What’s a mission? What’s a vision? And how do they differ? This a common source of confusion for people starting out in strategy and more broadly amongst members of organisations. I vividly recall a workshop we were facilitating with an executive team where we’d gone…
Organisations often talk about and focus on strategy. And rightly so: having organisational clarity on strategy improves organisational health and performance [link to the six questions]. Strategy essentially involves determining: These three elements correspond to Simon Sinek’s why – how – what model that he…
Steven Bartlett – from Diary of a CEO – says that “every company is a recruitment company”, because few things affect success more than having the right people on a team. Why then are many organisations so casual about recruitment? And why aren’t hiring managers…
“People don’t buy what you do, they buy why you do it”. That’s one of the central points of Simon Sinek’s golden circle model which he presents in his book, Start With Why (you can read a summary of the book here). The golden circle…
As a leader, are you a chess master or a gardener? I want to be a gardener. Here’s why. Leaders today are overwhelmed. It’s hard to keep up with all the decisions, reviews and plans. As the world speeds up and grows more complex, leading…
You’ve just stepped into a new management role. The urge to reshape everything is irresistible. But here’s the catch: rushing in might do more harm than good. As managers, our egos often hijack us when taking over new teams or organisations. We want to make…
Dreading sharing some bad news with a team member? Here’s 3 steps to approach it 👇. If you have bad news to share with someone, the kind and effective way to do it is directly and with compassion. Don’t beat around the bush or procrastinate.…
When stepping into a new management role, the impulse to make early, significant changes is natural. The idea of making a big improvement to the team or the business feels energising. For most managers, this comes from wanting to have a positive impact. The desire…
Management and leadership tasks can be hard. But there’s a bunch of easy stuff too. So get that right. I was listening to Scott Galloway talk the other day and his advice to young people included “get the easy stuff right”. It occurred to me…
What do Alice in Wonderland and Roman philosophy have in common? They both share at least one important lesson on the importance of a clear vision for high performing teams and organisations. Vision statements are common, but they often exist in a going-through-the-motions, tick-the-box-of-a-strategic-planning-checklist kind…
Loyalty gets a lot of attention from managers (especially when they’re hurt that someone’s quit). But we should focus more on commitment, less on loyalty. Loyalty has the potential to be abused. It’s often positioned as something that should be prioritised (especially by employees, lest…
Here’s a sneak preview of something we first started working on four years ago. It’s a planner designed just leaders. For leaders who want to get their sh!t together, be impactful and eliminate stress. Joel Bailey and I are big believers that simple planning systems…
When we step up into a management role, our time management needs to go to the next level. Most people manage their time by: The most important change is to move from reactive to proactive time management. Reactive often works well enough early on in…
We tend to picture grand things when we think of impactful leadership. But it’s often the small acts that count. Because most of our impact comes day in, day out as we go about our role. And it’s easy to miss these everyday opportunities when…
Here’s 3 things that effective leaders take total responsibility for. While average ones might own one or two (and bad ones none 🤦♂️). Strong leaders don’t make excuses. They accept that – if something happens on their watch – they’re responsible. They don’t just parrot…
A friend recently asked – hypothetically – what advice I would have given to Australian Olympic breakdancer, Raygun. I don’t know anything about breakdancing (beyond it being artistically and culturally complex) or elite competition. But I would encourage anyone to be sincere, try their best…
When was the last time you apologised for something at work? If you can’t remember, consider: are you perfect, or are you not apologising for some other reason? I’ve noticed that some people in management roles don’t like to apologise. But this approach is dead…
The word ‘leadership’ is thrown around so often that it sometimes feels like it is losing its meaning. We see it everywhere: in job titles, on LinkedIn profiles, in performance reviews. But what does it really mean to be a leader? Has the term become…
This cartoon nails it! (cartoon credit: Kendra Allenby, The New Yorker) It’s a common dilemma. One that many of us face at some point in our careers. After years of honing our (usually technical) skills, we’re presented with a crossroad: the only way up seems…
The more senior we get, the more tempting it can be to play not to lose. (As opposed to playing to win). I’ve noticed this trend amongst some leaders (and in myself sometimes). The more senior we get, the more conversative we become. At a…