As leaders we are expected to be calm when all around is in chaos, but often we’re like the proverbial duck, smooth on the surface and paddling like heck underneath! We are also human, not superhuman, with our own frustrations, worries and doubts – just like the people we lead. We know that our emotions affect […]
Leading Well by making the Unconscious Conscious
Let me start by getting you thinking with a little puzzle. A bat and ball together cost $1.10. The bat costs $1 more than the ball. How much does the ball cost? Did you arrive at 10c? Then you’re a fast thinker. Answer to the puzzle at the end of this article. If only I […]
What if Workplace Conflict were Productive?
The typical manager spends 30-50% of his or her time dealing with workplace conflict (IML Australia). This equates to around 20 hours a week (and we don’t know if it’s being handled well or not), so if conflict is inevitable, what can we do to understand it better and make it as productive as possible? […]
Counting (on) The Cost of Trust
Anne and I of recent have seen patterns where teams are under pressure to perform and deliver, often in complex, chaotic and fast-paced environments and the one thing that can make or break the cohesiveness, resilience and performance of a team is the levels of trust, for each other, for colleagues and for their boss. […]
Can I give you some Feedback?
In our many years of managing, we rarely met an employee who was not anxious about receiving feedback, especially of the ‘constructive’ kind. With advances in brain imaging technology we are learning more about how feedback is received by the brain and the degree to which it achieves the goal for which it is intended. 1 […]
Why Storytelling can be a Leader’s Secret Weapon
Before the advent of the Gutenberg press, business and trade was conducted orally. We shared stories. We then ‘progressed’ to creating rational, analytical and factual memos and reports for the communication of everything important. 600 years or so later and we are relearning what our early ancestors perfected around the campfire, that we can’t engage […]
Expand your Knowledge with some Inspiring Summer Reading
Often when I speak or run development programmes I’m asked what books I might recommend – therein lies many a possibility! Reading professional development books is my most important strategy to keep up to date and this is especially true of the field of neuroscience which is constantly updating and evolving. Below is a selection […]
Exploring the Predictable Dynamics of Change
Our aim with this article is to share with you our experience combined with the latest findings from neuroscience about what we can predict about behavioural responses to change and how we can plan to minimise the perceived threat to people. Whilst we aim to keep it brief we also want it to be of […]
How will you celebrate success at work at the end of today?
It’s Friday, many people in the workplace might feel like they’ve been swimming through treacle since returning back after Christmas and they are having an extra-large dose of that TGIF (or stronger!) feeling. It’s all too easy when we are busy to rush through the day in the hope that we’ll get somewhere near the […]
The Key to Building a Tribe from a Team through Social Capital
What makes a good team great? What makes one team gel and another continually end up in conflict? When pondering the dynamics of high performing teams, it can help to look at our brains and from the earliest possible perspective together with the latest findings in social science and neuroscience. We are tribal in Nature […]