Post tagged in "conscious control"

It sure does. And we have received too many positive testimonials and thank you messages following our programs to not think any differently. And it is probably not a matter of if leadership training works, it is a matter of what makes it work.   Let’s unpack that.   The setup is important  The most important thing that a business can do prior to sending people to our programs is to let the attendees know what they are coming to, and why. Set them up for success. Too many times in my last 17 years of doing this, have I seen... read more

Is there anything more challenging for a leader than a team member who is explosive, and who goes boom when the pressure comes on? This is a situation, not often covered in a blog, but covered a lot in coaching conversations… because it is real, it happens, and it needs to be managed. With control, of course. And care factor. And courage. Let’s unpack how to deal with this situation. And let’s use a real-life example.  One of our coaching clients (R), had just this situation, and at the end of this article, I will let you know exactly what... read more

Once upon a time in the world of leadership, a book was published that defined as succinctly as it could be, the difference between transformational and transactional leadership. And what it meant to be a transformational leader. The year was 1978, the book was titled Leadership, and the author was James MacGregor Burns.   Are you a transactional or a transformational leader? Or let’s go one step further and add two other leadership styles to the mix, as there is a leadership style that sits before both transactional leadership and transformational leadership.   So, what’s your leadership style? Remembering that transformational leadership... read more

Leaders seem to be going boom more often. Or at least that is what our coaching clients are telling us. “When the pressure comes on, my leader loses it”.   So, how do we coach our clients to deal with a leader who can’t create conscious control? Let’s unpack.   The out-of-control leader  Firstly, we need to understand what is going on for the leader who goes boom when things around them go boom. And these are both reasons, and rationale, but in no way excuses for their behaviour.   Some leaders, as young or as old as they are, have never... read more

Most of the industries we work with have male leaders. And some have been in their roles for a long time. It is changing, slowly. Which is a positive. Our focus has always been to delivery programs that train and coach ‘soft stuff for hard blokes’. And that trains leaders in general terms about how to care for their teams.   Bob was one such leader. And for Bob it wasn’t that he didn’t care, it was that his team didn’t feel like he did. And if teams don’t feel cared for, they won’t care for their leader, or their team.... read more

Leaders who are part of our coaching or training programs get to work through why they do leadership. My observations are that at least 90% of the leaders we work with haven’t done the exercise of clarifying why they lead other humans…  As a leader, your team doesn’t buy into what you do or how you do it. They buy into why you do it (thanks Simon Sinek). But if you don’t know why you do leadership, how can you share that with others.  It is such an important concept, let’s unpack why (so to speak)!  Want to read more... read more

Why do some leaders still not understand that team members don’t listen as much as they watch? Why don’t leaders realize that they are always on the show? They are being analyzed for how to behave and their example is the most important thing that they have. To influence others.  We had a client that was big on ‘do as I say, not as I do’. Seriously. Their belief was that it was ok to say one thing and do another. This is ok if you want your team to be totally confused about the standards you are trying to... read more

This week, I’m in Perth speaking at the AusIMM International Mining Conference. Being back in WA has given me an opportunity to reflect on my time in mining here and what I learnt from those experiences. And the thing that keeps coming up for me is that, in the teams I worked, we wanted to be heard by our leaders.  My mining career started at the ripe young age of 21. I was a young tradie who had just been released from a burns unit after more than a month of healing from a BOOM event. In the burns unit,... read more