Christmas has recently come and gone and if this is an occasion you celebrate you probably got a few presents. You didn’t have to ask people to give you anything. They just gave you gifts because that’s the way these occasions work (and hopefully because they like you). Feedback is also a gift, especially for leaders. Actually, it’s […]
Yes it is Lonely At the Top (But it Doesn’t Have to Be)
When we commence our careers we usually work in the fat bit of the organisational structure triangle, somewhere near the bottom, where it’s anything but lonely. Everywhere we look there are people we can talk to, people to ask questions of, people to have a whinge with and people to share a laugh with. Very […]
2 Golden Rules for Influencing Behaviour
Influencing people to take positive actions is an important aspect of leadership and it’s an important aspect of life. We use this skill in all sorts of instances: Maybe you’ve had to influence an employee in your team to change a behavior. Maybe you’ve needed to influence a customer to take some action or […]
Followership – Leadership’s Less Famous Sibling
There’s an enormous amount of focus on leadership, and this is understandable. Good leaders make a huge difference as they improve organisations and the wider world, while bad leaders can leave an ugly mark of bad results and damaged people. There’s much, much less focus on followership, about 1000 times less it would seem! My […]
Humility for Leaders (with Lessons From Donald Trump)
Donald Trump’s approach to leadership saddens me, never more so than when he shoved past the Montenegro president at a NATO meeting recently. If you missed this you might like to check out the short video below. This behaviour would be inappropriate in a schoolyard, it would be inappropriate in a workplace and it is […]
How to Knock Self-Doubt Down to Size
Self-doubt. All of us have it. For some of us it’s an occasional visitor, while for others it’s ever-present. Sometimes it’s useful. For example, the self-doubt that stops me from swimming outside the flags in rough surf conditions has probably served me well. Other times self-doubt is much less useful, such as: The kind that stops […]
How Teams Can Embrace Positive Conflict
Conflict is a bad thing for a team, right? No, not right. Quite wrong actually. Show me a team where everyone always agrees and I’ll show you a team that’s falling a long way short of its potential. When teams avoid conflict these are some of the results: Growth and improvement will be limited, […]
10 Questions to Ask Yourself in Midlife
Midlife is an important time for reflection. In this period of life, more-so than most, its really important that we have a sense of where we are and where we are going. Working your way through these 10 questions will start you thinking. They may also be just the thing you need to start contemplating some […]
7 Tips For Surviving Promotions
Congratulations …… you’ve been promoted! You’ve been hoping for this chance for some time and you’re very excited about the new challenges and increased responsibilities the role is going to give you. More money in your pay will also be very welcome. The day comes to start and you take up your position at […]
