Blog
How to improve your strategic thinking
"Questions are the language of strategy."
What a powerful message from @ Nina bowman.
Have you ever been told that you need to be more strategic in your leadership role?
One study showed the 97% of senior leaders thought being strategic was the leadership behaviour most important to their organization’s success. Another found 96% wished they had more time to be strategic (Clarke, 2018).
Bowman is explicit that strategic thinking is not reserved for those in the C-suite. Every one of us, at every level of the organisation, should be doing it.
But how do you do it?
How intentional are you?
Yesterday I was coaching a leader and the word INTENTION was raised. I feel like there is no escaping this word at the moment.
I mentioned last week that intentional leaders have clarity on what their purpose is and what are the things they want to achieve in living that purpose. What better way to really see the impact of clarity and intentionality on leadership than from this matrix from Mark Sanborn's book 'The Intention Imperative'
When we lack clarity and intentionality, there is no leadership. Or if you are this person in a leadership role, we could go as far as calling it negligent leadership.
Giving tough feedback that actually helps people grow
If you are like me, you probably HATE giving tough feedback.
The dread that rises through your body. The sweat that builds on your palms. The pain that forms in your stomach. And the fear of how the person will react, and what it means for your professional relationship after that conversation.
Training a group of leaders on engaging with stakeholders yesterday, many also raised this challenge. When you need to be the bearer of bad news, delivering a message you know the receiver will not want to hear. But they need to hear it.
And it’s a question that comes up often with the leaders I am coaching.
How can I give tough feedback?
How to get people to accept a tough change
Constant, complex, messy change is the "new normal".
As leaders, we are not only responsible for driving major changes in our organisations, but we are responsible for recognising and regulating our own personal responses to these changes.
Yesterday I was working with a group of public servants, teaching them about dealing with change. And one of the key themes throughout our conversation was that even organisational change is deeply personal.
What’s the cure for my micromanaging?
Could the cure for your micro-managing behaviours really be…
…more delegation???
In his ‘Confessions of a micromanager’ David Finkel admits that, like many, his own need to control everything in his work stemmed from a bad delegation experience. When he entrusted someone to fill in for him, that person failed miserably.
Clearly no one could ever be entrusted to do the job right. Right?
4 things to do before a tough conversation
Are you terrified of having tough conversations?
I admit this is one of the parts of being a leader that I struggle with most. And I know I am not alone, as many of the leaders I am coaching have been raising this as a challenge holding them back.
One of the most effective and important things we can do to make having that tough conversation easier is to actually prepare. Not just what we want to say, but why we want to say it. And to get ourselves into the right headspace.
