Other Skills Blog
Chris Farmer's Leadership and Management Training Blog
Welcome - the purpose of the blog page is to provide you with a never ending source of valuable, practical and entertaining information designed to help you get the best performance from yourself and others.
In these blogs you will find all the information you need to make faster progress in less time and effort. Here you will find all the information you need to achieve your goals. In addition to helping yourself to achieve your goals, you can use the same information to help others to achieve their goals.
Other Skills Blogs
All our blogs contain valuable knowledge and skills.
Here are a few that don't fit in a specific category, but are as equally important and relevant to your improvement and development as an individual.
Other Skills Blogs
Turn Worry Into Plans
4 July 2023
Excessive worry about the future harms mental health, sleep, and relationships. Worry is a negative use of imagination, fixating on bad outcomes. Instead, we should channel our imagination constructively by creating plans for a brighter future.
Continue Reading >What is the Oscar Coaching Model?
12 April 2022
How to coach people through the process of personal change, using the OSCAR coaching model. Effective training will bring about the best results.
Continue Reading >Common Management Mistakes and How to Avoid Them
7 December 2021
As a manager, whether new or experienced, you will make mistakes. But you can learn to recognise the common mistake and how to take action to avoid them. Develop your managerial skills and become a better manager.
Continue Reading >How to Improve Employee Retention
16 November 2021
Losing skilled and experienced staff is costly for a business, as is recruitment and training new staff. We examine the ways you can improve employee retention, by paying attention to your company’s ethos and providing training for your managers.
Continue Reading >How to Tap Into the Hidden Skills of your Workforce
21 September 2021
Employees often have many skillsets and qualities that are unknown to their employers. Managers should therefore seek to discover and use this hidden potential, both for the benefit of the organisation and for employee job satisfaction.
Continue Reading >How to Create a Successful Remote Training Session
20 April 2021
Remote, online training has been embraced by both trainers and delegates, during the pandemic and is set to be a popular alternative to face-to-face training in the future. Discover the secrets of successful online training.
Continue Reading >How to Tell Whether an Idea is True
13 April 2021
We act on ideas that we believe to be true. But how can we be sure that what we believe is actually correct?
Continue Reading >Why Do Things Happen?
6 April 2021
Things don't just happen - every event has multiple causes. Find out what causes things to happen and learn how to overcome them.
Continue Reading >10 Ways to Improve Remote Online Training
17 February 2021
Remote working during the COVID pandemic has seen a significant rise in remote learning. If remote training is here to stay, then it must be effective and enjoyable. Here are ten ways to ensure your remote training is of high quality and engaging.
Continue Reading >How to Prevent Burnout At Work
15 January 2021
Working long and hard without support is a recipe for burnout. Find out how to recognise and prevent burnout in this article from training expert Chris Farmer.
Continue Reading >Selective Perception and Confirmation Bias
12 January 2021
Many people fall into harmful habits which can distort their judgement and their reaction to events. We examine these habits and learn how to counteract them.
Continue Reading >Remote Teams - Management Techniques
15 October 2020
As the majority of companies shift to remote working, you may find it difficult to manage people remotely. This blog covers practical tips on remote management.
Continue Reading >How to Recover Economically From the Covid-19 Lockdown
24 April 2020
Since lockdown measures were introduced to tackle COVID-19, businesses have suffered huge losses and the economy is predicted to take many years to recover. Take steps to ensure that your organisation will be able to get back on its feet quickly.
Continue Reading >How to Understand More
13 March 2020
Improving your knowledge and skills comes with understanding more about a subject. To understand more you need to break things down into their component parts, whilst also considering the wider context.
Continue Reading >How Do you Know That What you Believe is Actually True?
10 May 2019
If something is trending on Twitter, does it make it true? There are various ways in which you gain and verify knowledge, not all of them are reliable. Which ones do you use, and which can you trust?
Continue Reading >Six Reasons Why Leadership Training is Important
5 February 2019
Good leaders are vital to the success of any organisation, by inspiring and empowering their staff to achieve the goals of the business. It is not true that leaders are born not made. Leaders can be taught to be great with good leadership training.
Continue Reading >Understanding Human Behaviour
28 November 2017
Understanding the behaviour of other people can be difficult, understanding ourselves can be even more tricky. Learn more with Corporate Coach Group.
Continue Reading >How to be More Confident
1 March 2017
Confident people tend to perform better than those who lack confidence. Here are some tips to help you improve your level of confidence.
Continue Reading >A Christmas Tale
23 December 2016
It was 1970 and all I wanted for Christmas was an Action Man. Did my dream come true?
Continue Reading >Take Back Control
2 December 2016
If you have not succeeded as well as you would have liked, how do you explain that? Is it because of your parents, your boss, your friends, the government, or God, or just bad luck, or is it down to yourself?
Continue Reading >
After Brexit Vote: What is the Plan Now?
24 June 2016
What's the plan for the economy when we leave the EU?
Continue Reading >Natural Law: Use It Or Lose It
27 November 2015
It is important to impose demands on yourself that will improve upon your current levels of performance.
Continue Reading >I Have Made an Amazing Discovery
30 October 2015
Apply this discovery and you will be better able to persuade people to accept your proposal, buy your products, and accept your ideas.
Continue Reading >Onus of Proof Principle
11 September 2015
There is a principle of logic that says that the onus of proof is on the prosecution. The onus of proof is not on the accused. The accused does not need to prove his/her innocence
Continue Reading >How can I Motivate Staff?
10 July 2015
Some people use threats and punishment to motivate staff, but praise and appreciation are one of the best ways to motivate staff.
Continue Reading >Aristotle Blog
17 March 2015Aristotle Blog This is the third blog in a series. We are covering the three biggest names in philosophy; Socrates, Plato and Aristotle. Everyone knows the names Socrates, Plato and Aristotle. These are the three lions of philosophy. Their names are known the world over. But, unless you have made them
Continue Reading >Plato's Blog
3 March 2015Previously: Socrates In our last newsletter we looked at Socrates. We learned how Socrates' great contribution to philosophy was to challenge us all to think more deeply about what we mean when we use moral words; what does it MEAN to say, Justice, Fairness, Equality and Friend. Socrates said that if
Continue Reading >What Could you Learn From Socrates, Plato and Aristotle?
3 February 2015What Could You Learn from Socrates, Plato and Aristotle? I am guessing that you have heard the names Socrates, Plato and Aristotle. You probably know that they are the three most famous philosophers in history. But unless you have made it a special study, you may not know much about what
Continue Reading >Management Training: Delegation
31 October 2014Management Training: Delegation Delegation is an important management skill. Delegation is the act of entrusting a task to another person. Many managers need training on how to delegate properly. Why don't many managers delegate properly? Because they don't know HOW to delegate; or because they are AFRAID to delegate; or BOTH
Continue Reading >Praise and Appreciation
29 August 2014
Do you appreciate your staff? Do you let them know that you appreciate their work? People do not work for money alone, people need social motivators, praise for a job well done. Please show a little bit of appreciation today.
Continue Reading >6 Fundamental Management Skills
23 June 2014
Six skills needed by everyone who wants to succeed in their role as a manager or team leader.
Continue Reading >Seven Skills of Management Training
18 March 2014Seven skills of management training Management training is training that will teach your leader-managers the must-have skills, knowledge, attitudes, and attributes they need to acquire, if they are to get the very best performance from themselves and the rest of the team. Management training is important for your organisation because the
Continue Reading >Communication Styles for Leaders
23 December 2013Communication styles for leaders There is a strong correlation between leadership and excellent communication skills, meaning; that almost all great leaders are also known for their ability to communicate effectively. Examples of this type are many: Abraham Lincoln, Martin Luther King, Gandhi, Napoleon Bonaparte, Winston Churchill, Barack Obama, Margaret Thatcher, and
Continue Reading >Don't you Trust Me?
14 June 2012Handling difficult people: "Don't you trust me?" Last week a female delegate on my course asked me a good question relating to the issue of trust. She said, "Can I ask you a question related to trust? I don't know how to handle the situation when my daughter, or anyone else
Continue Reading >Front Line Management Training
23 March 2012Front Line Management Training Most managers are not front line managers. That is, most managers need ONLY manage the process: they are not asked to simultaneously: Deal with members of the public Do "the job" itself Manage the all the individuals in the working team...........as well as manage the process Other
Continue Reading >Blog Categories
Accelerated Learning (6)
Accelerated learning techniques are special methods of organising information, so that you can more rapidly memorise and more accurately recall it on demand. Accelerated learning also includes mind mapping and creative thinking techniques.
Assertiveness (4)
Assertiveness is a both a communication style and a mind-set which, when combined, allows a people to express their meaning using just the amount of forcefulness, in relation to their body language, voice tone and spoken language.
Change Management (15)
Change management training is how to use the fact of continuous change, to work FOR you, rather than against you. It is a fact that all improvement implies change, but many people hate change. Change management is about training people to love change as a means of making the future better.
Coaching, Mentoring and Developing Staff (8)
There is a pressing need to develop the next generation of leaders, managers and technical experts. One way to develop staff is through coaching and mentoring. To be an effective coach and mentor is not an easy skill to master. These blogs discuss the skills of coaching, mentoring and staff development.
Communication - Clear Communication (79)
One to the most important facets of communication is clarity. Whenever you write or speak, your words should denote only one possible meaning. If your words can be properly interpreted in multiple ways, then you are creating the conditions for confusion, error and misunderstanding. These blogs discuss the nature of clear communication.
Communication - Listening Skills (6)
Communication includes the ability to attend to, understand and memorise what people say to you. Effective Listening is an active, not a passive process. These bloggs discuss what it takes to be a good listener.
Communication - Nonverbal Communication (8)
Communication includes a large visual component. How you appear, as you speak, makes a big difference to how your message is received. These blogs are about how to best use your body language. (Eye contact, posture, dress, hand and arm gestures, etc.)
Communication - Persuasive Communication (40)
Persuasion is the art of convincing others that your ideas are good, right, fair and practical, and in addition, persuasion includes motivating people to put your ideas into action. Persuasion is a key communication skill that everyone should study. These blogs discuss how to be more persuasive.
Communication - Written Communication (5)
A part of your communication is in the written form. Writing well is a skill that most people do not study, though it is of immense importance. These blogs discuss how you might improve your written communication.
Conflict Management and Handling Difficult People (28)
Conflict is inevitable, and when it occurs, you need to resolve it quickly and efficiently. Conflict management (and handling difficult people) is about managing your communication and your emotions, so that you arrive at a negotiated solution as quickly as possible. This series of blogs discusses the various ways you can best manage conflict.
Decision Making and Problem Solving (22)
Decision making is the skill of selecting the best option from many options. And problem solving is the skill at determining the causes and implications of a problem and finding efficient remedies. This series of blogs discusses the elements of effective decision making and problem solving.
Goal Setting (8)
Success is the achievement of a worthwhile goal. And therefore, the first step to achieving a goal is to set it. Goal setting is the starting point of all achievement and is one of the most important topics you could study. This series of blogs discuss the elements of goal setting.
Leadership and Management (151)
Leadership is the art of setting a clear goal and inspiring others to achieve it. Management is the art of organising resources so as to most efficiently achieve that goal. This series of blogs discuss the details of leadership and management.
Mental Health (12)
Mental health is the skill of managing your own mind so as to achieve mental stability and a high degree of rationality. Mental ill health is the opposite, mental instability and irrational actions. This series of blogs, discusses how you might manage your mind.
Motivation (34)
Motivation is an emotion that induces action. Without motivation, nobody would achieve anything of value. This series of blogs discusses the various ways you can motivate yourself and others.
Other (36)
Whilst interesting and informative in their own right, these blogs don't fit into a category.
People Management (13)
People management is a combination of skills including goal setting, communication, planning, handling conflict and motivation skills. This series of blogs discusses people management skills.
Personal Development (73)
The best investment you can make is in your own personal development. If you develop your skills, knowledge and experience, then you will maximise your potential to produce excellent results. This series of blogs looks at the details of personal development.
Personal Effectiveness (87)
You are not paid for how hard you work; you are paid for your effectiveness. It is possible to improve your effectiveness and get more valuable work done in less time and effort. This series of blogs discusses how you might improve your personal effectiveness and therefore speed up your rate of progress.
Positive Thinking (9)
The quality of your results is based upon the quality of your actions. And your actions are controlled by your thoughts. To simultaneously improve both your material results and your mental health, it is vital to develop the skills of positive thinking.
Stress Management (4)
Stress can be both good for you and bad for you. Good Stress triggers improvement. Bad stress grinds you down. Stress management is about using stress to help you to improve, and to avoid the negative effects of too much stress. These blogs discuss the various aspects of stress management.
Supervisory Management Skills (4)
Supervisory management skills are a combination of five major skill sets, setting goals, communication skills, planning, performance management and motivation. These blogs discuss the details of supervisory management skills.
Team Leadership (7)
For the most part, we all work in teams. Leading the team effectively can make all the difference to the performance of the team, as a whole. This series of blogs discuss the details of team leadership.
Teamwork (19)
Teams are often composed of people who have very different personalities and skills. In order to perform well, the members of the team must work well together and play to each other’s strengths. This series of blogs covers the importance of team work skills.
Time Management (16)
Time management is about prioritising, planning, organising and delegating, so that, at any moment, you are always adding the most value, and setting the conditions for your future success. This series of blogs investigates how you might better manage your time.