The Executive Assistant Guide

If you are lucky enough to have an Executive Assistant, the success of this working relationship greatly affects your ability to produce results. This article provides suggestions for the range of roles your EA might play in assisting you with your work and relationships. Feel free to adapt this to enhance the specific working relationships between you and your EA. With each task, I have suggested a role and a way your EA might consider approaching the task. Diary Management Your...

This Thing Called Feedback

Leaders giving feedback to develop their staff’s capacities has become second nature since the 80s. But how much of it is effective? What kind of “feedback” is likely to assist the recipient to want to change their behaviour? If we knew this, we’d all have a key to both productivity and life enhancing organisational culture. What might be done? I notice many leaders are skilled in observing behavior and the negative effects of certain behaviors. Yet, many of the...

On Being Defensive

Much of my work is in the area of presence – being present with others, being in the moment, and really engaging in the relationship. One thing I notice is that people wanting to develop greater presence have habitual behaviours that might well create distance, or barriers with others. Others might experience them having a wall or a smokescreen around them. Habitual or default behaviours are more apparent when people are under pressure. These behaviours tend to generate strong feeling...