When I got my first staff member, a graduate, she would come to me for the first month and ask me how to do things and I would dutifully tell her – feeling good about my knowledge and thinking I was being an accessible helpful manager. After a month she said “that’s not what you’re… Continue reading Stop solving your teams problems
A recent article tracks our long term infatuation with four factor models of personality – 2,500 years in fact! Although the causes of the personality types have changed, four or five dimension models of personality persist today. Well developed models measuring five personality dimensions are robust and can be useful for self understanding (there are… Continue reading Our infatuation with four factor models of personality
I have had the privilege of working with the University of Canterbury MBA Leadership paper over the last five years. One of the highlights is reading about people’s leadership journeys over the course of the programme and seeing the wins from people moving from problem solving to growing their people and their capabilities. Jeff Wetzler,… Continue reading The power of curiosity in high stakes conversations
A great interview with Gilbert Enoka, who has studied sports psychology and worked with a number of top teams. In his book, Become Unstoppable, he posits that great leaders are Vikings – they have fierce determination (the same as Level 5 Leadership) but with a mother’s heart. This echo’s Brene Brown, ‘a strong back and… Continue reading Leaders: Vikings with a Mothers Heart?
When there’s uncertainty, distress tends to follow. Our brains are hardwired for certainty. Evolutionarily speaking, predictability was what kept us alive, and our amygdala can perceive uncertainty as a threat, which kicks off the stress response. A few years ago, it was the pandemic. More recently, it’s been the shifting political climate resulting in unpredictability,… Continue reading Eight Ways to Support Your Employees in Uncertain Times
In January 2025, Gallup found employee engagement hit its lowest point in a decade. One data point says only 39% of employees strongly agreed that someone at work cares for them as a person. And findings from the human capital management firm Workhuman show 30% feel “invisible.” Feeling unnoticed is antithetical to engagement and satisfaction at… Continue reading Connection – making our people know they matter
