What if I told you optimism isn’t just something you’re born with? That you don’t need to be the relentlessly cheerful type to see brighter horizons, even during life’s trickier moments? Practical optimism is less about blind positivity and more about turning hope into helpful action through a positive…
Stress Awareness Month appears on our calendars every April, but what really changes when it’s over? According to the Health and Safety Executive, work-related stress, depression, or anxiety accounts for over half of all ill health cases in the UK workplace. That’s not just a wellbeing issue, it’s a…
Have you ever sat in a meeting and hesitated to share an idea, afraid it might sound silly? Or kept quiet about a mistake because you feared the consequences? If so, you’ve experienced what it feels like to work without psychological safety. But what does psychological safety really mean,…
At Understood, we champion the power of a growth mindset. Our training programmes are grounded in the belief that growth and development are essential to success. One of the most compelling ideas that supports this belief comes from psychologist Carol Dweck’s book, Mindset. Dweck explains that how we view…
Do you want to get better at managing your emotions? You can! Emotional regulation is a skill anyone can develop with practice. Drawing on insights from Leonard Mlodinow’s Emotional: How Feelings Shape Our Thinking, this approach starts with three core actions: accept, reframe, and express. These steps form a…
A recent trip to the hairdresser prompted me to reflect on customer experience, and the true value of our time. It raised some important questions: How should organisations respond when customers express dissatisfaction with a product or service? Is a refund or redo enough to make up for lost…
We all battle distraction, and lack focus, even the most driven among us. You might zone out mid-conversation or sit down to complete an important task, only to end up scrolling endlessly through social media. In Stolen Focus, author Johann Hari calls this an “attention crisis.” He highlights a…
In the workplace, there’s a clear-cut difference between ‘hard’ and ‘soft’ skills. Hard skills are the technical, tangible ones: knowing a foreign language, graphic design, bookkeeping etc. Soft skills are abilities that combine interpersonal strengths, common sense, personality and people skills. Although harder to define, measure, quantify, and assess,…
Welcome back to our three-part series on communication. In our last blog post, we talked about how our poor conversational habits (e.g. judging, sending solutions and avoidance) can create communication ‘roadblocks’. This time, we’ll discuss how you can improve communication by using active and reflective listening. Let’s dive into these…
Where do your suppliers rank in your customer experience pecking order? Do they receive the same level of TLC as you shower upon those who purchase your products/services? Do you respond to their emails as promptly and politely as you would to an email sent to you by your…
