It’s a mad world and it seems to be only getting madder. Madder, and also faster, less certain, increasingly inequitable, and more divisive. All conditions which neuroscience shows can drive our primal brains into a very unhappy state. This is increasingly visible within organisations which are filled with people struggling with feeling overwhelmed. The stress of […]
So far 2017 has been what might be called an interesting year and we haven’t even hit Easter yet! One of the many things that’s been fascinating me is how in SA, and also in the UK and USA, supporters of political leaders so obviously emulate the behaviour of that Leadership, and then how relatively […]
Love in the workplace? Try googling that and your eyes water! However, in the interests of rigorous research I went deeper. Lose the “romantic” aspect and what emerges is fascinating. Agape –warm, generous, benevolent, self-giving, unconditional-concerned-respect and neighbour-regarding love – can actually make a difference in the workplace. People, when treated respectfully, when listened to, […]
As we fly through the year, and the pace just continues to speed up, it’s probably useful to pause and consider an unexpected source of competitive advantage – mindfulness. No longer the domain of hippies and alternate lifestyle gurus, the cognitive benefits of mindfulness – awareness of perceptions and potential biases, and the capacity to […]
Earlier this week I spent a wonderfully inspiring day being reminded of the power of establishing a thinking environment with Nancy Kline, bestselling author of Time to Think. During this time the issue of digital addiction came up and how “we have become slaves to the tools which were supposed to empower us”. Well, I’m […]
Ever found yourself sitting in a meeting that seems to be never ending and completely without purpose thinking, please, just kill me now!! I have a “this too shall pass” tattoo from a time I was constantly trapped in a Dante’s Inferno of hellish meetings and while this time did pass, I saw first hand the damage such […]
I though I would share a little information around an issue that keeps coming up in executive coaching conversations. How does one boost employee productivity and engagement? An interesting Harvard Business Review article notes that many leaders make the surprisingly common, and wrong, assumption that pay equals engagement. In fact research shows there is only a small correlation between pay and […]
There is often discussion in organisations around the need to help managers become leaders or how best to move from management to leadership. Certainly most managers think it’s much sexier to be a leader than a manager. And as a consultant I’m pretty sure you can charge more for leadership development than management training. While […]
A recent Facebook interaction around the role of gratitude and compassion in motivation led me down multiple wormholes around intrinsic vs extrinsic motivation, mindfulness and gratitude and the role of empathy and compassion in the workplace. If you fancy a bit of overwhelm I have the links! In the process I was also reflecting over […]
“I find my life is a lot easier the lower I keep my expectations.” ― Bill Watterson One of the greatest frustrations that managers bring to coaching conversations is that of staff or colleagues not meeting their expectations. And these frustrations often result in simmering resentment, deteriorating relationships and increasing disappointment at further unmet expectations. […]