Good Day Red

10/03/2026

Do you ever…

🙄 replay a conversation in your head afterwards, wishing you’d said something differently?
😢 soften feedback because you don’t want to upset someone?
😟 sit with a sense that something isn’t quite right in a working relationship, but you’re not sure how to address it?
🤞🏻 avoid raising a difficult issue, hoping it might resolve itself?
🤔 leave a conversation feeling like you didn’t quite say what needed to be said?

If any of these feel familiar, you’re not alone.

Most people managers care deeply about leading well, but the conversations that matter most are often the hardest to navigate.

That’s exactly why I’m running a free 2-hour workshop in collaboration with Stephens Scown: Meaningful Conversations that Matter.

In this session we’ll explore:
• why certain conversations get avoided
• how to balance empathy with accountability
• how to speak clearly and honestly without being harsh
• how to feel more confident in the moments that really matter

It’s practical, reflective and designed for people managers in Exeter and the South West who want to lead with greater clarity, courage and care.

If this resonates, I’d love you to join us. Places are limited so click on the link below and book your place.

I look forward to welcoming you next week.

Join us, in collaboration with Jude Yates of Good Day Red, at this interactive 2‑hour workshop that will help people managers lead clearer, braver and more human conversations without becoming confrontational or scripted.

You’ll explore how honest dialogue builds trust, strengthens relationships and drives performance, and you’ll learn simple, practical frameworks to use immediately at work.

📅 19 March
⏰ 10am
📍 Curzon House, Exeter

Book your place here 👉 https://www.stephens-scown.co.uk/event/meaningful-conversations-that-matter/

24/02/2026

Let’s be honest, most avoided conversations aren’t avoided because we don’t know what to say.

They’re avoided because:

• we don’t want to upset someone
• we want to be liked
• we fear making it worse
• we doubt ourselves

This free workshop I'm running, in collaboration with Stephens Scown on 19th March, looks at the courage side of leadership, the bit no one really teaches.

If you’ve ever replayed a conversation afterwards thinking “I wish I’d handled that better” - this is for you.

This interactive, 2 hour workshop helps people managers lead clearer, braver and more human conversations without becoming confrontational or scripted. You’ll explore how honest dialogue builds trust, strengthens relationships and drives performance, and you’ll learn simple, practical frameworks to use immediately at work.

RSVP: by Thursday 12 March via this form https://lnkd.in/eewHX836

11/02/2026

Thrilled to be collaborating with Stephens Scown on this Meaningful Conversations that Matter workshop. It’s for anyone who wants to:

• feel more confident having difficult conversations
• stop over-thinking what to say
• lead with clarity and care

It will be practical, human and intentionally accessible, because leadership is human work and humans can be complicated.

If you’ve ever left a conversation thinking “I wish I’d said that differently” then this is for you. Details and the link to sign up below.

Hope to see you there.

Join us, in collaboration with Jude Yates of Good Day Red, at this interactive 2‑hour workshop that will help people managers lead clearer, braver and more human conversations without becoming confrontational or scripted.

You’ll explore how honest dialogue builds trust, strengthens relationships and drives performance, and you’ll learn simple, practical frameworks to use immediately at work.

📅 19 March
⏰ 10am
📍 Curzon House, Exeter

Book your place here 👉 https://www.stephens-scown.co.uk/event/meaningful-conversations-that-matter/

10/02/2026

Do you want to have more meaningful conversations?

Here’s what having better conversations isn’t about:
❌ having the perfect words
❌ memorising scripts
❌ being fearless
❌ becoming confrontational

It is about:
✔ clarity
✔ curiosity
✔ courage
✔ practice

And that’s all learnable!

09/02/2026

The Cost of Avoidance

Avoided conversations don’t disappear

They show up as:
• underperformance
• resentment
• gossip
• disengagement
• stress (yours and theirs)

In SMEs especially, the cost is felt quickly, both emotionally and commercially

Yet most managers have never been taught how to have these conversations well

They’re expected to just… figure it out!

06/02/2026

Leadership Lives in Conversation

Leadership doesn’t live in strategy documents

It lives in:

• feedback conversations
• performance check-ins
• moments of tension
• quiet one-to-ones
• the things that go unsaid

Every culture issue I’ve ever seen can be traced back to a conversation that didn’t happen, or didn’t land

Leadership is not a title.
It’s how you show up in these moments.

05/02/2026

Being Nice vs Being Clear

One of the biggest myths in leadership?
That being nice is the same as being kind

Niceness avoids discomfort
Kindness tells the truth with care

When we soften messages to protect feelings, we often create:
• confusion
• frustration
• lingering tension

Clear, human conversations don’t damage relationships, avoiding them does.

Where do you notice yourself choosing comfort over clarity?

04/02/2026

The Avoided Conversation

There’s a conversation you know you should have
• You’ve drafted it in your head
• You’ve replayed it in the shower
• You’ve softened it… delayed it… parked it

And every time you do, it costs you energy
Not because you’re a bad leader —
but because the conversations that matter most are rarely comfortable

If you manage people, chances are you’re carrying at least one of these right now….
…. and you’re not alone!

(We’ll come back to this)

16/01/2026

My mum turned 80 last year, and we spent much of the year doing lovely things to celebrate. What it really gave me was time with her, noticing her in an even deeper way than ever before.

My brother and I took her back to the hotel where she began her career, a full-circle moment that said so much about her resilience and quiet determination. And we finally made it to Barcelona, a place she’d always dreamed of visiting. Watching her take it all in, curious, grateful and completely present, was a joy.

For years, I’ve assumed my drive and energy came from my dad, a fiery, impatient Taurean with opinions and momentum in equal measure.

But as I reflect, I’m realising something different.

My mum and I share the same birthday, and I really hope we share far more than a date in the calendar.

Growing up, she was a powerful role model, a woman who worked full-time running busy hospitality venues, while juggling home life with two children and a chef husband with a constant desire for change. She led people, solved problems and kept things moving, all without ever making a fuss.

She is kind.
She doesn’t take life too seriously.
She doesn’t sweat the small stuff.
She takes each day as it comes.

She’s always been the quiet supporter, never loud, never demanding, just there with gentle advice, thoughtful questions and words of wisdom offered exactly when they’re needed.

As the year drew to a close, I danced (enthusiastically!) well beyond midnight into 2026 with her, and in that moment I had real clarity about just how incredible she is and how much she’s shaped the way I think about leadership.

Not the kind you shout about.
Not the kind that relies on status or ego.

But the kind that leads with kindness, creates calm in uncertainty, and understands that trust is built in the everyday moments.

I really believe this is the leadership the world needs more of, human, grounded and purposeful.

Thank you Mum, for everything you've brought to the world, and especially everything you've taught me x

20/05/2025