Space to Think

Dr Lucy Kelly is Associate Professer in Education at Bristol University and author of Reimagining the Diary: Reflective practice as a positive tool for educator wellbeing.  Lucy is currently engaged in the process of writing her second book on the topic of Perfectionism. In this episode we unpack some of the definitions and research around perfectionism, how we might recognise it in ourselves and how we might work with it rather than having it work against us. Lucy openly shares about her relationship with perfectionism in life and writing. 

You can connect with Lucy here on X, explore Reimagining the Diary: Reflective practice as a positive tool for educator wellbeing or connect with the diary toolkit here. 

Join me in conversation with Anna Considine, the founder of Studio Gently, brand photography for kind and creative kin.  Boundaries are one of those things we often find it hard to clearly articulate what they are but we know when they’ve been pushed or trampled over. We can enforce them or stick to them when we aren’t clear what they are.

Anna shares the story of why boundaries in work (and life) are so important to her.  We consider how we might get really clear on what our boundaries are and how we then communicate and share them with others. Anna not only can talk about boundaries with clarity and honesty but she also embodies them and by sharing her experiences as she does in this conversation I know she’s helping a lot of others too.  We finish by touching on what Anna refers to as the symbiotic relationship between creativity and boundaries. 

You can explore Anna’s website for more information on how you can work with her or connect with her on Instagram to follow her brilliant photography.  Anna also enjoys LinkedIn so if you are over there, do connect and say hello.

Oliver Burkeman is well known for his best-selling book 4000 Weeks, a book that I have shared with many and I know (because they have been excited to tell me) it has shifted their thinking, changed their relationship with time or their inbox or given them a new perspective on decisions they’ve been pondering or indeed agonising over.  4000 Weeks encourages us to embrace our limits and let go of perfectionism. 

In this episode Oliver and I touch on 4000 Weeks (it’s impossible not to) alongside his upcoming book Meditations for Mortals (out on 12 September and available for pre-order). Meditations for Mortals is designed as a ‘retreat for the mind’, 28 short chapters that Oliver encourages you to read daily, finding and practising the inner shifts in new or different ways. 

Sign up for Oliver’s twice monthly The Imperfectionist newsletter here

Connect with Oliver on X

An episode from the archives.  This conversation with Oliver Burkeman was originally recorded for my Changing Conversations podcast. Oliver Burkeman is well known for his best-selling book 4000 Weeks which encourages us to embrace our limits and let go of perfectionism. 

Up next is our conversation about his new book Meditations for Mortals which you can enjoy immediately after, or before, this episode!  

Meditations for Mortals (out on 12 September and available for pre-order). 

Sign up for Oliver’s twice monthly The Imperfectionist newsletter here
Connect with Oliver on X

In this episode, I reconnect with friend and colleague Peter Dewitt.  Peter is the Founder and CEO of the Instructional Leadership Collective. Over the last 10 or so years Peter has written extensively on leadership and improvement in schools and facilities professional learning around the world. 

This conversation was an opportunity to reflect on where we are now and what’s changing or shifting in leadership and professional learning. We cover a variety of topics from happiness and Ikigai to partnerships, writing, leadership, facilitation and AI, the variety of which I think reflects life and leadership at this time. 

Find out more about Peter’s Instructional Leadership Collective - https://instructionalleadershipcollective.com/ 

Leading with Intention - How School Leaders Can Unlock Deeper Collaboration and Drive Results

In this episode, I chat with Maggie Farrar about presence in leadership. Maggie has worked in Education for many years as a teacher and as a leader, and found that her personal mindfulness practice was a cornerstone of her leadership practice.  Having trained as a mindfulness practitioner, her work with leaders focuses on supporting others to cultivate mindfulness in life and work. 

We explore how mindfulness practice and wellbeing, in general, have become more acceptable to talk about and how well they integrate into leadership practice and development. Maggie has a wonderful way of honouring the tradition in which her work sits and sharing it in a way that engages and supports busy, tired and often overwhelmed leaders. 

In 2022, Maggie published her book Leading With Presence, It’s An Inside Job. Her experience of leadership programmes was that they tended to focus on the outer world of leadership, leaving the inner world of leaders neglected and unexplored. She hopes that her book helps to re-dress the imbalance and supports leaders in cultivating awareness and practical ways of developing mindfulness and presence. 

Find out more about Maggie’s work - https://www.empoweringleadership.co.uk/ 

Connect with Maggie on X - https://x.com/FarrarMaggie 

Leading With Presence, It’s An Inside Job

In this episode I reconnect with Jennifer Abrams to chat about how we stretch our learning edges, the context for Jennifer's work is education and schools but the ideas and the insights she shares about how we as human beings learn and grow apply equally in any workplace and or work-based relationships and interactions. 

Jennifer has identified 5 facets to help us translate what it means to stretch and grow into practice: 

Each one and the connections between them invite us to reflect, question and learn about how we are showing up at work and how we can be better and add value. 

Connect with Jennifer on twitter and Instagram or visit her website 

Or listen to our previous conversation about having ‘hard conversations’ over on Changing Conversations 

In this episode, I chat with Sarah Roberston, designer, writer and mentor. I loved having the opportunity to unpick some of the elements that I know are important to her work and life. 

Sarah believes that we are all creative, we might bring that out in different ways but it’s within us all. We need to support and nurture that creativity and that may look different in different seasons of our work and life. 

This episode is for everyone, we’re all creative, we all need creative rest, we can all enhance our environment to support our creativity and in life we all need those creative reserves to support us, to find hope and to lead a full life. 

There are many ways to connect with Sarah: 

Sarah has very kindly shared a special article on creativity and improvisation.

In today’s episode, I chat with Ian Sanders, Ian describes himself as a storyteller, energiser and author. His latest book is 365 Ways to Have A Good Day. This was a spontaneous conversation, we took the opportunity of a space in both our diaries about 24 hours after I asked Ian if he would be up for a chat. I love that about podcasting.  

This is a very human conversation all about curiosity and storytelling and in many ways, the relationship between the two. If you’re like me, and thinking ‘I’m not sure I’ve really got a story’, you do, we all do, maybe we’ll help you uncover your story, your way. 

Find out more about Ian and his work on his website iansanders.com
Or connect with him on Instagram or LinkedIn.

My guest today is journalist and founder of the Alnwick Story Festival as well as running The Heart Leap Substack, a self-development and writing community.

I was curious to learn more about Suzy's experience of leaping, it's not a word of action I use often! Suzy reflects that for her, the leap is between the head and the heart. Such a small physical distance between head and heart, and yet, often this is where the struggle is. She shares some wonderful stories about how leaping has served her in different ways over the years. 

We touch on those negative voices we all experience, the role of and relationship with feedback in our lives and work and we pick up my first guest, Robert’s ideas of improvisation. Suzy sees improvisation as an invitation. An invitation to step into the river of life, and for her, the worst thing she could do would be to not accept invitations. This is how she does everything, this is how she does life. 

And so, I invite you to join us, and step into the river of our conversation.

You can subscribe to Suzy's substack here.