Blogs
Is the time ever right to be courageous?
While engaging in a conversation with a colleague we explored whether the time is ever right to be courageous? Will you ever be well enough prepared to be courageous in your conversations, your decisions and your actions? It reminded me of the dilemma many face when...
The Importance of the Delegation Conversation
Delegating is the highest leverage activity you can undertake in leader development - to move from doing to managing and then to leading. The faster this cycle is propelled the more opportunity is provided for personal and business growth. The quality of the...
The Happiness Question
I was reading a magazine article recently and this statement provoked some deep thought - "Rather than ask, 'Am I happy?', ask 'Am I doing things that are meaningful?'" I am guilty of wanting to feel happy all the time and especially happy when I'm with my family - I...
Speak up and rock the boat!
As a leader wanting to facilitate courage in action with your team requires real conversations and very real sharing. Invite people to do this, make it safe for them to do it and you find out the obstacles and the fears they harbour to being courageous. Engage in...
Go beyond liking people
I recently read an article written by Daniel Goleman about "bonding and creating high performance" and I also started a conversation in our LinkedIn Courageous Leaders Group and it has resulted in a deeper exploration. The article brilliantly explored a critical...
Bring Curiosity into your Life
One of my favourite things to encourage people who participate in our leadership programs to do is - be curious. When something happens do not jump straight to a conclusion or some kind of judgement - think out loud - how curious! Curiosity is a wonderful mindset to...
Change your Mindset
I read an interesting article in the Autumn 2013 edition of eMpower magazine written by Marilee Adams called Change your Mindset, Change your Life. In essence she claimed we brought two mindsets to change that is imposed on us and one of them sets us up for success....
Harness the potential
Reading Brian Germain's book called "Transcending Fear" has given me many insights into being courageous. After all we wouldn't need courage if we didn't have fear. These are both intense emotions found at either end of a spectrum and create great tension when we find...
Letting go of Control
Many leaders face the need to let go of control as they strive to be more courageous. This regularly pops up in conversations with people in our workshops and programs. This feels threatening, especially for existing leaders and can bring about a hasty retreat to the...
Lessons in Leader Development – Delegating
We’ve already discussed how the Leverage Cycle is a key tool for developing leaders to use when managing people, leading a business effectively and creating a high performance team. Now we look into the first – most critical – instrument from this tool box that...
Being courageous does not mean being a maverick
I recently engaged in a wonderful conversation to explore how courage could be used as an excuse for maverick behaviour - for example where someone doesn't want to adhere to good business process or implement a decision they don't agree with. When organisations decide...
Egos Anonymous
Recently I sat as a very dear colleague welcomed participants to the fourth day of a leadership development program I was facilitating. She shared the importance of humility when leading - that it was not about being self less but rather thinking of self, less. Fine...
Courage and business outcomes
I engaged in a few conversations recently about the link between courage and business outcomes. What is the business benefit of engaging more courageously with each other? When people hold themselves personally accountable to turn up more courageously then...
The small things are the big things
As I listened to participants in our recent leadership program sharing the results of their 6 week action learning projects, it reaffirmed for me the importance of the small things each individual leader commits to change. As you listen to twenty leaders sharing the...
Lessons in Leader Development
This is the first in a five blog-post series on a leadership development tool: The Leverage Cycle. Successfully transitioning from doing to managing. One of the biggest learning curves in leader development is early on – when you’re first promoted from being a top...
Vulnerability is a pillar for change
I recently listened to emerging leaders share their stories of initiating change in their organization as part of a leadership development program we are facilitating. As they shared their stories so they chose to BE vulnerable - exposing their fears, insecurities,...
Let your Freak Flag Fly!
I was watching young people performing a musical theatre piece recently to the song 'Let your Freak Flag Fly'. It brought out the importance of diversity and uniqueness. They each wore a different costume and moved differently to the same beat. Yet their uniqueness...
Be present in the present
I talked about this concept with a colleague recently and she shared what a difference it has made for her in the way she leads her life and the pleasure she takes from life. She reiterated to me the importance of both aspects : 1. To be present with what is...
Significance
We explored this recently: people want to feel significant in their roles, in their organisation and in their lives - and do we know what makes people feel significant? Courageous Leaders invest the time and energy to discover what makes each individual in their team...