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Inspiring Leadership

25/5/2020

 
Picture
A question often asked is, “What constitutes an inspiring leader”?  Inspiring leaders use the language of “We” not “I”.  They display humility and have a genuine interest in developing the capacity of others, they respect and seek feedback.  Research has identified the quality of humility as a strong predicter for effective leadership.  Humility is about having the ability to minimize status or position differences, genuinely putting the needs of others first.  Inspiring leaders have the ability to turn the big ideas into executable plans, whilst keeping others enthusiastically engaged. ​

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Valuing Lived Experience

7/5/2020

 
Valuing Lived Experience in Mental Health support services
The Poem below clearly demonstrates why a peer workforce is essential, living with mental ill health must not define a person or his/her ability or capacity to live a life of purpose, meaning, choice and citizenship.

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Set Yourself Free of Old Habits

5/5/2020

 
Understanding Behaviour.  Set yourself free of old habits. All behaviours are chosen.
Want to set yourself free of old habits?
​Covid 19 has offered us a chance to not only clean our cupboards but to also assess our old habits and clean out those that are no longer useful to us.  Understanding behaviour is necessary in order to make change.  The old saying “out with the old and in with the new” is much easier said than done.  Before we can make changes to the behaviours that do not serve us well, it’s helpful to understand that there are other ways of perceiving the world and how it operates.  Dr. William Glasser has provided us with a new psychology - a new way of perceiving the world that frees us from our old habits.

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Building Connecting Relationships & Home Schooling

28/4/2020

 
Choosing connecting behaviours to build strong relationships while home schooling and home schooling
Covid 19 is imposing many restrictions on our communities and in particular schools.  My seven-year-old, grandson Jack, who is in Grade 3 is doing his schooling with me, his sister is being supported by their mother, who is also working from home. One could be forgiven for thinking that supervising Grade 3 work would be a breeze! Well let me say it is not!  Maths has changed dramatically! The challenge that I set myself is to be curious instead of telling and to use my connecting behaviours instead of the disconnecting behaviours. Teachers do a magnificent job and I say THANK YOU! 

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Dignity of Risk

13/4/2020

 
Dignity of Risk - everyone matters
​As the weeks pass in these days of uncertainty and social distancing, I have taken the opportunity to reflect upon the things that matter to me and the things that I think are important for a progressive inclusive society.  There will always be vulnerable people in our midst, but the question for us to respond to is “what effort do we make to create an inclusive society”?  The poem that I have included in this blog does not require and commentary.  But I urge you to take the time to contemplate the challenging message!  We all have the right to want something purposeful and meaningful to do, to love and be loved and to have hope for our future!

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Dementia - What is the end game?

6/4/2020

 
Dementia what is the end game? Blog 5
Having watched vascular dementia take over my father’s life, I often asked myself the question “Where is the balance between supporting the person living with dementia and his/her family versus research and treatment options”? Dementia is a cruel and debilitating disease and its impact on people, families and friends is both challenging and shocking.  The greatest challenge that I witnessed was constantly remembering that my father was not just a diagnosis or a statistic, he was a human being with feelings and human rights just like me. He deserved and had the human right to be treated with dignity and respect at all times.

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Time on Your Hands - De-Clutter Your Life?

29/3/2020

 
Blog 4 declutter
We are now living in unchartered and challenging times. As a global society we are rethinking almost everything that we do to make the necessary changes to meet our global survival need.  On the home front I have been going through the many files on my computer to make access easier and to get rid of obsolete files!  During this process I came upon 8 Steps to DE-CLUTTER Your Life, an article from the worldhappinessforum.org, November 2012.  The first question I asked my self was “what is clutter”? My curiosity took me into the article to find an answer!  ​

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How can we overcome FEAR in times of uncertainty and stress?

20/3/2020

 
Woman walking to look after her mental health
Knowing about and understanding our Five Basic Needs as described by Dr William Glasser will help us to cope in this pandemic.  It will help us to make choices that will keep us calm and significantly reduce unhealthy fear and stress.   Fulfilling our five basic needs helps us to stay mentally healthy and enjoying life.  Interestingly, our basic needs are of little interest unless they are threatened.  And right now, for many our basic needs are being threatened!  For some, all of the five basic needs are being threatened.

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What is Leadership?

18/3/2020

 
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Picture What is leadership by Cathy O'Toole

​People often ask the question “What is Leadership?
​

In my view Dolly Pardon’s words sum up leadership perfectly. “If your actions create a legacy that inspires others to dream more, learn more, do more and become more, then, you are an excellent leader.  It would be fair to suggest that in today’s world an organisation or business’s greatest asset is its people, which throws the spotlight on quality leadership.   

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Generation Equality.

11/3/2020

 
International Womens Day with Cathy OToole
The theme for International Women's Day on the 8th March 2020 was “I am Generation Equality: Realizing women's rights”.  Achieving this outcome requires women to support each other and in the words of G.D. Anderson, 2013.  “Feminism isn’t about making women stronger.  Women are already strong. It’s about changing the way the world perceives that strength.  These are powerful words to contemplate every day and not just on International Women’s Day 2020.

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    Cathy O'Toole

    Consultant, Mentor, Speaker.

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I acknowledge the traditional custodians of the land on which I operate my business; the Wulgurukaba and Bindal people. I pay my respects to their Elders.
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