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People often ask me how I combine working as a Data Protection Officer (DPO) and a professional coach. At first glance, the roles might not seem to have anything in common. But how true is that? For fun, I’ve considered some similarities and differences. What else might you add? Confidentiality is the first rule of the coaching relationship, and whatever is shared in a coaching session is done so safely and securely, unless there is a safeguarding risk. As a DPO, I support an

Change comes in many guises – things change every day. Transitions punctuate the phases of life. One minute we’re running around as a carefree teenager, the next minute we’re off to college, on the career ladder or setting up home. And those changes that creep up on you, when you’ve been doing the 9-5 and sorting out the kids’ packed lunches for an interminably long time, and suddenly they’re off and you’re left wondering what’s left for you to do – those moments can feel imm

Normality has been on my mind lately. As we emerge from lockdown, and everyone is talking about the ‘new normal’, I wonder what is ‘normal’ anyway? It is often suggested that there is no such thing as normal – which certainly suits me and my family; and I like to believe that, as humans, we are all amazing for our own unique qualities. Normal implies that a comparison has been made, a judgement or a rating from x to y. Where do we want to be on that scale? If normal means ‘av

Feeling overwhelmed is a common theme in coaching, and I’ve noticed an increase in the number of references to it in social and mainstream media. Whether this is because I am so aware of it as an issue or it really is on the rise I’m not sure, but I do know how debilitating this feeling can be. The use of the made-up noun ‘overwhelm’ irritates me but I’ll let that go. Overwhelm manifests in many different ways – anxiety, exhaustion, burn-out, sleeplessness, spaghetti brain, b