Compassion

01 Jan: Dignity Part 2: Avoiding the slippery slope

Happy New Year! Have we ever started a new year with such anticipation, expectation and hope? Have we ever looked forward with such a sense of what we want to change? Have we ever contemplated the year ahead with such mindful determination to hold on to insights and habits forged through months of challenge?
As 2020 drew to a close, I found myself reflecting on the unconditional nature of dignity and the part we can play in honouring and securing it, for ourselves and others. In this article I offer my thoughts, deepened by the work of Donna Hicks, on how we can avoid the everyday temptations that violate dignity.
After the year we’ve had, don’t we owe ourselves a break from New Year resolutions? I offer these suggestions as a dignity-affirming alternative that, I hope, will transform all our relationships in the year ahead.

By Jane Adshead-Grant Commitment Communication Compassion Executive Coaching Leadership Coaching Listening Personal Leadership Professional Development

01 Dec: Dignity Part 1: Securing the bedrock

In this final month of this incredibly challenging year, I find myself reflecting on dignity. Why? Because this extreme situation has encouraged me to revisit foundational ideas and principles. It’s made me notice what really matters – to myself and those around me. It’s made me want to think deeper about the beliefs and values that provide structure to our behaviours.
Here I offer what I’m learning, from my own experience and from the ground-breaking work of Donna Hicks, about the unconditional nature of dignity. And I share my thoughts on what we can do to honour and secure the dignity that each of us possesses as our birth-right.

By Jane Adshead-Grant Clarity Communication Compassion Courage Mindset Creativity Leadership Coaching Listening

19 Jul: What does it mean to be a Thinking Environment and Why does it Matter?

What if 2020 is the year we embrace change, in a way unlike we have ever done in the past? What if we would, more intentionally, generate the best thinking in others and ourselves, for the good of all? What if – with creativity, courage, and commitment – we chose to become a thinking environment for others?

By Jane Adshead-Grant Commitment Communication Compassion Executive Coaching Leadership Effectiveness Listening Professional Development

05 Jul: When we’re busy being inclusive, who are we leaving out?

It’s hard writing about inclusion. How can I do it with any kind of honesty without talking about exclusion. And, of course, exclusion is something that most of us have very little experience of.
We’re learning that we need to do things differently. And as parents, teachers, mentors, coaches, teammates, employers and leaders we have the responsibility – and the power – to create inclusive environments. Many of us are working out what that means for the way we think and behave personally.
Here I share what creating a safe, inclusive space means for me. I offer my thoughts on how we can be truly welcoming by creating environments in which we listen deeply to what others think, feel and want to say.

By Jane Adshead-Grant Compassion Courage Mindset Creativity Leadership Coaching Personal Leadership Professional Development

01 Jun: Meeting crisis with creativity

We’re living through a paradox. A time of unimaginable disruption is being met with the most inspiring examples of human creativity, collaboration and compassion. We face a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to tap into the creativity that is innate in all of us, and to express it in our own, unique way. Here I celebrate human creativity, and share my thoughts on how we can release and harness it, in ourselves and others.