Do You Have a Family or a Team?

It’s not uncommon to hear people refer to their work colleagues as family, particularly in a small business. Leaders consider their team part of the family and I think now more than ever people are very much looking for a place to belong in this frantic world. However, is your team really a family in […]
How You Communicate Matters.

I was engaged to work for a small business, with 30 team members, to improve communication within the business. Everyone knew there was a toxic culture in the workplace. People weren’t getting along and engagement levels were low. The leaders believed this had nothing to do with the leadership, but rather people not liking the […]
Lessons from a Very Public Fiasco.

“Everything rises and falls on leadership”. John C Maxwell Organisations large and small can all take something away from the horrendous report into our cricketing organisation. Cricket Australia is again in the spotlight for all the wrong reasons. The report into Cricket Australia’s culture and the Australian Cricket team culture reveals damning evidence of bullying, […]
Unhealthy Games
There’s often competition amongst a team of people. Who can hit their KPI’s first, who can get the best feedback from their clients, who can get the attention of the CEO or who can move up the corporate ladder the quickest. There’s nothing wrong with a bit of healthy competition in a workplace right? What […]
Respected or Liked? That’s the Question.
“The behaviour you walk past is the standard you accept” – Lieutenant General David Morrison We all like to be liked. We’re human after all and the need to be liked is a childhood need that chases us into adulthood. We like to think and feel that we are accepted and that we belong. It’s […]
So What Do I Say if I Can’t Say I’m Busy?
This is one of the most common questions I am asked by leaders and by participants in my workshops when I encourage them to stop the ‘busy’ language. There is a genuine look of fear and confusion on their faces. How would I respond or what on earth will I say if I can’t say […]
Recognising the Power of Recognition.
I was sitting with an employee last week. We were having a conversation about his role, the likes, dislikes and everything in between. He’s performing well and feels he goes above and beyond what is expected of him in his role, which gives him a sense of personal satisfaction. But something was missing for him. […]
One Thing a Leader Needs to Practice.
There is the constant quest to define the qualities that make a great leader. This quest will go on until the end of time, as it should. It will be a constantly changing proposition because as a consequence of our rapidly changing environment leaders need to constantly evolve, shift, adapt and ensure they are relevant. […]
Don’t Do a Conflict Runner.
“The more we run from conflict, the more it masters us; the more we try to avoid it, the more it controls us; the less we fear conflict, the less it confuses us; the less we deny our differences, the less they divide us.” David Augsburger There’s one thing worse than having workplace conflict…that’s avoiding […]
The Business of Being Occupied.
Have our minds become so numbed by the distractions, tasks and challenges of our over stimulated and overwhelmed culture that the only way we can describe the work we are doing, our actions, our lives is busy? In one of my Busy? What are you busy doing? workshops last week I asked the team what […]