Matt Smith Personal and Professional Coach

It’s been a while

For me writing a blog was always a way to work through my thoughts and feelings. It has always been a way to manage my well-being. It has however always been a two edged sword. One side is helpful, and helps me make sense of my thoughts and feelings. The other less helpful edge createsContinue reading “It’s been a while”

The Coaching and Leadership Books I Love

As you have probably guessed, I am a bit of a leadership and coaching nerd. I am a sucker for a good book on leadership, coaching or well-being. So I thought The other week we were talking about books we have and I suggested we all list what books we have so we can shareContinue reading “The Coaching and Leadership Books I Love”

Sitting in The Middle of a Drama Triangle

I woke up this morning feeling run down and out of energy, it was the same yesterday. We were supposed to go see Space (a indie pop band from the 90s). Most of yesterday though I felt nauseas, had a headache and was so tired. We did not end up going, Lisa was not upContinue reading “Sitting in The Middle of a Drama Triangle”

My People Career

For some reason today I have felt in a reflective mood. Previously I have been reflective on my shortcomings. Today I decided to reflect on my professional life in a positive sense to reflect on what I have achieved and have to offer. So here is a short history of my 39 year people career.Continue reading “My People Career”

First Blog of 2025

I cannot believe the first month of 2025 is nearly over, then again I can never believe how time fast is going. My youngest pointed out to me that time inevitably feels like it is going faster when you get older. The longer time you spend alive the shorter the perception of what time is.Continue reading “First Blog of 2025”

Address the context not the behaviour

There is a lot of focus on poor behaviours from all angles (colleagues, customers, patients, general public). It feels especially a problem since the pandemic. Wherever you look there is divisiveness…”you are either on our side or against us” attitude appears to prevail. We all blame different groups for these behaviours, the right wing, theContinue reading “Address the context not the behaviour”

Reflections

I was up ridiculously early this morning. At 5:30am I was laying in bed wide awake, with the all the activity of the past week playing out in my head. Everything I managed to achieve, all what I didn’t get done, and most importantly all the things I could have done better. The usual whenContinue reading “Reflections”

Does our fear of vulnerability fuel our shame and disconnects us from people around us

In my day job I speak to health professionals about their experiences at work and what they find the most difficult. It nearly always boils down to communication, people being rude and dismissive, being shouted at, and communication being incomplete. This is not just from one direction, this is generally from every and any direction,Continue reading “Does our fear of vulnerability fuel our shame and disconnects us from people around us”

Don’t chase a career path, go where your values take you

You might be at the beginning of your working life, or already on a career path and wondering what is next for you, there are always points in our life when we start to consider our choices on where we want to be in the next few years. There seems to be a popular viewContinue reading “Don’t chase a career path, go where your values take you”

Positivity (Not what it is cracked up to be)

This week I delivered a short talk to a group of Doctors in training about how to manage stress at work and home. I deliver this talk to Foundation Year 2 Doctors on a fairly regular basis. It started life as a straight up signposting session, telling them where to get help if they neededContinue reading “Positivity (Not what it is cracked up to be)”