teams | Let's Talk

Are they listening – or playing Catchword Bingo?

Like many I’m an inveterate people-watcher, but as a soft-skills trainer I have an extra level of professional fascination, particularly when it comes to watching those in customer service roles.

On the first morning of our Xmas fly-and-flop getaway, our holiday rep gathered us all together, to do what holiday reps are paid to do – make us feel welcome, answer our questions, and . . . → Read More: Are they listening – or playing Catchword Bingo?

Talk To Me

It’s been a busy period of late, and both my partner and I have been spending a lot of time travelling and working. Consequently household chores have taken a bit of a back seat. Last night we had one of those typical domestic conversations that I’m sure all couples have, about who has been creating all the mess, and who doing all the cleaning . . . → Read More: Talk To Me

The Boat That I Row…

There are more books than ever out there to inspire and instruct. Alas, there are also many others that are more, shall we say, humdrum, and which do less to repay the time spent reading. Sometimes it’s hard to do the wheat/chaff sort, so I’d like to recommend one that I came across recently, which I found informative and thrilling in equal measure.

It’s called “Will it Make the . . . → Read More: The Boat That I Row…

Putting a Man on the Moon

I am writing this while sitting in the Jurors Waiting Room of Birmingham Crown Court, where I have been called for 2 weeks’ jury service. As you know, there are strict laws curtailing what I can say about events in the courtroom, but nothing prevents me sharing some thoughts about the experience itself.

Tea Drinking

If you’ve ever been called to jury service, you’ll . . . → Read More: Putting a Man on the Moon

Lead Boldy, Follow Ardently

The Diamond Dance

A couple of weeks ago I was leading an exercise during a rehearsal with my Improv group. In this exercise, people are placed in a diamond formation, like this, all facing in the same direction.

They then have to move around the room as a group, with the person at the front leading. So when they are all facing . . . → Read More: Lead Boldy, Follow Ardently

Champions - Skydiving and Otherwise (pt. 2)

At the risk of giving the impression that my life consists only of parachuting, and that I do no work at all, I feel the need once more to write about a recent skydive experience. I spent last week at a training camp in Spain with my primary team, who have just moved up to the “big boys” league of AAA in 4-way formation . . . → Read More: Champions – Skydiving and Otherwise (pt. 2)

Champions - Skydiving and Otherwise (pt. 1)

Over the Easter break, during all that glorious sunshine, I was having fun being a skydive cameraman, jumping with and filming a team that is learning to compete in 4-way Formation Skydiving – a discipline within the sport which comprises 4 skydivers turning a series of pre-determined shapes in the air during a timed 35-second freefall. It takes excellent freefall flying skills, clear mental . . . → Read More: Champions – Skydiving and Otherwise (pt. 1)

Is your team a rock band?

During the summer months, I spend most of my weekends skydiving. More specifically, I am a skydiving cameraman. Even more specifically, I specialise in being a cameraflyer for competitive Four-way Formation Skydiving teams. I won’t bore you with fine details of what this entails – if you are really interested you can find out here. But, briefly, each team of four skydivers is trying . . . → Read More: Is your team a rock band?