Category: Performance

  • Could motivation be the missing ingredient?

    Could motivation be the missing ingredient?

    Sometimes it’s tough to motivate the people you manage, isn’t it? You know why it’s important that a project is completed in a timely way, but not everyone gets it. Others can be sluggish and unfocused. You sometimes feel it would be easier to just do it yourself. I know how difficult it is. This was the problem that a non-profit…

  • 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,…

  • There’s no such thing as a wrong decision

    There’s no such thing as a wrong decision

    Have you ever felt utterly paralysed by a difficult decision you had to make? You wrote your long list of pros and cons. You did complicated prioritisation grid thingies, listing elements and weightings. And yet, you were none the wiser about what you should actually do. It’s a nightmare, isn’t it? If this is you, then you’re…

  • 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…

  • 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…

  • Five more great questions for managers

    Here’s part three of  my ‘Listen more, talk less’ guide for third sector managers on having a really successful one-to-one: These five powerful questions will help your reports explore options for action: So, what could you do now that would move you one step closer to your goal? If you knew you couldn’t fail what…