Practical tips. Prompts to get you thinking. The odd rant.

First of all, congratulations! You must have been doing something right to get promoted (and you may need to remind yourself of just what that was from time to time). People often get promoted because they deliver – on time, to standard, on budget and so on – or to put it another way, they… Read more

There’s a lot written and said about what teams at work can learn from sports teams. Much of it is inspirational, some of it is useful, and some just doesn’t travel into your average workplace at all. That’s because there are fundamental, but often overlooked, differences – beyond the obvious dress code issues. Goal clarity… Read more

The idea that most of us think we’re above average – which is of course statistically impossible – is well documented (just search ‘illusory superiority’ if you’re not sure). Most of us think we’re beyond the mid-point of the standard distribution curve, whether it’s how attractive we are, how good we are at driving –… Read more

You may have one or some of the following responses to that little provocation: “What business is it of yours how often I say ‘Thank You’ to my people?” “Why should I say ‘Thank You’? It’s their job dammit!” “Erm… don’t really know…” Let’s deal with those responses. If you really don’t think that how… Read more

A sure sign you’re not ready to delegate is if you find yourself asking one of your team, “Could you just have a think about [insert the vague, half-baked idea you had in the shower here]?” Most of us have fallen into this trap at some point or other and know it’s none too effective…. Read more

I’ve been reflecting on my experience of being managed; looking back at the different bosses I worked for back when I was an employee, and what I’ve learned from them. Some lessons I apply more frequently and rigorously than others. The process of doing this has helped me reconnect with lessons I need to apply… Read more

Well, this part of Zoomly’s website does have ‘the oddl rant’ in its subtitle – and this is one. New research by CBI and Pearson delivers some damning statistics on employers’ perceptions of career advice given to young people at school: Only 7% of employers believe the career advice given in schools is adequate, and… Read more

  Values   Blah blah blah blah blah blah blah Blah blah blah blah blah blah blah Blah blah blah blah blah blah blah Do a quick search for ‘organisation values’ and you’ll strike a rich seam of carefully crafted words. No doubt much time and resource was devoted to their development, and much debate… Read more

  Self-awareness has been a bit of a topic for me lately. I recently gave a talk about raising our Emotional Intelligence that – naturally – included self-awareness and saw people were taking notes. Most of us aren’t as self-aware as we could be – we may believe we know ourselves, but often don’t pause… Read more

When we run our bite-sized ‘How to develop your leadership style’ workshop, an old question often comes up: “Are leaders born or made?” Whilst it’s been my observation that some leaders show their potential at a very early stage in their careers, it doesn’t necessarily follow that this slams the door in a late developer’s… Read more