Category: Leadership
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A leader’s greatest strength is…
Leaders exhibit many strengths to be successful in their role but I argue that self-awareness is the greatest strength a leader needs. Self-awareness is understanding yourself and the impact you have on others. Leaders need to adapt to different situations, often in a short space of time. Without self-awareness a leader could be causing more…
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Every new manager must do this
So much is happening for a new manager. There doesn’t seem to be enough hours in a day to get everything done. Adapting to the extra responsibilities and beginning to manage people is an emotional drain (if not a rollercoaster!) This is why every new manager must give themselves time for reflection. It may seem…
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Having a perfectionist in the team
Is perfectionism a strength or weakness? In interviews, I hear many candidates use it as a weakness but subtly intend it as a strength. The reality is, someone who is on the far end of the perfectionism spectrum can find it debilitating, even causing mental health issues, so care must be taken with any perfectionist…
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When to make requests as a manager
There are many things managers need to do and the majority involve working with others. Doing this in an efficient way that doesn’t disrupt others is a challenge! It could be asking a simple question or needing more in-depth information. The people you need have their own responsibilities, they could be having their own challenges…
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Are you bringing your team up or down?
Do you have those days when you wake up in a good mood then on your commute you have a bad experience with someone and it ruins your happy vibe? Or maybe there are meetings you don’t look forward to because you know someone attending will bring the tone down? I’ve had many of these!…
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5 Qualities Great Leaders Have
We need leaders who add value to the people and the organization they lead; who work for the benefit of others and not just for their own personal gain. Leaders who inspire and motivate, not intimidate and manipulate; who live with people to know their problems in order to solve them and who follow a…
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Investing time wisely
Thinking about time amazes me, memories of growing up seem so long ago but that is probably my age! Sometimes we wish time would go more quickly, other times we want to savour special moments. But time can also be frightening when you know you can’t get it back. This is why time is often…
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The bane of filler words
How many times have you listened to someone talking and you hear “er”, “um”, “uh”, “ah”, or “like” every other sentence? These are ‘filler words’ and I want to declare war against them! They stand out to me now, whether it’s conversations with friends, live interviews on the TV or people giving public talks, it…
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LeadDev – Motivating Engineering Teams
LeadDev recently hosted a panel discussion on ‘Creating and sustaining motivation in your engineering team’. I recommend listening as many topical points were covered that may spark ideas around motivation in your teams. My takeaways: Motivation can be considered on 3 levels: Individual, Team, and Organisational. Fairness – there should be an appearance of fairness.…