Leadership & Management
The Road to Coaching | Part 2: Lightbulb Moments
I am now 8 weeks into my coaching course, and it would be fair to say that a lot is changing for me. I expected to learn new skills that I would use in a work context. I did not expect a fundamental shift in the way I think and communicate in all walks of life. I expected my feelings of general…
Leadership & Management
Management Communication – Your Top 3 priorities
Are there key things that managers should communicate? Well, yes, there are actually! Three things that are vital for all managers in all organisations to communicate well and regularly.
Leadership & Management
“Am I Making Myself Clear?” The Difference Between Intent and Perception.
We have given the most incredible gift of communication. Our ability to interact orally is utterly unique compared to any other creature on the planet. We are good at it too. We read subtle nuance, and micro gestures across the lyrics, song and dance of our discussions. Yet even given all this…
Remote/Hybrid
Remote worker, are you an integrator or a segmentor?
Long before the pandemic threw the whole world into remote working, it was generally considered that those who preferred to work remotely had a very specific characteristic that was not shared with people preferring a hub-based office working style.
Leadership & Management
Building a high functioning team
There is a clear difference between high performing teams and high functioning teams.
Put simply, many high performing teams are not necessarily high functioning. They achieve what they achieve through effort, blood, sweat and frequently tears. Performance in these organisations is exhausting, often stressful, there is fall out and discontent. They are…
Leadership & Management
Practical Ways to Implement the 70:20:10 Learning Model
Are businesses serious about 70:20:10 development? Or is it becoming a lazy way of reducing budgets while expecting already over-stretched staff to take on increased responsibility for their own learning?
Leadership & Management
Function or performance which needs to come first?
Some things we assume or take for granted turn out to be incredibly complex. Take the example of a formula one race. We take it for granted that for 2 hours on a Sunday twenty plus cars will show up and compete for the podium. Yet when we stop and think about it the amount of things that have got to coincide just to turn up, let alone win consistently, is enormous….
Leadership & Management
How to balance demand and pressure for your team.
Managing a team to deliver top-notch performance can be a challenging task for any manager. While it’s essential to meet the demands of the business, it’s also critical to ensure that employees are not overwhelmed with stress. Stress can lead to burnout, low morale, and a decrease in productivity, which can impact…
Leadership & Management
How to inspire an appetite for learning
I guess many companies have survived over many years without what we’ve started to call a ‘learning culture’ but without doubt, it’s a major benefit in modern business. When Kaplan & Norton first published their ‘balanced score card’ method in the mid 1990’s, it was interesting to note…
Remote/Hybrid
Hybrid working, the new remote working!
As we start to rise again from the ‘covid remote working experiment’ it seems more and more likely that the world of work has changed and will never be the same again. Many web surveys and our client discussions testify to the fact that the majority do not want to return to the one-hundred percent office based model. To replace…
Leadership & Management
Informal Learning – Bus or Bike?
Formal learning is a bit like a bus. The learner gets on and the driver takes them on a journey from A to B. Informal learning is like a bike, the learner gets on and chooses where, when and how fast they make their journey.
Remote/Hybrid
Distance Leadership
Just these two words together should raise the alarm bells! What good leader ever distances themselves from their followers? To lead people, we need to be visible, present and accessible. So even the idea of distance leadership feels uncomfortable when we look…
Leadership & Management
No Problem, No Development!
So, what was the last thing you learned to do? Chances are, whatever it was, you will have learnt it to solve a problem. Even those things that are in the realm of hobby or interest, it’s likely you were still solving a problem.
Leadership & Management
So would you turn up at a meeting with a paper bag over your head?
In this week’s blog, I’m going to address the thorny issue of not using cams when remote working. It seems to be a growing trend that in some organisations not using your cam is considered OK or even encouraged.
Leadership & Management
Supporting teams facing pressure and uncertainty
A key to this ‘support’ is to create what we like to call a ‘comfortable community’. This is one of our 4 C’s of high functioning teams, we’ve have posted on this topic before, you can read it here…
Leadership & Management
The Influence of Managers on Employee Performance
Hey, are you a manager looking to improve the performance of your staff? Well, you’re in luck! In this blog post, we’ll be diving into the influence managers have over their staff’s performance and providing you with some practical suggestions to take your leadership skills to the next level. It’s also…
Remote/Hybrid
The Most Important Lesson Ever About Managing Remote Workers
Remote working has been growing in popularity for many years. It’s easy to understand why; it’s extremely popular with staff (some surveys have suggested that as many as 51% of on-site workers would like the opportunity to work remotely) and it can have a wide range of benefits and advantages for employers, including reducing costs…
Remote/Hybrid
The Ripple Effect: How People Influence Each Other
Humans are inherently social beings, constantly interacting and shaping the world around them. Whether we realise it or not, our actions, words, and even our mere presence have a profound impact on those we come into contact with. From the way we dress to the ideas we share, the influence…
Leadership & Management
The Shrinking Workforce – Why Psychological Safety Matters More Than Ever
The workforce is shrinking. With baby boomers retiring and lower birth rates, companies are facing a shortage of talent. At the same time, employees today have higher expectations for fulfilment and work-life balance. This combination makes retaining top talent more critical than ever….
Leadership & Management
The Three Biggest Issues Managers Are Facing in 2023 Are…
Being a manager is no easy task, and each year brings its own unique set of challenges. As we delve into 2023, managers are grappling with a range of complex issues that demand their attention and strategic decision-making. In this blog, we will explore the three biggest issues that managers are facing this year, supported by relevant data and sources. So, let’s…
Leadership & Management
Understanding the Tenets of Inclusive Leadership
Inclusive leadership is a leadership style that promotes diversity, equity, and inclusion in the workplace. It requires leaders to actively seek out and value different perspectives and experiences, creating a culture where all employees feel valued and included. Here I will discuss the key characteristics…
Leadership & Management
VTMT – The simplest way in the world to write a SMART objective.
Most people seem to have heard of the SMART objective. An acronym to help you have all the correct ingredients when crafting an objective. There are loads of different versions of it too, my favourite being: Specific, Measurable, Awesome, Ridiculous and Time-bound…
Leadership & Management
What makes a great learner?
Having operated in this learning and development space for the past two decades, I’ve amassed a significant tally of trainees, that have as it were learnt under my wing. A very rough estimate puts it at around 7000 people. In that time…
Leadership & Management
Why Clarity Matters More Than Ever
While remote and hybrid work offers many benefits like flexibility and work-life balance, they also introduce new challenges around communication and coordination. As a manager…
Remote/Hybrid
Why Compassion Must Be Our Guide As We Return To Work
It’s almost unbelievable to think that we have now reached a year since the first national lockdown. Not because it’s gone so quickly, but because it hasn’t! We are now a year into this rather extreme social experiment; what happens when you remove all “unnecessary” social contact, almost all…
Leadership & Management
Why managers need to increase their clarity of vision and objective to enable staff empowerment.
In any organisation, the role of the manager is crucial. A manager’s primary responsibility is to provide leadership, guidance, and support to their team to achieve the organisation’s goals. However, to achieve this, a manager needs to have a clear vision and objective. Without these, it can be…
