The Thoughtful Leader Podcast

Welcome to Episode 275 of the Thoughtful Leader Podcast! In this episode, we explore why an employee might appear “bad” and uncover some hidden reasons behind poor performance and behaviour. Before jumping to conclusions, it’s essential to dig deeper and find out what’s really going on. In This Episode, You’ll Learn: Why an employee might be struggling – skill gaps, motivation issues, or personal challenges. How leadership style and team dynamics play a role in shaping employee behavior. Actionable steps to diagnose and address poor performance constructively. Key Takeaways: A Skill Gap Can Look Like a Motivation Problem Employees may avoid tasks they aren’t confident in, leading to misinterpretations of laziness or disengagement. Motivation Issues Often Have Hidden Causes Boredom, lack of challenge, a poor work environment, or a mismatch in job fit can all reduce motivation. Team Dynamics Matter Conflict with colleagues or a poor cultural fit can affect an employee’s performance and engagement. L

Welcome to Episode 274 of the Thoughtful Leader Podcast! In this episode, we explore the balance between authenticity and adaptability in leadership. Should you stay true to your natural style, or adjust to meet the preferences of those around you? Let’s dive in. In This Episode, You’ll Learn: The Benefits of Being Authentic: How staying true to yourself can build trust and make leadership more effortless. The Drawbacks of Rigidity: Why sticking strictly to your natural style might not always serve you or your team well. When to Adapt Your Approach: Identifying situations where adjusting your style can lead to better outcomes. Key Takeaways: Understand the Power of Authenticity Being yourself allows for natural interactions and can build trust within your team. Authentic leadership fosters integrity and consistency. Recognise the Need for Adaptability Certain situations may require you to adjust your style to communicate effectively. Flexibility can enhance your ability to lead diverse teams and hand

In this Q&A episode, we dive into an important topic: How to Keep Supervisors Motivated in Leadership Roles. Supervisors are the middle layer between senior management and the front line. In many ways, they set the scene and role model the behaviours that you want the front line employees to be following.  So what happens when your supervisors aren’t motivated? Well… not good stuff. In This Episode, You’ll Learn: ✅ Why demotivated supervisors can impact team performance ✅ How leaders can create conditions for motivation without forcing it ✅ A five-step game plan to support and engage supervisors Key Takeaways: Get the Basics Right Address hygiene factors like fair pay, safe working conditions, and equitable policies. Diagnose the Issue Have one-on-one conversations to understand individual motivation challenges. Build a Sense of Purpose Help supervisors see how their work connects to broader company goals. Encourage Autonomy Allow supervisors to take ownership of their roles and deci

Micromanagement is not a good thing, but I think it’s natural to feel like doing it sometimes.  But that doesn’t mean we shouldn’t try to reduce the habit! In this episode I take a look at the problems with micromanagement, and how you can reduce the feeling that you need to do it with your team.  Interested in working with me?  Book your free 30-minute consultation, where we'll discuss your goals and challenges and how my coaching may be able to help.  Then we can decide whether we're a good fit to work together.  >>> Click here to book your free consultation. Show Links:  Build Empathy Iceberg Model – This link leads to an article discussing the Iceberg Model of Human Behaviour, which is useful for understanding the hidden factors driving behaviors like micromanagement. Thoughtful Leader Podcast #123: Common Leadership Fears and How to Challenge Them – This podcast episode explores common leadership fears and strategies to overcome them, helping leaders manage their emotions and actions more effectively.

If you have a favourite employee at work, you aren’t the only one! Good employees are like gold – they help you out, make your job less stressful and lighten the load.  But… there’s always a but… what is happening in the team when you have a favourite employee?  Let’s find out in this episode.  Interested in working with me?  Book your free 30-minute consultation, where we'll discuss your goals and challenges and how my coaching may be able to help.  Then we can decide whether we're a good fit to work together.  >>> Click here to book your free consultation. Show Links:  Thoughtful Leader Podcast #228: Should You Be Friends With Your Team Members? – This podcast episode explores whether it is appropriate to develop friendships with team members. Why Even Good Leaders Can Show a Lack of Integrity – A blog post discussing the potential for even good leaders to exhibit integrity issues. What Is the Halo Effect? – An article that explains the Halo Effect, a cognitive bias that can lead to favoritism and overloo

Blaming others is a common past time in many workplaces.  And it’s so easy to slip into the habit of blaming, because we want to protect ourselves and let everyone know it wasn’t our fault! In this episode I look at some of the reasons why we blame, and what to try doing instead.  After all, it’s not helping you or your team! Interested in working with me?  Book your free 30-minute consultation, where we'll discuss your goals and challenges and how my coaching may be able to help.  Then we can decide whether we're a good fit to work together.  >>> Click here to book your free consultation. Show Links:  Brenè Brown’s short video on blame – Brenè Brown discusses the relationship between blame and accountability. Why Leaders Should Show Vulnerability at Work – An article on the importance of vulnerability for leaders. Just Beyond Yourself: When to Push Out of Your Comfort Zone – A guide on pushing beyond comfort zones for growth. Do You Have a Victim Leadership Mentality? – Explores the concept of victim menta

The phrase “feedback is a gift” is pretty common in many workplaces.  While feedback can be a great way to know how you’re doing and to improve, it can also be a bad thing.  Many people are terrible at giving feedback, so accepting it all would be a mistake.  In this episode I take a look at how to decide whether to accept or reject feedback, and how to use feedback to keep improving.  >>> Struggling to accept that feedback you received? Reflect on it using The Useful Thinking Journal. It will help you process your thoughts and feelings and help you do better next time.  Interested in working with me?  Book your free 30-minute consultation, where we'll discuss your goals and challenges and how my coaching may be able to help.  Then we can decide whether we're a good fit to work together.  >>> Click here to book your free consultation. Show Links:  Blind Spots: How to Shrink Yours to Lead Better – A guide on how to reduce blind spots in leadership to lead more effectively. 10 Simple & Effective Tips For

Everyone wants to feel more confident, because we worry less and feel as if we’ve got everything under control.  The problem is, we all have those self-doubting thoughts from time to time.  And the more you push yourself and improve, you’ll be putting yourself in new situations which will stretch you even more, and potentially make you feel even less confident! But, what if your lack of confidence could actually be a good thing? I reckon it is, and that’s what I’ll talk about in this episode.  >>> Stop overthinking, make sense of your emotions and start taking action: The Useful Thinking Journal. Interested in working with me? If you're ready to improve your leadership situation, click the link to apply for your complimentary 30-minute discovery call: Apply Now. Show Links:  Thoughtful Leader Podcast #219: 4 Steps to Grow Your Leadership Confidence – Gain insights into practical steps for building confidence in your leadership role. Leadership Confidence Problem? Let’s Diagnose It – Explore

Our beliefs shape the actions we take, which makes a big difference in how we lead.  In this episode, I’m going to look at some key beliefs which can make a positive difference on your team. But what if you don’t have these beliefs? Well, I’ll discuss that too.  >>> Stop overthinking, make sense of your emotions and start taking action: The Useful Thinking Journal. Interested in working with me? If you're ready to improve your leadership situation, click the link to apply for your complimentary 30-minute discovery call: Apply Now. Show Links:  Thoughtful Leader Podcast #158: Let’s Build a Better Leadership Mindset. – Explore how mindset shifts can improve leadership and build a positive workplace environment. Team Improvement: 5 Reasons Smart Leaders Love It – Discover strategies to help leaders support team growth and encourage continuous improvement. Motivation at Work: Moving Your People Along the Motivation Spectrum – Learn techniques to increase employee motivation and productivity within your team.

Leaders have a huge impact on the people they lead in terms of job satisfaction, morale and performance.  So do we want leaders who are running around busy, with no time to think? No, you need time and space to think, so you can be more intentional about what you’re doing.  You’ll make better decisions, and that will benefit your teams and your organisation (not to mention yourself). In this episode, I discuss some ideas to get more thinking time in your day, so you can lead better. >>> Stop overthinking, make sense of your emotions and start taking action: The Useful Thinking Journal. Interested in working with me? If you're ready to improve your leadership situation, click the link to apply for your complimentary 30-minute discovery call: Apply Now. Show Links:  3 Ways to Reduce Unhelpful Thinking – Practical tips to manage and reduce unproductive thought patterns. Parkinson’s Law – Explanation of Parkinson’s Law and how shorter meetings can increase productivity. Thoughtful Leader Podcast #156: Let’s

Self-motivation is an important ingredient in the leadership puzzle.  After all, we generally know how we should be leading. We’ve read the leadership books and listened to all the leadership podcasts.  But it’s hard to show up every day with a great attitude and feeling motivated. That’s why in this episode, I take a look at some self-motivation ideas to help you show up in the best way you can, more often. >>> Stop overthinking, make sense of your emotions and start taking action: The Useful Thinking Journal. Interested in working with me? If you're ready to improve your leadership situation, click the link to apply for your complimentary 30-minute discovery call: Apply Now. Show Links:  Dan Goleman – Psychologist Daniel Goleman popularized the concept of Emotional Intelligence, essential for leadership. Emotional Intelligence has been shown to be one of the best predictors of leadership success – Harvard Business highlights EQ as key to effective and successful leadership. How

The 4-day work week is becoming more popular these days, following several trials in various countries.  There are a few characteristics of the 4-day work week which I find contribute to its success. In this episode, I look at these characteristics and how we can apply them to any workplace, even if you aren’t lucky enough to have a 4-day work week! Like the Show? Please Leave a Review! ✅ If you like this episode or the show in general, please take a few minutes to leave a review by clicking one of the links below. Your review really helps me to reach a wider audience of thoughtful leaders, so we can improve workplaces around the world. I appreciate you taking the time!

Regular reflection is generally regarded as a great thing to be doing, but I’ve found that the majority of leaders (that I speak to anyway) don’t do it! That’s why I created The Useful Thinking Journal, which is a journal aiming to help you reflect in a structured way, and turn those reflections into real action so you can improve, or keep achieving success. In this episode I talk about some of the benefits of reflection, the challenges that many leaders face when it comes to reflection, and how The Useful Thinking Journal can help. You can order your copy of the journal here: https://www.thoughtfulleader.com/the-useful-thinking-journal/.

Many thoughtful leaders find themselves feeling guilty at work.  Not because they’ve necessarily done anything wrong – more that they are heaping pressure on themselves and suffering under the weight of expectation.  In this episode, I look at the common sources of guilt and introduce a simple process you can follow to unravel these feelings and feel better about taking action.  Like the Show? Please Leave a Review! ✅ If you like this episode or the show in general, please take a few minutes to leave a review by clicking one of the links below. Your review really helps me to reach a wider audience of thoughtful leaders, so we can improve workplaces around the world. I appreciate you taking the time!

You might think of unproductive workplaces as ones where people aren’t doing much.  I’ve found it’s quite the opposite – often people are running around madly… being busy. In this episode, I take a look at the cost of an unproductive workplace (other than just the money) and some of the common signs that we might hear that make it a bad place to be! Like the Show? Please Leave a Review! ✅ If you like this episode or the show in general, please take a few minutes to leave a review by clicking one of the links below. Your review really helps me to reach a wider audience of thoughtful leaders, so we can improve workplaces around the world. I appreciate you taking the time!

Bashing the boss is a favourite pastime for many employees. We don’t want to be a boss that’s worthy of this sort of treatment, so in this episode I take a look at some of the common reasons why people generally complain about their boss. Then we can do things differently and give them fewer things to complain about! Like the Show? Please Leave a Review! ✅ If you like this episode or the show in general, please take a few minutes to leave a review by clicking one of the links below. Your review really helps me to reach a wider audience of thoughtful leaders, so we can improve workplaces around the world. I appreciate you taking the time!

Talk to many employees, and they’ll tell you that their boss is one of their biggest time management challenges. So is this the case when it comes to your leadership? In this episode, I take a look at whether you might be time management problem for your team, and what to do about it.  Interested in working with me? If you're interested in potentially working with me, I invite you to apply for a complimentary coaching call. This can help you to:  Understand more about how I coach Make progress on some of your key challenges; and Decide whether we're a good fit to work together. I can't coach everyone who applies, but if you don't try, we'll never know!  >>> Click here to apply for your complimentary coaching session.  Like the Show? Please Leave a Review! ✅ If you like this episode or the show in general, please take a few minutes to leave a review by clicking one of the links below. Your review really helps me to reach a wider audience of thoughtful leaders, so we can improve workplaces around the world. I

Reflection has significant benefits for leaders, but I find that many leaders don’t engage in reflection very often. In this episode, I’ll take a look at the benefits of reflection and some of the issues that people encounter with it. Then, I’ll outline some practical steps to implement a reflective practice for yourself (and keep it up!) Like the Show? Please Leave a Review! ✅ If you like this episode or the show in general, please take a few minutes to leave a review by clicking one of the links below. Your review really helps me to reach a wider audience of thoughtful leaders, so we can improve workplaces around the world. I appreciate you taking the time!

Having a sense of purpose is critical according to several motivation theories and models.  So how do we help our people find it? In this episode, I take a look at some practical ways that you can assist your team to find their sense of purpose.  It’s not our responsibility to find it for our team, but we can help to create the right environment.  Like the Show? Please Leave a Review! ✅ If you like this episode or the show in general, please take a few minutes to leave a review by clicking one of the links below. Your review really helps me to reach a wider audience of thoughtful leaders, so we can improve workplaces around the world. I appreciate you taking the time!

Getting out of your comfort zone is a worthwhile thing to do.  But being out of your comfort zone all the time is stressful and draining.  So when it comes to leadership, when should we make the effort to get out of our comfort zone? I take a look at this topic in this episode.  Like the Show? Please Leave a Review! ✅ If you like this episode or the show in general, please take a few minutes to leave a review by clicking one of the links below. Your review really helps me to reach a wider audience of thoughtful leaders, so we can improve workplaces around the world. I appreciate you taking the time!