Author Archives: Genevieve Matthews

Individual Development Plans

Individual Development Plans

Do you have one? Do you know what your strength areas are? Do you know what you’re working on improving for 21/22? At this time of year many businesses have completed or are working through their performance review processes, getting and giving feedback. It’s an interesting time of year and it’s when many businesses either…

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Being Ok to Ask for Help

Being Ok to Ask for Help

One very common trait of high-performing leaders, I’ve noticed and actually done myself in the past, is not asked for help, when it was really needed. Not reached out when it was vital to do so. It’s a hard learnt lesson, that didn’t serve me and something I practice what I preach now. Commonly it’s…

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Teams suffering due the Prickly Pear Syndrome

Ouch. It can really diminish the productivity, performance and culture of a team. Have you ever experienced the Prickly Pear Syndrome? Do you have someone on the team you feel like you have to tip toe around and moderate everything you say with, because otherwise most days it ends in tears? Perhaps not literal tears…

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Running on the Smell of an Oily Rag

Every heard this expression ‘Running on the Smell of an Oily Rag’? It was a saying my old boss used to use when we talked about her doing 70 hour weeks. I’d often wonder “How is it that she is still standing? It can’t be that healthy?” Unfortunately it’s an easy trap to fall into.…

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Building up Your Coaching Skillset

Do you frequently find yourself climbing or falling into the problem box? Suddenly you’re the one in there solving everyone’s problems. Or do you love being the ‘go-to’, the guru answering all the questions? If you’re wanting to build team and grow capability within others, it’s really important to stay out of the problem box.…

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WELL-BEING must come first

Are you feeling overwhelmed, anxious, way more tense than normal… is EVERYTHING taking its toll? Is your resilience low, vitality vanished and are you feeling flatter than ever before? If not… that’s fantastic, and if yes, perhaps this is you or someone you know, friend, family member, colleague or a team member, then please read…

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Leadership Lessons from Ash Barty

Did you notice how many times Ash Barty talked about her team after her Wimbledon win? Several times. She’s an extraordinary role model not only in the sporting world, we can learn a lot about her successes and apply them into the business world. One of the most interesting facts that has come to light…

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Stretching Limits Personally & Professionally

When it comes to pushing oneself, I’d always had a limiting belief “I can’t do water colour painting”. You might think… well why does that matter?! Professionally probably not that much, I’m not a Picasso or even an aspiring Archibald artist, I simply adore art for my own passion. Something important to note, it wasn’t…

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Presupposing a Team’s Potential

Presupposing a Team’s Potential

One family holiday we decided to brave it and all go snorkelling. It seemed like a fairly mammoth effort getting everyone kitted out in wet suits, snorkels and fins. In the back of my mind, kept thinking, this would just be easier to stay on the boat, enjoy the views and the sounds of the…

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Drama in the Workplace

Have you ever thought some of the drama being played out at work could be worthy of an Oscar award? It’s so intense, long running and well-acted. That is, well, if you’re able to observe it and actually not get entangled up in the drama itself. Not all of us find it that easy to…

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Clarity instead of Chaos

Too much on your mind? Being pulled from pillar to post? It can look and feel a bit like chaos. When you’re leading a team, growing a business, looking after customers and clients, it can be very busy being all things to everyone. Except for the one person that matters the most. You. Because you’re…

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Follow Through or Follow Up

What do you do in order to ensure accountability across the business? Recently my soccer girls were practicing penalties and corner kicks. Each of them would line up and be super focused on taking the kick… however what the majority of them didn’t realise until we spoke about it was… it was all about the…

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Clearly Defined Job Descriptions

Each week prior to our game, I map out the positions on the pitch, specifically who is where and when. Then during training we talk zones, roles, skillset and requirements. Then each game it’s clear, visual and we talk again about zones, roles and strengths. When someone is doing a throw in, are they a…

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Measuring Growth & Improvement

At a recent school dinner the principal spoke about the numbers. Specifically the number of books the kids used to borrow from the library. They then did a rebuild, a re-arrangement, they relocated the books and created a whole new plan – all focused on getting the number of books borrowed to increase. It did…

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Activated or Stressed Out

Leadership is stressful. It’s intense. It’s not for the fainthearted, in more ways than one. In the past months, I’ve seen a very concerning and marked increase in coaching conversations with words like “overwhelmed, manic, flat to the floor, no end in sight, stressed out, can’t concentrate, not sleeping, petrol tank empty, burnt out, not…

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Coaching a High-Performing Team

The season has only just begun and we’ve won 3 out of 3 games. I’m the proudest coach on the planet and here’s why. It’s not because we have some amazing goal scorers… we’ve certainly missed a lot of opportunities. Not because everyone is amazing at passing and highly skilled football players. We have a…

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Overriding Negative Thoughts

Leadership is busy enough as it is without wasting valuable time either physical hours or brain space on replaying or rehashing conversations, giving ourselves a tough time or wishing/hoping that others would actually be able to mind-read and do what we want without us actually saying it! Or saying it and it goes pear-shaped, ending…

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What Role do you Play?

What Role do you Play?

Chatting with a great leader the other day. Holds a senior executive role within a business. He’s passionate, amazing with people, great technical skills. However… here’s the big BUT coming. He is SO caught up in the day to day that he cannot step away and be strategic, plan or focus on the bigger picture.…

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On boarding New Team Members

Meet our newest team member. Yes cute, fluffy and a furball called Milo. Here’s a few reminders that really hit home, no matter what type of team member you’re welcoming on board. Are all the existing team members clear and in agreement on roles and responsibilities for onboarding and ongoing integration, training, management etc? Are…

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Is the Team Flying High?

Isn’t this picture amazing! It blows my mind. Have a think for a moment and ask yourself “Could our team do this?” Would you and the team have the trust, confidence, the skill and strength to do something like this? It’s a rare gift to find a team that could. In the teachings of Patrick…

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