Winnthinks from Winnthinking People Development in Suffolk

This little girl is me

#thislittlegirlisme See this little girl? She’s on the pier at Southend-on-Sea, the place she grew up. She had a mother who taught her that what’s on the inside matters more than what’s on the outside; a father who made up …

Happy 10th birthday, Winnthinking!

Every proud parent looks at their child on their birthday and thinks: “Wow! Where did those years go?” Which is how I felt this morning. Back in 2011 I knew a few things about business start-ups, most of it …

Learning through the Rectangular Window

“Here’s a house, here’s a door, windows 1 2 3 4.Ready to knock? Turn the lock – It’s Play School.” Play School was essential teatime viewing when I was a littl’un. Who else remembers it? Rebecca age 5: favourite toy: …

Welcome to our fresh new look!

After six years of good service, our website was beginning to look a little ragged and in need of a refresh. And so, back in the era we might now call ‘BC’ (Before Coronavirus) I spoke to the delightful Barry …

It’s Conference, Jim, but not as we know it

The world was a different place when I booked my ticket in early March. 2020 was to be my first time at the UK International Coaching Federation (ICF) Conference. My diary had never cooperated in previous years, so this was …

To all clients and associates

Between us we can still upskill, keep up morale and look after each other’s mental health. Let’s be creative, imaginative and altruistic as never before.

2020, we’ve got your back.

Slowing down towards the festive season, I’m feeling pensive. What follows is largely me giving myself a talking to, but feel free to jump onto my train of thought. People’s lives are unique, aren’t they? Here in rural Suffolk my …

Best workplace. Ever.

Picture the scene… It’s a sunny morning in late July and I’m looking across the glorious Tuscan hills from the balcony of a 12th-century villa. The cicadas are up early and getting louder as the temperature rises. There’s an occasional …

It’s YOUR training. What’s in it for ME?

Trainers, meet the Prisoner in the room. The person that’s looking anywhere but at you – or staring blankly at you with ‘challenge’ etched in hard lines on their face. How do we convert that Prisoner (and it might be a roomful of them) into a Learner? Indeed, how do we help everyone engage productively?

Ticking the Seasonal Boxes

In case you hadn’t noticed, Christmas is thundering into view! Whether you celebrate it or not, Christmas has a habit of generating plenty of extra activity, be that fun stuff like mince pies with the neighbours, or less lovely concerns …

Customers can be a nightmare…

Customers can be a nightmare! Who you gonna call?

The Get Real About Business Podcast: Three Essential Ingredients

Last month, Rebecca spoke with Clive Maloney of Get Real About Business about unhappy customers and the importance of getting it right. Listen to the whole thing here. Like this? You can sign up for the whole series, conveniently delivered …

Is your Verbal Handshake like a wet fish?

Have you ever thought about the way you answer the phone as your Verbal Handshake? If not, you should. If our physical handshake delivers a powerful message about our trustworthiness and level of interest in the other person, our Verbal Handshake does exactly the same thing.

We’re moving!

After a glorious three-and-a-half years at The Business Centre in Earl Soham, we’re on the move. From 01 August 2018 our address will be: Winnthinking Ltd The Technology Centre Station Road Framlingham Suffolk IP13 9EZ All other contact details remain …

Sorry Not Sorry: A Star Wars Story

A long time ago in a decade far, far away (the 1980s), before apps and the internet, I rang my local cinema to book tickets for the latest Star Wars epic . Here’s how I learned about the power of positive language.

Privacy Policy update

Privacy Policy Winnthinking Ltd (Winnthinking People Development) is committed to protecting the privacy and security of your personal information. We take care to protect the privacy of everyone that communicates with us, as a customer, supplier, business associate or networking …

Suffolk Coast Business Showcase: Competition Winner!

After a highly successful and enjoyable day at the Suffolk Coast Business Showcase in late February, belated congratulations to the winner of our Lucky Draw go to Shelley Curtis of the Ipswich Building Society. Shelley has received her own Clarity4D …

The One Where the Happy Sheet Wasn’t

Last week I received some negative feedback about a course I’d delivered, and it stung. This snowflake needs a good talking to (and I don’t mean the course participant!)

Making Difficult Calls: 14 March 2018

What was the last difficult call you had to make? Collecting a debt? Making a complaint? Refusing credit? Cancelling a contract? Giving bad news? Apologising for a mistake? Plucking up the courage to make a sales call? From time to …

UK Complaint Handling Awards 2018: what a day!

Rebecca Winn presents the Gold Award for the Managing Your People category at the UK Complaint Handling Awards 2018 to outstanding winners, New Day.

Poem: Christmas Eve at Winnthinking

On Christmas Eve at Winnthinking The staff had all gone home The Fairy on the Christmas tree Was feeling all alone. She sat atop her spiky branch So sorry for herself When suddenly, who should appear But Santa and his …

UK Complaint Handling Awards 2018

Rebecca Winn is delighted to have been invited to judge at the UK Complaint Handling Awards 2018. The ceremony will take place on 22 February in London, and will recognise the very best in complaint handling and resolution from entrants …

Induction: Ditch the PowerPoint!

Think about the best and worst induction training you’ve attended. What stuck with you? Do you remember it as a brilliant experience, or as one long PowerPoint presentation? Nobody sets out to design a dreadful induction course; but perhaps the …

The Back to School Guide for Grown Ups

The grown-ups’ equivalent of going back to school is starting a new job. How can we make sure our new joiners at every level, like our children, arrive confident, equipped and ready to hit the ground running?

The Importance of Silliness

Stick up for silliness! The ability to be silly can play a major part in the success of your oh-so-sensible organisation. Here’s how.

Help! I’m frightened to make that call!

Ever get this? You have a list of people you need to call, but somehow everything else is more appealing. Filing, checking the database (again), making a coffee … somehow you can’t find your mojo when it comes to picking …

Every Little Helps

The trust our customers place in us is hard won, and we play fast and loose with it at our peril.

Springboard: Booking ends 20 January!

The Springboard Women’s Development Programme is a phenomenon. It’s the flagship development programme for women that’s growing female talent in communities and businesses in over 40 countries. Here in the UK it’s often only available to employees of large organisations …

Has it become counter-productive to talk about ‘women’s issues’?

The contention goes that, by constantly ‘bleating on’ about women’s rights, we’re drawing attention to difference rather than similarity. It keeps women stuck in the role of the weakest link, constantly needing support and special privileges instead of naturally rising to the top through talent and hard work. Surely we’ve moved beyond all that now, haven’t we…?

Hot News! Springboard comes to Suffolk in 2017

The Springboard Women’s Development Programme is coming to East Anglia. What an opportunity!

How a tomato helped me get my work done

It’s one of the great mysteries of life. My youngest turned 22 this year, but as any parent will attest it seems only moments ago I had a chubby-cheeked toddler on my lap and endless hours of crayoning ahead of …

Sisters are doing it for themselves

The fact that women are so empathetic, generous and strong is something I am rather proud of. It makes us a BRILLIANT gender! And it makes us GREAT networkers too.

Selling without being sales-y

You know how it starts. (“Hello, am I speaking to…? Great! How are you today?”).
You know the type. (Pushy. Talks too fast, listens too little).
You know the tactic. (“A special deal, just for you, but only if you buy it TODAY…”).
You know the feeling. (Oh dear, here we go…).
For a nation that loves to buy stuff, the word ‘sales’ has a heap of negative connotations.

HOW much?! Bespoke Training vs. Off the Shelf

What do you think you’re paying for when I quote you for a day’s training?

A Voyage of Discovery

When launching on a Voyage of Discovery it isn’t enough to simply look at someone else’s holiday snaps. There’s no substitute for experiencing things for yourself to really learn something new.

Spring Forward: For new and aspiring leaders

Rebecca is now a Licensed Trainer for Spring Forward, the highly regarded, innovative development programme for new and aspiring leaders….it’s so much more than just an ‘introduction to leadership’ course…

Landing the aeroplane

Imagine the scene: Your aeroplane is three hours into a three-and-a-quarter hour flight when your pilot comes on the intercom and says: “Ladies and gentlemen, please fasten your seatbelts, I’m going to try and land this aeroplane shortly.” What?! You’re …

For David Bowie, 11/01/16

Monday 11 January 2016. I woke up this morning and through the fog of sleep thought I heard the R4 Today programme say that David Bowie would be sorely missed. I came awake with a start and no, it hadn’t …

Merry Christmas from Winnthinking!

2015 has been another outstanding year for Winnthinking People Development, and that’s in no small way down to YOU. So whether you’re a client, supplier, associate, partner business, networker, advisor, wellwisher, mentor or friend – thank you for your support …

A Christmas Hamper of Customer Types

If your customers were the contents of a Christmas Hamper, what would they be? Here, then, is a light-hearted delve into the Hamper of Delights that is your customer base. Well, we’re allowed to get a bit silly at Christmas…

New for 2016: Effective Communication for Busy Teams

Building on the success of our Core Workshops we’re introducing a new title in 2016 called Effective Communication for Busy Teams. Featuring the brilliant Clarity4D profiling tool this is a fascinating way for your team members to understand their communication …

Working with Eddie: A do-er not a say-er

Several years ago I had a boss (we’ll call him Eddie), who described himself as ‘a do-er not a say-er’. On my first day in the job he invited me to accompany him round the building whilst he carried out …

The Art of Apologising

‘Sorry’ is a word that’s very much over-used these days. So when you really need it to count, exactly how do you offer an unhappy customer a really great verbal apology? Here’s how…

We Who Must Be Named (with care)

Names have power. Names have magic in them. Names wrap up all our expectations and emotional baggage into a neatly labelled parcel, whether we like it or not. Think carefully before you apply a label your customers…

Customer Service Strategies to Grow Your Small Business – 30 July

Customer Service Strategy to Grow Your Small Business: Because happy customers make Repeat Business, Referrals and Recommendations…

Delivering Top Notch Customer Service by Phone – 23 July

Delivering Top Notch Customer Service by Phone – a workshop for small businesses with a BIG customer service focus!

New! Workshops for small businesses

You asked, we’ve responded! Coming soon… our brand new open workshops designed specifically for small businesses and sole traders. It means everyone can access our expertise and know-how on a range of customer service related topics, including: Customer Service Strategies …

Five ways to spot opportunist complainers

The customer is always the customer – but what if we suspect he or she is trying it on? Here are five ways you might spot those Opportunist Complainers.

Moving Tales: Customer Service A to B

As some of you will know, I’ve had a busy March and April completing the sale of one house, purchasing another, packing, moving and getting unpacked at the other end. After 21 years in our last home you can possibly …

Winnthinking has moved!

It’s time to update your address book! We’ve now moved to our new base here in the beautiful Suffolk countryside, and we love it… You’ll find our new address and phone number here, and you’ll still find us in all …

The Lego Movie: Are teams really that awesome?

“Everything is awesome, everything is cool when you’re part of a team Everything is awesome, living our dream…” The Lego Movie has been offering much delight in our household over these dark winter days, particularly the cringingly awful song ‘Everything …

Springboard Women’s Development Programme: Colchester 2015

GREAT NEWS! We are pleased to announce that Rebecca will be running a Springboard Women’s Development Programme in Colchester this spring. It’s a rare opportunity – here in the UK the vast majority of programmes are run for large organisations …

A Formula for Successful Change

Here we are at the start of another new year. I’m guessing your Inbox and social media feeds have, like mine, been full of advice about New Year’s Resolutions and creating a brand new you? Good luck with that – …

Advent Offers Winners

We had a massive response to Advent Offers #1 and #2, thank you to everyone who took part! The winning names were drawn on Friday evening, and here are the results: Clarity4D Christmas Cracker Winners: – KAREN BROUGHTON – CHIRSTY …

Winnthinking Advent Offer #3: Springboard New Year’s Revolution!

Christmas is fast approaching… if you haven’t yet picked up on our Advent Offer #1 and Advent Offer #2 you’d better hurry! The closing date for these entries is midnight on Thursday 18 December! And so to our third and …

Winnthinking Advent Offer #2: Santa’s Mini Workshop!

What a terrific response to our Advent Offer #1! There’s still time to take part – you have until midnight on Thursday 18 December to join in. But if you’re ready for more, here’s #2… Santa’s Mini Workshop! Well, not …

Winnthinking Advent Offer #1: Clarity4D Christmas Cracker!

Welcome to the first of our special Advent Offers, celebrating our gorgeous new rebrand! Details of how to enter and the rules of entry appear below… Clarity4D Christmas Cracker! Clarity4D is a simple on-line questionnaire that generates an easy-to-understand but …

Introducing our fresh new look!

You said, we listened! Welcome to the refocused, refreshed Winnthinking People Development, spruced up and pumped up, ready to bring the very best in training and coaching to your organisation! What’s different? This year we’ve talked to our customers, reviewed …

Customers In Disguise

I’ve worked with some interesting organisations recently, some of which are really not part of the traditional market for ‘customer service training’. And it’s brought about some fascinating conversations. Take, for example, the secondary school where I was asked to …

High Hopes

I just rattled off a friendly email to a fellow coach, and as I’m a bit of a fusspot about grammar, spelling etc., I naturally proofread it before hitting ‘send’. Imagine my dismay when I counted – in a very …

“I don’t hug trees and I don’t knit my own yogurt…”

How does coaching fit in to the development strategy in your organisation? Perceptions of coaching (and coaches) vary greatly, and that’s hardly surprising. There are some excellent professional bodies out there laying down rigorous standards and CPD (continuous professional development) …

The Law of Harvest

September means lots of things: going back to school, nights drawing in, the start of that hurtle towards Christmas. It’s also harvesting time, which has been very much in evidence in my rural community. It got me thinking… if we’re …

Watch out for our new branding!

Great excitement here at Winnthinking as we put the final touches to our new-look branding and upgraded website! It will all add up to a clearer message about how we help our customers achieve more of what they want, and …

We’re all in this together

As I work with organisations up and down the UK on their customer service delivery, I get very used to hearing one particular comment. Here it is: “I would love to promise my customers what they want (a response, a …

“Behold the hands…”

“Behold the hands, how they promise, conjure, appeal, menace, pray, supplicate, refuse, beckon, interrogate, admire, confess, cringe, instruct, command, mock and what not besides, with a variation and multiplication of variation which makes the tongue envious.” Michel de Montaigne (1533 …

Congratulations to Liz Willis, OBE and Jenny Daisley, OBE

Very excited today to learn that Liz Willis and Jenny Daisley, joint Chief Executives of The Springboard Consultancy, have been awarded the OBE (Order of the British Empire) by Her Majesty the Queen in the 2014 Birthday Honours List. …

The Complainers: How I see it

Have you been watching The Complainers on Channel 4? The series has been focusing on the work of customer service staff in a selection of large organisations. In particular, it’s been following their exchanges with a set of customers known …

Firestarters (or things that wind up your customers)

“I’m a Firestarter…twisted Firestarter (whoooooooo!) HEY! HEY! HEY!” Firestarters. It’s the name I give to those gestures, sounds and phrases that can turn a perfectly reasonable customer conversation into a raging torrent of accusations, or a slamming down of the …

The Four Step Assertiveness Technique

One of the things my clients often ask me to do is support their customer service teams, complaint handlers and helplines with the more difficult customer behaviour they encounter on the phone. ‘Difficult’ is a highly subjective term, so the …

Whether the weather be fine…

Whether the weather be fine Or whether the weather be not Whether the weather be cold Or whether the weather be hot We’ll weather the weather, whatever the weather, Whether we like it or not! This catchy little poem …

Springboard comes to London, March 2014

Hot on the heels of the East Midlands delivery of the Springboard Women’s Development Programme comes a second chance to attend, in central London. Facilitated by Rebecca on behalf of Barefoot Coaching, this is a rare opportunity to get on …

Springboard in the East Midlands, March 2014

Great news! Rebecca will be facilitating a full Springboard Women’s Development Programme in the East Midlands, starting in March 2014! The three-month, four-workshop programme is being delivered by Barefoot Coaching, the highly regarded provider of coach training and supervision. Rebecca …

How changing your jacket can help you deal with difficult customers

One of the subjects I am most often asked to train out is how to handle difficult people – particularly customers who are angry or upset. There are lots of ways our customers can make themselves a challenge, and sometimes …

New Year’s Resolutions for the Goal-Less

Every January my social media stream fills up with comment about New Year’s Resolutions and the importance of goal setting for the months ahead. As a Coach I am, of course, a huge fan of goal setting, both in the …

Lessons in Customer Service from Doctor Who

Last weekend was all about Doctor Who. Hard to believe it’s been going 50 years – and don’t those early episodes look OLD! How times have changed and how technology has moved on since those scratchy black and white days. …

The Customer Service Magic Ingredient

If you were to ask most customers what they’re looking for in a transaction, they will probably tell you they want the right product or service, at the right price, delivered at the right time and to the right quality. …

Experiential Learning: Not Just for Newbies

There’s a truly profound Chinese proverb that is often quoted by trainers, and it goes like this: “I hear and I forget. I see and I remember, I do and I understand.” It’s the powerful principle behind pretty much every …

How to get more bang for your training buck

There are, it is said, three types of training course participant: Holidaymakers Prisoners Learners Holidaymakers are those who put themselves on a course – usually an in-house one – because they see it as an easy day’s work and …

Winnthinking partners with Hoskin Educational

Winnthinking is proud to have become a partner with Hoskin Educational, and as such Rebecca will be contributing learning slots to future Hoskin Educational Workshops in the Essex and Suffolk (UK) area. These monthly events are ‘networking with a twist’. …

Self Determination and Building a Narrative

Rebecca and fellow coach Pavlenka Small of Suffolk-based Smallsteps Coaching (www.smallstepscoaching.co.uk) are delighted to be co-delivering a one-day workshop to members of the Colchester Executive Job Club (CEJC) tomorrow, 17 July. The workshop will explore key areas for those undergoing …

“We Never Sell a Stale Cake”

Think about that for a moment. This, a coaching colleague tells me, is the actual advertising slogan used by her local bakery, deep in darkest Nottinghamshire. I have looked at their website and it all looks just delectable – …

Biz’ee Mums / Biz’ee Women Summer Networking Event

Really looking forward to the Biz’ee Mums / Biz’ee Women Summer Networking Event in Brentwood, Essex, UK on 01 July. I shall be one of two speakers aiming to put the Buzz into your Business! Do book a place and …

Putting a spout on it

When my now grown up son was about four years old, we had those magnetic letters on the ‘fridge and used them to play simple spelling games with him. So, he would read out a word like ‘hat’, and then …

Clarity4D profiling now available from Winnthinking

Clarity4D is a powerful profiling tool, ideal for individuals who want to understand their own strengths and development points better. It is also for organisations who want more insight into what makes their people ‘tick’ and how to bring about …

Fifty is the New Twelve

Something strange is happening to me this weekend. I’m going to become a fifty year old. I’ve never been one of those before, so it will be an interesting experience. Happily this momentous occasion will be shared with a number …

Guerrilla Gardening for Managers

Did you know that 1st May is International Sunflower Guerrilla Gardening Day? It’s ‘an annual event of optimistic seed growing’. If you want to find out more, go take a look at www.guerrillagardening.org – or better still, grab that trowel …

“Hanging on in quiet desperation is the English way…”

Hard to believe that Pink Floyd’s ‘Dark Side of the Moon’ has just turned 40 years old. It’s one of those albums that seems always to have been there for me – first heard on LP through my brother’s bedroom …

The Forgotten Middle

I want to put in a word for the forgotten Middle. Everywhere I look, in the professional journals, online forums and on the business bookshelves, there’s heaps of opinion and commentary about Leadership; who our great leaders are, the qualities …

Why the Gift of the Gab is not always a winner in sales

A best-seller for me at the moment is sales training. That’s certainly a sign of the times, when businesses are pushing harder and harder for every scrap of custom they can get in a marketplace where people are really only …

Listen up, Greater Anglia!

Yesterday I had a day out in London with a good friend of mine. It should be a simple enough train journey home (I live 45 minutes away from London on the mainline), but as anyone who goes into London …

In which Winnie-the-Pooh Introduces the Value of Coaching

“Here is Edward Bear, coming downstairs now, bump, bump, bump, on the back of his head, behind Christopher Robin. It is, as far as he knows, the only way of coming downstairs, but sometimes he feels that there really is …

Season’s Greetings!

Thank you. 2012 has been a wonderful year for Winnthinking, and I have met and worked with a dazzling array of people over the past twelve months. So whether you’re a client, supplier, networker, advisor, wellwisher, mentor, associate or friend …

Celebrating the International Day for People with Disabilities on December 1

Winnthinking Ltd is proud to be a sponsor of Dancing Giraffe CIC (www.dancinggiraffe.com), an Essex based organisation that supports people with disabilities and their care network in Essex and beyond. 2012 marks the 20th anniversary of the International Day for …

Top Tips for Taming Email

As a coach it seems that increasingly I am working with people who are fighting a malignant force in their place of work. You may well recognise it. It’s…email. Yes, email. It’s a blessing and a curse. On the one …

Designing and Delivering Training that Sticks

If you attend training regularly you may have found that some sessions are forgotten almost the minute you step out of the door. Others will have you so crackling with new ideas and insights that you are still returning mentally …

“If you can’t measure it, you can’t manage it.”

It’s a well known and well respected quotation from the eminent management expert, Peter Drucker. I use it all the time when working with organisations looking to improve their service delivery or the effectiveness of their managers, and there won’t …

Cockle-Warming Customer Service in Cold Hard Times

Customer service is a funny thing. We all know when we’ve received a poor version of it, and indeed, when that happens, we tend to go away and tell everyone we know all about it. Oh, and lots of strangers …

Coaching Skills for Line Managers

Every manager wants to get the best performance out of their team members, but some seem to bring about better results than others. What’s their secret? Once you have sound coaching and feedback skills, you’ll wonder how you ever managed …

Help! The bounce has gone from my bungee!

This morning it is the morning after the night before. Or rather, it’s the beginning of the autumn after the summer before. Yesterday was the Olympic and Paralympic Athletes’ Parade in London, and I also woke up to the news …

Winnthinking is now on EmployHer.co.uk

Have you discovered www.EmployHer.co.uk yet? It’s a fast growing online directory where you can find all sorts of businesses, in all sorts of sectors, wherever you are in the UK. The twist is, they’re all businesses run by women. EmployHer …

“Being English I crave disappointment…” (Bill Bailey)

Go on, if you’re English, admit it. You know exactly what he means. We could even widen it out to the rest of the UK, I reckon… self-deprecation and false modesty are peculiarly British traits and Bill Bailey nailed it …

Introducing QuickWinns!

QuickWinns are short, quirky presentations leading to practical learning for group meetings and event days. They’re designed to run for two hours maximum, but if your time slot is shorter or longer, they can be adapted to suit your needs. …

Business Coaching is for Winners

Who do you think is most likely to use the services of a business coach? Would you? Watching London 2012, from the comfort of my sofa, it’s crystal clear how integral coaching is to the success of our athletes. Tribute …

Customer Service Room 101

Customer service is a funny thing. We all know when we’ve received a poor version of it, and we tend to tell everyone we know about it too, including lots of strangers in cyberspace as well as our family, colleagues …

Find Your Inner Creative Thinker

“You cannot look in a new direction by looking harder in the same direction.” (Edward de Bono, father of lateral thinking). At a time when every penny has to go further and knotty problems and projects require increasingly imaginative solutions, …

“We have a plan, therefore nothing can go wrong…” (Spike Milligan)

This time last year I was just about to plunge into something entirely new. For the first time in my professional life, I was about to walk away from a regular monthly salary and strike out on my own as …

No time to train your customer service staff? Try this…

It’s the age-old problem for phone based customer service teams… they’re missing their targets, but you can’t take the team out for training because your customers are going to keep on calling in and the phones need answering. Here’s the …

Brand YOU!

So there you are, strolling up and down the aisle at your favourite supermarket, and you reach the coffee section. What drives you to select one product over another? Maybe you believe that ‘you get what you pay for’ and …

Dancing Giraffe hits Colchester Carnival

Winnthinking Ltd is proud to support Dancing Giraffe, a Colchester based Community Interest Company that’s revolutionising the way disabled people and their carers access information. Information is power – it gives choices to people about how they live their life, …

How to create your own luck

Someone very smart once said to me that “people will only ever treat you as well as you let them.” What wise words! We all, to a very large degree, create our own ‘luck’ when dealing with other people, and …

Manage Your Time and Get Organised

Announcing Winnthinking’s new workshop, available for delivery in-house or to open groups by arrangement. Manage Your Time and Get Organised is a practical, hands-on session for managers and others who just don’t have enough hours in the day. Full of …

Small is Beautiful

I’ve just enjoyed reading ‘The Tipping Point’ by Malcolm Gladwell. It’s a book about epidemics, and explores the factors that combine to make something go viral – be it a disease, or a social movement, or a fashion craze – …

Even more Springboard for your money this autumn!

“A must-do event, enlightening for women everywhere of all ages, at any stage in their personal and professional life.” I have received considerable interest in the Springboard Women’s Development Programme I am running this autumn in Chelmsford, Essex. Thank you …

Written in pencil or pen?

Last week I really enjoyed some performers that came all the way from Los Angeles to play at my local live music event, Live at The Institute. They’re called Sweet Talk Radio, and if you enjoy laid back harmonies and …

Calling all Line Managers!

Have you been promoted into a management role, but feel that you have yet to discover all you are capable of? Maybe you are an experienced manager, but want some fresh ideas about how to support and motivate your staff …

A World of Winnthinking direct to your Inbox!

Frequent visitors to this website will have noticed the arrival of something new – just over there, on the right. It’s our new Sign Me Up! box, giving you the opportunity to get a little bit of Winnthinking delivered to …

Lessons from the World’s Fastest Blind Man

Last week I met a truly extraordinary man. His name is Steve Cunningham, and he heads up an organisation called Blindvision (www.blindvision.tv). I strongly urge you to hit the website and read his story. Steve lost his sight at the …

What makes customers behave badly?

In a previous life I spent six and a half years as a complaint handler on behalf of an investment company. People get very emotional about their money, and rightly so, and during the course of what must have been …

NEW! Springboard Women’s Development Programme in Essex, Autumn 2012

I am very excited to announce that Winnthinking is bringing Springboard to Chelmsford, Essex this autumn! Springboard is often only available to women lucky enough to have an employer who organises a delivery in-house, so don’t let this rare opportunity …

The Winnthinking view of Business East 2012

I was very pleased to be asked by Melanie Shoesmith of Jobserve Events to write about my experiences at Business East 2012, the highly popular business expo held in Colchester earlier this month. “Delighted to!” I said, and you can …

Giraffes CAN dance – they just need the right music!

Winnthinking is proud to support Dancing Giraffe, a fresh, brilliant initiative working to provide a one-stop-shop for information, guidance, discussion and challenge for people with disabilities, their families, friends and carers. The website is still in its early stages, but …

Writing it right

I’ve spent a lot of time recently helping a client work on their written material. In particular that has been about the quality and tone of the letters and emails the company sends its customers. As an investment company, they …

Springboard for Women in London, March – June 2012!

“Every woman in the world should go on this programme!” (Springboard participant). The Springboard Women’s Development Programme is, quite simply, wonderful. It is for you if you are a woman and you want to move some aspect of your life …

New ‘News’ section!

I’ve added a ‘News’ section, and this is the first test post! Please check back for all the latest news from Winnthinking, and don’t forget to sign up for occasional updates from the World of Winnthinking, direct to your Inbox.

How Aristotle made friends and influenced people

Greece is in the news right now for all the wrong reasons. However, regular readers will know that I have a bit of a ‘thing’ for the ancient Greeks, who had some truly innovative ideas ahead of their time – …

Lessons from Pantomime

I have been having such fun in the past few weeks. It’s the pantomime season (oh yes it is!) and my local drama group is putting on a really good quality show. This year’s production, Old Mother Hubbard, is sold …

Motivation without money: Can it be done?

A very timely item cropped up in Call Centre Focus this week, and although it concentrated on the situation in contact centres across the UK, it reflects all too starkly what is happening across most sectors right now. This is …

Intense simplicities

I was reminded of a fabulous concept yesterday, when sorting through some old creative thinking course outlines. Like so many great quotes it originated with Sir Winston Churchill, and what he said was this: “Out of intense complexities, intense simplicities …

Wii wish you a Thinking Christmas

It’s a piece of text I’ve commented on before but it continues to fascinate me. I was reminded of it again on Sunday night when watching that nice Professor Brian Cox on TV deliver a lecture on quantum physics. (First …

“Everyone lives by selling something”

“Everyone lives by selling something.” So said Robert Louis Stevenson, who was probably better known for writing tales of ‘derring-do’ on the High Seas than for giving business advice to the High Street. But the author of Kidnapped and Treasure …

A Short Guide to Brilliant Customer Service

As regular visitors to Winnthinking will know, great customer service begins with enjoying your customers and truly appreciating them as the beating heart of your organisation. As with any heart, you need to keep them happy and active in order …

What’s your Alternative Job Title?

Last time I promised you a fun exercise you can run with your customer service people, to get them thinking differently about the day job. The following works well within a team meeting or as part of a broader development …

Customer service happens head first

Following my last Winnthink someone asked me to post up a few thoughts about this knotty problem: How do you get your customer service people to do it better – particularly when you can’t promise them any more money or …

Customer service: who gives a monkeys?

Last year, as often happens, I designed a course about delivering outstanding customer service. Not just good customer service. Not even great customer service – but how do you make an utterly, fantastically OUTSTANDING experience for every customer, every time? …

See you in cyberspace

Fascinating article in my newspaper on Saturday. Apparently one in three smartphone users would rather lose their wallet than their phone. Initially surprised, I thought it through and actually, yes, that does make sense. All that personal data, those contacts, …

“But I never win anything!”

Something rather delightful happened to me this week. I won a Kindle! Yes, really. And do you know what the first thing I said was? “Blimey! But I never win anything!” Which is clearly not true, of course, as I …

Well, and here we are!

Like Christmas and the Love of Your Life, some things are just worth waiting for, aren’t they? So I really hope you enjoy exploring this, the new website for my company, Winnthinking Ltd. It would have been here to entertain …