Category Archives: WorkLife Stories Publication

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.

This week: Seven stories: one about a scientist discovering the questions a coach asks might be ones he can ask himself; one about getting people to listen to your ideas at work; one about speaking up in meetings without feeling like you’re interrupting; one about leaving a secure career and what it revealed about his values; one about a professional asking different questions about her own development; one about the possibilities opening up as I explore what else my WorkLife could become; and one about connecting the stories of a working life to professional development. One WorkLife question — How Could Story Structure Enhance Experiences? One new Story Lesson — How a Clear Vision Transforms Expertise Into Motivated Abilities. One resource in Professional Self-Coaching — Discover Your True Direction.

This week: Seven stories: one about getting clients without selling, and the conversation that brought one back eight months later; one about the follow-up email that died in a drafts folder; one about knowing a thousand people slightly and nobody well; one about a compliance leader who found a book on courage and realised he’d been armoured all along; one about a man his own boss for eight years, facing an obvious yes and the question that moved his business; one about the beginning of a nine-month experiment in designing a next WorkLife chapter; and one about a technologist discovering that knowing the answer isn’t the same as knowing how to make it useful. One WorkLife question — What Choice Honours Your Character Traits? One resource in Professional Self-Coaching — Create Trust and Transform How You Lead.

This week: Six stories: one about introducing yourself at a networking event, invisible in a room full of people; one about the second sentence that never comes after “what do you do?”; one about networking when you hate the room; one about a lawyer who found her purpose across a stranger’s desk; one about facing redundancy and turning to the very AI reshaping your workplace; and one about an architect finding that the most important development is hard to measure. One WorkLife question — How Might Spaces Honour Diverse Character Traits? One resource in Professional Self-Coaching — Transform Your Professional Impact.

This week: Five stories: one about a crossroads where two doors didn’t fit — self-directing, and the completion of Orla’s trilogy; one about preparing for an interview in a single evening; one about coaching yourself through an interview after a nine-year gap; one about the joy professional life quietly consumes; and one about four character traits that only became a system under pressure. One WorkLife question — How Could This Setback Redirect You Toward Better Alignment? Three resources in Professional Self-Coaching — Get the Trust, Get the Thinking Across, and Get the Strategic Influence.

This week: Five stories: one about carrying a role — Orla’s first ninety days and the practice of self-leadership; one about talking through failure in an interview, facing the panel who’d cleaned up your mistake; one about the question beneath every leadership reading list; one about a natural gift dismissed as mere socialising; and one about a trial that revealed more than data. One WorkLife question — What Character Traits Could Serve Different Purposes? Two resources in Professional Self-Coaching — Get the Recognition and Get the Partnership.

Something new begins this week, more than twenty years in the making: WorkLife Stories, a weekly publication of character-driven stories and resources that help you coach, direct and lead yourself through your working life. This week: Five stories: one about a woman who coached herself to her own answer in ten days; one about a candidate in a final round of five, going looking for what only he could say; one about a woman whose career in three chapters didn’t seem to belong to the same book, until she found the thread; one about the invitations one woman had dismissed, and the pattern she found looking back; and one about a man pushed to move faster, whose methodical approach turned out to be exactly what the moment needed. One WorkLife question — What strengths do others consistently notice about you? Three resources in Professional Self-Coaching — Get the Job, Get the Client, and Get the Seat at the Table.