Moment #5 // What’s Busy Work, and Why Is It So Common? One of the hardest things to do in any organization is to stop activity once it’s started—even if you know it’s not delivering value. It gets a life of its own, because people get emotionally attached to it, and they protect it. “Busy Work” is activity that keeps you occupied , but doesn't necessarily create value . It's justifiable to anyone who happens to look, based on the hours of effort it consumes. But is it useful? You can...
Feb 26, 2023•4 min•Transcript available on Metacast Episode #234 // Without Amy Porterfield there would be no Your CEO Mentor, no No Bullsh!t Leadership podcast and no Leadership Beyond the Theory , the program that has transformed thousands of leaders on six continents! Amy’s work laid the foundations for our business model, and it’s her content that enabled Em to develop the strategy that convinced me to quit my CEO gig and start this business, following my true calling. I was incredibly fortunate to have a deeply insightful conversation ...
Feb 21, 2023•35 min•Ep 234•Transcript available on Metacast Moment #4 // It’s great to lead from the front, but you have to understand what that means. You can’t do your people’s work for them, only to say, " I'm leading from the front .” That’s not leading from the front, and it’s not setting a virtuous example. Just the opposite. Listen to what leading from the front really means. You can take a deeper dive into these insights by listening to Ep.88: Rolling Your Sleeves Up ———————— FREE 5 DAY LEADERSHIP CHALLENGE: Want to boost your leadership cap...
Feb 19, 2023•4 min•Transcript available on Metacast Episode #233 // Workforce layoffs have continued in the US, as large companies trim the fat in advance of the recession that looks likely to head our way. But the latest data on economic growth and jobs are more positive than most commentators expected. Europe is leading the way, with some better than expected growth figures, and the US added almost 600,000 jobs to the economy in January, which will keep an already tight labor market highly strung. So, with US unemployment at a 50-plus-year low,...
Feb 14, 2023•21 min•Ep 233•Transcript available on Metacast Moment #3 // Why Most Leaders Avoid Hard Conversations Why do so many leaders choose to avoid hard conversations? It's much more about a lack of will than a lack of skill . Avoiding interpersonal conflict isn’t that hard, and it’s easy to rationalize why you don’t need to do it. Competent leaders know the power of difficult conversations, and they recognize that it’s the only real path to high performance. You can take a deeper dive into these insights by listening to Ep.6: The Psychology ...
Feb 12, 2023•4 min•Transcript available on Metacast Episode #232 // Motivation can be pretty tricky. Trying to work out what you can do to help your people reach a state of motivation and stay there for a little while is more complicated than it sounds. Should you try to make them happy? Should you pay them more? Should you lavish them with praise and positive feedback? The truth about what motivates people might surprise you. Interestingly, the path to motivation isn’t an easy one, and it’s not a path that many people will tread of their own acc...
Feb 07, 2023•18 min•Ep 232•Transcript available on Metacast Moment #2 // Ban These 5 Words from Your Corporate Values Virtually every company has a set of values that adorns its glossy brochures and marketing materials. But many of your customers (and your own people), will be deeply cynical about them. What words should you avoid, and how do you not fall into the trap of having a meaningless set of company values. You can take a deeper dive into these insights by listening to Ep.10: Are Company Values Meaningless? ———————— FREE 5 DAY LEADERSHIP CHALLENG...
Feb 05, 2023•4 min•Transcript available on Metacast Episode #231 // If you’re a regular listener of No Bullsh!t Leadership , you’ll know that I speak about talent frequently, in a range of different contexts. But the word “ talent ” is so overused these days that it’s hard to differentiate between the real work of nurturing and developing your best people, and the more mundane aspects of running a business. There’s a number of critical components to understanding and managing the talent you have—and you won’t know who your real talent is unless y...
Jan 31, 2023•20 min•Ep 231•Transcript available on Metacast Moment #1 // The Purpose of Leadership We sometimes forget what the true purpose of leadership is. It’s not to entertain your people during their working hours, and it’s not to focus on helping them to live their best lives. Leadership is about creating the right standards, conditions, and culture to optimize results. You can take a deeper dive into these insights by listening to Ep.4: What is Leadership... Really? ———————— You can connect with me at: Website: https://www.yourceomentor.com Faceb...
Jan 29, 2023•4 min•Transcript available on Metacast Episode #230 // In this modern era of enlightened inclusiveness, the pendulum has swung decisively from independently operating silos towards sharing and collaboration. This has seen the resurgence of role sharing, at all levels, in organizations of all sizes. Collaboration is a critical ingredient to working successfully in the complex organizations we now live in. But what happens when accountabilities are split to the point where they become opaque, confused, or misunderstood? From low-...
Jan 24, 2023•21 min•Ep 230•Transcript available on Metacast Episode #229 // In the world of modern leadership, we’re conditioned to believe that humility is the most essential characteristic we can possess. And there’s no doubt that some measure of humility is important. But it’s easy to misinterpret this to mean that we shouldn’t display confidence… that confidence is somehow the enemy of humility. Nothing could be further from the truth and, in my experience, a leader who lacks confidence can be just as dangerous as a leader who lacks humility. In this...
Jan 17, 2023•18 min•Ep 229•Transcript available on Metacast Episode #228 // Since the Covid pandemic, resilience has captured a much greater share of our collective consciousness. And, as tends to happen, the world now seems to be flooded with “resilience experts”, who profess to be able to teach us how to handle the most difficult situations effortlessly. I’m not an expert in resilience per se, but through my own journey I can confidently say that I’ve become an incredibly resilient person. Maybe it just comes with a little age and maturity—but ve...
Jan 10, 2023•18 min•Ep 228•Transcript available on Metacast Episode #227 // At the end of each year, I usually spend some time studying a variety of sources to come up with a view on possible future outcomes in business, politics, and society. In this episode, I take a look at what’s likely ahead for leaders in 2023 and, without making any fearless predictions, give you some sense of where the world appears to be heading. Remember, trend is your friend! Rather than just making judgments based on a snapshot at any given point in time, it’s more usef...
Jan 03, 2023•20 min•Ep 227•Transcript available on Metacast Episode #226 // This is the fifth Christmas for the No Bullsh!t Leadership podcast and, as we traditionally do at this time of year, Em and I are taking a look back on our catalog of episodes from 2022. We smashed through the 3 million downloads milestone a few months ago, which is a whole lot of impact for the leaders in more than 150 countries who’ve tuned in… But, especially if you’re new to the podcast, you may have missed a few episodes in the last 12 months. So, in an effort to make ...
Dec 27, 2022•23 min•Ep 226•Transcript available on Metacast Episode #225 // The restructuring and layoff season appears to be in full swing… and many of the examples that are popping up in the public domain feel a little chaotic and destructive. This episode outlines how to handle staff layoffs so that you don’t fall into the same traps that some of the more public sh!t-shows have over the last year. I look at the core principles that govern separation processes; I address the less obvious (but, nonetheless critical) consideration of talent...
Dec 20, 2022•21 min•Ep 225•Transcript available on Metacast Episode #224 // There are many upheavals that you’re likely to experience throughout your career that will challenge you. And sometimes, they’ll push you to the very edge of your personal and professional capacity. In my corporate career, I was fortunate to be involved in a number of significant business events, which stretched me well beyond my comfort zone. I realized that I needed to change my attitude and mindset, if I wanted to come out the other end with my sanity, health, and reput...
Dec 13, 2022•20 min•Ep 224•Transcript available on Metacast Episode #223 // There’s a lot going on in the world of work right now. The Covid pandemic was a huge catalyst for a major shift in how people see their careers and, more importantly, their lives. Since then, we’ve come through the Great Resignation , moved onto Quiet Quitting , and now we’re seeing mass layoffs. And the net result of all this? The latest figures in the US show a steep decline in productivity. And then, there’s Elon Musk—always unpredictable, eccentric, ...
Dec 06, 2022•22 min•Ep 223•Transcript available on Metacast Episode #222 // We live in a complex world… a world where, as a leader, you have to find a way to interpret the complexity, uncertainty, and ambiguity, and turn that into clarity for your people. The ability to understand and absorb complexity, to strip it down to its most essential form, and then communicate that to others is one of the most valuable skills you can possess… and it’s a skill that can be developed over time. There’s a big difference between making the complex simpl e and oversimp...
Nov 29, 2022•20 min•Ep 222•Transcript available on Metacast Episode #221 // Times are tough. Inflation is on the rise, input costs are escalating, and organizations are tightening their belts. And it won’t be long before companies start to squeeze their suppliers in an attempt to find further cost reductions. Unfortunately, your suppliers are facing exactly the same pressures as you. So how do you make sure that you’re getting the best deal possible from your suppliers, without putting them at risk too? In this episode, I look at what makes a good contra...
Nov 22, 2022•18 min•Ep 221•Transcript available on Metacast Episode #220 // Many companies use consultants of one type or another. In this episode, I give a bird’s-eye view of the consulting market, based upon my years of experience as a corporate client, engaging at many different levels. Whether it’s developing a new corporate strategy, embarking on a restructure, improving workforce productivity, or reducing the baseline costs of the business, there’s a consultant for every occasion. But it’s also easy to spend a lot of money with the expectation of a...
Nov 15, 2022•23 min•Ep 220•Transcript available on Metacast Episode #219 // When it comes to business, the relationship between intellect and leadership can be fraught. A strong leader with high intellect can be incredibly effective, and make a huge difference to the companies they work for, and to every person they lead. But highly intelligent people who rely on their intellect, to the exclusion of the leadership skills that would mobilize their people, generally struggle in the big jobs, and it often ends in tears. There’s a massive difference between ...
Nov 08, 2022•20 min•Ep 219•Transcript available on Metacast Episode #218 // The dust is well and truly starting to settle on the Covid pandemic, and life is back to relative normality. But one of the lingering hangovers that hasn’t yet lifted is the issue of hybrid work. Many companies are increasingly keen to see their employees return to the office… but many of their people increasingly don’t want to do so. How is the work landscape developing, and what does it mean for leaders who have to manage their people’s return to the office and, in many cases, ...
Nov 01, 2022•21 min•Ep 218•Transcript available on Metacast Episode #217 // In last week’s episode, we looked at high-impact decisions. They’re the ones that have potentially significant consequences, and strike fear into the hearts of most leaders when they have to make them. But the vast majority of our decisions just aren’t like that. These days, where we have cheap, instantaneous access to virtually limitless amounts of data, you’d think our decisions would be noticeably better… but they’re not. There’s no substitute for judgment, and there are...
Oct 25, 2022•18 min•Ep 217•Transcript available on Metacast Episode #216 // Decision-making is a key part of leadership. The ability to make high-impact decisions quickly, under pressure, in a complex and uncertain environment is a core capability for senior leaders… If you want to reach the height of your career aspirations, it’s something you need to develop as early as possible. We make decisions constantly: some big, some small… but all relatively important over time, because they have a cumulative effect. High-impact decisions are different. T...
Oct 18, 2022•18 min•Ep 216•Transcript available on Metacast Episode #215 // Adam Grant produces a huge volume of thoughtful, intelligent, insightful content on leadership and organizational behavior. And although his podcast, Work Life, isn’t on my high rotation list, I try to catch the odd episode now and then. When I do, I often find myself thinking two things: The first is: “ Wow, that is so good, but it would be so easy to misinterpret!” The second is: “ Wow, I agreed with you 100%, right up until the point that you said ‘x’!” The crunch...
Oct 11, 2022•20 min•Ep 215•Transcript available on Metacast Episode #214 // In the last four years, we’ve had over 1,000 leaders take our Leadership Beyond the Theory program. We’ve been fortunate to see a really broad cross-section of global leaders, and we’ve learned a lot about what makes them tick, as we’ve answered their questions in the interactive weekly webinars. These are leaders who grow , who are actively pursuing ways to improve their leadership capability and performance. We’ve seen some common threads emerge that are vir...
Oct 04, 2022•22 min•Ep 214•Transcript available on Metacast Episode 213 // In a sea of potentially valuable career development options, it’s hard to work out which one is right for you. It’s even harder to make sure that the value from that training isn’t lost in the weeks, months, and years after you or your people undertake it. During my own corporate career, I saw a frustratingly large amount of money squandered on training that returned little benefit, either for the individual or the organization. In this episode, I reveal why ge...
Sep 27, 2022•18 min•Ep 213•Transcript available on Metacast Episode #212 // With so many opportunities for professional development, it’s really difficult to know which one to pursue. And the most valuable commodity you have is your own time , which is why you don’t want to waste it on learning that only delivers marginal returns . This episode is designed to take some of the guesswork out of the professional development landscape, and make it easier for you to decide what your best options are to support your career growth in the coming ye...
Sep 20, 2022•20 min•Ep 212•Transcript available on Metacast Episode #211 // Most leaders understand the concept of delegation pretty well, but they struggle to execute. There are any number of ways that delegation can go wrong… and even if it doesn’t actually go spectacularly wrong, unless you learn to optimize your delegation approach, you’ll never get the most out of your people. You’ll always struggle with the massive workload that poor delegation foists upon you, and it will become a bad habit that becomes even more destructive the higher up y...
Sep 13, 2022•17 min•Ep 211•Transcript available on Metacast Episode #210 // We still get a seemingly endless stream of questions from leaders who feel as though they’re heading towards burnout, and have very little idea about how to stop the decline. This ultimately comes down to being able to manage your time and energy effectively. Often, burnout is a slow creep, and it just chips away at you over time until you realize you’re not functioning at the same pace, and achieving the same performance that you used to. You get that jaded feeling...
Sep 06, 2022•22 min•Ep 210•Transcript available on Metacast 
