Weekly Insights

Are you fertilising your mind?

In his book, The Little Book of Gratitude: Create a Life of Happiness and Well-being by Giving Thanks, Professor Robert Emmons wrote, “Gratitude is fertiliser for the mind, spreading connections and improving its function in nearly every realm of experience.” Yesterday (21 September) was World Gratitude Day. Perhaps the day passed you by, or maybe […]

Seven tactics to use underestimation to your advantage

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In a working world where impressions can shape perceptions and promotions, being underestimated can feel discouraging and demoralising. Underestimation often stems from biases, preconceived ideas, limited information, or a need for more awareness about an individual’s talents and capabilities. The good news is if you’re being underestimated, you can use it to your advantage. The fabulous […]

Do you look to change last?

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Regularly, consulting firms release analyses on the challenges facing businesses and leaders. Reports, such as this one from KPMG, are insightful and provide helpful focal points for leaders. More often than not, issues around change and transformation top the list. However, what’s rarely included as a leadership challenge is the need for leaders to challenge their […]

Who controls your day?

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Do you remember the memo? How you answer that question is likely age-dependent. For the uninitiated, the memo was a communication process that has mostly left the workplace. You’d write your message, and everyone who needed to receive a copy would be listed at the top of the page. It was printed out, and each respondent’s […]

Are you a fair leader?

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At some stage in your life, you’ll likely have heard someone throw out the line ‘life isn’t fair’ – implying that you need to suck it up and move on. Yes, many aspects of life involve luck and chance, and sometimes situations are unfair. However, the line also suggests that we shouldn’t strive for fairness. […]

Nine tips for setting boundaries and sticking to them

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Boundaries…you know what they are and likely recognise how important they are too. Are you good at setting boundaries and sticking to your commitments, or do you (like me) sometimes fudge around the edges? There are many reasons why setting boundaries between your work and home life is challenging. A few examples are a fear […]

Do you know your limits?

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There are things we know and things we think we know. There are also things that we assume everyone else knows. The critical question is whether we can identify the limits of our knowledge and understanding and the assumptions underpinning our thinking. Earlier this year, I was chatting with a friend about the inner dialogue we […]

Let’s get your earworm tuned

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You wake up in the morning, and a song pops into your head for no apparent reason. You’re going about your day, and a piece of music plays in your head on repeat – again and again. You’ll likely have experienced both scenarios. That’s an earworm in action. It turns out that more than 100 years ago, Germans […]

How politically astute are you?

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Many years ago, I worked with a person who said, ‘Michelle, you can get to a certain level in your career by being good at what you do. But if you want to go any further, you need to know how to play the political game.’ Their comment always troubled me as it implies you […]

What part are you playing?

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You don’t have to look too far to find stories about how an organisation’s poor culture has been the root cause of their malaise, poor performance, regulatory breaches or lousy customer service. We all know that organisational culture matters. No doubt you’ll have heard culture referred to as ‘the way things are done around here’. It includes […]