A leap year, and the extra day it brings, may be the most obvious moment to question the amount of work you do.

But factors such as hybrid working, the increase in global roles, the rise of digital interaction has contributed hugely to the number of hours we regularly offer up for free.

Rachel Morris shares her thoughts with HR Grapevine

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.

Why it pays to supplement formal learning programmes with coaching.

Coaching can be the perfect compliment to formal leadership and management programmes, multiplying your ROI whilst increasing the all-round capabilities of your leaders.

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

Who better to ask about the experience and value of maternity coaching than the mother’s who’ve undertaken it? If you’re thinking about maternity coaching for your organisation or yourself, here’s an insight into what to expect…

There’s been a squeeze on meaningful conversations at “work”, and a knock on effect upon our well-being and work-life balance.

Rachel Morris, executive coach, explores the impact of the dramatic changes in 2020 on our conversations and notes the need for coaches to adapt their working practices to ensure coachees still get the full value from coaching

What are the challenges of coaching in a redundancy situation? What are the dual responsibilities of outplacement coaching? Our coaches have experienced both sides of this challenging situation and understand the requirements of successful outplacement coaching.

Sophia Taylor and Gayle Tong, Motion coaches and specialists in outplacement work, recently discussed the issues involved.

We’re all part of personal and professional systems, whether we are mindful of it or not. Visualising them, representing them and then discussing them can open up routes to greater awareness and understanding.

Rachel Morris and Kim Gieske discuss the value of adopting a systemic approach and share their own examples of its application.

Our recommendations for Christmas reading. See our thoughts on the following reads:

The Boys in the Boat

Ditching Imposter Syndromw

Nonviolent Communication

Working Out Loud

What does the future look like for coaching?

Having shared our clients’ and our colleagues’ views on how they have experienced remote coaching this year, we now want to think about some of the practical skills being brought to the fore, and look forward to a more varied coaching experience in the future.

Coaching has changed dramatically during 2020.

The coaches at Motion share their experiences with executive coach and partner Rachel Morris about the reality of coaching in a virtual space, along with their coachees’ reactions and thoughts about the remote coaching experience.

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.

We’ve been listening to a lot of people this year, which is good, as it’s our job to listen. There are a lot of things people want to talk through, work through and share – but in a quiet, safe space; away from all the noise.

We’ve asked a few of our coaches to tell us about what they’ve been listening to, and how they’ve been helping people this year.

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.

We use our personal experience to support our clients as they progress on their own journeys.

Here’s one of our coaches, Lucy James, sharing her own experiences of balancing motherhood and career

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.