Better Business, Better Life – Issue 129

Apologies that we didn’t get a newsletter out last fortnight. I was caught up with a lot of client sessions & workshops & whilst I get some help pulling the newsletter together, I always like to write the intro & real-life stories as well as find a ‘find of the week’.

This week, I have created the space to do this.

You’ll notice a theme throughout the articles this week – being apples.

Why apples?

Well, two excellent business stories come sayings that come from apples.

What are the two sayings?

“One rotten apple spoils the whole barrel.”

“And are you comparing apples to apples, or apples to oranges?”

And I’ve had experiences with both of these just recently, and I wanted to share them.

The team member is performing well in their role, and they are meeting expectations. They are at the ceiling of their salary bracket for their role industry, which was discussed in their last annual review, where they received an increase.

They were then given options to further develop their role’s scope, creating potential for additional remuneration. They have not pursued that.

My client’s strategic approach was to further discover the team members’ career aspirations. Did they want to develop further? Were they content at their current level? Discussing the remuneration opportunities in their organisation that sit alongside each choice.

The result was very positive. The team members affirmed they were happy, taking responsibility for not progressing on what was previously discussed. They are now taking the lead on how they want to expand their role, with the full support of my client.

My client feels 100% more confident about their role as a leader when dealing with different expectations going into a meeting.

What challenges do you see your clients commonly face, and how do you help them overcome these?

In the 20 years of leadership coaching, I see the constant tension between leaders being great’ technicians’ – skilled and confident in their field; and not being as confident in their abilities as a leader.

Which is very uncomfortable for them. These are people who know success.

There is also the ongoing pressure for leaders to deliver their role function while having a team of people looking to them to lead them.

This caused dissonance and a non-uncommon wish that their team would be as self-sufficient and driven as they are.

Leadership frequently is something they feel they have little time for in their day. Plus, they often do not have the training to be a leader.

At best, they may be exposed to what I call ‘template leadership’ without actually being guided and supported to lead in a way that is authentic for them and their style and gets the best results from their team.

I either work one-on-one with my clients, helping them develop their confidence and skills as authentic leaders. Or deliver intensive bespoke training supported by one-to-one coaching for a small cohort of leaders.

Having me as your champion, someone who is an experienced leadership coach and business professional, is powerful in helping you as a high achiever to become an exceptional leader.

What trends are you noticing in your field, and how do you adapt to stay ahead?

After Covid, we have seen the emergence of many different employee models. Hybrid, Remote, Fractional, and Job Sharing have all grown in prevalence. As such, it requires leaders to learn how to lead teams that may not be in one office, city, or country.

More recently, we have seen businesses around the world create return-to-office mandates for their employees. This, too, will create new challenges for leaders as they manage such transitions.

Time will tell where the pendulum falls. There has also been an increase in companies creating attractive onsite facilities for their employees, such as child care, counselling services, medical services, etc., to support their return-to-office mandate.

As a Leadership Coach, I work closely with my Clients, supporting them in navigating such landscape shifts.

What is the most common mistake you see businesses make, and how can they avoid it?

Expect highly skilled professionals to become excellent leaders naturally. The skills required as a leader are unique to their ‘technical’ skill sets that earned their promotions up the corporate ladder.

Without providing a leader with leadership development and leadership coaching is akin to putting them into a boat without a map, lifejacket, anchor or oars.

As people who are used to success it creates a silent internal shame because they don’t feel confident in their leadership skills. Additionally, there is the possibility for resentment towards their team, who they wish would just get on with it and be as driven and self-sufficient as they have been in their career trajectory.

We are here to help you live a better life by creating a better business. We are real-life business owners with years of experience & a strong desire to make a huge difference to the lives of entrepreneurs.

If anything here resonates with you or you would like our help, then please get in contact. Just reply to this newsletter & let us know who you would like to speak to…. Or visit our webpage & contact any of our team from their own pages.

If you know someone who would benefit from reading this, then please forward it onto them. 💖