Category Archives: Motivation

Learn excellence wherever you can

Posted on April 29, 2013 by

Last week i wrote how i learnt about authenticity from the waiter at a pizza takeaway, today i’m writing about excellence and my experience at a hotel. They’re very pedestrian examples, but have great immediacy and relevance to me, hence … Continue reading →

Posted in Achievement, Community, Culture, Effectiveness, Environment, Leadership, Management, Mediocrity, Motivation, Performance, Pride, Sincerity, Success, Team Coaching, Teams, Tone of Voice, Training | Tagged , , , , , , , | 2 Comments

Creating and sustaining high performance learning cultures

Posted on October 19, 2012 by

Culture can be remarkably fragile: it evolves and changes over time, responding to external stimuli and internal pressure. High performance cultures, especially sales cultures, can appear to be very robust, can appear to be very static, no nonsense and inflexible … Continue reading →

Posted in Achievement, Challenge, Culture, Engagement, Learning, Motivation, Performance, Stories | Tagged , , | 3 Comments

What are you proud of? Understanding how pride and motivation relate to learning and achievement.

Posted on April 13, 2012 by

My bike is sat in my hallway, gleaming and smelling faintly of oil. Just like new. Only it’s not new, it’s ten years old, it’s just had the service of it’s life. Dave, who carried out the service in his … Continue reading →

Posted in Age, Assessment, Engagement, Learning, Love, Motivation, Pride | Tagged , , , , , | 2 Comments

Easter Eggs and chocolate bunnies: reward in learning.

Posted on April 10, 2012 by

I engaged in that time honoured tradition yesterday of bribing a small child with chocolate to retain my status as ‘favourite uncle’. One of the joys when your friends start to have children is that you can become the irreverent … Continue reading →

Posted in Assessment, Education, Engagement, Learning, Motivation, Reward | Tagged , , , , , | Leave a comment

Understanding the everyday reality of learning

Posted on April 4, 2012 by

I’ve got a friend who works for a London design agency. They’ve got offices in a trendy part of the city, in a converted warehouse. They put together brand guidelines and advertising campaigns for a whole load of high street … Continue reading →

Posted in Education, Effectiveness, Engagement, Learning, Motivation | Tagged , , , , , , , , , | 3 Comments

Knowing when to give up: taking time to reflect and take in the view.

Posted on March 27, 2012 by

It’s a beautiful day today, no particular pressure at work and a clear chunk of time set aside for writing. But somehow, I just can’t get started. Whilst the body is willing, some days the brain just doesn’t want to … Continue reading →

Posted in Learning, Motivation, Reflection | Tagged , , , , | 2 Comments

Why you should stop working for the next hour. Reflection and learning.

Posted on March 2, 2012 by

It’s easy to be busy. It’s something that most of us can achieve with very little effort. But it’s harder to be productive. The whirlwind of ‘things to do’ can keep us so busy that we fail to stop and … Continue reading →

Posted in Challenge, Disturbance, Effectiveness, Learning, Motivation, Reflection | Tagged , , , | 5 Comments

Choosing the right paint: the right kit for the job.

Posted on February 20, 2012 by

I bought myself some new watercolours this weekend. Winsor and Newton artists range, a lovely enamelled steel box with thirty different half pans. It’s a larger version of the set i got when i was sixteen, which has accompanied me … Continue reading →

Posted in Art, Craft, Creative, Introspection, Motivation, Painting | Tagged , , , , , , | 2 Comments

The role of the leader. Reflecting on the life of Steve Jobs and his legacy.

Posted on October 6, 2011 by

It would be impossible to let today pass without paying tribute to Steve Jobs, the charismatic leader who drove Apple to it’s pinnacle of success and who, to a greater or lesser extent, changed how we all think about and … Continue reading →

Posted in Experience, Inspiration, Leadership, Legacy, Motivation | Tagged , , , , , | 1 Comment

For the love of it. Not all learning has to have a reason.

Posted on August 27, 2011 by

Some things we do for money and some for love. it’s the same with learning: some things we learn because we have to, whilst others we learn for the love of learning. Organisations often focus on making people learn the … Continue reading →

Posted in Learning, Love, Motivation, Reason, Trust | Tagged , , , , | Leave a comment