If you haven’t read the book "The 5 Dysfunctions of a Team" I recommend it. It's a high performance diagnostic tool that can be applied to any team: figure out which level your team struggles with on the pyramid and take actions accordingly. Always start at the lowest...
Coaching is an important leadership skill, and whilst there are many ways to increase your proficiency at coaching an excellent starting point is to read Michael Bungay Stanier's book "The Coaching Habit: Say Less, Ask More & Change the Way You Lead...
Is your executive team too big? The size of an executive team can have a significant impact on the success of an organisation. A team that is too large can lead to inefficiencies, communication breakdowns, and suboptimal decision-making. On the other hand, a team that...
As we progress in our careers, our responsibilities evolve towards more strategic and visionary thinking. To excel in this transition, it becomes imperative to relinquish some of the hands-on tasks though delegation. For some leaders, this phase is exciting and...
In the world of business, innovation doesn't always require a bottomless budget. This blog explores the inspiring stories of companies that have defied financial constraints and gives 10 practical tips and strategies for fostering innovation on a budget, proving that...
Crafting local and global strategies is a crucial step in the growth of any organisation. However, it's important to ensure that the local and global strategies are aligned with each other and leverage the capabilities and systems that give the...
Strategy is about asking great questions, consistently and deliberately. Great strategies come from asking questions your competitors aren’t even thinking about yet. In the article “What Strategy Questions Are You Asking?” Roger Martin introduces a dynamic...
The strategic playbook is subject to constant revision necessitating the formulation of a new strategy. However, what many overlook is the symbiotic relationship between strategy and culture. The success of a new strategy hinges on the alignment and evolution of the...
In the dynamic world of business, strategic thinking isn't confined to industry giants alone; small companies, too, can wield it as a powerful tool for success. This blog delves into the narratives of small companies with big strategies, demonstrating that size is no...
Innovation is a vital aspect of any organisation, but there are several factors that can hinder it. Here are some of the most common challenges that organisations face when trying to innovate. If your organisation is struggling to be more innovative, see how many of...
Creating a culture of innovation is essential for organisations that want to stay ahead of the competition. In this post, we’ll share some expert tips and strategies to help you foster a culture of innovation in your organisation by embracing diversity in the...
Creating a culture of innovation is essential for organisations that want to stay ahead of the competition. However, innovation cannot be forced or imposed from the top down. Instead, it requires a culture that fosters and encourages creativity, experimentation, and...
Our minds excel at creating mental structures—boxes, categories, rules, and assumptions—that help us navigate the vast sea of information. While this ability is commendable, it has a downside: the comfort of familiarity. Our attachment to beliefs and assumptions poses...
When we recruit for a position, we take a lot of care to consider whether or not someone is a good cultural fit. However, it’s much harder to address this issue with someone from within the organisation. Here's how to performance manage for cultural fit. Performance...
As leaders we are always communicating some sort of change to our teams. Whether it’s a big or small change it’s useful to know what change can trigger for people and how to help others navigate their reactions. The SCARF Model was developed in 2008 by David Rock* as...
There are various change models, but the Elephant, Path, Rider* metaphor stands out for me because it's easy to understand and mimics how our brains work. In summary it's about our brains as conscious rider and subconscious elephant that navigate a path — each plays a...
Successful culture change requires clarity on the observable behaviours we want to see. Culture change programs need explicit definition of the observable behaviours, not just aspirational terms. A simple template helps map out the essential elements for culture...
How to tell the story of your organisational change
If you have been given feedback that you need to be more strategic, or you just feel that you are not being seen as a strategic leader then read on. To be seen as strategic we must take on a strategic mindset, but then we must also visibly demonstrate our strategic...
Stepping up into a senior leadership role is a pivotal career moment. For many leaders, the promotion comes after success in a role where they excel in their technical and operational abilities. However, the role they are promoted into requires a very...
What is a bad strategy? Whether your strategy is a good one or a bad one comes down to many factors, however, there are some starting points, and approaches, to strategy development that make strategies bad from the start. Not all of these are going to sink...
There are 7 key questions that guide you through the strategy development process: Why do we do what we do? This is your organisation’s purpose, the reason you are in business or the reason you exist. Without this you don’t have a North Star to guide your strategy,...
Being strategic means balancing a focus on results and execution with the ability to construct a vision, sense changes in the environment, and pivot when needed. It’s important to be able to consistently manage the business, keeping things on track, aligning...
It's never too early in your career to start flexing your strategic thinking muscles. Here are 6 ways to get started. Understand your organisation's strategy. Gather as much information as you can on why your organisation has chosen that specific strategy. Read and...