Coaching The Elephant

The old riding proverb warns against swapping horses on unstable ground mid-crossing. This article applies it to leadership decisions, through three situations: the MBA graduate under pressure to change jobs, the impatient CEO who learns to pause and analyse, and the change leader balancing conviction with the resistance of the team around them.

Telling people to speak up is not enough; organizations have to build the conditions that make it normal. Using the Space Shuttle Columbia disaster as a warning, this article sets out six practical steps for creating psychological safety at work, from leadership modelling vulnerability to normalizing failure, and looks at how Toyota, Pixar and others put them into practice.

An accomplished sports coach knows that winning takes more than individual talent. Drawing on years of working alongside elite team coaches, this article examines three skills corporate leaders can borrow: interpersonal skills such as communication, impartiality and cultivating enjoyment, intrapersonal skills like positive self-talk, and the right operational distance from the team.

Empathy is an overlooked engine of business growth. Through the story of Albert Cramer, who sent Warsteiner employees out to see the market through the eyes of outlet owners and drinkers rather than commissioning research, this article shows how understanding the people you serve turns raw data into insight, and insight into a decade of double-digit growth.

Sustainable, high-performing teams share three characteristics: culture alignment, positivity and productivity. This article maps four cultural models shaped by hierarchy and rapport - Troops, Believers, Virtuous and Friends - and four team environments produced by the positivity-productivity mix, from Dead Zones and Rat Race to genuinely high-performance teams.

Once you have gained your university diploma, your next immediate concern is finding an interesting professional challenge or, in some cases, to start your own business. Because the world has become so "flat" and competitive, once you have found your dream job, you must settle in quickly and create ongoing career progress as of day one. 

The fine art of listening involves more than just hearing what someone is saying; it involves actively engaging with them and truly understanding their perspective. This blog will explore the importance of listening, the benefits of being a good listener, and some strategies for improving your listening skills.

In a recent panel discussion on workplace productivity, a vigorous debate emerged regarding the impact of psychological safety versus pressure in achieving high productivity. This article aims to clarify several misconceptions, one being that psychological safety and pressure cannot walk hand in hand and would not be conducive to optimizing productivity.

In a complex and ever-changing world, business and organizational leaders' need for sound decisions are more critical than ever before. In internal control processes, the four-eyes principle is often used with the understanding that two pairs of eyes see more than one pair. In my opinion, the same holds true in decision making.

Daniel Goleman, renowned for his work on emotional intelligence, highlights the importance of versatile leadership. His research indicates that leaders who get the best results don't rely on just one leadership style; they adapt their approach to various business situations.