To change cultures, we need to change habits. For organisations to create inclusive cultures we need to look at our habits, habits that are invisibly fuelling our cultures. Our habits are formed in reaction to the culture, the context, the environment, the ‘smell of the place’, but the culture lives inside every person who adopts the habits of that culture.

To me, work cultures are no different to social cultures because we are humans interacting for a shared purpose. We may not notice the cultures we exist in until something is different.

The culture can be felt, ‘the smell of the place’ and it can make the difference to whether we feel accepted and a sense of belonging or not.

Join me to learn how to confidently lead with cultural humility and curiosity to create psychological safety for all at work and in life. Your corporate values, equality, diversity and inclusion policies may adorn the walls but are they felt in the hearts of every employee. Culture is all about people and communication. It starts with every leader. It starts with you.

On International Women's Day 2021, I hope prompt you to think about equality, take time to notice where there is inequality around you and get curious. Where can we do better?

Soft skills are not some hippy, ‘woo woo’ concept.  Soft skills are life skills, they help us to form and sustain relationships, help us manage ourselves and others and they make us human. Communication skills are one of the most important soft skills, not only for leaders and managers but for anyone.
I want to share why communication skills matter for employee engagement and why human connection is the secret sauce.

Think of a two-way radio or a walkie talkie. When you have your finger on the talk button, you can talk. But at that time it cuts the audio from the other side and you can’t hear what they are saying. Human are not good listeners. But we can do better if we decide to.

Do we have the skills to understand culture and its impact? Our own culture and others’?
Our maturity and intelligence in intercultural communication is seen in how we interact with empathy and sensitivity in the moment. In how we learn from experiences and adapt thinking for each person, situation and encounter.

The unexpected and the unpredictable. Seeking surprises, can warm up our brains to be more resilient to change.

Instead of eliminating surprise, we need to seek out experiences that don’t have a predictable outcome, those that challenge our current wiring and build new circuitry and build more resilience.

Change is constant, heard that before? But change is also uncomfortable, how you see that discomfort is the key to embracing change.

When we see feedback as a treat, an honour to receive and ignite our curiosity to know what the other person can see that we can't, then we can be more open to the learning opportunity in front of us.

Authenticity doesn't mean you need to show everything but it does mean that you show- what is really you.

The second day of the CIPR National Conference #CIPRconf20 was a day dedicated to PEOPLE. I was honoured to co-chair the day with Advita Patel and facilitate three lively Q&A sessions. The quality of speakers was excellent which made my job easy... my cheeks hurt from smiling so much!

Authenticity by definition can not be faked. When a leader is authentic, you can see that there is an alignment between how they present themselves and how they naturally are. This is sometimes hard to get to because the role of a leader over the course of their career can be built up of expectations and judgements about how the 'should' be. What does the real you sound like?

I believe that learning and growth happens in the spaces between- what was- and - what will be- We have had so much crisis, that we need to use disruption as an opportunity to build the skills we will need in the future.

When people are bombarded with so much information, it essential we make sure that our communication gets the impact we intended. But that is hard. Why? The impact of our communication is judged by how that message is received on the other end; “Do people know, feel and do; what you wanted them to know, feel and do?” Do they share the understanding you have?

The key to asking good questions. I believe that curiosity is the key to asking questions and quality listening.

When you are curious, you are in the space between what you used to know and what you are about to learn. You have the desire to learn something new and to do that you are willing to give up what you might have believed before. If you can hold your own beliefs and ideas very lightly, curiosity becomes a whole lot easier.

This month I have been working with clients to help them get unstuck and get talking about bias, it has been fun and I have had great feedback about the value of these sessions. They are a great warm up to the group coaching that I am running in September. I finished the second of three sessions all about taming those bias gremlins. There is still one more to join, and here is why…

What you see matters. The desire to be politically correct can keep us from seeing but also valuing qualities that make up a person. Of course you see a person’s colour, but what you don’t see is who they are. When we have conversations and build connections with a person we can get a clearer picture of their experiences. Looking critically at the biased view we have of the world is not easy, and it will be tough to have these conversations. But when we see differences as they exist and connect with humans of any colour, gender, sexual orientation, background etc. we can acknowledge and appreciate their experiences.

Silence never solved any problems.
Martin Luther King said, “In the end, we will remember not the words of our enemies, but the silence of our friends.”
When we say nothing, nothing changes.

Have you been in a conversation and been triggered by something they said, which distracts you?
Do you interrupt people when they talk?

Of course we all do these things, because we are human, it is normal. But when it is an important conversation, for us or for the other person, these natural responses can hold us back from really understanding what the person is trying to share.