One of the trickiest and most uncomfortable questions I ask the leaders I coach is, “How often are we going to have this same conversation?” I know, it sounds a bit cheeky, but it’s designed to provoke thinking and shake up an unhelpful pattern. We’ve all been there, stuck in the same discussions over and over, and it’s important to figure out why that happens and how we can get past it. These repeated conversations usually go something like this: ...
It’s the time in the British summer when sports fanatics are glued to their TVs. Wimbledon, the Tour de France and the British Open have all been taking up loads of screen time in our house recently – not to mention, of course, the Euros making their once in every four years’ appearance. I’m in awe of these top sporting performers. Their hard work and skill shines through. But there’s something else that every one of them works on because ...
How are you? Sorry I missed you last week. I usually write my emails on Thursday, ready to send to you first thing Friday…confession, last Thursday was my birthday and I got caught up in celebrations! Hey, cake and champagne – what’s not to like? So, this week, another year older and wiser, I’m all set to continue exploring how The 4Cs for Results Framework gives you the levers you need to move from stuck to unstuck. You see, if ...
The Executive Team was stuck. Every month, their meetings got bogged down in day-to-day operations instead of big-picture strategy. They decided they needed to reset their strategy to get things back on track. Time to get a two-day session scheduled. Before getting diaries out, the consultant asked: Do you know how to set business strategy? The Directors were a bit taken aback. They were competent, right? They were Directors! But as they talked about the frameworks and processes they’d use ...
Imagine being stuck upside down, high in the air, for 30 minutes – helpless to change the situation. This week a group of fun-seekers in Oregon experienced exactly this when they were left dangling from a broken amusement park ride. Thankfully they were all rescued without injury but those minutes waiting to be back on solid ground must have felt like a lifetime. We all know what it feels like to be stuck. Maybe not upside down on a ride, ...
Stuck – not something many of us aspire to being. But it’s something we all experience. In business, leaders get stuck with: A difficult colleague An unreasonable boss An intransigent team An impossible project An unfulfilling role When we’re stuck, we want to become unstuck. We want to find a path forward. And that can be tough, it can even seem impossible. So how can you find your way from stuckness to unstuckness? When I’m coaching leaders on the journey ...