There’s one management behaviour that blows my mind whenever I hear about it. It’s when people tell me that their boss doesn’t routinely say hello to them. And it happens more often than you might imagine. For example, I was speaking with a team that…
There’s no such thing as a lazy employee. Do you agree? Here’s what I think… Have you ever managed someone who you just thought to yourself, They’re just plain lazy. Maybe you even described them like that to others. As people, we seem to have…
Leadership isn’t about choosing between people and performance. It’s about aligning them Sustainably high performance is only possible where the needs of both the organisation and its workers are consistently met over the long term. It’s not a zero sum game – the better an…
No one is lazy. Just disengaged. And the problem with labelling someone as lazy? We shut the door on the possibility they could ever be more than that. I used to be freewheeling – like terrible – in labelling people as lazy. That guy who…
“It’s all very ordinary once you get past the shiny suits and gruff exteriors”. I read that somewhere recently, though I can’t remember where. It was about celebrities (or maybe organised criminals 🤔😆). But the line stuck with me because it applies just as much…
Think about the worst possible workplace. Not just bad. Hellishly bad. What does it look like? How would people feel? And how productive would they be? I imagine people who’re bullied, harassed, stressed, overloaded, underequipped, in ill-suited roles, navigating ambiguous and changing priorities, underpaid, in…
Managers, here’s a simple but effective team engagement hack I picked up a few years ago: At your next management meeting, invite someone else from the team or wider organisation — ideally someone less experienced — to give a quick presentation. Here’s the parameters: five…
“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…
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…
I thought this was pretty funny when I saw it the other day. Like most good jokes, it has a strong hint of truth to it. Because sadly, a lot of managers are not OK. A recent study by The Workforce Institute surveyed 3,400 workers…
This quote has been living rent-free in my head for the past few weeks: People don’t think what they feel, don’t say what they think and don’t do what they say. David Ogilvy, advertising tycoon I think it’s true. Often, our genuine thoughts and feelings…
Here’s what to do: First: Assess your engagement at work. If you’re measuring engagement in your team, check out your own results in isolation. Otherwise, schedule a self check-in once per month to rate how you’re feeling out of 10. Pay attention to any trends.…
It’s impossible to engage your team overnight. But here’s what’s possible today… It’ll only take you 30 minutes. But, in one year’s time you’ll have a team with boosted engagement, because they: And highly engaged teams are 3x more productive than merely satisfied teams. Talk…
Everyone’s talking about employee engagement. (And here’s why you should too). Building employee engagement isn’t just the right thing to do, it’s the smart thing. A study in Harvard Business Review showed that highly engaged employees are: Imagine what it would be like to double…
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…
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…
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…
In my career I’ve had periods where I earnt good money, but the work didn’t engage me. I got bored, stopped giving it my best, and felt guilty about it. I’ve also worked on things I was really passionate about, but the pay was non-existent,…
As modern leaders, we can – and should – see the employer and employee relationship as a positive-sum game.
The engagement of your team is one of the most important things you must focus on as a leader. But paying attention to your own level of engagement is not only important, but crucial. How you’re feeling about work has a huge impact on your…
