Do you create an environment of psychological safety? How can you tell? Answering these two questions accurately is incredibly tough. First of all, you can’t just ask people. Last week, I highlighted why this won’t work. Quite simply, the less psychologically safe they feel the environment is, the more likely people are to tell you that you do! They don’t feel psychologically safe enough to say anything else. Secondly, it will be surprisingly tough for you to believe that you ...

How’s your week been? Lots of good stuff, I’m sure. But I’d also hazard a guess that too many meetings have eaten up too much time with little to show for it. You’re not alone! This is a constant frustration for the majority of leaders. Given the reality of meeting overload that leaders face, I’m always drawn to high quality research and resources that I can share. As such, I picked up an article from top consulting firm, McKinsey & ...

A couple of months ago, a leader asked me if the personal stories I share in these weekly emails are true (thank you Malcolm, it was a great question). I confirmed, they are. But, to be truthful, maybe they aren’t. You see, whether or not the stories I share are true is more complex than that simple answer suggests and, within this complexity, lies an important consideration for leaders. Let me be clear: the stories I share are all true ...

How many hours have you spent listening to people this week? How many hours have you invested in listening to people this week? Spent means ‘having been used and unable to be used again.’ Invested means ‘putting money, time or other resources into something with the expectation of achieving a profit’. Within the context of these definitions, let me ask you those questions again. How many hours have you spent listening to people this week? How many hours have you ...

We all have those phrases that set our teeth on edge when we hear them. Right? One of my absolute ‘teeth-setting on edge’ ones is ‘You’ve got two ears and one mouth. Use them in that proportion.’ This bugs me even more because people tend to say it in a tone that suggests it’s an amazing original insight rather than a hackneyed phrase that over-simplifies one of the most important attributes a leader can develop. Some 30 years ago Stephen ...

Covid caught up with me this week and I was pretty wiped out for three or four days. This is my second run-in with it – first time in August 2020. But enough of my moans. I hope all is well with you and yours. In the depth of my self-pity, I was drawn to a magazine article entitled ‘Beautiful Mess Called Life’. Remember those first three words – they add a quirky angle to just about anything. ‘Beautiful mess ...