How often have you left a meeting feeling sure that everyone was on the same page, you were all clear about what was agreed, who was responsible for what and when it was to be done only for all to fall apart 20 minutes after the meeting? Sadly, it's not unusual, and it's one of the biggest areas of frustration within many organisations, leading to ...

How do you feel when you hit the situation when you have to say those dreaded words... "I Don't Know"? and why are they dreaded words in the first place, what makes it hard for some to say "I Don't Know" while others seem to manage it quite well?Don't get me wrong if you are saying "I don't know" every day while doing your job and it's about things...

You have done all the hard work, you have figured out the purpose of your organisation, you have a vision for the future and are clear about your mission and you have developed your three sets of values (permission to play, core & aspirational) and they are all great values! Since everyone is aware these things and you talk about your values al...

Every organisation has challenges and areas where they need to improve, even the very best of them. The challenge is always figuring out what to work on and what not to work on or putting it in another way what are the Good things to work on and what are the Great things to work on. The aim is to only work on the great things rather than just work ...

It's been a busy time of it of late balancing commitments at work and at home. Between on-boarding some really exciting new clients, working with our existing clients on some really interesting challenges, of course the obligatory paperwork elements and developing a great new Lean Administration workshop as well it's all go. Then of course there is...

My daughter is 9, I joke that she's 9 going on 19! There are many reasons I'm proud of my daughter, too many to list here but her inquisativeness is fantastic and when I started the I actually got her busienss cards made saying "Trainee Big Boss" as a bit of a joke but she's taken a keen interest in things as we went along. So I want to share ...

We don't want managers, we want leaders! We hear and see that phrase or something similar to that a lot. In fact, so often it's now one of those throwaway lines that it's now just seen as spin, something that organisations say to sound good. But what if an organisation really meant it, what would that look like? What if, Leader was an actual title ...

When we were putting our website together we wanted to make it easy for clients to make a booking with use without lots of back and forth emails or phone calls to see if we had a slot at this time on this day. The answer, of course, was that we needed an online booking system. It needed to be something that fitted with our value of S...

Like a great many people around the world I ventured out at the weekend to try and see the Lunar Eclipse. I had a plan, since I knew I had to be at the top of a hill above the city to get a  clear view of the sky I would be up so I could leave at  5:30am to be where I wanted to be, have time to set up my camera gear and get read...

The Threshold Policy  As a leader you are judged, fairly, or unfairly by your team's performance, that is after all one of your primary responsibilities, ensuring that your team delivers (and of course growing new leaders). Achieving this can bring great success, failing to results may well result in a shorter term at the helm than you planned...

I can't tell you the number of companies I have seen who list speed or "responsiveness" in some form as a core value in their organisation. They claim it's the way of working in their business but when you really look it's just not there. It's listed because the leadership knows that moving at speed in the right areas is critical to getting things ...

Many people in leadership positions struggle to have difficult conversations, not just those new to the roles, people who have been in a management/leadership position for years can still struggle to have the conversations that are needed within the organisation to help everyone improve. There are shelves lined with books by experts on the topic in...

What is your vision for your company? Can you talk about it with people in a way they will understand? Will it inspire people in a way that they will want/need to get involved and to help with it? Or will it be a statement on a bit of paper that is framed in your entrance hallway or posters in your canteen that everyone looks at the first time, sha...

When you think about a company mission statement what springs to mind? A bunch of buzzwords that create a nondescript marketing pitch that no one really understands or pays much attention to right? If people do pay attention, it's only to laugh at them. Sometimes companies incorrectly toss in a bit about it's long term future as well just for good ...

Can we have a quick chat about your company Purpose? Great, so just tell me what it is … At this point in the conversation one of a few things typically happen:   The individual starts to trip over their words and gives a long string of jargon which doesn't really mean much, and I possibly nod off halfway through.The individual reaches for the...

So you have done the hard work, you have figured out what your real Core values are, you are clear on your permission to play values and you also have a couple of aspirational values that you are going to build a plan to embed these into your organisation. You are all set, let's get the posters made & framed! Frame them, Don't Frame them.. Not ...

In our previous post on Core Values, we outlined Permission to Play Values, those values that must be present in someone before you even let them in a organisation. There are some obvious ones here, Honesty and Integrity for example but there may be other ones that your organisation decide to add that are specific to your business or industry and t...

Lets start a conversation about your company values, you know that list of words or phrases that you have pinned to a wall somewhere, the ones that the exec team brought back from the golfing weekend or outward bound event or hot spa deep breathing team joining session (I don't think these actually exist but sometimes I can be surprised). That grou...