Photo by Charl Durand on Unsplash “The Elephant in the Room” is that problem which everybody knows exists and won’t confront. You’ll know you’re the problem, if you’re the boss and experience a few of these: Nobody challenges you – probably because you don’t like to be challenged. People won’t take the initiative. Too many […]
to by Andreas Klassen on Unsplash Brett owns a manufacturing business and over fifteen years had built his workforce of 43 good people with his energy, expertise and empathy. But he was frustrated with two behaviours of some of his people: Some of them kept interrupting him to ask for more information, or what to do next, […]
Photo by Kelly Sikkema on Unsplash Your smart skills are those of relating, empathising, sharing feelings effectively, expressing feelings effectively, engaging others, influencing, persuading, inspiring, convincing and supporting. Wrongly dubbed ‘soft’ skills, these smart skills are harder than hard skills (trades, operations, sciences and professions) to master. Under our current global situation, with workforces more dispersed and stressed, […]
Photo by Phil Coffman on Unsplash Tom replaced the mining company’s former chief operating officer, who had fallen seriously ill. Less than two months later Tom felt extremely stressed and was struggling to keep up with his workload. Worst of all he hadn’t had time to get to know the people who were delivering the outputs and results. […]
This season’s down-time presents a great opportunity to gain an extraordinary advantage for the coming year. The people who could most benefit will undoubtedly be managing partners, business owners, leaders, executives, supervisors and managers at all levels. That extraordinary advantage will be the ability to confidently and competently conduct difficult conversations that get desired results without […]
Hello David here. Imagine that it is February 2019, that's two and a half months from now, now being the 15th of November 2018 and you’re stepping into the business for the first time after the break. And you have a clear plan about how you're going to have some very important conversations with people […]
My client, an officer in the emergency management sector, was recovering from PTSD. He had seen too many fatal incidents, had too many terrible experiences. They had affected him personally. He felt guilt and anger. He felt helpless. My purpose was to help him recover through coaching. Separately, he was receiving valuable help from a […]
Adam and Eve are very different to their biblical namesakes. They had followed similar paths earlier, as university graduates and then fast tracking to executive roles. Whilst they haven’t met each other, they know of each other, because they are both my clients. I met Adam first, when he was the chief operating officer of […]
Michael (not his real name) was the CEO of a family owned company, with about 100 employees, that has a niche market serving custom marine, aero and road vehicles, including motorcycles. (I’ve also altered enough description to ensure confidentiality) The company is sixty years old and Michael is the grandson of the founder. He’s young […]
There is a ubiquitous crisis of leadership in the workplace. Gallup says 82% of managers are the wrong fit. Executives are both leaders and managers. They lead people and manage processes and things. We can’t manage people, we can only either lead them or not. Sadly, most executives are chosen, not for pre-existing leadership or […]
