I was only ever pretty average at school. The best grade I got was a ‘B’ and I only got it once. Needless to say the world of academia wasn’t for me. I was more into sports and training at the time so it was off to fitness and leisure management for me. What was really interesting is that I soon propelled myself to the top of the class. (more…)

Have you ever been brushed off, ignored, demeaned, silenced, or humiliated? These painful and memorable experiences trigger the self-censoring instinct that is within us all and effectively neutralises performance. When social friction exists in a team the predictable approach to our work is one of caution, preventing people from bringing their whole self to work. (more…)

The scene was set and the conditions were perfect. I woke up at 5am and went through my morning routine to prepare for the day ahead. My clothing for the morning was all laid out the night before and I filled my bag with water bottles and nutrition. My girls wandered around the rented accommodation sleepily as they got themselves ready. At the transition area I completed the set up with my bike and made my way to the swim start. There was the usual mix of nerves made easier by the friendly banter of the other athletes milling around. And then, before I knew it the Tauranga Half Ironman was underway! (more…)

Welcome to 2022! What a year it’s been! Indeed, the great thing about a new year is that it gives us the energy, the determination and the focus to do something new. Unfortunately, most of us, by the end of the month, will already have lost our will to continue with the changes we so fervently committed to only a few weeks before. We’re funny ol’ creatures, aren’t we?

The question in the title is a big one. Mostly we’re asked the question, who are you? (more…)

More and more I’m hearing that this lockdown just seems that little bit harder than the last time. It came on pretty quickly this time, it’s in the second half of the year when we’re already tired and ready for a break, this strain of the virus is more unpredictable! Know that if you’re feeling this way it’s completely natural, many others are feeling this way too. But why are we feeling that this lockdown is harder and what can we do about it? (more…)

If you’re feeling like a lot of my clients out there it’s likely the end of the year break seems very far away! I’ve been feeling it too – drained and difficult to feel motivated, just going through the motions – but this isn’t me and I had to pull it back just for my own sanity! It’s difficult to stay motivated all the time, especially when you’re running your own business and your only source of motivation is you. However, that’s the game and I wouldn’t (more…)

I first came across the circle of control/circle of influence model well over 20 years ago. It’s an interesting concept that is often suggested as useful during times of crisis or when trying to perform under pressure. You know how it goes… write down those things that are within your control, those things you can influence and those things that are outside of your control, now go and focus on those things within your control. The problem of course (more…)

Just the other day I bumped into a friend of mine who works as a scrum master, we’ll call him Eric (his real name is Simon) and he was beside himself with frustration. He needed a developer for about 2 weeks worth of work. The work itself wasn’t particularly difficult, was well spec’d out and the developer would have all the support she needed to complete her task. Conveniently, there were about three developers on another team who had (more…)

St Patrick’s Day has come and gone. I don’t know if you know but St Patrick’s Day is a public holiday in Ireland – it’s a great time to kick back, celebrate and have a few drinks. There was one particular time in my earlier days when I might have gone a little overboard with the festivities and showed up for work the next day looking a wee bit green… if you get my drift. As you can imagine I wasn’t in the most fit of states for a productive day at work. I was sent home and the following day received some feedback from my manager. As this experience is still freshly in my mind I thought I’d share my thoughts on giving feedback because, as Ken Blanchard said, ‘Feedback is the breakfast of champions!’

Feedback is essential for our growth and, as leaders, it’s a huge part of our role to provide feedback and guidance to our teams. There’s nothing worse than no feedback because, without it, it’s difficult to judge if we’re on the right track or not.

Part of the problem of giving feedback comes down to how the person will take it or, more importantly, how we think the person will take it. If we believe the feedback will crush the other person then this might prevent us from giving the feedback effectively; it might cause us to water down the message too much in order to protect the self-esteem of the person but confuse the message. Another issue can come down to the relationship you have with your staff. If there’s low trust the person might completely ignore the feedback and focus on your relationship and how you’re always “picking on” them – even if the feedback is relevant and expertly delivered!

So what are the important steps?

Firstly, you have to be prepared! Don’t wing it. Spend some time thinking through the outcome you want to achieve with the other person. At a minimum this should be clearly delivering the message AND maintaining the relationship.

Secondly, manage your own ‘state’ – where are you emotionally?

Next, deliver the message and invite the other person into the conversation. They may jump in with a response and no matter what they say, our role is to listen and understand. If they don’t respond ask them what their thoughts are about what you just shared and again, no matter what they say, our role is to listen and understand. Balance expectation setting with understanding and you’re likely to achieve the result you’re after.

Once the feedback conversation is over it’s important to build the person back up again and re-inspire them for the good work they do.

I hope you find this useful. Remember, preparation is key and remember there’s more to giving feedback than just having the conversation.

If you’d like to know more about how to achieve more in life or business, or if you’d like to explore how coaching can help you become a better leader (of others or yourself!), or even if you’re just generally curious about what professional coaching can offer you, please contact us at any time for a free consultation.

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We’re 2 months into the new year and if you’re like most it probably feels like the break over Christmas is a distant memory. I’ve fallen into a familiar trap over the last couple of weeks and now it’s time for me to eat my own dog food. I’ve been going at quite the pace lately, neglecting the importance of strategic downtime and treating my days like a non-stop sprint. The problem with that of course is that it can be exhausting and my energy levels never really get a chance to recover before I go again. It’s clearly not sustainable and although the level of effort is the same, the level of productivity (or value I add) decreases and the level of stress remain consistently high. Think of it like the law of diminishing returns.

Here’s how it commonly works…

As effort increases so does our productivity (value) and stress levels. Our effort tends to hit a plateau at some stage during the day and we continue to churn on; however, our productivity level starts to slide and our stress level continues to rise.

This isn’t sustainable in the long run. That’s when fatigue can kick in and our motivation for work (and life) can seem like it’s all just too much like hard work.

The Benefits of Implementing Strategic Downtime in Your Workday

So what’s the solution? The solution is introducing what is called ‘Strategic Downtime’. Strategic Downtime is about consciously scheduling mini-breaks throughout your working day to reset and refocus on the work you’re doing. This approach will ensure that each task or meeting is tackled with gusto and energy increasing your productivity and your overall value contribution throughout the day.

This is what it might look like…

As you can see, our effort increases in the same way at the start of the day as does our stress and productivity but then we consciously introduce strategic downtime. Obviously our productivity goes down but it doesn’t go down to zero because during the strategic downtown we’re preparing ourselves for what’s coming next whilst taking time out. The big benefit, of course, is that our stress levels reduce significantly before we go again. This is important because high stress during the day is a drain on our energy levels, impairs our judgement, impacts our ability to make effective decisions, and impedes our emotional regulation.

So what might this look like in reality? It’s different for everyone and so it might take a little bit of experimentation to find the sweet spot for you. As an example, a productivity phase may last for 1.5 – 2 hours. During this time you commit yourself to achieving something important in that time, ideally without interruption. Once you achieve that mini-goal decide what task is next and then take a short break (strategic downtime). This might consist of grabbing a cup of coffee or a glass of water, going for a walk around the block, or chatting with a colleague. A short break might last only 5 or 10 minutes but it’s enough for us to reset for the next task. The working day should be broken into a series of sprints with the aim of producing high value outputs during each productivity phase.

The added bonus to this approach is you will have much more energy at the end of the day to carry out what is arguably the most important work of the day… time with your children and family.

I hope you take a moment to implement this approach and give it a go. I recommend trying it for a couple of weeks and notice the difference in your productivity and overall energy levels throughout the day.

If you’d like to know more about how to achieve more in life or business, or if you’d like to explore how coaching can help you become a better leader (of others or yourself!), or even if you’re just generally curious about what professional coaching can offer you, please contact us at any time for a free consultation. Let’s connect on LinkedIn!

Subscribe & Stay Informed

Best way to keep in touch with our latest news and updates.