Blog

How to develop executive presence in meetings

How to develop executive presence in meetings This article will be of interest to anyone wishing to raise their profile in meetings and position themselves as a thought leader. I’ve focused on women in particular as speaking to C-Suite leaders, it’s clear to me that not raising their profile is holding them back in their career development. As Harvey Coleman neatly puts it; success is…

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How to give negative feedback

How to give negative feedback Have you ever felt uncomfortable giving negative feedback? For some, delivering critical feedback triggers childhood memories when their own behaviour was harshly criticised; leading them to avoid situations where they may upset others. Other people sidestep the difficult feedback as they place a high value on being liked. Ultimately to be effective and to help your team grow, critiquing performance…

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Managing upwards

Are you frustrated with the relationship with your boss? Is it holding you back from realising your true potential? This is a common theme that comes up with my clients. I’ve highlighted below a few tools that have helped them reshape relationships and get their careers back on track. Mismatched communication style Most of us have a preference for one particular communication style. This makes…

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Why having fun is an important way to manage your stress

The importance of building fun into your life shouldn’t be underestimated.  In the words of the Greek philosopher Herodotus “If a man insisted always on being serious, and never allowed himself a bit of fun and relaxation, he would go mad or become unstable without knowing it”. Like many of my clients, at times I’ve struggled with Covid and its seemingly unrelenting nature. I’ve shared…

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How can you manage a difficult relationship?

How can you manage a difficult relationship? On average, we don’t like one out of every five people we meet so assuming that you should get on with everyone is simply not a reality. How can you forge productive working relationships in such circumstances? The following three strategies will help you get more control of the situation, freeing you from any historical baggage and allow…

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Starting a new job? Here’s 5 ways to maximise your success.

Starting a new job? Here’s 5 ways to maximise your success Starting a new job can be very stressful. Michel Watkins, author of “The First 90 Days” compares it to an organ transplant….where you’re the new organ. It’s the point in your career where you’re at your most vulnerable. The territory is unfamiliar, expectations of what you can deliver are high and you haven’t yet…

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How relevant is networking in a digital age?

In a world where everything can be done with the click of a button, has networking become a thing of the past? If anything the opposite is true. Harvey Coleman in his book “Empowering Yourself, The Organizational Game Revealed” writes that career success is based on three elements: performance, image and exposure (PIE). Performance, how good you are at your job only accounts for 10%…

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Building Confidence

How can you boost your self-confidence? Fear of failure and not wanting to look foolish in front of colleagues can lead us to live our lives in straight-jackets; doing what’s expected of us instead of listening to our inner voice. This lack of self-belief hits us all at some point in our lives, testing us most strongly in times of significant change. The following 5…

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How can you convince an interview panel that you are THE ONE?

Interviewing for Executives – 5 Steps to Ensure you Stand Out The interview process is a highly competitive one and like any elite sport the difference between winning and losing is marginal. With this in mind, it’s useful to look at the characteristics shared by successful candidates. They reposition themselves from job applicant to business partner When coaching clients, I always encourage them to understand…

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Women in Leadership

Only 4% of Fortune 500 CEOs women. What’s going wrong? In 1918 Irish women got the right to vote. 1973 heralded the abolition of the marriage bar; 1977 saw the introduction of the Employment Equality Act. Girls now consistently outshine boys across the globe in exam results. Having made so much progress, why are women still underrepresented in political circles and the upper echelons of…

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