What is imposter syndrome (and how does it affect us)?

The feeling that you are an imposter, doing something you feel unqualified for or that you have no right to do. Going to work every day with the feeling that this is the day when everyone will realise that you are there by mistake, and it is time for you to go.

Surprisingly, it is a very common feeling, one that most of us will experience at some point in our working life. In this episode of the podcast, we continue to explore the different things that we do, getting in our own way. Richard and Paul talk about imposter syndrome / phenomenon / thoughts (it has many names), look at why it exists, share their experience of having it, and explore strategies that might help you see the feeling in a completely different light.

Posted On August 23, 2023 By Paul Hutchinson In Leadership, Podcasts, Productivity, Resilience, The question is /

What happens when we have unrealistic goals?

Can you have a goal that is too big? Or too small?

In this episode of the podcast, Ricky and Rob explore how we can get in our own way when we pick goals that are either too easy or too hard.

They discuss how our belief in our ability to achieve the goal dramatically impacts how we approach it, so the best goals always fall within a ‘goldilocks’ zone of not too hard and not too easy; falling in the zone of just-right like the best porridge! Even when we have the right level of belief, that on its own is not enough. Rob and Ricky explore how the goal needs to be relevant to us, congruent with our overall priorities, before we will truly allocate the time needed to be successful.

Posted On August 9, 2023 By Paul Hutchinson In Coaching, Leadership, Podcasts, Productivity, The question is /

How can I improve my confidence?

Confidence is an integral part of our own personal success. With it we make bolder decisions, try and little harder and frame difficulties as obstacles, without it we become more cautious and only see barriers. Not having confidence, in ourselves, the people around us or the situations we find ourselves in is one of the most common ways we get in our own way.

In this podcast, Rob and Paul explore what confidence is, and how we get it. Do we need confidence to do the things we do, or do we get confidence from doing them? This is the classic psychological chicken and egg…

Posted On July 26, 2023 By Paul Hutchinson In Leadership, Podcasts, Productivity, Resilience, The question is /

Why do I procrastinate when I need to get stuff done?

Ever wondered why you can find so many things to do when you have something important to get done or why social media seems more interesting than the piece of work in front of you?

Most of us procrastinate from time to time, some of us more than others. In this podcast, Paul and Ricky explore why we do and how it is often misunderstood (especially by those that don’t do it as much). Importantly, they explore the different strategies for tackling procrastination when it gets in the way.

If you know someone who might find this or any of our other podcasts useful, can you do us a favour and share this with them? You will be helping them and helping us. Thanks

Posted On July 12, 2023 By Paul Hutchinson In Coaching, Leadership, Podcasts, Productivity, The question is /

What is the best piece of advice you would give?

In this special edition, one-hundredth episode of the podcast we explore the four key topics, Productivity, Change, Culture and Leadership to see if we can get each of them down to one piece of wisdom, well one piece each from Ricky, Rob, Rich and Paul.

Without creating any spoilers, you may have guessed that we did not get it down to one, or one per topic! However, we did come up with some real nuggets for each of the areas, so listen in for a quick grounding in how to get things done in your organisation, department or team.

Posted On December 1, 2022 By Paul Hutchinson In Change, Culture, Leadership, Podcasts, Productivity, The question is /

How you can create questions to achieve laser-like clarity?

Continuing our short series on the power of questions, in this podcast, Rob and Ricky explore the role of questions in creating clarity.

Questions are one of the easiest ways of engaging our minds. In fact, they are sneaky, as it is almost impossible not to think about a question when asked, even if you don’t want to answer it. Questions can help us sort through the noise to discover exactly what we want, when we want it, and how we will know when we get there.

Posted On October 5, 2022 By Paul Hutchinson In Coaching, Podcasts, Productivity, The question is /

What should I do when I realise that my workshop plan might not be working?

So, you have spent hours working out how best to run your meeting or workshop, you have a plan, you have the timing perfect… then the workshop starts, and you watch as your plan gets up and leaves the building!

In this podcast, Paul gets experienced facilitators Richard and Rob to share some of their secrets so that you look like everything is running to plan; you end up exactly where you said you would end up, even if you don’t quite know how you got there.

Posted On September 7, 2022 By Paul Hutchinson In Leadership, Podcasts, Productivity, The question is /

How do I handle difficult people without impacting the whole group?

Our series on facilitation continues with one of the most difficult things that anyone running a meeting or facilitating a session has to deal with, people!

There are a number of reasons why someone might not be playing along with the process or playing nice with the group, and as the facilitator, you are the person who is best placed to intervene. However, this is more than just laying down the law, and a little understanding of what might be causing the issue will help to identify strategies that may make life better for you and for them.

Rob and Richard explain to Paul some of the reasons why people come across as difficult in sessions and share some of their strategies to get the back on board.

Posted On August 10, 2022 By Paul Hutchinson In Podcasts, Productivity, The question is /

How do I create psychological safety in our meetings?

Continuing our series on facilitation, Paul asks Rob and Richard how they create the trust and ‘safety’ required to get honesty and openness from workshop participants.

Creating a safe space is one of the primary responsibilities of a facilitator.

If you get the environment and dynamic wrong, it may cause people to close down, limiting the ideas, challenge and acceptance of the group. Getting it wrong makes the facilitator’s role harder.

A series of simple interventions, from the room layout to the first few minutes, can make all the difference, even though the group may not even notice you are doing it.

Posted On July 13, 2022 By Paul Hutchinson In Leadership, Podcasts, Productivity, The question is /

What do you need to think about when planning a team workshop?

The Thinking Focus team have facilitated workshops all over the world. We facilitate thinking for companies large and small, as well as charities, and government bodies; if you have something that you need the team to think about, then the team can help.

In this short series, Paul talks to Richard and Rob to understand how master facilitators work, giving you some inside tips on how to be a better facilitator, so you can get better outcomes in the meeting you are running.

This first podcast explores the thinking of the facilitator when they are planning the workshop, from the goal to the group; what do you need to know?

Posted On June 30, 2022 By Paul Hutchinson In Leadership, Podcasts, Productivity, The question is /