A client of mine apologized to me recently. Her words: "I don't know if you coach less ambitious people that don't want a corporate career path." She is a senior Program Manager. Decades on large-scale international projects with the kind of career that a lot of people strive for. Then her contract ended, and instead of diving head-first into a #job search, she stopped and asked what she actually wanted next. We spent the first part of our #coaching #work on self-awareness. W

What do you do when two people in your team simply cannot stand each other? Every few weeks my client has to deal with this exact situation. One member of his team comes to him privately to say his colleague is unprofessional and lazy. Then the other one comes separately to say he can never get a straight answer and that nothing is communicated openly. His plan was to keep the whole thing strictly factual. What was supposed to be delivered, what actually arrived, who said wha

What do you do when you inherit a low performing team in your new leadership role? Last Monday, a client asked me this question 3 weeks into his first job as a #people manager. He had inherited two people. Before his first leadership meeting, he sent them detailed instructions about what to prepare. One of them came back with a presentation that my client described as lazy and low-quality. Needless to say that he was not only disappointed but also furious. In fact, he was pre

My leadership style can be described as two weeks in the Bahamas with no wifi. 🏝️ It's summer break season again and I was recently reminded of my answer to an interviewer's question a few years ago about how I like to lead my team. It was a witty effort to describe in short the servant leadership style that I strongly believe in and apply. But don't let the tempting visual of a tropic vacation fool you; servant leadership takes a lot of hard #work and focused effort. Accord

Back in my hiring days, signing the contract with a newly hired member of my team was just the final step in my decision-making process. The probation period was more or less a formality, not another reason for the new person to prove something to me. It may sound overconfident but hear me out. By the time I made an offer I had run a structured process. Same questions in the same order, scored against pre-agreed criteria, with multiple people scoring and giving feedback. The

More than half your team is staying out of necessity, not because they actually enjoy their jobs. That doesn't stop organizations from tracking retention as a success metric. What the numbers are saying 77% of employees say they intend to stay with their current employer, up from 73% the year before. On paper, that reads like a good year. Look closer, though, and only 18% say they are staying because they genuinely want to be there. The rest are staying out of necessity. In t

Picture this: Oxford, 2023. A researcher named William Fleming stops asking whether the mindfulness pilot at one company worked and instead pulls together data on tens of thousands of workers across hundreds of organisations. He looks into mindfulness sessions, resilience workshops, and apps with breathing exercises in survey data covering 46,336 workers. His findings? Participants making use of these company-provided initiatives appeared no better off than everyone else. Mea

I used to think that the largest career risk for leaders was their own performance. I now believe it's TIME. You may be performing well at #work, creating momentum, delivering results... And, on any given day, an announcement drops that your company is being acquired. The town hall meeting is filled with optimism and references to the "exciting new chapter" ahead of you. But, silently the org-chart begins to shrink... Not as a result of anyone's poor #performance, but because

For the first time, five generations overlap in the workforce, and this mix is only getting bigger and more complex. The older workforce has nearly quadrupled since the mid-80s and, with the retirement age consistently going up in most countries, people are staying employed for much longer. At the same time, Gen Z has already been entering the job market and will account for 30% of the workforce by 2030. Congratulations! You now lead the widest age spread in modern history. �

Few things test a leader more than watching a valued team member walk out the door. This is part 1 of a two-part series - today we focus on voluntary exits (i.e. a team member hands you their notice). Next week we’ll tackle the equally challenging involuntary exits. 🔎Spot the early signs No leader can control someone else’s #career choices, but, you can tune into the signals that someone might be considering a #change: Drop in engagement or curiosity Reduced participation in

I once worked with an engineering team lead in a #tech scale-up who, after three successful years leading a team, decided to pivot back into a DevOps role. He cared deeply about his people, but he missed building things. The more his leadership responsibilities grew, the further he drifted from hands-on technical #work. And like many first-time leaders, he had no real mentorship or formal training - he was simply “the most senior engineer” and his still young start-up at the

It’s August, and while many companies are in a quiet #hiring lull, this is a perfect time to play offense on retention. We spent last...

Ah, summer. For many, it's a time for sandy toes, slightly more relaxed schedules, and... quiet reflection on their #career path. While...

A manager wears many hats - coach, mentor, expert - but one thing they aren’t is a mind reader. Even the best leaders can’t support you...

Happy 2025! The workplace is evolving faster than ever, and keeping up with the latest trends can feel like a full-time job. But don’t...

Job searching can feel like running a marathon with no finish line in sight—applications, interviews, rejections, repeat. It’s...

As we approach year-end #performance reviews, many of us find ourselves in the familiar swirl of self-reflection and goal-setting. It’s...

Chances are that you're probably doing nothing wrong. The job market has stagnated over the past year or so. Just look at the statistics:...

Imagine waking up tomorrow and knowing that all your basic needs are covered. What would you do with your time and career?

Loyalty as a trait is associated with trustworthiness, reliability, commitment, patience and resilience. And, although it's an admirable...