Dive Deeper Development

Dive Deeper Development Dive Deeper is a personal development business offering transformational coaching and training for individuals, teams and businesses.

Are you fed up of trying to move away from something you don't want like an unhelpful habit, negative thinking or feelings, self-defeating behaviour or an unhappy relationship? Feeling frustrated by struggling to move towards something you really want like achieving a goal, change of career or achieving a feeling confidence or motivation but you never quite seem to get there? Moving on from these

situations can feel very frustrating. We often beat ourselves up for not dealing with them in the way we know we should but going it alone can be tricky as it's hard to see beyond our own point of view. Working with a coach can help you gain a new perspective, have a better relationship with yourself and ensure your loved ones are experiencing the best version of you.

18/08/2026

I was coaching a manager recently and we got onto the subject of strengths.
He told me he'd once been offered a role that played almost perfectly to his strengths, but he turned it down.

Why?

Because, on paper, it looked like a demotion.

We talk a lot about career progression as though it has to mean moving upwards. But what if the role that suits you best doesn't look like a step up?

Would you take a job that played much more strongly to your strengths if it meant accepting what looked like a step down?

What would you do?

13/08/2026

Is it me, or has it become much more socially acceptable since COVID to say you’re going to turn up to something and then just… not turn up?

Not cancel. Not explain. Just bail.

I’ve spoken to lots of people who organise events and have noticed this. But I think it’s happening more between individuals too.

Have you noticed it?

11/08/2026

Have you ever been part of a truly high-performing team?

I think fewer people have than probably believe they have.

I’ve worked in plenty of good teams. Teams full of capable people. Teams that delivered results.

But I think I’ve only worked in two genuinely high-performing teams in my life.

And there’s a particular feeling when you’re part of one.

There’s trust, but also challenge. People are honest with each other. Everyone knows what they’re trying to achieve and takes responsibility for making it happen.

You don’t waste energy protecting yourself, second-guessing other people or working around tensions nobody wants to address.

People bring out more in each other. It’s a wonderful feeling but a rarer one than we like to admit.

Have you ever experienced it?

What did it feel like, and how would you define a high-performing team?

06/08/2026

Do you have a PDP (Personal Development Plan)?

Is it up to date?

I was working with a group of managers last week who were there to learn how to support their teams with personal development plans.

Before asking their teams to create one, they wanted to write their own.

I thought that was a great place to start.

Creating your own PDP helps you understand the questions people might struggle with, the support they may need and how difficult it can be to turn broad ambitions into clear actions.

It also sends an important message: development isn’t something managers ask other people to do. You have to go first. When you show that you value personal development, your team will be more committed too.

04/08/2026

There’s a question I like to ask successful people:

What percentage of your success is down to hard work, and what percentage is luck?

I’m an optimist. I believe in creating your own luck, so I’d like to say mine is 95% hard work and 5% good fortune.

But if I’m honest, I suspect that’s what I want to believe rather than what’s actually true.

Being in the right place at the right time, meeting the right people and having opportunities appear when you’re ready for them all play a part.

So perhaps it’s closer to 90/10.

Although even as I write that, I wonder whether I’m still underestimating luck.

What do you reckon? And what would your own split be?

30/07/2026

Are you more creative outside work than you are in it?

This came up in a workshop this week and a few people said they felt like this.

Which got me wondering… why?

Is it more freedom? Less pressure? Less worry about getting it wrong?

Or do we just not think of ourselves as creative at work?

What do you reckon?

28/07/2026

"I never want to get promoted again"

That’s what a manager told me last week. And I think that’s absolutely fine.

Not everyone wants to keep climbing the management ladder. Some people reach a level where they enjoy the work, value the responsibility they have and still want to stay close to the actual doing.

Go too far up, and you can become increasingly removed from the work you most enjoy.

Career development is about far more than promotion.

It can mean becoming better at what you do, broadening your experience, taking on different challenges, deepening your expertise or simply shaping a working life that suits you.

Progress does not always have to mean moving upwards.

From there, we started to work out a PDP that would take her in some very exciting directions.

24/07/2026

Managers can be too helpful, and that hinders performance.

I’ve spoken to managers recently who have listened, shown empathy, offered support and made reasonable adjustments.

They’ve explained the message.
They’ve supported the person to act on it.
They’ve removed barriers where they can.

But the employee still doesn’t like the message.

There comes a point when more help is not actually helpful. The manager starts carrying responsibility that belongs with the individual, and the individual never quite picks it up.

Sometimes the next message needs to be:

“We’ve talked this through. You have the support you need. The expectation remains, and it’s now up to you to decide how you proceed.”

That might feel harsh, especially when you are operating in a tough environment, but clarity is kindness.

Empathy doesn’t erase responsibility. Sometimes believing in someone means putting the ownership squarely back where it belongs.

02/07/2026

I keep seeing inter-generational debates about whether cameras should be on or off during video calls.

Everyone talks about their preference as if it is the answer. I think they’re all asking the wrong question.

It’s not really about preference. It’s about what helps you do the job well.

The better question is:
What is the best medium for what we are trying to achieve here?

Not, “Could this be done on Teams?” But, “Is Teams the best way to do this?”

If you are kicking off a new project, building trust, creating shared ownership, or trying to get people properly connected, then face-to-face might be better. If that is not possible, an online session with cameras on for key parts probably makes sense.

People are more likely to pick up the phone later, challenge each other constructively, or ask for help if they have had some real connection at the start.

But if you are mainly taking people through a slide deck, giving an update, or sharing information that does not need much discussion, I’m not convinced everyone needs to sit there on camera.

In my online workshops, I usually tell people when I need cameras and mics on, and I also tell them when they can turn them off.

It takes away the guessing. It also respects people’s energy (Zoom fatigue is real). That feels like better meeting etiquette to me.

Not cameras on by default. Nor cameras off by default.

Just a bit more thought about what the meeting is actually for.

30/06/2026

Have you heard about needing just eight minutes of connection to improve wellbeing?

Last week, I posted about a singer whose songs had inspired me, and one of them was about needing just eight minutes to improve someone's wellbeing. I looked it up afterwards, and it turns out there is some science behind this. It does help.

Some people even use it as a simple shorthand with friends.

“Do you have 8 minutes?”

That one text means:

I’m having a difficult week and I could do with hearing your voice.

I really like that.

It seems like such a small thing, but it can have a huge impact. I sometimes put off reconnecting with people because I don't think I've got the time to really re-establish the connection, but maybe I'm overthinking it.

Perhaps just a small touch point might do the job.

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