Tuesday 21 May 2024

Untangled by Kirsty Maynor #Untangled #NavigatingChange @KirstyMaynor @matadorbooks #BookReview

 


You’re facing change. Right now. Today. And you probably don’t feel you have everything you need to get through it. In fact, if it’s change you’d love to create in your life, you may even stall and not make it a reality. And if life keeps handing you curve balls, you might feel that you don’t know where to start.

Untangled busts the myths we believe about what it takes to handle change in our life. Whether there’s change we long to create, or the tectonic plates of our life have shifted and we need to adjust, Kirsty Maynor’s inspirational and practical guide to change in our lives is here to help.

Combining personal experience with professional expertise, Kirsty’s warm and supporting style as an accredited and experienced executive coach and change strategist helps readers to unravel the knots of change, choose the threads to keep and weave a new future for themselves.




Untangled: A Practical and Inspirational Guide to Changes We Choose and Change We Don't by by Kirsty Maynor was published on 23 November 2023 by Matador. My thanks to the author who sent my copy for review. 

My first thoughts when opening the package that contained my copy of Untangled was delight at the beautiful presentation. The colourful cover and the high quality of the printing is just wonderful. Whilst this is a paperback book, the cover is made from a very thick, hard wearing card and both the front and back cover are gatefold.

The cover artwork is by Kindah Kalidy and is is great to see the artist mentioned on the inside cover. There's also a full index at the back, with some blank pages left for note taking. 

Kirsty Maynor has written this book by reflecting on her own experiences of change, her writing is straightforward and sensible. She doesn't make ridiculous claims and is totally aware that every reader will have their own experiences to draw on and also be aware of their own strengths. What she does so very well is to reinforce her ideas and make them appropriate to the reader's individual circumstances. 

When I read this, I had already made a major career change which fortunately, so far, has worked well for me. However, I am in no doubt at all that had I had access to this book during that change that I would have felt more confident during certain stages of the process. 

Kirsty has written a full introduction to the book, outlining her own personal journey, she also makes a promise to readers and includes information about journalling. There is a separate Untangled Journal available to buy too. 

Untangled is presented in four main parts; 1 - Untangling the Myths, 2 - Untangling Your Path, 3 - Untangling Your Way and 4 - The Untanglers.  Each of the parts have individual chapters, all detailed at the front of the book.

Whilst I did read the book from start to finish, this is also a book that you can pick and choose which parts you need at your own moment in time. It's so easy to pick up, read a few sections and then put them into practice.

Untangled is such a useful book, one that will be welcomed by many. Kirsty Maynor is both professional and personal with her advice. She encourages her readers, and will leave most of us feeling empowered and ready to embrace the change. Highly recommended. 



Navigating change has been part of Kirsty Maynor’s professional and personal life for
more than three decades. She has the studies, research, and lived experience to bust the myths we believe about what it takes to handle change and to unravel the knots of both change you choose (think moving house) and change you don’t (think redundancy and bereavement).

Kirsty founded her business, The Firefly Group, in 2011 and has supported over ten thousand leaders across private, public and government sectors to create better futures for their organisations and stakeholders. She is a Certified Co-active Coach (CPCC); accredited with the International Coaching Federation (PCC) and a certified facilitator of Dare to Lead™.

Kirsty has an MSc. in Organisational Behaviour from Birkbeck, University of London, has tutored MSc. students at the University of Edinburgh and is the first Scottish member of the elite global Transformational Leadership Council.

Kirsty works internationally and lives in Edinburgh with her cat, a collection of houseplants and a bookshelf that will need its own room soon. 










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