I spent yesterday at the iconic Sage Centre in Gateshead attending a conference called Thinking Digital. What is Thinking Digital? Thinking Digital is for those who are curious about how technology is shaping our future. It is the brainchild of Herb Kim who launched the first Thinking Digital conference in 2008. This was the 4th annual
This week I’ve been continuing my review of 360 degree feedback with a leadership team as they start of their coaching programmes. What struck me was how valuable the feedback was in helping leaders recognise the challenges of working remotely and identifying ways of addressing those challenges. My client is a global organisation with a complex
As a leader in an organisation, you’re in the difficult position of having to influence in many directions. Of course, you need to know how to influence the people you manage but you also need to influence your peers, your bosses, clients and others outside the organisation. Your effectiveness at influencing others depends on the
I am a huge believer in the power of networking.  And I’m fortunate to be part of a great network of highly skilled and talented professionals. One of the formal networks that I am part of is Interimity.  Interimity is an exclusive, invitation-only community of HR consultants, coaches and interims.  Find out more here. There has been
One of our clients is a growing global organisation that needed to grow its leadership and management teams. They asked us to work with one of the senior people in the organisation, an account manager called Paul. The board at Paul’s organisation didn’t feel he was ready to direct the whole function at a strategic
On several occasions recently clients have asked me to help resolve conflict between two employees. I have my own model for developing relationships in the workplace (PARTNER) which you can learn more about here. But another valuable resource is the Handbook of Solution-Focused Conflict Management by Frederike Bannink which Hogrefe published in 2010 (ISBN:Â 978-0-88937-384-6)
I’m about to embark on delivering a programme of training to help managers have more effective performance conversations with their employees. The client I’m working with is not alone in needing to improve managers’ skill and confidence in this area. Many HR and training departments face the challenge of developing a performance culture across their
How to review performance is a challenge faced by most leaders. This week I have been busy coaching senior leaders and also launching a new programme to help managers have more effective performance conversations. The thing that struck me was that leaders are very harsh when they review their performance.  That’s fine if it helps them improve.
A few weeks ago I wrote a blog post on the Seven Steps to Effective Partnership Working. In it I shared the PARTNER model I developed to strengthen working relationships between individuals, teams, departments and organisations. Today I thought I’d share how I used the model in a “Partnership Working” workshop and the tools and
Empower your employees for career growth and retention. Download the first chapter free today.
