LionHeart Talks

LionHeart Talks… Gearing up for your APC Undertaking your APC and, in particular, getting ready for final assessment can be one of the most stressful, daunting periods of a surveyor’s career, with the need to juggle work, study, revision and home life. So how can you help yourself gear up for that all-important journey? In this episode, our host Melissa Gough-Rundle is joined by ambassador Roy Albert, who became chartered in 2020 despite some hurdles, and is now an APC assessor and mentor as well as an ambassador for LionHeart. We talk about: Useful links: Read Roy’s blog, If I can do it so can you: an APC journey, on the LionHeart website Find out more about LionHeart’s APC Support Sign up to get the LionHeart newsletter

5 LionHeart Talks… How talking beats the stigma [Trigger warning: this episode contains references to suicide and suicide prevention] The fear of admitting you’re feeling vulnerable can magnify problems no end. Worst case scenario, bottling things up can even make you ill. In this episode to mark Time to Talk Day, LionHeart host Melissa Gough-Rundle is joined by our long-time ambassador Steve Lees to talk about how opening up and having conversations can be life-changing – and that if we were all a bit more honest about the challenges we face (even in the workplace) we’d all probably be happier and healthier. We talk about: Useful links: Read Steve’s blogs, ‘Cancer wasn’t meant to happen to us’ and Starting the conversation around suicide Sign up to get the LionHeart newsletter Watch our recorded Time to Talk Day panel discussion, The Positives of Conversation, here Find out more about LionHeart’s mental health support

“At some point I’m going to be found out – I’m such a fraud!” An astonishing number of people (up to 70% of us!) have secret feelings of ‘imposter syndrome’ at work at some point: feeling like a ‘fraud’, that they don’t fit in, don’t deserve to be where they are, and that one day someone will discover they’ve been winging it all along. Sound familiar? LionHeart host Jo Grant is joined by our ambassador Emma Snipp, a chartered surveyor turned coach, to talk about what imposter syndrome is – and what it isn’t – and why so many people in the property industry are affected by it. We talk about: Useful links: Watch our recorded webinar, Beyond Imposter Syndrome Find out more about LionHeart coaching Sign up to get the LionHeart newsletter

How many of us have had that dreaded Sunday evening feeling, where your evening is totally over-shadowed by the thought of going to work the next day? People experience stress in different ways but there’s no doubt that prolonged or extreme stress at work can have a huge impact on your physical and mental health. LionHeart host Jo Grant is joined by ambassador Derek Carter who - one Friday the 13th - experienced such worrying symptoms that it was initially thought he’d had a heart attack. It wasn’t until a doctor asked him, ‘do you think you are stressed?’ that the jigsaw pieces fell into place. We talk about: · The many different signs and symptoms of stress · How to spot stress – and how to help yourself · The part that employers can play in addressing sources of stress · What helped Derek · The support LionHeart can offer Useful links: How LionHeart can help with stress management Watch our recorded webinar, Avoiding Burnout Sign up to get the LionHeart newsletter

LionHeart Talks… APC Referral “If you’re not kind to yourself, this is where the APC goes wrong for a lot of folk.” Sometimes it’s not about your surveying knowledge or technical expertise but how you approach the APC mentally that can hold the key to success – or not. LionHeart host Melissa Gough-Rundle is joined by our ambassador John Tierney who knows only too well how the career milestone can take on a life of its own, having taken five attempts to get chartered. We talk about: Useful links: Watch our recorded webinar, Wellbeing for APC Referral Sign up to get the LionHeart newsletter Find other useful tips and resources on the LionHeart website

LionHeart Talks… Alcohol and dependency January is often a month where people reassess how they drink, after the festivities of Christmas and New Year or perhaps because they’re doing Dry January for health reasons or even for charity. LionHeart host Melissa Gough-Rundle is joined by our ambassador Paddy Phillips to talk about alcohol and how it fits into people’s lives, from the habitual and social to the more problematic and unhealthy. We talk about: Useful links: Find more resources and how we can help on the Alcohol page on our website Sign up to get the LionHeart newsletter Read Paddy’s full story in his blog, How alcohol almost cost me everything

LionHeart Talks… It’s time to talk! “I wish I had talked to you six months ago.” Talking is huge. Talking can change lives, or even save them – but it doesn’t have to be about the big conversations, the little connections are so important too. So many of the people we help say they wish they had talked to us sooner, because talking about a problem really can help relieve the burden. In this special episode for Time to Talk Day, LionHeart host Jo Grant is joined by our support officer Ben Halpin and counsellor Mark Hodson to talk about… well, talking! More specifically, we discuss: Useful links: Find out more about LionHeart’s talking therapies and counselling Watch our Introduction to Mental Health recorded webinar https://vimeo.com/905170164 Sign up to get the LionHeart newsletter

If things are tricky at work then that has a habit of spilling over into your own time, having a negative effect on your wellbeing and giving you the dreaded ‘Sunday night feeling’. The most difficult situations can impact your own confidence and even lead to stress and burnout. LionHeart host Melissa Gough-Rundle is joined by support officer and qualified coach Clare Davis to talk about the various difficult situations, especially in the workplace, that surveyors sometimes contact us about, and the help and advice LionHeart is often called on to offer. We talk about: Useful links: Find out about LionHeart’s one-to-one coaching and how it can build your confidence Watch our recorded webinar, Introduction to Mental Health Awareness Sign up to get the LionHeart newsletter

“Everything changes all the time so you can cope with it - but sometimes it can be like a rolling stone gathering moss.” Some of us love it and some of us hate it, but change is part of life. LionHeart host Jo Grant is joined by Tracy Evans, one of our support officers, to talk about the myriad of changes any of us can face throughout life – and change can impact on our health, wellbeing and confidence. We talk about: Useful links: Read our blog New Beginnings and How to Embrace Them Watch our recorded webinar, Creating a Positive Mindset Sign up to get the LionHeart newsletter

“We all experience grief and loss at some point in our lives. But we all experience it differently and it’s important to stress there are no rules about how you should feel or when you should feel it.” LionHeart host Jo Grant is joined by our counsellor Mark Hodson as they discuss grief and coping with loss; something that sadly affects every one of us but can still be immensely difficult to talk about and can have long-lasting consequences. We talk about: Useful links: How we can help following bereavement Watch our recorded webinar, Understanding Bereavement in the Workplace Sign up to get the LionHeart newsletter

“The APC is a long journey, and there’s a lot riding on the one-hour assessment that you get after two years. That’s why it makes up such a large proportion of the calls we get around fear, failure and disappointment.” LionHeart host Melissa Gough-Rundle is joined by our support officer Ben Halpin to talk about some of the issues in his day to day work on the LionHeart helpline and longer term work supporting surveyors at all stages of their lives and careers. The fear, failure and disappointment he sees is often triggered by work – and in particular, the huge career milestone that is the RICS APC – but can equally apply to other interviews, presentations, bids for promotion, or indeed aspects of people’s home lives. Tune in to hear: Useful links: Find out more about LionHeart’s APC Support Watch our Wellbeing for APC Referral recorded webinar Sign up to get the LionHeart newsletter

“Social anxiety is a fear of social situations; the bottom line is a fear of being judged negatively by others. That anxiety can be so overwhelming it can essentially stop people from living their lives.” Around 1 in 8 people are thought to struggle with social anxiety, making it one of the most common anxiety disorders. Much more than being a few nerves in new situations or feeling shy among new people, it can have a very debilitating impact on people’s everyday lives, careers and professional development. LionHeart host Jo Grant is joined by our counsellor and CBT therapist Berni Antoniou, who describes how something that often begins in teen years can go on for decades – and how the coping mechanisms people put in place become ‘maintaining factors’ that actually keep the problem going. Join us to hear: Useful links: Find out more about LionHeart counselling Watch our short recorded webinar, Understanding Anxiety Sign up to get the LionHeart newsletter

“Sometimes it’s about getting through the here and now, before we even start to look at strategies to move forward in future.” LionHeart host Melissa Gough-Rundle is joined by support officer and qualified coach Clare Davis to talk about the huge issue of overwhelm and burnout we see time and again among the surveyors we support. Ever feel like you’re sliding backwards down a hill – even though you’ve been giving it everything you’ve got to climb up it? We talk about: Useful links: How we can help with stress management Check out our Supercharge Your Wellbeing recorded webinar Sign up to get the LionHeart newsletter