Real Life versus Online Communication

One of our most important motivational needs is “connection”, through social interactions and building relationships.  If we don’t feel connected with others, we feel stress or a heightened sense of anxiety.   With our amazing technology, it’s often assumed that social media and interacting online provides what we need to feel that level of connection.  […]

Reducing Zoom Fatigue

“Zoom fatigue” – yet another phrase we would never have said or heard of this time last year! And it would be fair to say that many people are in the “I’m bored of it all now” stage.  2020 has certainly been a masterclass in seeing how mental anxiety and stress increases when we are […]

Leaving Some “Out of Sight, Out of Mind”

Nobody likes to feel left out of a conversation, or that their contribution isn’t valued. Well, I’ve not met someone yet! The phrase “out of sight, out of mind” has become increasingly concerning recently, and as we move forward with new ways of working. Effective leadership and communication will help keep the whole team engaged, […]

Why Human Nature is Anti Leadership

Can human nature be causing issues in today’s organisations by instinctively being anti leadership? The biggest challenge for leaders of today is the shift in power away from a command and control, carrot and stick management, to an understanding that their focus needs to be on others.  As organisations grow and develop over the next […]

A Cocktail for Every Occasion

In a previous article I talked about Motivational Needs and how leaders can motivate or de-motivate their colleagues and teams using psychological rewards or threats against fundamental values such as fairness, significance, variation, certainty, autonomy and connection.  Now I wanted to move away from the leadership skills and review what you can do as an […]

Negotiation: A Checklist For Lasting Results

  A major conflict between departments can cause considerable delay to organisational success and stress for those involved.  A recent discussion I had was regarding a stand-off between a client’s Sales and Operations departments.  Sales were concerned that the Operations department were hampering their ability to win new clients with strict processing rules, and Operations believed the Sales department […]

Deleting, Distorting and Generalising That Affect Communication

Have you ever experienced going to an event with someone and when discussing it afterwards, it was as if you were at two different events?  It’s worth understanding why that is in order to help improve communication. We receive an external event through our sensory input channels (visual, auditory, kineasthetic, olfactory smell, gustatory taste).  Then […]

If Not Gold, Do Your Team Want Silver or Bronze?

Following the 1992 Barcelona Summer Olympics, researchers studied those who had won gold, silver and bronze medals.  Those who won gold seemed the happiest, but surprisingly those who received bronze seemed happier than those who got silver. According to a recent Inc.com article, this is down to what psychologists call “counterfactual thinking” or “what if”, […]

How Not to Damage Self-Esteem With Your Feedback

If you don’t give feedback, or only rarely (eg. only during Annual appraisals), then your employees get very little encouragement to provide exceptional performance, as the assumption could be that all is fine.  No news is good news?  Although not great for building confidence levels. Studies have shown that people who received regular praise and […]

Amplifying Stress Down to Your Team

During one of my Financial Services Senior Exec interviews on Leadership (see video), a great observation about inappropriate leadership was raised.  And that was about amplifying the stresses and pressure from above down to your team, and the consequences of doing that to those who receive it. One of my personal experiences was during the crucial […]

Future Success from Past Mistakes

Nobody likes making mistakes (I know, obvious Karen!), but there’s a big difference to your approach when you’re scared of making them.  There’s the personal fear, but it could also be that your organisation has a “blame culture” where mistakes are frowned upon and people are always on the lookout for a scapegoat.  This would […]