A common question I get asked by people inquiring about coaching is whether they need life coaching or business coaching. Just the other day someone asked me on the phone, “Does this sound like a professional issue or do I need help on a more personal level?” My answer (spoiler alert): It’s all personal. In almost every case, once I hear ... [Read On]
What My Most Resilient Clients are Doing (and what they’re not)
I’m super proud of many of my clients who have rallied and responded to their own business challenges with fantastic resilience and wisdom. It seems like a good time to share some of their secrets and talk about what the most resilient leaders do to not only get through, but to also thrive through challenge - and take their people with them. ... [Read On]
The Mechanics of Rapport: We’re Wired to Connect
If you're talking rapport building and what the research says, John Gottman is one of the kinkier researcher’s around. He has a ‘Big Brother’ type set up in his lab which involves couples staying in an apartment for a few days, wired up to measure their heart rate and so on, and with cameras all over the place tracking their every move. ... [Read On]
Giving feedback and understanding performance
Giving feedback: the task of a manager that most managers most detest! Oh, how easy it is to put it off and never quite get around to it (even though we all know that one of the golden rules of giving feedback is to make it timely). It doesn’t have to be that way. The trick is to be clear about what you want the conversation to achieve and to know ... [Read On]
Do your people get out of bed to do a shitty job?
Do your people really get out of bed to do a shitty job at work? Employee performance is something that has interested me for over 20 years and this is a conversation I’ve had hundreds of times over the years with managers at all levels and across numerous industries. What is going on when someone isn’t performing? When they’re not stepping up, ... [Read On]
Want to be a brilliant leader? Build your EQ.
It’s not news that things are a-changing, the world of work included. Once upon a time, when someone was hired to management, the big focus was on their IQ and their qualifications. How prestigious is their degree? How intelligent are they? Historically, workplaces have focused on IQ as the main predictor of performance at work, trusting that this ... [Read On]
Why is there still so much stress in the workplace?
With stress being so fashionable these days – “I’m just so busy (and stressed), daaahhling …” – it’s easy for workplaces to inadvertently foster a culture of pressure, rushing and busy-ness. Plus, whilst most people would say they understand stress is ‘bad’ for us, we still live in a society (and business environment) where it is tolerated to a ... [Read On]
The risky business of ‘borrowed motivation’
For my whole childhood I was a fervent nail biter. And I don’t just mean that you’d occasionally see me with my fingers in my mouth. Oh no. I bit my dear little fingers down to stumpy skin and beyond. As I got a bit older I began to wish I could stop. And of course lots of people in my life had the same wish for me, and would quite incessantly tell ... [Read On]
March Book Reviews: The books behind top TED Talks
Some of the best books I’ve read in recent years arrived into my awareness via some of the best TED Talks I’ve seen, so this month I share some of those books along with their associated TED talks – all of which are rather famous online, and all of which have powerful, fresh messages. You’ll find below my take on the books of Brene Brown, who ... [Read On]