Two people are given identical painkillers. One is told that the painkiller has been proven to reduce pain for patients. The other is informed that it can increase pain in certain cases. Guess who experiences a reduction in pain? Of course, it’s person number 1, while the unfortunate individual who’s told that it may increase pain is far more likely to find their problem does not go away. And the same results are found when the tablet isn’t a painkiller ...
Early last year I was coaching a CEO and his team of directors. The directors were overwhelmed with the number of projects they were trying to deliver. Across the team, it was something in the region of 150 different projects, ranging in size from some pretty minor changes to several that were total transformations. Frustration was high. Progress was low. And everyone felt stuck. The CEO acknowledged the problem, agreed things needed to change and asked the team to select ...
Heather here! Hope 2025 is going well for you so far. As my work with leaders around the globe gears up again, I find myself once again asking: When will we talk openly about the overwhelm? And how can we take action to change it? These are critical questions: ones I’m going to explore and write about over the next 12 months. I work with senior leaders every day who are looking for ways to manage the impossible workloads they ...
John, the Managing Director of a busy energy company, was wrestling with whether or not to accept a new, significantly bigger role. He had been contacted directly by the organisation because of his unique experience in one area. He was the person they wanted. The role came with extremely attractive terms and offered John the potential to jump into a different league of opportunities in future. It was high profile, could put his family under media spotlight, and mean constant ...
It’s that time of year again when we’re torn between: Wearing our gaudy Christmas jumper and feeling just a tad embarrassed at the bright red reindeer nose in the centre of our chest Hanging up our work brains for the year and clearing out the junk from our overcrowded inbox Cracking open the Quality Street and sticking with a healthy eating regime (or is that just me?) Okay, these are on the lighter side but resolving conflict between our values ...
Hope you’ve had a great week with plenty of opportunity to use your power well. Here’s an example of an insightful and surprising use of power I learned about over the last five days. When a more senior role opened, Priya, was the clear choice. Instead, she nominated her team member Daniel, a rising star, saying: “His growth benefits the company long-term. I’m most effective developing talent like his.” The bold move surprised the Executive Team but paid off – ...