Leadership Archives - Page 12 of 39

Communication, Fear, HR, Leadership, Performance Management

Annual Performance Reviews: What REALLY Scares Your Leaders

I once worked with a manager who never gave his staff realistic annual performance reviews. Everyone was apparently performing equally well. Eventually problems began to surface, so the director of HR sat down with him to find out why he hadn’t flagged up issues in good time. He claimed that he found it hard to find the right words – “I don’t find these conversations easy”. The company invited him and several others to a communications workshop, so that they could ...

Communication, Leadership

A Simple Way to Get Your Managers to Change

It’s the end of your driving lesson. Just before you get out of the car, you turn to the driving instructor and ask what you need to do better next lesson, in order to eventually pass your test. “You need to drive better,” is the reply. “Yes, but what specifically?” “You just need to drive better.” “How will you be able to tell I’m driving better?” “Well, you’ll be driving better…” You’d be tearing your hair out, wouldn’t you? It seems ...

Communication, Leadership, Leadership Development

The Key to Making Communication Training Stick

“I used to think of going to comms workshops as a real waste of time. Just something that got in the way.” The manager wasn’t joking. I’d just finished running one such workshop. According to this manager, he had been ‘sent’ on all sorts of workshops and courses, learning any number of different tools and techniques to improve the way he communicated with his team. He’d even half-heartedly put some of them into practice – for a while. But there ...

Communication, Difficult Conversations, Leadership

The Real Reason Your Managers Can’t Handle Difficult Conversations

Long walks, country air and pubs with roaring fires. It had been a lovely weekend away, staying with an old friend and his wife in the Scottish Borders. By Sunday afternoon, my batteries were recharged. But then it all went wrong. The couple, who’d been the perfect hosts for two days, had a full-scale row. The ridiculous thing was, it was all about a houseplant. The husband had been leaving it in its wicker basket when he watered it – ...

Communication, Leadership

Teamwork: Does It Really Make the Dream Work?

We’ve certainly focussed plenty on teams so far this summer. Wales’s football team – good. England’s football team – not so good. Leicester City, the David that slew the Premier League Goliaths and delighted us all in the process – good. Although don’t get me started on the lack of teamwork our politicians have displayed over the last few weeks – boy, did they demonstrate how not to do it. Let’s hope things improve after their summer recess! Teams are the Holy Grail, ...

Communication, Leadership, Video

[Video] How to Avoid Interfering Conversations

Before you decide how to have a conversation with a colleague, it’s important to explore whether you should even be having the conversation at all. Having conversations that you shouldn’t be having can damage relationships – damage that may never be repaired. This short video explores one type of interaction you should always avoid at work, and provides a simple set of questions that will help you decide whether or not to have any given conversation. ...