Three Tips for Personal Care in a Crisis

Being resilient means getting enough sleep each night, eating well and remaining hydrated. When you are under pressure, it is easy to forget to eat lunch, or to pause and think, breathe and drink water. However, self care must not slide by the wayside. Ensuring your brain has plenty of oxygen enables you to think clearly. Keep a supply of low carb high protein energy bars keeps hunger at bay. Have fresh fruit like mandarins, bananas available each day as...

Know Where You Stand – Emotional Pain and Leadership

Discovering you were closer to someone in your team than they were with you can hurt deeply. This hurts even more when you realise that others knew this before you did. When information within informal networks of interpersonal relationships overrides formal structures, trust is broken. Emotions run high as the true structure of relationships are revealed. You know where you stand, and how close or distant others are in relation to you. Remember Carlos Ghosen, Chair of Nissan, Japan and...

Great Leaders Imagine What Is Possible

Leaders who focus on creating better futures for others face just as many roadblocks as the rest of us. What helps leaders navigate these roadblocks, rather than give up and be defeated? The answers lies in creating effective goals. Effective goals are outcome statements describing the future state as if it were current. In my workshops, I am constantly inspired by the goals participants set. Each participant has a vision for themselves and their organisation beyond what they are doing...

Learning And Implementation Are Two Different Things

Kia ora koutou, Kei te peha koe? Akoranga = learning. The greatest impact of leadership development is on your personal capacities. Whether your ability to run great meetings, speak succinctly, or create alliances around innovative approaches is being developed, personal development for building professional capability is the key. My current professional development is learning Te Reo. Why? I wanted to learn because my grandchildren are bilingual and I don’t want them to have to think in English every time we interact....

Self-Confidence And The Imposter Syndrome

Do you doubt your accomplishments? Do you experience a persistent internalized fear of being exposed as a fraud? The Imposter Syndrome is behind leaders’ and professionals’ lack of confidence. At least one of four factors produce this syndrome: When you have achieved earlier goals and have yet to set future goals. In this intervening time, you have applied for and are appointed to a more senior position. This results in feeling like you have yet to catch up with yourself....

Who Controls Your Time – You or Your Boss?

Your work/life balance is in your hands and how much time you spend on each side is your choice. The choice is whether you make ‘your life’ a priority or not. Emergencies do require exceptional hours and for specific periods demands of your professional life may well creep into your personal life but, not as a given. Work/life balance is a catchy phrase. It is a concept that many aspire to, rather than live. Leaders become used to taking work home,...

Year End: Why Are You Feeling So Tired?

Jen’s opening bid in our coaching sessions was, “I’m tired. Exhausted really.” Letting her comment sink in, I looked at her and asked her, “What’s making you tired?” Knowing something of her work over the year I followed that with, “think back to the start of this year, what new things have you done? What have you achieved this year?” Yes, it is ‘year-end’ in New Zealand with December and January combining long summer vacations and a festive season. Jen...

Are You Making Progress?

How do you know you’re making progress? What signals are you using to assess your development as a leader? How can you make meaningful assessments of your progress and build on your development? I had a chance to ask these questions to a group of senior leaders and the results were surprising. Six of the eight participants from a past Executive Presence programme participated in an Executive Presence Mastery session later on in the year. This was a chance for...

Accountability Partners: An Essential Ingredient In Leadership Development

Millions of dollars have been invested in leadership development programmes over the years. What results should we expect to see in our leaders and in our organisations after such training? I have learned there is one essential ingredient to ensure learning is implemented – having accountability partners. Many of us set leadership learning goals in isolation. We may be responding to 360-degree feedback or from encouragement from our managers. Our learning goals might be shared with our coach or...

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...