ARTICLES

Personal branding is essential for career growth, but many struggle to express their value and keep their CV and LinkedIn profiles current. But doing so is key to career success.

How do you know if you really want to leave your job? How deeply have you thought about this - and the practicalities? To truly understand what is fuelling your desire to leave and to stand a chance of making the right decision, there are steps you can take to put yourself in the best possible position - before you take the leap!

Make networking easier by knowing how to ask great questions and make someone feel interested in what you have to say.

Decisions can be hard because they are full of unknowns and risks. Often, we don’t know what we don’t know, and that can be nerve-wracking and hard to accept. But we can’t know everything. Sometimes we have to take a leap of faith or, to put it another way, jump and accept that we might fall…or land gracefully. We can choose to think positively.

How many of us are good at faking active listening whilst our brains rush to devise solutions we can offer as advice? Two hard but vital lessons for me in my career have been to stop my brain racing and listen and think about the best solution, not the first solution.

Why questions create space to explore our motivation, assumptions, reasons and purpose - and challenge accepted thinking.

There is a powerful correlation between mindfulness and building confidence, especially so in an ever-busier world where change is hitting us with terminal velocity and being heard is increasingly difficult. Slowing down and being more aware of your brain and emotions boosts your confidence.

Whilst we can be our own greatest critic, we can also be our greatest fan. Focusing on your strengths and recounting your successes boosts confidence and a stronger sense of self.

When you’re trying to be involved in everything, working excessively to try and clear that (unending) to-do list or be all things to all people, you will inevitably miss something. It can be hard to let go. But if you don't focus, you are diluting your impact, attention and energy.

We are programmed to think the grass is greener elsewhere, but is it? The grass grows greenest where you water it, so before you look with envy at what others have, look at what is already in your grasp.

Speaking up is a critical career tool. It's no good having ideas and opinions if you can't articulate and share them. Use these practical tools to help you learn how to speak up.

Dogs live in the moment and we can learn from them how to be present and how to enjoy simple pleasures to boost well-being and confidence.