Yesterday’s shoe day went a little bit awry. Having blogged my eminently suitable grey heels, I merrily took off for Cambridge station on my bike, in my scruffy old trainers. As the train pulled out of the platform, it dawned on me that my grey shoes were not in my bag alongside me, but still at home. So it was off to a lunch with key clients in the elegant settings of their office in the City in sports shoes with holes in the toes!

I met my colleagues Ann and David first and we had an amusing but interesting conversation about what other people notice (and don’t!); about our perceptions of ourselves and those others may hold of us; about seeing what you expect to see; and about the challenges of moving outside your comfort zone (which as coaches we ask our clients to do on a regular basis). By this stage, with the relevant reflections we surfaced, I was glad I’d left my shoes behind! On to our clients’ office, and I brazened out the chat with and walk past the immaculately dressed receptionists and didn’t mention my footwear to our clients. At the end of a fantastic lunch, as we all ambled back down the corridor to reception, I asked them if they’d noticed. They are observant chaps: they had, but polite to the core, they’d chosen not to comment. So an interesting day, and I have to admit that by the time we slid into our table in Covent Garden for our Alliance Christmas dinner, I’d (almost) forgotten what I was wearing on my feet!

Today’s picture shows yesterday’s trainers and the red suede ankle boots (a birthday present from my parents) that I’ll be wearing today – if I remember to put them on, that is!