I don’t know your team, but I know they can’t read your mind. I often speak to managers who’re frustrated that their people aren’t doing what they need them to. Me: “Have you told them exactly what you need from them?” Them: “Well, I’ve spoken…
Decisions that go right aren’t always good ones. (And decisions that go wrong aren’t always bad ones) For example, imagine rolling a dice and choosing between two outcomes: We choose (b). The person rolls five. We win. But it was a bad decision. Because, if…
New executive comes in. Starts strong. Engages the frontline. Then gets busy. Buries themselves. Drops engagement. Loses trust. Workers say, “they’re just like everyone else, they don’t give a shit about us”. I’ve seen this repeatedly. And the sad thing is, the leader usually does…
Many things are out of our control. But we can always choose our attitude and behaviour. And our attitudes and behaviours profoundly affect how impactful we are in our world. They affect how others perceive us. And therefore how open and cooperative they’re likely to be…
Leading change is a core function of a leader. But few of us are taught how to do it. There are multiple leading change management models (e.g. the Prosci ADKAR model). One of our favourites is John Kotter’s 8 steps for leading change. Using this…
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…
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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…