Category Archives: WorkLife Stories Publication

This week: Seven stories: one about coaching yourself into being understood — a data analyst discovering three questions that changed how his work landed; one about turning one project into a relationship — a landscape architect discovering what happens when clients see how he thinks; one about what a flawless career can quietly cost — a management consultant recognising there is still time to let clients see her think; one about developing others through questions — an engineering manager discovering what her advice had been preventing; one about self-coaching through speaking — a man discovering how other people’s questions help him clarify what he means; one about walking into my next WorkLife chapter — a writer making space for simple things while building for the future; and one about self-discovery in action — a man learning to make career choices that reflect what matters most to him. One Story Lesson — How the Values Integration Challenge Redefines Professional Success. One resource in Professional Self-Coaching — Choose What You Prevent. One new page — The Reading List for WorkLife Learning.

This week: Eight stories: one about why your expertise feels wasted — a town planner discovering the importance of bringing her judgement into the room; one about understanding what makes your work distinctive — a designer discovering why showing how she thinks matters as much as the work itself; one about helping clients see how you think — a data analyst discovering the value of finding the better question; one about discovering your authentic leadership — a director recognising the leadership potential in her natural abilities; one about self-coaching through writing — a man finding clarity by questioning his own words; one about the people who give forward — a visit to Shakespeare and Company in Paris and the value of giving to others; one about building your next WorkLife chapter — a writer exploring progress, uncertainty and the freedom she wants her work to make possible; and one about professional self-discovery — a man questioning whether his work still reflects what matters most to him. One Story Lesson — How a Values Conflict Changes Your Professional Direction. One resource in Professional Self-Coaching — Know What You Stand For.

This week: Seven stories: one about becoming more than a service to your clients — an accountant who could see what was happening inside his clients’ businesses but had never been invited into the thinking; one about getting your team to take ownership — a site manager discovering what happened when he stopped catching every problem himself; one about getting your team to care the way you do — a university department head discovering that her people had never been shown what lay behind her standards; one about treating yourself with kindness — a chef discovering that her inner critic was taking away the happiness that made her excellent; one about self-coaching through reading — a man discovering that someone else’s story could help him see his own working life differently; one about finding your people — a woman rethinking networking through connection, culture and belonging; and one about learning beyond the course — a man discovering how much of his most useful professional learning had happened through observing, asking questions and working things out for himself. One Story Lesson — How Professional Impact Deepens When Values and Expertise Converge. One resource in Professional Self-Coaching — Build What You Believe In.

This week: Seven stories: one about learning to recognise your own value — an HR specialist who could see everyone else’s strengths but struggled to see her own; one about getting your team to start thinking with you — a chief engineer discovering the difference between being followed and being trusted; one about getting your team to speak up — a new head chef learning what happens when people understand what the standards are for; one about recognising heritage preservation as a character trait — an archivist discovering that what had been dismissed as resistance was actually expertise; one about self-coaching and seeing what you already know — an author looking back at the experience her work had already given her; one about what happens when retirement isn’t enough — a man discovering that retirement might not be the end of his working life; and one about Professional Development and looking at what you’re already doing — a woman realising how much her experience had already taught her. One Story Lesson —
How Asking What Makes You Happy Transforms Professional Decisions When Answers Conflict. One resource in Professional Self-Coaching — Let Your Values Lead. And one article published by Employee Experience Magazine — The Questions That Help Managers Coach Themselves.

This week: Seven stories: one about being passed over for promotion — a laboratory technician whose work was flawless but whose judgement remained invisible; one about turning a client into a partner — a commercial photographer who had spent twenty years being booked but never becoming part of the conversation; one about passing on what you know — a stonemason with thirty-eight years of experience discovering why conclusions alone don’t carry judgement; one about seeing differently — an operations manager whose hospitality background revealed something her healthcare training could not; one about self-coaching as a practice for everyday working life — a man beginning to notice what his working life was teaching him; one about building a WorkLife in which I get to keep doing the work I love and make it financially sustainable — continuing my nine-month exploration of the next chapter; and one about what our stories tell us about who we are becoming — a man discovering that a story he thought was about leadership was also a story about how he had changed. One Story Lesson — How Vision and Motivated Abilities Unite Your Multiple Interests. One resource in Professional Self-Coaching — Focus Your Strengths Where They Matter.

This week: Seven stories: one about work that goes unnoticed — a teaching assistant whose value had become invisible; one about why clients don’t come back — a structural engineer who had spent twenty-six years delivering faultless work; one about getting people to really listen — a science teacher whose students were perfectly pleasant and entirely elsewhere; one about productive disagreement — a collaborative leader questioning whether being heard was the same as thinking together; one about what it actually means to coach yourself — a facilitator exploring the difference between reflection and self-coaching; one about eight months to my next WorkLife chapter — a month into an experiment in writing, new work, coaching and travel; and one about how we know when we’ve changed — a woman who noticed her response was no longer the one she would once have had. One Story Lesson — How Vision and Motivated Abilities Survive When Your Industry Doesn’t. One resource in Professional Self-Coaching — Prove the Value You Create.

This week: Seven stories: one about coaching yourself into being heard — a developer told to “be more visible” who broke the vague advice down like an unclear spec; one about the restlessness that means you’ve outgrown your frame — a physiotherapist good at his job and quietly stuck; one about getting recognised without bragging — a librarian who thought letting her value be seen meant selling herself; one about a clear vision transforming expertise into motivated abilities — a systems architect who felt hollow until the same skills pointed at a community clinic; one about why self-coaching is becoming essential — a man asking what he’s becoming useful for now; one about the space between the doing — a first postcard from Regent’s Canal; and one about what work reveals in us. One Story Lesson — How Vision and Motivated Abilities Brought His Two Selves Together. One resource in Professional Self-Coaching — Stand Firm Under Pressure.

This week: Seven stories: one about getting a seat at the table — a compliance lead whose reports were trusted absolutely but who was never asked what she thought; one about getting the recognition — a chef de partie who’d outgrown his title; one about making your contribution visible — a service designer whose work showed up on no one’s dashboard; one about a physiotherapist who mistook unlimited availability for dedication; one about a coach who could help everyone but herself; one about a live online class that didn’t go to plan, and what it revealed about the conditions this work needs; and one about the difference between having an experience and learning from it. One Story Lesson — How Vision and Motivated Abilities Helped Overcome Impostor Syndrome. One resource in Professional Self-Coaching — Shape the Culture Around You.

This week: Seven stories: one about an analyst whose work shaped every decision from outside the room; one about a scientist who saw the mistakes coming and was ignored anyway; one about a finance analyst passed over year after year; one about a business analyst discovering the questions he’d apologised for were his deepest contribution; one about a man skilled at helping others solve problems who kept getting stuck on his own; one about approaching retirement and wondering about working differently rather than longer; and one about connecting the stories of a working life to professional development. One WorkLife question — How Do You Guide Authentic Trait Recognition? One Story Lesson — How Vision Turns Your Motivated Abilities Into Authentic Leadership. One resource in Professional Self-Coaching — Thrive Through Change.