Uncertainty is normal for leaders of the high growth businesses that I work with. The Coronavirus pandemic has taken this to another level. Asked by clients for advice on how to navigate this crisis, I’ve pulled together thoughts and key resources into this guide, which draws on evidence from behavioural and decision making psychology, the latest leadership thinking, and my own experience working in central government during the Great Financial Crisis and navigating the uncertainty of cancer.
Continue readingCategory Archives: Executive Coaching
What’s the difference between a coach, mentor and therapist, and why do leaders need the support of all three?
Like any high-performing individual, new leaders need to wrap a professional support team around them if they are to give themselves the best chance of success. That team must be trustworthy, objective, and acting always in the leader’s best interests. Having coached hundreds of CEOs and other leaders in startup and high growth businesses, I’m convinced that that team should include: an executive coach, a mentor and a therapist. This post unpacks what the difference between a coach, mentor and therapist is and explains why, together, they make up a such a cohesive support team.
Continue readingHow Vertical Development helps new leaders truly transform
Have you noticed how awash the internet is with advice from investors and other gurus about how to build and lead technology businesses? CEOs and other new leaders need good advice – “guidance or recommendations offered with regard to prudent future action” – if they are to stand any chance of building a successful business. There are many core skills that must be acquired, and there is much to be learned from those who have done it before. But to develop truly effective leaders we need to move beyond providing them with more information – telling them what to do and how to do it – to helping them improve how they think, make decisions, and make sense of the world. This is the distinction between horizontal development, which focuses on what you know, and Vertical Development, which concerns how you think.
In a VUCA world, where information and knowledge is everywhere, it will be individuals and teams who develop their ability to think and act in more complex, systemic, and interdependent ways who will be at the vanguard of leadership and business growth. This post dives into the detail of what Vertical Development is and considers its application to leaders in startup and high growth technology businesses. It ends with three habits of mind that you can develop, as a leader, to help you advance your thinking and leadership capabilities beyond what you know to how you think. This is the place where you truly transform and grow.
Continue readingLeading on the job: advice for new leaders
Not long ago you were part of a small team of people with a big idea that you thought could change the world. Now you are responsible for a rapidly growing team who are looking at you for direction. Your burden of responsibility has increased dramatically and you need to learn to lead quickly. Having coached a lot of new leaders in this situation, I’ve turned that experience into five pieces of advice for new leaders.
Continue reading4 questions to improve your leadership self-awareness
Self-awareness is the “capacity for introspection and the ability to recognize oneself as an individual separate from the environment and other individuals. Self-awareness is how an individual consciously knows and understands their own character, feelings, motives, and desires”. Back in 2003, psychologists acknowledged that self-awareness was “arguably the most fundamental issue in psychology, from both a developmental and an evolutionary perspective.” More recently, the critical importance of self-awareness as a key trait of effective leaders has become recognised.
Because Great Leadership Starts With Self-Awareness, helping my clients understand how self-aware they are now, and how they can become more self-aware in the future, is critical. In this post, I identify four questions that I ask and which you can ask yourself too.
Continue readingThe management, leadership & coaching principles of Bill Campbell
Trillion Dollar Coach: The Leadership Handbook of Silicon Valley’s Bill Campbell (Amazon UK, US) is a book about a man who helped build some of America’s greatest companies, including Apple and Google. A former college football player and coach, Bill didn’t enter the business world until he was thirty nine. Moving quickly though through executive roles, he went on to coach the likes of Steve Jobs, Larry Page, Eric Schmidt, Ben Horowitz and Bill Gurley, to name just a few. He passed away in 2016, leaving a legacy of growing companies, successful people and an enormous amount of respect. The book is essential reading for any manager or leader operating in a fast-moving, high growth business.
This post is a summary of Bill Campbell’s approach towards management, leadership & coaching. For more inspiration, sign up for my Monthly Newsletter: a curation of articles, books & podcasts about the future of business & leadership, and follow me on Twitter, LinkedIn and Instagram.
Continue readingHow to find & choose an executive coach
Working with an executive coach is a deeply personal and developmental experience. So it’s important to take the time to find and choose the right one. This post explains the role of an executive coach, and provides helpful tips on how to find and choose the right one for you.
Continue readingA collection of the best articles for new leaders
Many of my executive coaching clients are new leaders in startup and high growth technology businesses. They often find themselves thrust into a new leadership role without much previous experience or training to prepare them. The spotlight and responsibility of first-time leadership can be daunting but it is an incredible place to learn. As part of my Executive Coaching and startup specific Founder Coaching services, I curate a reading list of the most insightful leadership articles that I have discovered for clients to read and reflect on. From the thought provoking to the practical, here is a continually updated collection of the best articles which will help you grow and succeed in a new leadership role.
A collection of the best books about executive coaching
Are you a manager or leader who wants to develop your coaching skills? Are you already an executive coach investing in your personal and professional development? Here is a list of the best books about executive coaching that I have read.
Continue readingDo these 2 things to get better at coaching your employees
The Coaching Habit: Say Less, Ask More & Change the Way You Lead Forever (Amazon UK, US) is one of the best books I’ve read for managers and leaders who want to use a coach approach with their employees but don’t have the time or inclination for formal training. It’s short on theory but long on practical tools and techniques that are a shot to the heart of great coaching.
The author identifies seven questions to ask when taking a coach-approach towards engaging with your team. Rather than spoil the book, I’ll share two challenges that he identifies for anyone seeking to be a better coach-manager or coach-leader.
Continue readingVictor Frankl on finding meaning & happiness
Man’s Search for Meaning (Amazon UK, US) by Victor Frankl is essential reading for anybody interested in happiness, personal growth, the psychology of suffering and mental health. It chronicles the author’s time as an inmate in the Auschwitz concentration camp during World War II. The early chapters do not make for easy reading but the book opens up into one of the deepest and most eloquent explorations of finding meaning and man’s search for meaning and happiness.
Continue readingStriving to find a meaning in one’s life is the primary motivational force in man… This meaning is unique and specific in that it must and can only be fulfilled by him alone; only then does it achieve a significance which will satisfy his own will to meaning.
What is the difference between coaching & mentoring?
The words coaching and mentoring are often used interchangeably, though there are in fact important differences. In his book Coaching for Performance (Amazon UK, US), the late Sir John Whitmore, explains what the difference between coaching and mentoring is. Whitmore is the founder of the coaching movement in the UK. The book is widely considered to be the industry gold standard for performance based coaching.
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