1 simple technique to say goodbye to Groundhog Day
Ever found yourself bracing for a conversation with somebody who hasn’t done what they promised?
Blog
Swearing is useful (and 3 more surprising lessons inspired by my clients)
Learning from my clients is often way more fun than picking up a book. Here are the top lessons I’ve learned so far this year – inspired by my clients.
“But I don’t have enough time,” said the manager to their boss
It’s hugely frustrating when you hear something like this from your team, right? Especially if you’re asking them to be more of a leader and less of a doer.
The REAL reasons your team don’t come up with more fresh ideas
I bet some of the best initiatives in your business have your fingerprints all over them, don’t they? And now you want others to put their ideas forward. But why isn’t it happening how you’d hoped?
My Epic Failure to Listen…
If you know anything about Steve and I, you’ll know we have tattoos on our arms reading “it’s not the knowing that’s difficult, it’s the doing” (we don’t by the way but you get the idea).
On Saturday I proved how true this is and totally failed to put a technique into practice from a book that’s been my bedside reading for months.
Five (coach free!) ways to increase your team’s productivity
Whether your business is full steam ahead or you’re still grappling with local lockdowns, achieving results with people in your team is more important than ever. But that doesn’t mean it comes easily.
Our journey through lockdown to become a McKinsey ‘Resilient’. And what we learnt along the way…
OK, hands up. I’m not sure the good folks of McKinsey really know we exist. So I thought I’d share what we learnt.
Spring Survey Results: the biggest challenges facing businesses right now. With practical tips on how to overcome them.
We’ve been trying to make sense of things (in much the way you have), so we sent a mini-survey to a group of our clients and contacts to get a pulse check on how they’re feeling right now and what challenges they think might be coming over the horizon.
One thing we often forget to do…
Have you been climbing the walls dealing with all of the fallout from this crisis? Furlough, remote working etc; etc; …..? And finding how hard work it is? Me too. Relentless.
How I became a feedback pro (the hard way)
One of the reasons some of my relationships have gone awry and friendships have fizzled is because I wasn’t good at taking feedback or criticism. I BIG TIME didn’t know I had a choice over how I reacted.
Do you feel way busier and more under pressure than you ever have been?
As part of the work I do, I get a lot of opportunities to check in with business leaders. This allows me to take a ‘pulse’ on the issues of the day that are impacting them. Often becoming aware of patterns in the types of challenges we’re all facing.
The Number One Secret to Successful Leadership
We’re facing some of the biggest challenges in business and leadership for a very long time. The Covid 19 crisis is putting pressure on leaders across the spectrum, and no doubt you’re feeling that pressure too. Deciding what to do, and how to think things through effectively to make those decisions, has never been more important.
7 Questions for Better Boardroom Decision Making
I expect you’ve been feeling the pressure to make the right decisions as events unfold in this Covid crisis. Who should we bring back from Furlough? How should we arrange the office? What business should we go after? What assumptions should we make? What does our strategy look like for the next 3 and 6 months, and beyond?
Recognising those who are keeping the lights on…
We’ve heard a lot since the pandemic started about the word recognition, it appears to be somewhat of a buzzword now, like ‘unprecedented’ or ‘pivot’. But I’m much more interested in how it’s manifesting itself on the ground so to speak – in ‘the doing’ part, not ‘the knowing’..
What your staff might need from you now, six weeks into lockdown
The UK has now been in lockdown for six weeks. That’s six weeks of only leaving the house for up to an hour a day, six weeks of supermarket fights for toilet rolls and flour, 42 days of journalists asking questions to cabinet ministers, and over 1,000 hours spent in close proximity to our nearest and dearest.
Are you finding yourself reverting to old behaviour patterns?
If you’ve been flat out in crisis mode or adjusting to home working with your kids running about the place, I suspect the last thing you’ve been thinking about as a leader is your own personal development.
Planning for the Unplannable
There are decades when nothing happens, and there are weeks when decades happen
Making Forward Planning Easier to Think About
As we continue coping with the COVID crisis and all it entails, on both a personal level and a business one, it may sometimes feel that this thing is too vast to get one’s head around.
Got a plan? Then why is nobody sticking to it?
As a manager, wouldn’t it be wonderful if you could just say, “this week we’re going to do X,” and it just happened? No fuss, no bother.
Are you clear where you’re heading in 2020…but more importantly are your staff?
How’s 2020 shaping up for you? Do you know which direction you want to take the business this year? Are you making progress? Are you sure? But arguably more importantly, have you made sure your staff are part of what you’re trying to achieve?