Read my recent blogs on public health and medical coaching issues

In today’s complex healthcare landscape, effective leadership can mean the difference between a thriving, resilient team and one that struggles with communication, morale, and ultimately,…

Navigating a career in health leadership is rarely a straightforward journey. For many, including Prof. Andrew Lee, the path has been anything but traditional. In…

I really hope you enjoyed the first two podcast episodes which are available on all the usual podcast providers, including Spotify, Apple and YouTube. Apple…

I am thrilled to let you know that my podcast ‘Transformational Thinking for Health Leaders’ is now live! You can access it wherever you get…

Do you wonder whether you are autistic, an ‘ADHDer’, dyslexic, or a neurodivergent doctor or health leader? The prevalence of neurodivergence in doctors and public…

Are you relying on your holiday for ‘headspace’? If you’re a medical or public health leader,  it’s time to take a look at how you…

I’ve been thinking about the opportunities and the challenges of technology recently and what this means for health leaders and health careers: readers of my…

My husband was born in Queens, New York, and I promised him that one day we would go and visit his childhood home and school….

Are you prepared for the rise of the skilled independent worker? Skilled independent workers (commonly called ‘freelancers’) form a subsection of the self-employed population working…

It’s taken three years but I’m ready! I’ve often been asked by medical and public health coaching clients if I have a podcast. I admit…

BMJ Leader publishes my third peer-reviewed coaching evidence article in the last 12 months This week saw the second cohort of my EMCC Certified Foundation…

I’m endlessly fascinated by leadership Leadership – the enactment of specific behaviours designed to influence others – comes in all sorts of shapes and sizes….

Ten minutes with… I was recently interviewed by FMLM for an article on my own lessons in leadership. It was fun answering their questions –…

We know that leadership and career coaching works from systematic reviews and meta-analyses! There is growing interest in leadership coaching across multiple industries, including healthcare….

I’m regularly contacted by senior doctors, medical and public health leaders who have suffered with a health concern or prolonged period of ill-health wondering how…

Gain an internationally recognised Coaching qualification – for doctors and public health leaders The ‘Foundation Coaching Certificate for Health Leaders’ Course is uniquely designed for…

Sadly, traumatic events are common in healthcare, medicine and public health Are you a medical leader, medical director, or public health leader? Teams of doctors,…

Happy new year!  I hope you’ve had a pleasant and restful festive season I hope that you’ve had a lovely break and been able to…

Are you feeling lost and confused as a doctor in your career? If you are looking for an alternative career as a doctor, or are…

What gets doctors and public health leaders out of bed with a spring in our step in the middle of winter? Understanding work-related motivation is…

My first employed role as a Coach Over the last week, I’ve been thinking about my first public health job and I thought you’d be…

I coach senior medical and public health leaders every day. I’ve noticed many of you are struggling more than ever before (with the exception of…

Shiny new shoes? My neighbor’s four-year-old popped around last week to show off her own ‘shiny new shoes’ as she prepared to start school. It…

Do you feel you’re doing it on your own? There are going to be times when your leadership role is going to feel like a…

It’s a very tough time for doctors in the UK at the moment It’s easy to feel despondent about your medical career whatever stage you…

Train in coaching skills for doctors and health leaders as part of your day job – it benefits you, your team and the system! Training…

As you know, I am a passionate advocate of evidence-based coaching, and am both an active consumer and producer of coaching psychology research. Last week,…

The evidence base for coaching and coaching psychology is rapidly growing.  However, as in all areas of professional practice, there is much work to be…

I’m often asked about the difference between coaching and mentoring for doctors and public health leaders, as well as career counselling and coaching psychology. Indeed…

Although coaching is not a therapeutic intervention per se, coaching (especially psychologically-informed coaching) can have therapeutic benefits in terms of improved wellbeing and psychological outcomes….

Do you remember your first medical or career job interview? It was Autumn 1995, and I was being interviewed for my first medical job interview….

How long will employers continue to provide long-term employment guarantees? I’ve been fascinated by the world of work for many years now. I’m always wondering…

Are you having difficulty sleeping due to work-related stress? As a healthcare leadership coach, I work with senior doctors and public health leaders every day…

‘(I am large, I contain multitudes.)’ – Walt Whitman, Song of Myself No matter how senior we get in our medical career or public health…

Would you like to book an informative 1 hour CPD Webinar for your senior team with two of the UK’s leading experts in their fields?…

I’ve worked with hundreds of senior doctors and public health professionals across the UK and internationally over the last 6 years, supporting them with all…

Many years ago, one of my medical leadership coaching clients stated that she was going to treat herself to a chocolate muffin on the way…

This autumn marks five years since I left my two substantive posts to work independently. I truly had a portfolio career – two days a…

Get unstuck, find clarity, direction and wellbeing in your career, make career or retirement decisions, and do your own best work – now and into…

Doctors, medical leaders and public health leaders of the future will need to be willing to embrace new experiences with openness, be adaptable, and able…

Effective Leadership Effective leadership is a process whereby an individual influences a group of individuals to achieve a common goal’. The world is facing challenges on…

Are you ready for a seventy year career? The traditional three stage career model of medical education, full time employment as a doctor, and then…

Bouncing back after bad work-place experiences Many senior doctors, medical and public health leaders experience some degree of micro or macro level occupational trauma during…

I’ve always been a horizon scanner – it’s one of the reasons I spent the first half of my career in public health – and…

Exceptional clinical care and public health work demands exceptional performance from leaders and their teams. Exceptional performance has been consistently shown to be underpinned by…

I’ve really noticed a step-change in stress levels in senior clinicians, medical and public health leaders across the system in the last few weeks. I…

I’m not pretending we have seen the end of Covid-19 by any means, but 18 months into the pandemic and with much of society reopening,…

None of us can envisage how the complex adaptive system of planet Earth and its ecosystems will develop over time, but one thing is certain…

I integrate mentoring approaches into all my coaching programmes for doctors and public health leaders. This means that while I always draw out the learning…

Doctors and public health specialists are always asked to lead, whatever stage of their career. This may be anything from leading a team, chairing a…

Other than a few public health experts, not many of us could have predicted the scale of change which 2020 would bring across the world…

Many senior medical leaders wish to develop their leadership and management skills, and to gain external verification of this through the award of FMLM Fellow….

Generally speaking, we are all living longer, yet many doctors and public health leaders are still planning to retire in their late 50s or early…

In the course of my 20 year public health career, I experienced five different organisational change programmes resulting in a change of employer. Sometimes it…

Coaching is now considered the most effective developmental tool to develop leaders, more so than medical leadership courses, with long lasting and wide ranging impacts…

I’m endlessly fascinated by the continued evolution of humankind and what this means for our careers, and particularly the two forces of longevity and technology….

The need for radical self care this winter. Life before Covid-19 was challenging for most doctors and public health leaders in the UK who spend…

Careers in Medicine UK can be difficult to navigate, especially atypical medical careers, but the good news is that there are lots of ways you…

We all use labels to define ourselves, both professionally ‘doctor’, ‘leader’, ‘consultant’, ‘GP’ to name a few common ones, as well as personally such as…

Life is a constantly evolving, dynamic process which exists within wider systems with periods of stability and periods of disruption. When life throws you a…

In the ‘old normal’, much of my work as a leadership coach was focused on helping senior clinicians to make the transition from leading in…

Are you wondering what more you can do to take care of yourself during the Covid-19 pandemic? After 20 years as a public health doctor,…

Five ways to be an effective medical or public health leader in the face of a novel global pandemic If you are in a medical…

Congratulations, you’re moving up the medical leadership and medical management ‘ladder’ with your new job! As well as exciting and full of possibility, it can…

What new future could you create in the next decade? I’ve always loved Steven Covey’s advice ‘begin with the end in mind’. As a public…

If you’re feeling uncertain about how to proceed with your medical career or are thinking of pursuing a non clinical career as a doctor, it…

Do you know your own stage of medical leadership development? If you’ve ever had a child or work with children, then you will know that…

Most doctors proceed through relatively conservative career pathways for the first few years of their post registration careers. However as we are all living longer…

If you’re a doctor, you are already in a leadership role from the moment you start medical school. By the time you are qualified and…

I’m celebrating 3 years of my independent coaching practice : 17.3% average increase in wellbeing scores and over 100 satisfied clients I can hardly believe…

We are all living, working and leading in ‘complexity’ and we need to recognise this and to learn new ways of being in the world…

Today is my last employed day as a Consultant in Public Health Medicine, and my last working day as a doctor. After 20 years in…

(this is an amended version of my full article published in the Health Service Journal 16th May 2019)   According to the Intergovernmental Panel on…

You need a new set of leadership skills to be effective and to thrive! The old models of team and organisational-based leadership are rapidly being…

Do you love or loathe the appraisal process? Most of us have to learn how to conduct staff appraisals ‘on the job’, and many courses…

Expert medical career coaching is a key intervention to help senior clinicians recover. Do you feel that you have been let down by your organisation…

You are the greatest asset in your own life, and if you’re a doctor or professional it’s important to take stock on a regular basis…

‘Thank you for making that cup of tea, it really made a difference to me’; ‘I really noticed how you took the time to explain…

I love being an accredited Facilitator for the NHS Leadership Academy’s Healthcare Leadership Model 360 degree feedback tool for doctors and healthcare professionals in leadership…

I’ve observed many times over the years that senior doctors who are in leadership roles or in career difficulty often have one thing in common-…

Twenty years ago, a colleague told me that she couldn’t tell another woman she had breast cancer. Her experience of medical compassion fatigue, which is…

The autobiography of one of the most important psychologists of our time is a great read for anyone who is committed to encouraging individuals or…

Let’s face it, most of us don’t like having ‘difficult’ conversations with other people. We don’t like conflict, we feel uncomfortable disappointing people, and often…

I learned a very important lesson about ten years ago. I was feeling rather pleased with myself when my boss told me I’d done a…

As an expert careers coach for doctors, I specialise in working with doctors in difficulty. This could be anything from: helping a doctor to cope…

Being a medical leader is a difficult job. You want to make a difference and yet it’s so easy to get bogged down in operational…

There are a range of cognitive conditions which affect people’s ability to function and flourish in the workplace which reflect differences in our brain structures….

Your dissatisfaction in your current job or even your career may be so great that you see no way out other than to get out…

Returning to work after a period of maternity leave is usually daunting for most mums, whether they are first-timers or whether they already have children….

I’ve spent over 25 years studying, teaching, and using ‘positive psychology’, the science of what helps people to flourish, within the context of addressing the…

We might think of Sigmund Freud as the parent of western psychology, but William James (1842-1910) was a remarkable American who paved the way for…

How did you get yourself through school exams, on to the next stages until you got to your current position in your career? I expect…

I have found that many doctors and professionals are unsure whether they need executive coaching. It can seem like a big risk and for some…

Working with doctors every day as a specialist medical career coach is a real privilege. Doctors’ careers are so different from most people’s everyday experiences…

It’s vitally important that you take time to rest and refresh yourself especially if you work in a role which involves caring for others. As…

Having your own ‘personal behaviour code’ is one way you can start to make teamworking better, by being the change you want to see in…

Last blog I looked at the four main types of team – driven, dysfunctional, complacent and resilient. No surprises that the resilient team stands out…

Most of us spent a lot of time in teams- both at home and at work. In the workplace, a highly functioning team can be…

A couple of months ago, the Guardian wrote a gloomy piece on the role of Medical Leadership. After having a rant on Twitter, I thought…

Do you remember your first experience of mindfulness practice? Or perhaps you’ve never had one. I remember mine clearly, on a damp and cold Saturday…

Lots of coaching clients want to improve their sleep, and say they are fed up with waking in the night thinking about work, or that…

Can you honestly say that you are thriving in the way you had hoped in your career? Research shows that by mid-career, most doctors and…

Have you heard of the third wave of behaviour science yet? I’ve spent my career studying, using, teaching and commissioning behaviour change interventions to improve…

How does it feel when someone really takes the time to listen to us? And not just to serve their own agenda or needs –…

Lots of my coaching clients want to make changes to their career, either radically, through ‘sliding and morphing’ into other areas, or by making small…

Are you committed to your professional success? We all want to be able to look back on our working lives and know that we’ve reached…

Do you dread having to give difficult feedback to colleagues and staff? Do you dread your own appraisals and wish your boss was more skilful?…

We all feel like we’re up against a brick wall at work and in our careers from time to time. Things start mounting up, our…

What better way to start my first blog than to celebrate the tenth anniversary of the book that led me to train to be a…