Why Training and Developing your Team is an Essential Investment

Continued training and development are important to make businesses and their workforce function effectively. The world has changed so much since the COVID pandemic sent shockwaves through businesses across the globe, and it’s now even more critical than ever in our changed ways of working to make sure that our team members are able to develop and grow to support the future of your business. This article will take you through the significance of team development as a core part of your business strategy. Ongoing development will boost adaptability Training and development will boost the adaptability and resilience of your teams and [...]

By |2024-02-20T13:32:34+00:00February 25th, 2024|Business Consultancy, Business Mentoring, Business Planning, Business Resilience, Coaching, Leadership, Mentoring|Comments Off on Why Training and Developing your Team is an Essential Investment

What is leadership?

The term leader is often accompanied by words like ‘power’ and ‘authority’. Alexander the Great, Abraham Lincoln, and Queen Elizabeth are some renowned figures known to have personified the term. While these well-known personalities deserve due respect for their historic successes, leadership can’t be limited to a hierarchical position, seniority, title, or personal attribute. Speaking in today’s organisational terms, leadership isn’t limited to a certain pay grade. Before we dive into answering the broad question of what is leadership? let’s take a look at some common modern perceptions of leadership. Top Three Leadership Theories Leadership theories refer to various schools of thought [...]

By |2024-02-20T13:33:31+00:00January 6th, 2024|Business Consultancy, Business Mentoring, Business Planning, Business Resilience, Coaching, Leadership, Mentoring|Comments Off on What is leadership?

Executive Coaching and Mentoring

Understanding executive coaching At Catalyst we believe that business leaders, like top athletes, benefit from having a coach at their side to help them perform consistently at their absolute best. This week we will discuss executive coaching, explain how it differs from mentoring, and outline the benefits. Executive Coaching London What is executive coaching? The coaching process focuses on providing a safe environment in which business leaders build a collaborative partnership with their coach, to explore ideas, opportunities, strategies, challenges and issues, in an environment that is confidential and impartial. A skilled coach will observe then use insightful questions and reflections [...]

By |2024-02-20T13:30:59+00:00December 12th, 2023|Business Consultancy, Business Mentoring, Coaching, Executive Coaching, Mentoring|Comments Off on Executive Coaching and Mentoring

Holding effective Virtual Meetings

How do we make sure that meetings are effective when we’re all working at home and relying on video technology? According to Rogelberg, in his book ‘The Surprising Science of Meetings’, it’s estimated that non-managerial employees have eight meetings a week and managerial staff have 12, costing companies an estimated £100 million in lost profit each year. However, the cost of meetings shouldn't just be measured by how many hours they absorb but instead, measured by the cost to the business of a bad decision or no decision. There are plenty of methods you can use to make your virtual meetings more [...]

By |2024-03-22T10:33:17+00:00April 6th, 2022|Business Consultancy, Business Mentoring, Business Planning, Business Resilience, Coaching, Leadership, Mentoring|Comments Off on Holding effective Virtual Meetings

Adaptability for the new financial year

For some time now I have been talking about the need for businesses to be adaptable and flexible during this global pandemic.  I’ve discussed the importance of coaching and mentoring your teams to streamline productivity, alongside the need for resilience in these challenging times. A key element of adaptability that we still need to reflect on is how to approach the new fiscal year. January did not, unfortunately, deliver the positive beginning to 2021 we had hoped for but in April we embark on a new financial year which could bring with it the fresh start we all need. The insights in [...]

By |2024-02-20T13:26:31+00:00February 26th, 2021|Business Consultancy, Business Mentoring, Business Planning, Business Resilience, Coaching, Leadership, Mentoring|Comments Off on Adaptability for the new financial year

Leading your teams out of COVID: pandemic recovery strategies

It’s perhaps an understatement to say that the past year has been a colossal challenge for businesses globally. Many industries such as aviation, hospitality, leisure and entertainment have ground to a halt, with devasting job losses despite the best endeavours of the furlough scheme in the UK. The public now has a clear message that there is a path out of the Pandemic thanks to the rapid rollout of vaccines. But what if you are a leader of a company, large or small? How can you lead your workforce out of the unprecedented difficulties COVID has left in its wake, in a [...]

By |2024-02-20T13:26:37+00:00February 1st, 2021|Business Consultancy, Business Mentoring, Business Planning, Business Resilience, Coaching, Leadership, Mentoring|Comments Off on Leading your teams out of COVID: pandemic recovery strategies

What’s the difference between traditional learning and experiential learning?

Benjamin Franklin once said: ‘Tell me and I forget. Teach me and I remember. Involve me and I learn’ Experiential learning is different to traditional learning because its purpose is to get people involved and challenge their thinking. How do you like to learn? What makes you remember things? Is it sitting and listening? Is it watching or reading? Is it taking notes? Or do you learn and remember best of all when you’re actively involved in a project or experience? Traditional teaching methods focus on transferring skills or knowledge from one person to another. This is fine and works well, but [...]

By |2024-02-20T13:28:44+00:00March 31st, 2019|Coaching|Comments Off on What’s the difference between traditional learning and experiential learning?

Ways to unlock business creativity

Creativity drives growth - there’s no doubt about this. McKinsey reports that creative leaders outperform their peers on all financial metrics. An astounding 67 percent of creative leaders achieve above-average revenue growth. But we’re all so stretched for time, and creativity seems to keep getting pushed to the bottom of our to-do lists. Finding time for creativity to develop new ideas can be difficult, but here are some ideas that can help you start being more creative straight away. Avoid processes, procedures and systems stifling creativity Rebecca, Shambourgh, a fellow leadership coach based in the US, told Harvard Business Review that the [...]

By |2024-02-20T13:30:26+00:00February 19th, 2019|Coaching|Comments Off on Ways to unlock business creativity

Are you listening? One crucial skill to improve business performance

Smart home devices saw record sales over Christmas, according to Business Insider. Amazon's Alexa took the lead in these sales and this technology is taking the world by storm using one key skill – listening. Listening is becoming a lost art in the human world, according to Forbes. In our high-tech, fast-moving world, our attention spans are at an all-time low of eight seconds. Our brains produce up to 50,000 thoughts a day, so we need to find ways to channel those thoughts for positive purposes and remember how to push thoughts to one side to stop and listen when we need [...]

By |2024-02-20T13:30:20+00:00January 23rd, 2019|Coaching|Comments Off on Are you listening? One crucial skill to improve business performance

Where’s my crystal ball? Business planning in an uncertain landscape

Yesterday the Business Desk reported that businesses had held off making decisions in 2018 due to uncertainty, businesses are stockpiling ahead of Brexit, and Jaguar Land Rover announced 5,000 UK job cuts. Airbus’ Chief Executive Toms Enders has openly described the uncertainty of Brexit as unbearable, and large organisations such as NHS trusts are struggling to plan in the midst of such uncertainty. So how can we plan effectively in such an uncertain climate? Of course, we can’t fully predict or prepare for future events, but we can make sure we’re equipped with the right tools, and we can develop fluid plans [...]

By |2024-02-20T13:30:15+00:00January 14th, 2019|Coaching|Comments Off on Where’s my crystal ball? Business planning in an uncertain landscape

What makes employees feel valued? Our three top tips for showing your appreciation

What makes employees feel valued? Here are our three top tips for showing your appreciation this Christmas ... What makes employees feel valued? Our three top tips for showing your appreciation.

By |2024-02-20T13:30:03+00:00December 20th, 2018|Coaching|Comments Off on What makes employees feel valued? Our three top tips for showing your appreciation
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