Do you look to change last?
Publication: change management | communication | leadership | performance
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?
Publication: communication | habits | performance
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 […]
Do you know your limits?
Publication: communication | performance
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 […]
Fast Company: 10 ways leaders can turn a lousy work day around
Publication: communication | habits | motivation
Your working day will have ups and downs, obstacles, challenges, and good and bad days. It’s up to you to find the best way through it. Thanks to Fast Company for the opportunity for Michelle to share her 10 ways leaders can turn their day around. Bad days. Frustrating days. Days when it all goes […]
CNBC: Simon Sinek: ‘The skill of having an uncomfortable conversation is essential’—this hack can make it easier
Publication: communication | motivation | performance
In this article for CNBC, Michelle was invited to add her comments about uncomfortable conversations. Uncomfortable conversations are inevitable — and that’s why learning to navigate them is necessary for building healthy relationships and a successful career. Maybe you need to offer a friend or colleague some constructive criticism, or you’ve been called into a […]
What part are you playing?
Publication: communication | culture | organisations
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 […]
Do you really know what’s going on?
Publication: communication | leadership | performance
Admiral Horatio Nelson is considered one of Britain’s best naval commanders, with a long and distinguished career culminating in the country’s decisive victory over Napoleon that ended the threat of a French invasion. In 1801, he was appointed second in command to admiral, Sir Hyde Parker. This appointment was at the time of the French Napoleonic […]
psnews.com.au: The best ways to work with ‘difficult’ people
Publication: communication | stakeholders | workplace
In this article for psnews.com.au, Michelle writes that everyone is different and sometimes two people simply cannot get along. She has advice for managing the situation if this occurs in the workplace. Many years ago, I worked with someone who took an instant dislike to me. In our interactions, they were rude, abrupt and generally unhelpful. […]
To Tell or Not to Tell
Publication: communication | stakeholders | workplace
There are many situations at work where you can wonder about the best time to talk to your boss about something that matters to you. You may be thinking of leaving, feeling bored at work, wanting to explore a side hustle or wanting more flexibility with work. Whatever the context, you want to approach the […]
Leader’s Digest: Is Your Help, Helpful?
Publication: communication | leadership | performance
Workplaces wouldn’t function if people weren’t helpful. Helping provides benefits for the recipient of the help and the person providing the help. When you help someone it feels good, but there can be a downside. Read Michelle’s insights in the April 2023 edition of Leader’s Digest. Turn to pages 18-19 to read the article.