Newsletter library

Newsletter Library

Since 2002, Blaire Palmer, the editor of Garnet Room and Managing Director of Optimum Executive Coaching Ltd, has been producing a monthly newsletter filled with tips relating to motivation, leadership, life coaching, team work, communication, creativity...in fact a whole range of subjects to help with professional and business development.

Now you can find an archive of those newsletters here at Garnet Room.

We hope they provide a valuable professional and business development resource, in addition to all the more in-depth articles on this site. Where appropriate we will guide you towards related in-depth articles that you can use at work and in your personal lives to improve your effectiveness and the effectiveness of the people around you.  

 

Wake up and smell the coffee. From April 2002. When was the last time you smelt the roses...or the coffee for that matter. The joys of being in the present.

Positive thinking is SO passe. From May 2002. Instead of positive thinking try emotional honesty.

It's an emergency! From June 2002. How to create an "emergency kit" for "bad days". Also contains a motivation tip entitled: Creative a Success File.

The 5:1 rule. From July 2002. Motivation advice using acknowledgement and praise to bring out the best in other people and yourself.

Is that the time already? From August 2002. When this newsletter was written it was the 8th month of the year. Is that too late to really achieve something by New Year? Motivation tips when you're starting to flag.

Going where the resistance is. From September 2002. If you are strongly resisting an idea, that might be a good reason to go for it, according to this motivation newsletter.

The power of "What". From October 2002. Asking questions that begin with the word "what" can be a powerful motivation technique for yourself and your team.

Do as little as possible. From November 2002. Instead of trying to do everything yourself, remove energy and motivation drains by getting other people to help you.

The freedom to fail. From December 2002. Treating failure and success the same is a great recipe for creativity and innovation.

The road less traveled. From January 2003. Without being a guide to New Year's Resolutions, this newsletter gives tips for making goals that stick.

Enrichment Motivation. From February 2003. A brief introduction to Frederick Hertzberg and the concept of job (and life) enrichment.

What should I do with my life? From March 2003. Inspired by the new book by Po Bronson, this article looks at the myths which prevent us finding our ideal job.

Motivation 1-2-3. From April 2003. Motivating other people by putting yourself in to their shoes. A three step process.

If at first you don't succeed... From May 2003. Try and try again may not be the best way to succeed. Try this step by step motivation process.

What are you assuming?  From June 2003. Assumptions lie behind many of our obstacles to success. Here is a process for challenging yours.

Half time review. From July 2003. Just as there is normally a "half time" in any sporting game where players get to re-focus and re-motivate, so there can be for any goal-setting. July is half way through the way so the perfect time to do yours.

You are so irritating! From August 2003. How do you deal with workplace stresses? By creating and communicating strong boundaries.

The power of "I". From September 2003. Continuing last month's theme about dealing with workplace stress but focusing on the word "I" in communication.

How famous are you? From October 2003. How many people in your industry (or outside) know who you are? This newsletter takes a different slant on networking and personal branding.

It's not you. It's me! From November 2003. Some days everything seems to go well and other days everything goes badly. Could you be manifesting this experience of life?

Be positive. From December 2003. Actually this article argues that "being positive" doesn't work unless you choose specifically "how" to be positive.

New Year...old you! From January 2004. How to connect with the child within to inform this year's New Year's goals.

Two little words. From February 2004. The power of the words "thank you" and a variety of ways to incorporate gratitude (to yourself and others) into your day.

The carrot or the stick? From March 2004. A new TV programme was the inspiration for this newsletter. What style of motivating a team works best over time - the carrot or the stick. Some initial thoughts.

Recognising your team type. From April 2004. Looks at the strengths and weaknesses of three different personality types - the thinker, the checker and the doer. Based on research by Ian Maitland in his book "Motivating People".

Pulling your socks up. From May 2004. Ever feel like you can't catch up with your to do list? Here's a method inspired by my sister and by Stephen Covey, author of "The Seven Habits of Highly Effective People".

Burning your bridges. From June 2004. Instead of leaving your options open, burn your bridges. That's this month's motivation tip!

If you build it... From July/August 2004. An argument against goals...and in favour of other methods of moving forward in your work and life.

Decision, decisions. From September 2004. Ten top tips for making a decision right now!

Advice for a new manager, or leader, or CEO. From October 2004. When you step in to a new, powerful role, you may get more than you expect. Here's some simple advice to consider before you step in to that new role.

Watch your language. From November 2004. Management speak has taken over the world. Or so it seems. This newsletter provides some "food for thought" (to use an over-used cliche) to help you reconsider the language you use.

The point is to change it... From December 2004. Emotional intelligence is the mark of an exceptional leader. And the ability to not only adapt to change but initiate is one factor that separates the best from the rest.

New Year...so what? From January 2005. Explores the reasons why we delay making a change and why we particularly favour New Year as the time to transform our lives.

Making Headlines. From February 2005. Looks at the basics of understanding the media, preparing from media interviews and actually doing media interviews. You can read more about this topic in our Understanding PR in-depth article.

How to think. From March 2005. Provides simple tips on brainstorming, problem solving, creativity and ideas generation.

Manager vs Leader. From April 2005. Assesses the differences between a manager and a leader, and which (if any) is "best".

Accentuate the positive. From May 2005. Gives the counter arguments to any resistance to praise, acknowledgement, constructive criticism and appreciation.

Mind your Ps and Qs. From June 2005. What is the etiquette of meetings? Whether it is a networking meeting or a business meeting or any other type of meeting, this newsletter gives you some tips on basic good manners.

Does feedback have value? From July 2005. A question and answer newsletter exploring the value (and downsides) of feedback (including 360's) and their impact on motivation.

Are you suffocating ideas? From August 2005. A short introduction to the ways businesses (and individuals) prevent ideas from developing. Looks at creativity, ideas, business and organisational change.

The Creativity Gap. From September 2005. There is a shortage of creative skill in business today...and here are the statistics to prove it.

Are you walking the talk? From October 2005. It's one thing to say what kind of leader you are...it's another to BE that kind of leader. Which type are you?

Walk the talk update...and Disruptive Teams. From November 2005. Firstly some feedback from readers about last month's newsletter and then a short article about the positives to come from disruptive teams and disruption and conflict in the workplace.

New skirt, new look. From December 2005. Charts some personal and business branding changes and reflects on how starting on the "outside" rather than looking "inside" can also lead to radical change personally and in business.

Be original. From March 2006. Looks at some of the various reasons why companies shy away from creativity and provides some simple self-reflection exercises to start opening up to original ideas.

The Creative Organisation - where to start? From May 2006. If you want to transform your organisational culture to one which promotes creative problem solving, where do you start? Some basic tips.

Trust your gut. From June 2006. Where do ideas come from? Is creativity pure inspiration, gut feel or a spark of genius or is there method behind the madness?

Creativity down the drain. From July 2006. Looks at the concept of "creativity leakage" and the key source of the problem - meetings.

Money, money, money. From August 2006. Is creativity in business a "nice to have" or a "must have"? What are the financial justifications for introducing a creativity culture in to business?

Where do ideas come from? From September 2006. Looks at how to generate ideas when you aren't feeling creative by using Michael Michalko's "Thinkpak" cards.

Attention all leaders - what is your job? From October 2006. Looks at creativity and the organisational climate, giving a list of simple questions to discover how you can change your organisational climate.

Eliminate, eliminate. From November 2006. How do you make decision in your business? How you do choose between good ideas and poor ideas? This newsletter provides an 8 step process for eliminating poor ideas.

The perfect meeting. From December 2006. Looks at the basic mistakes in meeting design and provides some simple tips for transforming your company meetings.

What did you achieve in 2007? From January 2007. An attempt to get you to think a year ahead and imagine what success in the year would look like without goals or resolutions.

Big Business Bad? From February 2007. Are big companies fundamentally flawed? Can SME's offer creativity, innovation and flexibility and will they leave the big blue chips behind?

Does creativity pay? From March 2007. Presents the business case for creativity. It's not a "nice to have". It's a must have and these three case studies from SAS, Ocean Spray and CarsDirect.com give some idea why.

Think like a God. From April 2007. A summary of some of the points made by Guy Kawasaki in his book "Rules for Revolutionaries". Perfect if you are interested in creativity and innovation.

The Hyper-Creative Personality. From May 2007. Marking the publication of Blaire Palmer's new book, "The Hyper-Creative Personality" this newsletter gives a brief explanation of the content. You'll have to buy the book to find out more!

Can you measure creative talent? From June 2007. Looks at the work of Paul E Torrance and the Torrance Centre, University of Georgia and discover whether it is possible to measure innate creative talent.

The Ugly Truth. From August 2007. In their 1997 Harvard Business Review article “The Work of Leadership”, Ronald Heifetz and Donald L Laurie changed opinions about the role of the leader. Here we look at their concept of the "adaptive leader".

The quiet before the brainstorm. From September 2007. What needs to happen before the brainstorming even begins in order for that session of generating ideas to work?