Effective teams do not just happen. They are coached into existence. They are developed, nurtured, trained, coached, empowered, refined, and maintained. And they are rare. The truth is that most groups of people are hardly compatible as a group, let alone as a team. And most teams are not highly effective teams, but suffer many dysfunctions (lack of trust, lack of collaboration, commitment, openness, fear of conflict, inattention to results). And even highly effective teams do not tap into all of the potentials that are possible when people come together to work and play for a cause that the members share as important and meaningful.

There's a problem with today's organisations. Actually, there are many challenges we face with our current organisational paradigm. But in this article, I'm focusing on the challenges we face when we show up to work wearing a mask, and I'm not talking about the COVID-19 pandemic kind of mask. 

The idea that we can ‘manage time’ is one of the greatest illusions that exists today. I believe too many of us are focused on trying to manage this illusion, which can keep us stuck and dis-empowered.

Do you receive feedback like a pro? Almost no one has been trained in how to receive feedback effectively. So, most of us do not know how. Yet as a leader, it is crucial that we receive high quality feedback so we can continue to step into our potential as leaders. What about you? Are you a leader who would like to receive high quality feedback? What do you need to know and understand about feedback and what do you need to be able to do in order to receive feedback effectively?

We all need feedback. High quality feedback works like a mirror, it mirrors back what and how we are doing. For leaders to be effective in their leadership, they must be able to deliver high quality feedback to their team, so that the individuals receiving the feedback are able to do something valuable with it.

“Energy flows where attention goes as directed by intention.” When I first heard this statement many years ago, it was a profound moment for me. I became very curious and began to ask myself - What am I paying attention to? And I began to wonder, do I really intend to be paying attention to these things?

Being able to ask high quality and powerful questions is a critical skill for effective leadership. Questioning seems like it is an easy and obvious skill. But too often people confuse, speaking, telling instructing and giving advice with questioning. It is an advanced skill to be able to use inquiry to facilitate the self-actualization in another, which is one of the desired outcomes of leadership right?

High level listening is a MAJOR skill for effective leadership. Most of us would like to think that we’re good listeners, and that we have the ability to deeply listen to others. But if I asked you, what are the skills required for effective listening? What gets in the way of listening? And what are we listening for? Would you know how to answer these questions? And more importantly, would you be able to engage in some high-level listening? In this blog I will share what listening is, and is not, what are we listening for, and what I think the most advanced listening skills are for effective leadership. This is the first in a series of Blogs highlighting many ​valuable leadership skills - stay tuned.