How to get hybrid right, why agile fails 50% of the time, how to stop being distracted, how to smash your negotiations and more.

Thank you for reading my latest article. 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 Friday 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!

5 Key Trends Leaders Need to Understand to Get Hybrid Right

The people returning to the office are not the same as those who left in March 2020. Microsoft’s latest Work Trend Index compiles input from 31,000 people in 31 countries, labor trends from LinkedIn, and trillions of productivity signals from Microsoft 365 to offer a closer look at the year ahead, highlight what employees truly want, and help leaders chart a path forward.

Why investing in mental health should be CEOs biggest concern in 2022

Are you investing in your people’s wellbeing? What steps have you actually taken over the past few months to make authentic, tangible, change? The pandemic upended how we think about wellbeing and mental health – it moved the goalposts. Wellbeing plans, psychological health programs, are not a ‘nice to have’, they’re an intrinsic part of overall strategy.

Are You Ready To Start Over? Let’s Bust the Top 3 Myths You’ll Face

Are you stuck on the golden treadmill? The golden treadmill is a figurative device I conceptualized and coined to capture the essence of doing work that doesn’t provide you with a sense of joy, meaning, purpose and fulfillment.

Agile Doesn’t Work Without Psychological Safety

If you drop agile tools and processes into a legacy culture that punishes the very acts of vulnerability required to be agile, you will fail. Environments of punished vulnerability — i.e., low psychological safety — leave organizations agile in name only, like the talented team that stalled and then failed.

Marshall Goldsmith launches new book – The Earned Life

As I look back on my own career, and the work I’ve done and the experiences I’ve had with others, and their accounts of their own lives and leadership experiences, it is appropriate now to tackle the challenge of regret. It’s true that no one wants to be lying on their deathbed thinking of regrets. The important thing is to address it head on and see how you can overcome it right now. 

Problems Really Are Best Addressed Before They Arise

I find it interesting when you call your cable provider to cancel your service and they drop the price before you finish your sentence. Along the same lines, why do some managers say, “What can we do to keep you?” only after a valued employee tenders their resignation? You must ask yourself, “If they care so much, why didn’t they provide that offer earlier?” After all, problems are best addressed before they arise.

Why is a ‘growth mindset’ critical in negotiations?

Preparation delivers >80% of the value. All the research (and my experience) shows that people who prepare well for negotiations get better outcomes. Emotions have no place at the negotiating table. You must be able to separate your emotions from solving the challenge. Being emotionally charged at the negotiating table can have catastrophic results.

Strategy execution does not mean sticking to the plan

Definitions of strategy, strategic planning and strategy frameworks have been accepted and used by businesses around the world for decades. Regardless of your business and the market it operates in there will be a wide variety of strategy models you can use to help with planning – interestingly the “execution of strategy” has not always received the same level of attention.

How to work a 4-day week without overloading on meetings

You start with excitement at the accomplishment of getting your new schedule approved: “Yes! I negotiated a four-day workweek. This will give me the opportunity to have a bit more breathing room on my extra day off.” Then disillusionment sets in: Why can’t I get all of my work done? Why does it feel like all I do is attend meetings? How is it that I often end up working five days when I’m supposed to have an extra day off?

4 Books to Improve Your Customers’ Lifetime Value

You owe quite a bit to your brand-loyal, long-term buyers. Without their repeat business, you’d have no dependable source of income. So, why not focus your attention on keeping them happy? When you do, you’ll get a serious benefit in the form of a higher average customer lifetime value (LTV).

4 Ways to Stop Getting Distracted and Start Hitting Goals

I recently concluded an interview with a podcaster. I should have been happy, but felt deflated and discouraged. My business the previous year had the best year ever. However, I knew I had a persistent obstacle, one I battle with all the time: distractions. After I got off the interview, I thought to myself, “What if I wasn’t so distracted? Would my business be better? Would my life be better?”

From the previous edition:

• Are You Being Influenced or Manipulated?
• How to ensure people don’t feel used when you’re networking with them
• How To Avoid Investors’ Pet Pitching Peeves
• Is Leadership An Art Or Science?
• What Choices Do You Have When There is a Serious Work Dispute?
• Why Highly Efficient Leaders Fail
• Wellness And The Future Of Work: Some Of The Best Companies Share Their New Solutions
• Stop Wasting People’s Time with Meetings
• The Fastest Path to the CEO Job, According to a 10-Year Study
• Is it time for the conversation around inclusion and diversity to take a human-centric approach?
• How One Person Can Change the Conscience of an Organization

About Me

I’m a global business & executive coach, strategic advisor and consultant with over 25 years of experience building, developing and scaling global, market-leading companies. I am obsessively passionate about helping leaders, change-makers and businesses to grow faster and unlock breakthrough results and I’ve been privileged to be trusted to advise 100’s of CEO’s from multi-billion dollar international corporates to start-ups.

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. I also provide longer-term support as a Non-Executive Chairman / Director or Board Advisor and serves on the board for several organisations.
– Let’s discuss your key opportunities and challenges.