In our interactions with others we can often assume that we are all having the same experience, viewing the situation similarly and extracting the same data. The reality is we are having entirely different experiences, picking up on very different things, seeing, and hearing, with different (literally) eyes and ears. If we imagine this in...
I’ve attended a few online sessions in the past couple of weeks. All of them promised learning (even in the fine print) yet turned out to be sales webinars aimed at getting people signed up for a range of support services or development programmes. Scanning the meeting Chat showed others were also feeling less than...
One of the key factors that we promote and seek to develop in high performing teams here at azzur is the ability for senior execs to work in the collective space, in which they move beyond their functional specialism and into being a ‘board’ where every member is truly functioning across all disciplines. This isn’t...
When things go wrong it is, perhaps, human nature to seek the source of the fault, to lay blame, to want to know why it happened and who or what was responsible. It’s an all too easy road in organisational life, especially with the pressure to deliver results. Yet, it’s a road that can make...
Developing a coaching style in our leadership is a sure-fire way to developing and empowering others and to increasing capability and capacity in our teams and organisations. Moreover, it builds trust and relationship. Some leaders find this shift in practice relatively easy to accomplish. For others it takes a little more time and effort, not...
Uncertainty breeds fear and that becomes a black hole, sucking in vast amounts of emotional and physical energy that could best be used in more productive and progressive ways. The shadow of uncertainty being cast across our world is entirely man made. After mostly surviving the cost of living crisis in the UK the rumours...
Resilience is surely one of the most important qualities for navigating the challenges of our chaotic and unpredictable world. We can see this in nature as the natural world recovers from the battering of climatic events. We can see it in human life as communities repair and rise again after natural or human-made disasters. We...
Work is probably the only place we are forced into relationship with others rather than having the freedom to choose. From day one in any role, at whatever level, there are people we need to relate to well to enable our contribution, to get things done, to create a culture where people feel valued, and...
Euro 2024 recently threw up a moment of hen’s teeth rarity when Portugal captain Cristiano Ronaldo, a player known for his single-mindedness and ruthless goalscoring, passed to a colleague in a slightly better position to take the shot. His actions shifted the outcome from likely to certain as the goal was duly scored. In football...
When asked to describe the qualities and practices of leadership ‘leading by example’ is a phrase that will be often repeated. But does that cut it? We are in a time of election, not just here in the UK but across the world. European elections are taking place. India has recently completed its polls and...