Helping leaders and organisations be better
My inspiration for the topic this time has been a couple of conversations I have had with people about just how busy things feel despite entering the summer season. The book by Cal Newport ‘Deep Work: Rules for Focused Success in a Distracted World’, defines deep work as: “Professional activity performed in a state of … Read more
Everyone having a voice is a sign of psychological safety. Many of you will be familiar with this but if you feel like a refresher then this article reminds us What Is Psychological Safety? (hbr.org). This article says: How people answer the following questions will give you a sense of the degree to which they … Read more
This week I want to talk about listening, really listening, not just pausing and smiling and nodding whilst someone is talking to you, as you think about what you have to do next…. Listening seems like such a simple topic that we shouldn’t have to pause and think about, but how well do we actually … Read more
I had a conversation with a leader on a talent programme recently, who had the light bulb moment that, wait for it, they didn’t actually need to know all the answers. They had previously thought that they would eventually get to a certain stage in their career and that would be it – they would … Read more
This time the topic is trust, as it has come up in quite a few of my recent conversations. For those of you who have read ‘Lencioni: The five pillars of dysfunctional teams’ you will know that trust is the crucial foundation for any successful team. This Harvard Business Review article weaves in the neuroscience … Read more
This week I want to talk about failure. This is not a word many like to use; indeed, the sense of fear around this word means it is often one that must not be named, in a kind of ‘Voldermort’esque way (apologies to non-Harry Potter fans!) There is an acceptance on an intellectual level that … Read more
I was once told that the only person you meet in a group is yourself. Quite a powerful statement as it taps into how we make sense of our own experiences and how open we are to truly understanding others. We all know the phrase that we should put ourselves in the shoes of others … Read more
This time I want to talk about focus. As leaders its part of our role to focus attention and that can be done in many ways – focussing on ourselves, focussing on others and focussing on the wider world. This article The Focused Leader (hbr.org) sums it up nicely: “Every leader needs to cultivate this … Read more
What have you learned today? There is a quote from a JFK speech that he never actually gave, which is “Leadership and Learning are indispensable to each other” (Remarks Prepared for Delivery at the Trade Mart in Dallas, TX, November 22, 1963 [Undelivered] | JFK Library). Great leaders know that they never ‘make it’; instead, … Read more
Anyone else have imposter syndrome? – Good thing or bad thing? Either way – confession – guilty as charged! Many of you will know what this is, that sense of thinking that people have an exaggerated view of our abilities; a bit of fear of being exposed as a fraud; and a continuous tendency to downplay … Read more