The Language of Leadership – I, We, You

Three little words you, we, and I. What’s in a word? Remember research from Dr Albert Mehrabian from UCLA in the 1960’s? Mehrablan identified that the power and effect of any communication came from: Words 7% Body language 55% Emotional tone 38% Accurate or not, Mehrablan’s research provides food for thought. One implication is while words are 7% of any communication, each of those words is likely to be important. the emotional tone you communicate...

The Executive Presence Triangle

Have you ever felt completely swept up by what is going on in your organisation, and can’t think straight, let alone lead? Have you ever felt so vested in an outcome, you want to control how things happen? Or have you found yourself isolated and removed, and relating to those around you is entirely secondary. Executive Presence is the capacity to relate to those around you and lead in the current situation. This Executive Presence triangle is an effective...

Executive Presence: Increase Your Influence

How well do you speak the language of results? Do you want to be more influential? Do you want to inspire others to success? The SSC 2016 Leadership Insights survey revealed 44% of leaders were not strong in influencing, inspiring or motivating others. What are the secrets the 56% who are strong in this area? There are the secrets you need to know: Leaders who influence and inspire others have a particular secret. They talk results. They talk about their...

What Is Executive Presence?

Do you want to dramatically improve your capacity to inspire and influence? Do you often wish you were more confident and have greater influence and impact? These all revolve around Executive Presence! Your Executive Presence is the invisible qualities that you own, your personality. How do people experience you as a leader? Do they feel inspired by you, or do they leave feeling criticized and judged? There are 5 Qualities of Executive Presence Positive Relationships Authenticity Identity Reputation Credibility If you want to...

Executive Presence: Keys To Self-Esteem, Self-Confidence And Your Capacity To Influence

Are you busy? Do you have too many competing priorities? Your self-esteem and self-confidence suffer when your work cuts into your family and personal time. What is the cause of this? I notice in the leaders who come to me wanting greater self-confidence and to increase their influence share 3 – 4 of the following characteristics: A propensity to help; Difficulty in saying no; Wanting to please people; Take on too much; Are perfectionistic; Like to ‘do stuff’ rather than...

Unlikely and Essential Links Among Gymnastics, Travel and the Art of Planning

As a teenage gymnast I was lucky enough to be an Olympic trialist. I was in the top 10 and that year New Zealand sent only one gymnast. Sadly it wasn’t me. My coach was John MacFarlane, who taught at the local boys high school, and I was the only girl in the gym club. John was an avid traveler and videographer and so, an important part of my training involved watching videos of the world’s greatest gymnasts – Vera Cavslavska and later the daring Natasha...

What Do Leaders And Lemons Have In Common?

This photo is of lemons from my central city roof garden. I love lemons. From their vibrant colour to sour taste and the fact they are ripe in mid-winter when most fruits are dormant. Lemons are versatile. With this crop, I dried lemon slices for summer drinks, preserved lemons for chickpea tagines, and made cashew nut custard for deserts (recipe here). Spread it on crispbreads with pickles and it makes a great snack. What have any of these features to...

Don’t Apologize – It’s The Wrong Approach!

Are you a habitual apologizer? Do you work with people who are? Habitual apologies are time-wasting, put you on the back foot, divert attention from the matter at hand, and make it difficult to have peer relationships where people express themselves freely and candidly with one another. Pete and I were underway with our first coaching session. I was commenting on his CV, saying “Write your CV without personal pronouns. The ‘I’ belongs in your letter of application.” He apologized,...

The Key To A Great Relationship With Your Manager

How successful is your relationship with your manager? And how productive are your conversations? Are your one-on-ones focused on issues? Coaching? Advice? Problem solving? Are you getting what you want from these meetings, or do you have the sense there is something more important you could be discussing? A key to having a powerful and positive relationship with your manager is to email a weekly report. This weekly report has four elements: 4 – 5 Highlights and successes of the week Risks...

Small Shifts In Behaviour Have Powerful Impacts

As leaders take on more complex and significant assignments, they frequently notice they behave in ways that are no longer effective. While the leader has many capacities and helpful behaviours, they also have responses that are no longer fit for purpose. I call these default behaviours – reactive ways of behaving from earlier in their lives. This becomes problematic when leaders’ default behaviours remain dominant and unchecked, even though they may be inappropriate to the leader’s current situation. When a...