We weren’t born people pleasers. So what happened?
Over the past two decades, one of the greatest privileges of my work has been facilitating Assertive Communication programs for organisations across Australia, Asia and, more recently, through the University of Sydney Centre for Continuing Education. Every program teaches me something new. Not simply about communication. But about people. Over the years, I’ve come to […]
Burnout Isn’t a Time Problem. It’s an Energy Leadership Problem.
For many technical professionals stepping into leadership, burnout is often framed as a time issue. 𝘛𝘰𝘰 𝘮𝘢𝘯𝘺 𝘮𝘦𝘦𝘵𝘪𝘯𝘨𝘴. 𝘛𝘰𝘰 𝘮𝘢𝘯𝘺 𝘱𝘳𝘪𝘰𝘳𝘪𝘵𝘪𝘦𝘴. 𝘛𝘰𝘰 𝘮𝘶𝘤𝘩 𝘸𝘰𝘳𝘬, 𝘯𝘰𝘵 𝘦𝘯𝘰𝘶𝘨𝘩 𝘩𝘰𝘶𝘳𝘴. But after more than two decades of working with engineers, auditors, project managers, IT professionals, lawyers, and senior leaders across industries, I’ve come to see burnout differently. Burnout […]
How a homeless man gave me the gift of personal transformation.
I’m often asked how I made the transition from introverted IT nerd to platform speaker. As with any sort of growth, it’s never the one thing. Yet, as I look back at my journey, certain paradigm shifting moments stand out. In particular, an encounter with a homeless man on the streets of San Diego. It was one of […]
7 Strategies for Communicating to Create Assurance
Projects introduce uncertainty. Once a project has commenced, change is often also the norm, brought about by a dynamic environment and the fact that we didn’t come into this world equipped with a crystal ball. Yet, it is generally true that people resist change. We humans have a strong preference for predictability and routine. Any […]
Strengthening Your Weakest Link
A couple of weeks ago, I had the privilege of attending my eldest son Jeremy’s final assembly at St Aloysius College. Yes, time has certainly flown past. It’s hard to imagine that all those years ago, my parents took the courageous step of sending me to Australia to do my Year 12 to fulfil their […]
The High EQ Exceptional Virtual Assistant!
Several weeks ago, I had the privilege of delivering the keynote at the Annual Dinner and Awards evening for the Victorian Chapter of the Australian Institute of Office Professionals. Sue and I had a great time, with one of the highlights being our meeting with Vanessa Ashby, who won the Victorian Office Professional of the […]
Leading in the Time of Social Distancing: How to Bring Out the Best in Your Team Amid Strife and Challenges
To say that these are trying times is perhaps an understatement. The spread of Covid-19 has created a global scenario that’s unprecedented in modern times. In a matter of weeks, we’ve all had to contend with the jarring shift in how individuals communicate and how organisations operate. Social distancing, community quarantine, and complete lockdowns have […]
Outcomes Versus Objective
In my journey as a peak performance trainer and coach, one of the key attributes I’ve found which distinguishes the great from the good is their ability to clearly differentiate between outcomes and objectives – an objective being a goal that is designed to achieve a specific result, or outcome. People come up short when […]
Giving Effective Feedback
To the Dynamic PEACE Change Leaders, For PEACE to be sustainable, it’s about creating a culture (“how staff behave when their managers aren’t around”) that supports it. As Managers and Change Leaders, you play a key role in empowering and reinforcing such behavioural change. A key tool to “reinforce” behaviour change is providing your staff […]
