Blog

Feedback and comments I’ve received throughout the year (thank you) tell me which leadership blogs you liked the most. Check out these four that won the “most useful” award. I’m pretty sure you’ll find it helpful to reflect on their messages so that you’re closer to your peak in 2017….. 1.  Fast-Track Your Leadership Part wayRead more

I’m curious, how well do the leaders around you display the three tell-tale signs below? More importantly, how often would your team members, your peers and your boss see you displaying them? 1.    Great Leaders “Rock The Boat” They always: —Pass the “lean forward” test. They care about what’s going on. And so noticeRead more

Let’s face it—the better you are as a leader, the more productive your team is. And that increased productivity directly impacts the bottom line. Some leadership practices and behaviours are downright demotivating for their team members. In fact, Gallop’s research tells us that a leader has a whopping 70% impact on how motivated their team membersRead more

You’ve got responsibility for producing impressive results—yet zero positional power and minimal authority. That’s the struggle of dotted line leadership, isn’t it? Dotted line reporting has become common these days—but it often gets a bad rap because of its bureaucratic twist. Nonetheless, when you’re managing across the line, you don’t need a pity party. YouRead more

Every year, the Great Place To Work Institute researches, you guessed it, the Best Places to Work. Here’s one of their stats: “The best added $1.07B to the Australian economy with an average revenue growth of 39.6%.” Those numbers talk, don’t they! Some Organisations Have A Reputation For Being Downright Compelling To Work With AlsoRead more

“The belief that one’s own view of reality is the only reality is the most dangerous of all delusions.” —Paul Watzlawick (Austrian-American psychologist and philosopher) Way Too Many Leaders Are Sitting Behind The Eight-Ball… …because they haven’t gotten authentic, granular feedback about their leadership practices and behaviours from their boss, peers and team members. Their self-perception is thus atRead more

High Anxiety And High Performance Don’t Mix Are you putting the cart before the horse? If your intent is to lower your anxiety by toughening up and ploughing through what you have on your plate, you are putting the cart before the horse. With raised anxiety, it’s not recommended that you attempt anything but the mundane and inconsequential. The Metaphorical Wheels Usually Fall OffRead more

Whether you’re a leader who’s currently being coached or not, I’m confident that you’ll find checking out these often asked questions—and my responses—a valuable way to spend the next 3 or 4 minutes. I have a quick disclaimer first though. Without being aware of: a) your personal circumstances b) your natural leadership style, and c) the environmentalRead more

It Was Because Of The Dog… That irritating barking dog enabled an unforgettable demonstration of heart-warming consideration and kindness. It was the talk of the street. A client described how the neighbour’s dog barked, unrelentingly, for hours every day. Neighbours from afar spoke over their fences and stood in the street complaining about the intrusion. And then things turned around—emotionalRead more

Oh heck, we often get ourselves into more trouble when we try and sort things out with someone we’ve upset. Typically, we quickly tell them why we did what we did. We try to justify our actions. And if they don’t seem to sympathise when we tell them why, we get upset with them. AndRead more

What Makes First–Rate Leaders, First–Rate? We’ll quickly answer this question—and then we’ll move to the really important bit… What can you immediately do to close the gap between where you sit now and where a first–rate leader sits?   What The Research Is Telling Us Talentsmart’s recent research backed up more than two decades of studiesRead more

Here’s what Seth Godin said about “commitments”… “A ten-year plan is absurd. Impossible, not particularly worth wasting time on. On the other hand, a ten-year commitment is precisely what’s required if you want to be sure to make an impact.” That thinking, that commitment to commit, applies to any goal, doesn’t it?   A Heartfelt Commitment HasRead more

I care. I care a lot. And it’s sensible for you to care too! A friend emailed me last week and said: “2016 doesn’t look like being a good year. Our economy’s facing a crisis. And look what’s happening to the weather! That seems to be in crisis too.” I would have been demotivated by herRead more

This is a no-brainer. It takes 5 seconds, it works and it’s alcohol free 🙂 We get stressed when we imagine bad things happening in advance of them happening, right?   “So Much On My Plate”… Years ago a friend called and asked how I was.”Stressed. I have so much on my plate”, I responded.Read more

This snippet’s intention is to lift your awareness of two subtle yet crucial behaviours. When you focus on them, I mean really focus on them, you’ll be an awesome leader… Whether you succeed or fail isn’t because you’ve pushed-to-get-the-numbers.   The Key to Your Success is Whether Your Team Members Are On-side or Off-side. AndRead more

I often write about how to deal with conflict. That’s because there are so many leaders who don’t master conflict. They therefore grapple with managing their tension and stress and unwittingly stall their careers. You’ll benefit from checking out this template if you: Feel nervous when conflict strikes, or Find yourself side-stepping hard-to-handle, difficult situations,Read more

To be frank, I’m amazed at how many people step around difficulties. Even some otherwise impressive leaders are doing it.Don’t get me wrong. I’m not encouraging you to be too challenging or to take a win/lose approach. My problem is that way too many leaders are putting their head in the sand and pretending theRead more

Scripting how a leader can influence-someone-to-do-something is the norm in my office. It’s a topic that’s put on the coaching table almost everyday. And the success rate of these leaders when they leave my office is so impressive. (I love this stuff!) Let’s look at the crucial foundation stones of this success… The Most ImportantRead more

You want a promotion. You want to meet targets. You want acknowledgement for your work. Because you think it’ll make you feel happy.And it will, but only fleetingly.So before you know it, you’re chasing your next goal in the hope that it’ll have you feeling happy and positive!Again it will, but only fleetingly—and then you’reRead more

In a 360-feedback interview a team member described his leader as being inconsiderate and unreasonable. He went on to say that when his leader was overwhelmed and overstressed, the leader had a “very short fuse”. Further investigations with other team members told a similar story: They felt devalued and disrespected because their leader was sometimesRead more