Monthly articles on career success, leadership and productivity
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Why is your colleague so lazy?
Help! I’ve got a lazy colleague who doesn’t pull his weight. The only deadline he’s interested in is 5.30, when he’s out the door, leaving the rest of us to finish the work. He looks busy and is on Teams all day, but he doesn’t do much. This was...
Are you a Conflict Avoider?
Help! I’ve got a lazy colleague who doesn’t pull his weight. The only deadline he’s interested in is 5.30, when he’s out the door, leaving the rest of us to finish his work. He seems busy and is on Teams all day, but he doesn’t do much - except maybe...
Where is Wayne Rooney going wrong?
The ‘golden generation’ of English football players has failed to make it as managers. What can we learn from them?Wayne Rooney was sacked by Birmingham City football club after 83 days in charge. His team had won just two games in 15 matches. He joins...
My Type A behaviour is upsetting the snowflakes
The shadow side of high achievers and the risky business of accidental managers. Deadline-driven, confident and highly competitive, people with Type A personality traits are real go-getters. But as with all strengths, you can have too much of a good thing. The cracks...
That’s all I have to say: how to give the gift of time
I was lucky enough to be at the Global Peter Drucker Forum earlier this month, soaking up the latest leadership thinking. I’m brimming over with fresh ideas for you, but one moment that really stuck with me was a panellist who had the...
Head in the weeds plus how to spot a CYA culture
When a junior person wastes time, it usually results in other people having to pick up some of their work. When a senior person wastes time there will be far more long-term consequences because other people don’t have the strategic oversight they...
Do you take on too much?
Read this before you organise the Christmas party all by yourself One of the ways HR departments judge the engagement of their workforce is by measuring what’s called discretionary effort. This is how people get involved above and beyond their regular...
A high performer in my team is now under-performing.
Operation Director Curtis* had this problem when he was on one of my leadership programmes. It's a common one, so I'm featuring it in this month's article. Let me know if you'd have handled it differently. Ellie, who was only a couple...
Back after the holidays? Start with the end in mind
As business ramps up again after the holidays, pick a point in the future and visualise what you want to have accomplished by then. I explain how Amazon use a Working Backward method for ultimate success and clarity. "Begin with the end in mind” is the second of the...
Don’t blame lazy workers for your productivity problems
Napping or thinking?Productivity is a systemic problem, not a personal one To some of us, increasing productivity means being more efficient so we can clock off earlier and recharge our batteries. Shareholders will be much more interested in how...
Lessons from the Schofield scandal on fiduciary responsibility
The unsavoury Phillip Schofield affair is more than celebrity gossip. It has some useful lessons for all of us. We really do need to be nice on the way up, or there’ll be plenty of ex-colleagues crawling out of the woodwork to give us a good kicking on the...
Raab and bullying: when ‘straight-talking’ turns nasty
The UK’s deputy prime minister and justice secretary, Dominic Raab, stepped down last month after an independent inquiry concluded that his ‘consistently abrasive behaviour’ had in some cases amounted to bullying. Civil servants were so petrified of disagreeing...