Mentoring Works

Everything in my 30+ years in adult learning, career coaching and mentoring, convinces me that every one of us has more talent than we know. I’ve never met a person who didn’t have more within them to enjoy, develop, and contribute.  So it’s very satisfying for mentors who are able help people recognise their potential. […]

I ran my first eMentoring program in 2008, with the help of eGuru, Gihan Perera. Back then FaceBook was in its infancy and most of the social media we take for granted now wasn’t around. We set up an online platform that enabled ninety participants across the state to get to know each other, share […]

In a recent report, PWC suggests millennials “may … represent one of the biggest challenges that many organisations will face”. CEOs say that attracting and retaining young workers is one of their biggest talent challenges. Not surprising, as Baby Boomers approach retirement age, taking vital knowledge and experience with them and the high cost of […]

In recent articles and webinars I’ve talked about how a basic understanding of neuroscience helps us build relationships. I explained that any interaction with others triggers responses in our brain – automatic responses that help or hinder communication. We’re usually not aware of these reactions, but they can have a dramatic impact on how we […]

There is an optimum level of stress – too much and we crash and burn, but too little and we vegetate, no motivation, no inspiration, no action. Stress is a response to stimuli, neurochemicals flood the brain and the body reacts, charging us with energy and triggering behaviours that can be constructive or destructive. There is plenty […]

  From an early age we love to climb. We love playgrounds that allow us to learn and strengthen our skills. Our desire for mastery continues in adulthood, in fact mastery is one of our strongest intrinsic drives, we are drawn to interests, called by innate talents and potential that ignite a desire to learn. Learning […]

Home at last! It’s been a busy couple of weeks of travel. I enjoyed southern hospitality in Auburn, Alabama, USA during the International Mentoring Association (IMA) conference. I met wonderful people from all over the world, learned at the cutting edge of mentoring practices and discussed speaking engagements at mentoring conferences in Canada, The Philippines, […]

    We are hard-wired for survival. Our ancestors would not have survived without the brain’s inbuilt vigilance and systematic response to danger. Today, the brain continually scans our environment for threat, but we’re seldom conscious of this constant activity and our automatic reactions. Every social interaction is monitored by our brain: are we safe […]

  Neuroscientists describe the minimise danger/maximise reward response “the fundamental organising principle of the brain”. Five times per second the brain evaluates the environment for threat or reward.  This is an automatic and usually non-conscious action as natural as breathing, designed to protect us from pain and propel us toward pleasure. Humans would not survive […]

Photo: Athena by Ann Rolfe Sometimes you see someone blossom. A transformation – entirely of their own making – but triggered by someone else’s words to them. Words spoken to them personally, or addressed to an audience they were part of, words read in a book, an article or online, feedback or an assessment report, […]