Develop your team by helping them to be problems solvers

Emma is nettled. I can see it in her body posture and hear it in her voice. She is describing her boss and the impact his approach to managing and leading the team is having. Emma is a highly skilled professional. Her new boss keeps telling her what to do, gives advice and always has…

Why be a Hero when you can be a Leader?

Katy flops down in the chair. Her shoulders are sagging, she looks drawn and weary. When asked how she was feeling, her response was, “I am worn out, pooped, dog tired’. ‘What’s causing this?’ I enquired. ‘I seem to spend all my time fixing other people’s problems, and then having to catch up on my…

How to have those difficult conversations you avoid

It’s weighing on your mind, disrupting your thoughts, pulling you down. You know that you got to have that conversation. But you don’t want to. You are not sure how the other person will react and even more importantly how you will react. You are hoping that someone else might address it, that it might…

Using the silence in your leadership conversations

“I nodded, smiled encouraging and said nothing. It felt like ages and I was conscious of the quietness and then she spoke and came up with a way of moving forward …” These are the words of Tom as he feeds back on his coaching ‘homework’ which was to practice his listening skills. Tom is…

What does Trust have to do with communication and feedback?

 Enquiring about ‘Are you doing anything special tonight for Valentine’s?’ to a colleague yielded the response, ‘I went out yesterday, it’s awful being     in a restaurant and seeing couples there who don’t seem to have much to talk about’. I began to think about the times when we are together as a group,…