Insights

You don't manage your boss. You mobilise them. Most people think progressing at work is about doing better work. It isn’t. At some point, progress depends on something else: whether your boss chooses to act on your behalf. When it matters, promotion, opportunity, visibility... your boss is not...

Five years after I wrote the first version of this page, I would frame this very differently. A student asked me, what is the purpose of that page? It may look like a library, but it is not a library. It is an operating system for development.The distinction matters. Most professionals already...

Over the years, I’ve noticed that no matter the organisation, the industry or the job title, the same fundamental question eventually shows up in every coaching room and classroom: “What does it actually take to be effective at work?” I see this question from CEOs leading complex systems,...

Leader × Manager reflects a persistent tension I see in capable professionals and senior leaders: the growing gap between what organisations say they want from leaders & managers, and what they actually reward, tolerate, or constrain. This newsletter explores leadership and management as...

Starting from the point where you have identified your career Strategy, these resources explain the concept of Personal Branding and take you through a series of exercises to build your own first draft Personal Brand. Then you can move on to express your Personal Brand in CV, LinkedIn, elevator...

Year End Career Reflection Trilogy Week 1 : If nothing changes next year, what would quietly be lost? Most capable professionals don’t arrive at this week feeling dramatic. They’re not burnt out. They’re not in crisis. They’re not posting resignation fantasies into the void. They’re just…...

Over the years, I’ve noticed that no matter the industry, the seniority, or the apparent success of someone’s career, the same set of questions eventually arrives often quietly, often late at night, and rarely with clean answers. Questions like: Is this still the right path for me? Why does...

We Buy Junk, Sell Antiques — and Why That Post Went Viral (for me) On 1st October, I posted a photo of a sign that read: “We buy junk and sell antiques. Some fools buy, some fools sell.” It struck me as a witty metaphor for leadership’s obsession with transparency. I wrote about discernment,...

Every team sends subtle signals of standing out and fitting in. What gets noticed. What gets rewarded. What gets quietly ignored. In every workplace culture, people are reading those cues; trying to work out how much difference is welcome, and how much sameness is required to belong. This...

Earlier this month, before a day of team coaching, I found myself looking out at a quiet swimming pool. The surface was perfectly still. Sunlight cut across the water. And against all that calm, tied to a palm tree, a bright orange lifesaver ring stood out. Ready, waiting. Many of us who lead,...

Aspiring CEOs live between ‘DANGER - KEEP OUT’ and ‘Happiness is here and now’ Some reflections on recent career strategy conversations: One part of you knows how to stay safe, how to play the game, deliver, rise. Another part longs to feel alive in what you do, not just successful at it. ...

On Escaping, Returning and the Courage to Become Yourself Every culture has its preferred way of naming the moment we want out.   In a recent coaching conversation, I learnt about a French metaphor: “Je vais tout quitter pour aller élever des chèvres dans le Larzac.” I’ll just drop everything...

Sign up below to be the first to know about special offers for students & clients, coaching, reflection groups, courses, and more... Coach Yourself Newsletter - November/December 2025 The Rescuer's Dilemma & the Drama Triangle. Executive Coaching. What signals do people pick up when they...

Lessons from Unethical Decision Making Every so often, you encounter a course that reshapes how you see the world — and yourself. For me, the course begins with Hans Christian Andersen’s The Emperor’s New Clothes — a parable most of us remember from childhood. It’s a simple story of vanity, fear...

Reflections on a Team Coaching Journey What if the greatest untapped resource in your organisation is not capital, tech or talent but your leadership team? Here are some reflections from July on coaching a team in Hong Kong, Before Looking at the harbour before the team meets. It’s a grey...

When Passion Isn’t a Flame. It’s a Texture. Yesterday someone asked me mid-coffee, “What’s your passion?” And I stumbled because the question felt too small for what it was trying to contain. I hesitated, aware that whatever I said would sound either glib or incomplete. Passion, for me, isn’t...

How to Choose an Executive Coach in Singapore Not all executive coaches are the same. Learn what to look for and how to select the right executive coach in Singapore for your career growth. Why Choosing the Right Executive Coach Matters Executive coaching has become one of the most effective...

How Should Leaders Address the Grief of Restructuring? It’s a powerful question, because restructuring is not just an exercise in drawing new boxes and lines. It tears at the fabric of people’s working identities; their trust, belonging, and sense of meaning. When that fabric is torn, grief...

When we face complex problems or conflicts at work, it is tempting to search for expert answers or neat coaching frameworks. Yet some of the most powerful insights come not from advice but from surprising perspectives we did not expect to encounter. What happens when we stop analysing conflict...

Relationships are not an optional extra in our effectiveness, they are its delivery mechanism. I closed my September Personal Effectiveness class with that insight. One of the recommended readings, Connect by David Bradford and Carole Robin, and its cover image, capture that spirit beautifully:...