Have you wondered how executive coaching, and specifically how I could help you and your team? By way of introduction, I’ve been an Executive Coach for 14 years, following many (many!) years in senior leadership roles and management consultancy. I’m passionate about helping clients unlock their full potential and for leaders to create environments for […]
As one of the executive coaches, Karen is involved in the Aspire Leadership Development programme with Barclays (via Black Isle Group). This has been recognised with a Gold Award, in the “Best Advance in Leadership Development Category” 2023. Aspire is a Global high potential programme for Vice Presidents. It supports a pipeline of diverse, resilient […]
Do you sometimes feel that you’re drowning in expectation (from your manager, team, peers, family, friends, or even yourself) – trying to do all that is required of you in terms of managing the day to day, taking on new projects and initiatives, and being creative enough to take your team and its results to […]
Many people are put off giving any feedback at all. They underestimate how much others desire constructive feedback, and worry they could anger or upset the person they’re giving it to. We’ve all been on the receiving end of someone saying “can I give you some feedback” and immediately thinking that it’s going to be […]
Can you be sure that you’re accurately assessing your abilities in the workplace? Most of us will have heard of imposter syndrome – a term to describe a feeling high achievers have when they cannot recognize their success and are afraid of being exposed as a fake or a fraud. Sadly, a lack of confidence […]
“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 […]
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, […]
As humans, uncertainty is something we don’t really like. And we’re current all experiencing the biggest period of uncertainty in our history. Uncertainty is contagious, fuelling anxiety in many of us. We try to pay attention to every opinion or scenario, ending up feeling overwhelmed. And that’s because uncertainty triggers the fear part of our […]
As humans, uncertainty is something we don’t really like. And we’re current all experiencing the biggest period of uncertainty in our history. Uncertainty is contagious, fuelling anxiety in many of us. We try to pay attention to every opinion or scenario, ending up feeling overwhelmed. And that’s because uncertainty triggers the fear part of our […]
Are you planning on investing time on you this year? What is it that you want to develop for yourself? What are your targets and goals for your development that you want to put in place? We spend all our lives using certain skills and behaviours, but something can then make us realise that some […]
Do you know your strengths, struggles and stressors, and how these are affecting those around you? Much of our behaviour is unconscious and only becomes apparent as the “reputation” we have in the office. And our reputation can be very different to our internal dialogue or intention. But reputation is what we will be hired […]
According to the World Economic Forum’s Future of Jobs Report, even though there will be advances in robotics and AI, it’s the leadership skills around human behaviour that will be even more important to succeed in 2020. Chief Human Resources officers from global companies were asked what they thought the top 10 skills required for […]
What is it that you want to change for yourself this year? What are your targets and goals for your development that you want to put in place? Change isn’t easy, and it’s rarely fast. The initial decision to change can be fast – can be overnight. Something happens, someone says something – and we […]
We often make promises to people, and pride ourselves in keeping those promises. But there is often one promise that ends up being put to the bottom of the list, or even forgotten about completely, and that’s the promise to ourselves to develop our own career. “I’m in a good enough role for now”, “there […]
All industries look to innovate in order to ensure they can respond quickly enough to customer demands. Problems often arise if there’s a lack of speed in innovation. And some leaders are concerned that few individuals within the organisation will take the initiative or are incapable of looking for creative solutions. So, how can we […]
As busy leaders in today’s environments, how should time by divided most appropriately to provide the support that will make a real difference to the team? Usually, when asked whether you should spend more time on your top performers (10%), middle performers (80%) or poor performers (10%), managers will often opt for those in the […]
There’s not much we like about being wrong. And unfortunately, it’s human nature that once we’ve taken a position, we would rather stick to our guns than admit we could be wrong (even to ourselves). Think about a heated meeting you’ve been in recently. Did you try to defend your point of view, but […]
Beliefs are those things that you’ve decide are true for you, whether positive or negative. Confidence in our abilities often comes down to what we believe about ourselves, even though we’re often not consciously aware of what these are. Normally, when we believe we can do something (let’s take as an easy example, “I’m very […]
I’ve lost count of the number of people who have told me that they’re not creative. Unfortunately, until a few years ago, that included me! My belief was set in stone for me when I joined a management consultancy (as one of my first full time jobs, many years ago). The directors wanted me to […]
Have you wondered whether executive coaching is for you? Unsure what the procedure would be, and therefore feel uncertain about getting involved? Well, hopefully the below will help. Coaching from Assiem Ltd is tailormade, uses your real-life situations to implement what you learn and provides a supportive and confidential environment in which to discuss your […]
Have you been in meetings where half the attendees are on their mobiles/laptops answering queries, where managers impatiently talk over others or can’t wait for someone to finish so that they can put their point across? Most managers know they need to listen and could probably accept that they don’t listen enough. And we can […]
I was in my dance lesson the other day and we were going over the tiniest aspects of a particular step. We analysed all aspects of this one move, in the greatest of detail – for 50 minutes! I realised that for years I’ve been doing the same move in the same way, despite a […]
Over the years, Leadership Development programmes have cost organisations dearly. Companies can be providing their leaders with the tools, but more often than not, nothing much changes in the day-to-day results. As with the old proverb “you can lead a horse to water, but you can’t make it drink”, you can provide great leadership development […]
Whenever I’m discussing communication skills with managers, I often find myself challenging them on their assumptions about what other people (peers, manager, team members) might be thinking in specific situations. “How do you know?” How do you know what they are thinking, if you haven’t asked them? If you’ve not asked them, then you can […]
Think about when you’ve had a very busy day at work, you’ve made lots of decisions on strategy, resources, management issues, budgets etc. When you get home you are faced with even more decisions to make regarding the family, what to eat, where you might go on holiday, activities with the children. Sound familiar? At some […]
Have you been told that you don’t take enough risks when coming up with new ideas? Or you need to look beyond the day to day and find new and innovative ways to take the team/business forward? Or you need to do more on building and leading new strategies? Additionally, as a leader, have you […]
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 few years, leaders will benefit from concentrating on empowering, team building and coaching their […]
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 […]
When it comes to the important things in your life, you don’t want to have to learn how to do them alone. For instance, how would you feel if you were handed a manual and told that you were going to be driving in a city for the first time in an hour, by yourself? […]
As a leader, can you spot those around you who are just telling you want you want to hear? Those who may be “spinning” you one line, but causing havoc and conflict with other team members or departments around you? Many of us will have experienced seeing someone manage up very well to their boss, […]
