You sigh as you doodle along the edge of your page, then sneak a peak at your text messages.  Another meeting!
You’re not sure what its purpose is or why you’ve been invited. You don’t have any contribution to make. The arguments go round in circles. And why doesn’t someone do something about the guy at the end of the [...]

Most of us put off having difficult conversations for as long as possible.  But even when we are in conversations, we find ways of avoiding the critical and difficult issues. The problem is that when you hold a conversation that does not directly and effectively address the real problem, no amount of talking will make [...]

If you want to build a high performing team you must know how to hold people to account for their performance. In general however, people are more skilled at avoiding accountability than others are at holding them to account. There are three tactics that are most commonly used. For each, there is a specific behaviour [...]

In most organisations it is assumed that if you want to build a high performing team you need to set stretch goals and objectives. Logically, it makes sense that setting challenging goals and objectives is the best way to inspire the most effort and the best performance. The only limitation that is commonly recognised is [...]

The old acronym K.I.SS. - Keep It Simple Stupid - is as well understood and relevant today as it ever was. In spite of that, much business communication is ineffective, whether it’s written or spoken.
People tend to ramble, never getting to the point. They focus more on showing what they know, rather than on [...]

The majority of organizations today claim they have a performance appraisal system in place.  The procedures and documentation are carefully designed and circulated every quarter or half year. Managers line up interviews with their staff. Sometimes people are asked to complete self assessments before their appraisal interviews.
Afterwards, the data is collected and analysed to identify [...]

You can choose how you look at things. You can say: I failed.  Or you can say: I did not pass this time. You can say: losing my job was the worst thing that could happen to me. Or you can say: losing my job gives me the chance to start my own business.
Re-framing your [...]

When you get into a negative state, like the way you feel after a bad sales call, or a disagreement with someone you love, you feel depressed, miserable and without energy. When you know how to put yourself into a positive state you can bounce back with energy and resilience.
1. Make a physical change
If you [...]

Toxic people are those whose attitudes and behaviour poison the environment. They blame, complain and criticise, put people down, and infect everyone with their pessimism, negativity and bad humour. Some moan about anyone they see as more successful than they are; some are angry; others are bullies who dominate and humiliate anyone they see as [...]

My heart sinks when I hear someone say, ‘John isn’t performing well these days. I must send him an e-mail’. Doesn’t everyone know by now that you can’t do sensitive and difficult conversations by e-mail!
In any conversation that has a strong emotional tone you must be face to face. These are the kind of conversations [...]