Thinking on leadership, culture, and the conversations that matter.
Written by Jo Andrews. No frameworks for the sake of it. No theory without application. Just honest thinking about what it actually takes to lead well, and what gets in the way.
One of the questions I get asked the most is ‘what’s the most important trait of a great leader?’ There are lots of behavioural traits essential for effective leadership. Of course. You need to listen. Not the sort of listening with a phone in your hand. Not the sort of listening where you’re waiting for your turn to talk. I mean really, truly actively listening to hear and learn. By accepting that you can learn from others, including (especially!) your team members, you are setting yourself and your team up to succeed. Powerful questioning, exceptional listening and empathy all play a huge part of effective leadership. But none of those will be authentic if you aren’t in a growth mindset. … Read more
I was lucky enough to be invited to speak at a client’s Leadership Summit in Macedonia this month. They take leadership seriously; a full week for all leaders away from the office to focus solely on leadership and building the right culture. This is a company who understands the importance of strong leadership and the risks of not intentionally building the right culture. Brilliant cultures don’t happen by accident, they are intentionally nurtured, built and maintained. Establishing a fabulous culture which both attracts talent AND holds on to that talent is one thing, keeping it like that is like pushing a ball uphill – take your eye off the ball for a moment and you’ll go backwards quickly. I based … Read more
Hands up if you enjoy having tricky conversations…. Yeah, thought not. Telling someone that their performance isn’t good enough, or that they didn’t get the job, or that there’s been a client complaint against them and so on, isn’t usually at the top of our ‘want to do’ list. And if you’ve got some Dog traits (go here if you’ve no idea what I’m talking about) then you may have a tendency to skim over the uncomfortable bits and focus on the good news. Why? Because we don’t want to upset the other person, or we don’t want an argument or we feel bad or….. What we tend to forget is that if the boot were on the other foot, … Read more
Values – yay or nay? I think absolutely, with some caveats. After all, if you’ve got the right values in place for your company and your culture, they really can be a game changer and provide a framework for building trust throughout the organisation. What I often find is that when a company leader approaches me about leadership training because performance/results/growth isn’t where it needs to be, s/he is surprised at how much focus I put on getting the right values in place. After a big of digging, it often transpires that yes, company values exist but in reality they are little more than words on a website; a tick box exercise. Values are only really effective when there is … Read more
I usually walk the talk, but here I am talking the walk…. Part of developing as a leader is about growing as a person and pushing yourself out of your comfort zone. So when I was invited by the brilliant Steve Twynham to be interviewed as part of his ‘Glass half full’ series on his Yowah Radio station, I ignored the somersaults going on in my stomach and found myself saying ‘I’d love to!’ I guess it’s part of who I’ve always been and how I’ve always operated; say yes and then work out how to make it work. I knew Steve well enough to know that he would make it an easy conversation and of course he did. So … Read more
Do you think of your team members as towels or plants? Before you think I’ve really lost the plot let me explain… I think it’s fair to say that the 80’s style ‘boss’ approach to being a leader, was to get as much out of each employee as possible; get their money’s worth out of every person every day and focus on the bottom line. You know, productivity = output = money. Much like wringing out a towel and getting every last drop that you can. In the short-term, you might get more out of them; one extra sale, 5% more productivity, a project completed a day early. And what’s the human impact? Being micromanaged and squeezed for every last drop … Read more
Unless you’ve been living on Mars recently, then you’ll have heard of The Great Resignation. Most articles and news reports were referring to the rate of people quitting their jobs in the US. But as is often the case, we soon followed suit here in the UK. According to HR news, 85% of UK businesses have been affected, with negative impacts on employee wellbeing and problems attracting new talent being amongst the problems. But the biggest challenge? Retaining staff. The most common reason for people leaving their jobs: Their leader. Yep, not the HR department, not the MD, not anyone other than their direct leader, who may not be being supported by THEIR leader….. And do you know what the … Read more
This is probably the question I get asked the most often (after ‘can you hear me, am I on mute?’) It’s a great question and it won’t surprise you to hear that it’s not a straightforward answer. If you’d have asked me in the 80’s, (which you wouldn’t have done, because I’d have been at school….) then I would confidently say that the majority of corporate leaders would have had Lion as their top influencer; being ‘the boss’, barking instructions, intimidating staff and defaulting to a controlling position. Thankfully, we now see that as old fashioned leadership. Don’t get me wrong, embracing your Lion traits at the right moment is not wrong. With Lion as my second influencer, I’m absolutely … Read more
I ended the first half of 2022 with a day I won’t forget in a hurry. I was doing a lunchtime webinar on turning tricky conversations into collaborations – great! In the morning, my website was hacked and went offline – not great! So just as a load of people were trying to take the TRAIT test, they couldn’t access it. But you know how lovely people are, they were patient and kind (actually, they were on mute, so there wasn’t much they could say…!) Now there’s always a positive when we’re faced with negatives and the clear positive here is that I’ve managed (with the help of my amazing husband) to get a brand new website up within 24 … Read more
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