Peter and the workload Wolf
I think we all know the story of Peter, the boy who cried wolf. He did it so many times that the townsfolk stopped listening, and when the wolf really did turn up they didn’t believe him and his sheep were all eaten up. In our story, the townspeople are the Executive, the sheep are […]
A most ingenious paradox
I was watching Pirates of Penzance recently (I’m in lockdown after all) and this paradoxical little ditty caught my eye. You know the one – the paradox of a leap-year baby being both 5 and 25 years old at the same time? Kevin Kline does a marvellous job of exploring what a brain-strain that is, […]
Why patience is – still – a virtue
When I help B-Suite leaders to increase their influence, we focus on influencing in four directions – up, down, out and across. Up is your boss and your executive Down is your team, their engagement, alignment and motivation Out is your external audience and your leadership brand Across is your peers and stakeholders Influencing your […]
Our need to be right is wrong, right?
We humans are weird. We are programmed to derail ourselves and yet we still succeed. Mel Schwarz, who fascinatingly links quantum physics to conflict and change, tells us that addressing our belief systems is how we open up to change. I strongly agree. In my work with teams experiencing friction, conflict or avoidance, three belief systems come up […]
The perplexing power of power
I’ve been thinking a lot about power recently. Not in a megalomaniacal, mwah ha ha kind of way but in a how does the mere concept of power affect our ability to lead from the middle kind of way. It started in a conversation about confidence in a recent group coaching session, and the way […]
Movers and quitters
One of the things that never fails to surprise and disappoint me is when I hear that it’s easier to find a job elsewhere than to get one internally. Right now, the job market has roared past 2019 levels. Candidate mobility is also peaking. If you don’t have plans to give your restless Talent an […]
Welcome to the B-Suite
“Not all leaders want to become a C-Suite executive, but they should all be enabled to operate like one.” All leaders are too busy – and they are getting busier. All leaders yearn for more space to think but rarely get it. All leaders wish it were easier to get sh*t done, but instead, it’s […]
Be the river not the rock
Seeking to minimise the effect of change is totally normal. But are you being a river or a rock?
99% of problems are not worth solving
One of my coaching clients had a penchant for ‘turning over rocks’ and solving what-ever he found beneath. It meant that he was incredibly busy, and lots of people were grateful to him for fixing up their issues, but he failed to drive a reputation as a great problem solver. Instead he developed a lesser […]
There’s no such thing as a diplomatic hand grenade.
Go ahead, avoid those difficult conversations.
Wait, what did you say? How can you avoid difficult conversations and still be productive? What rubbish!
But it’s what you want to do – admit it.
Difficult conversations are SO against our nature, that right now more than 50% of your workforce is avoiding having one, and 11% will even quit their job – yes actually quit – in order to avoid one.
We spend $$$ training our people to have difficult conversations. We should be teaching them to avoid conversations getting difficult in the first place.
