In some recent research* it has been found that the number one skills gap among executives is the ability to build vision and engage stakeholders to make it happen. Without vision and engagement not a great deal is going to change, and implementing change is another oft quoted deficiency in the senior ranks. The Vision Gap To my mind, there are three main Read More

Nine out of ten leaders are not respected by nine out of ten of their followers. Well, that’s the way it often appears when you get a group of people together in a room talking about leadership. This also came across loud and clear earlier this year when I was researching line management relationships. Part of the problem is that respect is a concept that varies wildly in interpretation, especially in diverse populations. But, does respect even matter these days? Read More

A little while ago one of my private coaching clients was expressing his frustration about the political activity surrounding his work. This stimulated me to ask my connections about their views on this common feature of organisational life...

What's your take on this, necessary evil or total waste of your time?

I'd love to hear your thoughts, here are just a few of the hundreds of responses I received: Read More

As discussed on the video Attitudes and Approaches in How to Win Over Your Boss, I stressed the importance of checking in with yourself about your attitude towards the relationship you have with your boss. The purpose of this exercise is to help you to land your reflections and turn them into specific actions you can begin to take to move towards a more helpful attitude. This does not mean you have to always be agreeing, always be positive, but that you become far moe aware of the impact your chosen attitudes have on the behaviours that inhabit your relationship (your behaviour and your boss' behaviour). During the first webinar we covered a number of attitudes that help and support your transition into a strategic influencer. The purpose of this exercise is to give you the opportunity to do a little self-analysis and also, make decisions about adjusting the attitudes you approach your work with. Read More

Relationships need to be in good shape if you are going to be able to deliver at your best. You have relationships all around you: your boss, your co-workers, your team members, and many more besides. When they are not working, problems quickly ensue. If you are interested in improving a specific relationship, it really helps to quantify exactly what you are aiming for, and find a way to measure the quality of your relationship. This will help you to focus on what to improve and find actions you can take that will (hopefully) move you towards your goal. Rather than tell you what you should measure, I’d like you to work it out for yourself, lay down some measures appropriate for you, and then set about making it happen. To do this, reflect a little on relationships that Read More

Troublesome, battle-hardened people exist in most organisations. These high-ranking individuals wield great power and usually do not have the time, or the patience, to let others know where they are coming from or why they are making the decisions they are making. They represent an extremely tough road-block or obstacle. Unfortunately, they are also usually misunderstood and it is this which Read More

In order to maximise the impact your team can have on the world around it, and to gain greater results, you need to implement a strong brand that can be lived by the whole team, not just you or one or two team members. To begin, you need to do a little analysis. This forms stage one of the team brand development process (take a look at Developing and Influential Team Brand if you haven't already see it). In this article, I outline the next vital steps to implementing Read More