Be The Change

Category: Management

  • Five incisive questions for managers

    Got a one-to-one coming up with one of your team? Line managers don’t have to do all the talking. Here’s five super-powerful questions to help them set goals they’ll want to achieve: What will achieving this goal give you and the organisation? How will it get you closer to your bigger, overall goal? If you…

  • Difficult conversations – mistake #3

    Having difficult conversations Mistake #3 Muddying your message Perhaps you’ve avoided procrastinating about holding a difficult conversation with a third sector colleague or direct report. (Congratulations!) Maybe you’ve been crystal clear about the changes you’d like to see. (Well done, it’s not always easy) But then, you blow your advantage by muddying your message with…

  • Difficult conversations – mistake #1

      One of the most challenging aspects of being a third sector manager is that you sometimes need to have difficult conversations with people in your team. This is a recurring issue for my third sector coaching clients. They can see what’s going wrong (poor performance, unreasonable behaviour, and so on) They know they are…

  • The right way to delegate

    Your in-box is overflowing, you have a million unfinished jobs, there’s a huge deadline looming – so, it’s time to delegate a few bits and bobs, right? Um, no… you may feel marginally better about how much you have to do, but this approach is not a great strategy in the long term. How engaged…

  • New leaders – how to flourish in your first 90 days

    The first 90 days in a leadership role are important. This is when you create an impact (or not!) and set the tone for the way you’ll be leading in the future. Whether you’re chief executive or team leader, everyone is watching to see how you behave and what you can do. You want to…

  • 10 good reasons to get on the phone

    We’re all busy, so it’s tempting to whizz through your to-do list firing off emails and ‘getting things done’, but I encourage my third sector clients to take a break from the digital world every now and again, and make use of the old technology. Here’s why… 1. You really do get the job done.…

  • What makes a great third sector leader?

    I began coaching a new client this week, the Chief Executive of a youth charity, and it’s got me thinking about what makes for a great third sector leader. Here are five qualities that, in my opinion, make a leader stand out from the crowd: 1. Agility – great leaders are able to adapt to…

  • Coaching – trick or treat?

    There are absolutely no tricks in coaching. In fact, when you get your third sector staff coached, you’ll experience a bag-load of treats. Here are just five of the reasons my current clients are committed to coaching their staff:  It encourages people to take responsibility for their own learning and actions  Coaching improves individuals’ performance…

  • The A-Z of a great meeting (Part 2)

    N is for Non-verbal clues. Show your colleagues you’re listening by using non-verbal messages such as nodding. But not nodding off. O is for Outcome or Objective – be absolutely clear what success will be before you go into the meeting. P is for Planning and Practice. Know what you want to say and practice…

  • The A-Z of a great meeting (Part 1)

    Recently, several of my coaching clients have been telling me of their frustration with meetings in their organisations. Too many. Too long. Not relevant. Not condusive to speaking up. No clarity about next steps. So, I’ve been thinking about the whole issue of how to create a successful meeting culture and how to get your…