Men don’t talk enough. The North Somerset Council Male Stakeholder group want to bring men together to talk more, in order to help improve the mental fitness of men in the local area and ultimately reduce suicide.

In order to do this, we are proposing the introduction of a ‘Talk Club’. Talk club is a nationally growing Male Mental Fitness Movement. It’s a talking and listening club for men. It’s a support network for ways to keep mentally fit. It’s a community of men looking after each other. Talk Club is committed to the belief that we can change the way we look after our mental health and end suicide.

This video explains how Talk Club works.

Our first meeting takes place at the For All Healthy Living Centre Weston Super Mare BS23 3SJ on Thursday 10^th September 2020 between 7 and 9pm.

If you would like to attend you can sign up via the North Somerset Talk Club Facebook Page https://www.facebook.com/groups/3178461082272262

or contact me directly to book your place.

August 2020

Through my experiences as a Coach, Trainer and Facilitator I have become a strong believer in the power of self-direction. As a rule of thumb people will only make changes if they see the value in these changes and also have some ownership over this change. It’s very rare for people to be motivated about being ‘done to’.

With this philosophy in mind I have recently become increasingly fascinated by the theme of men’s health, including mental health as well as their personal and professional development.

Some of the statistics are startling and they begin to emerge from a very early age:

In School

• Girls outperform boys in all aspects of education from Primary School through to University
• 80% of pupils excluded for behaviour issues are boys
• Teenage boys are more than twice as likely to kill themselves as girls

In later life

• 95% of all prisoners are male
• Men are three times more likely than women to become dependent on drink or drugs
• 4 in 5 suicides are male

By recognising and addressing these issues we can start to make a positive difference to this worrying picture that will ultimately benefit everyone regardless of Gender.

Look out for updates in 2019

The snap 2017 general election is significant not only because the two main party leaders, Labour’s Jeremy Corbyn and the Conservatives’ Theresa May, offer wildly opposing views on many issues, but also because they present hugely contrasting styles of leadership.

May presents a more old-style, top-down leadership, typical of many political and military leaders, while Corbyn presents a style less often seen, whether in politics or organisations, that of the “servant leader”. What can we can learn about leadership that is useful to organisations?

The best leadership style?

It is not for us to judge the better style. The formal leadership style served a stable world well for centuries and not surprising that May, a self-professed “strong and stable” Oxbridge leader, should feel at ease with this style, speaking for example of ways in which strategy needs to change after the latest terrorist attack on the UK, this time at London Bridge.

Corbyn, by contrast, the product of a less elite institution, is at ease dancing on the stage of a rally in Sunderland and referring, after events at Manchester, to the need to put our arms around those affected.

May has a tendency to refer to the governed as “ordinary” people and as categories – she referred to having talked with steelworkers, fishermen and oil and gas people for example, all in the third person – while Corbyn will often use the first person plural pronoun “our people, our country”.

Leadership style in the balance

So, the 2017 general election is not just about policies but also leadership style. The lessons for people management are clear. An inclusive style of leadership will deliver a more motivated and productive workforce than command and control.

The two main candidates for the leadership election have shown us transactional and inclusive leadership in action. Organisations can pick up the baton and have a debate on leadership styles and, like the country, decide which way they would like to go.

For the full article go to:

http://www.personneltoday.com/hr/corbyn-vs-may-leadership-styles-spotlight/?cmpid=NLC|PTPT|PTDIR-2017-0607

What is Life Coaching?

Life coaching is all about helping you to reflect on your personal and professional goals and ambitions and then supporting you in making your hopes for the future a reality over a series of one to one sessions.

The sessions tend to take place in a neutral venue, away from work and home. You will be asked to consider your hopes and ambitions for the future, to explore what it is you really want from your life and career.

The next step is about considering where you are in relation to these goals and ambitions, where are you in your life right now?

Following this you will start to explore possibilities about how you can improve and move ahead, coaching is about a journey of progress and looking ahead to a better future!

Finally you will make your own choices and decisions about what you will do next.

The role of the coach is to listen carefully to you and support you in exploring your own thoughts and feelings about what comes next. They are a sounding board, a person to talk to and who will value what you have to say.

Interested? Then do get in touch!