In the final years of my corporate life, I either wore a suit or the standard Media Exec uniform of a plain shirt, a pair of jeans, and a jacket.

Yet when I left that life, for nearly five years after I kept a wardrobe with half a dozen suits. 

Our commercial interactions are continuously punctuated by "endings". It could be the completion of a project, an organisational restructuring, or someone retiring or exiting the business. Endings happen all the time for various different reasons.

Even though leaders generally say that they appreciate the benefits of curiosity in the workplace, research conducted by the Harvard Business School reveals that out of 3000 employees in a wide range of industries, only 24% reported feeling curious in their jobs on a regular basis,

Recently I read an article on the above subject, where Stanford Graduate School of Business faculty members Jennifer Aaker and Naomi Bagdonas talked about their book, Humor, Seriously: Why Humor is a Secret Weapon in Business and Life. 

As an executive, one of my main preoccupations was to be responsive, and super-efficient, not to hold things up for others. I wish I had then appreciated the power of pacing.

As an executive coach, I am focused on developing leaders and their teams, bringing them to their highest productivity levels. To do that, I need to see results.

Some years back, as a busy executive, managing business across multiple markets it is fair to say that I had a somewhat singular focus on my role and ensuring the organization’s success.

I recall a conversation with my deputy, an eminently qualified executive, whom I admired greatly.

She observed that she had never met anyone who had put so much of himself into his job.

Initially, I took this as a compliment, but over time I’ve come to realise that it may well have been an early warning, that I did not at the time, have the wisdom to heed.

Now as a coach, I counsel executives to not confuse doing their very best with letting their role overcome all aspects of their life and that they are ultimately of more benefit to their organisation by keeping a safe mental distance from the task at hand.

Often these matters are more easily acknowledged than rectified.

Working with a coach who has been there, is I believe a great starting point.

As a full-time executive coach, one of the many rewards I receive is to share the insight, perspective, and wisdom of my clients.

In a recent coaching session with a senior Silicon Valley Executive, we spoke of the challenge of growth and the key qualities leaders need to support it.

There are a few different types of leaders.

There is the leader who is feared. The guy who is at the center of every decision and those leaders can be effective.

Too often, we just dive into things and figure them out along the way. However, contracting, be it in the form of a short discussion, a formal meeting, or any other deliberate communication that leads to a mutually agreed approach to achieve a joint objective, adds significant value:

Many major companies are struggling in the post - Covid era, with unpredictable consumer demand, challenged supply chains, and an urgent need to augment depleted staff levels within a constricted labour market.

Last week I had the honor to give a talk to a group of 80 young leaders at a private home in New York City. Organized by the dynamic Jessica Wolf, Co-Founder of Skye, we discussed the topic of Leading Through Uncertainty.

That’s a question that often comes up in our work with clients given today’s business challenges. It depends on whether the situation is temporary or if there is no end in sight.

When it comes to making choices that affect us, whether it is in business or our personal life, along with the promise of a better future, comes a cost.  To ensure we make the right decision, it is important to calculate the cost of that decision.

As an Executive Coach, one of the subjects that often comes up is what I call the Deferral of Happiness.

This is where someone tolerates a difficult situation on the basis, that at some point things will change for the better ...

A few weeks ago, I attended the last few classes of a Masters Of Science course, that I have committed myself to over the last few years.

In Executive Coaching, the number one topic, that comes up time and time again is Executive Presence with more books and articles written on this, than perhaps any other aspect of management.

Often, our clients bring us in as team coaches to help a working group move towards becoming a high-performance team.
However, not all groups who work together are teams, nor do they need to be.

Coaching our clients, we focus on potential rather than deficiencies. Realizing potential is all about unrealized ability and as such, bringing the courage, determination, willpower, mental strength, and hard work to do something you really want to pursue, something that brings you fulfillment.

“John* is building an AI construction startup, that’s growing rapidly and impressively. He’s looking to level up his personal skills and build a long-term culture for the company” read the email introduction from a venture capital colleague in March of 2018.

I was working with a client who felt like she couldn’t take the steps she wanted in a new career path because she was afraid, she might be embarrassed.

The Microsoft Work Trends index report was released in Europe last week and makes for some interesting reading.

Amongst the highlights were...

In team coaching we often start by coaching the leader, giving them the support and insights required for the journey ahead.

My work with executives and CEO/ Founders often starts with a 360 assessment where I do a deep dive into the perception coworkers, direct reports and board members have about my client.

Iceland, other than the fact, that it is a geological wonder with its geysers, volcanoes, and waterfalls, is the home to the world’s happiest citizens. One of the reasons for their happiness is, that it is OK to fail.

At Global Coaching Delivered_® we often begin our team coaching engagements by asking participants to complete a confidential proprietary survey.  

It's an important tool in the coaching journey as it clearly identifies our starting point.

Often people that we work with struggle with the fact that they operate in what is referred to as a blame culture.  In other words, they operate in an environment where people are singled out, blamed, and criticized for mistakes or errors they may have made. 

I’ve written in the past about the importance of establishing teams that are cohesive and feel rooted in a foundation of psychological safety.

During my corporate career I often participated in what were called “open doors", an invitation would go out weekly to all the staff to join one of six, twenty-minute, one-on-one meetings with myself.

With many of the emerging companies I deal with, excitement flows through the organization when things start to click. The product launches, the series A round is successful, customer deals are closing. Yet, if you scratch the surface anxiety rises. 

Do you trust your colleagues, respect them, and feel free to be yourself at work?  

In Global Coaching Delivered_®'s engagement with high-performing teams, we note that the one key characteristic that continuously defines the very best of teams is that they simply take the time to learn from their mistakes.

As an executive coach working with multiple teams across the world, it is clear to me that what differentiates good teams from great ones, is trust.

Over the last three years as a full-time Executive Coach, I’ve had time to reflect on a career that took me over a thirty-year period, from Production Assistant to EVP, Managing all Major international markets for a major Hollywood studio.

One of the most significant enablers in team performance is that all members are able to freely and openly contribute, thus ensuring an optimum organizational outcome.

In individual coaching historical experiences of the client are often reviewed as a means to identify the underlying rationale for current, ingrained patterns of behaviour.

The type of leadership that underpins sustainable organizations in today’s volatile environment is one that is human-centered.

Over the years, I’ve had the privilege of leading as well as contributing to many teams. I have found that the more diverse the team was, the better it worked together and the more it was able to accomplish. 

Recently I delivered a keynote in Vienna for Pioneers 18, a conference for founders/ CEOs from many countries around the world. I went in feeling confident

Massive growth in an organization requires a different approach than managing through stability or adversity.

Reflecting upon what the most important Executive trait is, I am clear that for me it is kindness, at work as well as life as a whole.

In our recent corporate interactions, we hear reference to the rubber band theory.  It suggests that in the next year or so, all the changes that have happened in the workplace, specifically around flexible working practices will snap back into place.

Over the last three years as a full-time Executive Coach, I have reflected on a career that took me over a thirty-year period, from Production Assistant to EVP, Managing all Major international markets for a major Hollywood studio.

When coaching IT leaders, the question often comes up whether to stay within IT or move into a business role.  As they say, the grass looks greener on the other side!
 

Recently I interviewed a handful of CEO/Founders who are just past series A funding rounds.

Their greatest fear is failing!

More and more we are encountering references to the Great Resignation, the idea that employees who are now forced back into the workplace, have decided to move to more location flexible employers.

It takes a mastery approach to the sport rather than a scoreboard orientation to teach athletes to put forward maximum effort so that they can continuously learn, improve, and not let themselves be stopped by mistakes or fear of making mistakes.

Employee engagement as well as their sense of belonging and purpose will depend on how effective you communicate.

In your communication be deliberate about how you say things, not just what you are trying to say.

Whatever challenges we may face, any given point is just a snapshot in time. Having a tough time today does not mean that this situation will persist tomorrow. A lot of expressions capture this sentiment

Before we can answer this question, it is important to frame the issue. Both work and life create demands on our time that cannot be ignored.

As a survival mechanism, many companies have now experienced the benefits and ease of digital communication, whether it is via Zoom, Teams or other tools.

As an Irish executive who traveled the world and relocated numerous times, one thing that has often struck me, is that almost anywhere in the world you go, there is an Irish Pub.

It had been several weeks since he had last had a decent night’s sleep, things were changing at work and not for the good! His boss had exited, divisions were being combined and strangers were now determining his and the company’s future.

Change comes from the creation of real awareness, not just around what we do currently, but why we behave in particular ways.

In today’s volatile environment companies no longer last 100 years. Change is constant and it happens quickly.

To be successful organizations must adapt on the fly to the challenges they are facing.

Keeping a work-life balance during the pandemic has proven difficult as the lines have increasingly blurred now that most people are working from home.

Here are 7 ways to help you delineate your work and home life.

The most important part, indeed the enabler of any meaningful coaching journey, is the recognition of where you are starting from.

I looked across the assembly room as a New York autumn played out through the floor to ceiling windows. The diversity sprinkled throughout the room was impressive. Of the 30 people in my Columbia University Executive and Organizational Development Cohort, 15 were from outside the U.S.

When we speak with others about what they really miss, as a result of being locked down during the Covid epidemic, it is striking how it is the loss of softer more human and indeed creative items that seem to challenge us most.