My (mostly) weekly thoughts on leadership, high performance, wellbeing and more.
Have a read through, or you can see a complete index here
What have you done right lately?
I would estimate that, oh, approximately 100% of people I have worked with lately are exhausted (a statistic of correlation, not causation, I trust!).
The magical solution that will solve all your problems
Lots of people grappling with overload and/or a job they find increasingly unlikeable are looking for a magical cure that will solve all their problems. I know how that feels – I did it too.
Your people have choices. Will they choose you?
How fully do you trust your team? I am still hearing about many leaders who think that having people back in the office is the only way to “get the most out of them”. How might their teams be feeling? Perhaps resentful, disengaged, demotivated and unhappy?
Use your power for good instead of evil
We know power corrupts. This HBR article explains how to temper power with humility and a sense of interconnectedness. For those whose goal is to build confidence and power, the same advice can apply…. as illustrated in my latest glossy graphic. How does this resonate for you?
7 Practical Strategies to Avoid Being Distracted (and Avoid Ruining Your Team’s Lives)
It’s obvious that you will get the most from people when they are able to perform at a high level ... but are you actively undermining their capacity by creating and perpetuating an always-on, distraction-rich culture? Here’s 7 practical ways to make it better.
If working harder worked, your to-do list would be done.
When I was working as a junior lawyer, I vividly remember one of my colleagues staying back late into the evening to finish some work. He missed his first wedding anniversary dinner to do that. Why?
6 Questions to Ask Yourself to Make the Most of Each Day
When you ask yourself something, your brain can’t help but try to answer it. While sometimes my response to lockdown is a swearword I won’t repeat here, lately the phrase “make the most of it” has also been coming to mind.
You’re not stuck in traffic, you ARE traffic… so what next?
So your organisational or team culture is in a jam. As a leader, how are you seen – helper? Resource? Obstacle? Threat? … (gasp) Irrelevant? Having the courage to see what is, not just what you think should be, is a great place to start.
On closing the knowing/doing gap
If you’ve ever felt annoyed when someone told you to do something you already *knew* you should be doing, here’s something to try instead.
My new favourite tip to add breaks to your day
Spend all day clicking from window to window despite your best intentions? Here’s my new favourite tip. I am absolutely loving it!
A deceptively simple tip to help you overcome that habit or limiting belief
If you’re spending a lot of energy trying to overcome bad habits or “limiting beliefs”, this could be a game-changer for you.
Vale Shelley
Turns out, I’m still carrying an internalised notion that being professional means being unstoppable. But I’m stoppable. We all are.
Work or life? Let's ask a different question
While your “work” and “life” drivers are fighting you choose “staying back to finish this advice and getting it to the client tonight” over “logging off, going home, and picking it back up in the morning”. You then feel bad, resentful and guilty for ignoring the part of you that wants you to go home. Or, you override that and choose to go home… but then can’t relax because you’re worried about the work still needing to be done
Why feeling uncomfortable can be a good sign
New role? Here’s why it’s better to feel some doubt rather than sail in thinking you already know it all.
Surprise! Shaming and judgement aren’t all that motivating
When I was brand new to coaching, I hated making business development calls. Being forced to make them only made it worse. Here’s what worked instead.
Some tips for keeping it simple
My cousin shared his business philosophy – it’s in the title. Read on for more.
If you did know, what would you do?
You know more than you think: here’s a technique for tapping into the wisdom that’s just below the surface.
On simplicity
A busy friend’s enjoyment of some straightforward work got us thinking about the benefits of simplicity.
On machines and humans
Has the COVID experience helped us shake off the machine metaphor for work, and what might take its place?
On a scale of 1-10, is your thinking binary?
If I don’t do this perfectly, I’m useless. Sound familiar? In this article I step you through a simple technique for teasing out this kind of thinking into something more useful.