LEADERSHIP ASSESSMENTS & DEVELOPMENT TOOLS
ARTICLES ON LEADERSHIP, CAREERS, ORGANISATIONAL CULTURE
Professional Development for leaders
Why Some Executive Teams Work, and Others Simply Tick the Box!
The right people are not enough
Boards often focus on composition: Do we have the right skills around the table? Is the CFO strong? Is the technology leader credible? Is the Chief People Officer sufficiently senior?
These are necessary questions. They are not sufficient.
A team can contain excellent individuals and still underperform if its mandate is unclear, its decision rights are ambiguous, or its members
Returning to Work After Redundancy. A Practical Approach to your First 90 Days
Redundancy can leave residue a need to prove yourself, a fear of being disposable again, a tendency to overwork, a reluctance to ask for help, or a quiet loss of belief. If those feelings go unexamined, they can follow you into your next role.
The goal is not to pretend they do not exist. The goal is to process them, learn from them, and choose not to lead from them. I am currently coaching a professional who has been made redundant four times in his career. I top my hat off to him for the calmness and manner he is approaching our Outplacement coaching work together. If he lets me I might interview him for an article next year.
Leading A Team With Your Blindfold On!
You have a version of yourself. Your team has a version of you. The gap between those two versions is where your leadership either works or fails.
That is why structured feedback matters.
Your Executive Peer Relationships
There is a peculiar thing that happens when clever, successful, highly paid people are placed around one table and told they are now a “leadership team.” They nod solemnly. They agree about “alignment.” They use words like “synergy” with a straight face. And then, the moment the meeting ends, they return to their departments like feudal lords returning to their castles, pulling up the drawbridge, feeding the moat monsters, and preparing to defend their territory against all comers.
This is not a team. It is a collection of empires with a shared calendar invite.
The Feelings Behind Redundancy
Redundancy can make a competent, respected, hard-working person question everything. Not because they are fragile, but because the loss reaches into the part of us that wants to matter, contribute and belong.
Managing People for the First Time
Congratulations. You’ve been promoted. There was probably a slightly awkward email, a wet handshake from someone senior, maybe a card with a cartoon of a rocket on it or a view of someone random standing on top of a mountain in Queenstown, and a vague promise that you were ‘ready for the next step’.
Leadership: A Definitive Guide to Getting People Somewhere Worth Going.
Yet leadership is not mysterious. It is not a mystical aura that descends upon someone after they have completed a two-day course at an airport hotel. It is also not a job title. Plenty of people with “Chief” in front of their name are merely senior passengers, gripping the armrests while the organisation drifts towards a hedge.
Why CEOs Will Need Outstanding HR Relationships and How They Work Best.
In a world where talent is the ultimate competitive advantage, the CEO–CHRO partnership is not a nice-to-have. It is the hidden engine of high performance.
The Interview Trap and How to Overcome Your Nerves
Then the interview invitation arrives and with it, that familiar tightening in your chest. Your heart rate climbs. Your mind races. Suddenly, you’re not the composed leader you know yourself to be. You’re wondering if you’ll blank on the simplest question, stumble over your words, or fail to convey the value you bring. In my coaching business it’s known as the interview trap.
Where Your Leadership Focus Is Holding You Back
If the senior team operates in silos, middle managers will do the same. If leaders criticise peers privately but avoid difficult conversations directly, that behaviour will spread. If departments compete for status and resources without any sense of shared purpose, collaboration becomes a slogan rather than a reality.