Tag: performance

  • Lunch is for heroes

    Lunch is for heroes

      It’s 1 o’clock. Lunchtime! You know you need a break, something to eat, a stretch. But you’re presenting at a big meeting in an hour, 20 emails from this morning are still unopened, and your to-do list is, well, out of control. What to do? This is a dilemma I see a lot in…

  • What if they find me out?

    What if they find me out?

    I’m starting with a new coaching client this week. In our recent Discovery Session to explore if we wanted to work together, she shared her nervousness about her new leadership role. “What if I’m not up to it?” she confided. “What if I should have stayed where I was?”. “What if they find me out?” Ah,…

  • Why you absolutely must trust your team

    Why you absolutely must trust your team

    It’s hard to put total trust in your people sometimes, isn’t it? A big project is about to go live and you find yourself awake at night, worrying. All those disastrous worst case scenarios go round and round.  You wonder whether the staff member in charge really is on top of everything. What if? What…

  • Squeeze me, squeeze me!

    Squeeze me, squeeze me!

    I’ve just come off a coaching call with one of my non-profit clients. She’s dynamic, dedicated and efficient but was thrown by her latest annual appraisal. She’d missed a few targets and was overwhelmed by the thought of working even harder. “I already put in way more hours that I should,” she told me, clearly struggling…

  • Why you want bad feedback. Really

    Why you want bad feedback. Really

    So, you’ve had some bad feedback from your manager and it’s making you feel rubbish. Yes, you wanted some constructive comments but you really didn’t realise it would be quite so devastating. Now you just want to curl up in a ball and disappear. I know how you feel In my last newsletter, I linked…

  • Great feedback is like gold dust. Be generous with yours

    Great feedback is like gold dust. Be generous with yours

    You know how feedback you give to your reports sometimes goes in one ear and out the other? That team member you spoke to last week, for instance, he just doesn’t seem to have taken on what you said, despite your carefully prepared constructive criticism. Changes you thought you’d agreed, just aren’t happening. It’s as if you’d…

  • How to crack the secret of winning one-to-ones

    How to crack the secret of winning one-to-ones

    I’ve just seen The Imitation Game. (Great film. Watch a taster here). It’s thought-provoking on so many issues and, of course, stars the brilliant Benedict Cumberbatch as Alan Turing the World War Two code-breaker. As for being a lesson in how to motivate people to do amazing things… Well, what can I say? Never have…

  • Micro-management? What a turn off

      I’m about to work with a fast expanding third sector organisation where one or two managers are a little too keen to micro-manage their reports. The Chief Exec has identified it’s going on and is keen to help his people find alternatives so that everyone can flourish and grow. I can absolutely see why.…

  • My top five coaching questions

    Part five of my ‘Listen more, talk less’ guide to fabulous questions to use in a third sector one-to-one. Here are my top five favourite questions for helping your team member take responsibility for their own learning and move forward with confidence: I know you don’t know, but if you did, what would you do?…

  • And another five questions

    Part four of my series for third sector managers in one-to-ones. Finally, five questions to wrap things up:     1. So, what will you do next? When? (help them to get really specific) 2. What strengths do you have that will help you? 3. How committed are you to overcoming obstacles, on a scale…