Blind spots are dangerous for leaders. It might be that you think people are perceiving you in one way, but actually they think something else about you entirely. Or perhaps you aren’t aware of your shortcomings, when other people can see them as plain as day. Whatever the case, ideally we want to reduce our blind spots so we don’t run into unexpected trouble. In this episode, I look at a useful model of self-awareness as well as some ways to try to reduce your blind spots, so you can lead bette...
Apr 18, 2022•15 min
It’s natural for team members to need your support, but when it happens too often, it can be a real drag on your time. However, it’s not useful to lay the blame at their feet. Leadership behaviour is a major factor in how people behave, so the question should be asked – are you setting up the right conditions for your people to be self-sufficient? In this episode, I look at some strategies to help your people fend for themselves rather than using you as a crutch to lean on. Apply For Your Compli...
Apr 12, 2022•14 min
Have you ever taken the time to actually write down what your team does, and how it does it? It can be a really useful process to go through to help you understand your team better, highlight gaps and improvement areas and communicate to others what your team is all about. “Operating model” can comes across as a consulting buzzword, but when it comes down to it, it’s all about understanding what your team does, and how it does it… then writing it down. In this episode I look at the key parts of ...
Apr 03, 2022•13 min
Are you one of the many leaders who wish your people would take more accountability? Do you yearn for the day when your people will take greater ownership of their work to produce better results? Well, you’re not alone. In this episode, I take a look at some simple ways to improve accountability in your team, to hopefully help your people step up and take greater ownership. Book Your Complimentary Discovery Coaching Session I invite you to a complimentary Discovery Coaching Session , where we wi...
Mar 27, 2022•15 min
Sometimes you’ll come to work feeling like you’re being tested by your people. They’ll push boundaries, do their own thing and maybe give you some attitude. It can be super frustrating, but it’s a natural part of leadership especially for leaders new to their role. Sometimes people just need some time to adjust. In this episode I look at some of the ways that people will try to test your leadership, and some steps you can take to pass the test with flying colours. Book Your Discovery Coaching Se...
Mar 20, 2022•14 min
Do you find your team reacting to problems rather than taking proactive action? You’re not alone – this can be a huge problem for team productivity and effectiveness. In this episode, I look at some of the reasons behind a lack of proactivity, and of course, some steps you can take to try to grow it in your team. It never feels good to be on the back foot all the time, so instead, let’s see if we can create an environment where proactivity is more likely to happen! Book Your Discovery Coaching S...
Mar 13, 2022•14 min
Ever wanted to feel better about your leadership, enjoy your role more and have more motivation to make change and lead the way? Well, you’re not alone. Leadership can be a hard slog, especially with the constant change and turmoil that we have been experiencing over the last few years. In this episode, I look at some good ways to start to shift your mindset to a more positive place, so you can show up as your best self more often. Book Your Discovery Coaching Session I invite you to a complemen...
Mar 07, 2022•22 min
In this episode, I interview Robbie Swale who is a Coach and Author of the new book “How to Start When You’re Stuck”. In this interview we cover a lot of topics including how leaders commonly find themselves getting stuck, as well as a powerful question to ask yourself when you’re struggling to know what action to take. I’ve been working with Robbie over the last year myself, and as usual in this interview, he comes up with many insights and resources that you can find in the links at the bottom...
Feb 27, 2022•1 hr 4 min
Ever noticed how busyness is often a sign of capability, competence or importance in many workplaces? Well, it’s time we put a stop to this. The problem with needing to be busy all the time is that thoughtful leadership suffers. In this episode, I look at some ways to start to push back against this nonsensical phenomenon and actually start getting real value out of the time we spend at work and in our leadership. Book Your Discovery Coaching Session I invite you to a complementary Discovery Coa...
Feb 20, 2022•17 min
Sometimes thoughtful leaders have a tendency to get in their own way. It might be not asking for what they really want, putting everyone else’s needs above their own or making assumptions about what’s possible without really knowing. Whatever the case, this can hurt our leadership and career potential, so in this episode I look at some of the common ways that leaders hold themselves back and what we can start to do about it. Book Your Discovery Coaching Session I invite you to a complementary Di...
Feb 13, 2022•12 min
Leadership can be daunting, and it can feel like we need to have years of leadership training and study under our belts to feel confident. The truth is, sometimes leadership is made out to be more complex than it really is. What we often really need is to exercise some simple common sense. In this episode, I look at some common sense leadership principles you can apply to your leadership, because sometimes it just ain’t that complicated. Book Your Discovery Coaching Session I invite you to a Dis...
Feb 07, 2022•12 min
It’s important to understand our team members to create an environment where they can perform at their best. But it’s no different for the leader. In order to create an environment where you can perform at your best, you need to understand yourself. That includes your preferences, triggers and the situations that have you performing at your best and your worst. In this episode I cover why it’s so important to understand yourself better, and some good ways to go about it. Like the Show? Leave a R...
Feb 01, 2022•13 min
Many leaders go through tough times dealing with politics, bad bosses and many other problems. Not all of these issues are within our control to solve – so what should we do? Sometimes, the best we can do is to keep taking small steps to improve and do our best to feel at peace with our leadership situation. Otherwise, we run the risk of feeling frustrated, helpless and burning out. In this episode, I take a look at some ways to help you feel more at peace with your situation, so you can hang in...
Jan 25, 2022•13 min
It’s very common for leaders to feel low on confidence. After all, they’re often dealing with new situations and challenges which they’ve never had to tackle before. When we feel unconfident, it can feel like we’re lacking confidence *everywhere* in our leadership. In reality, there are often a few specific factors or situations that contribute to this feeling, not everything. In this episode, I take a look at tackling the cause of your leadership confidence issues, rather than focusing on the s...
Jan 16, 2022•13 min
In this special episode of the Thoughtful Leader Podcast, I’m interviewed by Akua Asare, who is the founder of the Not-For-Profit Professional Women at Work. Akua is a Quality Manager and an inspirational improvement-focused individual who is doing great things! In this episode Akua interviews me about my background, how and why I got into coaching and some of the leadership challenges I commonly find through working with my clients. Akua is also a former coaching client of mine, so she speaks a...
Jan 11, 2022•59 min
Negative behaviour patterns are common in workplaces, and you’ve probably run into them yourself. So how do we put a stop to behaviour that impacts team performance and wellbeing? In this episode, I take a look at this tricky problem and outline some steps you can take to try to make a positive shift in your working environment, for the benefit of yourself, your people and your organisation. This is the last episode for the year – so be sure to give me an end of year positive review on Apple pod...
Dec 07, 2021•14 min
It’s a common problem for thoughtful leaders – taking on too much work to handle. Often, this comes from trying to help others more than we are trying to help ourselves. This is an admirable quality, but it can land us in hot water. In this episode, I look at some of the common causes of taking on too much, and of course, what we can do about them. Like the Show? Leave a Review On Apple Podcasts ✅ 👍 If you like this episode, please take a few minutes to leave a review on Apple Podcasts (Note: y...
Dec 01, 2021•16 min
There is no such thing as a one-size-fits-all approach to leadership. Every team is made up of different individuals with varied goals, motivations and personalities. As a result, you can’t just treat every team you lead the same way. To make matters more complex, every organisation is different too. However, all is not lost. In my experience, there are a few main factors that I take into account when leading people, and in this episode I’m going to share them with you! Like the Show? Leave a Re...
Nov 22, 2021•16 min
Many of us are still caught in the busyness mindset – where we feel like we should be rushing around busy all day. However, in my experience, I’ve found that this is not a great way to show up as a leader. Doing less is the key, allowing us to focus our effort to our most important priorities. In this episode, I look at some of the key benefits of doing less, and some ways that you can make it happen in your work environment. What steps can you take to start doing less today? Book Your Discovery...
Nov 16, 2021•17 min
Many people “Like” all the nice leadership quotes on social media, and there seems to be an overwhelming amount of agreement of what constitutes good leadership. So why do we continue to see bad leadership happening in our workplaces? In this episode, I take a look at some of the causes of bad leadership that I notice, and some steps thoughtful leaders can take to try to avoid them and make their organisation a better place to work. Show Links: Leadership Coaching: Get in touch and apply for you...
Nov 09, 2021•16 min
Many thoughtful leaders suffer from the common problem of putting their own needs last, and focusing on everyone else first. This is admirable, but over time, this can lead to a situation where you are working on everyone else’s priorities and sacrificing your own time and effort. It’s hard to lead effectively in this situation! In this episode, I look at some good ways to start putting yourself first and setting boundaries, so you can lead effectively and show up as the best leader you can be, ...
Nov 02, 2021•15 min
Many thoughtful leaders have a habit of overthinking things. It’s great to be thoughtful, but too much thinking can turn into a lack of action. You can also tie yourself in knots trying to come up with the perfect plan or strategy, when simply getting on with the task might be a better use of your time. However, we don’t overthink things because we like it. We do it for a reason. In this episode, I take a look at why you might be overthinking and some steps in place to try to reduce this behavio...
Oct 26, 2021•14 min
Wellbeing is no joke. Working long hours and experiencing stress and pressure is still seen as a badge of honour in many workplaces, but it’s time we put a stop to it. And the best people to make a change are leaders in our organisations! In this episode, I take a look at some simple ways to support wellbeing for your people, to improve motivation, productivity and help people work more effectively rather than heading for burnout. Book Your Discovery Coaching Session I invite you to a 90-minute ...
Oct 19, 2021•16 min
In this episode I had the pleasure of interviewing Ben Alexander, the retired Australian international Rugby player. Ben played for the Wallabies 72 times and also retired as the ACT Brumbies’ most capped player with 152 games. Ben is now the co-owner of Canberra pub ‘The Dock’ (Instagram: thedockcbr ) and co-founder of meal tracking service Alfred (IG: the.alfred.app ). The father of 3 is also on the ACT Brumbies Board, and The Dock was recently named ‘Canberra’s best pub’. Ben started Alfred w...
Oct 12, 2021•35 min
It’s nice to be optimistic, but what happens when we go too far? In this episode, I take a look at optimism bias and the impact it can have on our leadership. Of course, I’ll also offer some ways that you can try to reduce the impact of optimism without turning you into a negative thinker! Be sure to leave a comment below and tell me about your experiences with people being too optimistic in your workplace. Book Your Discovery Coaching Session I invite you to a 90-minute Discovery Coaching Sessi...
Oct 05, 2021•14 min
In this episode, I interview Justin Peters, a young leader who went from being an intern at one of his first employers to being the Program Manager for the entire internship program. We discuss many topics including the challenges of transitioning into a leadership position and the best ways to support new leaders to grow their confidence and experience. Justin also hosts the Struggle is Real podcast, which helps young adults learn to overcome life challenges that aren’t really covered in tradit...
Sep 27, 2021•31 min
Passive aggressive behaviour can be quite common in the workplace, as many of us work in a relatively polite society. Passive aggressive behaviour is a way for people to say “No” and push back on you, without direct confrontation. Needless to say, it can also be one of the most frustrating behaviours to encounter in the workplace! Leaders are likely to run into this behaviour because we are in the business of making change… and many people don’t like change. In fact, they’d rather that you just ...
Sep 21, 2021•16 min
We often think that only “bad” leaders fall into displaying poor leadership behaviour. In reality, I believe that depending on the situation, we all have the potential to do things we’re not proud of in leadership. This doesn’t make us bad people or even bad leaders, it makes us human! So what should you do if you’re slipping into bad leadership habits that you would like to change? It’s all about identifying the pay off (what you’re getting out of the behaviour) and then challenging the belief ...
Sep 14, 2021•11 min
Coaching can be a really powerful way to help your people improve. It also shows that you’re interested in committing significant time to their personal and professional development. In this episode, I run through some advice to help you coach your people, including when coaching might be appropriate, and when it might not be. I also introduce a simple model you can use for coaching, to help you and the person you are coaching achieve a positive outcome from the experience. Coaching Model Book Y...
Sep 07, 2021•15 min
Leaders often need to introduce process and structure into their teams. So it can be really frustrating when your people won’t follow what you’re trying to introduce! In this episode, I look at some of the major reasons why people aren’t following your process. And as usual, I’ll provide some ideas of what you can do about it, to have your people follow your lead. Book Your Discovery Coaching Session I invite you to a 90-minute Discovery Coaching Session , where we will: Get clear on your most i...
Aug 31, 2021•14 min
