Here’s my career story in decades… 20s: Wildly confident. 30s: Self-doubting. 40s: Growing, grounded confidence. I’m a textbook case of the Dunning-Kruger effect. What is it? It’s a cognitive bias described by two American psychologists in 1999. It plots the relationship between knowledge and confidence.…
Early in my management career, there was a person in my team who dressed inappropriately for work. It was an issue, because they often met with clients and hence weren’t representing our company in a way consistent with our brand and values. It was also…
We’ve built a Strategic Planning Toolkit so any leader can create a plan for their team or organisation in a few weeks. A free sample is available to download now. Many managers want a plan. But they don’t know how to build one or where…
Netflix is legendary for its high performance culture. An important aspect of this is recruiting great fits. To do this, Reed Hastings explained on the Tim Ferriss podcast how he does referee checks. He does what he calls ‘cold sourcing’ of references. This means he…
Do you have an invisible, but heavy hand on your shoulder? Most of us wish to grow through life, standing ever taller and straighter as we go. Expressing ever more of our true selves. If we’re lucky, we have people who metaphorically crouch down, clasp…
What if all the workers in New York went home feeling better about themselves after an engaging day of work… what difference would it make? 8 million people live in NYC. Half of them work. And the same number of people ride the subway each…
It breaks my heart how often people would sooner sacrifice something they love – for example, a job or a relationship – than have a difficult conversation. Difficult conversations are difficult. And vulnerability is scary. But a life less than the one we’re capable of…
Dear Guide: My boss has mental health issues and she has treated me poorly for a long time. I believe these two things are connected. I am compassionate to anyone struggling with their health, but now I’m struggling too. I have spoken to my boss,…
Dear Guide: My boss treats me poorly. I’ve tried speaking with her, but she gets defensive and dismisses my feedback. I asked her peer for advice and it was clear that my boss’s behaviour was well known and that – if I quit – she…
Love the wrongdoer, hate the wrong. As leaders, we should keep this in mind whenever dealing with performance issues. A HR manager I knew was involved in firing someone for gross misconduct. Afterwards, she met the dismissed employee in the car park. She checked in…
Overload is something I’ve struggled with at work, particularly in management roles. Here’s a fairly typical situation for me. I’d find myself running 7+ projects at once. Some were just kicking off, and others were close to being finished. Some of them were ‘paid’ projects…
What makes a good recruitment process? Research shows that three things are most reliable at predicting on the job performance: 1. Work sample tests = 2. General cognitive ability tests = 2. Structured interviews Yet, few recruitment processes include sample work or cognitive ability tests.…
Updated: March 2025 I’ve trialled a number of planning journals in the past. None of them really ‘stuck’. Sometimes the planning system didn’t work for me. Or I didn’t like the physical design. Or both. But I remain attracted to the idea of finding a…
Impact Society has updated the terms of service that govern the use of impactsociety.co. Key changes include modifications to the following sections: These changes are effective from Tuesday, 12 March 2024.
Dear Guide: My boss and I have different views on the best strategy to advance our objectives. I’m proposing a new approach that will add cost, but I believe it will deliver greater revenue. He sees it as a cash flow black hole. I believe…
There is something deeply uncomfortable about listening to a recording of our own voice1. So when I listened last week to my first podcast effort – as a guest on Founder’s Ascent – I had to go through it more than once, just to get…
Dear Guide: I have a casual team member who has repeatedly failed to submit their timesheet. I have explained to them several times that this must be done on time, as not doing so prevents them from getting paid and creates additional administrative work for…
Do you have an everyday management or leadership dilemma that you’re grappling with? Our new advice column – The Guide – coaches readers through the ordinary difficulties of leadership life. in each edition, we will answer a reader’s question about a management problem, big or…
When we take on more responsibility, many of us respond by working more hours. This isn’t much fun. But it’s also dumb. Because adding more time isn’t a scalable solution. And it stunts our growth. First, it turns us into super individual contributors, not better…
According to Harvard Business Review, highly engaged teams are two to three times more productive than other teams. Many leaders want to engage their team, but just don’t know where to start. So here’s five everyday actions to get you going. 1. Say hello to…