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 […]
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 […]
Negatives can affect us at any time, and it’s not just about being in a positive or negative mindset. As per my previous article, getting the right balance of emotions at any given time is key, especially for self-regulating our emotions as leaders and for when we’re working with others. For instance, when we’re angry, […]
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 […]
“It’s OK, I Can Hire People Who Are Easier to Manage!” When taking on an existing team as a leader, there are all sorts of complications: learning about the characteristics of the team members; understanding the role and future requirements; making an impact for senior executives. Leadership can seem like a daunting task sometimes. And […]
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 […]
Ever found yourself having to do a presentation and you are absolutely petrified? There are many articles on presentation skills, in order to improve your delivery, your appearance etc. However, despite reading all of those, my experiences of doing presentations still felt terrible. This is what used to happen to me. When I was 23 […]
Phobias and fears can stop us achieving what we want in life or in our career. Below is an example of a phobia, but you could relate this success to a phobia or fear that you would like to get rid of in order to achieve the success you want. About Phobias It is […]
Only joking!! We know that most people think they don’t need more stress, they need less. But do you know the level of stress that ensures you’re at your optimum performance level? Or could you be someone who believes that you have to be anxious and worried about all eventualities in order to be in […]
I was asked the other day what I would do to get more women on the board of today’s organisations. From the Women on Boards Annual Progress Report, as of March 2013, the FTSE 100 figures show: Women now account for 17.3% of all directorships, up from 10.5% in 2010. Women account for 34% of […]
“That person annoys me all the time.” It’s become more evident from working with some of my coaching clients, that emotional anger and frustration in the workplace is a big concern for them and could be a contributor to lack of success for leaders. Have you ever noticed that once you’re annoyed or frustrated with […]
Have you ever been in a working environment which was improved as soon as the boss wasn’t around or had gone home? The atmosphere lifts, people start to smile and laugh, and yet the work still gets done? It always surprised me that managers could create such an unproductive, stressful environment by their presence and […]
Beliefs are those things that you’ve decide are true for you. And they can be positive (eg, I’m great at spreadsheets), or they can be negative (I’m useless at presentations). Normally, when we believe we can do something (let’s take as an example, “I’m very organised”), we notice the things that prove to us that […]
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”, […]
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 […]
Think of a leader in your organisation who you trust. What makes them trustworthy? Any of the following: because they kept their promises; they supported you when you needed it; they backed you up even when they were challenged (eg by their boss, customers etc); they showed up and helped when it wasn’t convenient for […]
As provided to Moorlands Human Capital as a guest blogger: Self confidence is important in all aspects of our lives, and especially in our leadership role. A confident leader will be motivated to achieve results and find it easier to inspire those around them. But have you considered the results that an entire team of […]
Self confidence is important in all aspects of our lives, and especially in our leadership role. But it’s something that many people struggle to obtain, and without it being successful is a lot more difficult. For instance, someone who stands with their head held high, speaks clearly, answers questions with conviction and who can admit […]
Confidence doesn’t seem to be something that gets discussed a lot when it comes to leadership. But you may have noticed certain behaviours in a leader and not realised that that behaviour is actually down to a severe lack of confidence. One such leader joined an established team and rather than taking time to notice […]
Being a leader can be a very fulfilling role. Seeing employees achieve great successes, learn new skills, develop new behaviours and take on leadership roles of their own provides a very satisfying feeling to those who have been part of that development. However, at times, it can seem very overwhelming. Do you feel you have […]
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 […]
