Someone asked me recently “What’s the most important competency of a leader?” I was tempted to say “communication skills” or maybe “resilience” in light of events in recent years. We could debate this for a very long time, but few would disagree that decision making must be up there among the top skills every leader needs. Whatever role … Read More
Over the years, it’s been a privilege to meet some amazing leaders and to learn from their words of wisdom. One of the best pieces of advice I ever received was from my personal mentor, Ron Hansell. He asked me to memorise this quote: “Every adversity carries with it the seed of an equivalent advantage” … Read More
Executive Coaching has emerged as an essential way of supporting the peak performance of individuals and teams. To read our ‘CEO Today Magazine’ article on the benefits of coaching click here
It’s been exciting watching the Olympic coverage these last few weeks – just the tonic we needed after the challenges of the last 18 months. But now the games are over, I wonder – what can we learn from the world’s elite athletes and, in particular, the gold medal winners? The question on my mind … Read More
Have you ever wondered why sometimes people just don’t behave the way you expect them to?! Here are a few examples to illustrate what I mean: You’ve just delivered a rabble-rousing motivational team talk – yet nothing much happens afterwards. You write a stunning proposal for a client who verbally agrees to proceed – but … Read More
Vaccines may be in short supply, but there is no shortage of things to worry about these days! Whether it’s concern for loved ones, work pressures, money or a host of other issues, worrying is to some extent a natural part of being human. Our brain goes into overdrive while it tries to problem-solve… and … Read More
How good is your ‘conversational competence’? This might sound like a strange question to ask, but is there any 21st century skill more important than being able to sustain an engaging, coherent and confident conversation? Nothing beats a good face-to-face conversation for making a deep and meaningful connection. But much of today’s communication is based on being … Read More
Based purely on age alone, the chances are that anyone under the age of 32 has not experienced a GENUINE business recession in their working lifetime. For example, just before Hong Kong went into lockdown mode in January I was invited to run a team coaching session for a group of professionals at their regular … Read More
Young leaders often report being on a ‘performance treadmill’ with little time to step back and reflect. They usually approach their careers from a technical perspective with less time spent on developing the soft skills needed to flourish at higher level. Therefore, Executive Coaching assignments often centre around carving out time for reflection, increasing self-awareness … Read More
I recently read an article that made me laugh out loud! It featured some of the worst excuses the British used for calling in sick and included such gems as: “I had a bad dream and needed the day to recover” “I thought it was Saturday today” “My partner threw the TV remote at me last night and … Read More