Maren Deepwell

Search results for: “coaching”

  • Rookie (or a year of mentoring)

    Rookie (or a year of mentoring)

    For the past few years I have volunteered as a mentor for the 1 Million Mentors programme, a national initiative that provides free career focused mentoring for 16-25 year olds. This week another year of mentoring comes to an end, and so I want to reflect on how it went and what I take away from the experience.

    Confidence and Perspective, the image featuring in this post created by Bryan Mathers / Visual Thinkery, relates very well to how I felt as a mentor and at times when putting myself in the shoes of my mentee.

    Rookie year

    This was my first time mentoring a final year undergraduate. As my previous experience as a volunteer mentor was with mentees looking to move into post-16 education or training and my professional coaching clients are mostly in employment already, you might call it a ‘Rookie’ year for me. It was all about finding my way in the very fast moving, competitive undergraduate recruitment market.

    That is my first take away from this year: it was a new challenge that kept me on my toes, and that is always a good thing.

    AI and recruitment

    Both in my work with clients and in my own experience I have come up against how far and how deeply AI-powered tools and platforms are changing recruitment. However, I found the practices we encountered through our mentoring work even more stark and opaque. Entry-level, science-based jobs lend themselves well, it seems, to automation, and that can make the process of applying for opportunities difficult and disheartening (at all stages of one’s career, but especially, I would say, at the beginning).

    That brings me to my next take-away: authenticity is key to making any part of the recruitment process meaningful. Any practice that doesn’t allow for that deters good candidates.

    Connecting in safety

    Much of my work happens on the open web and I am an advocate for open practices, including open leadership practice. That said, this year’s mentoring experience really made me question how well we are doing in Higher Education to help students gain not only skills but also the confidence to connect in a way that feels safe to them.

    Kudos to the mentoring programme, which provides excellent training on safeguarding and sharing information. But beyond the confines of institutional provision, the open web, especially social media platforms like LinkedIn, soon became problematic or felt unsafe.

    My take away here is that there is a palpable pressure to optimise yourself and your online identity which is in conflict with the aforementioned desire for authenticity and finding meaningful work connections and opportunities.

    Students welcome, but…

    One of the sessions that made me reflect the most was a day when we looked at professional bodies and industry organisations that were explicitly trying to welcome students and recent graduates.

    As soon as we dug a little deeper, the friendly welcome turned into incomprehensible next steps. There was little to go on for a student looking to learn more about a specific career path or connect with professionals in their chosen field.

    Having worked in this space for much of my career I was disappointed to see just how hard to navigate this was – and just how much confidence was needed to take that first step into a new profession.

    This resonates closely with my coaching work, in which building confidence is a theme for both emerging and established leaders – particularly when connecting or collaborating online.

    Home and work

    Lastly, and this made me reflect a lot on how to build confidence and find perspective, is the role of home study and home working in all this. In my research for my new book I’ve come across data that indicates strong disparities between how established and new employees experience virtual work, and this affects early career workers still more.

    Food for thought for me and my research, and a highly complex challenge for leaders and their institutions.

    Thank you!

    I am deeply grateful to my mentee and to the programme for a highly rewarding experience, and I am already looking forward to volunteering again next year.

  • Newsletter, August 2026

    Newsletter, August 2026

    Welcome to the Summer Edition

    It’s summer holiday season and I am sitting at my desk, working (with a blissfully quiet inbox). If you are reading this, you might be working, too, so here’s a friendly wave from me to you.

    My main focus for work over the summer is research (a brand new case study for Reclaim is in the works), course development (working on a new leadership postgrad module) and evaluation (for a new vocational education programme).

    Meanwhile, pro bono work also continues: mentoring through the national 1 Million Mentors programme has concluded for another year, and with my executive coaching also taking a break over the summer, I’ve volunteered as a Member of the Conference Committee for ALT’s Conference which is coming to Cardiff in October!

    With Megan Kime and Simon Thompson as a truly fab Co-Chair team and really interesting, timely themes, this should be a wonderful event (and the CfP is still open for a few more days).

    The photo featured in this newsletter is from my long run last Sunday, down the Taff Trail along the river, making the most of a temporary reprieve in the heatwaves.

    Catch up on podcast episodes

    The podcast is enjoying its usual summer break and we’ll be back with fresh episodes in September. Catch up on the podcast on Amazon Music, Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Overcast, Pocket Castsor via RSS Feed .

    Recent blog posts

    This year is truly flying past, and I can’t quite fathom how the next edition of the newsletter will be the September one already. For me, that means it’s time to head outside with the dogs (who are looking at me full of hopeful expectation), and make the most of summer.

    Thank you for reading!

  • From wildfires to websites

    From wildfires to websites

    Yesterday evening after work we drove to the coast, where I took the photo that features on this post. It’s a view of Southerndown Beach, on the south western coast near Cardiff. One of my favourite spots near us and absolutely stunning all year round. The sea breeze and fresh, salty air were a world away from the reality we had woken up to at 3am that morning, smoke and smell of acrid burning filling the house, making me worry for a few minutes that something was on fire. It wasn’t, everyone was safe. Or rather, we were safe. The smoke and smells came from wildfires which are still burning, consuming hundreds of hectares. Not on the scale of the fires in Southern Europe or elsewhere in the world, but enough. It’s only added to the summer of prolonged hot and dry weather, still unusual in Wales, where rain used to be the order of the day, and water shortages.

    All of this goes to say that my focus on sustainability and the environment has only deepened, and extended from what we can do at home and locally, to how I work online. I am also teaching and coaching on digital sustainability in education in the next academic year, and this has inspired my to test a few of the approaches for myself. In this post I share a few of the things I tried and how I got on.

    Tech and the environment

    The environmental impact of tech, for example the natural resources used by large scale data centres, have gained a lot of visibility in the news across the world. Similarly, there is a lot of information available here in the UK about digital sustainability, specifically for Higher Ed, for AI and for the tech sector in general, most of which is focused on what sectors and/or large organisations can and should do.

    Whilst really informative, high level reports are hard to apply to one’s professional practice, and so I started with this toolkit https://datadetoxkit.org/en/environment/internet . Some of the resources it links to are a few years old now, but I found it a useful starting point and it’s key recommended actions align closely with those I came across in this blog post which in turn inspired me to come up with my own three broad categories to work on.

    1 Decreasing my digital footprint

    At the start of last year I reviewed my digital tech stack and looking back at these posts makes it clear how much progress I have made in streamlining my online platforms and services and declutter my digital domains.

    Blog

    This blog, my home on the web, continues its happy life on Reclaim Hosting, where it’s been for more than a decade. Over the past few months I have however streamlined it considerably, and retired and deleted many old pages and old content that has become obsolete. Not blog posts, I hasten to add, as I wish to keep them, but still content that is no longer needed and which just takes up space and energy. I have also stopped sending out my newsletter via the blog, for which I had set up several services like Mailgun and Mailpoet. Instead, I have simplified it into a monthly post that is publicly available without a subscription and I also send it out via LinkedIn.

    Business website

    My business website quickly ballooned once I started working for myself on a full-time basis. Within a year it grew to host several online courses, resources, a dedicated coaching blog and plenty of other content. Whilst it was useful at the time, I was keen to move it away from Squarespace (originally chosen for its course building functionality) and simplify GDPR compliance and so forth, so a very paired back version of the site has now moved to an independent UK-solution that runs on renewable energy. The rest has been deleted, and I have just kept the bits I want to re-use at a future point.

    Emails and documents

    One of the last items on my list to tackle was the VERY long tail of emails and documents accumulated. Martin recently blogged about unsubscribing from things, and I have likewise undertaken a great cull of emails and documents. I’ve deleted tens of thousands of emails and cleared out document storage across several accounts. Depending on where you keep your mail, that can be quite tricky, as platforms such as Outlook only archive things instead of actually deleting them unless you make the effort to go in and specifically delete them. By comparison, Gmail is quite good at offering bulk deletion options, but still takes time to actually do it.

    Meanwhile my archive of digital documents also had a clear out. 5 copies of the same invoice from 2014? Deleted. Ten versions of an article I published in 2019? Deleted. Notes from PhD interviews from 2003? Deleted. It takes a lot of time to sift and select what to retain and what to delete, but it’s intensely satisfying, practically helpful and has reduced my storage needs for documents by around 70%.

    Photos and videos are next, although I must admit I haven’t yet tackled them because I struggle to manage competing platforms from various stages of my life. At the moment I try to make physical albums, books and prints periodically just in case the digital versions all get lost at some point, and I try to keep only my favourite versions of photos rather than ALL the attempts taken. But that is definitely work in progress.

    Thanks to Karen Howie, who in response to this post shared a tool tip for managing images with me: digiKam is a free and open-source image organizer and tag editor.

    Productivity

    Some of the other tools I reviewed last year I have stopped using all together: Canva, for example, I stopped using, once its AI integrations became more of a hindrance than was worth it for me. Instead, I bought Procreate which I use to create visuals using my own artwork and photos. Similarly, I’ve stopped using Asana as a planning tool for myself, and instead simplified my internal ways of working back to a spreadsheet and a simple to do list. As I have gotten more and more busy I want to spend less time seeing little animations of unicorns every time I complete a task and for a business of one the AI-enhancements are simply annoying.

    Zoom is on its way out, even though I still haven’t found a really good alternative to it, but I’ve been able to drop down several subscription levels, and I have cleared out historic recordings no longer needed. Good business practice and good for decreasing my digital footprint as well as costs.

    Google Workspace meanwhile, long my favourite digital workspace, is slowly turning from super productive to less than ideal, and that I am sad about. By trying to be smarter for large organisations the things I want to be able to do are becoming not only more convoluted and difficult, but also disrupted by endless marketing presented as system messages. I am not impressed. And yet, I am not quite ready to swap it for an alternative as at the moment its affordances are still greater than what is annoying.

    Overall, how are things going when it comes to decreasing my digital footprint? Progress score: 7/10 (this is an arbitrary score, by which I mean I feel I have done about 70% of the things I am aware of and able to do).

    Next up on my journey to greater sustainability are tackling the ways in which I work and managing the material, the physical side of things. More on those in the next post.

  • The One Percent

    The One Percent

    What will it take to make your day 1% more… of what you need?

    Working life for is busy and keeping a grip on things takes a lot of energy and focus. So what do you do when you grip on so tightly that you can’t see beyond what’s in front of you?

    This post is inspired by some recent coaching sessions which prompted me to reflect on how you can make small, incremental changes when adopting a new healthy habit or tackling a big change may seem out of reach. What would make a real difference to my clients, either in the way they work or how to disconnect from work?

    Listen to the podcast episode

    Starting with very small increments, even just 1%, can lead to quick wins and solve niggling issues along the way. Whether you feel like trying out a playful or pragmatic approach, you can always find ways to make yourself 1% more comfortable, even on a bad day. And along the way, you might gain a little more awareness and distance from being lost in digital productivity curves.

    Getting started

    Here is a little inspiration to get you started. Make a small change, or maybe two, and see how things shift:

    Add a sprinkling of analogue…

    • a plant
    • a nice coaster
    • photos/pictures/art
    • a rock or shell from somewhere you like
    • record player
    • scented candle or a diffuser for aromatherapy oils
    • music
    • new flavour hot (or cold) drinks to try such as new herbal teas or coffees
    • a secret snack stash (healthy or not)
    • something tactile like a soft throw or a fidget toy

    Get 1% more comfortable…

    • a new mouse mat or a mouse you like
    • wrist rest/mouse rest
    • glare protector
    • foot rest (cushion or yoga bolster can work, too)
    • headphones that suit your ears
    • eye mist and glasses that help filter blue light
    • a water bottle
    • cleaning products for your workspace, i.e. eco wipes, disinfectant, screen cleaner
    • find a window sill or high shelf you can use as a place to have meetings with your laptop or a sit stand desk or desk shelf

    Step away from your screens

    • an alarm or similar that reminds you to take regular screen breaks
    • a physical reminder to go to a different room/downstairs/outside
    • cushioned slippers or shoes (particularly handy for standing desks)
    • a paper planner/diary you can use away from the screen to think/plan
    • a lunch date/appointment with someone away from your desk
    • plant care
    • play with your pet
  • The Power of (the right) Prompts (Part 2)

    The Power of (the right) Prompts (Part 2)

    In my last post I explored how a journal of professional practice can easily turn into a superpower at work. Whether you are writing by hand, typing away on your laptop, dictating into your phone or sketching with pen and paper, I am a BIG fan of journalling (and after over 30 years of journalling for both work and in my personal life, I have tried every which way to make it work).

    As a coach, I often work with clients who just need to find the right way to articulate their thoughts, and once they’ve unlocked that, they are good to go. You know it’s working when you are able to sustain a reflective journal when you need it, and over time it becomes a habit that turns into a superpower: for example, I find it helps me enormously with gaining perspective, making a big decision or finding my path forward that I can revisit the pages I wrote on my first day as a CEO or the day I got my PhD. I can also revisit times when things were tough, like during the pandemic.

    But… what if the thoughts don’t come?

    Some of my clients find that regardless of the approach they use, words don’t flow. It can be hard at times to know where to start or what to reflect on. Instead of finding clarity or deep reflection, you end up narrating days, or making lists of things to do. Or maybe you are just staring at a blank page, and your mind goes blank.

    If you find that a particular method doesn’t unlock things for you, I would suggest you leverage the power of prompts, or rather, the right prompt for you. Prompts are powerful and can be transformative to our thinking (which is why so called “powerful questions” are the foundational tool in coaching and coaching leadership).

    A few years ago I struggled to effectively reflect. Finding the right prompts for your context can be difficult, so I looked for inspiration in Warren Berger’s The Book of Beautiful Questions, Hermina Ibarra’s Working Identity and Elizabeth Gilbert’s Big Magic.

    I found three types of prompts that helped me and subsequently many of my clients through this kind of block: first, prompts that related to the physical self, next prompts that help identify tangible examples and last, prompts that helped us understand our reactions to situations.

    Example prompts and why they work

    Prompts that help you get out of your own head

    In much of the work I do I coach and train highly skilled professionals who spend a lot of time in their head. I can empathise, as it’s one of my favourite places to be as well. That said, being in one’s head isn’t always conduce to reflective journalling or finding clarity. Which is why when I am stuck, I find prompts that relate to my senses or focus on my physical self super helpful.

    Example prompts to try:

    • What physical signals do you perceive when you contemplate this decision?
    • How does it feel to be in this place [i.e. an office, a lecture hall, a stage]?
    • What activities give you energy?

    Prompts that help calm overwhelm

    Another common reason why reflection can feel hard is a sense of overwhelm. I often work with clients facing big decisions or very high workloads, or juggling A LOT. In situations like that, everything feels… too much, too difficult, too complicated. That’s when prompts that focus on specific examples can help.

    Example prompts to try:

    • Describe a recent positive interaction?
    • What has boosted your mood or encouraged you?
    • When did you find yourself enjoying an activity or experience?

    Prompts to think through reactions

    One of the things my clients tell me they value the most about coaching with me is to have a trusted thinking partner to think through difficult situations with. To talk about awkward or emotional encounters, and to reflect on how they reacted in the moment. This is a difficult thing to do on your own, as usually the focus is on how it feels. My role is to offer prompts that shift that perspective from how it feels to why, and to help us understand the reactions.

    Example prompts to try:

    • How did it feel?
    • How did those feelings manifest themselves?
    • How did you react?
    • What would you do differently in future?
    • What can you learn from the situation?

    I’m always curious about how the power of the right prompts unlocks reflection and opens up new perspectives. If you have different prompts you use in situations like this, I’d love to learn about them, so get in touch.

  • Newsletter, July 2026

    Newsletter, July 2026

    Hello!

    It’s been a busy and highly enjoyable month of travel and conferences for me, and this week I am wrapping up my teaching at Oxford for this academic year and also recording new interviews for the next Reclaim case study. Next week new projects are getting underway for the next few months including work my second book.

    It was not all work however as I also celebrated my birthday, and went to see The Cure play 35,000 people at Blackweir Live in Cardiff in the middle of the recent heatwave. It was an awesome evening and this month’s cover photo is one of my snaps of the show.

    If you are looking for some summer inspiration, take a look at my recent post on making your day 1% more… of what you need. In John Naughton’s recent newsletter I came across this AI Compass and gave it a try, which was a fun experiment.

    New on the podcast

    I am excited that this week we’ve released episode 150! It’s a summer special with the theme “Into the Green” and it’s been fun to revisit some of my favourite moments of this season of the podcast in the process. Enjoy!

    Listen to the podcast on Amazon Music, Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Overcast, Pocket Castsor via RSS Feed .

    Recent blog posts

    Thanks for reading!

    If you are reading this edition of the newsletter, you have successfully moved to one of the new formats. Yay! Just as a reminder, you can also Subscribe via LinkedIn and continue to read via the blog (and subscribe via RSS and follow me on Bluesky or Mastodon where I post links to the newsletter on a monthly basis.

    If you’re thinking of working with me get in touch to talk about new projects, strategy days or leadership coaching.

    See you next month and I enjoy the summer 🙂

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