All in Leadership

Clarity is in the distinctions

Clarity is in the distinctions

Rebecca Morley
Leadership

Funny story:

Easter Sunday and my husband set off down our street to hide Easter eggs for our children to hunt.

As he was laying some of them against one of the steps a few doors down the guy came out of his house.

‘What are you doing?’ he said.

‘I’m hiding Easter eggs for the children’ said my husband as he carried on down the street swinging his Easter basket.

‘Thanks very much’ said the guy as he picked them up and went back into his house - much to my husband’s consternation.

It turns out, on speaking to the neighbours that this guy has grandchildren… and, it seems, also now thinks of my husband as a very generous benefactor of Easter treats for the children of our street.

So what went wrong?!

Marvellous Meetings

Marvellous Meetings

Rebecca Morley
Leadership

If there’s one thing that can impact the look and feel of a business more than anything else it’s the meeting culture. When I run diagnostics for companies so many of the examples of what works and what doesn’t come from meetings. It’s why so many leadership and business consultants insist on observing meetings before they will advise on what needs to change.

I was once part of a huge full-scale team transformation process that took 2 years - the official bit - the work is never ‘done’. We looked at every aspect of this overlooked team to understand how to raise it’s profile and bring it front and centre in a business that really needed it to lead. We looked at individuals, at structures and processes, at tools and skills. All of this made an enormous impact on how the team performed but the last piece in the jigsaw, the piece that brought the whole thing together and made things work REALLY WELL, was getting the meeting structure right.

Can you create a high performing team in a high growth environment?

Can you create a high performing team in a high growth environment?

Rebecca Morley
Leadership

I’ve been rewriting my website recently. It’s been fun, spending time thinking about what it really means for my clients to make the shifts they do when working with me. Last week I was chatting to Elizabeth who’s doing a stunning job of helping me drag all of the tangled thoughts out of my head. She was asking me about what it really looks like when a team is functioning brilliantly.


It’s like an orchestra I said. You are the conductor. Your team members know their roles, they know what they’re good at and they know that they need to follow the music and look to you for pace, emphasis, energy. You’re not leaving your conductor’s podium every two minutes to play first violin. Neither are the members of your team playing tug of war over different instruments. You have agreed what pieces you’re playing, in what order and when.

Are you getting your kicks in all the wrong places?

Are you getting your kicks in all the wrong places?

Rebecca Morley
Leadership

A lot of the senior leaders I work with find they’re low energy because, as natural high achievers, they get their buzz from doing things and getting results. They find that rather than building a whole list of things that drain them, they actually end up feeling as though they just don’t have a very big list of things that energise them.

As you get towards the top of any organisation, two things happen. Firstly you now have a team who are eager to do things and get results themselves and secondly the external validation that tells you you’re doing well, and that high achievers thrive on, starts to diminish.

Are you scared of getting found out?

Are you scared of getting found out?

Rebecca Morley
Leadership

Reaching the heights of your career or business unfortunately doesn’t provide immunity to feeling the effects of impostor syndrome acutely. The additional responsibility makes you even more susceptible and, what I’m hearing, is that so many of you feel even less able to show that as your teams struggle with the immense pressure that they’ve had to face too.

This can lead to intense feelings of isolation and a fear of getting found out. And with recent events that’s hardly surprising. But that doesn’t stop you feeling as though you should really have it all far more under control.

The new business metrics you need to pay attention to

The new business metrics you need to pay attention to

Rebecca Morley
Leadership

With recent announcements feeling a bit more positive and the first signs of spring emerging, I’m allowing some cautious optimism to creep in! But there’s still a great deal of uncertainty, and a lot of change still to come right?

If you’re feeling tired, or finding it difficult to get clarity at the end of this very tumultuous time, you’re not alone. Change makes us feel out of control, which in turn makes it very hard to think.

Not just that but significant turmoil or change can make it hard to make sense of your business based on the usual metrics or KPIs. Often the numbers simply don’t make sense when the contextual change is so enormous.

Breaking in the horse.... how to turn negative emotions into positive energy.

Breaking in the horse.... how to turn negative emotions into positive energy.

Rebecca Morley
Leadership

As we navigate these strange and often confusing times, the energy you bring to your business is more important than ever. In times of change and uncertainty your team will inevitably look to you for support and guidance. In my experience though they also look to you for cues and clues on how things really are and how things are going to be.


Put simply, if you aren’t walking the talk then your team will very quickly see through that. Managing your energy is everything.