I finished 2020 with a look back over the year that had passed, as well as reflecting on the issue of trust and how it had fared during the Covid-19 pandemic.

This month I want to look forward to 2021 and a (hopeful!) light at the end of the tunnel concerning the pandemic, and learning from the 2020 experience, ask what might we want to work on as the year unfolds, as well as looking at how we might strengthen and enhance ourselves and the organisations we work for in the process.

This blog is a taster menu of the topics I plan to look at in more detail as the year unfolds and which I think will be popular coaching conversations in 2021. In this light, the first group of topics will focus on how 2020 has impacted us and in many cases made us reflect on our purpose, work/life balance and possibly our career plans. 

These have always been key coaching conversations, but as 2021 unfolds, I envisage far more clients will want to explore what is important to them, what makes them happy, how they can keep some of the extra family time they may have experienced in 2020 and, potentially, think more broadly as to what their career aspirations may entail.

The second group of topics will look at what organisations may want to focus on in 2021, taken in part from our learning during the pandemic. These include climate change, business ethics, plus responsibility and sustainability. 

We have often heard the phrase Build Back Better, but what does this mean for us as individuals and the organisations we work for? Plus, what do we need to better understand to be able to proudly run organisations that play their part in a strong economy with a carbon-neutral footprint and an awareness of our impact on all our stakeholders, including the planet?

The third group of topics I will tackle in 2021 will focus on some the classic coaching objectives that will again come to the fore during the year as clients grapple with changed/new roles and lead teams returning to evolved working environments and organisational priorities. These topics include how to think more strategically, how to build resilience and how to develop a leadership voice/presence.

Finally, the fourth group of topics is really just one, which is all about team coaching. As 2021 unfolds, and we return to greater normality, we will work more face to face and plan for new priorities, which I think will produce an increase in teams needing to better understand what is expected of them, of each other, and how and what they are going to deliver in this changed framework.

I hope you find these 2021 hot coaching conversations topics thought-provoking and, as always, if you have any questions about any of these or other topics you would like to see discussed, please get in touch.