Speaking
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"Once again, a great session filled with very practical and easy tools! It is so important for our staff to be mindful about these concepts, and you present the tools in a tangible and manageable way. We received great feedback, and we really appreciate your contribution and assistance in making this such a successful event."
Human Resources Director - APAC
APAC & EMEA Conferences for a Global Law Firm
How I work with clients
I take the time for a full briefing call with you to understand your audience and your outcomes
I want to understand more about your high-pressure environment, so I’ll ask you to share some insights
We’ll dig deep into your organisation to understand your mission and vision, your pressure points, current challenges people are facing and how you would like to support them
I’ll ask to talk to people who will be in the audience to understand their point of view, as well as the organisers’ point of view
I’m always happy to support you in promoting your event, whether you’re looking for a video teaser, a guest blog post, social media posts or something else you have in mind
I’ll share my clear client process to take you through the whole journey from enquiry to post-event reflection and feedback
I endeavour to respond to emails within one working day so you’re not waiting for information or answers
You’ll have your own personal link to access my calendar, so you can check my availability for upcoming events and book in for calls or meetings as needed
From Taboo to Triumph
The value in embracing tough emotions at work for increased performance, productivity and resilience
Themes: Psychological safety | Empathy | Resilience
Are your people feeling overwhelmed or depleted?
Have you noticed people are stressed and struggling with performance or productivity?
Do your workforce feel isolated or disconnected from other team members?
Many people are reluctant to express their difficult feelings at work lest they be perceived as, "weak, unreliable, a job risk, or unworthy of projects or promotions."
The good news is there are proactive ways to create a culture which is emotionally safe, where people can bring tough emotions to work in an appropriate way.
The benefit of people feeling psychologically safe to speak up at work about how they actually feel or what's really going on is increased performance, productivity and loyalty, because people feel seen, heard or respected.
Key Benefits
INCREASE EMOTIONAL INSIGHT
Tough feelings let us know something needs attention. Noticing and naming tough emotions improves people’s stress levels, empathy and ability to negotiate conflict, as well as equipping them to set goals and make changes.
WORK WITH YOUR EMOTIONS
When it comes to tough emotions, the more you struggle, the more you sink. If people can work with their tough emotions instead, there are many benefits, including lower stress levels and improved performance and productivity.
EMPATHY FOR OTHER PEOPLE
True empathy and compassion through presence not platitudes results in your people being empowered to perform at their best through more authentic and supportive relationships.
From Defensive to Developmental
Embracing emotional safety to transform the feedback process and create a candour culture
Themes: Performance | Leadership | Psychological Safety
Do your leaders or managers feel uncomfortable about sharing corrective feedback?
Do they delay delivering important feedback, or even avoid it completely?
Are your people defensive when they receive difficult feedback?
Many people struggle to give feedback at work, or even avoid it altogether. They worry about hurting someone else’s feelings or that feedback will be taken the wrong way. Sometimes they don’t know how to approach the feedback process.
It’s vital for people to know that there are practical ways to create an emotionally safe culture for feedback, where people are empowered to share clear and constructive feedback despite the tough emotions involved.
Research shows the benefits of people feeling emotionally safe in delivering or receiving corrective feedback are improved performance and productivity, a more engaged workforce and more rapid innovation.
Key Benefits
STAY IN CONTROL
Feedback flips the fear switch, activating your emotionally-fuelled autopilot. If you can stay in manual, you’re driven by the logical, rational part of your brain so your cognitive function and ability to think and learn remain fully operational.
LESS STRESS
Delivering feedback is an intrinsically stressful and emotional process. The power of the pause effectively reduces stress levels and eases difficult emotions. Not only do people feel better, but they’re also able to deliver feedback more clearly and calmly.
POSITIVE IMPACT
When your people understand the profound impact of feelings first, feedback follows, their recipients are more open and less defensive in feedback conversations, and more likely to act upon the feedback.
Leading with Heart
Navigating tough emotions to reduce leaders’ emotional stress and create a psychologically safe team culture
Themes: Leadership | Psychological Safety | Emotional Labour
Do your leaders stress about keeping their own tough emotions hidden to others?
Are your leaders noticeably hard on themselves, beating themselves up when things don’t work out as expected?
Are your leaders uncomfortable or worn out with the difficult emotions from their team?
Leaders often carry the burden of emotional labour: managing their feelings and emotional expression to meet others’ expectations. Emotional labour comes at a high price for leaders, putting them at increased risk of burnout and health issues. For the organisation, emotional labour carries the risk of decreased productivity and performance, as well as a high turnover of leadership talent
Emotional safety for leaders means paying attention to their own and their team’s emotional well-being, understanding how tough emotions impact them and understanding there are safe, appropriate ways to respond to other people’s emotions, all of which build psychological safety and team performance.
Research shows the benefits of increasing emotional safety as a leaders include a more supportive team culture, as well as leaders with improved mental and physical health, better self-control and more energy, who help others more and create high levels of psychological safety.
Key Benefits
REDUCE EFFORT
Emotional labour involves suppressing or faking emotions, which comes at a cost to leaders. Instead, when leaders express rather than suppress emotions, they tend to experience better physical and mental health, more energy and improved self-control.
BETTER LEADERS
Leading with self-compassion, not self-criticism is a vital action step for leaders to become more compassionate to their team, help other people more and create a team culture of psychological safety.
STAY OBJECTIVE
When leaders treat emotions as information, they keep other people’s tough emotions at an observable distance, helping leaders to neutralise compassion fatigue, avoid defensivess and reduce negative emotional contagion.