Blogs
The Elements of Successful Strategy Activation
"Without hard work, a great strategy remains a dream. Without a great strategy, hard work becomes a nightmare." ~ James Clear As we head into a new year, strategic planning and goal setting come to the fore within most organisations large and small. Yet it is vital to...
Reflective thinking on small things we can all do to support each other
Over this last month we have been involved in many conversations sharing what is happening for others and for our businesses - and most of these people are in small to medium business. After talking about the feelings of overwhelm - from too much work or too little or...
Two steps forward…one step back
Many leaders are sharing with us that their current feeling of two steps forward and one step back is creating havoc both personally and professionally - some are no longer meeting face to face under any circumstance to maximise health protection, others are in Stage...
Courage to think the best of others
At this time we are feeling overwhelmed, worried about our future, waiting for the “cliff”, maybe even feeling a bit jealous of people who are doing OK while we might be struggling……...there is so much going on for individuals and my observation is that many people...
Intentionally build and maintain your culture
After many conversations with colleagues, team members and clients, it is evident cultures are best built intentionally if they are to last long enough to actually require maintenance. Leadership behaviour and cultures have been amplified during the COVID crisis -...
How to focus when we are in chaos and uncertainty?
Many of our clients report a feeling of overwhelm as they work harder than they have ever done before and for what feels like such a meagre impact on the bottom line results. Remote working has seen many people sitting at their desks for longer, working extra hard to...
Have you been communicating or connecting?
Conversations enable communication and connection. Did you know that history tells us in times of crisis like we are currently experiencing we focus on “the task and process of communicating” and because we don’t have answers to possible questions or concerns tend to...
Bringing Focus to What You Do
Reading one of James Clear’s newsletters filled with wisdom, I had to share this piece of insight and challenge your thinking and doing about bringing focus to what we do. He began the last section of his newsletter by sharing this quote from inventor and businessman...
Bring human kindness into the workplace
When asked for my one piece of leadership advice it was easy for me to quickly respond with bring your “human kindness” into the workplace when leading others. What's the story behind this choice? For years business leaders have been told how important it is to be...
Returning to work or rebooting?
Re-imagining my work People are beginning to make their way back into their offices or consider what working life is going to be like now that restrictions have eased. Some may have just completed their first or second week back in the office - what has it been like...
Navigating COVID-19: Isolating physically while connecting emotionally
Every time we turn on the TV or read social media we are confronted by another COVID-19 update. We are experiencing firsthand the impact of VUCA (Volatility, Uncertainty, Complexity and Ambiguity) on our working and personal lives. What’s currently happening? We are...
Self belief in the value you unleash
Working with a team of people last week we engaged In a fabulous conversation about wanting to play off the strengths of each person in the team so they shifted into the high-performance stage of team development. This is the space where people are totally real with...
What are the most critical leadership attributes?
Over the last month I’ve been asked to volunteer what I believe the 2 or 3 most critical leadership attributes are from my experience. It didn’t take me long to say: courage kindness authenticity COURAGE What exactly do you mean when you say courage they asked me?...
Why we are bringing a focus on habits
In developing the leadership capability of both emerging/future and existing leaders over the last 20 years we have observed many trends impacting on successful outcomes. Surprisingly, successful outcomes are not assured by the content of the programs - the content...
Be AI ready – capitalise on humanness
At a recent conference, I listened to many speakers tell a room full of CEOs not to worry about AI (artificial intelligence) and robots and other technological advances - it was making space for us to be more human. Now, this proposal posed an interesting thought for...
Why Leadership Visibility is Important
From the Public Health Performance Management System we grab this definition: “Visible Leadership is the commitment of senior management to a culture of quality that aligns performance management practices with the organisation’s mission, regularly takes into account...
Leadership is all about Leverage
“Leverage is all about the power of using less to create more.” When it comes to mechanical things we understand this - think of a flat tyre, you don’t try to lift the car and put the new tyre on using just your energy and muscles, you use the jack - a very small...
The Criticality of Agilty
On the way back from the gym this morning I heard the presenter share some "Oprah Pearls of Wisdom" and it went like this - just BE in the now (in the present moment) because you can't do anything to change the past and you cannot control the future. Much better to...
Managing performance with real conversations
I recently had the pleasure of hearing a CEO of a listed company offer advice about managing the performance of people while maintaining accountability for leading business performance so it provides the anticipated and expected results for shareholders. His words of...