The best meetings are short, sharp and focussed. But just one person with their mind elsewhere can mess that right up. Here’s a tool to help you get everyone laser-focussed.. The One Word Barometer At the start of a meeting, after the welcome, each person is asked to describe how they are feeling in one […]
As leaders, we need followers. We need people to work with us and help us implement the change we’re creating. We need to build a team in quantity and quality. But even when we’ve got the right people, they don’t always seem to do what they know they should. Here’s a way to approach it.. […]
I’m obsessed by listening. I think all leaders need to be. It’s the ultimate mark of respect (remember this post?). Last week someone shared with me a very simple fact: listen and silent share the same letters. Very interesting. (Well I thought so!). To really listen, we’d better be silent.
Time to stop and chat is very valuable in every business. How often do you stop working just to talk with someone in your team? Every week, I make time to sit and chat with at least one person in our team. Whether it’s dinner to celebrate a TPC anniversary, coffee with someone who needs […]
How often do you consider who will do your job when you’re not around to do it? How about who will do everyone else’s job when they’re not around either? Succession planning is one of the keys to great leadership. A friend of mine and former EO Global Director, Carlo Santoro, once described great leadership as ‘leaving a […]
According to Woody Allen, “Eighty percent of success is showing up” One of the simplest ways to be more successful is to show up more. If you want to be a better runner, run more. Every time you plan a training session, show up and run. It might be raining, you might be tired or […]
As a leader, do you notice the people in your team? I don’t mean just know when they’re in the office, but really notice them? I reckon you should know exactly how each person in your team is feeling most of the time. Eg. right now, is Sally happy/sad/stressed/excited? How about Cyril, is he engaged/distracted/overworked/not […]
To become a better leader, there are habits, tasks, responsibilities and even some ways of thinking that need to be left behind. ”You are what you can’t let go of” – Brian Scudamore, 1800-GOT-JUNK To reach the next level, I […]
What happens when a job needs to be finished by 5pm Friday? It gets done on Friday. Even if it came in on Monday! What about if that same job needed to be finished by Wednesday at 5pm? It gets done on Wednesday! ”I’ll get it done by Wednesday” is nearly always code for […]
Most leaders have goals that they are working towards. I certainly do. However, when I’m leading a team, other people’s goals are much more important than my own. You see, my short-medium term business goals are almost always the sum of my team’s goals. If every member of my team hits their goals, my goals […]
Today, as part of an interview for SmartCompany, I was asked an interesting question: “Tell us about a near death or challenging experience that your company has been through. How did you solve the problem?”. My response… “Growing too fast before we were ready almost killed The Physio Co. In the early days, one of […]
If you hear a whisper of a problem with a customer or team member, what’s your first move? Every single day I speak with members of our team and some of our customers. We talk about work, we talk about life, we talk about what’s going well and we talk about what’s not going […]
A core purpose is the reason an organisation exists. It’s a brief statement that anyone can read and think “yep, got it. I know exactly what they’re up to.” The less words the better. For example, Facebook’s core purpose is ‘to make the world more open and transparent’. Whether you like Facebook or not, right […]
If someone in my family gets sick or something goes wrong I usually visit them, I definitely ring them and I probably buy them some flowers or a gift to say “get well soon”. At The Physio Co, we do the same. Last week, two members of our support team had some time off. One […]
Ever been mocked for something you say? I have and I love it! Why? Because it’s a sign that I’ve repeated myself so many times that people get it. Over the past few years I’ve been mocked by my TPC team mates for encouraging them to “focus on what’s important”, “work through your list” & […]
Who will win the 2011 Tour de France? Well after only 8 stages it’s a bit too soon to tell. But, it’s very likely that winner will be a multi-specialist. A multi-specialist? Yep, a cyclist who can perform consistently near the front of the field for the flat stages, the hill stages, the sprint stages, […]
Successful businesses are disciplined businesses. That means everyone, including the CEO, must be accountable. But what are the KPI’s to measure the CEO’s success? In my experience, a CEO has only two KPI’s: Are the right people in the right seats? Are everyone else’s KPI’s being hit? That’s it. Seriously, as a CEO, if I […]
Avoiding someone will only have a positive outcome if you never, ever have to see them again. You can choose your friends. You can’t always choose who you work with. Learning to work with difficult people is a skill we all need. If you have to work with someone you find difficult, it’s […]
One of the best pieces of advice I’ve ever heard in life is: “Don’t dabble”. Simple as that. If you’re going to do something, commit and give it everything. From building a fast growing company that will dominant your industry, to training for a marathon or baking a cake, dabbling won’t get you there. No […]
If you’re a leader, the time to lead is now. Like it or not, being a leader is a job, not a title. When is the right time for a leader to show frustration? Never. When is the right time for a leader to be unapproachable? Never. When is the right time for a leader to […]
“Not bad” is THE most common response to the question ‘how are you?”. “Pretty average”, “Okay”, “Sh!thouse” and “Oh, so-so” are other common responses. I find this ridiculous. Why on earth would you rate yourself on a scale of how bad you are feeling?! Our lives are quite simply the story we tell ourselves. Or, […]
As the Chief Enthusiasm Officer at The Physio Co, it’s my job to lead & energise my team. But who leads & inspires me? For the next two days, I’ll he heading to Verne Harnish’s National Growth Summit ‘11. Learning events with Verne, Tom Peters, David Meerman-Scott, Hermann Simon & other thought leaders is one […]
I fail often. But my failures never stop me trying again. The fear of failure is enough for many people to simply not try in the first place. You can’t fail if you don’t risk anything. Can you? I think so… If you don’t try, you’ve already failed. Like it or not, failure is going […]
How often do you seek feedback? Is there ever enough? Today a good mate called me for some feedback on a tricky work situation. I was a long way removed (different business, different industry, different state!), but I was hopefully able to help out by providing a different perspective. When the phone call ended, I […]
Today I had a conundrum: to pack and take 21 MBA study guides totalling more than 3000 pages as we move house? Or part company with said notes? My first thought was: “I might need them”. My next thought was: “Will I ever actually look at them again?” So, in true MBA-style, I considered which […]