Alex Atherton

04/06/2026

So….how bad is it senior-leader-in-the-public-sector?

❓ Do you really have things where you want them?
❓How many meetings do you have next week which make you wince at the sight of it?
❓How much of your time is going to be spent on tasks which belong elsewhere?

And

❓How do you compare to others in the same types of jobs?

I put this 5 minute assessment tool together https://i.mtr.cool/ujdniiarrl to help you answer that question

It looks like areas such as

👑 Workload
👑 Managing up and across
👑 Range of responsibilities

It takes just 5 minutes of your time and you get a personalised report instantly.

What will your scores be?

Less than 5 minutes of your time and you will receive a personalised report Discover the key areas to unlock the next stage of your senior leadership journey. Make a start towards a more fulfilling senior life today!

02/06/2026

Work-life balance is a hot topic for senior leaders in the public sector for good reason.

Most of them do not have much of one because of how hard they work.

I could talk about well-being, exercising, eating right and all those things. People used to talk to me about them too.

The truth is that when your workload is growing out of your ears they are not simple choices.

Just because you are hungry, thirsty and sleep-deprived does not mean you can simply flick a switch. There are reasons you arrive at that place.

Most of the time the best way to get there is to cut the work.

❌ Stop doing other people’s jobs for them.
❌ Deleting the meeting that landed in your diary without your consent.
❌ Focusing on what’s important and not looking for fires to put out.

If this is you, then have a look at the 5 minute assessment tool at https://i.mtr.cool/cskyolyfcg

You get an instant personalised report and some ideas to chew over.

Because if you don’t change the way you work, you will never fix your work-life balance.

Less than 5 minutes of your time and you will receive a personalised report Discover the key areas to unlock the next stage of your senior leadership journey. Make a start towards a more fulfilling senior life today!

29/05/2026

Happy Birthday to me.

Not a milestone (I'll tell you if you ask nicely) but always a good time to reflect.

📌 Although I am particularly poor at slowing down there's aspects of my life I really wish would do that, but I have no control. Aging parents, teenage daughter growing up so quickly. I try to go with the flow but it's not easy.

📌 I decided when I got into what I'm doing now that I would keep saying yes as default and see what comes. Had my fingers burned a few times, and there's a few more nos than were the case, but generally it's served me well. When you've got this far down the track what's the worst that can happen?

📌 Saying "I don't know" gets easier with age. And more useful.

📌 The best days don't announce themselves in advance. Let them come when they are ready.

I'm greyer, slower to recover from the few late nights I might have. Still can't sit still for long but trying to learn from what I get wrong.

Since this time last year I've become a published author, award winning speaker yadayada.

But today I'm not thinking about that. I'm very grateful for the people around me and curious about what's next.

Here's to another year of figuring it out. 🎂

28/05/2026

I wanted something which would help in the work out their priorities.

When you can't see the wood for the trees it's pretty difficult.

If your

➡ workload is 'up to here' constantly (and all over your desk)
➡ evenings and weekends are 'opportunities to get things done'
➡ ability, and propensity, to delegate needs another look
➡ response to 'reporting to the board' is a cold sweat
➡ list of responsibilities includes some you barely know where to start

Then this is for you.

Maybe only one of the above applies.

But wouldn't senior leader life be much easier without it?

CLICK HERE to take a look - https://i.mtr.cool/ahryutwgnx

Less than 5 minutes of your time.

You might be able to cope with Frantic, but Fulfilled would be much better.

Less than 5 minutes of your time and you will receive a personalised report Discover the key areas to unlock the next stage of your senior leadership journey. Make a start towards a more fulfilling senior life today!

21/05/2026

There is always something that people can improve in their professional lives.

I'm currently taking a look with a sample of senior leaders in education and local government.

The results so far have been really interesting!

How people feel about various aspects of their senior leadership lives really varies.

📶 One person feels they can manage up really well, but their workload remains a real problem.

Elsewhere the opposite.

📶 Another says they have a handle on all their responsibilities, but only at serious cost to their well-being.

Which makes me wonder what kind of handle they really need to have if that's the consequence.

📶Then another has their workload and well-being in a good place but not the extent to which they manage their tasks and people.

Maybe that's not a bad place to be.

With the right assessment tool you can get an oversight of where you are and really want to be. Narrow it down a little, and find out the place to start.

Maybe your passion for your work has dimmed a little.

Perhaps there's aspects you thought just won't get better - but how would you feel if they did?

Imagine feeling on top of it all. It is possible.

If you are interested have a go!

CLICK HERE - https://i.mtr.cool/ryrsczdmqd

5 minutes of your time, that's it.

What are your scores?

Less than 5 minutes of your time and you will receive a personalised report Discover the key areas to unlock the next stage of your senior leadership journey. Make a start towards a more fulfilling senior life today!

19/05/2026

Sometimes you need to put things into perspective.

Sometimes you need something to help you do that.

But when you are super busy, like senior leaders in the public sector always are, you also need it to be short and helpful.

I put this 5 minute assessment tool together covering topics like

➡ Managing up and across
➡ Task management
➡ Managing your range of responsibilities

It takes just 5 minutes of your time and you get a personalised report instantly.

https://i.mtr.cool/wuybnkmiwb

What’s not to like?

Less than 5 minutes of your time and you will receive a personalised report Discover the key areas to unlock the next stage of your senior leadership journey. Make a start towards a more fulfilling senior life today!

17/05/2026

Do you know what your manager engagement looks like?

Not your overall engagement score. Specifically the score for your managers.

Gallup says the average is 22%. Best-practice organisations hit 79%.

That gap is the difference between AI investments that pay off and ones that don't. Between Gen Z wanting your leadership roles and quietly opting out. Between a succession pipeline and a scramble.

Earlier this week I wrote about why manager engagement — engagement OF them, not WITH them — is the thing most organisations are missing.

Five things you can do about it. Link in comments 👇

16/05/2026

I can't leave anything alone.

Website text. Talk descriptions. Slide decks. Taglines. The difference between a keynote and a workshop (they're not the same thing and I've finally getting the hang of the difference). Footage. Photos.

Keeping material current. Working out how to refer to AI without wanting to be another 'AI speaker'.

And starting to build content on Gen Alpha because they're not that far away from the workplace.

All of this happens in between the gigs themselves.

Then there's the coaching side of the business, and I love that too much to stop.

It would be easier to just keep delivering what's already working. But I can't do it.

There's always something that could be sharper, clearer, more useful, more relevant, more....everything.

I don't know if that's a strength or a problem. Probably both.

What I do know is that the work keeps getting better. The feedback keeps improving. And I'm more confident in what I'm offering than I was six months ago.

Restless isn't comfortable, but it's always been how I operate. Help me (and Mrs A) when it comes to whatever 'retirement' does and doesn't look like.

Anyone else like this? Or do some of you actually finish things and leave it there?

14/05/2026

For far too many senior leaders in the public sector, their professional life is one long concertina.

➡ 'Key' projects burning a hole in their desk.

➡ An inbox that once, in the halcyon days, had hundreds of unread messages but is now thousands.

➡ The direct report you've never actually met properly, but we 'say hello most days'.

➡ One evening, and then weekend, evaporating after another with seemingly little impact.

It does not have to be this way.

Yet it is too often taken as read.

What ISN'T happening with you in permanent 100mph mode?

If this is you click here - https://i.mtr.cool/pwlhmjhedg

5 minutes of your time to see where you really are with help on moving from Frantic to Fulfilled.

Less than 5 minutes of your time and you will receive a personalised report Discover the key areas to unlock the next stage of your senior leadership journey. Make a start towards a more fulfilling senior life today!