All tagged 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.

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.

Writing manifesto

Writing manifesto

Rebecca Morley

Sometimes an idea starts to nudge away at your thoughts. At first, it’s a whisper, quiet and polite. But when it’s persistent you begin to realise it might be something important. Soon that whisper starts to get louder. Eventually it becomes a shout. Impossible to ignore.

The only way to do anything about it, is to take action.

3 ways to up your leadership game - today

3 ways to up your leadership game - today

Rebecca Morley

If you feel as though your leadership could do with a tune up after the uncertainty and turmoil of the last year you’re not alone. So many people I’ve spoken to recently feel as though they’ve been in survival mode for months.

With so little certainty over the future, looking longer term has felt impossible. But that feels so tiring and demotivating that many of you are looking for ways to get back on track.

I recent coaching sessions, I’ve found that the same things have come up again and again. Leaders want to feel as though they’re leading again. They want to feel as though the business is going somewhere and that they are in control.

Being able to do that actually tends to require very small shifts but the results are overwhelmingly positive when you make even small changes consistently.

COVID-19 - Should I be spending money on coaching and development?

COVID-19 - Should I be spending money on coaching and development?

Rebecca Morley

If the last few months have taught me anything, it’s how much of a luxury some people still think coaching and development are.

That makes me sad. For me, it’s anything but. My own business has been impacted significantly by this crisis but I’ve doubled my own spend on coaching and supervision as I know it’s a necessity. I work with numerous businesses who feel the same - I know they’ll weather this storm.

Be More Gazelle - How to grow your business at speed...

Be More Gazelle - How to grow your business at speed...

Rebecca Morley

A week today I attended an event called Be More Gazelle - How to grow your business at speed...

I’ll start with a confession… before this event I had no idea what a Gazelle was. Obviously I know it's a kind of deer like mammal but in business terms, not a clue! It turns out I probably should have done because it’s exactly the kind of companies I work with. According to The FT it's an extremely fast growing company (20% + YOY) that maintains consistent momentum. 

 

Are you a secret Gazelle? I can’t be the only person that doesn’t know what one is?!

 

The event was run by Upstream – a fab initiative that's aiming to redress the silicon roundabout East-West imbalance and make Hammersmith and Fulham the best place to do business in Europe. What an exciting vision! Are you in the West of London? Look it up and get involved. There were far too many business advisors there and not enough actual businesses and I'd love to feel as though I was part of a growing and thriving community of great businesses. 

The 5 things your business can't live without...

The 5 things your business can't live without...

Rebecca Morley

OK so this is the second time I’ve written about this but the more clients I work with and the more I learn, the more I think this message bears repeating. For all the advice there is out there about how to run a business, there are really only 5 very basic things that every business needs to do well. And yet, I find very few businesses that have all of these nailed.

I’ve worked in, and with, businesses of all sizes. From multi billion pound blue chips that exist in hundreds of countries to kitchen table enterprises that are just getting off the ground and literally everything in between. And only a handful have all 5 of these things down pat. They all do some of these things, and some of them do all of them to some extent but none do all of them, all of the time.

I thought when I started working with small businesses and start ups that they would be hugely different to the big corporates. And they are, massively different –

The four golden rules every small business owner needs to know...

The four golden rules every small business owner needs to know...

Rebecca Morley

Want to know how to be a better leader? Know this - leadership is everything you do.

At a recent panel discussion I went to, the question was asked - how do I find time to lead my team? When do I lead in between all of the other priorities I have? And the answer? Leadership is everything you do. Your team will look to you for cues and clues on exactly how you want your business to run. Every conversation you have with them or someone else, you are showing them how people have conversations in your business. Every decision you make, you are showing them how decisions are made and what the priorities are in your business. The way you deal with customers and suppliers is the way that customers and suppliers are dealt with in your business.