Skip to content

Category: leadership

Re-inventing Mondays… 2 months in

It’s been a month since I last updated on my progress with the new chapter in my working life, free-lance working life, and my mission to re-invent my week, starting with Mondays. Unfortunately, as I type this, I am still recovering from a cold, and so podcasting is on hold for this week and instead I get to write this blog post. Blogging is, still, where it’s at. Beach/work balance One of the goals in…

Stepping away from the screen – a lunchtime digital skills development session

This week I am joining the university in Oxford online for a lunchtime digital skills development session. I am really looking forward to this talk, partly because the topic is a lot of fun and also because I love the format: it’s opt-in, open to all and informal, hence it (hopefully) attracts the kind of folk who are already interested in the topic or need some help. Whatever the case, it’s a win to have…

Listen… to the practitioner’s voice

Today is a big day! Together with colleagues from all across the UK, I am heading to London. It’s the Week of VocTech, and the annual showcase of everything that’s happening across the sector. I feel fortunate to be continuing my work as Strategic Lead for the partnership between ALT and the Ufi VocTech Trust even though I stepped down as ALT’s CEO earlier this year. There’re a couple of reasons why: from a personal…

There’s nothing more permanent than a temporary hack

This morning’s Memex 1.1, John Naughton’s Substack newsletter, including this quote by Dave Winer: “There’s nothing more permanent than a temporary hack.” and it feels like a great theme for my day today, which I am spending sorting through my own temporary hacks from the past 15 years. It’s my day to clean out my archive of files and emails at ALT, the last steps in a long handover process. Documents I filed away in…

Memories #altc23

Well… it’s been quite a week, quite a conference and quite an end to my time as CEO of ALT. I’d previously blogged my love letter to ALT’s Annual Conference, and also my goodbye and thanks as CEO of ALT. I felt well prepared going into the conference week, but as it turned out, it was a lot more emotional and a lot more intense. So in this post I want to bring together at…

Fresh listens: Podcast Season 3

I’m really excited to have Season 3 of the Leading Virtual Teams Podcast finally underway. It’s a new season in every sense… and that is why I am kicking off with ‘new pencil case’ moments in episode 1: This episode celebrates the start of September, and the new season or start of term for many of us. I have recently tried out a ⁠new gratitude journal⁠ share ideas for how to find bright spots in…

My last blog post as CEO of ALT

As I write this, I am preparing to step down as CEO of ALT. The handover to ALT’s new CEO, Billy Smith, will formally conclude at the AGM during our Annual Conference on 6th September, and I hope to see many Members on the day in Warwick, and also online. Guests are most welcome, and if you’d like to watch the AGM, you can register now. I am very grateful to have had a month…

Curious about coaching? Find out what to expect, how to prepare and how to make the most of it

This academic year I am looking forward to working with many new clients, most of whom are new to coaching. The questions I get asked most often by new clients or those considering giving coaching a go, are… ‘What is a coaching session like?’, ‘What should I expect from the first session?’, ‘How should I prepare?’ and also ‘How can I make the most of it?’. In this post, I have brought together answers and…

#altc: a personal history

It’s this time of year again! Time to prepare for ALT’s Annual Conference, pack your gadgets, conference shoes, pin badges, stickers, research notes and gala dinner outfit(s) and make your way to Warwick or indeed online (although in that case most of the above applies likely only to the top half of you which may be on camera 🙂 . Also, don’t forget to pack a piece of #edtech or #altc history for the onsite…

Feeling like a CEO?! – My last career transition update: July 2023

When I first started in my role in spring 2012, I started working with a wonderful mentor, Margaret. Initially it was meant to be a short-term measure to support me as I stepped up into my first executive role. As it turned out, Margaret and I established a long term relationship that reached well into 2018, and has since turned into a wonderful friendship. We co-wrote three blog posts in 2018, mentoring unpacked, reflecting on…