Creativity and innovation tend to fuel rapid business growth. Whether it’s ground-breaking design, new technology or a reputation for creative excellence - it can attract an influx of new business and new people. Add entrepreneurial leadership to the mix and things can really fly.

Every leader or business owner wants to see more productivity, but there’s no set formula for achieving it. Productivity comes from a blend of an engaging culture, effective relationships, and being able to manage both time and stress. What’s more, creative people tend to need to be together to collaborate - and that’s something remote working has largely prevented these past few months.

Coaching is such a broadly used term it’s hard for people selecting coaching or experiencing coaching to know what to look for - or for some to understand why they are receiving it. Indeed, when we are training coaches, they often report experiencing mixed reactions from the people they are commissioned to work with. Some feel pleased about being coached, others less so.

For a sector so dependent on the productivity and engagement of its people, the tech sector has always been at the centre of a paradox - technical people aren’t known for being natural people managers. As a tech leader that puts you at disadvantage, especially when there’s a huge amount resting on getting the best from your people.

Despite the pressures of the pandemic on home and work-life, especially impacting on mental health, new research finds that actual take up of wellbeing programmes is running at 23%. (HBR/Gartner 2021). This is despite much higher numbers of employees admitting to mental health issues.

As we close another turbulent year in the world of work, it is increasingly clear that the biggest challenge for organisations next year will be retaining their exceptional people. 

We started to read about the ‘great resignation’ in the summer with research from Microsoft predicting that up to 40% of the global workforce were re-evaluating their careers.