leadership

  • Blog, leadership

    When was the last time you helped your team surprise you?

    A couple of years ago our youngest did her Duke of Edinburgh award.

    The fact that she decided to do it totally blew me away.

    She’s brilliant and has loads of hobbies but she’s not out doorsy… hates camping… and carrying a rucksac for miles…. Errr forget it.

    But she heard about D of E and decided to have a go…

    And that’s just it.

    I hear all the time… “my team member isn’t interested in development. They just want to come to work and do their job and go home again.”

    And while this is perfectly OK if I’m honest I never quite believe it… because I’ve seen people do surprising things all the time.

    I’ve also seen people totally light up when someone pays an interest or exposes them to new things.

    When we assume someone isn’t bothered there’s a real tendency to leave them to it. To tell ourselves that they’re ok and we look elsewhere for the talent, when its right there in front of us all along.

    I’ve had this with my own team before and low and behold when you expose them to something new, you see someone completely different emerge.

    So here’s the thing:

    ✔️Challenge your own thinking about your team

    ✔️Expose them to new things don’t delegate

    ✔️Get them involved

    And you might just have someone right in front of you who will totally surprise you.

  • Blog, leadership, personal development

    How often do you check yourself before you wreck yourself?

    How often do you check yourself before you wreck yourself???

    So I was sat in an office working… everyone was happy and busy doing their thing…

    When all of a sudden *the boss* rushed through… and the energy completely shifted.

    It was tense, it got really quiet and any positivity just vanished.

    Whether you realise it or not you have an impact on the people around you…and how you feel and behave is affecting your team… which in turn affects your results and whether they stay or not.

    Remember people don’t leave jobs… they leave their boss… and sometimes a boss doesn’t even realise they’re doing anything wrong. They’re actually just trying to make things work.

    This isn’t about being everyone’s friend, or being jolly all the time… but it does mean really dialling up your Emotional Intelligence.

    Here’s how:

    1. Start again – decide how you’d like to impact your team and focus on that.

    2. Check yourself before you wreck yourself – best advice ever and works in all the places. Keep checking in with how you feel and switch things up when you need to

    3. Lead yourself first – Put things in place as an SOS if you need them for example… a walk round the block, 10 minutes away etc so you can sort yourself out before you impact others.

    If you’re a Director and you need to get out of the weeds so you can grow your business let me know. I have 2 places on my 1-1 programme to start in January. Click here to book a no obligation strategy call

  • Blog, leadership, mindset, personal development

    Where are your assumptions holding you back?

    Where are your assumptions holding you back?

    There’s usually not a day that goes by that I don’t say the word ‘assumption’ to one of my clients.

    The reason being is that if we’re not careful our assumptions can stop us from taking action.

    The thing is this is probably costing you in the long run.

    Like my client who resisted sending an email to a contact because of an assumption that they wouldn’t be interested – That e-mail led to them booking 6 figures worth of work.

    Or my client who wanted a promotion but had made the assumption that they wouldn’t get it…that conversation later turned into their dream promotion.

    Or my client who avoided posting on her social media about her services as she thought she’d look pushy. A week later she was celebrating 2 new clients.

    Or my client who made the assumption that a member of their team didn’t want to develop and then when they asked them it turned out they had big ambitions and were more than ready for that next level.

    Assumptions can come in all shapes and sizes and can be stopping you from getting the results that you really want.

    The trick is to start getting really good at spotting them.

    Here’s how…

    1. Look out for where you’re NOT taking action…is it because of a specific reason?
    2. Ask yourself if the reason is actually true? And how do you really know it’s true? If you need to, talk it through with another person and see what they say.
    3. See what would happen if you took action anyway. If there’s no real risk give it a go, and see what happens without any judgement.

    And finally, today be on the look out…what’s the assumption that’s holding you back right now?

  • Blog, leadership, personal development

    Has your business out grown your leadership style?

    The other day I was hosting an event and this topic came up.

    Trying to continue leading the team, the business and most of all yourself in the way you needed to to get you where you are today… but it just doesn’t fit anymore…. Because the business, and the team have grown.

    Leaving you feeling exhausted
    Feeling like an imposter
    Working all hours with no time for your family
    Resentful of your team
    Stuck in fire-fighting mode

    The thing is that if this is where you are it means what you did worked… now it’s time to adapt.

    1. Check in to look how far you’ve come… we don’t often do this enough but we all need a sense check from time to time.

    2. Create an air pocket for yourself, to give yourself some headspace away from the day to day. This can be as easy as taking a walk before you start work or turning your phone off on a weekend. Leading yourself first is just like the air mask on a plane. The ripple effect from you feeling different is huge.

    3. Ask yourself what’s causing the most frustration…. And with everything on your list ask yourself what am I doing to add to that?

    And if you’re ready for a chat about next steps, book in a strategy call here

  • Blog, leadership, personal development

    One of the biggest benefits to ‘getting out of the weeds’ isn’t what you think…

    One of the biggest benefits to *getting out of the weeds* isn’t actually what you think…

    Yes having more time to think strategically is a gamechanger!!

    And yes I LOVE it when you tell me you have your evenings and weekends back without your phone pinging every 2 munutes.

    But by far the biggest benefit and one that makes a MASSIVE difference to your business is that your team grow too.

    When YOU step back from the day to day you make room for your team to STEP UP.

    They become more empowered (and a lot less frustrated)

    They solve problems, and make decisions where before you would have been involved or they’d have run things past you.

    And that in turn allows their team to grow too.

    A rising tide really does lift all ships

    Leaving you with a lot more time and focus to do all the things that have been burning a hole in your to do list that will take your business to the next level.

    Have a fab day

    Barbara

     

    PS – To join the 1-1 coaching programme click here

     

  • Blog, Business, confidence, leadership, mindset, personal development

    Are you ready to stop making things so hard?

    This is the sentence that I said to a client the other day….

    “Are you ready to stop making things so hard?”

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    I see this all the time, ways that we block our own success without even realising it.

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    • Leaving big projects to the last minute and then having to work late or all weekend.
    • Going to meetings that we don’t really need to, just because we think we should be there
    • Saying yes when we really want to say no (for the millionth time)
    • Reacting rather than hitting the pause button and thinking about what we really want to say
    • Believing our inner imposter, rather than trusting ourselves
    • Getting involved with things that our team are doing when they’re more than capable to crack on
    • Getting busy on the small stuff rather than moving the needle
    • Staying quiet in that meeting, when you’ve got something to say.

    ​

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    This list could go on an on…and I’m sure you know exactly what your favourite flavour of ‘hard’ is for you.

    So today, I’d love to invite you to see things differently.

    What would happen if you chose another way?

    What would happen if you chose easier?

    And what would easier actually look like for you?

    Feel free to hit reply and let me know if you’d like some extra accountability

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    Have a fab weekend

    ​

    Barbara

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    PS – I currently have only ONE space available for my 6 month 1-1 coaching programme – ELEVATE starting in May. This is for you if you’re a business leader and you’re ready to catapult your development.

    I have ONE space available starting in June for my 12 month THINKING PARTNER programme. This is one to one exec coaching where we meet regularly every month to keep you on track so that you achieve your goals as a leader.

    Get on the wait list for the next cohort of Smash Your Own Ceiling – a group programme where you’ll do just that. No more holding yourself back, imposter syndrome, getting in your own way…it’s time to own your space at the table!!

    Or if you’d like me to run a workshop for your leadership team, I only do 2 of these every month and I’m now taking bookings for OCTOBER.

    Click here to book a call for more info

  • Blog, Business, leadership, mindset, personal development

    Don’t make today a repeat of yesterday!

    Don’t make today a repeat of yesterday!!!

    As humans we’re creatures of habit.

    We get up at the same time
    Have the same breakfast
    Take the same route to work
    Do the same walk around the office
    And look at our emails first

    You get the idea

    But if you think that our habits are just actions on repeat…And our actions create our results it might be time to switch things up a bit.

    Plus if you’re feeling a bit… meh, exhausted or you’re describing your day as spinning plates or being stuck on a treadmill… this is also going to make you FEEL so much better.

    Give these a try to get you started ????

    1. Instead of going straight to your inbox, give yourself 60 mins to do the thing on your list that will really move the needle (you know what it is)

    This alone will make you feel like dancing round the street!!! ????????

    2) Take that walk at lunch time and let your brain let out a big sigh of relief.

    3) Turn your team meeting into a hive mind to focus on solving one problem. Get the creative juices flowing and see the energy shift in your team.

    Bonus…. Watch out for that voice in your head telling you that you can’t do something different. Instead ask why not?!

    Inject some change into your day and see what happens.

     

    Have a fab day

    Barbara

    PS – Ready for those next steps?

    Complete the Confident Leaders Assessment

    Join the 1-1 coaching programme

  • leadership, mindset

    How are you making things harder for yourself or your team?

    *How are you making things harder for yourself or your team?*

    I asked this to a group of Senior Leaders… it went quiet… and then the lightbulb moments started..

    *Jumping in and fixing everything*

    *Taking everything on myself because I think its quicker*

    *Over committing cos I don’t want to let people down, then I end up working weekends*

    *Being scared of failing so I hold back*

    *Not speaking up in meetings*

    I could go on…

    But this is why mindset plays a HUGE part in the work that I do.

    Because you might be a leader but you’re still HUMAN!

    And the way you think and feel creates your actions, and then your actions create your results (and also your habits).

    Which is why I see so many people relying on ways of working they’ve used before not realising its actually making things A LOT harder than it needs to be… AND it’s slowing things right down!

    And then we blame the amount of work
    And that there’s never enough time
    And the team needing you so much

    When actually making some small shifts can make a MASSIVE difference!!!

    Giving you more time, balance and breathing space
    More confidence
    And a much more empowered team

    This is what we do on The Elevated Leader full day workshop where we talk about:

    – The impact of your daily habits on your results (in and out of work)
    – The small shifts you can make to get more time, and have a more empowered team
    – How your mindset is affecting your actions under the radar
    – How to start to elevate and feel more confident as a leader without working any harder or sacrificing your life.
    – How to remove the blocks that are holding you back.

    For Senior Leadership Teams only

    I’m getting booked up before the summer so only have 4 days available for May & June.

    16th May
    22nd May
    11th June
    19th June

    Send me a direct message and I’ll send you all the details.

    PS if these dates don’t suit let me know to get first dibs on Sept – Nov.

  • Blog, leadership, mindset, personal development

    How to actually FEEL like a leader

    *I want to actually FEEL like a leader*

    Someone said this to me the other day.

    I knew exactly what they meant.

    They were sick of:

    Holding themselves back in important meetings

    Looking round the room and comparing themselves to their peers

    Struggling with self doubt, feeling like an imposter and fear of failure, that it’s all going to come crashing down

    And spinning all the plates ????

    You might even find yourself thinking that it’s not right for you and maybe you need to do something else.

    I hear this all the time because even though you’ve worked so hard to get where you are today, and you really deserve it, you can still feel like a little kid thinking *who am I to be here?*

    And then you stay quiet when you want to speak

    Or get nervous when you need to be confident

    Or play small and hold back as its safer

    Or work harder because it’s our natural default.

    And it’s all because we’ve not acclimatised to where we need to be.

    You’re relying on old habits to keep working – but the saying *what got you here isn’t going to get you there* is true.

    You’re trying to control the situation by working harder on the things that aren’t going to move the needle or that others can do.

    And you’re sabotaging yourself under the radar as your subconscious mind is trying to get you back to your comfort zone.

    But when you start to see your actions and thoughts from a different perspective it becomes so much clearer.

    ????????????????

    This is what I do in my 1-1 programme where you’ll learn how to elevate so you feel like the leader you are, take action with confidence and own your seat at the table (on the inside as well as the outside).

    Plus you’ll learn how to:

    Lead yourself
    Get in control of your time
    And empower your team.

    And you’ll not only FEEL different, you’ll show up differently.

    I’ve seen this so many times.

    If you’re a Director, Business Owner, Exec or Senior Leader and you’re ready to unlock your leadership potential book a call for more info on my 6 month 1-1 programme. 

  • Blog, leadership, mindset, personal development, time

    3 things to do before starting another week

    Do these THREE things before diving into another week. Trust me… they’ll make all the difference…

    1) Spend 10 minutes (its just 10 mins) REFLECTING on how things went last week in two columns… positives and improvements (so you don’t just zoom in on the negatives) ????

    2. PLAN – what do you want to achieve this week? Focus on just 1-3 things that will really move the needle and you’ll be dancing round the street if you do.

    3. BOOK – get your diary out and book 30 mins in on Wednesday to see how you’re doing and stay on track.

    If you’re thinking *chance would be a fine thing, have you seen my diary?!* then lets talk ????

    ————

    If you’re a Business Leader and you’re ready to get out of the weeds, side step self doubt and elevate as a leader feel free to book call for more info on how I can help you or your team.