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The Compass Journal: Navigating Careers & Leadership

Fresh thinking for forward-focused organisations

Explore practical insights, thought leadership, and real-world stories on career development, leadership, and the evolving world of work. Each article is designed to spark ideas and support you in creating a culture where people and performance thrive.

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Blog Archives

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5 Benefits of Great Career Conversations

In a recent blog post I talked about why career conversations are important.  One question I received in response was “Antoinette – if career conversations are so important, why don’t managers have them?”  It’s a good question.  Often the reason is that managers lack the skills and confidence required to conduct career conversations.  They fear

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Visualising a Culture of Career Development

In my last blog post, I talked about the power of visualisation for career development and the benefits to employees. But visualisation is not only helpful at an employee level.  It can also be helpful at an organisational level.  In this blog post I’d like to share my experience of helping a client visualise a

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Picture This! Harnessing the Power of Visualisation in Career Conversations

You want your employees to be successful, don’t you? In fact, you and they have probably used that word. But do you know what success really means to them?  Have they truly thought about it and discussed it with you?  People talk about success all the time.  But rarely do they define it in a

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Why Career Conversations are Important

“Don’t ask what the world needs – ask what makes you come alive because what the world needs is people who have come alive.” Howard Thurman  It’s a competitive environment, and organisations need to gain advantage through their people more than ever. But there’s a challenge. While organisations want to maximise employees’ performance, employees want

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Career Management. Whose Responsibility is it Anyway?

Organisations and employees agree that whereas organisations owned careers ten years ago, employees are now responsible for their careers.  But is it really possible for an employee to take full ownership of their career when they are reliant on their manager and their organisation for opportunities?  In this blog post I’ll explore the roles and

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Five Benchmarks of a Powerful Career Management Strategy

Are you trying to improve career management in your organisation? Are you keen to respond to employee questions and concerns over their career opportunities?  Are you committed to helping managers support employees with their career development? If so, you should have a documented career management strategy that is known and understood by employees, managers and

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The Seven Biggest Mistakes Companies Make With Career Management

The only effective, sustainable approach to career management involves the whole organisation.  Attitudes and behaviours filter down from leaders with reinforcement from policies and procedures.  Alongside any training, information and support, it’s important to create a culture that promotes growth and career development. When clients contact us, it’s often because of their engagement survey results. 

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Entrepreneurial Leadership Part 2: 11 Characteristics of Entrepreneurial Leaders

Welcome to my second blog post about entrepreneurial leadership. In my last post, Entrepreneurial Leadership: Why is it important? you read what it was and why we need it.  A key message was that entrepreneurial leaders need to embrace high levels of change. And they need to thrive on the unique challenges posed by growth.

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Entrepreneurial Leadership: Why is it important?

Earlier this year I received an invitation from the President of the Mentoring Institute at the University of New Mexico.  The theme of the 11th annual Mentoring Conference was to be Mentoring, Coaching and Leadership for Innovation and Entrepreneurship.  They wanted me to deliver a keynote speech.  The title was How to Develop Innovative, Entrepreneurial

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