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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

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

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

So many leaders do a fabulous job—except when it comes to dealing with the conflicts that inevitably show up in their leadership role. That’s where they let themselves down. Confidently confronting and eliminating conflicts is a crucial missing link for so many leaders. I’m going to show you how you can take preventative action soRead more

Self-esteem. It’s a sensitive topic that, in an instant, could have you putting yourself into one of two camps… Camp 1:    My self-esteem is good, thanks very much. I’m not sure that I need this bulletin. Camp 2:    You’ve written this for me. I definitely need to feel better about myself! If you’re in theRead more

One of the traps you and I both fall into, when we’re not eagle-eyed about it, is to blame others when something goes off-track. We either physically, verbally or attitudinally point our finger at someone else. We think, talk and behave as if another person is the cause of the trouble. The problem is, whenRead more

Trying to change a behaviour can be exasperating, can’t it? Many, many attempted behavioural changes get derailed. Unless something special happens, it’s way too easy to, wittingly or unwittingly, resurrect the old habit. We’re very reluctant to change our behaviours. But I have a treat for you, courtesy of best-selling author, Marshall Goldsmith. (The toolRead more

I’m noticing that there’s a critical, key-difference between: A stand-out leader who’s truly respected, and A so-so leader who’s not nearly so well regarded. The behaviour I’m noticing, that the highly-valued, sought-after leader consistently demonstrates, is…   Conversationally, They’re An Exceptional Receiver We’re not talking here about how well a leader receives gifts or awardsRead more

I hope 2015 is looking like it’s going to be immensely satisfying for you . We have two topics in this first bulletin of the year: The most useful/read/commented on/liked Leadership Bulletins during 2014 The two issues/subjects/concerns/themes you’d like me include in our Leadership Bulletins during 2015.   Your Top Three Leadership Bulletin Topics FromRead more

Listening without an intent (that is, your sole purpose, your only immediate outcome, is to hear what the other person’s saying) takes guts. It takes courage. And it takes patience. Listening-without-intent also takes practice. Think about it… How often are you currently “listening while waiting to speak?” Or “listening to understand”? Or “listening with theRead more

It Was Clear That The Two In The Next Meeting Room Were In Trouble… Overhearing was inevitable from my adjacent room—and things weren’t going well for them! Interestingly, when you only hear the voice it’s so easy to notice the underlying attitudes, isn’t it? The flavor of their communication, especially the bad habits they’d bothRead more

The leaders we admire and align with are the leaders that we trust—and, when it comes to cranking up engagement, having your team members trust you is THE number one essential. It’s therefore essential that you’re alert to these two key ways you can immediately kill off your team members’ trust in you: Being emotionallyRead more

Follow Your Natural Tendency At Your Peril It’s not that tough is more effective than tender, or that tender is more effective than tough… It’s that some leaders automatically take a tough stanceyou know, those firm leaders whose decisions are based on a detached logic, who take a no-compromise position, whose judgment disregards sentiment orRead more

Oh my gosh, occasionally circumstances seem to line up against us, don’t they? You know those days, when the traffic made you late for a meeting, then the content of the meeting had you feeling hot under the collar, and then, on the way back to your desk, one of your team members, Mike, informsRead more

Let’s cut to the chase: Good leaders ask good questions—starting with the questions that they ask of themselves. Good questions create a productive mindset… That productive mindset determines what questions the leader asks of others—and those questions help others foster their productive mindsets.   Examples Of Good Questions Are… “What can we do to getRead more

Scenario One… You’re sitting at your desk. A team member, whom we’ll call Dan, comes up to you and says:   “Can we talk about the xyz project? I’m concerned that we aren’t going to achieve the cost savings we’re targeting.”   Part of you thinks you’d better listen up, this could be serious—yet anotherRead more

Self-esteem. It’s a sensitive topic that, in an instant, could have you putting yourself into one of two camps… Camp 1:    My self-esteem is good, thanks very much. I’m not sure that I need this bulletin. Camp 2:    You’ve written this for me. I definitely need to feel better about myself! If you’re in theRead more

You continue to let me know how useful you’re finding my Leadership Bulletins. Thank you . This time last year readers of the “2011 Greatest Hits” bulletin found it really worthwhile, so I’m repeating the process this year. I’ve listed the seven 2012 bulletins that elicited the highest number of positive comments about how theyRead more

Recently a leader (we’ll call him John) revealed that he’d just had a one-on-one meeting with his boss. But this one-on-one was different to all those previous one-on-ones… This time he felt truly heard. Previously not only had John struggled to get time in his boss’ calendar, he perceived that he’d been talked at, talkedRead more