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A year ago I started a new venture: a career break, 12 months of unpaid leave with no specific job to return to. It's now over.

It’s one of the hottest days of the year and I’m preparing to go for a 5k run with my local running club this evening.    Nothing remarkable in that you might think, except that 6 months ago I couldn’t even run for a bus without getting really out of breath and triggering my asthma.   

  Ready to be inspired? - becoming a mentor   Mentors for the Crossing Thresholds programme often tell us how energising and inspiring they find working with participants. We recently welcomed 22 would-be mentors to the first in a new series of events for those considering mentoring to help them get started.   

What do you do when you achieve something? Whoop wildly and crack open the champagne 🍾 Fe

Do you ever use the C-word? Do you have people using it on you? I’m talking about Confidence of course. If we show humility or hesitation, doubt or deference then someone usually pops up to say “you should be more confident.” I imagine they think they’re being helpful.

I’ll start with three interesting facts about myself – I’ve never been to university, I’ve never had a boss and I spent 3 years living in a portacabin. Now to a brief career history. It’s not been an obvious career path but has involved me pursuing the next thing I felt drawn to create, while drawing on the skills I had developed up to that point.

Well, that was a strange year! I suspect like me, you have made a few changes over the last year.

One of my Career Break Quests was for better balance.  It’s a sort of Holy Grail in a world when most of us seem to experience the opposite – the constant juggling, the endless demands on our time and energy. And I know I’m not alone: how to improve work-life balance is a consistent question at Thresholds networking events.

Diversity & inclusion - a personal view During my 27 year Civil Service career, I’ve had many adventures and met some considerate, and supportive colleagues who I now regard as extended family. If I reflect on the way the Civil Service has evolved, especially as part of the BAME community, I’ve seen a difference between the inequalities I faced in my early career, where I ha

Mentoring and Me A great mentor encourages a person to progress, giving valuable advice and encouragement. But it isn’t a one-way street. Many mentors find building the bond just as rewarding and gain fresh inspiration. Below, Bernie Thompson and Melissa Crawshay-Williams share their journey.

I was delighted to see so many of you at the networking event on 13 January when I talked about my own goal-setting experiences, and your questions piqued my interest in how I’m staying motivated. 

My career break is proving to be an exercise in orienteering. I have some visible landmarks to guide me, techniques to navigate difficult terrain, and am gradually discovering new paths albeit obscured in mist and undergrowth…