Friday 2 March 2018

Unleash your breakthrough



We resist change and fail to dream big. Don't wait to be ready, to fall into motion. Opportunities are lurking all around you!
Learn to attract what matters to you.

You will learn how to stop procrastination Dream big, transform your life and influence people that matters. If you want to know how to turn practice to profits, join us now.

Check in here: http://bit.ly/2t9zFrc

You see, when I speak about confidence, I speak about that confidence that helps you speak to that person, even though they are well-known and have following, many times fold than you do and you know could help you. The confidence of knowing you are enough and you don't need to prove anything to anyone. The confidence that helps you believe more in yourself, knowing that rejection, no matter how frequent, is just to build you bolder. The confidence of, "I'm open to learning, it's just the best way to grow if you're wise". The confidence that makes you vulnerable and strong at the same time. I speak about that confidence that helps you make that call and chat to the guy who's going to approve your proposal and once that rapport is built you're done. I speak of that confidence, which gives you the edge and faith to do it anyway, even though you're thinking that you're not fit and qualified but you slammed it when you gave it a shot. I am talking about that confidence that suddenly gets you in the boardroom with executive clients that took you years to figure out, just because of that one call that you made or perhaps, that Facebook messenger text...
I'm talking about that confidence that helps you turn practice in into profits in hours and suddenly turns what you once thought impossible or feared intensely, into your ultimate reality.
It works for me!
It's all in your daring to dare. 


Thursday 1 March 2018

Why do you think you are the right candidate for this role?



Why do you think you are the right candidate for this role?

This is one of the most common questions recruiters ask applicants, if they ever get shortlisted to this stage of the interview process. Surprisingly, many leaders get to be asked this same question as they rise in ranks and begin to command authority, but not very many seem to bother to answer; most especially, when it is muttered beneath the breath of their team members.

Truly, as a leader, do you honestly ask yourself, if you’re the right person to be holding your position? Great leaders reflect on their everyday performance by engaging in a lot of self-awareness exercises, listening more than they speak and asking for feedbacks, as well as engage their team members in constructive feed forward process, which makes everyone resoundingly be on the same page with the goals, visions and expectations of the team.

How do you continuously demonstrate that you are indeed right to be a leader? What examples do you constantly lay down, for how things should be done? What sort of influence do you have on the people with whom you work?  

These are three key questions every leader must be able to clearly answer, for an insight into how deserving you are, of having people to lead.

 What most leaders don’t understand is that the outcomes of their team members, in terms of the goals achieved, results recorded, income generated, customer satisfaction, etc., is a direct reflection of the leadership quality.

Whilst most of us, as leaders, believe in the power and the opportunity to appraise team members, review their performance and perhaps judge behaviour, maybe an in depth investigation of, “what about me, is being reflected here?”, should be a point of reckoning, when next you need to carry out any of these leadership tasks.

It is always rewarding whenever you’re able to reflect on events just gone, achievements in the past year, and consider the learning for you and your team members, which leads to a joint plan of action moving forward. 


How this helped

Over the years, I discovered that being open to discussing leadership skills and how it affects job performance made my team performed better, instead of throwing tasks at them and expect to review performance after tasks have been completed. It became my common practice to remind team members that, e.g., “being able to submit a quality report by deadline, not only shows that you have sound time management skills, it helps you demonstrate that you are preparing yourself for something greater, even if it takes a while.” Instead of just throwing tasks and stipulating that it has to be presented by certain timescale, I attach snippets of what a great outcome would mean to them as individuals, engaging their sense of responsibility and personal accountability. 

Answers to key questions

I genuinely made it a thought point that people are extremely complex to manage and handle. Hence as individuals, we all have different needs, motives, aspirations, abilities and expectations. So, in continuously demonstrating that I deserve to lead the people I lead, I approach each individual as a unique person, understanding well too, that people’s emotions affect their approach to work and their performance at work.

The bottom line to effective leadership is achieving envisioned results. Hence, when I put my focus on a vision, I ensure that I remain tenacious, carrying everyone along to demonstrate that only through dedicated team work can any proven top-notch results can be achieved. I let my team members understand that greatness demands more than your strength, but your ability to work with others, constructively.

If you are not clear on the type to influence you have on your team members, why not ask intentionally, “how do I feel, when I’m engaging, giving tasks, asking for suggestions, asking for help to solve a problem,  or holding a meeting or appraisal or supervision with members on my team? The easier the answers come, the easier it is perhaps for them too to answer similar questions about you and hence, the level of influence you have with them. What feelings go through your team members when you are around or when they remember you’re their leader? I answer these questions with ease and resounding positive energy, not because I don’t have my ups and downs in managing a team of people, whom originally would have loved to have one of them be their leader, before I came to change the picture, appearing after a sudden shake up due to low productivity and performance. Not because it was comfortable having team members, regularly try to point out where I had gone wrong, even when I was figuring out the most effective ways for everyone to maximise their potentials. Yes, it may feel tough initially, but to gain trust and build loyalty, you must be consistent in showing that you also care about their side of the ‘rut’, and not just the capitalist interest of the organisation or about keeping my job. This worked in my favour. 

I can help you do same

If you take time out to really focus on the three key questions I asked above, and find your genuine answers, this can be the start or enhancement of a painless leadership reign for you. The chances are that you are still very defensive, like most leaders are and pointing the blame finger on the inadequacy of your team members. This will not help and you’ll probably stay in the havoc-loop for a longer time.

You may want to do a little reading around the subject of smart leadership, to strengthen these insights or checkout this resource on transformational leadership. This should lead you towards a genuinely diverse team, where everyone has differing strengths and are nurtured as such.

As you may know by now, I have a track record in managing teams and helping senior managers achieve better results from their team effectively, which is why I’m always passionate about talking leadership and I’m always happy to work with you to raise the game with your team members.

I must point out that understanding and embracing the need for optimal consciousness and personal development in my life and business was pivotal to achieving success in effectively managing teams and also building a formidable coaching and training business and this too, I can help you achieve.  If you choose to explore this topic further, I will be happy to share greater insights with you. Why not let’s connect on LinkedIn, or join our community of thriving Stress-Free Business Leaders.


Thursday 18 January 2018

Can Leaders Truly Be Vulnerable?




Leadership vulnerability, has always been a topic with different dynamics and stemming lots of conversations, because many leaders still struggle with ‘letting it out’, with their team members. Recently, I was giving a presentation to about two hundred and fifty business leaders, in the health care industry, and over half of the participants agreed that they struggle with openly seeking for help from team members and worse still, are not comfortable talking to team members about organisational challenges, apart from discussing general and specific productivity and performance related issues with them.


Over 70% of the participants believed that when they sit around the table with team members and say things like, “We have a problem reaching our targets and all our strategies seem to have failed, who has any ideas to help us move forward?” They are seen to be pushing management responsibilities on the entire team or giving room for team members to take undue advantage in carrying out duties or abiding with policies and procedures, as a comeback for helping out during the crisis period.


No doubt, hierarchical structures in organisations have long, held leaders from fully being authentic, in showing up as real leaders, as this may be seen as less professional or breaking boundaries. In reality, the lack of genuine team building activities in organisations, has done more harm than good, as this reduces staff engagement levels to the core, which causes the stillness in motivation and inspiration.


Unfortunately, the lack of understanding of what constitutes staff engagement has made it impossible for leaders to be able to connect with their team members, and get the best from them. Instead, leaders build a wall of seclusion, which translates to the team members, as “they know it all, they have it all”, causing stronger disconnection and unrealistic and grandiose expectations by employees and when these are not met, the cycle of low morale and low performance continues to be deeply entrenched within the organisation.


Where does vulnerability lie, here? Vulnerability lies in the fact that leaders are unable to maintain genuine connections with team members, and genuine connections are things that engage and make team members feel part of the organisation they work for. It is absolutely correct that, engagement can have a significant impact on the performance of the organisation, driving bottom‐line profit and enabling organisational agility, as well as improved efficiency in driving change initiatives.


To be able to lead effectively, leaders must be able to demonstrate empathy, which helps you understand others’ situations, thereby making it easy for you as the leader to tailor team members’ strengths and weaknesses via the best channels for maximum productivity and performance. In doing this, you must be willing to trust team members enough, to assign tasks that will challenge and bring the best out of them, yet empowering them in dignifying ways. To achieve these with little or no stress, you must be willing, as a leader, to give a piece of your self by being vulnerable. BrenĂ© Brown, an expert on social connection, conducted thousands of interviews to discover what lies at the root of social connection. The research revealed that vulnerability, was a key factor in building great connections, both in the professional and personal world. Vulnerability here does not mean being weak or submissive. To the contrary, it implies the courage to be yourself. It means understanding the truths in our world. Which is, ability to come to terms with uncertainty, risk, and emotional exposure, and when a leader is open to this, impacting others and making change, becomes seamlessly within grip.


Here are few tips to cultivate vulnerability as your strength:


Admit that you do not know everything and don’t have the solution to every problem - Being able to admit and share times of weakness, as a leader, will earn you trust and present you as being authentic. Creating a stance of ‘ know it all’, only shows that you’re claiming to be perfect, which in the real sense, is just an illusion. Showing weakness and not hiding from imperfection lets others know that you are simply human.


Accept responsibility when mistakes occur – You will protect your credibility as a leader, when you are able to accept responsibility, when you make errors, instead of finding someone else to blame it on. Leaders who play the blame game, only have very little time, before they lose credibility and loyalty. Further, taking responsibility, gives you a sense of leadership that allows you to take time to analyse and consult on how to make progress towards accomplishing the goals set.


Practice empathy - People who are skilled at understanding others’ feelings and situations are more likely to be viewed as effective leaders. A study by MRG found that empathy was the single strongest predictor of ethical leadership, which is why leaders who are empathetic, are able to motivate teams to do their best work, because they create an atmosphere that is non judgemental, but empowering.



Don’t wait for the company to crash before you seek help, suggestions or tell your team members the truth about the situation- Teams are the greatest assets any organisation have and to add value to these assets, leaders must build teams that are formidable, effective and trustworthy. This can only be achieved if team members are treated with trust, a sense of value and are well supported to deliver their tasks to the best of their abilities. Leaders who build their teams on very strong precepts, will have no fear or guilt, telling them the truth about an organisation’s standing when crisis arise, because they would all have been working under shared terms.


To get more from your team, get resources here. Join Facebook group, to become a Stress Free Business Leader.

Thursday 11 January 2018

Five Ways You Can Propel Your Self -Worth For Success



Do you know that constantly worrying about what others think about you or the way you live your life, is self-debilitating, particularly when you know that you’re doing no harm to anyone? So, why seek approval and recognition? You don’t need it!

Stop getting overwhelmed by the expectations of others, instead, live your life purposefully, believing in your everyday actions. What’s the point of you looking everywhere for approval, when the best insights and approval for what’s great and not lies, right in your heart. Too many times, you disapprove of yourself or even criticise your efforts just because you set your standards and validate your actions by what you see and hear from other people.

So, what happens when you do that? You run your emotions high, causing inner conflicts that do nothing but increase distraction and distort your ability of intense focus on what’s important and what matters most, which is why your desires don’t match your results and realities. By setting parameters that don’t align with your truth, you jeopardise your efforts, bring upon yourself, a great deal of self doubt, low self - confidence, low self-esteem and self-sabotage, because you unconsciously disempower your thoughts to think the magnitude of your strength.

To amp up your confidence and propel your self worth, take a five day challenge, that will help you achieve your goals and ensure your success.

Here are five other things you need to do.

Love yourself endlessly: You should understand that no matter how hard you try, no one can love you more than they love themselves, which is why you should love yourself unconditionally, to save yourself. When you are able to love yourself without limits, you will be empowered with so much abundance that giving back will become effortless. On the other hand, not loving yourself will continue to spill out the lack in you, and no matter how hard you try to hide, it rears its ugly head in different areas of your life and the worst bit is that, you will not serve your interest and will not be of great service to others, even those you care about.

Challenge your inner critic - There’s always a voice inside us telling us we can’t do it right, or that we’re not fit for the challenge. Yes! We all have that voice creeping in every now and then, but the truth is, the voice continues to rant and gain power, when we allow it. This voice means good, though, trying to protect you from what does not seem familiar and comfortable. It tries to keep you safe by putting you in a ‘no contest mode’, so that  you don’t fret and get blown away by the size of the greatness that lies ahead of you. However, Staying in this ‘no contest zone’, only separates you and your possibilities, and if you must achieve your goals and live far beyond the limits your inner critic wants to cap on you, then you must challenge it, each time it tries to keep you bound to letting go of your dreams.

Set yourself up for success -   What’s your biggest win so far? How many times do you motivate yourself with your previous wins, as an incentive to believe in your abilities and strive forward. Most times, when we feel less confident, it is based on reflections about the times we failed or when our performance did not measure up. So, next time when you’re feeling less confident, anchor your courage to push harder with a sweet memory of when you were successful, no matter how long or how insignificant the achievement may seem to you.

Never stop learning: You may wonder how learning connects with boosting self worth and confidence, but it sure does. Knowledge is the one thing you possess and no one can snatch away from you. You express yourself with what you know, both internally and externally and can also use your knowledge as a tool of empowerment and also to help others. All of these are things that will in turn increase your self-worth and confidence.

Believe in yourself: Get tips here on how to believe more in yourself. If you don’t believe in yourself, of course no one else will and this starts from your willingness to give yourself the opportunity to try new things without judgement and also to know that you are not infallible. The amount of times you’re willing to give yourself another chance, regardless, will invariably show how willing you are to strengthen your strengths and eventually begin to show up and achieve whatever goals or dream you want to achieve in the end.

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