Create a winning culture, you can’t force people to change, stop your blame culture, managers can’t do it all and more.
Thank you for reading my latest leadership newsletter. In my work as an advisor, coach and consultant to ambitious and leading boards, CEO’s, executives and teams, I come across important developments and people that are shaping the future of business and leadership. Every week I share my round-up of interesting stories so you can find the most important leadership and business thinking. I hope you enjoy them! If you haven’t already, feel free to follow me on LinkedIn or Twitter. Happy reading!
Climate Change 101 for Business Leaders
With climate change increasingly becoming a matter of concern for employees and environmentalists alike, companies can no longer ignore the issue. This primer serves as an FAQ for decision-makers to take stock of the climate change situation and make the right business decisions around it.
What do startup founders pay themselves?
The best takeaway is that founders should be paid based on their circumstances and enough to ensure they can focus on the business if we want start-ups to succeed. A 20-something with limited outgoings vs a 55-year-old with a mortgage and children is not comparable, is it?
When was the last time you attended a really good work meeting?
Bad meetings are the bane of the corporate world. We know that many are often unnecessary and unproductive, but many workplaces continue to struggle to avoid them. But despite this overwhelming consensus, endless check-ins, debriefs, all-staffs, and Zoom calls continue to plague the corporate world.
You Can’t Force People to Change
As someone who’s been coaching executives for nearly 2 decades, I agree with Frank Sonnenberg that people don’t resist change; they resist being changed.
Stop Complaining About Your Colleagues Behind Their Backs
Many of us believe that we’re above workplace gossip, and that we never engage in it. But, if you’ve ever participated in a “confirmation expedition” — whereby you 1) ask a colleague to confirm their own negative or challenging experience with a third colleague who is not present, or 2) welcome a similar line of confirmation inquiry from another colleague about a third colleague who is not present, you are in fact engaging in gossip.
The 6 Fundamental Skills Every Leader Should Practice
The best way to develop proficiency in leadership is not just through reading books and going to training courses, but even more through real experience and continual practice. Six areas of practice are of particular importance to developing leaders: building a unifying vision, developing strategy, getting the right people hired and motivated, focusing on results, innovation, and leading themselves.
Guess what? Managers Can’t Do It All
Managers now have to think about making their teams successful, rather than being served by them; coach performance, not oversee tasks; and lead in rapidly changing, more-fluid environments. These shifts have piled more responsibilities onto managers and required them to demonstrate new capabilities.
Knowing How To Mentor And Lead When Your Team Is Stressed And Strained
Knowing how to mentor and lead those dealing with varying cognitive loads requires frank conversations and a readjustment of expectations, again. It’s the same storm we are in, but not everyone has the same equipment or is close to its eye.
Blame Culture Is Toxic. Here’s How to Stop It.
It turns out we may not be nearly as kind as we think we are. A study shows that the brain responds more strongly to bad experiences than good ones and that it retains the memory of bad experiences longer. In fact, about five positive experiences are equal to one negative experience.
Creating a Winning Culture
One of the strongest drivers of profitability in every business is the organization’s culture. A favorite phrase of mine is, “the customer’s experience will never exceed the employee’s experience.” In this blog, I outline specifically what it takes to create a culture of highly engaged employees who take amazing care of your customers.
Whether you are a new CEO looking to embed your leadership, an organisation undergoing major strategic and transformational change, or an executive team that wants to improve performance, I can help you and your team overcome your challenges and address your most important opportunities. Let’s discuss your key opportunities and challenges.
