About Julie

I am trainer, coach and author specialising in one to one skills.

Would a Book Licence Help You?

Whether a company wants every manager to have access to Face to Face in the Workplace, or a training organisation wants all its delegates to have access to The One to One Toolkit, sometimes we get bulk book orders. To make it easier for all your people to have access, our books  are now available [...]

By | 2020-08-05T13:21:24+01:00 August 5th, 2020|News and Updates|0 Comments

Buying Spring Publishing Books

Did you know that we have a range of books aimed at helping busy people improve their people skills? Many organisations and training providers have been using  Careertrain and Spring Publishing books since we first published The One to One Toolkit in 2008. All Spring Publishing titles can now be purchased on the Spring [...]

By | 2020-07-08T10:59:17+01:00 July 8th, 2020|News and Updates, Uncategorized|0 Comments

Are you moving from coaching to groupwork?

If you've trained to work one to one, when you are coaching you'll have a skills set that focuses on your client, giving them your full attention. When the opportunity comes to  do groupwork, it can be daunting as you'll need to learn some different approaches and techniques. It can feel tricky at first, having [...]

By | 2020-03-11T15:02:32+01:00 March 11th, 2020|Uncategorized|0 Comments

Handling Confrontation

Whether it’s giving bad news, challenging someone’s behaviour or telling them their work isn’t up to scratch, it is never easy to deliver difficult messages. Confrontation is a topic delegates ask me about all the time. John Heron has a model  (below) that can help us understand why this is the case and guide us [...]

By | 2020-02-11T10:39:04+01:00 February 11th, 2020|People Tips|0 Comments

We’re at the National Career Guidance Show on 14 March

Please do come and visit our stand if you are coming to the National Career Guidance Show at Ricoh Arena, Coventry on 14 March 2019 (9.30am - 3.00pm). We'll be on Stand Five. The show is free to enter, you can register here. Solution Focused Coaching Having recently trained 191 careers advisers in Wales [...]

By | 2019-03-05T10:53:50+01:00 March 4th, 2019|News and Updates|0 Comments

Solution Focused Coaching for Careers Advisers

Careers guidance can be a very rewarding job – you help clients plan their future, giving them with the knowledge and confidence to move forward. Careers Advisers are trained to use a robust armoury of models and tools, equipping them well. Yet challenging clients still crop up regularly, and advisers are often hungry for [...]

By | 2019-01-18T14:26:59+01:00 January 16th, 2019|News and Updates|0 Comments

Leadership for Entrepreneurs

Leadership brings challenges whatever the size of the business. One I often  see is juggling  act of trying to balance the  needs of the people below you with the demands of the board. At least in this situation there can be guidance and direction for above - but what about leadership for the solo [...]

By | 2018-08-31T09:46:00+01:00 August 31st, 2018|News and Updates|0 Comments

Mentoring your Apprentice

Many years ago, I was training a group of rather belligerent transport managers who were unhappy about being told they were mentoring young apprentices.  Arms were folded and faces set in stone. Training obviously had a pretty bad reputation in their neck of the woods. When I asked them what they wanted from the day, [...]

By | 2018-05-02T16:17:06+01:00 May 2nd, 2018|News and Updates|0 Comments

Motivating Others

Motivating others is often a challenge.  Some people need more praise and support than others, some are self starters  while others  always need clear instructions. Then there always seems to be someone on the team who doesn't respond the same as the others, and often you're not quite sure why. There is no 'quick fix'  [...]

By | 2018-03-07T11:46:56+01:00 March 7th, 2018|News and Updates|0 Comments

Managing difficult people

A client asked me to run a training day on Managing Difficult People.  I asked if there were specific situations she wanted me to cover - after all, there  are many varieties of difficult behaviour -  and she asked me to speak to their  Office Manager,  Sandra,  who had requested the training.  I rang Sandra [...]

By | 2018-03-06T16:12:40+01:00 March 6th, 2018|News and Updates|0 Comments

Understanding personality type using MBTI

MBTI (Myers Briggs Type Indicator) is reputedly the world's most popular personality questionnaire, probably because we can easily grasp the four dimensions it is based on and the language it uses. Of course, it is only a tool so can be used well or badly  (for example, putting people in boxes or typecasting) - the  [...]

By | 2018-03-05T17:45:57+01:00 March 5th, 2018|News and Updates|0 Comments

Interpersonal Skills – is your message understood?

One of my favourite interpersonal skills exercises is a role play scenario where one person plays Marie, a Sales Manager, another  plays Tim, a  quiet junior member of staff and a third is the fly on the wall who gets to observe and feed back. Tim has not completed a task that Marie asked him [...]

By | 2018-03-05T10:21:48+01:00 March 5th, 2018|News and Updates|0 Comments

Influencing and Persuading

Influencing and  persuasion are key skills  in business if we are to meet our goals. “The greatest ability in business is to get along with others and to influence their actions.”  said John Hancock, an American Politician, which echoes Abraham Lincoln's words:  “If you wish to win a man over to your ideas, first make him your friend.”  Times [...]

By | 2018-03-02T13:35:13+01:00 March 2nd, 2018|News and Updates|0 Comments

Do we still need assertiveness in the workplace?

Let's face it, assertiveness is hard. Even when we know what to say or how to act, chances are that sometimes we're not brave enough to do it, or we don't want to stir up a reaction. The result is that sometimes we feel put upon because we didn't speak out, or we bottle it [...]

By | 2018-03-01T11:41:21+01:00 February 28th, 2018|News and Updates|0 Comments

Emotional Intelligence – do your people have it?

I recently ran a day's training for a large group of senior staff on Emotional Intelligence. As highly skilled professionals, they all had many strengths and were mainly excellent communicators. Nevertheless, they found the space to reflect and explore the topic very useful. 100% of them scored the  overall quality of the training as excellent. [...]

By | 2018-03-01T11:42:37+01:00 February 27th, 2018|News and Updates|0 Comments

The Advantage – The Seven Soft Skills You Need

Soft Skills are becoming the essential building blocks of our success. Research increasingly  identifies them as critical, especially in the workplace. How can you get your people to reflect on how they act and how they think, or what the alternatives are? The Advantage is rapidly gaining a reputation as a life changing, thought provoking [...]

By | 2018-02-05T12:58:41+01:00 January 29th, 2018|News and Updates|0 Comments

Using Storytelling to Teach Coaching Skills

“Can you do some coaching skills training for our managers?  Can you do something different? We’ve done the usual models and we’re bored of them” said the client. I said it was no problem. After all, coaching skills is one of my most popular training requests. My client’s request sent me on a mission to [...]

By | 2018-01-29T11:40:50+01:00 January 29th, 2018|News and Updates|0 Comments

It’s a Nice Day for a Coaching Conversation!

“Can you come and do some training on coaching skills for our managers?” “Sure” I said. “Tell me a bit more about what you want” “Well… we want something a bit different. We’re bored with the usual model” I like a challenge, especially when it involves training techniques. I began to research different coaching models [...]

By | 2018-02-19T16:55:25+01:00 March 16th, 2017|News and Updates|0 Comments

Writing for business – it’s only words, isn’t it?

Help, I’m a reader! Do you ever find that you have a great meeting and get on famously with colleagues – then that document arrives. It could be a report, proposal, project plan or minutes. Whatever it is, it doesn’t seem to be written with you in mind. It doesn’t give you what you need, [...]

By | 2017-03-30T14:12:16+01:00 January 23rd, 2017|News and Updates|0 Comments

How to get the most out of your 360 Feedback Review Meetings

You're sitting facing a report that contains personal information about you... what feelings might you have? If you are using 360 feedback, it is important that you get good results. The conversation about the report can be critical and needs to be handled well. I will be running a not-to-be-missed joint webinar with the Alexis Kingsbury, the [...]

By | 2017-03-30T14:12:16+01:00 November 23rd, 2016|News and Updates|0 Comments

Running a large scale 360 feedback project?

Running a large scale 360 feedback project is a big undertaking. Besides getting all the right people on board, you'll need a clear plan, a strategy, and sufficient resources - it's going to take some time and effort to make sure that the project is a success. Fortunately, the good folk at Spidergap have written a [...]

By | 2017-03-30T14:12:16+01:00 October 26th, 2016|News and Updates|0 Comments

How will Brexit affect Learning and Development?

Last week I was asked what impact Brexit has had so far on my business and my industry. Of course, we don't know the answers yet - it is all speculation.  Below you'll find a short film with the views of several local business owners, who are pretty much united in their advice to carry [...]

By | 2017-03-30T14:12:16+01:00 July 5th, 2016|News and Updates|0 Comments

To the life raft!  How to manage your team through uncertainty

What does the current situation we find ourselves in mean for you as a line manager or team leader? How do you manage your team through uncertain times? I tweeted this a couple of weeks ago: “It seems that change no longer means navigating safely to the new shore – it’s just clinging to the [...]

By | 2017-03-30T14:12:16+01:00 June 28th, 2016|People Tips|0 Comments

Immediacy: What is going on between you and me?

I’m asked how to handle difficult behaviour  all the time. Of course, there is no simple answer, because every meeting of two personalities is a unique occasion, with its own context and often complicated baggage. Although there is no magic wand, there are many strategies and techniques you can add to your toolkit that will [...]

By | 2017-03-30T14:12:17+01:00 April 1st, 2016|People Tips|1 Comment

Are you having an emotional hijack?

An emotional hijack is when the rational part of our brain is overtaken by our emotions, and we act impulsively and inappropriately. It might happen to you, or you might see it in colleagues. It’s wearing, isn’t it? Having to put up with all that fallout and bluster while you’re trying to do a job. [...]

By | 2017-03-30T14:12:17+01:00 March 2nd, 2016|People Tips|0 Comments

Buying training? How to get the best value and avoid wasting your training budget

Training your staff is an investment and often a substantial one – but how can you make sure that you will get a return from it? I hear so many stories of training being a waste of time, as well as money, such as delegates that are frustrated because they are blocked from using the learning [...]

By | 2017-03-30T14:12:17+01:00 February 11th, 2016|News and Updates|0 Comments

The Extra Mile

Do you organise events for local businesses?Would you like to offer them a presentation that adds real value? We can bring you a thought provoking half hour that uses stories and acting combined with the latest research that will show business owners and managers how to get their people to go The Extra Mile.Your audience will: [...]

By | 2017-03-30T14:12:17+01:00 November 13th, 2015|News and Updates|0 Comments

“Here’s my resignation” – A true story

The phone rang, and a tired sounding woman said she’d been given my number as someone who maybe able to help. I asked what the problem was. She told me her company had a neglected team of trainers; the training manager had left six months ago, and they had struggled to recruit a replacement. They [...]

By | 2017-03-30T14:12:17+01:00 October 29th, 2015|People Tips|4 Comments