At one end of the scale you have out-and-out bullying with ethical persuasion at the polar opposite. From the selfish manager who just uses her team to get whatever it is that they want to the passive-aggressive who undermines your confidence to mould you into a jelly to get their way and they want it now! This corporate world is filled with managers and leaders who got where they wanted to get to by treading on other’s heads and if that’s what it takes to stay there, then so

Here are some examples: In a negotiation, y0u are not obliged to react to every offer. You can opt to say or do nothing. Your opponent may want to “fill the silence” and start to back down from their original stance all because you did nothing. This tactic is also termed as aggressive and I would counsel against using this move. Asking a searching question of your team and then wait. If you do nothing, your team will eventually attempt to grapple with your challenge. By doing

As an effective leader, your job is to spot the difference between a temporary blip in performance and a much more serious dip. You need to know about performance issues before they become a problem. There was a time when you could do this just by using your instinct or intuition and some managers still operate this way. However, times have changed. It is no longer good enough to operate using your experienced antenna as a guide to current performance levels. Let’s face it: y

Everybody lies, don’t they? From those little comments that spare someone’s blushes (white lies), to the bigger lies that can change the course of appropriate action towards a way un-required if the lie was left untold. Those little lies like: “Tell them I’m not home.” Meaning: I don’t want to be bothered seeing you right now. We lie: To keep out of trouble To have control of an issue To gain more of a reward than telling the truth Most liars think that there are greater rewa

As leaders we are always on the lookout for ways to empower and grow our team. One of the classic ways to do this is to ask questions rather than assert our own viewpoint. Asking questions can: Save time in the medium to long term Empower people to extra-ordinary performance Coach people in the desired behaviours Unleash commitment and energy Questions are powerful because they use pull communication, pulling the answer from individuals, which increases ownership and therefor

The Leadership Trap The Leadership Trap is a familiar story of success and then fading results: Senior Management want results across a number of areas and you are the one who is going to deliver these results, year after year. If not, you will have to be creative in your excuses, I mean reasons, for non-performance. As the years go by, this task becomes harder as results begin to plateau and the competition are coming up on the rails to overtake you. You know in your heart,

Low Cost Leadership Skills I’ve written on the subject of excellence drills for staff, executing and practicing those tasks that deliver exceptional customer service over and over again until they reach perfection. This is also true of Leaders themselves. They too should be “Sharpening The Saw” (Covey) on a regular basis. Here are some low cost ideas for you to develop your leadership skills. Join a Charity Become part of your community, help others and develop your communica