Leading Virtual Teams with Dr Maren Deepwell

January is usually a time for planning for the year ahead. Whether at work or at home, there’s a whole year of goals yet to achieve stretched out in front of us, and I find that can be a little bit overwhelming. Whilst I am a fan of planning ahead, with so much to do, and only a finite amount of time and energy to do it with, I find I need an antidote to the madness of January’s resolutions and good intentions. In short, I am looking for a source of fresh inspiration and motivation: a DONE List.

In this episode I share how and why this is such a useful tool and how to get started.

Also mentioned in this episode:

• What if you're already on top of things? by Oliver Burkeman
• Forget To-Do Lists. You Really Need a ‘Got Done’ List in WIRED

Check out the blog post for links and resources https://www.marendeepwellcoaching.com/blog/start-the-year-with-a-done-list

Curious to learn more?

I’m Dr Maren Deepwell, award-winning, independent consultant and executive coach. Based in Cardiff, Wales, I work with innovative organisations, teams and individual leaders in education and the third sector.

Get in touch https://marendeepwellcoaching.com/get-in-touch/

Coaching and Consultancy https://marendeepwellcoaching.com/

Blog https://marendeepwell.com/

Newsletter https://marendeepwell.com/category/newsletter/

On this episode we welcome back a very special guest: Amanda Coolidge, Principal and Founder of Coolidge Collaborative, Inc. 

Amanda shares an update on her career transition and offers a rare insight into what it's really like to start your own business as we reflect on the year together.This is the kind of open leadership conversation I value the most and something that's rare for me to have nowadays, so I am delighted to have had an opportunity to record an end of year special and dive into what's in store for 2026. Enjoy! 

Find out more about Amanda's work: 

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/amandacoolidge/

Website: https://www.coolidgecollaborativeinc.ca

It’s the season for office parties, and I am in a festive mood. In this holiday-themed post (and on the podcast, too), I want to share a few of the ways in which I reflect on, celebrate and end the year. If you are a fellow freelancer or small business owner, you might find inspiration for your own celebration here.

Like you, I’ve been to a lot of office parties and work do’s, and most of them weren’t all that festive and bright, but some years it all came together and we had a lot of fun together. So in my “Office Party for One” I’ve tried to keep the best bits of what I enjoy and add my own twist of reflective spirit to come up with a end of year celebration that brings me joy and is highly practical, too.

Party hat optional.

This month, as a little gift from me to you, you can join in with my leadership coaching subscription service, AKA Long Distance Leadership Postcards for free. I’ve made December free for all to access, and this month’s topic includes three free resources to explore.

Whether your 2025 has been busy and productive, or brought unexpected challenges, whether you are getting ready to rest or just about to set out in a new direction, I have designed this month’s coaching moment by mail to offer new inspiration and encouragement by focusing on your creativity, develop leadership capability or clear the decks with increased productivity.

Enjoy the listen and explore the free resources: https://www.marendeepwellcoaching.com/leadership-postcards/chooseyouradventure

On this episode we hear from a very special guest: Professor Helen O'Sullivan, Deputy Vice-Chancellor and Provost at The University of Chester and from 2026  Chief Academic Officer at QA HE.  This is a precious opportunity to hear from an experienced senior leader about pioneering hybrid and remote working with different institutions, the central importance of building trust and how to effectively set boundaries to protect your work/life balance. 

This interview is going to feature in ⁠my upcoming book⁠. Get in touch with me if you'd like to join us for an episode and contribute to the book.

My ⁠⁠blog⁠⁠, this ⁠⁠podcast⁠⁠ and ⁠⁠newsletter⁠⁠ are the best ways to connect and ⁠⁠get in touch⁠⁠ with me.

It's time to celebrate as the podcast turns 3 this month! I've recorded this special episode to say thank you to all of you, my listeners, and to share a few of my reflections about the show.

If you have ideas for topics or special guests for 2026, I'd love to hear from you! Get in touch with me https://www.marendeepwellcoaching.com/contact .

Join me to celebrate a personal milestone as we kick of 3 year of my business venture, and also share a conference special for Reclaim Open, for which my contribution is all about Blogging as a Professional Superpower.

Mentioned in this episode:

Year 3. Boom. https://marendeepwell.com/?p=5727

Blogging as a Professional Superpower https://marendeepwell.com/?p=5732

Reclaim Open https://reclaimopen.com/

Blog-a-thon https://blog.reclaimhosting.com/reclaim-open-blog-a-thon/

Coaching & Consultancy https://www.marendeepwellcoaching.com/

This time of year always feels busy, with so much going on, and yet it’s also a season when there’s less daylight time, and colder months are starting here in the Northern Hemisphere. Whether at work, in leadership practice or in relation to personal goals I often have conversations with my coaching clients about wanting to accomplish more whilst feeling that there is less energy.

What I find especially helpful at this time of year, however, is to focus more on what energy I have and how I want to spend it between now and the end of the year. This small shift in emphasis opens up a different reflective frame and in this episode I show you how to use a basic template of the resource to help do that.

Check out the episode blog post for more information and resources https://marendeepwell.com/?p=5719

Learn more about my coaching and leadership development at https://www.marendeepwellcoaching.com .

It's World Mental Health Day! In this episode I share some resources for mental health in the workplace.

It's been a summer of personal milestones for me, and this week feels like starting a new chapter. There’ll also be some new developments on a professional front in the coming months, but more of that in a future post. For now, I’m focusing on getting my head back in the right mindset for work. As I’m also making the switch from late summer in Crete to autumn in Wales, I’m using the seasonal changeover as a way to help me gain focus. I find it really helps to change some things around to mark a new season or a new chapter, and in this post I share some examples of how I do that.

Over the summer I have updated my coaching course for leaders and managers, ready for the next academic year. I designed the course originally just over 18 months ago, and three cohorts later I have learnt a lot about what participants find most valuable. I’ve also had a lot of experiences working with coaching clients who are tasked with introducing AI in their teams, or supporting colleagues who are now using productivity suites such as MS Teams or Google Workspace with AI-powered tools, something I hadn’t specifically addressed when I designed the course.

In this episode I share my thinking about how AI and hybrid working practices are shaping the way we lead, and give you a preview of updates to the course.