How to Manage your Emotions using the Rational Defensive Continuum
The Rational Defensive Continuum helps you to assess your emotional reactions and identify ways to manage or control these more effectively.
June 27, 2023
Wellbeing at Work Toolkit
Wellbeing at Work is critical to ensuring your employees are engaged. Since the onset of COVID-19, our recent research shows “60% of employees in Ireland are feeling more stressed” along with “50% of employees feeling increasingly disconnected from their teams and their organisations”. We are in danger of seeing employee burnout in the very near future and it is of great concern.
SELF CARE FOR INDIVIDUALS
Self–care begins at an individual level but is usually the first thing to get sacrificed during challenging times. Developing self-care practices will help build self-awareness, resilience, and enable individuals to manage future issues themselves. Small changes can have a big impact in the long run. If you are open about self-care, your teams and organisation will follow your lead.
We support people to build practical solutions and develop self-care plans that you are fully in control of. Setting realistic goals and practicing consistently, guarantees better performance.
TEAM EFFECTIVENESS
Bringing the team together is the start. Inspiring, motivating, and truly leading them is the constant challenge especially during uncertain or challenging times.
We go far beyond team-building events. These may deliver a quick fix of positivity and dynamism, but this rarely translates into a sustained change in the workplace. Instead, we maximise team effectiveness by identifying and building on your team’s current strengths. We instill skills and create a plan for high performance and long-term success.
COACHING
Coaching in the workplace improves communications, increases employee engagement, and improves individual performance. Coaching helps people get clear on their goals, understand their challenges better, discover new ways of thinking, reduce feelings of stress, and, ultimately, step into their potential.
We guide you through how to help individuals/others identify their future aspirations, current challenges, any barriers they face, and what actions they need to take to achieve their potential. Learn how to coach others and gain practical learnings to improve themselves.
360-DEGREE FEEDBACK ASSESSMENTS
These are competency assessments in which employees receive anonymous feedback from varying working relationships such as; managers, colleagues, team members, and customers.
The 360-degree feedback approach works by identifying performance gaps and developing self-awareness, confidence and motivation. Helping create stronger and more engaged individuals and teams.
BURNOUT
Burnout is a syndrome of emotional exhaustion, depersonalisation, and reduced personal accomplishment that can occur among individuals who work with people in some capacity. The consequences of burnout are potentially very serious on your employees and leaders.
Using diagnostics and reports we can measure individual and team burnout and the likely causes. We develop collaboratively practical, employee, and team centred solutions that work over the longer term.
Powerful Coaching Questions To Use With The GROW Model
The GROW Model – originally developed by Graham Alexander, Alan Fine, and Sir John Whitmore is the coaching framework most commonly used by Managers to coach their employees; improve performance, solve problems, make better decisions, learn new skills, and reach their career goals. The key...
May 24, 2023
Understanding the Skill/Will Matrix
Effective leaders use the Skill Will Matrix to take stock of where individuals in their team are and how they can use this to optimise performance. If you fail to take stock, or your evaluation of where individuals are is in incorrect, your leadership approach may not match, which in turn can affect performance.
May 18, 2023
Do you know when to teach, mentor or coach?
One of the challenges facing leaders and managers is how best to support employee development in order to improve performance. When it comes to regular development conversations the options include teaching, mentoring and coaching. So, which one to choose?
May 11, 2023
Avoiding or Embracing Accountability?
The Ladder of Accountability is a simple tool to assess the level of accountability in yourself, your team or your organisation. When we see behaviours in line with the bottom rungs, this suggests people are avoiding accountability. The lower the rung of behaviour, the more...
February 28, 2023
Why psychological safety is the key to team success: a game – changing insight for leaders
Psychological safety, the belief that one can express oneself and take risks without the fear of being humiliated or punished, is a crucial factor in determining a team’s performance – and of supporting a culture of trust, learning, and innovation. Below we explore the characteristics...
February 16, 2023
Uncover the Root Causes of Conflict and Normalise Healthy Conflict
As leaders and managers, you play a crucial role in resolving conflicts within your teams and organisations. Conflict is a very normal part of any interpersonal relationship and when addressed properly, it can really help people to have better, healthier outcomes within their day to...
February 9, 2023
More Impactful Leadership starts with Emotional Intelligence
Emotional intelligence (EI) refers to the ability to understand and manage our own emotions, as well as the emotions of others. This skill is becoming increasingly recognised as a critical component of effective leadership and management in the business world – and a reliable predictor...
February 1, 2023
Managing Hybrid Teams – 4 Key Issues and How to Overcome:
The arrival of Covid-19 induced a shift from on-site to remote work. This shift changed how and where we work. An amalgamation of the office-based work before the pandemic, and Covid induced flexible, remote practices has given birth to the future of work; the hybrid approach.
October 11, 2021
Giving Effective Feedback using the EEC Model
As leaders, we sometimes hold back from providing negative feedback. The EEC model helps you to structure constructive feedback to enable your team to perform at their best. It ensures that the feedback is clear, honest and open.
October 4, 2021
5 Dysfunctions of a Team
Root causes for why teams fail – 5 dysfunctions • Absence of trust...unwilling to be vulnerable within the team. • Fear of conflict...seeking artificial harmony over constructive passionate debate. • Lack of commitment...feigning buy-in for group decisions creates ambiguity throughout the organisation. • Avoidance of accountability...avoiding calling out peers on counterproductive behavior which sets low standards. • Inattention to results focusing on ego, personal success, and status before team success.
June 18, 2021
A Formula for Measuring Performance
Engagement and performance are hugely influenced by the quality and regularity of ongoing coaching conversations between a manager and an employee. The Corporate Executive Board suggests that when employees and managers have frequent, honest, future-focused coaching conversations, engagement and business results improve by as much...
March 18, 2021
Why Feedforward Works Better Than Feedback In Managing Performance
Giving effective feedback is an essential leadership skill, one that is regularly dreaded. Employees need to know if their performance is what their leaders expect from them and, if not, they need to know how to improve. The challenge with giving feedback is that it’s focused purely on past actions and not on the future.
March 5, 2021
Tips To Conduct Virtual Performance Reviews.
Nobody likes doing Performance reviews - especially now virtually. Tips for managers on how to best approach these virtual performance review conversations?
February 23, 2021
Curiosity as an Antidote to Burnout
Arguably the most widely referenced thought leader and researcher in the field of curiosity is Todd Kashdan. Kashdan defines curiosity as the recognition, pursuit, and desire to explore novel, uncertain, complex, and ambiguous events. This almost sounds like a description of a pandemic! This should...
February 2, 2021
How Mood Can Impact Team Performance
Emotional Contagion is one’s ability to influence the emotions and behaviors of others. This happens between people and is especially prevalent where people know each other very well and teams who have worked together for a long time.
January 27, 2021
How to Recognise Stress in Remote Teams
Covid-19 is challenging all of us and it is vital that people managers and senior leaders can identify warning signs of stress and support each team member at an individual level.
November 23, 2020
How to Reduce the Risk of Employee Burnout in the workplace
The World Health Organisation (WHO) updated its definition of Burnout in 2019 and for the first time described it as a workplace syndrome “Burnout is a syndrome resulting from chronic workplace stress that has not been successfully managed. “ Given the impact of COVID-19, this...
November 12, 2020
Employee burnout looming due to Covid-19 – Survey Results
Our recent survey reveals that 60% of employees in Ireland are feeling more stressed since the onset of Covid-19, with 67% of women reporting increased levels of stress compared with 45% of men.
September 15, 2020
Beyond Covid_19: A New World of Work
The report highlights the key findings from our survey and provides critical insights into the work policies, practices, and management approaches needed to engage in a new world of work.
September 4, 2020
Stop Playing the Game – Managing Defensive Behaviour
Everyone’s triggers are different, and there are innumerable reasons why someone reacts and behaves defensively. The problem with being defensive is that once triggered, our natural stress response takes over and we become even more defensive.
August 18, 2020
Managing Emotional Triggers: The Power of Checking In
On the Rational Defensive Triangle, we describe how when triggered, we can become defensive. The defensive state leads to diminished awareness and diminished choice, and in an extreme defensive state ‘up the triangle’, we can literally switch to ‘autopilot’, as the amygdala hijacks our brain’s emotional control.
July 23, 2020
How to overcome Zoom Fatigue.
A frozen screen, a barking dog, kids screaming, heavy breathing…. sound familiar? Since the beginning of the Covid_19 pandemic, we have been dependant on video conferencing tools such as Zoom, Hangouts, Skype to help stay connected on a business and personal level. However, too much...
June 29, 2020
5 Tips for Successful Coaching Conversations
Coaching is ever-evolving. 5 tips for managers and leaders looking to ‘coach in the moment’, ask before they tell, and have better coaching conversations.
June 10, 2020
How to Build Trust and Assess Trustworthiness
Trust is hard won and easily lost. It's a two-way engagement and the foundation for better relationships and collaboration.
June 5, 2020
6 Lessons Transitioning from Face to Face to Virtual Classroom
On Thursday March 12th I facilitated my last face to face programme with a Senior Leadership Team. The evening before I had a pint in the hotel bar and watched Liverpool crash out of the Champions League. There was an air of nervousness about COVID-19...
May 22, 2020
Deliver an Effective Learning Experience through Virtual Learning.
In the current situation, many of you are investing in Virtual Learning. However, not all forms of virtual learning are the same.
May 19, 2020
7 Steps to Successfully Manage Crisis Remotely
We are experiencing a global crisis resulting in millions of people working from home, many for the first time. You may be sitting at home right now feeling confused, overwhelmed and anxious. You are not alone, and these emotions are a very common reaction to...
April 2, 2020
Casestudy: A cultural shift that transformed retailer’s performance
Background: Carrolls Irish Gifts is a leading Irish retailer of clothing, jewellery, souvenirs and gift products. Established in 1982, the business currently employs around 400 staff across 17 stores in Ireland, with plans to open further stores in new locations. It launched an online store...
July 24, 2019
Psst, do you want to know a secret about leadership development?
There’s a dirty little secret in leadership development that many people involved know about, but don’t often speak about. The vast majority of leadership development programmes don’t work. Yes, you read that right, most programmes simply fail to achieve their objectives. This is despite the fact that 80% of companies viewed leadership development as a high priority in a recent 2019 Deloitte Global Human Capital Trends report.
May 2, 2019
What it Takes to be a Great Leader?
We know that Leadership is important. But do we really understand what it takes to be a great leader? More importantly are we willing to dig deep, to do the work on ourselves, to benefit the organisation?
March 26, 2019
Steps to Attract and Hire Diverse Talent
Many organisations today are struggling to attract and retain top talent. Diversity and Inclusion is an increasing priority and organisations are now starting to see this as a critical Talent Management issue. There are significant benefits of having a more diverse workforce including; innovation, collaboration and productivity.
March 6, 2019
How to Improve and Promote Gender Equality in your workplace
Gender equality in the workplace is one of the most significant issues facing employers right now. Most companies recognise the need for gender-balanced teams, especially at the top of the organisation, but some can struggle to understand the best way to achieve this balance. Here,...
March 6, 2019
Introducing the Rational Defensive Triangle
We all operate along a continuum between rational and defensive and rational behaviour. When we’re feeling rational, we feel relaxed and positive. When our defences are triggered, we start to become less flexible, emotionally and physically. Everyone’s triggers are different.
January 31, 2019
Is Authentic Leadership keeping it real?
Authentic is defined as being “of undisputed origin and not a copy; genuine.” There has been considerable hype and focus on authentic leadership in recent years but many Leaders remain confused about what it is and why you should pay attention to it.
September 13, 2018
How to Bring Mindfulness to the Workplace
Mindfulness is more than meditation. A common question we get asked is how mindfulness works or is it just a hype? Last week was Mental Health Awareness week and with huge demands and pressure today in the workplace what better time to practice and learn about mindfulness.
May 16, 2018
Navigating the Minefield of Diversity and Inclusion
In navigating the Diversity and Inclusion minefield, we need to be aware that we can be overly focused on difference and not enough on the common work purpose, goals and outcomes we share with others and on teams.
April 12, 2018
Why Successful Leaders Lead with Trust
We’ve reached the final blog of our Trust series. Previously, we discussed in times of organisational change – Trust changes everything and how to effectively manage resistance to change.
March 13, 2018
5 Key Technology Trends in Learning and Development
The use of Technology in Learning and Development is changing rapidly. High performing Learning and Development departments understand this and take a blended approach to learning using the right technology for the right situations. According to the American Society of Training and Development’s 2013 Learning &...
July 11, 2013
4 Reasons for Training your Employees in Company Financials
Educating your employees on your financials will not make accountants out of them but it will definitely help them to become more engaged and effective in their roles. Many organisations do a very good job in developing and communicating their vision, mission and values. They...
July 4, 2013
The Dangers of First Impressions
How many of you see the old woman? How many of you see the young woman? If I ask these same questions again in a month’s time the chances are that the person you saw first a month ago will be the same person you...
April 24, 2013
How to Avoid Awkward Moments in Global Communications
Good translators are well worth their price for important multi-lingual communications, but for everyday interactions with a multi-national team you can remove confusion at the source by making your global communications globally understandable. I recently translated English into English for a Mexican retail sales trainer...
April 19, 2013
5 Great Mentoring Lessons from Munster Fans
All great mentors draw on their experience and common sense when confronted by those that haven’t yet wised up. I was lucky enough to be in Cardiff when Munster won their won their 2nd Heineken cup in 2008. During the after match celebrations in Bristol...
April 9, 2013
The Real Truth behind Strategy Execution
There are no guarantees in strategy execution. The Real truth is that the oft-quoted 90% strategy execution failure rate might be right. The origin of this statistic is unclear although most cite the 2008 Kaplan and Norton book The Execution Premium as their source. While this statistic is debatable, what...
March 28, 2013
3 Easy Steps to Enhancing Employee Innovation
Increasing employee innovation is easy! Just ask them for their ideas and implement the most cost effective options. The best and most effective way to do this is the World Café approach. I have just returned from facilitating a 2-day World Café event for a...
March 4, 2013