When was the last time you felt undermined as a leader? What was the cause? Do you remember how it felt? Being undermined can leave us embarrassed, frustrated or even questioning our abilities – it’s not a nice place to be. Our research shows that being undermined by others is the most common cause of leaders losing their sense of confidence. But it isn’t always others who undermine us. We can be guilty of getting lost in our own self-created ...
How often in a typical working day do you have to get someone to buy into your ideas, see something from a new perspective, or take a decision or action that is different from their initial intention? The answer (unless you either have total power and broke no dissent to its application OR you have absolutely no power whatsoever, so your opinion simply doesn’t count) is ‘a lot’. Now, you’re a leader so the latter isn’t likely to be the ...
On a scale of 1 – 10, with 1 being ‘calm & in control’ and 10 being ‘just about hanging in there’, how are you feeling today? This is a topic that Directors on our Virtual Programme on Confidence have been exploring recently. When we feel out of control it undermines our confidence, our resilience and our ability to deliver. And yet, time after time, leaders are left struggling to deliver mounting workloads with too few resources, unreasonable timescales and ...
This week I’m focussed on celebrating – or rather the lack of celebrating. This came about following a recent conversation with a good friend’s daughter. She’s in the middle of her university exams and can’t wait to celebrate when they finish. Oh, I remember it all too well! But I’m also guessing that celebration won’t be quite as exciting when it comes as she is anticipating right now. It’s more likely it will all feel like an anti-climax. Even though ...
I love a snappy title so naturally I was drawn to ‘On the Practice of Dichotomization of Quantitative Variables’1 😊. Okay, so the headline might not be an attention-grabber but the research findings in the associated article are absolutely relevant to you as a leader. Here’s why. The essence of this paper is that splitting data into dichotomies (either/or, for example) rather than looking at the complex spread of data means you lose the real meaning the data contains. Here’s ...
I’ll bet you recognise this scenario. As the senior leader, you’re running a Town Hall, or briefing your team about an upcoming change or running a virtual meeting. And every time you ask for contributions or questions or ideas, you’re met with an awkward silence, or the usual suspects make a point while everyone else remains silent. Sometimes it just feels like pulling teeth, doesn’t it? But this situation is actually something of a gift (just takes a bit of ...