Author Archives: johompstead

The purpose of a greenhouse is to magnify the light of the sun while preventing plants from freezing temperatures joegardener.com What has this got to do with workplace conditions and culture? Well, I enjoy what this quote from Tony Hsieh the American internet entrepreneur, famous for founding Zappos evokes. ” This place is like a

Normalising change and Building Resilience. ” This is your time and it feels normal to you, but really, there is no normal. There’s only change and resistance to it and then more change”. Meryl Streep Search the word ‘Resilience’ on google and, as well as getting a useful definition of the word, you see that

A BBC article I read recently said “the words ‘team building’ may stoke fear in our hearts” – well here is a secret: they often have for me too. And that’s as someone who has been involved in running events for teams over 20 years or so. There are plenty of examples of why people

“I long, as does every human being, to be at home wherever I find myself”. Maya Angelou Connection – Belonging – Trust Across my work with teams – over 20 plus years and 9 industries – people tell me the same things time and time again. When I ask them what they need in order

The pause continues. Physical time together as colleagues and collaborators has been short to non-existent for months. We need to get used to that. We are not going ‘back to normal’ – data and insight from multiple sources points to a future of less commute, less focus on the office as a hub, perhaps 1

Apparently it’s ‘Get Organised Month’ And there are lots of posts and articles about planning for the new year. Well, may I suggest, this starts with you, and perhaps thinking about the future you is a useful frame for this. Some context for that: I had a really powerful experience this week that I’d like

“What is it you actually do?” – I get asked this – A LOT. People often start from knowing about my 17 year corporate career with the John Lewis Partnership, 13 of those being within HR roles. When I set up my own business in 2018, I knew I wanted to drop some of the

A beautiful old oak tree collapsed recently and fell into our driveway  Apart from the initial shock and drama and being kept awake until the early hours while Hampshire Highways came to the rescue, it brought with it a real example of the passing of time, of endings and perspective. I actually felt a sense of loss

I have written before about my aversion to phrases like ‘The New Normal’. Add to that ‘Future of Work’ (an easy short hand for what we mean, but not quite right in my opinion), ‘human capital’, ‘workforce’ and ‘personnel’. There are more. A recent article in the Metro cited these phrases as the most hated

Over recent months, we have all likely been learning different ways to connect and build relationships with our customers, teams, wider matrix of collaborators and supporters. The experience we have all been through has been deeply personal and individual and while there has been much that has brought our commonality into sharp focus, conversely there