The large organisation environment is increasingly regulated and governed. Due process. Follow the rules. Obey, and all will be well. Discussing this with a senior IT professional in one of the big four consultancies, he observed that those who are performing at an exceptional level are those who are willing to break the rules, and later be judged as having done the right thing. He also noted that they  Read More

I've just realised that it's feedback season again. Annual appraisals, performance reviews and all of that feedback coming in to you about what you've done last year, how your performance is rated. So I thought I'd just stop by and suggest a few things to remember when you're getting all of this feedback. And I hope the person doing your performance appraisal, takes these on board too. The first thing is, feedback is really just an opinion. Yes, it could be a very credible opinion depending on who it is, but it does depend on who it is. So whenever you're getting feedback, try to regard it as input to your personal decision-making process about what you're going to do differently. Read More

Simple idea, that could boost your confidence and get you that next position. When you are going through a selection process, or indeed, pitching for an opportunity, there is a great temptation to do all that you can to present yourself as an expert. Read More

Talking with an up and coming banker in New York. He expressed the view, based on what he was noticing, that it is becoming increasingly important that people climbing the corporate ladder must have a strong external profile, on social media and the like. He believes, you must stand for something, and demonstrate it publicly. If you wish to maximise your potential, I agree wholeheartedly. Of course, it is well known that recruiters scour social media for the footprint of Read More

Once you've decided where you want to build your reputation, another thing to consider, as you're doing the analysis of the environment, is what reputations are already there? This is important because there is a finite amount of air time for all of the reputations in that arena can get. So in a way, you could conceptualise this is all the reputations are jockeying for position, vying for the limelight, for the spotlight, to get the attention to come to them. Read More

When you fall apart in the face of tough opposition, people who are angry, aggressive or extremely assertive, it feels horrible, and knowing what to do for the best is illusive. To begin developing the capability to handle these situations, here are seven questions to ask yourself: Read More

At a recent workshop, one delegate quipped after the stakeholder mapping exercise, that he needed to be very careful not to leave his map lying around. My response was: "Well interestingly, quite often, you see some dramatic impacts when you start to share this, particularly with stakeholders who are not agreeing you. Even enemies, you can lay it on the table." Another delegate responded aghast, that, "How could you possibly accuse a stakeholder of being an enemy?" Read More

When you want to get something done, you will use the approach that is most likely to be affective for you. That is based on your experience, your skills, your capabilities, what's worked for you in the past. In fact, you'll have your own subconscious rulebook about the way these things should be decided, the way you should get what you want, because it's worked for you in the past. Read More

We've all had them. Emails land from powerful people, criticising either us or what we're doing, what we're proposing. When those emails land, there will always be an emotional first reaction. Maybe frustration, annoyance, embarrassment, or even anger. We take them personally because, well, they feel personal – even though in reality, they're probably not. Read More

A few years ago after a workshop, a lady came up to me expressing some deep concern that she was running out of time. As we started chatting, I discovered that she was very ambitious, wanted to achieve much more by way of position and responsibility in her career, but at the age of 49, she was running out of time. This took me by surprise if I'm totally honest, because I'd never really looked at it like this. Read More