This month we've been reflecting on what's inspired us this year and what will motivate us to sail through the festive season and into 2024.

We hope you find inspiration too, as we share our team’s thoughts this holiday season.

We asked the team to offer some thoughts and suggestions for good books this winter, based upon what they’ve been reading. Here’s the typically varied selection.

What is back to work looking like for you?

We’ve been discussing the new reality amongst our team and getting a sense of the issues our clients are facing as we now contemplate the end of furlough and the return to the office.

Do You need a recommendation for some summer reading?

Although our opportunities for enjoying the classic summer reading experience, whether poolside or on the beach, may be curtailed this year, if you’re like us, you’ll still use some of your time to stretch your mind and take in a different point of view.

How do we find the balance between the flexibility and autonomy that many employees desire, with the need to regulate for the protection of those same employees?

Question and opinions on the current working landscape from Howard Rich, Motion Learning

We all know there are times where having someone objective to talk to helps tremendously. Those moments when, through skilled conversation, complications and confusions begin to become crystal clear.

How do you know when you’re at one of those moments?

How do you choose an executive coach? How do you know the fit is right?

Rachel Morris, executive coach and partner at Motion Learning, shares her views on the signs of potential for a good coaching relationship and reveals some of the key qualities of any great coach.

Faced with the continuing pandemic, civil disquiet and an overdue focus on issues of equality, diversity and inclusion, it can be difficult to feel a sense of happiness.

The answer is not to ignore the wider world, but respond in an authentic way, tapping into the wisdom of others to learn some key lessons.

Our recent research on paternity coaching shows that it’s rarely an option, is little understood but could be welcomed by working fathers

To understand more about the paternal view of coaching we conducted some research with almost 50 fathers contributing their thoughts and feelings.

Over the course of 15 years, we’ve never stopped learning at Motion Learning. Here are a few thoughts from our journey so far.

We weren’t completely unaware that to make a success of a business would take lots of energy, time and some good ideas, but to paraphrase, we certainly “didn’t know what we didn’t know”.

Communities of practice have been much on our minds over the last 12 months, particularly in light of the value we gain from two of our own.

In the course of our own investigations and experiences, we’ve come across information we think might be useful to others.

Just over 3 years ago we went to see Martin Seligman share his views on Happiness and Positive Psychology in London. We think it’s worth sharing again our notes and reactions to his talk.

Martin Seligman, the “father of positive psychology”, was in London, sharing his views on happiness with over 900 people in a packed venue, where at least 60% of the audience, according to Martin, were engaged in the topic! The other 40% were too busy indulging in sexual fantasies, apparently…

Are you clear about the factors which motivate you; is it the pleasures in life or a need to achieve before the inevitable occurs?

It’s neither cake, nor death, which drives us on, but instead a combination of pleasure, engagement and most importantly the opportunities we have to make a contribution, according to Martin Seligman, one of our favourite gurus.

Who do you turn to when you need advice, support or inspiration? Is it one person, or different people depending upon your need?

A personal development board, AKA The bench, is a group of people standing behind you, supporting you, keeping you on track, guiding, challenging and stretching you.

Although the concept of the Mentor has been around since the time of Homer, it seems very much of the moment. But why should anyone become a mentor? And what does it involve?

The idea of mentoring seems to be having its moment in the sun, with both commercial and public sector organisations investing much time, energy and resources into mentoring programmes.

We’re often asked about the nature of mentoring. We always recommend considering it, whether formally or informally, as a way to support leaders and managers.

Our view at Motion Learning is that mentoring is a relationship in which experiences are shared and questions asked and answered for mutual benefit and growth. Here’s our factsheet on mentoring.

Demonstrating resilience, overcoming barriers and hurdles, and bouncing back are more and more frequent topics of conversation in our work with clients.

We’ve spent a lot of time over the last couple of years talking to our clients and our network about resilience and it's not hard to understand why. A recent study on reactions to the current global economic crisis highlighted the range of reactions and depth of emotions that are stirred up by the uncertainty we all currently face.