Evolution - Personal and Corporate Development

10/09/2026

Do you ever have conversations where you need to hold your ground without damaging the relationship? Eg...

• A customer pushing back on price
• A supplier asking for more
• Scope creeping without the fee increasing
• A colleague or stakeholder who won't budge
• Handling objections without immediately conceding
• Needing to influence someone you don't manage
• Trying to get a better outcome without turning the conversation confrontational

I'm running a practical three-hour online Negotiation Masterclass on 1 October to help you handle these conversations better.

Find out more here ⬇️

A practical masterclass to build confidence in negotiation, sharpen influencing skills, handle objections and achieve better outcomes.

07/09/2026

I was out walking with the dog recently and was thinking about the seemingly random route of the coast paths around St Agnes Head.

A friend of mine once told me that when he was at uni, the university built some new buildings and didn’t put any paths in on the open ground between them.

After a while, students and lecturers who went from one building to another wore paths in the open ground. They all seemed to be taking the same route and so the university then built paths on the routes created by hundreds of feet.

It turns out these have a name. Urban planners and architects call them desire paths, or desire lines.

They see these as a way to increase cost efficiency, lower maintenance costs and increase accessibility.

I was thinking about this in terms of leading change in an organisation.

Perhaps it is easier and more effective to give a team an outcome, any critical stages along the way that must be avoided or included, and then empowering the team to find the way to implementing the change.

This allows them to use their skills, experience, team culture and creativity - and avoids the leader having to over-manage, plan and drive the change, which may not feel right or work effectively for the team (I’ve been there, on both sides).

The route the team choose to implement can then be the process you define for the future – much like building the paths tramped through the grass.

What do you think?

08/05/2026

I'm running another free webinar next week, where I’ll share a useful technique tried and tested over 30 years to help you get your message across in meetings and conversations, stay calm when speaking in front of a crowd and be generally less stressed. You’ll get the recording by email so you can refer back to it whenever you need.

I’ll also tell you a bit about the anniversary Business Practitioner course that's coming up in May.

If you’d like to join, you can register here:

A practical webinar designed to help professionals and leaders strengthen the people skills that make them great at what they do.In this session, Martin Crump of Evolution Development explores why ...

23/04/2026

Since we've got a new (30th Anniversary special!)
Business Practitioner course coming up, here are a few testimonials from some of the 1000+ delegates who've taken the course.

You can find details of the online course here: https://bit.ly/4sN1ePt

And the in-person version: https://bit.ly/4tDXkK3

04/03/2026

Banter is a normal part of many workplace cultures, and often it’s a sign that teams feel comfortable with each other - but there’s a fine line between humour that brings people together and humour that leaves someone feeling excluded.

Here's a blog post on banter and how we navigate that fine line.

Spend enough time in any workplace and you’ll hear it sooner or later: “Relax - it’s just banter.” But where’s the line where banter turns into bullying, and how do we make sure it’s not being crossed in our workplace?A shared sense of humour is part of every happy workplace: a joke can ...

18/02/2026

This month marks 30 years of Evolution Personal and Corporate Development!

To celebrate, here's a blog post from the archives: "How to avoid falling off the top step", on the stages of getting good at things, from unconscious incompetence to unconscious competence, and all the way back again.

How can you avoid falling off the top step? What is “the top step”?Did you ever learn to drive a car? If so, you would have gone through the four stages of development known as the Conscious Competence Model which was developed by Noel Burch in the 1970s.You have to start from a place of unconsc...

04/02/2026

I'm running a couple of civility workshops this month - one in-person, and one online.

The workshops are designed for anyone who wants to learn how to create a culture of civility in their working life, whether you’re leading a team, working within one, or self-employed, and really make it stick.

They're one-day sessions, interactive and grounded in real examples, with time to reflect, discuss and practice ideas you can use immediately in your own role and workplace.

Here's the link to the in-person event: https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/civility-in-action-a-one-day-workshop-on-workplace-civility-in-person-tickets-1981340759548

And the online event: https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/civility-in-action-an-one-day-workshop-on-workplace-civility-online-tickets-1981342198853

Any questions, feel free to ask, and feel free to tag anyone you think might be interested.

03/02/2026

Thanks to everyone who joined Chris Turner and I for our civility webinar last week - we've had some great feedback already.

If you missed it, you can watch the replay here (and feel free to leave any questions in the comments, or get in touch if you'd like to know more): https://bit.ly/4q8wQh7

09/12/2025

I'm really excited to introduce a new free email series, 5 Days to Civility.

It's a short, practical email series designed to help you build more respectful, collaborative and productive working relationships. Each day you’ll receive one simple, actionable step you can put into practice straight away, whether you’re a team member, a manager or a business leader.

As we head towards a new year, I hope this series helps you build the kind of interactions and relationships that bring out the best in you and the people around you.

If you do sign up, feedback would be most welcome!

You can sign up for free here: https://www.evolution-development.com/5-days-to-civility

28/11/2025

A civility story from Chris Turner on how easy it is to misinterpret each other and make assumptions based on our own preconceptions - and the impact that can have on performance.