As leaders, we need time to think, to plan, to visualise the future, to strategise. If we have delegated to our people and keep them accountable then we should have ample time to focus on the future. Steven Covey would identify this as a quadrant 2 activity – not urgent, but vitally important. If we don’t get
For leaders
The Yin and Yang of (Virtual) Leadership: Flexible schedule and Structured schedule
This yin and yang of flexible schedule and structured schedule seems to have become more obvious over the past year. People have had so much to contend with, so many other things outside of work to juggle, that the flexible schedule has become more of a thing. We had flexible work policies before, but this
The Yin and Yang of (Virtual) Leadership: Unified Team and Diverse Individuals
This yin and yang of leadership calls on you to get better at choosing diverse people for your team when you recruit. There are so many variables to diversity that bring so many unique experiences to decision-making. The more diverse your customer base (or should I say your desired customer base), the more diverse your
The Yin and Yang of (Virtual) Leadership: Informal communication and Formal communication
Informal and formal communication gets a little more tricky when we live and work in a virtual world. But it’s by no means insurmountable. When we book meetings into a person’s calendar, it feels more formal. We wouldn’t book a five-minute quick question into the diary, so meetings tend to be longer and tend to
The Yin and Yang of (Virtual) Leadership: Hold Accountable and Trust
Your role as a leader is to get work done through others. You can’t do it all yourself, as we discovered in the yin and yang of task and relationship. That means though that you do need to hold them accountable for results. I’ve been coaching one senior legal leader who wanted to figure this
The Yin and Yang of (Virtual) Leadership: Advocacy and Inquiry
I’ve been coaching a senior nurse in the NHS. She has been given feedback that she needs to advocate her point of view more often in senior management meetings, so that they know that she is capable of contributing the perspective that only she is uniquely able to bring to the table due to her
The Yin and Yang of (Virtual) Leadership: Give and receive
In my yoga practice the other day, my teacher encouraged us to hold our palms in a cup shape and to imagine that we were giving from that cup and receiving into it. You had to be there to really feel the impact of that, but it set me up for a wonderful day of
The Yin and Yang of (virtual) leadership: Vulnerability and Strength
For some reason, there seems to be a myth that as leaders, we have to be strong. We have to be on top of things at all times. We have to hide our flaws from others so they don’t think us weak. We must look calm all of the time, even if we are paddling
The Yin and Yang of (Virtual) Leadership: Task and Relationship
Last time, we highlighted support and challenge as the yin and yang of leadership. There are many more yin and yangs to leadership. Paradoxes if you like. Or polarities. Whatever you call them, we need to balance them. Each post in this series will cover one of the pairings: Task focus and Relationship focus Vulnerability
Your role as a (virtual) leader
Whether you lead virtually or face-to-face, your role is simple: To create value through others. Ok, so it’s simple to say, not so simple in practice. Why is it not simple? Because you are so used to doing things yourself. This is the first mindset shift of a leader: I am no longer an individual
Leading in a Virtual World
What is your mindset about working virtually? Do you have a growth mindset or a fixed mindset? (Carole Dweck) If you have a growth mindset, you are more likely to see working and leading virtually as an opportunity for learning and growth and continuous improvement. A space to try out new ways of doing things
Own your gratitude
2020 is coming to an end. What a year. Some people are treating it like a non-year. A year to be forgotten. But that seems to me to be a waste of so much that we can be grateful for. Despite coronavirus, I have a lot to be grateful for. Speech! Speech! I am grateful
Asking for what you need
We’re not far from Christmas now, a time when Christian children ask for what they most desire from Father Christmas. How many of us take a leaf out of children’s book and ask for what we desire? I don’t mean the consumerist stuff that children mostly ask for. I mean how many of us ask
Human-Centred Leadership – your own needs
By writing about you last, I am not saying you are the least important person in this mix. Far from it. If you have not figured out your own needs, desires and context, you will be misfiring and throwing others off balance. Perhaps I can point you to the previous series about leading self during
Human Centred Leadership – your stakeholders’ needs
We’ve addressed your team members’ individual needs and we’ve looked at the team’s needs. We also need to ask stakeholders what they need. It’s no good second guessing what they need or making assumptions. Are you seeing a pattern here? Asking vs assuming And you probably need to have these conversations before you have the
Human Centred Leadership – the team’s needs
You lead individuals and you lead a team. 1-1 conversations are important. And team conversations are just as important. The team is its own entity. Sure, it is made up of individuals, but when they are interconnected, there is a system that needs attention. What does the team need to function at its best? What
