As we approach the end of the first quarter of 2021, the end-of-year exhaustion has, like an unwanted house guest, arrived early and is showing no sign of leaving. It’s probably not surprising, considering the eventful start to the year we’ve had and there is certainly a blurring of that “line in the sand” we drew when 2020 came to an end.

Toxic work cultures involving harassment and assault are back in the spotlight but are only highlighting the tip of the iceberg when it comes to dangerous workplaces.

There are many skills I learned as a coach that I wish I’d had at my disposal when I was practising as a lawyer and leading teams.

The power of skilfully listening is one of the most valuable of those skills. This means listening without agenda or judgement, listening with an open and quiet mind and listening without planning and rehearsing a response in my head while I nod along patiently waiting for my turn to speak.

I recently visited a workplace where what struck me most was the mood. The office was tense. It was an open plan setting and I bet, had it happened, you would have heard a pin drop. There was no chit chat, no dialogue between colleagues and a strong sense of hierarchy and restraint.

Everyone is talking about resilience. Managers want resilient teams, ambitious individuals are actively trying to develop their resilience and our children are being ‘taught’ it at school. The pandemic has made the concept even more popular but I’m not sure many people know what it really means.