Some Christmas thoughts This post I thought I’d take a little break from sharing interesting links and just think back on the year; and what a year it has been! We’ve all had our own highlights and low points, but looking to 2017 we should all be excited about the opportunities it will bring [...]
Wait, are we actually listening? I don’t know if you have noticed, but over the last few weeks I have been talking about listening and the benefits this can deliver to us as leaders and to our teams and organisations. It is clearly a skill that we should all be looking to enhance (or [...]
Talking back to listen As leader we all try hard to be good listeners. We practice those behaviours that we have had drilled in to us for so long – make eye contact but don’t stare; paraphrase back what you think you have heard; don’t speak, don’t interrupt, don’t smile, don’t frown and, of [...]
Taking a stand on leadership Over the last 12 months or so we have been subjected to what I believe has been a distinct lack of leadership integrity. You could not turn on the television without hearing about our own recent federal election and, of course, the ongoing (and seemingly never-ending) US election. The [...]
The power of 'yes' How many times have you said ‘no’ to one of your team in the last week? And what did that response do to that discussion? Did it stop the conversation, cramp the ideas, freeze the innovation, kill the enthusiasm and impede the learning? The simple answer to that question is [...]
Leadership is a gift This is, without a doubt, one of the best leadership talks I have had the pleasure of hearing. General Mark Welsh, Commander of U.S. Air Forces in Europe, delivers a talk on leadership to the cadets at the Airforce Academy. General Welsh is humble, humorous, engaging, honest and compelling – [...]
3 Qualities for better leadership Well-known author and speaker, John C Maxwell quoted, “Leaders must be close enough to relate to others, but far enough ahead to motivate them”. This statement echoes the balancing act that many leaders I regularly work with find difficult to overcome. When I stumbled upon Stephanie Chung’s article 3 [...]
CEO succession starts with developing your leaders Identify your successor – that is one job that all leaders should be focusing on. Leaders at all levels within an organisation are responsible for ensuring that the workforce has the skills and capabilities required to achieve success in both the short and long term. Given this [...]
Although a tiger can't change his stripes, with practice a poor leader can become a great leader. Employees that have a less than average boss will often resign themselves to the idea that their boss will never change, and consequently they become disengaged and bored with their work. It is critical in your workplace that you [...]
Research demonstrates that inspiration is what separates great leaders from average leaders, and then again from average leaders to bad leaders. Leaders that inspire their employees find that their employees will be more engaged and committed to their work and projects. The ability to inspire is one of the top ranked qualities when employees are [...]
