Category Archives: Leadership

Are your Values in Overdrive or Conflict?
Are your values in overdrive or conflict? One of the very first jobs I had was a ‘pinch me, I must be dreaming’ kind of job. Totally unreal and still to this day one of my most favourite ever. In fact as I get a little older, it’s the one I look back at now…

How Judgement impacts the Workplace
So there has been a lot of talk about elephants with coaching clients lately. The expression “The elephant in the room” is often a problem that everyone knows is there but no one wants to acknowledge or talk about / open up about. For many situations I’ve come across – the elephant – is huge, it’s…

How to handle the internal conflict when part of you wants to and part of you doesn’t
Here’s a little magic to help you handle the internal conflict when part of you wants to do something and part of you doesn’t. Let’s take having a difficult conversation with someone that you’ve been putting off talking to. You know it matters for the individual, for the team, the business… and yet you’ve been…

How flexible are you and the business?
Let’s talk adapting to flexible working arrangements. This could be a game changer for leading a team both in the short and over the long term. In the SMH recently, it quoted ‘from 9000 people working from home, when asked, whether they wanted to stay there? The very strong answer was: yes!’ Or, to at…

How to Set Aside Unrealistic Expectations
As a child needs time to learn to ride a bike, play tennis, pick up and develop new skills, adults do too. We can have some pretty unrealistic expectations of people in the business world. Frequently hearing words like “they should be able to lead, they should be able to communicate, why can’t they listen,…

Why guilt and shame in the workplace are NOT ok!
Guilt and shame are ineffective, unproductive and absolutely have the reverse effect. Rather than engaging and getting work done, they disengage teams, slows everybody down. Now I would be the first to admit, as a leader, there have been times in my life where I have used those strategies. For leading from people, for getting…

Communication is Key for Great Leadership
If you want the answer, it is one word. COMMUNICATION Across the last few months talking to hundreds of business leaders, whether in CEO, GM, department managers, supervisors or team leader roles, regardless of title; the resounding key requirement for every business has been communication. Often leaders think they’re pretty good at it. Doing enough.…

Mental Fitness in the Workplace
“So if you’re physically fit, you can climb steep hills without physical stress. If you’re mentally fit, you can handle life’s great challenges without mental stress or other negative emotions. You’ll be happier and perform better.” Shirzad Chamine. Imagine if you had the insight into how to measure and improve on your mental fitness! Particularly…

How to Get Your Team to Change Gears?
Am typing this whilst sitting in the car between races at the kid’s sports carnival. It’s quite fascinating to watch. There are some kids that run fast, very fast and then there is those ‘middle of the pack kids’, running hard and then we have a few that are at the back of the pack…plodding…

The 5 Attributes of a Talented Team Member
Recently invited to speak at an industry educators forum, where we were talking with a mixture of educators of a specific industry and leaders. I wanted to share my presentation in the written form / short version to get your opinion and ask you…. what are the attributes you think are key for a…

What to Do when your Confidence seems to have Got Up and Gone!
Do you ever have those days when you simply want to roll back over and not get out of bed? When it all feels too much or all too hard. Intellectually, you know it’s not. Physically it’s still possible. But emotionally, the tank is empty and you feel like your confidence has got up and…

Why It’s Crucial to Surround Yourself with Quality People
Business leadership can be a lonely place. It’s often something that is not even spoken about or acknowledged. Many would not even like to admit to loneliness. Maybe suffering in silence is easier. There could be 100 reasons not to share. Too busy to stop and talk. Who wants to listen? They’ve got their own…

One of the Greatest Leadership Mistakes to Avoid: The Cookie-Cutter Approach
Eleven people sat around the table. All part of a common cause, united as one team, a few similar in character, very different in looks, speaking multiple different languages and completely unique in personality. So running team meetings and wanting to best communicate with each of these individuals to hit their buttons was a…

4 Steps for Being your Best Self in Business
Bula! Do you love holidays as much as I do? Sand between the toes, skiing down mountains, getting that special massage, eating out and watching amazing sunsets….! As a parent and owner of my own business, rather than view them as holidays, they’re more like a change of scenery. I realised that very early on…

What to Do When You’ve Decided Enough is Enough!
In the last 10 days several incredible women I know, have stood up for themselves and said it’s time. Time to make a move. Leaving leadership roles they have been in and loved. Yet because of up-line difficulties and challenges, have decided it’s time to move on. People challenges are normal (we’re all human after…

Is Your Thinking Helping, Hindering or Harming the Team?
Have you ever heard the expression or been told ‘Stop being so black and white’ It has nothing to do with the colour of skin and everything to do with a person’s level of thinking. Someone who is black and white can usually only see things from one perspective. In some job roles and areas…
Different Ways to Play the Game of Business a Little Better
What happens when you have one of those days? You know those days when it all seems too much. You can’t see the forest nor the trees. It feels all too hard. The to-do list is massive. And you barely feel like you’re making a dent in it at all. You’re human and you…

What type of “Fixer” are you in Business?
Curious, when you hurt yourself or if you’re experiencing pain …how do you react? Are you more of the “Ignore It” type – you ignore the pain and get on with it? Are you the “Band-Aid” type – you throw a band-aid or bandage on it and hope for the best? Or are you the…

Dealing with the Peaks & Valleys of Being in Business
Having re-launched The Art of Extraordinary™ recently, I liken it to mountain climbing. Have you ever been mountain climbing? I first went when I was just 18. Living in Europe, in the south of Germany near Munich, we were so close to the Alps. I could see them from my attic window and it was…

Ever Find Yourself Caught Up in the To-Do List Forgetting the Most Important Thing?
Let’s take a moment to focus on who we are, not what we do. A while back I had the weirdest experience. Had a marvellous few days away from the office. It was great, out meeting new people, helping them work on building better teams and growing their businesses. It was an intense and explorative…