Australasian Leadership Institute Free Articles
I am a former Broker Sales Manager and an Operations Manager who is now working as a leadership coach, consultant and strategist across four key areas:
- Leadership of successful teams
- Optimisation of mental performance
- Leadership psychology
- High performing teams
Within these areas, I design, coach and facilitate bespoke leadership development programmes for individuals and teams including managers of all levels, directors, executives, professional athletes and aspiring leaders. My clients include the Delegates of the European Union, The Fred Hollows Foundation in Timor-Leste, the Fiji Sun newspaper, Lakes DHB, Kmart and Foodstuffs.
I am listed by Evan Carmichael as one of the top 100 leadership experts in the world to follow on Twitter.
When I design leadership programmes I draw from my twenty five years of managerial experience across a range of industries in the United Kingdom and here in New Zealand. I am accepted in the MBTI suite of tools and I am a professional member of NZAPT (New Zealand Association of Psychological Type) NZIM (New Zealand Institute of Management) and NZATD (New Zealand Association of Training & Development). I am a published author of two leadership books and I've had articles published in a range of magazines including Lifestyle for Men Magazine, M2, New Zealand Management Magazine as well as having a weekly business column with the Fiji Sun Newspaper. I am the current editor of Elite Leadership magazine.
If you want practical effective coaching and facilitation based on a foundation of modern leadership theories then get in touch via Twitter, the enquiry form below or call me direct on 021 354 831 (New Zealand)
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It's a common question about leadership, are leaders born or made? The idea of leaders being born became popular nearly one hundred and fifty years ago through the works of Francis Galton. The English psychologist wrote the book "Heredity Genius" in 1869. The book examined the leadership qualities in the families of powerful men, comparing the effectiveness of leaders to their fathers and their children. Francis Galton concluded that leadership was in fact inherited and this formed the basis of people's understanding of leadership over the next fifty to hundred years.Posted: Tuesday 28 March 2017 -
Conflict is costing companies millions of dollars every year. Every team has conflict and in many times it can be a positive factor but when conflict is unresolved it can lead to wasted time and energy, reduced decision making quality, good employees leave, taking with them their valuable skills and experience which takes money had time to replace, poor employees tend to stay and end up demoralised and a destructive influence in the team which leads to lost work tome and productivity. All of this costs you money.Posted: Thursday 23 March 2017 -
We know what leadership is when we see it, we know we need it and we know it's important but just how important is leadership? The impact of skills which are essential for every leader such as the ability to motivate and inspire are difficult to measure. If a team performs well how much credit should go to the leader? We have all seen teams that have performed well despite having a poor leader so just how important is leadership?Posted: Monday 20 March 2017 -
The job market is very difficult and the reality is that the majority of people settle for any job they can get rather than the job they really want. The certainty of receiving a regular pay check can override the dream of pursuing a better job and that is where the better job often stays a dream yet life doesn't have to be this way. You can get a better job because you just need to know how to start pursuing your dream and this article will help you with that journey.Posted: Thursday 16 March 2017 -
Every Leadership role is difficult, as long as people are involved each with different personalities and motivations, leading people is never going to be easy. Yet the most difficult challenge a leader can face is when they are put in charge of an underperforming team, a team that has a history of failure and losing. If you as a leader are in this position don't be disheartened because you are in the lucky position to be able to make a huge difference to the team and to the lives of the individuals within the team. You just need to know how to turn a team of losers into a team of winners.Posted: Monday 13 March 2017 -
Without doubt, the most popular topic I get asked questions on is conflict. Regardless of the level they are at within their organisation, whether at an entry level or senior executive, conflict and how to deal with conflict situations poses a significant challenge for the vast majority of leaders. In this article I will look at the most common barrier to effectively dealing with conflict and what it takes to overcome this barrier.Posted: Monday 6 March 2017 -
The most successful teams are the teams with a compelling vision of what success looks like. In these cases the leader is able to articulate in a statement their vision. Their vision is an inspirational description of what the team would like to achieve and a defined direction as to how to achieve that goal.Posted: Friday 3 March 2017 -
We all make mistakes. It's natural but it's how we handle the mistakes that defines us as individuals and brand us as companies. This is the challenge that is currently facing Price Waterhouse Coopers in the light of the recent Oscar Awards controversy. Their handling of this situation provides other businesses lessons as to what to do when their brand is in crisis.Posted: Thursday 2 March 2017 -
For a leader to be successful they have to possess many qualities . They have to be competent in what they do, they have to be courageous, they need to be able to delegate tasks, they need to be able to motivate people as well as being a visionary but there is one quality that has been established as being more important than others. This quality once mastered will have the single most impact on the leader's team in terms of motivation, performance and productivity. It's the leader's ability to instil belief in their followers that they are better than they believed they were.Posted: Wednesday 1 March 2017 -
A lot has been written about success but very rarely do we spend time on what happens afterwards. It's difficult to climb the mountain of success but if you are not careful it's incredibly easy to fall off when you have reached the summit and if you do the fall can be dramatic.
People often say that there is a fine line between success and failure and there has never been a situation that demonstrates this as much as the rise and fall of Claudio Ranieri.Posted: Monday 27 February 2017 -
Let me start by stating the obvious. I'm sure you will agree that it's important for a leader to be viewed as trustworthy. That statement is beyond doubt. In fact it's difficult to imagine an effective leader who doesn't have the trust of their team but what is open to debate is just how important it is for a leader to be viewed as trustworthy. It's no longer just a desirable quality because it's the right thing to do. It's now been established that how trustworthy a leader is viewed by their team has a direct impact on the profitability of the business.Posted: Monday 20 February 2017 -
Of all the superheroes in the world of fiction, arguably, the most popular is Batman. He's not from a different planet, he wasn't born with special powers or acquired them after a freak accident. He's just a man and I believe that is what makes Batman so special.
The story of superheroes continue to inspire us and the most inspirational hero of all, Batman can provide us with lessons for all of us to live our lives better and maybe in some way become the superhero of our own story.Posted: Monday 13 February 2017 -
The journey to become an effective leader is a long and difficult one. There are many barriers that prevent leaders fulfilling their potential which explains why there are such a few great leaders in business. Of all the barriers the most significant one to overcome is to close the gap between how leaders are perceived by their team as opposed to how they see themselves.Posted: Monday 6 February 2017 -
It's now the beginning of February and if you are one of those people that have already given up on your New Year resolutions then you are not alone. Research has shown that 75% of resolutions will fail by the end of January and 90% will fail by the end of the year leaving only 10% who will follow through with their resolutionPosted: Wednesday 1 February 2017 -
Any level of success is difficult if it requires a large amount of hard work, talent, determination and a fair share of luck yet no matter how difficult success is it's nothing compared to how difficult it is to have success time and time again. Success is difficult but continuous success is almost impossible.Posted: Monday 30 January 2017 -
Jurgen Klopp has one of the most challenging jobs in football. At Liverpool football club he has a club with a rich and successful tradition which has created an expectation for success both domestically and in Europe yet despite their rich history they have only won one trophy during the past ten years which was the League Cup in the 2011-2012 season. Jurgen Klopp is widely considered by the fans to be the man who is able to bring the glory days back to Anfield and his managerial history shows just why he is regarded so highly.Posted: Thursday 26 January 2017 , 1 Comments -
Our ability to reach a judgement on a person is vital for who we allow into our lives, who we believe in and who we trust. As a leader this judgement has even greater significance as a leader's opinion on a persons dependability, trustworthiness, sense of humour and even ability can influence the career path of that individual and for the success of the team or organisation they are working for. Yet your judgement may be influenced in ways that you are unaware of.Posted: Monday 23 January 2017 -
It's the Businesses that have a culture of innovation that survive. Success is just an idea away, a new product, a new way of cutting costs or reducing waste that can be the difference between failing and succeeding. The world is constantly changing and to succeed you need to not only innovate to keep up with the changes but you need to anticipate where the changes are heading and innovate based on what could be rather than what is. If you can do this then your business will be successfulPosted: Friday 20 January 2017 -
The biggest strength and the biggest weakness of teams are one and the same. It's the complexity of people that make so many workplaces fascinating but it's also the same complexity that creates miscommunication and misunderstandings in the workplace.Posted: Wednesday 18 January 2017 -
The biggest challenge facing the business world today is poor leadership. When I'm talking about leadership I'm not just talking about decisions made at the top by CEOs. I'm talking about leadership at every level of a company and the inability to motivate and inspire people. This is costing the economy millions of dollars every year.Posted: Monday 16 January 2017