What culture are you creating in your business?

As Leaders and Managers, we very influential in the creation of the culture in the teams that we lead. Taking an idea from sports psychology, are we creating a Challenge or a Threat culture? A Challenge culture that encourages our people to step up and take risks, whereas a Threat culture creates limits as our people, focusing their efforts on remaining safe.

In our last podcast of 2020, Richard, Rob, Ricky and Paul explore what a Challenge culture might mean for us as leaders, and how we might unknowingly be creating the threat culture that limits our potential.

Posted On December 11, 2020 By Paul Hutchinson In Culture, Leadership, Podcasts, Productivity, The question is /

Why do the people I am working with not get that we need to step up?

At some point in our career, probably when we feel like we are giving everything we have, someone above us in the organisation tells us that now is the time to step. This has never been more true than this year where all of our plans have gone awry, yet we still need to close out the year and get things back on track.

Maybe you are that manager, being asked to have the difficult ‘stepping up’ conversation with your team, yet sensing that they don’t see the situation quite the same way you do.

In this podcast, Ricky and Paul explore why we all react differently when being asked to give more at work, and how as managers we can communicate better with the people around us so that they do not interpret stepping up as secret code for longer hours.

Photo by Jaz King on Unsplash.com

Posted On November 25, 2020 By Paul Hutchinson In Change, Leadership, Podcasts, The question is /

Why have I started to micromanage the people around me?

Has the lockdown experience impacted the way that you manage or interact with the people around you?

The current high levels of uncertainty might be causing you, or your boss, to become much more hands-on in the day to day workload than you used to be.

Ricky and Rob talk about what might be driving this change in behaviour and how you can let go to empower the people around you again.

Photo by Jason Rosewell on Unsplash.com

Posted On November 12, 2020 By Paul Hutchinson In Leadership, Podcasts, Productivity, The question is /

Why do I feel like a fraud even though I am doing great?

Ever feel like you are out of your depth? It is estimated that 7 out of 10 people will experience imposter syndrome at some point in their life.

In this episode, Richard, Rob, Ricky and Paul explore this common phenomenon; looking at the causes, sharing personal experiences of having to deal with it and considering strategies to help people to use the feeling to help them become more successful.

This is the 50th episode of our podcast series, The Question is…

Thanks for listening, let us know the topics that you think we should be covering in future podcasts.

Photo by Mohammad Metri on Unsplash

Posted On October 28, 2020 By Paul Hutchinson In Leadership, Podcasts, Resilience, The question is /

How do you lead out of confusion?

When things change we become a little uncertain for a while. With large scale organisational change, this uncertainty can become almost paralysing for some people, and right now we are all experiencing more change than any of us are used to. There is change both at work and at home, and it is impacted on almost every aspect of our lives.

We look to leaders to help us create certainty and stability, but how do you lead out of so much confusion?

Paul and Rob explore how leaders can bring people together and create the certainty that we need to move forward together.

Photo by Matt Botsford on Unsplash

Posted On October 15, 2020 By Paul Hutchinson In Change, Leadership, Podcasts, The question is /

Who wins (at work) when we when find new ways of working?

The way we work has changed more in the last few months than any other time in our working lives. Who will be the winners?

Political styles that might have worked well in the office may not be as effective when working remotely. However, ignoring the politics is equally as bad.

Rob and Paul explore political styles during change, asking how do we find a balance between doing the right thing and getting what we want?

Photo by Jaz King on Unsplash

Posted On September 23, 2020 By Paul Hutchinson In Change, Culture, Leadership, Podcasts, The question is /

How do we reset targets for this year?

2020 is probably not working out quite as you had planned, that is certainly the case for us at Thinking Focus. If we carry on with our plans as if nothing has happened, then risk running out of steam chasing impossible targets.

When things go off track, you need to reset the targets and expectations, moving the focus to achievable yet ambitious goals that start moving back in the right direction.

Richard and Ricky explore how you can quickly reset the goals, help the people around you let go of the past and embrace the new challenges in front of you.

Photo by Jason Rosewell on Unsplash

Posted On September 9, 2020 By webadmin In Leadership, Podcasts, Productivity, The question is /

What if my team don’t come back from holiday raring to go?

This year the summer break could not come quick enough, work has been hard this year and most of us needed a break. We hope that the people in our teams can take some time to recharge and come back ‘raring to go’.

But what if they don’t? What if, this year, teams find themselves heading into the last quarter drained and apathetic?

This podcast was recorded while we are still in lockdown. Like most people, we are working from home (kids and pets may appear at any time). We are still focused on the questions that are getting in the way.

Photo by Jonathan Farber on Unsplash

Posted On August 26, 2020 By Paul Hutchinson In Leadership, Podcasts, Productivity, Resilience, The question is /

Will holding onto the past put the future at risk?

2020 has been a year of change unlike any other for most of us, with many still coming to terms with the different ways of working (and living) that have been forced upon us. There is little sign that the ‘normality’ that existed at the start of the year is going to return any time soon.

What is the impact of this longing for a return to simpler times? Richard and Paul discuss how leaders can help people let go and start to embrace a new normal.

Photo by Jason Rosewell on Unsplash

Posted On August 12, 2020 By Paul Hutchinson In Change, Culture, Leadership, Podcasts, The question is /

Why do we need holidays?

2020 has been a strange year for most of us, and now, adding insult to injury, the summer break feels like it has just been cancelled; lockdown restrictions have limited our ability to get away from it all for a couple of weeks.

This podcast revisits one of our blog articles from two years ago, exploring why anyone in a demanding job really should take a holiday. Two years ago we could ignore the obvious, needing a rest, so considered the other benefits that doing something different, somewhere else have to offer.

Here is the blog if you want to read the original article.

While it might not be two weeks on a beach this year, doing something different will engage the brain and open up solutions to problems, connect the dots of the big issues, offering much needed new insight at this challenging time.

Photo by Mohammad Metri on Unsplash

Posted On July 29, 2020 By Paul Hutchinson In Leadership, Podcasts, Resilience, The question is /