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Don’t do this trick.
I recall seeing a comedy sketch where the comedian was sharing all the ways he helps out at home and wants to make sure his wife sees what he does and appreciates him. For example, just as his wife steps into the kitchen he'll turn the dishwasher on, turn and smile...
How you say it matters, right?
In my very first job after graduating university, one of my tasks for the team was to do the ordering of supplies. The one supply person in each team had to be nominated, approved and signatures required and kept on file somewhere in the organisation. (It was a...
Do people hear you?
If you've ever watched any one part of any episode of The Real Housewives of ... well, anywhere, you'll no doubt hear an argument: five or more high pitched voices yelling to be heard. No-one listening, everyone scrambling to be heard. Everyone focused on driving...
Managing Up Starts With You
Have you taken an assessment of any sort and been surprised with the results? When I take 360 degree assessments like Myers Briggs Type Indicator, DiSC or Leadership Effectiveness Assessment I always find something surprising in the results. Sometimes surprising...
Substance Over Style
When I was in high school we read Macbeth and the assignment we had to submit had three parts. I wanted to do a great job with the presentation of my assignment, I stained the paper with tea and coffee to age the paper, I wrote my assignment in calligraphy and I...
To Book Summary or To Not Book Summary?
In high school I bought and read the CliffsNotes for Macbeth: I thought I was pretty savvy. Even though we read Macbeth in class and the teacher tried to explain it as we read it, the CliffsNotes, I recall, helped give me more context. Book summaries are a great...
The COVID-19 Files
10th July Now and Next Years ago, my afternoon stroll home from the train station to my place included walking past a Chinese takeaway shop. More often than not I'd stand in front of that massive menu board and feel overwhelmed with choice... I want choice but it...
Productive Leadership Through a Crisis
When the planes hit the twin towers in New York that fateful 2001 September day, you couldn't help but stay glued to the news. Never before had a TV been front and centre in any workplace I had worked in, but there it was. A constant news feed of the events...
Hacks, Apps and Old School Productivity
I’m often asked what my productivity hacks or tips are and so I thought I’d share a few with you. When I see a hack, app or product that promotes productivity, I often use the following criteria: How complicated is the set up? And is the return on my investment...
You can’t delegate everything.
If you knew you could get away with it, what would you delegate? No one's job is perfect, there will always be something you have to do that you don't enjoy. No surprises there, right? That being said there may be some things you could delegate. Yet there will...
Micromanaging
When I was a child, whenever we went out to dinner I'd follow my brother's lead and fidget. We'd fidget with the cutlery, napkins, condiments ... everything. Dad would snap at us but sitting still wasn't in our nature. Out to dinner one night celebrating a...
Delegating gives you more control and productivity
When I lived in Germany, I learned to drive on the 'wrong' side of the road in winter. I lived at the bottom of a hilly street so with snow and ice on the road during winter I felt completely out of control and scared as the car simply slid its way zig zagging down...