Continuing on with our sub-theme of leadership development, we turn our attention to decision-making. The skill to make decisions well is incredibly important to your team, your organisation, the bottom line, and - last but most certainly not least, you sanity. If there is anything more maddening than the email 'conversation' that never ends, I have yet to encounter it. All talk, no action. No thank you. 

Tune in to this episode to learn a few steps you can take to diversify your decision-making skills, and how to make sure you hard work sticks. Also, at the end of this episode I go through how to use the message function to see if we can get some of your professional interests addressed. Remember to include: Your name, your region, your profession, what you're currently interested in developing. 

https://anchor.fm/nancy-elizabeth/message

Twitter: @butimaprofesh

Patreon: www.patreon.com/nancyelizabeth

This episode is an acknowledgement that there is a gap in most organisations around adequate leadership training and development versus an ever-growing need.

Surely you've been on some sort of 2 day training programme and it may have even been useful! However, that pesky transfer gap haunts many of our organisations whereby we learn something and think it's fab (and it is) but when we get back to work it suddenly becomes less important than all the other issues that require your attention and so you just put it on the back burner for the time being.. and before you know it, you've forgotten everything you learnt on those colourful post-it themed activities. 

So, how can we participate in our own development (in conjunction with that workshop you've been on if it was any good) but in ways that are more incremental, actionable, and easily monitored through your own reflection? 

We can start by identifying the types of traits effective leaders have - the traits that research backs up and modern demands in the workplace cannot function without. We can also investigate our personal responsibility in the honing of those traits and look for ways to set that firmly into our professional practice.

Does this sound like something you could use some help with? Good! Let's jump in and see what we can do, dear leader...

Rest is one of those things we all agree is useful and important, but perhaps there's a gap between that acknowledgement and your actual working habits. Maybe you speak of the importance of work-life balance with your team, but have absolutely none of your own. 

How do we close that gap and finally put some practice into place that will help turn rest into a useful tool in your professional toolkit? Listen to this episode for some small, achievable actions you can put into place in quick time. Also, if you need more help on the matter and don't know where to start with your team, I'll give you some jumping off points along with experts on the topic who can help you flesh out your approach as you reflect on what works best for you, your team, and your organisation. 

Close your eyes, slow your breath - let's learn how to make rest work for us. 

Twitter: @butimaprofesh

Patreon: www.patreon.com/nancyelizabeth 

Have you ever found yourself starting the process of taking on a professional opportunity only to hear a voice in the back of your head asking, "Are you the right person for this?" Did you listen to that voice and not bother with the application first nor last?

Self selecting isn't just a case of you taking yourself out of the running - it's also a phenomenon that comes out of people's fear of responsibility and change. Because fear can lead to a whole host of other issues down the line, we want to nip them in the bud early on.

So let's get better acquainted with the tendency for people to self-select out of an opportunity and let's get to know our collective fears better so that we can put them to good use.

Twitter: @butimaprofesh

Patreon: www.patreon.com/nancyelizabeth

In the final installment in this itsy-bitsy, teeny-weeny mini series on Emotional Intelligence, we bask in the warm sunlight of having a Positive Outlook.

If you fear this is going to turn into a parade of cliches and a strong appeal to make you feel guilty for not having 'manifested' a senior leadership position yet - put those fears down. This is not me telling you the grass is always greener on the other side - no, sometimes that other side is an abandoned building with no windows and an awful lot of pigeon poo.

Positive Outlook is a competency that, when strengthened, will help us to improve our resilience and determination in the face of obstacles and setbacks. It helps in being able to find possibility and opportunity (where possible) in difficult circumstances. It's also key in working better with others (whether leading or following) and seeing challenges for what they are - challenges not catastrophes.

Grey skies are gonna clear up...

Twitter: @butimaprofesh

Patreon: www.patreon.com/nancyelizabeth

Do you work with someone who just always seems to get stuff done? Doesn't do the drama, nor the emotion - just cracks on. Have you ever looked at your flaming pile of an inbox and thought, "I could never." Rubbish! You absolutely can - you just need a better approach.. a better orientation to achieving your goals, you might say. 

In this 3rd episode of our mini series on Self Management, we go through the competency of Achievement Orientation. Like the others, this competency is best applied in tandem with other skills in the domain - like Emotional Self Control. It's a practice that encourages us to meet a standard of excellence, seek out feedback, and to learn from the process.

How do we do that? Listen in to find out!

Twitter: @butimaprofesh

Patreon: patreon.com/nancyelizabeth

This is the second in a mini-series of episodes focussed on developing our Emotional Intelligence. The previous episode talked about Emotional Self Control - of course it would help to go back and listen, but no need to worry about playing these in any order. Just make sure to listen to all four episodes to get the full benefit.

This series will look at the four domains of Emotional Intelligence, and the twelve competencies that fall under them. In this episode, we'll think about how we can work on flexing, stretching, and building our Adaptability muscles.

Change is inevitable - pull up a pew and let's learn how to use it to our advantage.

Twitter: @butimaprofesh

Patreon: www.patreon.com/nancyelizabeth

This is the first in a mini-series of episodes devoted to the very important business of developing our Emotional Intelligence. Why are we trying to be more emotionally intelligent? Because it improves our focus, our decision-making skills, and our sense of well-being at work. Also, for those of you more concerned with bottom lines, it improves employee turnover numbers and boosts productivity. Yay, everyone's a winner!

This series will look at the four domains of EI as outlined by Daniel Goleman, and the 12 competencies that fall under them. In this particular episode, we'll discuss how we can work on Self-Management and more specifically, just how we can do that via more demonstrable emotional self-control.

All emotions are valid, but do not let them loose like a toddler having a tantrum in the supermarket.

Twitter: @butimaprofesh

If you feel exhausted at work, does that mean you're suffering from burn-out? Or is it just good, old-fashioned fatigue? And why are you always exhausted anyway? Is it because working from home during a global pandemic has stripped many of us of any boundaries we may have had in place between our personal and professional lives? Has the clenching response from your organisation caused a lot of 'belt-tightening' and management talk around 'doing-more-with-less'? Is it the sound of our oceans and fires burning around us that keeps you awake at night?

No wonder you're exhausted, petals. 

In this episode, we try to work out whether you're suffering from burn-out or fatigue, whether that matters, and what you can do about it. The very good work of Dr. Christine Maslach is cited often and if you are interested in learning more from the experts, she has talks, contributions to journal articles, and guest spots on podcasts all over the internet. Check her out! 

In the meantime, get yourself another cup of coffee and let's see how we can be well while working well - without napping through the next budget meeting. 

Twitter: @butimaprofesh

Patreon: patreon.com/nancyelizabeth

We tend to spend a lot of time in the future whether it's planning our next holiday, fretting over housing prices, or thinking of our career trajectory. It's so sewn into our way of processing information, it's become a common (or even required) question in job interviews as a way of 'understanding' the candidate and whether they are suitable.

But what is all this ten years in the future guff? Is it possible that looking ahead gets too much attention? How can we look back ten years and use it as a way to better know ourselves? How can we shift that perspective to have more self-compassion for where we are professionally right now? In this episode, we'll talk about how we can think about ten years of you to support the ten years of you to come!

Twitter: @butimaprofesh

Patreon: patreon.com/nancyelizabeth