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How to build trust

  This is a great article taping into some of the key things leaders do to burn trust and what they can do to build it. Building trust can be achieved by:

1. Measuring trust and acting on the measure
2. Taking the time to explain why a decision was made results in 4.3x more trust. We consistently find this when we are helping organisations through change processes - the purpose of the change is crucial to acceptance.
3. Confronting the issues that employees care about results in 6.5x more trust. I recently delivered a talk on leadership in an AI environment. I concluded with John Galbraith's observation "All of the great leaders have had one characteristic in common: it was the willingness to confront unequivocally the major anxiety of their people in their time. This, and not much else, is the essence of leadership." If we talk about these we show we are aware of concerns are prepared to talk about them event if it is hard.
4. Developing trust building behaviours in leaders.

Great leaders share three behaviours

  Research consistently shows leadership that is people focused and enables employees to perform is the most effective - Servant and Level 5 Leadership are great examples of this. There are lots of ways of expressing this, whether it be managerial grid's people vs results focus; John Maxwells 'be devoted to your people but expect excellence'; Gilbert Enoka 'have the fierce determination of a viking but the heart of a mother'; or Brené Brown 'have a stiff back and a soft front'. This article adds another perspective to how this can work from a leadership coach, Marcel Schwantes. He writes highly effective leaders:

• Put their people first. Not in the corporate‑poster way — in the practical, everyday way. They clear roadblocks, offer real support, and create psychological safety so their team can think, speak, and perform without fear. Their power comes from elevating others, not protecting themselves.
• Share credit generously. Great leaders don’t make themselves the hero (in fact Level 5 leadership found the hero charismatic leaders damaged their organisations in the medium to long term). They highlight contributions, celebrate wins publicly, and make sure the right people get recognized. That simple act builds trust faster than any team‑building exercise. NZ research found this had the biggest impact on workers wellbeing - people getting recognition/acknowledgement at work were 30x more likely to be doing well mental health wise.
• Own their mistakes. When things go sideways, they don’t deflect, spin, or blame. They step up, take responsibility, and model accountability. That honesty doesn’t weaken them — it makes people respect them more.

It is better to lead from behind and to put others in front, especially when you celebrate victory when nice things occur. You take the front line when there is danger. Then people will appreciate your leadership. 

42% of Employee Turnover Is Preventable – Coaching is the answer!

According to Gallup’s latest research, here’s what’s actually driving employees out the door — and why many leaders still don’t see it...

1. People Don’t Feel Cared About as Humans This is the biggest one — and the most ignored.  When employees feel invisible, undervalued, or treated like interchangeable parts, disengagement is inevitable. Feeling genuinely cared about by a manager isn’t “soft leadership" - it's effective leadership. John Maxwell framed this as "be devoted to your people, but expect excellence".
2. Weak Management is Eroding Commitment  Many managers were promoted because they were great individual contributors — not because they know how to lead people. The result? • Poor communication • Little to no coaching • Recognition that’s either rare or nonexistent
3. People are Guessing What Matters Confusion kills motivation. When people don’t understand what’s expected of them — or how their work connects to something bigger — they stop caring. Purpose doesn’t come from mission statements. It comes from clarity. When you don't have clarity your workload becomes overwhelming leading to stress.
4. Personal Growth Has Flatlined People aren’t just quitting jobs. They’re quitting stagnation. When learning stops, engagement fades. Employees want to grow skills, expand responsibility, and see a future.
5. Burnout Is Being Treated Like a Badge of Honor Overwork, constant urgency, unrealistic workloads, and zero flexibility are pushing even high performers to rethink everything. Burnout isn’t a resilience problem. It’s a systems problem. When stress becomes normal our personal productivity and our leadership effectiveness are significantly reduced. If you are working 70+ hours per week, you have probably achieved about as much as if you had worked 55 hours.

The Art of Giving and Receiving Advice

  One of my favourite pieces of research is the finding that people giving advice are more likely to change their behaviour than those receiving it. This is because the person giving advice is actually thinking about it and processing the information at a deeper level. The person receiving the advice is just hearing it. And as well know, most of what we hear we forget. Harvard Business Review nails it: Great advice isn’t a monologue — it’s a brainstorm.You don’t need to be a guru. You need to be a collaborator. Start Doing This:

• Ask questions before you offer solutions.
• Share your experience with humility and empathy.
• Help the person tailor your advice to their own messy, real-life situation.

• Launch into advice without listening first.
• Assume your advice is a perfect fit.

Do you need wellbeing or willpower to achieve your goals?

  This is a fascinating study tracking people's will power and wellbeing over time. Increases in well being preceded increases in will power rather than vice versa! A summary of the article can be found here. Often when I am asked to coach someone it is because they can't see their way out of their current situation - and that's leading them to be stressed. After we establish where they want to get to we then look at where they are currently - this often includes poor wellbeing. I start them off on a few basic things to improve their self care. When we catch up the next time they have had some wins on the self care front and are feeling better about their problem as well. I always thought that the process of them getting some small wins created a positive impact that started to help them see they can control more than they realised (getting them into the influence part of the circle of influence). Based on this research, perhaps their self control/will power also improves with increases in wellbeing? So how do we make some changes to improve our wellbeing without having willpower! The answer is start with something so small that your brain can't talk you out of it. Here's a short video on forming habits - the domino's analogy is a great way of thinking about achieving big goals by starting really small! We also need to have something to remind us to do it. The Power of habit cue, routine and reward is a great way of kick starting a new habit and having the tools to make changes.