to lead can be as much about the context or situation we find ourselves in as it is the skills we bring to the party! As part of our series of questions commonly raised in our coaching practice, Ricky and Paul explore the situation that many people find themselves in: doing the things that have always worked for them and finding that, for some reason, this time,, they do not get the outcomes they envisaged.

Feedback has been described as the breakfast of champions, but giving feedback can be one of the toughest things we have to do, with many people avoiding giving feedback if they possibly can. In this, another podcast in our series of questions from coaching conversations, Ricky and Graham focus on why some people find it so difficult to give good feedback and how developing your technique around feedback is a vital leadership skill. From why we find feedback so difficult, through to models and structures to make you better at feedback - if you want to help the people around you be better at what they do, then this podcast is for you.

Paul and Graham tackle saying no in this latest episode of the podcast where we look at the questions that are frequently raised in coaching sessions.  Saying no, especially to the boss, is one of the things most of us find hard to do. From the desire to say yes to the mindset that makes it okay to say no when that is the right thing to do, this episode explores all the aspects of saying no and offers some simple strategies to help you navigate these difficult conversations without ever having to actually say no.

There is an old saying in business psychology: People rarely leave a company; they normally leave a manager!  Not all bosses are good bosses, yet at the same time, not all bosses people think are bad are really bad bosses. Sometimes what appears as a difficult boss, is actually a different style that evokes a reaction from some of the people working for them.  Sometimes though, it is the managers behaviour that makes it difficult for those working for them. In this podcast, Ricky and Paul explore the different categories, from bosses who are just different to toxic bosses who may not provide the support their people deserve.

Continuing with our series of podcasts exploring questions that come up during coaching sessions, this podcast builds on episode 131, this time looking at how you find your purpose in life (not just work). In this episode, Ricky and Graham, chat about life's purpose, talking through the different areas of life, and the different things that motivate us in life.  They have a really open and honest conversation on how they have had to consider the different aspects of their own life, using the five balls or the wheel of life to ensure they consider all of the aspects of their life.

Most of us spend over a third of our time at work - until we get to retire!  Next to sleep is the part of our life that we spend the most time doing, yet often, we have no idea why we are there or what we are trying to achieve.  Yeah, we are there for the money, and that means hitting some goals, but is that enough? What makes work meaningful? What is our 'ripple on the universe'?  Without a clear understanding of why we are here, we risk mistaking what we do as our purpose and ignoring why we are doing it. This is one of the questions that regularly comes up in coaching.  In this podcast, Paul and Graham explore how coaches help people find their work purpose and how they can make work meaningful.