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In more than twenty years of coaching senior leaders, I’m clear on the answer to the question, “What is the #1 mistake leaders make?” Most Leaders Think They’re Giving Their Team Members Enough Feedback  But that’s not so. A friend who’d recently moved into a GM role hadn’t had feedback from her boss. She wasRead more

“Life isn’t about finding yourself. Life is about creating yourself.” —George Bernard Shaw   Brilliant leaders think differently to not-so-brilliant leaders. This is good news—given that you’re 100% in control of the way you think. But let’s be clear about this… In the short-term, controlling the way you think is simple—but, as you’ve probably noticed,Read more

This message is short and sweet—but potent for you as a leader if you want to be at your best. You’ll notice that when you focus on any of the three behaviours below, you’ll develop hugely useful insights into your leadership and create opportunities for you to accelerate towards being first-class. Already good leaders becomeRead more

Brenè Brown has got me thinking, again… You’ll agree that truly impressive leaders think and behave differently to run-of-the-mill leaders. This is especially so when they give developmental feedback. After all, developmental feedback, when delivered effectively, has a positive impact on a team member’s performance—which has a positive impact on the team’s results—which frequently hasRead more

Almost every day I hear a leader describe their unhappiness about a team member’s performance or behaviour. But when I ask the leader how candid they’ve been with their team member about it, the leader so often says, “Well, I haven’t actually had a chance to talk with them about it yet.” That’s When MyRead more

There’s a lot of research these days about how important it is to your leadership success that you think and speak optimistically about your future and the future of your organisation. But so many glass-half-empty leaders are unwittingly derailing their teams. Richard E. Boyatzis (Professor of organisational behaviour, cognitive science and psychology) is an expertRead more

The greatest gift you can give anyone, both as a leader and as a person on the planet, is to be fully present when they’re talking to you. Be 100% present. Hear what they’re saying. Hear what’s behind what they’re saying. And hear what they’re not saying. Regardless of whether they’re telling you about theRead more

It’s frustrating, and impossible to be a good leader, when people aren’t hearing you, right? But, worse still, you can’t expect to make impressive, progressive career steps if you don’t have a reliable method for getting people to: First, care about what you’re saying, and Second, be open-mined about seeing things your way. (I thinkRead more

Great leaders create team members who go the extra mile—and stay with the organisation, right? The results of the Corporate Leadership Council’s 2004 employee Engagement Survey indicate just how important this is. (This isn’t a minuscule survey: 50,000 employees, globally, responded.) Two of the key highlights of the survey are… Highly committed employees perform 20%Read more

Emotional Intelligence (EQ) is the ability to notice and influence one’s own and others’ emotions. It involves competencies such as emotional self-awareness, self-regard, empathy, assertiveness, stress tolerance, flexibility and optimism.   Recently I was told about two senior executives who, in a meeting with their team members, declared that they didn’t have high EQ. One ofRead more

Brilliant leaders think differently to not-so-brilliant leaders. This is good news if you want your leadership to be more brilliant than it currently is—given that you’re 100% in control of the way you think :-). But let’s be clear about this: In the short-term, controlling the way you think is simple, yes—but it’s not particularlyRead more

I’ve loved receiving your comments and feedback on my Leadership Blogs throughout the year. Thank you for your thoughts and for your appreciation :-). You’ve indicated that the most valuable Leadership Blogs in 2017 have been the three I’ve linked below… How To Put Things Right When Someone’s Peeved With You   You so oftenRead more

You so often get yourself into more trouble when you try to sort things out with someone you’ve upset. In an effort to justify your actions, you typically tell them why you did what you did. But they don’t seem to sympathise with that. And so the situation often goes from bad to worse. SoRead more

Leaders are quite consistent when they talk about their biggest challenges, frustrations and problems (as my latest survey confirmed). “Managing upwards” is nearly always near the top of the list. It’s a struggle for lots of different reasons—your boss hasn’t taken the time to understand your challenges, they think they have all the answers, they don’tRead more

After examining bucket-loads of literature and observing behaviours, I have no doubt that the sure-fire way to influencing someone is to—here it is—be committed to their success! When I say “influence”, I don’t mean a self-centered manipulation that results in you getting what you want and the other party being screwed. I mean a positiveRead more

With great regularity, team members tell me they’re not receiving enough feedback from their leaders—which means the team member’s not getting the support they need to do a great job. Most people are somewhat in the dark when it comes to knowing enough about where they’re right on track and where they could be more on track. AndRead more

Here’s what Seth Godin said: “We spend a lot of time talking about celebrities and how attractive they are. Paul Newman’s blue eyes, how tall is Jake Gyllenhaal, how fast is Usain Bolt. Most of the time, though, our success is based on something we have far more control over: Our emotional attractiveness. People who areRead more

It’s a challenge if you lead a team that’s been told their expense budget has been slashed and that their headcount is now frozen. To achieve your business goals, you’ll therefore need every team member to work smarter, faster, harder and longer, won’t you? Ah! That’ll mean they need be engaged, at a heart level,Read more

A lot has been written over the years, even by me, about how to influence another person. After examining a few bucket-loads of literature, asking lots of questions, observing behaviours, and checking it out in practice, there’s no doubt that the sure-fire way to influencing someone is to—here it is—be committed to their success! WhenRead more

It doesn’t matter what you call it….. honesty—authenticity—candour—integrity—frankness—truthfulness—openness—sincerity—genuineness It’s a prerequisite if you’re to be trusted by people.   Honesty and Influence Here’s the thing… It’s essential that other people trust you if you plan to be influential. Influencing is damn hard if they don’t. They’ll spend their time looking at you through squinty eyes,Read more