Episode #48 // This week, Em and I take on a few great questions that appear to keep coming up regularly for our listeners! The first question we tackle is from Sam, who wants to know how to build credibility quickly in a team he has inherited. (1:40) Secondly, we answer Blake’s question which is quite a complex one. He wants to know how to deal with those people in his team who really struggle with change, and how to work out when it’s right to just keep moving forward with the change, even whe...
Jul 30, 2019•17 min•Season 1Ep. 48
Episode #47 // I came across a great article in Forbes a few weeks ago, entitled The Three Biggest Misconceptions about Leadership , by Rajeev Peshawaria. It was such a good article that it got me to thinking about what the biggest misconceptions about leadership actually are. Rajeev addresses some really big ticket items in his treatment of the subject, so today, I’m going to build on his article, and get a little more ‘granular’ about what, in my view, are the biggest leadership misconceptions...
Jul 23, 2019•17 min•Season 1Ep. 47
Episode #46 // When you are brought into an organisation to deliver a turnaround, or when the CEO says it’s time to make major performance and culture change, it isn’t going to happen by expecting the same people to do things radically differently. The trick is to blend the best of the existing capability and culture with new ways of thinking, behaving, and performing. What role do we, as leaders, play in that? In this episode we are going to learn why the people who built the house (the incumbe...
Jul 16, 2019•17 min•Season 1Ep. 46
Episode #45 // You have probably heard me say before that ‘leaders are learners’ (well, it’s hardly an original saying, is it)? Today, we step away from the purely business and organisational context to share a few very personal examples of how some of my greatest leadership learnings have come from everyday life - not from the world of business. So why was my trip to Japan in 2012 so valuable in developing my perspective on different cultures, even though I had travelled through much of Asia pr...
Jul 09, 2019•16 min•Season 1Ep. 45
Episode #44 // One of the most important roles that a leader plays is to set the right standards for performance and behaviour in their organisation; an aspirational standard to which they expect their people to rise. Often, we think we are setting a high standard of performance, but it is the exceptions that we make that tell people what the real standard actually is. How do you make the standard that people must reach abundantly clear, and then ensure that it is carried through your team from ...
Jul 02, 2019•18 min•Season 1Ep. 44
Episode #43 // I have seen many leaders who are good under pressure, but just as many who really struggle in stress situations. Resilience is a core ingredient of success for leaders, regardless of the type of organisation they work for. If you can handle the inevitable setbacks that come with a level of calm, rational confidence it will help you to lead people through the toughest crises. This episode gives tips for keeping your cool, not just at work, but also the critical ability to not let t...
Jun 25, 2019•16 min•Season 1Ep. 43
Episode #42 // Realising that value is the fundamental building block of leadership, business, and in fact, all human endeavour, is a critical mind shift for a leader. If we could actually do this, it would potentially lead us to do very different things when we turn up each day to lead our people. This episode covers off a few pointed examples of what value looks like (and doesn’t look like) to get your creative juices flowing. Hear about the value v price paradox, total cost of ownership, the ...
Jun 18, 2019•19 min•Season 1Ep. 42
Episode #41 // Every week we get sent great questions from you, our listeners! Today we have a couple of really interesting questions that I'll cover in a Q&A format with Em. First, we look at what you need to do with your team when you decide to change your leadership approach, and you have to get their buy-in. This requires explicit, well thought out action, and drawing a ‘line in the sand’. Our second question has us examining how to work at the right leadership level when your organisati...
Jun 11, 2019•20 min•Season 1Ep. 41
Episode #40 // Although building a balanced team can be a tricky proposition, all really successful teams have a balance of skills, capabilities, and experience. As NFL Analyst, Greg Rosenthal put it: “Every season has a different shape - every game is different. Eventually, you will need every aspect of the roster to finish the season as champions." What does it take to build a balanced team? How would you know what the balance of your team is right now? This episode presents some ideas for how...
Jun 04, 2019•18 min•Season 1Ep. 40
Episode #39 // What do you do when you don’t own the resources that are necessary to delivery the outcomes you are accountable for? How do you motivate people whom report to other leaders, and may be working to a different agenda? Working across boundaries to deliver value is a core skill in complex organisations. Gone are the days of being able to rely upon direct control of resources to deliver your outcomes. Almost everything of value requires collaboration and cooperation. But aligning peopl...
May 28, 2019•19 min•Season 1Ep. 39
Episode #38 // Some of the lowest hanging fruit for motivating your people comes simply from better communication. This week, we delve into a few ways to improve your written communication! Email, investment proposals, and technical documentation all get a bit of a workout, before we reveal the simple bit powerful “golden rule” of writing anything in a business context. If you want to improve your ability to communicate, and your people’s ability to work out what to do, this episode is a must. *...
May 21, 2019•20 min•Season 1Ep. 38
Episode #37 // Many CEOs and senior executives talk a good game around culture change and transformation… it’s almost expected as the “done thing” for a senior leader. Although many C-level leaders make the right noises, they don’t necessarily have the commitment to set the necessary standards, or generate the right level of momentum for culture change to ever take place, let alone be successful. This week, we answer a great question from our listener, Nicola, who asked “Marty, how do you influe...
May 14, 2019•20 min•Season 1Ep. 37
Episode #36 // We spoke in Episode 30 about remuneration, and how leaders should view the role of pay rises and bonuses in motivating their people to perform. Although bonuses can provide an effective performance incentive, there are many other ways to elicit people’s discretionary effort. So what do you do when you can’t throw money at people to get the results you need? This episode deals with the things that will motivate your people to perform and deliver value, no matter what is happening t...
May 07, 2019•17 min•Season 1Ep. 36
Episode #35 // As senior leaders we spend an inordinate amount of time, energy and resources trying to squeeze every drop of juice out of the lemon when it comes to the concrete, tangible elements of business. We look for cost efficiencies, value accretive mergers and acquisitions, growth projects, product innovation, and greater capital productivity. However, we often ignore one of the greatest sources of untapped value – the people who work for the organisation day-in, day-out. They have an in...
Apr 30, 2019•16 min•Season 1Ep. 35
Episode #34 // Sometimes a leader has to let someone go, either because of the choices an individual makes around their behaviour and performance, or through no fault of their own when their role is made redundant. This episode deals with termination for performance reasons, and gives a brief but practical outline of these difficult situations. We start by making sure you understand the responsibility you carry as a leader to ensure that all your people perform to an acceptable standard; it’s al...
Apr 23, 2019•18 min•Season 1Ep. 34
Episode #33 // The Royal Commission into Misconduct in the Banking, Superannuation, and Financial Services Industry held in Australia over the last year or so uncovered some incredible breaches of law, of regulations, of ethics, and of trust. It has poured fuel on the fire of the growing discontent that the general public has for big business and large institutions. So how do we fix it? This episode looks at the findings of the Hayne Royal Commission (hopefully, with a slightly more balanced per...
Apr 16, 2019•20 min•Season 1Ep. 33
Episode #32 // Hey guys Em here! I’m interrupting our normal programming to celebrate you, our amazing listeners. Marty and I have been thinking about how we can thank and celebrate our podcast listeners - a few weeks ago we reached a milestone of over 35,000 listens, and this wouldn't have been possible without your loyalty and dedication to the podcast each and every week. So instead of doing what a lot of podcasters do and read out iTunes reviews, we wanted to turn the microphone over to YOU,...
Apr 09, 2019•19 min•Season 1Ep. 32
Episode #31 // The topical case study of Elizabeth Holmes and Theranos provides an excellent backdrop for asking some pointed questions about leadership and culture. One of the great failings of Theranos was its culture of secrecy, and suppression of bad news from people who could clearly see the problems with the business. As leaders, we need to create a culture of robust (but respectful) challenge to bring out the best in our people, but this is impossible if we ‘shoot the messenger’, or unwit...
Apr 02, 2019•20 min•Season 1Ep. 31
Episode #30 // This week we cover a great question from our listener James about how to motivate people when the shine of consecutive pay rises and bonuses either wears off, or becomes unaffordable. This has led us to put together the definitive ‘how to’ guide for leaders on making remuneration decisions, and it is relevant for any size of organisation, from a ‘woman, a man and a dog in a garage’-style start up to a Fortune 500 company. Although remuneration policy is the domain of HR, accountab...
Mar 26, 2019•17 min•Season 1Ep. 30
Episode #29 // Everyone is driven by self-interest. It is an intrinsic part of the human DNA, so we can never overcome it entirely. However, we can learn to put self-interest aside for the greater good which, ironically, often results in better long term outcomes for us as individuals. This episode explores how we can fight our basic instincts with long term vision and belief. I have centred this episode on an incredible true story of how putting self-interest aside and focusing on the ‘greater ...
Mar 19, 2019•15 min•Season 1Ep. 29
Episode #28 // We have spoken in recent episodes about leadership attributes and competencies. During your career, you will come into contact with many people who are smart, well educated, experienced, shrewd, politically astute, and even some who are downright Machiavellian. So what is it that is going to make you stand out? In this episode, we cover off on the foundational criteria for career success (the ‘ticket to the dance’), and then go onto talk about what it takes to stand out even in th...
Mar 12, 2019•16 min•Season 1Ep. 28
Episode #27 // This week's episode is a de facto part 2 of episode 19 Execution for Results , so if you haven’t listened to that one yet I highly recommend doing it before you get stuck into this one! It focuses on how single point accountability is the most critical factor in being able to successfully execute on your plans, and sets the ground work for where we’re going today with Unleashing the Power of your People. This episode is all about empowerment, which is the flip side of the accounta...
Mar 05, 2019•17 min•Season 1Ep. 27
Episode #26 // This week is Part Two of The Roadmap to Exceptional Leadership! I've taken my 30+ years of practical leadership experience, a LOT of trial and error and lessons from some incredible mentors, and have distilled these learnings into a model, my 'secret sauce'; the 7 Pillars of Leadership Performance, and this is what today’s episode is all about! These 7 pillars are designed to unlock the real, practical strategies and focus areas that we believe will make or break your leadership j...
Feb 26, 2019•16 min•Season 1Ep. 26
Episode #25 // This week’s episode is a big one! Once again I've developed a two part episode to deal with what I think is one of our larger topics, The Roadmap to Exceptional Leadership. Shoehorning this topic into a couple of brief podcast episodes is going to be tricky, but I am up for the challenge! This week in part one, we'll start by looking at common leadership attributes and competencies, the best place to start when we’re defining what an ‘exceptional leader’ actually is, without all t...
Feb 19, 2019•17 min•Season 1Ep. 25
Episode #24 // Did you listen to last week’s episode? If you haven’t, it’s well worth the 17 minutes to listen to it - it’s part 1 of Building Organisational Capability and it will give you a much better understanding of this episode! Today we’re onto Part 2: How do you build capability into your organisation and culture? We’re going to carry on from last week’s episode, by talking about how to build a competitive advantage into our culture - one of the toughest things to do. So I’ll start with ...
Feb 12, 2019•21 min•Season 1Ep. 24
Episode #23 // Today’s podcast deals with the vast area of building organisational capability, so I’ve split it into two episodes. This week, I’ll give you the context for what organisational capability is, how it fits with strategy, and where leaders most often put their focus. Next week, in part two, I’ll delve into what a leader should be doing, at any level, to build organisational capability through their people. Now before I get started, you may have seen on our social channels or received...
Feb 05, 2019•19 min•Season 1Ep. 23
Episode #22 // In today’s episode, we advance the work we did in ‘Episode 6 The Psychology of Feedback’, by answering a question from our dedicated listener James who asked the very simple question, "Once you develop the will, how do you develop the skill?" A great question! So over the next 16 minutes I’m going to give you some strategies and techniques that will help you develop the skills to master the feedback conversation itself. We'll begin by talking about the leadership dialogue, which I...
Jan 29, 2019•18 min•Season 1Ep. 22
Episode #21 // Formal and informal education plays a critical role in any leader's development. Having said that, we need to be realistic about the role that education plays in our career paths and ensure that our experience and achievements are commensurate with our qualifications. Not all education is equal! When I talk about education, I'm going to completely ignore the realm of specific competency certifications. So that's things like undergraduate disciplines (law, architecture, commerce et...
Jan 22, 2019•17 min•Season 1Ep. 21
Episode #20 // There are so many factors to making great decisions. Some of these factors are technical and analytical, but many are based on your leadership skill. In today’s episode, we deal with the fundamental question of how to get the most from your people, to enhance and improve your decision making capability. I start this episode by asking the question, ‘Why all the fuss about diversity and inclusion?’ From there I go on to cover: How great leaders set an appropriate decision making cul...
Jan 15, 2019•17 min•Season 1Ep. 20
Episode #19 // It’s no secret that any number of things can sub-optimise execution inside an organisation. One of the most insidious, in my experience, is a weak accountability culture. So whereas lack of strategy, planning, and resourcing are relatively obvious, a weak accountability model is not always apparent to senior management and this will work against virtually anything you're trying to achieve. So in today’s episode, Execution for Results: Driving accountability in your team, we're goi...
Jan 08, 2019•16 min•Season 1Ep. 19
