Practical guidance for tackling common leadership challenges
Over the years, in my business, as an executive coach, and in leadership development, I have seen the same challenges recur repeatedly. How do you keep a team engaged? How do you raise performance? How can we help people navigate change? How do you balance results with relationships? and so on.
These questions rarely have a single answer. What matters most is the way a leader chooses to respond. Each choice not only drives performance, it also shapes the climate and culture that others experience.
I aim to offer you practical guidance and a fresh perspective, blending science and stewardship, not as fixed solutions, but as insights and steps you can apply immediately. Think of each post as both reflection and practice: useful now, and part of a longer journey of growth.
You’ll find new questions added regularly. If there’s one you’re wrestling with, I invite you to share it with me.
For those looking to develop a specific capability or competency, the Leadership Library offers one hundred areas for you to develop yourself.
How can I influence others without manipulating them?
How can I influence others without manipulating them? I explore five doors of influence: rationalising, asserting, negotiating, inspiring and bridging, to persuade with respect.
How can I clarify decision rights to make my meetings more effective?
Unclear decision rights are one of the biggest reasons meetings stall. In this article, I explore five ways decisions can be made and offer practical invitations for leaders who want to bring more clarity, trust, and accountability into every meeting.
What should I do when an employee hates their job but won’t quit?
A team member dislikes their role but refuses to resign. As a leader, how do you respond? This article explores five research-based frameworks that explain why people stay unhappy in jobs and what you can do to re-engage them with meaning, trust, and choice.
How can I lead when I disagree with decisions from above?
When senior leaders choose a path you would not, how do you respond without losing integrity or influence? This post explores evidence-based practices for regulating your reactions, acknowledging loss, practising self-compassion, reframing the situation, and grounding in values so you can lead with steadiness through disagreement.
How can I lead people who are older and more experienced than me?
Being promoted early can feel daunting when you are asked to lead older, more experienced colleagues. This article explores four proven psychological theories, impression management, social identity, leader–member exchange, and self-determination, that help young leaders show up with steadiness, build belonging, earn trust, and empower ownership.
How can I lead with authority when I don’t have all the answers?
How can you lead with authority when you don’t have all the answers? Drawing on behavioural science and self-stewardship, this article explores impostor phenomenon, self-compassion, growth mindset, tolerance of ambiguity, and narrative identity to help leaders stay steady and trusted in uncertainty.
How can I manage conflict between strong personalities at work?
Conflict between strong personalities can drain a team or strengthen it. Leaders who steward these moments with care can turn heated clashes into progress. This guide shows six evidence-based approaches and practical tools to host conflict in ways that protect dignity, regulate tension, and anchor people in shared purpose.
What do I do if my team keeps missing deadlines despite reminders?
Teams often miss deadlines despite reminders, leaving leaders frustrated. This article explores six behavioural science insights and the principle of stewardship to redesign accountability. Learn practical ways to address optimism bias, vague promises, hidden risks, and motivation gaps so deadlines become shared commitments instead of recurring sources of stress.
How can I motivate a burned-out team?
Burnout is at record levels in 2025, with two-thirds of employees at risk. Drawing on Maslach’s burnout framework, this guide shows leaders how to motivate burned-out teams by addressing six critical mismatches in hybrid workplaces.
How do you lead when trust has been broken?
When trust is broken in leadership, clarity and control rarely repair it. This article explores the psychology of trust: ability, integrity, benevolence, fairness, and psychological safety and offers practical ways leaders can rebuild confidence through convening, fairness, and community.
Why do my town halls (and webinars) fall flat?
Town halls and webinars are efficient at spreading information but rarely build ownership. This article explores why big formats fall flat, using insights from behavioural science and group psychology. It also shows how to redesign gatherings, physical or virtual, so people co-create meaning, commit to action, and leave with a sense of shared ownership rather than passive compliance.
What questions should I ask myself in a weekly leadership review?
At the end of each week, leaders face a choice: carry the weight of unfinished tasks into Monday, or pause long enough to notice what truly mattered. A weekly leadership review is less about checking boxes and more about asking better questions, about wins and losses, pride and gratitude, and the priorities that will shape the week ahead
What should I do in the first 60 days of leading leaders?
Stepping into a role leading leaders is one of the toughest transitions in management. This 60-day plan offers research-backed guidance on how to listen, build trust, create alignment, and empower your leadership team, setting a foundation for performance and culture that lasts well beyond the early weeks.
I have just been made a team leader — where do I start? A 60-day plan for new leaders
Just promoted to team leader? Your first 60 days set the tone for trust and performance. This guide offers a practical roadmap in four 15-day phases, balancing early wins with building a culture of belonging and accountability.
How can I handle a toxic but talented employee at work?
What do you do when one of your top performers is also the most toxic presence on your team? This article explores five leadership lenses that reveal the hidden costs, relational fractures, and cultural risks of tolerating toxicity, and offers practical moves to protect trust, balance results, and safeguard the future of your team
What should leaders do when a team member is often absent or quiet quitting?
When a team member is often absent or quietly disengaged, leaders face a tough choice. Should they tighten policies or start with connection? This post explores how to balance compassion with accountability, using coaching stories, practical steps, and HR guidance to help leaders respond with confidence and fairness.
How do I respond when a team member goes to peers first instead of me?
What should you do when a team member goes to peers first instead of you? It can feel like being bypassed, but it is also a signal worth listening to. This article explores what it really means, why people turn sideways before up, and how leaders can respond with trust rather than defensiveness.
How do I deal with a team member who refuses to help others?
What if a colleague’s refusal to help is not the problem, but the signal? Discover three leadership lenses: culture, structure, and systems, that turn frustration into collaboration.
How can I create a positive climate for organisational change?
Organisational climate is the “everyday weather” of work that shapes whether change efforts succeed or fail. Unlike culture, climate can shift quickly and leaders play a decisive role in creating clarity, trust, fairness, and psychological safety. This article explores six facets and five levers leaders can use to build a true climate for change.
How can I deal with inappropriate jokes or humour at work?
Humour can bring people together or push them apart. When workplace jokes cross the line, leaders face a choice: ignore, enforce policy, or reframe the culture. This article explores how to move beyond compliance to create belonging, with practical questions every leader should ask.
How can I deal with a team member who is always complaining?
Complaints are part of every workplace, but left unchecked, they drain energy and erode trust. This article explores why people complain, the hidden psychology behind it, and how leaders can transform negativity into ownership and engagement with simple questions and practices.
How can I help a team member receive feedback without getting defensive?
Defensiveness can derail feedback conversations. This article explores why people react defensively, what behavioural science reveals, and how leaders can respond. From practical models to self-awareness practices, discover strategies to turn defensiveness into growth, build psychological safety, and create a culture where feedback strengthens rather than divides.
How to handle a team member who dominates meetings?
Tired of one person dominating meetings? Discover practical strategies to restore balance, engage quieter voices, and design inclusive conversations so every team member feels heard and valued. Create meetings that work for everyone.
How can I cultivate strong relationships in a hybrid or remote-team?
Hybrid work has changed how teams connect. Learn how to build trust, create equity, and design simple rituals that foster belonging in remote and hybrid teams.