The Thoughtful Leader Podcast

Short, sharp leadership advice for leaders and managers who care about the performance and job satisfaction of their teams.

Why Trusting Your People Is Your Best Strategy 01/27/2020

Why Trusting Your People Is Your Best Strategy Trust is a huge factor in improving engagement and motivation in your teams. Imagine, your team members feeling like you believe in them ... wouldn't that be nice? In this episode, I talk about why trusting your people is not only a nice thing to do, it also gets better results and builds better relationships with your team members. In other words, you can't afford not to be doing it! And below is the 2 x 2 trust matrix which shows the possible outcomes of choosing to trust and believe in your team... or not: Links: Article: Why Showing Trust In Your People Is the Best Strategy (and Why It Works). Simon Sinek Video: https://simonsinek.com/discover/how-do-you-build-trust/ /episode/index/show/thoughtfulleader/id/12898130

Is a Productivity Problem Hurting Your Leadership? 01/20/2020

Is a Productivity Problem Hurting Your Leadership? I'm a big believer that effective time management and productivity is one of the foundations of good leadership. Leaders who manage their time poorly have less time for their teams and are not able to focus effectively, resorting to constant fire-fighting. A lot of good productivity comes down to mindset and what you will accept. In this episode, I look at 4 common symptoms which may indicate you have a productivity problem which is hurting your team. Online Course: If you feel as if you could benefit from managing your time more effectively, enrol in the Time Management for Leaders Online Course today. I've also added a coaching option which will help tackle your individual challenges too. Enrol here! Links: Online Course: Time Management For Leaders Online Course. eBook: Managing Upwards eBook. Atlassian Article: https://www.atlassian.com/time-wasting-at-work-infographic Article: 4 Signs That a Productivity Problem Might Be Hurting Your Leadership. /episode/index/show/thoughtfulleader/id/12807686

Leadership Lessons for 2020 01/11/2020

Leadership Lessons for 2020 In this episode, I share 5 leadership lessons from my career, with the hope that you can use some of them to help you in 2020 (or any year really...). But the new year is always a good time to take stock, give ourselves a kick and do things differently! Leave a comment below about the lessons, or simply comment on my new podcast graphic or the new intro music! Links: eBook: Difficult Conversations eBook. Online Course: Time Management For Leaders Online Course. Article: 5 Leadership Lessons You Can Apply In Your Team. /episode/index/show/thoughtfulleader/id/12697592

Are You Avoiding a Difficult Conversation? 01/07/2020

Are You Avoiding a Difficult Conversation? Difficult conversations are unavoidable in leadership if you want to be effective. These conversations could be about performance, behaviour or many other subjects. Without being able to have these conversations, you'll be stuck with conflicts and unmanaged expectations. In this episode, I introduce 3 questions that can help you to spur yourself into action to tackle that hard conversation. Let's face it, you probably already know you should be having the conversation... you just need some help to get started with it! Links: Resource: Difficult Conversations eBook. Article: Avoiding a Difficult Conversation? Ask Yourself These 3 Questions. /episode/index/show/thoughtfulleader/id/12653990

Employee Retention: More Than Stopping People Quitting 12/15/2019

Employee Retention: More Than Stopping People Quitting When it comes to retaining people, all you need to do is to stop them from leaving, right? No, not really. If all you do is try to keep people from leaving, it's not that hard. But then you run the risk of leading a team of people who are unhappy and unmotivated... but not unhappy enough to leave. I call this the motivation dead zone - you can see the zones pictured below. In this episode, we look at how to get people out of the Quitting Zone, through the Motivation Dead Zone and into the Satisfaction Zone, through the use of Hygiene Factors and Positive Motivators. It's the last episode for the year too - I hope you have some time off to spend with loved ones and take a break! Resource: If you need some more ideas to motivate your team, Thoughtful Leader can help. Check out the Motivating Your Team Audiobook, for tools and techniques to get the best out of your team members. Links: Article: Employee Retention: More Than Just Stopping People Quitting. Resource: Motivating Your Team Audiobook. /episode/index/show/thoughtfulleader/id/12409214

The Perils of Passive Leadership 12/08/2019

The Perils of Passive Leadership Passive leadership happens when leaders fail to take action, and it can be a huge problem for teams and workplaces. In this episode, I look at some key examples of passive leadership as well as ways that you can start taking action to avoid them. Passive leaders will make their teams feel like their situation is hopeless, so don't let this happen in your team! Resource: If you feel like you could benefit from greater leadership confidence to start taking the action you know you should be, sign up for the Leadership Confidence Coaching Program from Thoughtful Leader. Links: Article: Is Passive Leadership Destroying Your Team's Motivation? Resource: Leadership Confidence Coaching Program. /episode/index/show/thoughtfulleader/id/12319181

Why Building Your Team's Confidence Should Be a Priority 12/03/2019

Why Building Your Team's Confidence Should Be a Priority Leading a confident team has several important benefits. In this episode, I talk about these benefits and some of the simple things you can do to help grow the confidence of your team members and put your team in a better place. If you feel like you could benefit from greater leadership confidence or you are leading other managers who could use a boost, be sure to sign up for the Leadership Confidence Coaching Program from Thoughtful Leader. Links: Article: Why Building Team Confidence Should Be a Leadership Priority. Resource: Leadership Confidence Coaching Program. /episode/index/show/thoughtfulleader/id/12269903

Insecure Bosses and the Scientist Mindset 11/24/2019

Insecure Bosses and the Scientist Mindset In this episode I talk about a question I received from someone asking advice about having an insecure boss. Many of us have bad bosses at one time or another, so it's an important question for both leaders and team members alike! I give my thoughts on what to do in this situation and how you can try to make a shift in your manager's behaviour by putting on your "scientist hat" and experimenting with different approaches. The original question was: "My manager is extremely insecure, and he has good reason to be. He is supervising people who are smarter than him and better than him at everything that falls within the scope of work we are performing. He compensates for his lack of legitimate leadership capabilities by exercising arbitrary authority over us regularly to remind us that he is in charge. What can unlucky subordinates do to improve their situation when they find themselves under the thumb of a hopelessly incompetent leader?" Links: Article: Are You an Insecure Leader? Watch for These 10 Signs. Resource: Leadership Confidence Coaching Program. /episode/index/show/thoughtfulleader/id/12158051

Good Ways to Support Your Team 11/16/2019

Good Ways to Support Your Team When I have been the most stressed in my career, it was because I felt like I wasn't supported by my manager. We want to avoid this happening in your team, so in this episode, I cover 6 good ways that you can support your team to stop them from feeling exposed. Listen now and see whether you can do more to support your team, or whether you're on the right track. And leave a comment below with the things you do to support your team! Links: Article: 6 Great Ways to Support Your Team. Resource: Leadership eBook Series. /episode/index/show/thoughtfulleader/id/12057788

Directive Leadership... What It Is and When You Should Use It 11/10/2019

Directive Leadership... What It Is and When You Should Use It Directive leadership is not as common as it used to be. In many work environments, you don't get very far if you run your team as a dictatorship. However, this leadership style still has a purpose and can be very effective when used in the right situation. In this episode, Ben talks about what Directive Leadership is and when you might need to use it to get the best results. Links: Article: Directive Leadership: 4 Situations When You Should Be Using It. Resource: Adaptive Leadership eBook. /episode/index/show/thoughtfulleader/id/11974715

Is Your Fear of Leaving Your Job Making You a Worse Leader? 11/04/2019

Is Your Fear of Leaving Your Job Making You a Worse Leader? Fear does bad things to people in our workplaces. Fearful leaders might stay silent when they would normally speak out. They may fail to make a decision when normally they would act. There are many reasons why leaders feel uncomfortable and afraid to leave their jobs - are any of these reasons holding you back? The point is not that we should always be thinking about leaving our jobs. It's that when we feel like we have options, we will act more confidently and freely. In this episode, Ben looks at some ways to grow your confidence and give yourself options to free yourself from fear. Links: Article: Why Your Fear of Leaving Your Job Is Making You a Worse Leader. Article: Corporate Stockholm Syndrome from Psychology Today Resource: Managing Upwards eBook. /episode/index/show/thoughtfulleader/id/11907758

Moving Your People Along the Motivation Spectrum 10/27/2019

Moving Your People Along the Motivation Spectrum Motivation at work is tough - most of us need to work, and we spend more time with the people at work than we often do with our friends and families! Everyone is motivated by different things, and we have a whole range of people from those who love their jobs, to those who'd rather be doing something else that they're passionate about outside of work. Work does play an important part in people's lives, so it's important that as leaders, we try to help our teams feel as motivated as we possibly can. In this episode, Ben talks about the Motivation Spectrum, and how you can move people along the spectrum towards the high motivation end! Links: Audiobook: Motivating Your Team Audiobook. Article: Motivation at Work: Moving Your People Along the Motivation Spectrum. Podcast: Episode 29: 5 Questions to Ask an Unmotivated Team Member. /episode/index/show/thoughtfulleader/id/11795198

Limiting Beliefs That Ruin Your Effectiveness 10/19/2019

Limiting Beliefs That Ruin Your Effectiveness A challenge for every leader is to overcome limiting beliefs that we have developed over time. Productivity and effectiveness is one area where limiting beliefs can really damage performance as well as the motivation of your team. /episode/index/show/thoughtfulleader/id/11706542

Traps for Supportive Leaders 10/13/2019

Traps for Supportive Leaders Supportive leaders are great - but problems can occur when leaders step over the line from being supportive leaders to protective leaders. /episode/index/show/thoughtfulleader/id/11619392

Work Time-Wasters That Create Unhappy Teams 10/06/2019

Work Time-Wasters That Create Unhappy Teams Time-wasters at work can really have a big impact on your team's productivity. But that's not all, time-wasters also have the potential to damage team motivation if your people realise that they're not working on tasks that really add value. /episode/index/show/thoughtfulleader/id/11530619

Leadership Assumptions That Ruin Motivation 09/29/2019

Leadership Assumptions That Ruin Motivation It's easy for leaders to make assumptions about their teams when things get busy. But there are some assumptions that can really damage motivation in a team. /episode/index/show/thoughtfulleader/id/11433785

Communication Mistakes That Will Damage Your Leadership 09/22/2019

Communication Mistakes That Will Damage Your Leadership Communication is a critical leadership skill, but it's often a part of leadership that we get wrong. /episode/index/show/thoughtfulleader/id/11342123

How Confident Leadership Will Help Your Team Thrive 09/15/2019

How Confident Leadership Will Help Your Team Thrive Confident leadership is not only useful for a leader's wellbeing - it's also great for their team too. In this episode, I look at some ways that confident leadership can help to improve motivation and trust within a team. /episode/index/show/thoughtfulleader/id/11253575

How to Create Open Communication in Your Team 09/09/2019

How to Create Open Communication in Your Team Open communication is something that is valuable to every leader and team. In this episode, I talk about some of the benefits of open communication in a team, as well as simple ways to start encouraging it in your team. /episode/index/show/thoughtfulleader/id/11175221

How Toxic Workplaces Happen (and what you can do about it) 09/02/2019

How Toxic Workplaces Happen (and what you can do about it) Toxic workplaces are horrible places to be, but they don't just happen by accident. /episode/index/show/thoughtfulleader/id/11094257

Employee Turnover - Why It's Good and When You Should Worry 08/27/2019

Employee Turnover - Why It's Good and When You Should Worry Employee turnover is a topic that can see leaders breaking out in a cold sweat. However, it's not all bad. /episode/index/show/thoughtfulleader/id/11012789

Why You Can't Hold Your Team Accountable 08/18/2019

Why You Can't Hold Your Team Accountable We all want to hold our teams accountable. In almost every workplace I've been, I hear the familiar phrase "There's just no accountability!" This episode deals with that issue. /episode/index/show/thoughtfulleader/id/10908681

Short Term Thinking = Bad Leadership 08/11/2019

Short Term Thinking = Bad Leadership One of the primary causes of bad outcomes in our workplaces is short-term thinking on the part of leaders. Taking action or failing to take necessary action often occurs because we don't take the time to think of the long-term outcomes of what we're doing. /episode/index/show/thoughtfulleader/id/10855526

Using Work Pressure to Improve Team Performance 08/04/2019

Using Work Pressure to Improve Team Performance It's never fun having a stressed and overworked team. But did you know that all stress is not created equal? /episode/index/show/thoughtfulleader/id/10771769

5 Questions to Ask an Unmotivated Team Member 07/29/2019

5 Questions to Ask an Unmotivated Team Member Early in my career I remember thinking that people who were unmotivated at work were just "slackers". Now, my perspective has changed a lot, because I believe that one of the biggest factors in motivation is the work environment and how people are treated, rather than it all being up to the individual. /episode/index/show/thoughtfulleader/id/10701536

Why Softly Spoken Leaders Make a Big Impact 07/22/2019

Why Softly Spoken Leaders Make a Big Impact Softly spoken leaders face some challenges in the workplace, struggling to be heard over the noise of their dominant, outspoken counterparts. /episode/index/show/thoughtfulleader/id/10609994

Why Your Team Won't Speak Up (and Why You Need Them to) 07/16/2019

Why Your Team Won't Speak Up (and Why You Need Them to) Ever walked away from a meeting you thought was going to be controversial, where there was actually no conflict at all? You could have a problem, because your team isn't speaking up. /episode/index/show/thoughtfulleader/id/10548491

How Better Time Management Will Help Your Team 07/07/2019

How Better Time Management Will Help Your Team Leaders can be one of the greatest sources of wasted time in the workplace. This is unfortunate, but true! In this episode, Ben talks about how leaders who manage their time better can have a positive effect on their teams and improve their productivity. /episode/index/show/thoughtfulleader/id/10432889

Everyone Is Stupid...Except for MY Team 06/30/2019

Everyone Is Stupid...Except for MY Team Ever worked in a team where an adversarial attitude builds against people outside of the team? This can be a damaging mindset if left unchecked. /episode/index/show/thoughtfulleader/id/10251134

Why You Need to Speak Up At Work 06/23/2019

Why You Need to Speak Up At Work Having the confidence to speak up and out about issues and inefficiencies in your workplace is a key role of a leader. /episode/index/show/thoughtfulleader/id/10251047

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