It seems to me that academics have a particularly strong tendency for "academic" to be a dominant part of their identity. It goes beyond their professional identity and is far deeper. Not a problem, unless you decide that the "what" of doing the identity "academic" is no longer compatible with other things in your lives.… Continue reading What else can I do? Academics and identity
Category: DIY coaching
What’s in your stress bucket?
I love a good model or framework - they help me make sense of things and to plan next steps. This week I've been doing my Mental Health First Aider training and have come across the "stress container" model. I thought it would be useful to share here as often people turn to coaching at… Continue reading What’s in your stress bucket?
Imposter syndrome and research
"Did you know that you have more citations in the 2 years since you left academia than in the previous 5 years?" My thoughts went: 1. "wait what?" (it's true according to Google Scholar) 2. "well that's because I was working with some fantastic people in the last couple of years on some very relevant… Continue reading Imposter syndrome and research
Talking and listening
"Well, it's clear to me that your son does NOT have a hearing problem. He has a listening problem." Probably a low point in my parenting career there. But I was reminded of it by a comment from a fellow climate scientist in the context of the COP26 being held in Glasgow this week. Talking… Continue reading Talking and listening
Information overload
I am famous in our house for being unable to cope with two many simultaneous audio inputs. How people can cope with TV, game on their phones and conversation at the same time I have no idea. I get overloaded with audio information about 2 devices ahead of anyone else. But it’s not just audio.… Continue reading Information overload
A Coachee’s Guide to.. Finding your strengths
Although we often think about strengths in terms of skills and tasks or activities that you feel you are good at, the broader idea of Strengths, or Character Strengths, comes from Positive Psychology. They are described as “built in capacities for particular ways of thinking, feeling and behaving”. Identifying your relative strengths and weaknesses can… Continue reading A Coachee’s Guide to.. Finding your strengths
Wheel of Life Exercise
This exercise helps you to identify what you are most happy with and where you might want to make changes. The Wheel of Life exercise is a way to visualise all the different parts of your life and to balance up how you feel about each area. Start by drawing a circle-ish shape, then divide… Continue reading Wheel of Life Exercise
A Coachee’s Guide to….. Values
Your Values represent what is important to you in life. Knowing your Values can help you understand what drives you, what you enjoy, what inspires you and what you would like more of. I often use Values as a framework in coaching sessions where the coachee wants “something to change” or “something to be different”… Continue reading A Coachee’s Guide to….. Values
Control – getting a grip or letting it go
I have at times been called a "control freak". It's not been meant as a compliment (though there are some situations where being a control freak is absolutely a good thing - health and safety, etc etc). I had not heard it for a couple of years, but in the last couple of weeks, those… Continue reading Control – getting a grip or letting it go
Ellie Highwood - Leadership, Career and Personal Development Coach 