Breathe Personal and Organisational Development

29/07/2020

"I Googled for John Heron's 6CIA the other day, and you came top of the listings!", so a friend recently told me. Surprised, so checked it, and it is true! Very happy with that, as I see it as one of the most helpful coaching models around. Mildly disappointed that as I travel the world making my vlogs, the only one I have made at home gets 64% of all my views. Fascinated that 160 people in New Zealand watched it on 20 & 21 May (when it normally gets 5-10 views a day across the world). Amused that someone has linked it to an information page on a 15th century financier called John Heron .... ah, the internet ... https://youtu.be/z60Hj30mhUA

John Heron's 6CIA model is, arguably, the best guide to the most fundamental foundation stone of coaching and developing performance in individuals - effecti...

21/07/2019

Just less than two years ago, I travelled to the site of the Battle of First Manassas, one of the early battles of the American Civil War. I went there to create a vlog on how language can be so powerful in promoting prejudice and discrimination. After some of the events of the past 7 days it seems even more relevant now than it was then https://youtu.be/SHNZiDcU8Dg

How relevant is Gordon Allport's model to America today? This short vlog, recorded from Manassas National Battlefield, scene of the first battle of the Ameri...

24/03/2019

I found this Disney Pixar video Short recently. I was interested in the comments on LinkedIn about it - some people thinking it is great, others that it is juvenile. Interestingly, I thought, those who thought it juvenile predominantly see it as about gender equality … but I think it's far more than that … it's about being different … size, shape, hair colour, clothes, mug you drink out of … everything. I used it on a diversity and inclusion course a couple of weeks ago and it generated some great discussion. What do you think about it? https://youtu.be/B6uuIHpFkuo

Purl, directed by Kristen Lester and produced by Gillian Libbert-Duncan, features an earnest ball of yarn named Purl who gets a job in a fast-paced, high ene...

14/02/2019

"Seven in 10 (70 per cent) L&D professionals said they felt pressure from their organisations to measure the business impact of learning. The researchers said that represented a 38 per cent increase on last year." And so they should do! The real story is that 30% aren't under any pressure to measure their impact - what exactly are they contributing to their organisations? https://www.peoplemanagement.co.uk/news/articles/majority-learning-development-professionals-feel-growing-pressure-measure-impact?utm_source=mc&utm_medium=email&utm_content=pm_daily_14022019.2/14/2019.725739.Majority+of+L%26amp%3bD+professionals+feel+%e2%80%98growing+pressure%e2%80%99+to+measure+impact%e2%80%8b&utm_campaign=&utm_term=6079852

CIPD calls for ‘step-change’ in how learning leaders use data, as survey suggests competing priorities hold them back

24/01/2019

Hi all! What does it do for you? Do you believe this? Paul

09/11/2018

Having made my Rio Grande vlog, I drove 1,200 miles to Badlands National Park to make this "Achieving the Seemingly Impossible" vlog. Imagine being in a position where you keep failing an exam. You try your hardest, but you don't get there, so you start losing hope. A few years ago, I discovered that I could help people pass who didn't believe it was possible any more. In fact, I have worked with nearly 20 such people, and everyone has passed after we have worked together - a couple with distinctions. These people achieve what they have started to believe is impossible to achieve. And none have failed. This vlog summarises how I do it with three key layers we all have the ability to use - Emotional Intelligence, Transactional Analysis and Neuro Linguistic Programming. https://youtu.be/BDPl8w6CEOo

Imagine being in a position where you keep failing an exam. You try your hardest, but you don't get there, so you start losing hope. A few years ago, I disco...

22/10/2018

I'm at the CIPD Self Employed Professionals Group in Harrogate this evening doing an input on John Heron's '6 Category Intervention Analysis' - St Aidan's School, 6.45 pm if you can make it ... if not, here is what it's all about! https://youtu.be/z60Hj30mhUA

John Heron's 6CIA model is, arguably, the best guide to the most fundamental foundation stone of coaching and developing performance in individuals - effecti...

11/10/2018

In Glasgow doing a piece of needs analysis work with Immigration Enforcement ... first meeting ... unfortunately got my words mixed up and instead of asking about their "Pin and passwords", I asked about their "Pan and pisswords" ... created fits of laughter and I seem to have become instantly memorable - but probably not for the best reasons - but I guess if people remember you it's a win?!?

25/09/2018

As some of you know, I record nearly all my vlogs in the US. For my last trip, I decided to do one on Responses to Dominance, Power v Negotiation and the CUDSA Conflict Management model. Where to do it? The US / Mexico border seemed perfect ... so after flying to Dallas, taking an 11-hour overnight Greyhound coach to El Paso and then driving 7 hours to a small border crossing in the Big Bend National Park, here it is! ... https://youtu.be/k_aCS267DN4

When we face conflict it can often generate emotions - which can make the situation difficult to manage. This may lead us to address the issue from a positio...

13/08/2018

Collaboration - do your really collaborate? I hear a lot of talk about how we need to be more effective at it, but little action ... apart from at Arup (www.arup.com), where they actively encourage it. For example ... I work with some lovely people from Arup in London, and they have what I would call a 'posh coffee shop' at their offices. If you want to take a coffee back to your desk you pay for it; if you have it in the cafe area, meeting with someone (including internal colleagues) you get it free. A real action! Have you got a better example of how a company is actively promoting collaboration? And it really works for me as I have a building pass but no desk!

08/08/2018

She smashed it! I work with someone who is studying to be a barrister (whilst holding down a full time role, which is mighty impressive in itself). Her scores dropped a little in her second year, so she was on track for a 2.1, whereas she wanted a First. It was her exam technique that had let her down a little, and she was very concerned for her forthcoming exam. We met on three occasions for a total of 2 hours. She implemented techniques that would work for her as she did practice papers in as realistic conditions as we could create (including going and asking to undertake a test paper in the room where she would take the proper exam). A couple of months after the exam she showed me the attached readout ... all 4 answers in the top 85-100% category, and all 16 sub-categories assessed as "excellent". All I did was give her a little direction, a few ideas, and she put them into play ... to do well in an exam, as with sport, a person's mental approach and belief systems are just as important as subject knowledge ...

19/06/2018

I went to the Rio Grande on the Mexico / US border yesterday as it seemed a good place to record a vlog on conflict management. Unfortunately it was 97 degrees with no shade, so it had to be completed in one take ... should be published in a month or so! ...

29/05/2018

Spent a very interesting day in Southampton with Hampshire Fire and Rescue looking at how they are going to implement the new Emergency Service Network (new police, fire and ambulance communications system). Also got to see the very impressive Cobra firefighting system, and one thing at least for which there appears to be no improvement or better invention ...

28/05/2018

I think there is only one thing I can (correctly) claim to be the only person in Yorkshire qualified to undertake, and this is it ...kids MBTI's. The reason for mentioning it is they have a new website launched last week, which may have some content some of you parents or grandparents are interested in - https://www.peoplestripes.org/ It is something we do on a 'not for profit basis', and sometimes starts with a parent saying they are having problems relating to a child, and then we end up working with both the parent and the child, or sometimes because parents can see the benefits of their child understanding more about themselves. It can really help children understand why they get on with some people and not with others, what their strengths and stretches are ...This blog explains it in a little more detail - http://www.breathe-pod.org.uk/blog/?p=1347

27/03/2018

Inclusivity ... having a wonderfully good time delivering a Train the Trainer course in Glasgow, and when the CEO from Manchester came round with Easter eggs I got one too! And as you can see, Bunny was loving being in the group too ! ...

28/02/2018

Wonderful couple of days last week working with the great Adhoc Actors delivering very powerful performance management and sickness management scenarios in the financial services sector. One delegate summarised it as, "This is the best course I have ever been on. I have experienced so many emotions. I will remember this day and you three guys for the rest of my life" https://youtu.be/fQvRjCWDz7A

This is part of a role play (one of many) we create together with clients to address their specific needs - and which is then dealt with by delegates, who in...

26/02/2018

I didn't think this vlog came out as well as it could have done, but three likes gives it the highest percentage of likes against views of any of my vlogs. Recorded in an idyllic and otherwise deserted forest campground in Autumn, I was mildly pre-occupied that I had earlier seen a bear nearby, and I was the only person around cooking tea. After recording, I went to bed and tried - for the first time ever - to sleep with a hearing aid in. A short while later I heard this huge 'sniff' outside, and just lay there waiting for a paw to come through the tent ... it didn't, I got rid of the hearing aid idea and I still have no idea what it was that sniffed ... anyway, back to the vlog ... we all need a Blue Ridge Parkway - what's yours? https://youtu.be/rOE1JrdDpDY

11/02/2018

What would you do if you thought you had about 10 minutes left to live? This is what I did (and didn't) do ... http://www.breathe-pod.org.uk/blog/?p=2424

It was around 8.10 am, on Saturday 13th January 2018. Peta and I were sitting having breakfast with seven Americans and two Canadians in Wailuku, central Maui – one of the Hawaiian islands. We were in particular conversation with a Hawaiian. She was a criminal prosecutor on the Islands. She had ex...