How it Works

The world is awash with advice for leaders.
“Do this! Do that! Don’t do this. Don’t do that!”

The world is awash with advice for leaders.
“Do this! Do that! Don’t do this. Don’t do that!”

But so much of that advice, literature and training is generic at best, or at worst, conflicting. Be firm, but not too firm. Be clear about expectations, but don’t push people too hard. Deliver performance and results, but don’t you dare hurt anyone’s feelings or they’ll go crying and complaining to HR.

Additionally, most of what passes as “good advice” treats symptoms, not root causes. It addresses only the surface level issues, not what’s driving the problems in the first place.

So, that’s my approach in a nutshell: we get at root causes.

Specifically, systems, power, self-sabotage and self-deception.

Develop system-sightedness
Systems and situations drive behaviour far more than personality. When you can see and assess the systems around you, you address root causes, and you can lead and manage more strategically and effectively, with less effort, stress and personal drama all round.

Like most people, you may only be used to expressing power in one kind of way. But there are actually five different kinds of power. Power is much more situational, relational and dynamic. Understand what power really is, and what types of power to yield when, to get the results you want to have. 

Level-up your
power game

Understand how you
self-sabotage

Understand how you self-sabotage

Precisely because your strengths are second nature to you, coming easily and naturally, they become your default and you don’t even recognize when you are over-using them. When you overuse your strengths, they become your saboteurs, getting you the very opposite of what you want. Become more nuanced in the use of your strengths, and cultivate your less utilized ones. 

Ninety five percent of people think they’re self aware. Only ten to fifteen percent actually are. Everyone is at least partly blind to themselves. Add to this that the more senior you are, the less objective, no BS feedback you get, and the more you are at risk of your blind spots growing, not shrinking. While you can never eliminate all your blind spots, you can minimize them, by knowing how to get the feedback that is actually useful.

Accept that you have
blind spots

Accept that you have blind spots

If you learn, integrate and apply
these four principles:

If you learn, integrate and apply these four principles:

Then your leadership can soar, without you needing to change who you are.

If this sounds intriguing, let’s get you started with a more nuanced understanding power. 

If this sounds intriguing to you, let’s get you started with a more nuanced understanding power. 

Want to understand more about what coaching is & how it works?

Want to understand more about what coaching is & how it works?