What would you say is the most important leadership quality we're NOT talking about enough? The leadership quality we're looking for from our leaders - and from ourselves - is not the intense and hardcore rush, rush, rush that most choose in reaction to a demanding workplace. In fact, it’s quite the opposite. Here’s how we can return to leadership serenity. #BrainBasedCoaching

I often hear how intimidated people can become when meeting with (for example) senior leadership. What do I say? How do I say it? How am I coming across? Am I doing this right? If this resonates, try not to lose sight of the fact this is still person-to-person connection; and that as a human being, you're innately gifted at it. So, drop your internal questioning and commit to creating connection and rapport. Building rapport is about reducing differences, amplifying commonality, finding complements (with an "e") and all whilst staying true to your own nature and values. The first basis for genuine and meaningful rapport is physiology. Here are 4 quick, simple and super-effective body language "tweaks" to settle you into the conversation.

From short project updates to major strategy decision gates. From small internal presentations to significant external keynotes. Being able to deliver showcase moments with skill and confidence is one of the surest ways to build reputation and career capital. But also, the need to speak publicly is a daunting thought for many. Where to start? What to focus on? What to omit? How to conclude? Quickly and painlessly get to the heart of your audience and your message with these 15 essential questions. #BrainBasedCoaching

Whatever your definition of work/life balance and harmony, they're only achieved when we get out of autopilot and into intentional focus. Try these 12 mini challenges to rediscover your balance.

Shifting a culture starts with ourselves and our own little corner of the world – and a series of small but impactful behaviours that, incrementally, add-up to positive change. Here are 4 leadership habits to inspire that stimulating and empowering culture within your team. #BrainBasedCoaching

Work can be draining - especially when working on the next career move. Learn to look after the driving force behind the change - yourself.

Whenever events don't quite go according to plan, our potential for learning goes way up. So, take time now to learn these 8 Game-Changing Lessons in Professional Performance

A procrastinating mindset is a powerful and attractive perspective. But we can use that idea of perspective to overcome procrastination. Here's how.

Habits are efficient, performant and robust. That's why the human brain wants to turn anything and everything that looks important into a hardwired habit. And it's why, any time we want to perform, habit formation is a great strategy. We all want to be better leaders and managers. So, what are the performance habits that amplify leadership quality and skill. I’m going to guess you’ve already got the core fundamentals in place. So, here are 7 disciplines which are maybe just a little different from the normal advice.

There is a near-infinite number of leadership models out there. So, which model should you adopt and align with, for best results? Answer: Your Own. The most impactful model of leadership we can follow is one of our own authentic design. This is the gold standard for the high-performing leader … and what each of us should be aspiring to. Here are 5 foundations to begin building yours.

There are many stand-out competencies that make up stand-out leadership. Strategic thinking. Communications. Influencing. Relationships. Execution. Results! But the day-to-day can quickly send us into a cascade of fighting fires that promotes focus and attention on the immediate, at the expense of the longer-term priorities. Switch-up your thinking, so your agenda is not dictated by the fires, but by your priority results.

More often than not, we focus on *the* performance, achieving *peak* performance, putting on *a* performance. But there is another format of potent performance. The kind that compounds over time from consistent and sustainable focus on first principles. This approach generates the accumulative – and underappreciated – power of an average day. And it can create equally stellar results - just without the unhelpful stress that comes from continually chasing (and chasing, again) peak performance in the moment.

A powerful decision need not be defined as anything other than a "yes" or a "no". Or perhaps better to say, "HELL YEAH" or "no", but still the same clear and clean distinction. Anything less than that is not a powerful decision. And anything less than a powerful decision … and direction, momentum and energy are lost to limbo. Your decision-making system needs to be robust and highly effective, especially for the high-pressure moments. Optimise your decision-making skill with these 7 easy-to-adopt disciplines.

We've all suffered the occasional (and sometimes, not-to-occasional!) dip in performance. Even high-achieving peak-performers lose their mojo from time to time! So we all know just how frustrating and disempowering those periods can be. In those moments when you're looking to rekindle top performance, there are a few high-leverage strategies to turn to. Let's think together about how to make those tonics part of our High Performance DNA - so dips in performance are something never to be feared (or tolerated!) ever again.

When taking a new leadership role, our eagerness can often cause us to make mistakes. Some are trivial; some are consequential. But all are deep learning experiences … IF we can develop the awareness, accept the responsibility, and learn to reflect on themes and commonalities that help us establish performance habits that eliminate issues, ongoing. Here are a few strategies to avoid the more common pitfalls - to ensure your next leadership role is a success from the outset.

Power is probably not what you think it is. You're probably not aware of the stage of power you're currently at. And you're probably not paying enough attention to how your relationship to personal power is limiting your potential, professionally. You’re already succeeding in many areas of your career. Now step-up again by re-evaluating your relationship with … and exercising all your many sources of … personal power.

The 3 key characteristics of successful strategy are focus, alignment and agility. The primary guarantor of these crucial ingredients is the quality and rigour you bring to your strategic thinking process. Here are 8 fundamental disciplines that will ensure that quality, from envisioning to execution.

Time Management may look, feel and play like an external problem; but in truth, it's an internal struggle that resolves to a very simple question of boldness. Time management systems are surface-level tactics that do little or nothing to address the internal challenge. Make a shift at your core with these 5 bold strategies.

Our biases are shortcuts that most-often serve us well, showing-up as intuition, instinct and powerful decision-making. But bias also has its shortcomings - oftentimes with far-reaching consequence. Pay attention to what the neuro-behavioural science has to say about managing and navigating unconscious bias in the workplace.

The function of all leadership is to lean into challenge and uncertainty. At those times, a leader with a demonstrably calm, competent and open communication style significantly increases the team's likelihood of success. A key leadership competency to master; here's how …

For those that would be an outstanding member of and for their team, there's not nearly as much literature on the topic as there is helping team leaders be outstanding in their role. So, if you've been thinking there’s more you could be doing to play your part and make a stellar contribution, here are six strategies to take you from functional team member to VITAL team player.

Ever-present stressors in the workplace push our emotional buttons and exhaust our cognitive abilities. With our brain's awareness and threat levels on constant alert, our capacities are significantly impaired - and it's an accumulative impact, over time. Dial-in these science-backed habits and strategies to stay focused and effective

In times of change, challenge, uncertainty and crisis, the human brain is not wired to make best use of its extensive capabilities - in fact, the opposite. Leaders and managers need to know how to stay resourceful if they're to change the game at the critical junctures.

Feedback is gold: if we can hear it. But it takes skill, practice and temperance to receive feedback - especially tough, leadership feedback - without embellishing it with unhelpful meanings of our own, to the point it becomes a blocker, not an accelerator. As a leader, I never want to stop asking for tough feedback. I want to get masterful at receiving it, using it … and then asking for more. In short: "Turning Pro". Here's how.

At times of challenge and uncertainty, a leader with a calm, clear and wholly-open communication style is worth everything to the organisation. If you had to choose, what would be your list of 5 non-negotiables … to master the key leadership competency of clear and open communication at times of challenge?

High Performance Leaders aren't born; they're made. How? By committing to small but impactful practices, consistently and over time. And then fuelling those practices with some golden leadership rules. Here's how to make you yourself a High Performance Leader.

After basic career hygiene factors, what adds-up to career fulfilment? And how do you currently rate? Because we can go weeks, and sometimes months and years, refusing to notice how dissatisfied and unfulfilled we are in our work. Here are 9 essential ingredients for you to consider, today.

What are your difference-making practices - both the hygiene factors and the "secret sauce" - that help you excel as a leader? There are a core set of fundamentals that all leaders practice. But those are mostly technical and tactical. And the type of success high performers are interested in is consistent, sustainable and career-long. Here are 6 game-changing daily practices you can implement quickly and easily to perfectly complement your already-established core fundamentals.

When your career trajectory runs flat, you need effective strategies to break out of your career rut and get back to successful career-building habits. Here are 9 career management mistakes that could be holding you back from your full career potential.

"The difference between a rut and a grave is just a few feet!" This is a saying of a favourite coach of mine, Steve Chandler. And it's been with me for the longest time, really helping me over the years to notice any time I've slipped into something of a rut - and the absolute importance of yanking myself out of it, at the very soonest opportunity!

Organisation is one of my core values. And I'll just say it: I like my sh!t to be organised.

A useful question to ask oneself is: "How spacious a relationship do I have with my own thoughts?" It's not a question many people would comprehend, let alone (think to!) ask. Because the first thought is: there is NO SEPARATION between me and my thoughts. And that's exactly the point.

One of the many truths that have played out to me over the client-coaching years is that what we judge in another person, we deepen and strengthen in ourselves.

Start your day with positive momentum.

What's normal for you now that was not normal 3 months ago?

Here’s the problem with problems you already know how to solve: they keep you from the ones you don't.

Your level of commitment shows up in LIFE. Take a look at your calendar. Take a look at your emails. Notice who you're talking to and the kinds of conversations you're having.

Quick question: What's been the most valuable hour of your month?

The more space you can introduce into your decisions, the better the decision.

We all know people, in both our personal and professional lives, whom others just gravitate towards. People whom others want to be around. People whom others want to invite into their world and projects. People we ourselves want to be around.

Ownership is about more than just responsibility. Ownership is about AGENCY. Ownership is about SELF-LEADERSHIP. Ownership is about CREATING, in place of reacting.

Overthinking is a common issue. How often have you caught yourself going round and round an issue, or back and forth on a decision?

Wanting to change is not yet committed. Wanting the change is.

"Perfectionism" is a problem, if and when implemented in one or a combination of two ways.

As the 2020/2021 Olympics kicks off in earnest, I love to take the opportunity to grab a little extra inspiration, motivation and peak-performance-learning from watching the best in the world excel at their sport.

This sounds like we have it backwards. Surely we judge on what we actually do, not just what we think and say we will?

You might have seen my previous post, just yesterday: "What Future Self Are You Consigning Yourself To?" An interesting thought to consider, noticing how the way we operate throughout the day SIGNALS to ourselves who we are and are becoming.

It's a useful thought to consider the Future Self you'd love to live into. But that desired future self is not who we’ll become, unless we get conscious and intentional about it - something we rarely do.

I remember giving a talk a whole back on productivity and focus. And one of the corporate team asked that, given the amount of structure and discipline I was espousing, what did I do to keep INSPIRATION alive? Because surely inspiration would be stifled by so much structure?!)

When we're IN a problem, we can never solve it as creatively, elegantly or efficiently as when we're not. We're just too heavily associated with the problem … and the thinking that created it.

Resistance is, to me, one of the most interesting and useful topics to work with and tune into. It tells us so much about what's really going on for us (and others) - and where the solution lies.

"I tend to …" is a non-specific observation about the past that need not dictate my choices and behaviours in this moment.

The brain has strong narrative circuitry. We get "lost in thought". Our whole conscious thinking process is little more than a Q&A session with ourselves!

If you have a project that's not progressing or an obstacle you're stuck on, start here: take an honest look at the time you're spending working on it.

Voltaire said: "No problem can withstand the assault of sustained thinking." I enjoy that thought. And just as much, I enjoy the sister-thought: No opportunity can withstand the progress of sustained action.

Be patient for process and results, for sure. But be impatient for action.

Well, you probably are good at 20 things. But if I challenge you to tell me what you're *really* good at and where you need to spend the vast majority (+80%) of your time on, the list isn't 20 things. It'll be more like 3 things.

When business descends into a holding pattern, it's easy for busy work to take hold. We're used to filling our working days with … work. And in the absence of anything else, we'd rather be working on busy (non?) work than idling.

"Manage tasks. Lead people." An obvious thing to say. But an important distinction to hold keenly in mind.

One of the many coaching points I teach in my philosophy of Brain-Based Leadership is to see anyone who you would otherwise label as an underperformer as simply: UNCERTAIN. Try it now......

"What do you mean, how am I doing the thinking? I don't do thinking. It just kinda happens!" And therein lies the problem. So often, we’re on autopilot and our results are far from optimal....

Mostly, we define performance in terms of measurement. Outputs. Results. Outcomes. Our internal dialogue might be: "We performed at the top of our game. And we know that because of these top results." ......

One of thing things I've always admired in top athletes is that, when asked about their winning streak: they're so level-headed.....