Tag Archives: leadership

Leadership

The Power of Your Daily Activity

Leave a comment

I absolutely love professional sport, especially Australian Rules Football – to see the finely tuned athletes apply their craft in arguably one of the world’s best stadiums, the Melbourne Cricket Ground, is a privilege. The way the players are able to combine as a team, to make the movement of the football seem effortless, to the point where the ball quite often does not hit the ground for minutes at a time, is sensational to watch. And in watching these The Power of Daily Activityprofessionals go about their work, we can sometimes sit back and ‘wish’ we were like them, to have their ability, and their precision with the skills and fitness. It is also somewhat easy to overlook the amount of work that these athletes have invested over time to reach that level of expertise, because we merely see the outcome or output of years of dedicated focus and application. Whilst these players started their professional career with ‘talent’, they have had to invest in and develop that talent constantly over time to earn the right and opportunity to play professional sport at the highest level. That investment has been a relentless and focussed approach to their daily activity. Their success did not develop and happen overnight – it was determined by their daily agenda, repeated over time. Continue reading →

There was an issue loading your exit LeadBox™. Please check plugin settings.

Leadership

Unleashing Your Potential to High Performance

Leave a comment

Over the years I have had the privilege of working with many high quality and talented individuals and teams, both in business as well as the sporting arena. What is interesting is that for some looking from the outside in, these individuals and teams do not appear to be world beaters – they seem to be relatively normal (what ever normal means!), and yet, over time, these individuals and teams are able to deliver results which are consistently high, and very rarely drop their performance. They are reliable and predictable, in a very empowering way. High-Performance

Late last week I was chatting with a colleague and the subject of peak performance versus high performance came up. We wanted to understand what the fundamental differences were and whether, as leadership coaches, our preference would be to work with people to deliver peak performance, or high performance. We concluded that, it actually depends, because peak performance Continue reading →

There was an issue loading your exit LeadBox™. Please check plugin settings.

Leadership

Are You Walking Your Talk?

Leave a comment

Last week, over coffee, a friend and I enjoyed a very in depth discussion around leadership and what it means to be a leader. We both agreed that leadership is all about influence, and one of the greatest ways to influence others, is through setting an example. At that stage, my friend shared with me a very interesting story from a number of years ago that demonstrates this point very well, albeit not in the way you would expect. Walk The Talk

It is a story about a leader who focussed on & said one thing, whilst doing something in complete contrast. This leader was a senior executive at a large Australian organisation which was going through some challenging times – their revenue and market share was dropping and company profits were shrinking, so the focus was on reducing costs and seeking ways to drive efficiencies. As the story goes, this senior executive became laser focussed on cost reduction, to the point where he was suggesting to his people that they think twice before purchasing new pens, look at cheaper options for copying paper and stationery, and look at reducing costs for various other supplies within the business, including tea and coffee, paper towel, and even toilet paper. To the people within the business, this approach seemed to be rational and logical, and they were happy to oblige, until they discovered that this senior executive continued to drive his extremely expensive sports car to and from work each day, which by the way, was 100% funded by the company! Now you may argue that the cost of running 1 car is but a small percentage of the company’s overall costs compared to the larger volumes and costs such as supplies and stationery, and you would be correct. However, from a leadership perspective, this senior executive was sending a potentially conflicting message to his people, which could have been interpreted as ‘do as I say, not as I do’. In other words, this leader was not walking his talk! Continue reading →

There was an issue loading your exit LeadBox™. Please check plugin settings.

Leadership

Are You Trying To Teach Chickens To Fly?

Leave a comment

One of the great benefits of living in the country is having chickens – they are fascinating creatures and they never cease to keep my family entertained. They love roaming the property ‘free range style’, always staying close to one another, and never drifting too far from their coop. Watching them is intriguing. They are forever foragingflying_chicken for food on the ground, sifting through grass, weeds and dirt to find the succulent insect, worm or snail, only occasionally raising their head to look around and check their environment. And when they either sense danger or become excited about something, they may even leap off the ground and appear to fly for over a metre, but never getting any higher than a metre off the ground. They certainly do not leave the brood and soar like eagles! As I was watching these chickens over the weekend, I couldn’t help but think about the lessons that chickens can provide us as leaders, especially if we are a leader who is trying to create eagles! The question that came to mind at that time was “as a leader, are you trying to teach chickens to fly so that they may become eagles?” If you are, what are the chances?  Continue reading →

There was an issue loading your exit LeadBox™. Please check plugin settings.

Personal Development

Above All Else, Back Yourself!!

Leave a comment

I have always been fascinated by professionals, those people who are masters of their craft, who function at an elite level, and who can produce results that many of us mere mortals can only dream about. Whether it be in sport, business or in the arts, they appear to be able to execute their strategies with precision, and seem to handle golf-course-pictures.206194340_stdpressure with ease. So I was ecstatic when I had the opportunity a couple of weeks ago to have lunch with a professional golfer. Here was a fantastic opportunity to have a one on one conversation with a professional, and seek to identify the ‘secret ingredient’  that separates the pros from the amateurs.

It was a fascinating conversation and I was very fortunate to be able to gain an insight into the world and routine of a professional, and what made them ‘tick’. We discussed various professional sportspeople across multiple sporting disciplines, and I was Continue reading →

There was an issue loading your exit LeadBox™. Please check plugin settings.

Leadership

This Is Not Where It’s At!!

Leave a comment

4 LevelsLast week I was working with a Leader who was not in a good place. He was getting ‘hammered’ from every direction – his team’s sales numbers were well behind target, his 1 up Manager was, in his words, ‘all over him’, his customers were complaining about lack of response from the Account Team, and he didn’t feel he was getting the support he needed in order to get back on track. And in listening to his language, he was tending to externalise a lot as well, identifying other parts of the business which were letting his team down, how he was not getting the support he thought he deserved, and how he felt very much alone. Being in this place can be a very lonely place, and it is commonly known as the drama cycle. Continue reading →

There was an issue loading your exit LeadBox™. Please check plugin settings.

Personal Development

What Are You Waiting For?

Leave a comment

“Life is so short.” How often do we hear that comment and treat it as a throw away line? Well this week, the comment came home to roost yet again, with the news that a great man in our local community passed away unexpectedly early in the week. He was a highly respected member of the community, actively involved in community activities, including the local junior football club, where he was a certified sports trainer, as well as the chief sponsorship manager. Leaving behind a loving wife and 2 wonderful children, it prompted me to yet again reflect and contemplate that life really is What-Are-You-Waiting-For-608x469short, and that you actually do not know how much longer you have before the last grain of sand passes through the hourglass. And as I reflected, I was reminded of the wonderful poem written nearly 20 years ago by Linda Ellis, called “The Dash”, a poem that really challenges you to focus on the dash between birth and death, to identify and fulfil your purpose for being alive, and to make your life count.

It got me really thinking, am I living my life the way that I intended, or am I just cruising? Let me ask you the same question – are you living your life the way you intended, or are you simply making up the numbers? It is a very sobering question, and one that is very easy to gloss over and either ignore, or deflect, particularly if we are really ‘busy’. Well the fact is, we only have one life, and that life can be snuffed out so quickly, that life can be over before we start living it. It reminds me of the extensive research conducted in Aged Care facilities where people coming to the end of their lives are asked about their life philosophies and their perspectives on living a great life, including any regrets they have. Overwhelmingly, the feedback from the elderly generation is that they would take more risks, have more fun, seek out more opportunities, and not worry about what other people think! Very wise and sobering feedback for those of us who still have sand remaining in the hourglass!

Continue reading →

There was an issue loading your exit LeadBox™. Please check plugin settings.

Personal Development

Why Your ‘Why’ Is So Important

Leave a comment

A couple of weeks ago I was enjoying a coffee with a good friend of mine. His daughter is a professional sportswoman, who since turning professional has been experiencing some challenges with her game and has been a little disappointed with her performances. As an amateur, she was highly ranked in her field of expertise, however, since turning professional, the ranking has dropped somewhat and ???????her performances have been less consistent. This got me thinking about other professional sportspeople in the world, along with successful business people and successful actors, and how these people were able to make the transition from ‘amateur’ status, to professional, and continue to perform at a high level, and in many cases, lift their performance to world class level. What made the difference? These people were operating in a very highly specialised field of endeavour, they each possessed immense talent, and yet, some managed to achieve a level of sustained success that others only dream of. Whilst many focussed on execution of technique, of ‘doing the do’, of being an outstanding technician, others recognised that execution of technique is not enough – knowing why they are executing the technique is the difference that makes the difference. And so this lead me to contemplate why clearly identifying the why is so important in any endeavour, and how the why can be the difference between being an average performer in any field, and a world class performer.

Continue reading →

There was an issue loading your exit LeadBox™. Please check plugin settings.

Leadership

Are You An Emotionally Intelligent Leader?

Leave a comment

Have you ever been in a situation where you witnessed a Leader acting in a way which was inconsistent with the values of the team, and despite attempting to assist them and guide them to safer ground, they simply continued to dig a massive hole for themselves? What makes a man tick?No matter what you said to them, it made no difference? And this does not necessarily have to be a situation in a workplace. Many years ago, I unfortunately witnessed such a situation, which for the Leader in question, was ultimately career defining. We were entertaining corporate customers at a sporting event, and the alcohol was not only in large supply, but also in great demand. As the evening progressed, this particular leader continued to consume copious amounts of alcohol, and as they did, they became louder and louder, said things in front of customers which was out of line, became quite emotional and overly expressive to a number of customers, and by the end of the night, had to be escorted out of the event. Despite our best attempts to stem the flow of alcohol to them, as well as attempting to move them to a different area for some ‘quiet time’, they continued to behave in a very unprofessional and unintelligent way. As a consequence of their behaviour, they lost significant amounts of trust and respect from their team members who attended the event, not to mention the lost respect from the customers who attended. In fact, the customers refused to meet with this leader again following the evening, and submitted letters of complaint to the senior executives. Now this is a rather extreme example, however it highlights the dangers and consequences for a leader who does not demonstrate emotional intelligence. Continue reading →

There was an issue loading your exit LeadBox™. Please check plugin settings.

Leadership

It Is Totally Up To You!!

Leave a comment

It Is Up To You

 

 

 

I can remember the exact day when I experienced an epiphany and decided I wanted to become a Leader – I was fast closing in on completing my 5th year as a Senior Sales Executive, and whilst I was enjoying the role and was reasonably successful, I had this nagging feeling that something was missing, that there was something more that I could be, and should be doing. And it was a chance corridor conversation with a very successful Sales Leader that provided the catalyst for me to begin a journey that has been nothing short of extraordinary.

Peter had just been promoted to a Director role, and asked me ‘So when are you taking the next step and jumping into Sales Leadership?’ It was a question that at first startled me, because whilst I had observed Peter very closely over the previous 5 years, and had sought to model his behaviour, we had not spent a great deal of time 1:1 discussing sales, and certainly not sales leadership. After getting over the initial shock of the question, I responded by saying that I would love to work towards a sales leadership role within the next 5 years, if the opportunity presented itself. His response floored me – “Well, that is totally up to you!” Up to me? Really? And it was at that moment that I asked a question that changed the direction of my career in an instant – I asked “Peter, would you be prepared to be my Leadership Mentor?”. “Would love to be, absolutely” he responded. Wow, no turning back now.

Continue reading →

There was an issue loading your exit LeadBox™. Please check plugin settings.